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therealvinelle · 2 years

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https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/therealvinelle/692967241218719744?source=share

I must know, monolingual fool that I am, what this says in English.

Here you go:

TRANSLATION

You do know that I'm going to have to translate this post as well, and it'll be terrible. Last time I spent an hour translating the original post!

But oh well.

For those who don't remember the original Norwegian Bella-post, Bella is Norwegian and hasn't learned English before moving to live with her father in Forks. It's so embarrassing, she refuses to admit this weakness to anybody.

In this AU she decides to just tear the bandaid off, if she doesn't admit to not speaking English she risks her well-intentioned father leaking it instead.

She is as exciting as she could possibly be. Imagine, a true European has come to little Forks! People have a great many questions for her, but the difference from other timelines is that these questions are accompanied by heavy gesturing og repeated slowly, in the hopes that Bella will understand questions posed in a foreign language if the questions are posed more slowly.

"How much English do you know? ENG-LISH, HOW MUCH" is a frequently occurring one.

Mike fights his way through an English-Norwegian dictionary so he can ask Bella if it's true that all Norwegian women are blonde and tall, or if that's just Hollywood.

Tyler asks her questions in Spanish.

Edward, who has met his singer, does not care what language she speaks. He flees to Denali.

A week later he's back, and Bella, who is being followed everywhere by her self-declared English tutor, one Mike Newton, reacts as she did in canon. She finds Edward's return uncomfortable.

Edward, who was so set on talking to her and preparing for that, had forgotten that she doesn't speak English.

"Hi," he says.

"Heisann," Bella answers, the most demonstratively Norwegian greeting she can throw at him.

Edward stares at her in bafflement and only realizes then that the girl doesn't speak English.

And Norwegian happens to be one of the languages Edward doesn't speak.

He knows over a dozen languages, many of them closely related to Norwegian, but Norwegian is just one of those languages that was always on the agenda. He had vague plans of learning the nordic language next time he was travelling around, but he hadn't actually gotten that far.

And now he's standing there, with Bella Swan who has her English name and English-speaking family, born in America, and who doesn't speak a word of English.

"Parlez-vous français ?" he tries after a moment.

Bella has actually taken French as a foreign language in middle school and high school, but she's terrible at it.

"Pas beaucoup," she mumbles, and blushes.

Edward lights up. "On peut parler, donc ?"

Mike turns around to stare at them, eyes bright with curiosity.

And Bella realizes that if she lets Edward know she speaks some French, then half the school will know through Mike before lunchtime.

And then Bella will be stuck having to navigate her way through conversations in atrocious French, where the people she's talking to will supplement their French with English every time they don't know the words.

No thanks, better to be a blissfully languageless foreigner.

"Jeg snakker ikke fransk," (I don't speak French,) she quickly tells Edward, before moving her chair as far from his as possible.

Edward is fascinated.

The day after the truck accident happens, and she ends up at the hospital.

Carlisle walks into the ER. "Jeg hører rykter om at vi har en norsktalende ung dame her inne i dag," (Rumor has it we have a Norwegian girl in today) he says, and offers Bella a winning smile.

"Ja!" (Yes!) she exclaims, happy and surprised. "Snakker du norsk?" (You speak Norwegian?)

Carlisle, who hasn't been to Norway in many years, is surprised the girl is using informal pronouns with him, but figures that kids these days are less formal.*

*Prior to the 1970's, the Norwegian language rigorously enforced the T-V distinction.

Carlisle offers up an easy (and prepared) answer for why he knows Norwegian. "Ja, jeg tilbragte somrene mine på Tjøme som barn." (Yes, I spent my summers at Tjøme as a child.)

"Åja," (Oh) Bella answers.

Bella is so thrilled to finally have someone she can converse with properly that she forgets to tell Carlisle about Edward's impossible rescue.

After the examination the Cullens have their infamous meeting, which ends with Alice informing them that Edward loves Bella.

"How can he love her?" Rosalie demands. "They don't understand a word of what the other is saying!"

Edward must concede Rosalie is right.

How can he love a girl he's never had a conversation with?

He visits Bella that night, and to his shock he finds Alice is right.

He can't explain why, but he looks at this girl where she sleeps, ever so vulnerable, with blood heavenly to the point where he can only imagine God created her for his sake, and he feels himself change. He is devoted to this girl, and he will never be able to live without her.

He loves her.

Edward runs home to Carlisle, and asks him to teach Edward Norwegian. They spend the night on Edward learning glossaries and simple sentences, and when Edward shows up at school again he brings Ibsen's En Folkefiende (Enemy of the People) (Carlisle's recommendation). He also reads a Norwegian dictionary, and memorizes all the words in it.

The day goes by uneventfully. Bella can't confront Edward with how he rescued her when they don't speak the same language, even if she could ask him she wouldn't understand his answer. She's wondering if she could get in touch with his father again, as Dr. Cullen actually does speak Norwegian. Maybe she could drop by with flowers as a thank-you for the treatment, and ask to talk for a few moments while she's there?

But, a young girl presenting a married man with flowers and wanting to talk to him privately will get awkward, especially when the man in question looks the way Carlisle does. People would draw conclusions.

Bella ponders her conundrum.

Edward, in the meantime, has learned enough Norwegian from the dictionary, from Ibsen, and from Carlisle that he can understand some Norwegian. He glows brightly with confidence.

"God morgen," (Good morning) he says to Bella in Biology, in fluent Norwegian.

Bella stares. "Snakker du norsk?!" (You talk Norwegian?!) she blurts.

"Noe," (Some) Edward smiles.

"Hvorfor sa du ikke noe?" (Why didn't you say anything?) Bella demands, both surprised and pleased. "Hallo, jeg har jo ikke hatt noen å snakke med!" (I haven't had anybody to talk to!)

That she spoke fast wasn't a problem by itself, but that Bella pulled "har jo ikke" into one word, "ha-jo'kke" and "du ikke" also become one word, "du'kke", makes Edward smile stiffen for a second as he decodes what she just said.

"Jeg lærer," (I'm learning,) he says, and doesn't dare say more.

"Men du har jo nydelig uttale! Like god som faren din," (But you have beautiful pronunciation! As good as your father,) Bella says, still very happy, and oblivious to the fact that Edward's pronunciation is so similar to Carlisle's because he copied it, phoneme by phoneme.

Edward just smiles as he concentrates on combining the sounds Bella is making with the phonetic spellings of Norwegian words he picked up from the dictionary.

He's quiet for a few seconds before answering.

"Takk." (Thanks.)

Bella wonders how much Norwegian he really speaks, but he continues before she can ask.

"Carlisle er en god lærer," (Carlisle is a good teacher.) he says.

Bella is really impressed by the Norwegian he has shown so far.

And realizes that she can now confront him with the incident the day before, when he saved her from being hit by a car.

So she asks about it.

Edward stares. Han hadn't realized she'd have noticed what he did during the accident, certainly not so much of it.

"Jeg er ikke veldig god i norsk," (I'm not very good at Norwegian) he quickly says, and the rest of Biology class is spent with him answering solely in English or overly broken Norwegian each time she makes an overture.

Bella's now more suspicious than ever.

The next day Edward seeks her out, and he tells her in Norwegian that's markedly better than it was the day before that she hit her head, she doesn't remember correctly. That's that.

Bella asks if he was always this good at Norwegian.

"Carlisle er en god lærer," (Carlisle is a good teacher.) he says.

Bella goes to La Push, where she doesn't know Jacob as they didn't grow up together, and she never hears any legends.

Port Angeles happens as in canon, just because she doesn't speak Norwegian doesn't mean Jessica wants to exclude her. Bella can still point to dresses and offer her Scandinavian perspective on fashion. The difference from canon is that when Edward rescues her she has no vampire theories to present him with.

Bella suspects a robot.

Edward is obviously not human, he has super strength, looks a little too perfect, his skin is stone hard. If he's a robot it would explain his language skills, she knows he didn't speak Norwegian that first week. The language must have been uploaded to him and the delay was because the package wasn't operative right away.

The Cullens are most likely a military project, where they've placed highly sophisticated robots in a society to test how well they can blend in among humans. It certainly makes more sense than "mad scientist lost control of his robot army".

She confronts Edward with this theory.

Edward... supposes he's glad she doesn't know he's a vampire. He's a bit disappointed, but... isn't this a good way to protect her?

If Bella knows he's not human, and that she must keep this a secret, but she doesn't know the darker side of things, is that not the best of two worlds?

So he tells her he's never out in the sun because of the material his skin is made of. He'll show her what he means.

(He needs to buy himself some time to come up with a good explanation for his new robot self that is as close to the truth as possible without Bella finding out he drinks blood.)

They meet up in the meadow, and he lights up like in canon. He tells her this is because he charges in the sun, it was either this or sun panels on his back and those would have been too conspicuous. The sparkle means he's charging.

Because he doesn't want her thinking Edward Cullen is just bytes and electrical circuits, he tells her that he was once a human just like her, but the seventeen-year-old he was become terminally ill, and his parents agreed to a science project that would give his consciousness a chance to live on. Due to security concerns he never saw them again after that, the point is he and all his family were once human.

(Neither of them realizes that this is all strongly inspired by the plot of Robocop.

It helps that they never watched Robocop.)

Bella doesn't doubt it.

When they meet James, Bella doesn't catch any of what the robots are saying in English, but she's fascinated by what appears to be rogue robots who walk around without any purpose or missions.

Edward explains to her that some robots break free and become rogues. These robots are very dangerous and must be destroyed at all cost. He goes on to explain to Bella that the robots they encountered now intend to kill her because... well, robots can be very dangerous, and these ones are clearly mad.

The rest of the family (who also learned Norwegian. Rosalie wouldn't have, just to spite Edward, but the unfortunate fact is that she learned it in the 80's so she's stuck) just stares.

(No one points out that this is all strongly inspired by the plot of Blade Runner.

Blade Runner for the record being another film Edward hasn't seen.)

Canon carries on more or less, with increasingly colorful explanations from Edward. James' bite burned the way it did because of battery acid, and Jasper attacked her because he's programmed to kill humans that are bleeding (it's a military thing. Don't ask, Bella).

The rest of the family doesn't quite know what to make of all this, but no one wants to walk up to a human girl and tell her vampires are real, so no one says anything.

Bella, in the meantime, nourishes a hope that she might become part of this military project. She understand that this would be difficult, but she has a brain, she's patriot enough, and she wants to be part of the Cullen family so badly.

Edward explains to her that this will take years to get approved, and they only take the terminally ill anyway. It's unlikely she ever gets approved, and even then she'll be well over thirty by the time it happens, by which time technology will have changed so she's a different model than Edward. Life is rough like that.

Jasper's attack on her is a shock to Edward, who realizes that he's living a lie with a girl who doesn't have a future with him anyway.

He tells her that their romance was a training mission for him. Could he seduce a teen girl and be her lover for half a year? Was he sophisticated enough for that? The answer was yes, so now his task has been completed.

Thank you and good-bye, Bella.

He leaves.

Bella is left there, heartbroken.

She tries to find solace in the fact that the robot she loved passed the Turing Test thanks to her, but that's a meager comfort.

She starts hanging out with Jacob Black, communicating isn't easy for them but he can fix motorcycles, and motorcycles are what Bella wants.

A few months later she jumps from a cliff, and is surprised to find Alice in her house.

Alice sticks to the robot lie, there's no point in vampire truths when the relationship with Edward is over anyway. She stays for two days seeing as she'd missed Bella, and that's when the fateful phone call happens.

Bella and Alice go to Volterra, and Alice can only hope Aro will show Edward some mercy. After all, he didn't tell Bella what he really was.

She tells Bella that the Volturi are like James, but unlike James. They are rogues, but considerably more sophisticated than James was. They're loaded, and... some of them have a virus that make their skin and eyes discolored.)

(Aro, on his end, is... well, impressed by Edward is a nice way to put it. A very nice way.

He wonders if anyone among the Cullens have realized that the word "vampire" doesn't actually matter.)

Bella gets to Edward in time, and the gang is led down into the underground Volturi palace.

(Bella marvels at the obvious age of the palace. How long has the technology for these robots been around? Edward was always vague on that point.)

Aro takes one look at gifted Bella, who's miraculously alive and so very valuable, and immediately tells her the truth. He's a vampire, Edward is a vampire, all the Cullens are vampires, everyone's a vampire. The robot thing was a lie.

Edward is horrified, it's all over now that Bella knows.

Alice can only sigh, Edward should have told the truth from the start.

And Bella stares at Aro, this rogue who obviously has a virus. He looks blind.

Vampires.

Uh huh.

Nice try, fella.

She doesn't buy it.

Aro tries, but soon has to give up on convincing her they're vampires. Edward learned a language in two days, he became fluent, that's not a vampire thing.

Aro still asks Bella if he wants to be one of them.

And Bella just laughs, she knows that process takes years, there's mountains of paperwork to clear. She'd love to be a robot, but let's be realistic here, guys.

And Aro gives up on the truth. He has to play along, or lose his window with Bella.

So he corrects Bella to "cyborg" in a quiet voice, if he's to be a technological miracle he will at the very least be a correctly named technological miracle.

He then tells her that he has the tech required to make her a cyborg. That's why he has so many vampires (sorry, cyborgs) with him. He made them all!

Edward cries out that all of Aro's robots have viruses and their programming is spaghetti code. Bella's gonna have so many bugs and error messages that she never gets anything done.

Edward is escorted out of the room.

Bella is left feeling very dubious, it's not like she wants a virus.

But she does so want to be a robot. Or a cyborg, whatever they're called (Edward never gave her the name of the model).

Aro promises her she won't get any viruses, the only reason why he, Marcus, and Caius have any is that they agreed to a software update that turned out to contain malware. Had they taken a moment to realize update notifications don't usually come as pop-ups on the internet or in Marcus's case in the mail, this sorry business could all have been avoided. Bella needs only learn from their experiences and mind what she downloads, she'll be fine.

Bella says yes.

She gets a terrible shock when Aro's laboratory turns out to be an empty room in which he bites her, and she wakes up three days later with a terrible thirst in her throat.

#norwegian bella #the carnivorous muffin #twilight #twilight meta #twilight renaissance

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sapphire-weapon · 11 months

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In your opinion, is the laugh from Leon at the end of the Ada and Leon encounter in the castle one of amusement, or more like frustration? People seem to interpret it as him being charmed by her which has lead to some butting of heads. I'm not really sure how to take it myself, but I feel like there's some lingering attachment there mixed with a lot of frustration... y'know, with her whole elusive, never explaining herself thing. Gets a little old for him, maybe.

I know you personally interpret Leon as being done with her shit, but I still wanted to know what you thought!

I think that "charmed" is a good word, but I don't think that people are using it the way that it should be used in that context. Leon isn't "charmed" by her in the sense that he just fell in love with her all over again; Leon is "charmed" by her in the sense that he found that particular interaction endearing.

I've seen people make the argument that Leon didn't actually know that Ada was alive until that very moment of reuniting in the castle, and he's just become so incredibly good at masking his emotions that it catches her off guard -- but I don't agree with that interpretation. For him to be so shocked at Krauser's introduction kind of disproves that theory, because -- remember, Krauser didn't even fake his death in this version of the story. And Leon is still so surprised to see him.

The way I interpreted their reunion was that Leon has seen unconfirmed reports of someone matching Ada's description running around doing shady shit in bioterror situations -- maybe even on missions he's personally run (RE4 was OG Leon's first federal mission but not Remake Leon's first federal mission; he's been doing this shit for a while already) -- so he's already been through the "what the... Ada???? I thought that bitch was fuckin dead!" (kudos to whoever gets that reference) song and dance in his head. But there was no hard and fast evidence that it actually was her -- until she finally tries to hold him up in the castle, and it all clicks into place as "confirmed" for him.

So, I think the smirk/pseudo-laugh following their reunion is born from a few different places:

Leon is genuinely happy to learn that she is, in fact, still alive. Being able to see her and confirm it with his own eyes was probably such a relief for him.

He's probably feeling at least a little bit smug that he was right about the aforementioned reports. So, not only was it relieving to know she's okay, it feels good to find that he was right.

She's not even trying to put up a front for him this time; he actually got to see and talk to the real Ada for perhaps the very first time ever (at least, in his mind; we as the audience know that Ada was being genuine with him at several different points in RE2, but Leon has no way of knowing that, himself). It's probably endearing for him to actually see her as her true self for a change.

The way that she exits the conversation (through the window after a tongue-in-cheek offering of sex??? LMAO) is so extra and over the top and so very Ada. It was very likely a very endearing "some things never change" moment for him.

I genuinely believe that their reunion was a feel-good moment for Leon for all four of those reasons -- and all of that can be true with it also being true that he's not willing to put up with her bullshit anymore.

The two of them don't speak again until the radio transmission where Ada tells Leon that she saw Verdugo carrying Ashley to the throne room. A lot happens between those two points (including "the fall [in love]" moment between him and Ashley, which, when juxtaposed beside the way that he fell for Ada, is striking in its contrast) and a lot of time passes in which Leon can let the enormity of his actual emotions re: seeing Ada again sink in -- and it also happens right after Ashley is taken from him, so that's why he snaps off with "I guess you're not completely heartless" in that conversation. (He's also probably still butthurt about the "leave the girl" remark, too, which only makes his reaction more volatile.)

And that kind of sets the tone for their interactions/relationship for the entire rest of the game. Leon cares about Ada (because lbr he cares about everyone), he's happy and relieved that she's alive and okay, and he's glad to see her again if only just for closure's sake -- but he's done with her shit, otherwise. He has nothing to prove to her anymore, he doesn't need validation from her anymore, whatever romantic attachments he had to her in RE2 are long-since dead, and he refuses to make the same mistakes twice.

All of these things can be true at the same time. And, in RE4make, they are.

#resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ada wong #meta analysis #i think a lot of people get confused when it comes to my interpretations of things because like #i openly and vocally hate aeon as a ship #but i love leon and i genuinely do really like ada #especially in remake i REALLY like ada #and i don't necessarily want the two of them to be at odds #i just want their relationship to be better written #so i just try to look at their relationship as objectively as possible #like 'what is this actually being represented as in the text' sort of thing #and to be clear #i do that with EVERY relationship in RE #romantic or platonic or familial #what does the text actually say #and in the OG storyline yes it's romantic whether i like it or not #but in remake it's no longer romantic #leon's done with her #but that doesn't mean he hates her or even dislikes her or anything like that #and i'd be kinda sad if he did tbh #because that's not who he is as a character

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dotster001 · 1 year

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hellooo!! congrats on 1k! your writing is absolutely amazing and you definitely deserve the followers <3

for the event:

1. i took silver's hand first, cause i rlly liked maleficent and silver is pretty, and he seemed nice. (and i was right. silver my wonderful boy)

i don't clearly remember why i switched, i'm pretty sure it was just because i wanted to read all of the character's home screen lines so,,.

2. afterwards, i hopped from character to character, kalim, jamil, whoever's lines i wanted to read, and now lilia is the one who's on there most of the time. but i want a little romance story and i am not romantically attracted to lilia!

the only other characters that i switch to are the tweels, it's up to you which one to write, just pick the one you think will make the story more interesting! (or both?)

3. jade and floyd are one of, if not the, most interesting twst characters. i just love their personalities and how they interact with their surroundings, their designs are amazing, they actually remind me of myself sometimes, and i also just really love eels, and marine biology in general. i just wanna crack their skulls open and poke around their brains!

4. silver and i would get along magnificently, romantically or platonically. but there's just something about him that's so !!!! i don't think i couldn't fall in love

5. me! i'm very reserved, preferring to listen and observe rather than talk or do. and though i try to seem confident and eloquent, i'm a bit awkward with social interactions. despite this, people seem to relax in my presence.

strangers and acquaintances describe me as put-together, intelligent, and friendly, but quiet and reserved. once you get to know me, i'm a very confident, honest, and bold person. i love joking around and bantering. my friends describe me as funny and eccentric, but mature and reliable. i'm honest with people i'm close with, often to a fault, and i may be too harsh with my jokes. i'm always putting others first, but i know how and when to stand my ground. i have trouble showing emotion through my voice or body, but if you look closely, you can read my facial expressions.

my main hobby is visual arts, but i also enjoy singing, playing different instruments, writing (songs, poetry, fics,) and taekwondo. i don't do them very often, but i like physical activities like running, hiking, and anything swimming! my interests are marine biology, chinese myths and history, and anime and manga.

6. i'd love to be in a harem with both my og and new character. i'd like my story to be angsty to fluffy fluff. i struggle with cptsd (from childhood abuse) and depression, so you could use that for angst if you'd like, but i totally understand if you don't. whether i go poly or the ending is left open, i don't mind!

sorry for being so long winded! i like to be specific ^^' anyways, congrats again, and have a lovely day <3

(lmao you said pick a twin? I said both is good 😂 I hope you enjoy this, I tried to give you some angst without being triggering so I hope this works for you boo. Also, this came out super long, my bad.)

A Tale Where Silver gets Some Sense knocked into him by the Boy of his Dream's Boyfriends

The twins were dating you. You'd told Silver before that they were fine if you dated him too. The twins understood…and they would one hundred percent be willing to share you if it meant they got to experiment with get to know Silver.

But Silver knew that the boy from another world was destined to leave. He'd heard his father talk about the people who'd come and gone in his life and had watched his face show his true age in those moments. It would be easier to let you go if he stayed away.

And he was doing a good job staying away. Watching from afar as the twins dragged you from place to place, as you smiled and laughed with them, watching them cling to you like ivy to a wall.

Sometimes you'd see him watching from across the hall and would wave at him with a light hearted smile. He'd wave back, his cheeks getting pink at being caught staring.

He was doing well staying away until today. He'd slowly noticed chronic drowsiness getting worse. One minute he was walking down the hallway, the next he was awake with your arms around his middle as you tried to drag him out of the walkway, and the twins fought off someone who he had to assume was upset that he was blocking the hall.

"I'm up, I'm sorry," he muttered, despite feeling himself drift off again.

You looked at him in concern, then said, "Do you think you can walk? You can sleep in Ramshackle for a bit. It'll be quiet since Grim is in class."

He wanted to protest, but the world around him was starting to fade, so he nodded, and allowed you to wrap his arm around your shoulder as you began walking towards your dorm.

When he woke up again, you were humming while gently running your fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp.

He couldn't help but stare up you, allowing himself to give into the moment until you noticed he was up and stiffened.

"I….sorry I should have asked permission to touch you, but you were having some kind of nightmare and it helped you calm down. I'm sorry."

"No…. it's nice," Silver hummed, before remembering he shouldn't get attached. He sat up and stretched.

He got off the bed, and gave you a polite bow.

"Thank you for taking care of me. I'll be on my way."

"Oh, okay," you seemed sad, but he knew this was for the best. So he left the dorm before the sadness could catch up to him.

….

"Hey Jellyfish, you're supposed to be a knight, right?"

It was three days later, and Floyd and Jade had plopped down in the chairs across from him as he was studying in the library. Both of them looked a little angry.

"Yes, why…"

"Our boyfriend did something nice for you, which means you're supposed to pay them back, right? You know, code or something."

"Oh….I"

"What my brother means," Jade cut in, smiling lightly and placing a calming hand on Floyd's shoulder, "is that he's a little put out that you made our 'Shrimpy' sad."

"Look…I…."

"We told you we were okay sharing Shrimpy!" Floyd burst in again. "So why do you keep pushing him away? It makes him sad. Even if you don't love him…"

"Which it's obvious you do…" Jade added pointedly.

"At least go back to being his friend!" Floyd started slumping in his seat. "I'm so annoyed at you that I don't even wanna talk to you anymore."

Jade looked at his brother for a minute before sighing.

"May I ask what the problem is?"

Silver bit his lip, then looked at the two irritated twins.

"Well…I…"

Jade raised an eyebrow and Floyd humphed but that was the only response he got.

"Aren't you both a little worried about what happens when he goes home?"

The twins shared a look then turned back to Silver.

"Should we be?"

"Well the headmage is…"

"Like crow brain would ever do anything productive."

"And I'm sure they have friends who…"

"We're their friends."

"And their family…."

"Have you ever discussed this with him?" Jade said, covering Floyd's mouth before he could cut in with yet another response.

"I…no…but won't it be harder for all of us when he leaves."

Jade looked at Floyd thoughtfully, before removing his hand from his mouth. Immediately, Floyd burst out,

"Shrimpy's not close to his family! He made his new family here, you silly brainless jellyfish!"

"Deep breaths, Floyd," Jade said, not expecting the outburst to be as loud as it was.

"No! No deep breaths! He should know!" Floyd practically leapt across the desk as he grabbed onto Silver's blazer. Silver had to fight every instinct in his body to draw his blade in defense.

"Shrimpy had a rough childhood. He doesn't super miss his old world, especially since we can give him as much love and affection as he could ever want. Now, go kiss and make up, before I wreck that face that he loves so much!"

Jade did nothing to help Silver extricate himself from his twin's grip. So Silver gave a soft nod, and stood up slowly.

"I'll talk to him."

"Good, let's go!" Floyd stood up, and wrapped himself around.

"Wait…"

"Yes, let us proceed. I believe our beloved boyfriend is in his dorm."

"But…" and Silver made the mistake of looking into the twins' eyes and seeing their threatening gazes.

"Okay, let's go," he sighed.

….

He was a knight. He had trained for worse. He could have a conversation with you about his feelings. Even if the twins were there he could….

As his eyes fell on you writing in a notebook, he felt his resolve fail. The twins must have felt it too, because it suddenly felt like they were pushing him forward.

When he was five feet away, the twins let go and each placed a kiss on one of your cheeks.

"Hey Shrimpy!"

"-Hello darling."

"Hi boys," you said looking up, when you made eye contact with Silver. "Oh, hi…here have a seat!"

You seemed so excited to see him, it broke his heart a little bit. Maybe he should have just talked to you in the first place.

He sat down next to you and steeled his nerves.

"I like you. A lot. But I'm scared."

"Of the twins? They're okay with it, and they both promised me they wouldn't bite you…"

"Unless you asked!"

You shot a withering glare at Floyd as he giggled.

"No. Not the twins. I've fought off worse and can handle it. I'm scared of when you go home."

"Oh," you stiffened. "I…I don't think you really have to worry about that…."

"We tried to tell you jellyfish, now stop making shrimpy upset!"

"No, it's a valid discussion Floyd. His feelings are valid," your eyes found their way back to Silver's and you gently took his hand in yours.

"Silver, I don't really plan on going anywhere. Yes, not everything was a problem back "home" but I've made a life here. I have my friends. I have Floyd and Jade. And…well I have you. You guys are everything to me. I never have to worry about anything with you three."

Silver sat in silence for a moment, searching your face for any dishonesty or doubt. But you looked certain. He had to wonder what things were like in the other world. But he could dig into that later. For now, he had to atone for his sins.

He knelt before you, pressing a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

"I have hurt you, and would like another chance to make it right, and prove my merit as a potential lover."

"Silver-"

"No I wanna see him beg," Floyd cut you off, giggling happily.

"No he doesn't have to…"

"I've hurt you."

"Silver! Don't-"

"He should beg. Floyd's right."

"Jade!"

"Please, allow me to…"

"Enough!" You shouted. All three boys went silent. You helped Silver to his feet, and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Silver, I've told you many times you are always welcome to join us. There's no need to beg. You're fervor is admirable, though, so any pain you have caused me is behind us."

Then you glared at the twins.

"And you two are in timeout."

"WHAT? WE'RE THE ONES WHO MADE HIM COME HERE!"

"No, Floyd, it's alright. We can make up for lost time later."

They each pressed another kiss to your cheeks, one eel more grumbly than the other, and left you alone with Silver, who was starting to realize how tired he was.

"Silver," you smiled fondly and patted your lap. "We're together now, you can rest on my lap if you want, I don't mind."

Silver laid down, stiff at first, but then your scent started to comfort him.

"I have to apologize to myself as well, I've missed being around you," he whispered, before speaking up again, "Can you hum that song and massage my head for me? I…"

He blushed and you laughed.

"Of course."

You started humming and running your fingers through his hair. It was the first nap of many where Silver would actually feel safe and well rested.

#1k followers #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #silver x reader #jade leech x reader #floyd x reader #floyd leech x reader #twisted wonderland x poly! reader #floyd leech #jade x reader #jade leech #twst silver #jade x reader x floyd x silver #twst silver x reader

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agonycrossbow · 2 months

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I've seen people make the argument that Leon didn't actually know that Ada was alive until the very moment of reuniting in the castle in RE4make, and he's just become so incredibly good at masking his emotions that it catches her off guard -- but I don't agree with that interpretation. For him to be so shocked at Krauser's introduction kind of disproves that theory, because -- remember, Krauser didn't even fake his death in this version of the story. And Leon is still so surprised to see him.

So, I think the smirk/pseudo-laugh following their reunion is born from a few different places:

Leon is genuinely happy to learn that she is, in fact, still alive. Being able to see her and confirm it with his own eyes was probably such a relief for him.

He's probably feeling at least a little bit smug that he was right about the aforementioned reports. So, not only was it relieving to know she's okay, it feels good to find that he was right.

The two of them don't speak again until the radio transmission where Ada tells Leon that she saw Verdugo carrying Ashley to the throne room, where she then jabs at him with a "babysitting's tough, huh?"

All of these things can be true at the same time. And, in RE4make, they are.

#resident evil meta #aeon analysis #remake RE analysis

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riverdale-retread · 1 year

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Riverdale S7 E2 Skip, Hop and Thump!

Mind-wiped 1950s Jughead Jones who doesn’t remember the true universe reads things like Pit of Tyranny and Things of Darkness while in bed with a very happy looking Hotdog (he’s so shaggy!) wearing long johns with gray socks.

“Superheroes were out! Horror and crime comics were in!” Jughead says. This I guess is Riverdale’s parting statement about the State of The Culture as of the airtime of this episode (April 5, 2023 in the US). We are not with the MCU! We’re doing something else!

Jughead is still wearing the felt crown on his head, in bed, in his long johns. Does he never take it off? Is it on his head in the shower too? Does it function like glasses? As in sometimes when I change clothes I have to take the whole thing off but other times I don’t. How does it stay on his head? He’s either been reading all night, or he reaches for one among a pile of comic books as soon as he wakes up every morning the way I reach for my smartphone (a tech he completely failed to explain properly last episode) to see what’s happened on tumblr? Many thoughts about the first 25 seconds of Ep 2.

Jughead says he and his friends are obsessed, before he sees something he doesn’t like. Jughead marches into school with a crown pinned to his head (it has to be pinned), a side slung book-bag and Charlie Brown’s mustard yellow sweater with the black stripe across the chest. They are not fooling around in the costume department at Riverdale the Show.

Mind-wiped Jughead speaks with the same weird cadence now as 50s Archie who may or may not be aware that he is in an Alternate Universe: much more singsong, elongated vowels, generally slower speech. He tells his group of comic book loving friends - Ethel (Hi Ethel!), Ben Button, and the AU Dilton Doiley. (Why couldn’t they get the OG Dilton back? Did he refuse to cute his beautiful long hair for this time skip switcheroo?)

Jughead is in a high dudgeon. He says the comic publisher “stole his story!” and that he should “sue ‘em!” One of Jughead’s minor themes is that of plagiarism and accusations thereof. He was first accused of plagiarism (wrongly) while at Stonewall Prep which then led to his being, in essence if not in the legality, expelled from that school for the said charge. As an adult he then had an entire novel stolen out from under him by Jess, an ex, with one ex, Betty, and one future girlfriend, Tabitha, helping Jess steal it, after which he tried to steal the novel handed to him by the one night stand that blackmailed him into reading it. He fessed up to that one at the last minute, but it cost him his writing contract and his relationship with his editor, a gruff-but-loving father figure in a life woefully deprived of a reliable fatherly presence. And now, in this timewarp 1950s, he is certain that a publisher stole from him.

Can I just say - I love maniacal Jughead. Whenever he gets like this, his eyes get really weird and bright. He just loves to be vibrating in outrage, with or without his core memories. Dilton thinks he’s being illogical, Ben is too sick of these forays into mania to even continue to look at Jughead, but Ethel is fully turned on. Ethel has a really really beautiful pair of eyes on her, and she’s getting very bedroomy at Jughead about his insane sounding plan to go “pay a visit” to the publisher. Nobody agrees to go with him though.

Toni, followed by Fangs, followed by some white kid who is NOT SWEET PEA swagger into the class room just as Cheryl is making her candied-sweetness announcement about the upcoming Annual Sock Hop. I have heard of a “sock hop” but being a not terribly curious person it did not occur to me to look up what the heck that was. I knew they wore white ankle socks and had like ‘bobby soxers” and stuff so I assumed it was about wearing those socks. But no. You’re supposed to dance in your socks (no shoes).

An aside: I am furious not just at the loss of Sweet Pea (Yes, I know he left in S5 but I am not over it and you can’t make me) but the fact that they gave Fangs Sweet Pea’s middle of forehead curl hairdo. That does not work for me!

Cheryl in this universe is a specific kind of naggy person that I feel very called out by. She doesn’t just invite people to the Sock Hop. She reminds them (well, tells me, so I’m thankful for this but I think everyone in the universe knows that you don’t wear shoes to dance at the Sock Hop) that Sock Hop = shoeless dancing but then has to go on to tell boys to make sure their socks match AND that they have no holes. The reason you do this kind of nagging is because you assume whoever you’re nagging is dumber than a pile of rocks. Notice that Cheryl, whose lesbianism often comes with a side of straight on hatred of men (her Jason-love being the only exception), only lectures the BOYS about this.

She looks extremely adorable with her red headband that perfectly matches her bright lipstick.

We get a cute montage of sorts of everyone looking at their heart’s desire.

Fangs is making eyes at Midge, who pretends she wasn’t the one that turned around in her seat wholesale stare at him for no reason when he just was walking to his assigned seat. She is shooketh. Archie turns around in his seat to stare longingly at Veronica, who has eyes only for herself - she is fixing her make up in a little handheld mirror. (Foreshadowing??) Aha but it turns out Veronica knew that she was going to be looked at by someone, and has put up the mirror as a ploy to hide her sightline. We are treated to her point of view- It turns out Julian is also looking directly at Veronica. As Cheryl keeps talking, Veronica’s view goes from Julian all the way to Archie, who is fully staring bug eyed and open mouthed at her pulchritude. I have to say once more I love 1950s Archie. He is so guileless. In this age of being stuck being penpals of people on what’s supposed to be dating/ hookup apps, this level of direct physical statements of intent, of clearly twisting your spine to give someone A LOOK feels very refreshing. And (More Foreshadowing??) Veronica’s gaze does not stop at the agog-Archie. It continues on to Betty, who looks very annoyed at the way Archie is gawking at Veronica. She gives Veronica a disapproving look before turning her sights on to Kevin. Or rather, the back of Kevin’s head, because once more, Kevin is not looking at Betty Cooper.

Which basically tells you everything you need to know about Kevin, because HAVE YOU SEEN 1950S BETTY COOPER?? Why would you look at anyone else ever? But of course, Kevin is looking at the new student who I have assumed is Chuck Clayton but absolutely isn’t, because even in an alternate universe Chuck Clayton would not be not straight. (Lucky me, I guess? Ugh.)

Cheryl, who has been going on and on this whole time about how the Sock Hop is going to be “Both the Bee’s Knees and the Cat’s Pajamas” (very interesting that so far, 1950s Cheryl doesn’t use 19th Century syntax) positively squeaks as she announces that Kevin and the Crooners will be performing at the dance! Betty, who is very good at certain kinds of support, reaches over to squeeze Kevin’s arm at the mention of his name, which finally gets him to take his eyes off the boy of his dreams.

The bell rings, and Archie chases her down. Veronica’s headband matches her dress and I have bangs and shoulder length hair and am seized with an irrational desire to wear a headband. Archie wants to know if Veronica wants to go to the Sock Hop with him. Veronica is pleased, but she doesn’t say yes. Instead she asks Archie if he knows how to cut a rug.

Archie looks down, then away, making an uncomfortable face. Veronica assumes that Archie doesn’t know what Cut a Rug means. She thinks Archie is really, very, extremely dumb. Interesting. She asks “Are you a good dancer?” by way of explanation. Archie’s response is still delayed. He dredges up a “Oh! Yeah. Of course I am!” and - the performance is really hilarious to me because I’ve watched it three times in a row, just this exchange and honestly I CAN’T DECIDE if Veronica is right that Archie does not know this extremely commonly used idiom in his one and only language OR if it’s because Archie does have fluency in his mother tongue but is simply bad at lying to the girl he likes a whole lot (He can’t dance, it’s later revealed). Veronica says that she believes him yet will “still need a demonstration.” Then she calls him “Daddy O” which turns him all so hard that all the blood from his brain goes somewhere else in a hurry and he just is mutely nodding. Oh Archie.

Toni Topaz, looking excellent in her ponytail-with-bangs, oozes up to Cheryl who eagerly asks if she’s going to buy tickets to the Sock Hop. “Are you asking me out?” is what she says, which then rings about the cutest meltdown. Cheryl entirely fails at sounding outraged because she’s elated, but is aware that Midge is there, so she stutters (to Midge, by turning her head away from Toni) that she OF COURSE ISN’T asking Toni out because - because she’s the *host!* And and and (Cheryl never stutters, but here she is, stuttering) also she’s a … [unspeakable word: GIRL] and Toni is also [unspeakable word: Girl]!! And girls don’t!!

Toni makes fun of Cheryl - smirkily asking what she means to say: “Girls don’t what? Dance with other girls?” and then says “Calm down, Peggy Sue.” To add insult to injury she then talks about how Fangs is a singer who deserves to be in the lineup for the music for the dance. The dirty look that Cheryl gives Fangs is a balm to my heart. I stan Cheryl Blossom for many reasons, but her persistent hatred of Fangs makes her my avatar. Cheryl suddenly remembers that she does not like anything associated with the Southside, and so is rude about the Serpents. She doesn’t want them at her Sock Hop because they will “Start a Rumble.” Toni tells her nobody will buy tickets to this thing with Kevin’s “B-grade barbershop quartet.” BURN. Fangs follows Toni around like he always used to in the proper universe, but this time he says bye to only Midge, who pretends rather incompetently that she is not all about that attention. Cheryl smacks her.

At PEP comics, which is in the building that used to house the Charles Smith FBI Field Office in the future, Jughead Jones is waiting impatiently for his turn to speak to the editor in chief. There’s a secretary lady and a young male assistant to the EIC. Jughead is determined to have his say, and his trying to stay true to that purpose while being obviously a bit intimidated by Al Fieldstone is very cute. He can’t even face him head on, instead angling his body towards the door in case he needs to skedaddle for his life in a hurry.

Mind-Wiped 50s Jughead speaks in the same OG Disney Channel (like, when Walt was on shows on it) Ozzy-and-Harriet, the OG Mickey Mouse Club candances as Archie. It’s very funny when placed against the more natural delivery of Al Fieldstone. Jughead is very scared but he says what he came to say. “I submitted a story that you - rejected it. And then- surprise surprise! - you ran a story that was exactly like it! Now, you might call that a coincidence, but I call it theft!” Even the way he puts his little hands on his little hips has no conviction, because Jughead is so intimidated by Mr. Fieldstone. He looks a little astonished at his own moxie at having said all this to this man.

Fieldstone growls that there are “no original ideas” and that he has hundreds of submissions every week which are all “slop” - and Jughead stutteringly insisting that the “timing” and “details” are too much to be a coincidence? Fieldstone rolls right over him. Filing cabinets, he says, are filled with every germ of a story idea he’s ever had. Fieldstone boasts about a backlog he’s “waiting to farm out” to potential writers. Jughead is very gifted at making the most of opportunities, I guess, because he immediately volunteers his own services as a writer.

“You’re looking for writers??”

“Always!”

“Well I’m! A - WRITER.”

Again, Jug looks so amazed at himself, for calling himself a writer in front of an actual publisher His eyes hold more than a small amount of fear that he won’t be believed, and won’t be allowed to claim this title. But he doesn’t blow it! Jughead wants to know how he can be ‘considered’ for a writing job, to which the editor in chief hands him a slip of paper with the aforementioned story kernel on it, and tells him to come up with “seven pages” that won’t “make him want to puke.”

Jughead leaves elated, entirely having forgotten about why he came to begin with. Obviously, Fieldstone has been through this spiel thousands of times before. What writers want, according to Riverdale, is not actually justice in the event of a plagiarism event. What they want is a paying writing gig, and the offer of one will make them forget everything else.

Meanwhile, in Betty’s bedroom, Archie confirms that he indeed knows the phrase “cut a rug” but he has a panic response to the word “dance” because he once broke Midge’s toe attempting to dance once. Betty is going to teach him the twist. She tells him to move his hips from side to side. Archie’s hips stay stock still but he moves his shoulders in rhythm which is a start. Betty tells him less shoulders, more hips, but then he just has a body disregulation event. It makes Betty give up right then and there, switching them over to slow dancing. The song says “Be miiiiine/ For the Rest of my Life” while Betty and Archie in a peachy glow look lovingly at each other. Oh they are so cute.

Of course, this is when Alice Cooper has to come barging in. She is scandalized. While she shuts off the music, Betty and Archie try to explain that they weren’t doing anything bad, that Archie was gearing up to ask out “The new girl” (according to Betty) who is “a celebrity from Hollywood!” (according to Archie). She summarily kicks Archie out. I LOVE Alice’s outfit - the floral print, the wide skirt, the green cardigan, the skinny pink belt, the super high heels. This looks like the more uncomfortable thing you could choose to wear at home, but it look undeniably excellent.

Meanwhile, in the extremely big traincar in which Jughead lives, we have AN ETHELEHEAD MOMENT. Jughead has shown his draft to Ethel, who says she is so jealous of the opportunity he has to submit something to Pep Comics. Jughead says she’s as good as anybody, then goes on to offer that if his story passes muster, he will recommend her as an artist to the publisher. This is so cute. I love this. I also like it in general when Jughead Jones has a nice looking place to live.

Cheryl is obsessed with selling tickets to this Sock Hop thing! She drives solo to a lakefront piece of land where clearly people go to fuck in their cars, then does an INSANE thing. She knocks on windows to ask if they’ve bought a ticket. Of course, the first car she picks is the one Fangs is in. He rolls down the window for some reason to reveal Midge who looks scared and is in a pose that looks like she either just got done or was about to give head.

WHY DOES FANGS LOWER THE WINDOW???

Cheryl has a very Penelope Blossom freakout. “One of my precious Vixens with a common greaser! SACRILEGE! GET OUT OF THE CAR RIGHT THIS MINUTE!” Ah there is the Victorian syntax, back in full force! Further, the sheer power that Cheryl has is amazing. Midge, whinging, does exactly as she’s told. Cheryl’s coitus-interruptor outfit is excellent - red skirt with white polka dots, a white coat, red barrel handbag.

In one of the cars is Kevin and Betty. I hate Kevin. To quote Nathan Lane talking to the gays of Brokeback Mountain - “Leave those poor women alone!” He looks unhappy while he is in the car with the beautiful Betty Cooper, who wants to know why she and her so called boyfriend are sitting in a car at the make out spot not touching. He can’t even come up with some sort of answer for why he’s being such a withholding jackass. She points out that he hasn’t even asked her to the Sock Hop, to be his date. The way Kevin’s closeted self hatred manifests apparently is to be a misogynist. He doesn’t apologize for not asking Betty to the dance. He says he’d assumed she’d be there, while he performs, as his fan.

Betty can’t take it anymore and plants a passionate kiss on him. The revulsion he exhibits with his hands before he pushes her off! Kevin! Then he has the GALL to call her a sex maniac because she wants to be ‘pinned.’ (Just like I didn’t really know what at Sock Hop was, I am not sure anymore that I know what the whole ‘pinning’ business is actually, even though it’s mentioned a lot in things set in the 50s and in pulp novels.) I think it’s related to ‘going steady’ and I suppose promising to dry-hump only each other (because sex wasn’t allowed at this time officially between teens, right?). Betty rightfully leaves the car so she can walk home.

“Pretentious, clunky, too much dialogue, but it’ll do” is the assessment that Jughead’s writing gets. His hands are in an anxious prayer position, his foot is tapping from terrified nervous energy, and the hideous squares of his vest do not go with the hideous squares of his red checked shirt, but Jughead gets a job! Sort of! He gets paid for his writing, in any case.

Aside: In the same way that perhaps Archie was never very talented at music (the only person who thought he had a gift was his groomer - the university professor rejected him outright, for one) are we supposed to think Jughead is a hack? He got into a prestigious writing program for college, sure, but he didn’t place at the writing competition he submitted things to that got him Chippings’ attention, his classmates at Stonewall rated Donna’s fic to be the best, Betty as an adult called his writing cringe and now this.

Is a dollar a page a lot in 1950? It sounds dirt cheap pay, to me. Oh and see - the care with which Riverdale is made! The publisher is totally gypping Jughead, who is too naive to know it, and he doesn’t give a shit who the artist is that Jughead claims to know until he says that magic word - CHEAP- in which case the publisher wants the illustrations for the 7 page zombie story TOMORROW. The way Jughead frantically throw out the word “cheap” because the editor isn’t interested at “incredible artist, young, hungry” and the way the editor immediately wants to know about the CHEAP part!

Jughead’s wholesome offer of a handshake thanking a man who (a) definitely DID steal his story after rejecting it and (b) is going to pay him slave wages for a story he churned out based on a kernel probably stolen from yet another writer and (c) is now going to exploit Ethel’s work being met with suspicion was a great touch.

The next day at school, Kevin is drawn to the music room by the siren song of melodious piano playing. It turns out to be the black student who isn’t Chuck. We finally get told what his name is - it’s Clay Walker. He says he was “horsing around” even though he sounded extremely accomplished on the piano. Clay Walker gives Betty Cooper her dues - Kevin is ‘dating the prettiest girl at Riverdale High.” Once more, Kevin, STOP TORTURING HER. Clay says he has transferred in from ‘all over’ though that’s an evasion, not an answer. His father was military and he may now be dead (or perhaps somehow dishonorably discharged?) - Clay says his father WAS in the army. When Clay asks Kevin to recommend someone he should take to the dance because he doesn’t have a date yet, Kevin says the most damning thing. That “lots of people go stag.” Which means that his level of failing at comp het is not actually necessary at Riverdale. He’s ruining Betty’s teen years and subjecting her to constant sexual rejection on purpose when it isn’t necessary for his survival. I hate Kevin.

Aside: And actually, Kevin has a lot of weird toxicity doesn’t he? I’m not just talking about the strange way he yanked Fangs around, ultimately yeeting out on the relationship that he insisted they have with Toni and so on. That and his using white privilege to steal Toni’s baby away from her. And the fact that in his soul-selling to get Broadway success, Fangs is his servant and his sexual servicer, not an equal partner. When Jughead-Narrator of RIvervale sold his soul for comic book success, he just had the comic book success and a permanent resident booth inside Pop’s. He didn’t sexually or emotionally dominate a significant other.

Archie tries officially asking out Veronica again. She still doesn’t say yes. While reading Peyton Place, Veronica invites Archie to her place later that day, with the express purpose of auditioning to be her beau for the evening. Even though this proposition is actually quite insulting, the way Veronica looks - so alluring and perfect and knowing - is inducement enough. And really, Veronica does know how to lure them in. She tells Archie as he cutely skips out, “I’m rooting for you, Stud,” in the most sultry voice. He can’t control his happiness at being singled out (when he’s by himself, no less).

Once more, I adore 50s Archie. He’s so bouncy and cute and sweet and wholesome. This is how I think Jughead thinks Archie is, even though he isn’t, and I wonder also if that’s why this is why he’s like this in the universe that is Tabitha’s creation. (Even though she didn’t take the narrating duties away from Jughead, this is, in essence, a universe fueled by Tabitha’s power, so this is in some way her version of these people, right? In which case, Betty being insanely horny as fuck all the time is actually very funny to me.)

Speaking of which, Betty wants to know how Veronica makes this happen - how she gets boys to just do whatever she wants. “So they just do whatever you say!” she remarks. Can we just take a moment to discuss how absolutely spectacular Betty looks in this green sweater and cinched-waist skirt combo? Just SO sensual and sexy. Veronica totally finds her hot. I mean, generally, my central thesis about Veronica is that she’s gay. This is why her relationships with men never quite work out. She may be bisexual sexually but she is homosexual emotionally. She loves beautiful women, and wants to love on them and dance with them and boost their confidence. So Veronica does what she does with pretty ladies to Betty here, telling her she’s “a total Marilyn” and tells her how to break up with her boyfriend - ask some other boy out and make Kevin “all hot and bothered.”

Cheryl is still shilling tickets to her sock hop dance thing, but not very successfully. She accosts Dilton Doiley.

I am sad about what they’ve done with Dilton Doiley for this scene. He’s such a stereotypical Asian nerd, of the type that Riverdale has hitherto successfully avoided. OG Dilton was a feral little weirdo, who did things like encourage Archie to get a gun. Rivervale Dilton had long excellent hair and was a different kind of feral weirdo. Reggie 1.0 and 2.0 were also not the note-for-note rote racist Asian boy nerd stereotype that 50s Dilton is. He’s bespectacled, stuttering, scared of Toni Topaz (Minnie Mouse Serpent, be gone!) and bullied by Cheryl who seems literally half his size. A gormless Asian nerd afraid of women - feeds right into the Is he gay or is he Asian hatefulness which manages to be homophobic and racist at the same time. Great.

Back at the Andrews residence, Archie has tried on Fred’s jacket so he can have something to wear to Veronica’s shindig in the evening. The jacket does not fit at all whatsoever, so he presents himself awkwardly like a pretty scarecrow to ask for assistance for his mother. Mary Andrews giggles like a Flintstones wife which she’s never ever done before. She fixes the jacket. I wish I knew how to do things like ‘let out a hem a little bit. One more normal life skill I have neglected to acquire all this time. The faces that Archie makes in the mirror are, just to keep going on about it, SO VERY CUTE. He looks so handsome, so fresh faced, so excited, so sweet spirited.

He’s so in love with Veronica’s ‘celebrity’ or maybe ‘celebrity adjacent’ status. He keeps saying that about her to the mothers, even though Veronica actually shared how miserable her present existence is. She’s abandoned by her parents, has been always neglected by them, and lied about it all only to have it humiliatingly thrown in her face. And yet, Archie is just so taken with her Los Angeles, Big City, Glamorous It-Girl persona. Poor Veronica.

Mary cries about seeing Archie in Fred’s suit because she and Fred went to their Sock Hop together. Fred apparently wrote Mary love poetry in this universe. Archie has very cute pale blue wall paper with different sports implements. Archie seems very charmed by his parents’ high school courtship.

Inspired by this story, Archie writes Veronica a poem, then gets Betty to take a read through in case in sucks.

Okay so.

So.

I object to this sort of ‘friendship’ between boys and girls. I just feel like they aren’t really friendships but some sort of (at best) unconscious emotional cruelty by one party to the more sexually interested party or (at worst) taking advantage of someone who you know is into you and you’re not sure or you think you can do better so you’re backburnering them. And having them ‘coach’ you on how best to date someone else is a pretty shitty backburner-stoking method. So in principle I dislike this, but the fact that Archie is doing it to THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN RIVERDALE (that both gay boys agree on - that is Clay and Kevin) is a bit too much.

In any case, Betty likes the poem. I was supremely relieved that they didn’t make me listen to the poem, ngl. Because I really didn’t like any of Archie’s songs either (Sorry, Arch).

Cheryl has some courage. She goes to the site of the Speak-Easy that existed in the infinite space underneath Pop’s which looks like a trailer but somehow isn’t, which then hosted the second Whyte Wyrm, and in this era is a “coffee house” which actually looks like an amazing place I’d like to go to. Toni must have incredible vision because that space does not look like it has anywhere near enough light but yet she is reading. It’s literally called THE DARK ROOM. Bikers, beatniks and badasses are who Toni thinks she’s a part of but I ask you this - why would such cool people give a shit about playing music at the goddamn Riverdale Sock Hop?? Why is Toni so goddamn invested in Fangs taking the stage at what sounds like THE preppiest event of all time??

I do very much enjoy all the weird 50s hipster lingo that Toni uses. “Take a load off” etc.

Archie has brought wholesome flowers Veronica’s thing. She is wearing the most RIDICULOUS dress. An absolutely enormous flat black bow topping cancerous looking black buttons on a painted-on purple tightness. I both love it and hate it. She is holding an alcoholic drink when she enters, telling Archie that they were all discussing Eisenhower and presidential politics. Archie and I are both alarmed that there are “others.” There are no fewer than THREE others - one of which is the cursed Julian.

Meanwhile, the Cooper ladies are doing dishes together wearing really, really high heels at night. Do - did? - white people actually live like this in the 1950s? Like, outdoor shoes in the house is gross enough to me, but to wear 5 inch heeled shoes while doing the dishes at night? That is some extreme kink dominatrix shit to me. I’m very square and preppy, it’s true, but come on! Anyway, Betty tells her mom in the most winsomely adorable way that she is having ‘fluttering’ feelings about Archie. Alice, because she’s a piece of shit in any universe, tries to kibosh that by asking if the attraction is purely because Kevin makes Betty feel ‘underappreciated.’ This bitchy comment kills Betty’s glow immediately.

We skip to Jughead looking through Ethel’s illustration work. “Holy Hell, Ethel!” he exclaims. He thinks she’s produced something great. Ethel looks so happy. I know from previews something terrible is going to happen to her, but why can’t Ethel just have some nice things! Why?? And because Jughead doesn’t seem to think her being a girl is going to be an obstacle to getting paid for her art, Ethel takes courage and asked Jughead to be her date at the Sock Hop.

Except 1) Jughead was not at all keeping track of the date of the Sock Hop and 2) when he asks “For Kicks?” as a response she caves and agrees, even though she clearly meant it to be a date invitation.

I hate this. I hate this so much. They always do this in so much media, that a girl asking a guy to go to a thing like this can never lead anywhere good and often starts out with her being rejected outright in an offhand manner. Riverdale! I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!!

Anyways, as though this wasn’t bad enough, Ethel’s very terrifying mother opens the door without knocking, bringing scary music in with her, and gives Jughead such an evil look of hateful silence that he goes from wanting to politely greet the woman (and possibly tell her how talented he thinks Ethel is) to being confused and a bit offended. Mrs. Muggs implicitly threatens her daughter and her guest with Mr. Mugg’s violence like this is a normal thing to do, which Jughead takes as his cue to leave.

At the Pembroke, which omg has a baby grand in the living room - I am so jealous when anyone has a huge musical instrument just in their living room - Archie cannot keep up with the competition. Veronica is telling an anecdote about Frank Sinatra. This might be a lie, right? Veronica is established as a liar. But in any case, I miscounted. There are FOUR, not three, other suitors in the room. The most annoying one is of course Julian Blossom, who insults Archie gratuitously.

Veronica has a fricking actual Monet in her living room. Julian recognizes it, preening that the Blossoms go art buying every summer. Bored perhaps, or maybe egotistically annoyed that instead of just being impressed Julian keeps trying to compete with her stories, Veronica solicits Archie’s opinion. The thing is, Veronica knows Archie is a know nothing. She even thinks he doesn’t know what Cut A Rug means. So she has to know she’s setting him up for humiliation, asking him for an opinion on Monet.

I do like Archie’s forthrightness. He says he prefers Norman Rockwell. Not letting it go, Julian attacks him about his clothing, which then touches the sore point that sets Archie off in every iteration - besmirching the honor of the sainted Fred Andrews. Veronica, recognizing a strategic blunder, tries to redirect everyone to a game of charades.

The Archie I know and kind of loathe finally emerges in this alternate timeline. Stiff with rage, he threatens violence on Julian before excusing himself to go. The concerned disappointment on Veronica’s face, as well as Julian being a jackass right behind her got to me.

Julian is what Bret Weston Wallis would be if Bret had been straight. But Bret wanted to bottom for Jughead Jones, so he came off somehow less repellent even though a lot of the things he did and said were just as terrible. Julian is Riverdale’s anti-heterosexual statement, I guess?

Archie tosses his poem for Veronica in the trash as he leaves.

The next morning, Veronica pays the Andrews home a visit, trying to put on her best nice girl front to Mary Andrews, who isn’t having it at all, whatsoever. Mary Andrews says about her son that he is “simple, so simple” which - OK so everyone including his mom thinks 50s Archie is as dumb as a sack of rocks. So Mary rightly tells Veronica off - “What kind of person auditions boys to go to a Sock Hop?!” and calls her “Little Miss Femme Fatale” before slamming the door in her face.

This is the most I’ve ever liked Mary Andrews in seven years.

That same morning, Alice Cooper has summoned Kevin to talk about Betty. Kevin basically tells Alice that he’s gay. “Betty wants THESE THINGS from me, but I’m not sure I can give them to her.” Like really. Any straight boy saying this to his girlfriend’s mom is almost as clear a statement of his homosexuality as saying “Mrs Cooper I want to suck cock.” But because Alice is a POS she thinks that this is normal. Or at least, she says so. I’m inclined to think she’s cockblocking Betty. If Alice in the 50s has the same sorts of things happen to her as the main universe - teen pregnancy from FP or Hal or whatever throwing her entire life off course - then she has an understandable motivation to make sure her totally gorgeous, sensual daughter is dating a gay boy who can’t stand to touch her even to keep up a straight front. Out of her bra, Alice produces a pin, and tells Kevin that what girls really want is a “fella who carries her books home for her from school or takes her to the movies or call them on the telephone.” She says the pin (which Hal gave her) will solve all sexual tension and make things be ‘pure.’

Whatever Alice and Hal have going on in this universe is just as sick as the thing they had together in the real universe.

Kevin looks like he wants to throw up, but takes Alice’s explanation that pinning Betty with her mom’s pin is going to take care of everything with a smile.

Suddenly, Toni is all about selling tickets to the Sock Hop because Fangs will be performing. Oh. Is this supposed to be an echo of like, their eventual marriage with baby stupidity in the main universe? And to top it off, Toni bullies the new Dilton Doiley into buying 5 tickets to the Sock Hop because this is supposed to be funny. It’s not and I hate it. Toni asks Cheryl if she’s told Kevin that he’s been replaced by Fangs, to which Cheryl says she hasn’t but also takes the chance to use a new hipster phrase she’s learned: “Can you dig it?”

Poor Ethel. Two hideous old white men are bearing down on her in the Principal’s office. She was doodling in Mr Doiley’s class (so Dilton is the science teacher’s kid - I feel too tired to point out this is a stereotype). It’s the illustration suitable for that comics magazine she wants to work for. Ethel’s work has a really cool R. Crumb kind of energy. So she tells the truth - she says she’s trying to meet a deadline for the Pep Comics project. The world is against Ethel, so she now has detention.

Archie approaches Veronica. He says he’s sorry he left in a huff but then scarily says, “I sincerely was going to rip Julian’s head off.” When Veronica responds with a suitably chastened apology, which she tops off with a sweet affirmation that she really liked getting to know him, Archie asks her out yet another time. Very interestingly, Veronica seems pleased that he’s still interested in her like that but rejects him for what looks like might be once too many times. She won’t be going with anyone. Archie gets rightly very annoyed, asking why she’d made him jump through hoops and participate in a dog and pony show. Veronica says it was a game, because to her way of thinking the queen bee is supposed to rile up the worker bees then fly off. Archie has finally had enough to stalk off.

Right before gym class (? I guess? I don’t understand the yellow button downs + belted blue shorts outfit they’re all changing into) Betty wants to know if Veronica has made her choice. Veronica says she’s going stag. I wish the gay girls flirting storyline was given to Veronica and not Toni or Cheryl. Anyway when Betty asks why, Veronica says without saying so that she is going alone as a form of penance for having been so thoughtless and careless with Archie’s feelings, making him do her bidding to compete for her against other boys. Betty asks if she didn’t like his poem, which Veronica doesn’t know anything about. Veronica tells Betty she doesn’t know who if anyone Archie is going with, but whoever she is “She is one lucky girl.” Betty looks at her beautiful self for reassurance, happy to hear her flutterings about Archie can maybe be explored, before skipping off adorably behind Veronica.

Immediately after, looking like 50s barbie in one of her sexy sweater-and-cinched-waist outfits of this season, Betty walks in slowmo to the beat of 80s synth music to ask Archie to the dance. I was so excited for her, but then Kevin FUCKING KELLER makes the record scratch happen by demanding that he must talk to Betty right this particular minute.

He takes her to the music room where all the sexual things happen at Riverdale High. He says he’s very sorry, mentions that he was cut from the program at the Sock Hop, and then tells Betty that she’s the “most wonderful, the ginchiest girl” which apparently means - sexy and cool and excellent - after which he asks Betty to go steady with him. Betty has doubts but the motherfucker (I hate Kevin so much right now) bulldozes over her very justified objections by promising that “things will be really different this time.” He says what I think is a true thing - “I love you” - followed by a lie - “You make my heart feel full.” Dude. He’s pulling out all the stops, manipulating the fuck out of this girl who he knows is so horny which horniness he hates because Kevin Keller in this timeline isn’t just gay because he likes men- he’s gay because he hates women. He can’t even bring himself to touch a piece of clothing over a tit. Betty has to put the pin on herself.

Ethel didn’t show up to detention because she was selling her artwork to the publisher. Mr Fieldstone turns out to not hate women like Kevin Keller. He finds it difficult to believe that Ethel, whose skin looks so clear and milky, whose collar is so lacey and sweet, could draw art to his liking, but once assured that it’s real, gives her the standing-greeting and handshake respect gestures that he did not give Jughead Jones. He nicknames her Freckles, saying, “You have some real talent” and calling her work “putrid (admiring).” And Jughead Jones, bless him, seems surprised but not at all jealous. He’s just beaming at her.

The publisher, all smiles, calls Jughead Boy Wonder, to go with her Freckles nickname, and wants to know if they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Jug says they are “creative partners” to which she adds, “We are going to the Sock Hop together.”

Smithers has found Archie’s poem in the trash bin he was emptying and duly brought it up to her. Uhhh. So Smithers is going through Veronica’s trash every day!?! And I guess reporting on the contents to her parents?? Like, why is he examining the contents of the trashcans instead of just throwing them away?? In any case, I am unhappy because I think they’re going to read me Archie’s poem at some point.

Ethel is excited as she comes home to her terrifying parents. Her dad calls her a delinquent and they’re both immediately screaming at her. Ethel calls her mom a drunk and her dad ‘miserable all the time.’ She says she’s going to the Sock Hop, to which her mother hollers, OVER MY DEAD BODY. Oh, I’m so sorry for Ethel. Why can’t she have nice things? (I mean, because the actress is gifted and can shoulder big heavy burdens in the story, but still, it’s hell for the character.)

At the Sock Hop, which looks even weirder as a cultural activity now because it’s canon that the Cooper women wear super high heeled out door shoes to wash dishes, Clay approaches Kevin. He tells a terrified Kevin that he thinks Fangs is handsome, then adds that he thinks Kevin is handsome too. You know what Clay - Run! Run away! Kevin is a piece of shit! He asks for a private concert, and Kevin just looks like a deer in headlights.

Fangs, whom I hate since he undeservedly became Serpent King in S6, sings Tutti Fruitti. Everyone likes this song, because it’s a good song, but I genuinely hate this performance. I’m usually forgiving about the singing performances on Riverdale but this is unbearable. Toni asks Cheryl for a dance (Cheryl is absolutely correct that Fangs is most definitely not the next Chuck Berry. Midge is an utter airhead, given that she swoons at Fang’s horrible singing. Anyway, Toni takes to the dance-floor with Cheryl which for some reason their principal who is clearly fucking Dupont, I mean, Werther, is mad about.

They overburden the very limited vocal range of the Fangs actor by giving him Only You to sing. Overlaid over this horrendous singing is Archie’s poem which Veronica has memorized. She does a Sylvia Plath meets Ted Hughes thing of reciting a poem back at its poet. Except Archie (and uh, the Riverdale writers) are no Ted Hughes. The only thing that is getting me through it is the extremely wonderful pearls-of-many-sizes headband Veronica has on. It sets off her black hair perfectly. She asks him for a dance, but Archie after looking so thrilled, says no. And that’s because Veronica has been cockblocked by Archie’s mom.

When Archie leaves her behind, Veronica is rendered vulnerable to Julian Blossom oozing up to her. But she’s not the one with the shittiest end of the stick, actually because that honor goes to Betty, who looks so adoringly up at Kevin, who can’t bear to look at her, and seeks reassuring eye contact from Alice Cooper of all people. The evil principal - who has to be another woman hating gay man in this universe - comes to remind Cheryl that they live in a comp-het world. This breaks Cheryl’s heart, and I’m sure the sting is made even worse because Fangs is tunelessly crooning the beautiful song, Only You, in his horrendous butchered version.

In comes Ethel, blood smeared over her pretty pink outfit, blood competing with her sweet pale blue eyeshadow on her terrified face. Jughead runs to her as she collapses, and she tells him that something terrible has happened. I mean, Fangs is butchering a ballad, but yes, something even worse has apparently happened to my poor girl Ethel. Uh, also I didn’t know Jughead was packing that much cake behind so that’s another thing that’s been denied her. Ethel better not have the worst plot line after Betty this season! I swear to GOD.

#riverdale opinion #riverdale episode 119 #anti kevin keller #too many thoughts about riverdale #riverdale positivity #riverdale s7 recap #riverdale s7 #Riverdale s6 #riverdale recap #riverdale episode recap

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aotopmha · 8 months

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So, I got in an Attack on Titan mood again.

It's been a while.

I think I might actually be ready to redo my favourite character list I thought I would do when the story ended, but that got delayed because I wanted to get my thoughts on the story as a whole cleared up and ended up getting into other stuff, as well (read: FF14's story).

But first I did a little catch-up on what people think about the story now that almost two and a half years have passed since the ending of it.

And it's kind of the same, but much more chill.

With the exception of some of the more extreme people, which at this point is pretty concerning. (Which is how the extremes of tribalism usually go.)

But I also reread the ending again and once again gained more perspective on it, which I am much more satisfied by.

And right now I think the ending was just really insecure. It tried to address so many elements that so many of them just ended up as a couple of lines, but at the same time, those couple of lines were important and none of the elements really could breathe.

I think it is important Eren wasn't completely condemned, but because that got so little time, you can read it as the story not following through with the framing the entire final arc built around him.

His friends condemning him for the bad, but remembering him by the person he used to be for themselves should've been the much stronger focus point because I think that's what the spirit behind all of the awkwardness seems to be – especially in context with 138.

But instead the criticism (which in my eyes was some of the strongest writing of the final arc) the story gives Eren prior to the ending almost disappears, kept to nuances or a couple of panels, when it should be center stage.

I don't need another lecture on how morally wrong his actions were. The entire arc was about that.

But for a story that so far so strongly cared about the suffering of the weak – for OG Ymir and Ramzi and everyone stuck in Liberio, for the faceless soldiers who are a focus of an entire opening sequence in the anime – it's so strange to see almost none of that.

For a story that so values freedom to basically push Historia in a box and not even address the biggest parts of her character arc even in passing, it feels strange for this ending to not be the same as the ending of other arcs, which always give voice to all of the perspectives.

I'm a massive proponent of creator freedom, but something tells me as much as Isayama loved Eren, he did not wish to excuse him or free him from any responsibility. I think he can relate to Eren and he cares deeply about him, it's just that the final chapter was 40 pages, not 100.

Again, chapter 131 and 138 exist.

And if it did, and the desire to cast Eren in a more positive light came from a desire to be non-conformist and he related to him more than you'd think, then why not go all in with that?

I really think he wanted a middle ground – be it because of his own perspective or a desire to make it satisfying for the fans, which the story is usually really good with, too.

But for some reason it ended up being so insecure. And maybe it really were nerves and expectations catching up with him because I think in terms of sentiment 137 and 138 were really, really confident.

I love most of the material with Eren in the final arc because it did his motivations with such good balance. You understand why he does what he does while he is doing awful shit. And it's all presented in a super confident way, too.

Another thing I learned after the break is that I think in recent interviews Isayama actually has said as much as I speculate/get the sense of, too.

More pages and a context without massive expectations might've actually been the true elements chapter 139 might've needed.

And I think this has enabled me to finally truly breathe easier about this story as a whole.

The negatives and positives sort of slowly clicked in place for me in a different way every time I've reread this ending and this was always something I couldn't put into words even after I thought I had my take figured out.

It really is super insecure, down to Eren's 'I don't know', isn't it?

And I think that's a new one for me. So many bad endings are super confident. There are so many endings that are non-endings and so many endings made from corporations meddling in creative decisions or from similar reasons. I think so few truly falter because of human insecurity.

And suddenly it became so much more of an 'interesting' ending.

You can talk about how art is made by human beings.

You can talk about fan pressure and expectations.

You can talk about 'true' authorial intention vs just wanting to make a good product and making fans happy.

I hope Isayama will still revisit the story at some point in some way now since we know he wanted to do more based on interviews.

The very tail end of the anime is still also coming. Maybe that'll be a chance to do more on Isayama's part.

But, huh, now that I reread it again, that really is the vibe I got because it never had a malicious/hateful tinge to me, as much of an issue I took with Historia's fate, for example. I've consumed deeply, truly hateful art and this isn't it.

Hm.

#Attack on Titan #Shingeki no Kyojin #AoT #SnK #Eren #Eren Yeager #Eren Jaeger

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signalwatch · 1 year

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20 Years of Blogging, Part 2 - Together, We're a League of Something!

Editor's note: This is Part 2 of a series. You can view the first part with just the click of a button.

also, this is a cross-post with the OG blog, League of Melbotis

So, yeah.

By April of 2003, we were blogging. For a look at the initial form of League of Melbotis on Blogspot/ Blogger, click on over to The Wayback Machine.

As mentioned in the first post, soon I was emailing and managing comments from friends and strangers. But, also, some of those pals already had their own blogs or quickly started one. It was easy, often free, and gave folks a chance to speak their mind. People were religious about their choice of platform. Livejournal people developed quite the mythologizing about themselves that arguably continues to this day. WordPress users constantly complained about what they were using but refused to change.

JimD started his first blog of many. RHPT joined in. Soon I was aware of Maxwell (she of the podcast) starting up Cowboy Funk, which detailed her life as a Texas ex-pat in NYC. I knew her husband before we met via his own web-presence and mentions on the blog.

Even folks like MikeS who recently did The Raid PodCast here at The Signal Watch kept a blog, along with a number of other people I still keep in touch with one way or another. We sometimes wound up meeting in person (Natalie showed up to have BBQ with me for my birthday circa 2007!), and sometimes I never knew who folks were on the other end of a handle. There's still folks I talk to occasionally here in 2023 I've never met. Meanwhile, some commenters have stayed at my house. I've been drinking twice with Randy.

Here's a list of then-active links from the blog from 2007.

and sometimes Randy is in the Phantom Zone

There were a whole bunch of you! I don't even remember who was behind some of these. And, yes, there was briefly a store at Zazzle, I think. My pal Denby recently sent me a pic of the official mug of the League of Melbotis, making me about spit out my coffee.

And, similarly, by 2007, we were comics-linking.

There's a mix of comic sites and blogs, including my brief dalliance with writing for another site, the now defunct and gone Comic Fodder. But there's Bully. Weird I wasn't linking to Progressive Ruin at the time. I know I followed Mike. Ah, the folly of youth.

The first year or so was kind of strange. I was just doing my thing, but much like when I selected bands to listen to or what books to read or movies to watch, I didn't consult with my folks. Nor did I tell them "I started a blog".

I don't recall when I told my brother. And because I wasn't using my real name, I don't really remember how folks found out about it. But the internet was a small place in the Naughty Oughties. But, yeah, soon enough my brother was a regular reader and started his own blog.

Somehow my cousin found the blog, who asked my parents about it, so then they knew. And... man, one of the weirdest interactions I've ever had with my parents was explaining to them that they didn't get to tell me what I put on the internet. Especially not at age 29 or so. I don't even really recall what the topic was, but something rubbed them the wrong way, and I heard about it. And I welcomed them to not read the blog, and that didn't go well. But it was a learning moment for all of us.

It's also worth noting, the first generation of bloggers had grown up with a basic education that included literacy re: journalism. We understood that your job when going to print was to not lie or bullshit except for comedic effect. You really did research and worked to get your facts as close to accurate as possible given limited resources, if you were going to tell a true story. *And* unless you were a classless dick, if someone presented you with contrary evidence, you adjusted. Sure, there were nasty debates in comments, but if you wanted some integrity, you generally tried.

The monetization of the blogs and news-sites was not yet in place. The model back in the 00's was not to crank through 10 "stories" per day for pop culture sites. If you wanted your blog to have any credibility, you kind of needed to adhere to *something* of a journalistic standard. Unlike most comics and pop sites today, one did not glance at Wikipedia or try to remember what someone told you over beers and then rank starfleet captains from best to worst after lunch before moving on to five more short and badly thought-out articles.

I'm not pretending League of Melbotis was a bastion of journalistic integrity, but I did genuinely grind my teeth when it came to accepting items for review, any contact with creatives lest it impact my opinion of the work, and other things that impact your life less when you're writing about movies from 1945 as my current blogging has slowly morphed into.

Arguably, I wasn't wrong on the comics-front. Once CBR and Newsarama decided access to DC and Marvel's talent pool was super important (and they were clearly being played for chumps by the pros), it was the start of the end for either site being worth a look.

But comics weren't the only topic we covered, of course. We talked TV and movies to a degree, especially if they were about comics.

We also had some regular features.

Ask Melbotis was a column where folks could write in and ask my dog anything under the sun.

We had regular interaction events where we'd put out a question to readers and print their response. Folks would write in about their best Halloween costumes or tell their favorite spooky story. We did this for Christmas, too, and maybe some other events. Mostly, I was always delighted at the time and effort folks put in. I can't imagine any readers doing this now. Heck, no one comments anymore.

There was a controversial feature named "Dames In the Media the League Once Dug" which was more or less me writing about attractive women from TV and films, and what it lacked in taste, it somehow bottomed-out with being woefully uninteresting. We *did* give Jamie equal time and a chance to write up on Dudes, but she rarely took me up on it.

There were posts on living a Super Lifestyle that went modestly viral. The funniest thing to me about this post now is that it's such a 20-something or 30-year-old's take on what it means to have a collection. Friends, this was but the beginning, and now a fraction of the collection as it currently exists. Maybe I need to re-do this post for the next Superman film.

And, we also went semi-viral with with a post I wrote about working at Chuck E. Cheese. The only reason this post exists is that I flew to Minneapolis a day before a conference and forgot to bring my coat and was trapped in the hotel. And yet, people really took a shine to my no-holds-barred take on my first job.

There were, also, of course, the taste tests.

I'm not sure "regret" is how I feel about the taste tests, but then people start writing in telling you to eat things you really don't *want* to eat. And you realize you've become the carnival geek on some level. I'm not saying they weren't usually kind of fun, but...

Look, one thing that was kind of true was that people started making requests for content. And that's both very sweet and a slippery slope. Some ideas you want to do, but most you do not. And while there's clickable reasons to follow the whims of your readership, I wasn't getting paid for this, so I wasn't really beholden to do anything I didn't feel like doing. But if you're just writing or doing tricks for readers... well, that's why YouTubers tend to come off like shrieking morons.

With the current blog, I don't think I've had a request for me to cover anything in the past five or ten years. I'm watching movies. The formula is simple. But with the original formula League of Melbotis, I suppose it seemed like we were up for whatever. And I am not that guy. I'm chipper here, but I'm a bit grumpy in the flesh. We *do* get requests for movies on the PodCast, but generally that just means I extend an invitation to come on, and people do! It's not bad!

One reason I wanted to just do whatever I felt like was that I needed an outlet . I haven't talked about it much so far in the prior post, but upon review I'm surprised is mentioned so much on LoM - Jamie was very ill when we lived in Phoenix. We were in and out of the hospital a staggering amount. And not just Jamie, it often felt like we were dealing with a variety of issues with friends and family. I had a whole tag for "hospital".

So, yeah, part of the pivot from League of Melbotis-style blogging to the media-discussion of The Signal Watch was that I no longer wanted to be as open of a book about our personal business. I felt like that chapter had closed. I'd enjoyed the LoM experience and appreciated folks reading and following and reaching out. But I also wanted to keep our life separate from a blog anyone could stumble onto.

But rather than end this section on a downbeat note, I'll also remind folks of the Clambake Jake's incident which certainly helped color how I wanted to proceed and shone a light on how being online had real-world impact going both ways.

Basically, we went to a new Italian All You Care To Eat Buffet, it was bad, I wrote about it, and the owner called the house lightly threatening us.

In the end, I did agree that I could accidentally torpedo a new business, and I embargoed the post until a couple of years after Clambake Jake's went under. But it was absolutely a wild ride.

https://ift.tt/cY8wIH5

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/qRHLy8P

#personal #blog history

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fandom-sheep · 2 years

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Eret 19 MAY 22

Lore w/ Wilbur Part 1/1

Ok I got here just in time. I’m so hyped for this.

Lore mode ooooo

This really has been a long story

Yes we do have many emotional attachments. That’s true.

Community house cake!

Museum our beloved.

And this stupid fricking path

THE MAP! I love the map! Eret did so well with it!

All the lil L’manberg maps 😢

Yes the traitors! And their rooms!

Eret betrayed in hopes of peace. Good intentions, and bad execution. (Pun intended)

Sheep! Ba ba ba. Those are going to mess up the poor animatic peoples audios.

OG map! We love the maps made by TheEret

Having to add all these torches so we can see.

All the little divider walls that were going to be sections for each person.

Did… did no one tell the literal king that stinky man is back?

No stream stop buffering! Stupid WiFi.

Eret gives the best dramatic lore speeches. They just feel so natural.

Sunset with the pretty shaders!

Wait I can’t hear anything. Reloading the stream and watching the stupid ad. Oh gosh 25 seconds is way too long. Buzz off Levi’s

We’re still monologuing good good.

The fact the OG control room is still almost completely intact still is amazing.

No don’t beat yourself up. There’s no way you could have known.

Meow

No forgive yourself you damp napkin. And maybe Wilbur I guess. But you know.

I mean there was a New L’manberg but Dream and Techno took care of that.

The gorgeous fortress!

Oh look Wilbur joined. This’ll be good

Oh he sounds like he’s going to cry.

The museum has grown so much. I remember when it was just the wall and such.

Someone not forgiving Wilbur when he shows up with a sorry apology? More likely than you’d think.

You are a different person. Have you seen the fanart doing comparisons? Oh well with the hair difference comment yes.

Oh hey Wilbur!

He sounds so awkward and Eret sounds so happy. Dwaaa.

Grand tour!

Where are you in a rush to go to you silly corpse? Oh now you suddenly have all the time.

Down to the items. 😂 Nope just storage.

I swear if this scream does stop skipping

Hottodog

Wilbur sounds so excited about the maps

Did no one tell Wilbur about Techno and Dream blowing stuff up? Sigh.

I mean yeah Wilbur you did. But you know third times the charm.

Oh hey Wilbur is streaming too. I just got his notif.

Yes the sections!!

Spotty stairs. Watch your step.

Quackity brought scorpions into Las Nevada’s. New lore from Wilbur.

I remember the walls. *falls off the wall*

No buttons do not work. As they shouldn’t.

Oh gosh. Are we discussing never meant to be?

Animators get yourselves ready.

Let’s play will the apology be accepted game.

Appreciate the apology. That isn’t forgiveness! That isn’t forgiveness.

Oh he didn’t let him run away! Go Eret!

Don’t let him BS an apology.

WHY ADS!! 1/3

Good good good. They’re done. That was fast

Answers? Oh a why. Why’s are important.

Wilbur he was there.

Wow Wilbur invalidating Eret’s redemption arc.

“You are not a good person Wilbur Soot.” -Eret

Wilbur saying he’s not a leader. Eret saying he’s not a leader. Wilbur talking about pushing blame off on Eret.

“I’m not the traitor. I’m not Eret.” -Wilbur

“Wilbur, we’re both traitors to our own people.” -Eret

Wilbur finding out Eret tried to do a revival. Oh poor Wilbur so confused.

Eret’s lil Minecraft guy is an animated speaker.

They all wanted to live in peace.

“Sorry and leave once again.” -Wilbur

Wilbur saying he meant his apologies to everyone else, but struggles to talk to and apologize to Eret.

Wilbur POV people. Is this man just chilling with a golden carrot?

Wilbur is really going full theatre kid here.

Lead the way to L’manberg Eret!

Wilbur the peaceful leader.

Does Eret stand for anything?

Eret the optimist.

Gah someone make this guy know he barely did a dent into this landscape

Mood lighting confusion blooper for the blooper reel.

NO STUPID PAUSING STREAM. STUPID INTERNET.

I’m putting this stream on the lowest quality to try to make it run.

Wilbur show Eret he’s sorry ok ok. I’m following.

Bumping it up to 360

Oh he reappeared at the shrine!

No honey Eret made that for you. It wasn’t your dad.

What are we discarding. What’s in the enderchest?

OH THE CROWN!

Eret taking his step back from being king? Hmmm?

Ah yes legacies.

Oh what can Wilbur throw away? He has like nothing.

Blooper map. Wilm

No don’t yeet yourself.

“I spent too much time trying to bring you back fro you to throw it away again.” -Eret

Oh Eret calling out Wilbur for his enderchest explosives.

A promise to never use the, to hurt anyone again

Awwww that’s so sweet. Fanartists I rely on you to make me cry over this again later.

Did anyone else notice earlier Wilbur kept standing a block above Eret but now Eret keeps standing a block above Wilbur?

“In some parallel reality.. it was meant to be.” -Eret

Pain but they’ll be good. My HEART!

Everyone was right. Eret, the other traitor, is good medicine for Wilbur.

Yes yes. They would have been amazing allies.

Book!

Oh wait that’s the certificate of adoption lolz. So many clips

Anyway let’s find an empty book

Wilbur planning on going on a journey far away in the coming months. Where are everyone who called that the apologies were sounding like goodbyes.

Click clack goes the keyboard. Wilbur’s chat can’t wait to find out what this man is typing.

Oh a signed book. Fancy.

DO NOT OPEN FOR 3 MONTHS! OPEN IN AUGUST.

(I gave that book to you 3 months ago!)

I swear I’m going to have to go to the Wilbur stream so see the message to my streamer. I have no patience.

Wilbur talking to others about how good Eret is.

Both bearing the burden of not being seen as hero’s

“There’s no harm in trying.” -Both

Where to find Niki! Alright Niki fans! Get ready

She’s at either her secret base or pogropia recently.

He’s going to look for her now. Aww

Yes Eret remind him Fundy needs closure too.

I’m going to cry so much in the coming time.

I swear soot if you don’t talk to Fundy.

I’ll have to watch what I miss of Wilbur’s VOD. See what happens in Pogtopia with Niki. And what Wilbur said after this.

Yes! Eret complete redemption arc! Woohoo!

The sun rises on a new day. Wow

Be free Eret. Be free.

Remember the server you had and onto the new future.

He’ll still wear the skin crown as a connection between the past and now.

To the thrown? TO THE THROWN!

Long live the King!

Clap clap clap clap clap

Continue to build! Do it! Make things better!

Oh yeah I forgot that book already.

Heading out of lore mode

Ferret stream crew really happy here.

Are we going to end or vibe?

We’re vibing. Restarting stream. Off to the VOID. Our favorite.

Time to see what happened with Wilbur after. Then we’ll return to the VOID or stream.

This man switched his screen while writing. F you sootings. Man knew we would come over here to try to find out early.

Ok I made it to the Fundy discussion spot. There’s only another minute or so.

Deep breathe and then the anthem. Awwww.

AND ERET!!! Just like Ghostbur promised. Also Our L’manberg not my L’manberg.

Well that was adorable. Loved that stream.

#dsmp lore #dsmp #Eret #Wilbur #delayed liveblogging #dream smp spoilers #dream smp

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acoldsovereign · 2 months

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Hi, Guillotina! I know you're still in the midst of setting up your blog and all, including new rules for followers (as you've said already), but I hope it's okay for us anons to still send you random IC & OOC asks! If not, you can delete-- I'll understand. ;w; I won't comment on recent dash stuff but I just wanted to check in and see if you/the people involved were okay???? I know you care about Saiyans a lot. Like, a lot, a LOT-- maybe more than anyone I know or seen so far. (In case I sound like a creep, I swear I'm not!) I was here when you first had Google Docs and had a really cute section about relationships/shipping stuff with Bardock. (Was also here when you first set up your Sites page and had an even *cooler* section about the diversity of the Saiyans' gene pool, explaining why Maiz looked so different! Not to mention your cultural & biological headcanons as well but that's neither here or there). So, I just wanted to check in on you. 🥺 I also say this because of your recent Toriyama post (didn't know he said that about female Saiyans omg! Everything makes so much sense now, haha. I was confused for years man 😭 ). Point is, I see how much Saiyans mean to you overall and I think it's rad to see as a fellow female fan of the series! Can you explain more of your muse choice to me? Like, what went into making her? I know you said she came from a fanfiction but I remember on your old blog, you also said she predates it?? Sorry If I'm misremembering! I just think you and your blog are cool! Keep on trucking!

{{ Heyo! Yes, that rule is still in place, anon! I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS enjoy receiving random asks (IC or OOC) from mutuals and anons. Though I'm private nowadays, I will extend this courtesy to non-mutuals as well! (How else am I supposed to know we're a potential match as writing partners if I don't extend that olive branch, y'know?). With that said-- awwww, you were here for all for that?! 🥺 My pre-Sites days too and during them?! That means you've kept an eye on me ever since I stepped onto the RP scene here.... You're an OG, you know that right?! I didn't expect this sweet and heartfelt message, so thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. I'm smiling so much like a goofy goober. This means the world to me. But yes, I'm okay. I got two new good friends out of said dash stuff (though we were mutuals already, anyway/had already been interacting). Anyway, yeah, I'm good! They're good, too! Thanks for checking in with us!! I'll tell them you sent good wishes, granted if they don't see this beforehand. :3

About Saiyans meaning a lot to me-- yeah. I wish I could remember the interview it was revealed in, but he was asked about it at some point to where he said something to the effect of "I didn't know how to design them/couldn't figure out their appearance", something like that. It stuck with me because like I've mentioned in my Toriyama post, many toxic (as in sexist/misogynistic fanboys and overall creepy ass people) tried to make DB a thing I wasn't allowed to participate in, all because I was born a girl which was and is-- bullshit. Women aren't a different fuckin' species, man. We like the same shit as men sometimes and that's alright. Trying to put me into a girly girl box is what made me into a rebellious ass tomboy (much like Videl who I somewhat related to, growing up). Only in my late teens/early adult years did I embrace my femininity (yes, I was vain and shallow like Bulma at times. I was also a bit too loose with money when I had some, so I understand her casual attitude regarding her wealth, but that's neither here or there). Point is there was and always have been room for female fans of the series, so when I heard that from the horse's mouth himself? Yeah, it was a wrap. That was it. Nobody could tell me SHIT. That's one thing about me: If I learn something is true and it makes my life easier, I will not listen to anything else. I'll do my own thing. I'm a bit stubborn like that but trust me, it's a good stubborn. Otherwise, I'm very open-minded about many things and I'm a good listener.

As I stated on more than one occasion, I started RPing in a chatroom of an anime-pirating website, while I watched DBZ Kai. After I finished the anime (and lost my original RP group of friends), I coped by scouring the Internet for more RP forums and platforms, of which eventually led me to Facebook. I ran into some mishaps here and there in the DBZ RP space but that aside, the highs were worth it and I stayed for a long while. I mostly specialized in Android/Cyborg OCs and Saiyan OCs. So yes, you are right by saying Maiz (as in RPC!Maiz's template) comes from my 2018 fanfiction but also predates it by SEVERAL YEARS because every female Saiyan I had from the age of 12 and up was essentially a prototype of who Maiz would become. Long story short, Maiz grew with me, even when her names before were: Rayearth (my og username on the chatroom/anime website), Beats, Serori, Celeri, and later Jinjā. Rayearth was able to go Super Saiyan and she was the angry-punchy type. She was closer to Vegeta in temperament and haughty as all hell. Beats was a bit more humble with a hint of cockiness. This was around the time I started playing around with morality and all that, so she was less of a Vegeta type but still rough around the edges. I think I implied she could go Super Saiyan but can't remember if it happened in any threads. Serori was much more humble and quiet-- introspective. However, she could be hostile if approached too quickly or suddenly. She was the first low-class Saiyan I ever made. Celeri was a jump off of that because someone had the same name as my OC so I changed her around*. She was extroverted, but not too much. I guess you could call her a quasi-Goku type, if Goku was Mid-Class and a woman. I changed the rank because I wanted to explore the classism aspect of the Saiyans and my OC's relationship between her and her inherent power. She was morally gray, if I remember correctly.

*A bit petty of me, I'm sure-- but I was immature and a moody teenager who only had her creativity to express herself with. Anything too similar to me back then felt like an attack on my personhood and individuality. Thankfully, I'm a mature adult who's grown past that trauma response from childhood.

Jinjā came in 2015. I was 16 going on 17, about to enter college. Stopped RPing some time before this, because well, I had to focus on school and life stuff. This is what she originally looked like:

She has no story, because she wasn't made with one in mind. I just missed having a female Saiyan to think/write about. She was truly random, a burst of inspiration that heavily looms over Maiz's current design. Jinjā has red, short, choppy hair because Seripa/Fasha was her base design. I wanted something different to make her stand out, or else she'd just look like a clone or twin. That's all. Fasha being the base is also where the earrings comes from, since she had them. (This was just before I started embracing cosmetics and accessories). While she didn't really have anything to her, the basic idea was to go back to my roots: a rough-and-tumble Saiyaness who can pack a mean punch and rock your shit even if it kills her-- even if she fails. Hence my attempt at blood and making her look badass/intimidating. Muscles and female anatomy was hard for me, still is slightly-- but I'm getting the hang of it. Anyhoo, I believe my intentions-- if I fleshed her out more-- would've been for her to be a Bardock-type. Fun fact: Battle of Gods came out a month before this redesign did, so I got some confused looks when asked if this was SSG (Red) and I said no. I wasn't a huge fan of the movie so I didn't really see it until later. Only clips and such on YouTube. I warmed up to it eventually.

While going back to college for the second time (2018-2019), I got into Super properly with the introduction of Broly in DB Super: Broly. I enjoyed the Future Trunks/Goku Black Saga but the narrative nightmare within the anime's climax (and the manga's middle part) was a tough pill for me to swallow. The movie though-- despite the minor grievances I have with it-- hit all the right spots: Saiyan lore! Saiyan culture! POLITICS!!! Space-Opera! Sci-fi!!!!!! Around this time, I was finally inspired to do something else for this fandom I've had a tumultuous relationship with-- write a fan fiction. Jinjā's redesign was imminent:

She got renamed in reference to her mom, who was now Seripa/Fasha's older sister as a nod to the latter being a design base. Karne comes the Japanese spelling of karnels (kaneru, if I have that correct) because she's frustratingly slow to anger like popcorn-- the pun she's based off of. (Fasha in other media, such as the games has always been described as the opposite: short tempered, fierce and feisty. She's staunchly loyal to her crew too, as implied in the movie and in those same games if you pay attention to her dialogue). With this, it only made sense to have the updated version of Jinjā follow the pun as:

To summarize: Maiz became Maiz in 2019, in the wake of DB Super: Broly. (It came out that year in the U.S). In the fanfic she originates from, she is the last female Saiyan, and that weighs on her all the time. Incidentally, Story!Maiz is much more sympathetic while remaining a frosty a--hole. Her trauma is much more apparent and while she's not exactly the nicest person in the Galaxy, it's much more clear to see why: she has attachment issues, which makes getting to know her difficult, she has trust issues, anger issues from surviving a bloody and rather violent/sudden genocide of her people at a young and tender age, she can't remember the last time she slept well, has frequent nightmares of being abandoned by her mother (she was the one who shoved her into an escape pod). She thinks there's no value to her life because she's been traveling through outer space with Turles for six years consecutively and there were several planets/galactic sectors who didn't even know what a Saiyan was. They were lucky to find remains. (Cut tails, boots, bones, dust/ashes, name tags, etc etc. The sights were very, very grisly. And she kept seeing the same things for six. Years. Straight). All of this turned her into a very bitter, negative person who became a straw nihilist. She kind of just wanted to pass away quietly in some corner somewhere, not because she felt remorse for being a Saiyan/the effects of her kin but because she had her entire life upended on a sadistic whim. There was nothing to live for in her eyes. She thought Turles was stupid for having hope after a while and became jaded. While she was stronger than Turles in terms of raw power, she had a issue with not wanting to preserve her ki for important situations. He constantly had to watch over her like a big brother and she absolutely resented him for it (misguided anger, anyone?). It didn't help that he remembered more of Saiyan life than she could. All in all, she was tragic and a bit too edgy probably, but she would grow out of her frosty shell with the introduction of Broly. She reluctantly bonded with him over time on their ship as Saiyan Squad (what I called them out of text) made their way to Earth to settle the score with Vegeta. Paragus didn't do anything for her but make her angry at first-- all this time she's convinced herself there were no more Saiyans and then she sees this old man still kicking somehow? Of course she'd be livid. (Paragus, over his short presence in her life until his death at Vegeta's hands proved to be effective; he became a makeshift father figure and imparted some words of wisdom of which she'd take to heart, post Broly fight. Turles was pretty devastated too and they would finally be the brother-sister duo he's always known they could have been. It's bittersweet and sad, tbh).

Anyway, that's the evolution process. As for why she looks like this in universe-- I'm gonna be honest and say I got it from Father of Goku. There were different looking Saiyans in there, two women have blue hair. Super Saiyan has green eyes and blonde hair. Who's to say there aren't natural green eyed Saiyans who existed? Or blondes? Dark hair can mean black and/or brown, so why not both? Same with dark eyes! Make them brown, hazel, chestnut, almost black or straight up black. Etc etc. (As a reminder, Fasha has purple eyes! PURPLE). If you look at official artworks/some colored manga covers and whatnot, Goku's actually tan. Hell, Future Trunks is basically apricot or a peachy skin tone. If you want a triple whammy??? Read the manga. No, seriously. There are OFFICIAL scans that has Trunks with red hair instead of the Super Saiyan blonde. And those are mistakes from Toriyama himself. Look at Z Broly and all his in between stages-- blue hair, greenish-yellow hair, etc. It's really not that hard to create a unique looking Saiyan, or justify it-- so I feel like the whole dark hair and dark eyes should be overlooked/not a big deal. I also just don't like how restrictive it is from a narrative/in universe standpoint. It's not fun to play with.

Anyway, thank you so much. I know this was long. 😭 My bad. I enjoy talking about Maiz very much and her concepts.

#Intergalactic Messages - Received #Grayfaces of the Galaxy (Anons)#Art of the Mun (Tina) 🎨🎭#{{ Funny I got this while I'm working on the rule page again... why is this hard. All I have to do is copy/paste and edit wtfffff aUGH.#{{ There's so many other things I have to explain but that would take an entire day. Just know I mixed Super and Z Broly canon for the fic.#{{ And I STILL can't find my redesign of Turles. But just imagine a really cool mohawk and a nicked ear and a scar on his nose.#{{ And obviously RPC Maiz is WAAAAAAYYYYYY wayyyyyyy different from her original story counterpart.#{{ I dont think i need to explain that but if anyone has questions go ahead i guess lmao 😭 just know it's gonna be a long ass answer-#{{ put under a readmore because i feel like this answer is so long.

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