#we sometimes quote sentences before the characters say them

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Animation-twitter, animation video essay youtube, etc. would probably be better off if they assumed every upcoming animated movie was going to be CRAP.

The director of INSIDE OUT 2, Kelsey Mann, has talked a bit about the picture recently. After all, it's out in less than two months... And immediately, so much of what he's saying is either being misread or quoted out of context. Something something Anxiety is going to be "the villain", something something they cut characters Shame and Guilt out of the movie because they felt it was too heavy, something something-

And we've got other people freaking out that Pixar showed 35 minutes of it at CinemaCon... LIKE... What's THE issue? Pixar has done that before! CinemaCon attendees were treated to half-hour chunks of Pixar movies in the past, like MONSTERS UNIVERSITY. When TOY STORY 3 was coming out, Pixar prepared a cut of the movie that ended just as the toys were escaping Sunnyside Daycare... to show to college campuses across the country a month before release.

Y'all need to calm down.

This movie isn't even out. We don't know how it'll tell its story exactly. Maybe there's more here than it seems? Maybe Anxiety will be an antagonist in the sense that she's doing what she feels is right, or is straight-up malevolent. I doubt it's the latter, that would be kind of... Not nuanced? For a sequel to INSIDE OUT? Having Anxiety just be an evil scheming bad guy just doesn't seem like it'll happen, nor is it a good idea. I think director Kelsey Mann meant that by her kicking the other emotions out of the main control room, she'll be the "big bad" of the movie. Why she kicks those emotions out could be related to how anxiety tends to work within the human brain. Taking control of your brain, thinking that it's steering you to make the right decision, making you cautious of dangers more so than "Fear" does. Pixar movies have had antagonists in the past that aren't necessarily evil, they just think what they're doing is right.

I also doubt that Pixar would let out a movie that flat-out stigmatizes people who suffer from anxiety disorders, such as myself. Maybe the Shame and Guilt characters were cut from the movie because director Mann, writer Meg LeFauve, and several others just didn't like the direction the story was going with them in it. Maybe it was too depressing for THEM, not because of any concerns for kids in the audience. People tend to associate Pixar with "tearjerking storylines", maybe it's possible that this went WAY TOO FAR at one point? I don't know, neither do you. Pixar's team isn't Disney Animation's leadership. Pete Docter is less controlling than John Lasseter based on everything I see and hear, but there are probably still some ground rules and some do's-and-don'ts. But I think it was ultimately down to the director not enjoying making the film back when it had these characters in it. As a writer/creator myself, I sometimes pull back when I feel something I'm making is causing ME lose the drive to make the thing in the first place. Maybe it hit too close to home for Mann, LeFauve, someone- Just a few variables, ya know? Not just "Pixar is too afraid to be sad", "Disney's telling them what to do", etc. etc.

Maybe animated movies shouldn't have this kind of pre-release thing... How about, just... Movie title, release date, BOOM. Nothing else. No interviews with the filmmakers and cast, no nothing... Wanna know more? You have to see it when it comes out! Put that in big letters in the teaser trailer!

But if they did that, twitter and the YouTube Animation Opinion Industrial Complex would sound the alarm: "They're not saying anything... IS THIS MOVIE IN TROUBLE???"

(sarcasm for those last two sets of sentences)

You can't win. And watch... It'll come out, and it'll be disliked for some weird reason. Probably because it isn't... PUSS IN BOOTS 2 or whatever. While the rest of the world goes, "Yeah, that's was pretty solid." And said population streams it on Disney+ a gazillion times. I'm not part of this "animation fandom" thing, quite frankly I don't even know what half of these people want most of the time. It seems like every movie is an oncoming stinker to them, and it ends up being a stinker. Sometimes the worst thing ever made, a work of evil. You know I still see people raging over that completely harmless CHIP N' DALE RESCUE RANGERS movie from two years back? The fuck is that all about?

I get that INSIDE OUT is a sequel to a beloved Pixar movie, I get that the original movie means a lot to so many people. I love it myself. At the same time, I'm not gonna be weird about a sequel I never even wanted until the day they announced it. Okay, if it isn't very good, I'll just go on with my life. But we're not even there yet... It's not out... This is the only INSIDE OUT sequel. Now if we were coming up on an INSIDE OUT 3, and INSIDE OUT 2 managed to somehow upset everybody? Then I'd somewhat understand...

Others will dole out their dislike of recent Pixar movies as their reason, but you know me... I feel each Pixar movie - for the most part - is a statement of its filmmaking team. Not a Mr. Pixar person coming up with each and every movie. (That was Lasseter in a sense, lol.) If "animation is cinema", then you oughta look at these movies as director-driven. I feel the other way around reduces the films to a brand, and not the people who actually make them. INSIDE OUT is first and foremost a Pete Docter-directed film... Made at Pixar. Not a "Pixar film". Pixar isn't a person nor is it a collective, it's a place. It should be judged on how functions as a movie and as a sequel to INSIDE OUT, not up against other movies made at the studio by other people. Like I'm not here for THE INCREDIBLES or UP, I'm here for an INSIDE OUT sequel. I know, that's a very radical opinion to have. Silly me!

I just don't get it... I'm just gonna do it the old-fashioned way... I'm going to see the movie, and hope that I like it or get something out of it.

[bettsfic]

Hello! Betty, can you talk more about your tags in that Baldwin post? It got me really curious. Also, how do you strip a text from yourself, where is the line?

(for context, the post anon is referring to is a james baldwin quote from the paris review art of fiction in response to "as your experience about writing accrues, what would you say increases with knowledge?"

his answer is, "you learn how little you know. it becomes much more difficult because the hardest thing in the world is simplicity. and the most fearful thing, too. it becomes difficult because you have to strip yourself of all your disguises, some of which you didn't know you had. you want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. that is the goal."

to which i then wrote what i can see know are indecipherable tags about the state of contemporary litritchure.)

so what really resonated with me in this quote is "you want to write a sentence as clean as a bone."

a few years ago i wrote a post about how all that matters is the sentence. and i got a bunch of people reblogging it in disagreement: writing is about character, conflict, yadda yadda. but it's just not true. you don't have character and conflict and all those other lovely craft things without the sentence. the sentence is the vehicle for meaning. writing cannot exist otherwise.

the way i interpret "a sentence as clean as a bone" is a sentence that is wholly in service of the narrative. this kind of writing is rare. it requires a lack of ego and an abundance of confidence, which are two things that don't often go hand in hand. it's hard for me to define it, because on the outside it sounds like i'm saying i prize simple sentences, and that's not true. i'm talking about raw sentences. ones that are written almost as if they had no intention to be read. which is ridiculous, because don't writers write to be read?

that's the big conflict. that's my beef. i've been an editor for seven years and i've read hundreds of stories from the slush pile. the prevailing pattern i see in it, and in most contemporary writing, is this underlying falseness. that this thing i'm reading exists only to be published. only to be a line on someone's CV, a clause in an author bio. i also see a lot of writing that asks me to look at the author over the work itself. applaud them for their clever phrasing and textured images and well-deployed rhetorical devices. and for the most part, i do applaud that kind of writing. like all writing, it's hard, and regardless of the intent, i value a punchy sentence. but sometimes it feels a bit like being in the audience of a magic show where i know how all the tricks are done. everyone is oohing and ahhing and i'm sitting there like, but can't you see it's not real? that it's a trick that's been done a million times before?

there's a lot of counterintuitive logic in what i'm saying. almost no one can write without the foresight of a place it might belong. if you write a literary short story, its destiny is a literary magazine. if you write a full-length manuscript, its destiny is a book store. without knowing where something might belong, you have no road to follow. i don't believe there are many writers out there rubbing their greedy hands together and demanding a pulitzer. but i do know that the motivation of write, for every single writer, is complex. it's inherently a drive to externalize that which is internal, and in that process it becomes flawed. it becomes something that begs to be seen. even if you want to be seen, even if you're dying to be seen, there is still always fear there, because the journey from your mind to a reader's is imperfect. what is in your mind fundamentally can't be in someone else's, and so we might be misperceived. the deeper and more cumbersome that fear is, the shallower and more myopic a writer's work becomes.

that's why what baldwin is saying here is something exceptional, and possibly something impossible. who is the writer that doesn't concern themselves with belonging? who doesn't write to be read? it's a paradox.

fanfiction as a genre, by definition, doesn't have this problem. fanfiction is written largely pseudonymously or anonymously. there is no profit. when i read a good fanfic, or even a not so good fanfic, the author is never saying, "look at me!" they're saying, look at this canon text through the lens with which i see it. and that practice is getting very close to what i think baldwin is talking about. closer, at least. i think writing fanfic is an inherently vulnerable process, and that's why i value it so highly.

ultimately, i don't think it's possible to strip a text of yourself. on a baseline cognitive level, language is the shape of our thoughts, and narrative--a sequence of cause and effect--is our primary tool of understanding ourselves and the world. what baldwin is talking about, sentences as clean as a bone, sentences that exist entirely in the service of the narrative, is a nearly unachievable goal. and so i think what he's saying is the opposite of taking yourself out of the work. i think he's saying you have to put yourself in it, wholly and unselfconsciously, the ugliest and truest parts of you, as if the work still exists within you, without the knowledge it might be read.

#writing advice #this is a level of craft theory that is so complicated i have a hard time articulating it #so i hope this makes sense #thanks for the great question anon

[calisources]

ITV'S VICTORIA (2016) SENTENCE QUOTES. all of this quotes are taken from across all of the seasons of the tv show, victoria. themes of monarchy, royalty, history and period drama are touched and so this meme might not be for everyone. change pronouns and names as you see fit.

You must go out and you must smile. You must smile and wave, and never let them know how hard it is to bear.

Any damn fool can be Prime Minister, but to leave behind a thing of beauty, something like this, something that people will marvel over centuries from now, that’s worth living for.

When people are hungry they fancy themselves radicals.

True love, in whatever form it finds itself, is just as hard to lose as it is to find.

The problem with a scandal is that the mud does not always stick to the right people.

In the proclamation, I am referred to as Alexandrina Victoria. But I do not like the name Alexandrina. From now on I wish to be called… Victoria.

Sometimes in life we have to do things we do not wish to do.

I’m afraid the truth is vastly overrated.

I know that I’m young. And some would say my sex puts me at a disadvantage. But I know my duty, and I assure you I am ready for the great responsibility that lies before me.

I find myself in a difficult position. I am a Queen and a wife. And to be a Queen I must rule. Yet, to be a wife, it seems I must submit.

A man’s imperfections are considered part of his character, whereas a woman’s flaws are evidence of her unsuitability.

What of worth has ever been achieved which did not inspire fear?

Try to remember what you’ve got. Not what you had.

The public are won over by resolve. If you believe in something firmly enough, they will too.

Sometimes a man must do what he believes to be right. Sooner or later.

Perhaps that’s all marriage is. Presenting an appropriate facade.

People will believe any story if it’s told well enough.

Nothing that makes you happy could ever be wrong.

Men only call women mad when they are doing something inconvenient.

Jealousy is a most tedious emotion.

It’s always easier to give advice than it is to follow it.

It is what corrupts the aristocracy, to have no occupation.

It is hard to be dignified when your feet are six inches from the floor.

It is a mistake to make one’s mind up about a thing before one’s tried it.

Illness is for people with nothing better to do.

If the people get into the way of making kings they might get into the way of unmaking them.

If our children are going to be of value, it is their duty to be the best. Our duty to make them so.

I want them to love me. Otherwise, what is the point?

However many mistakes I have made, or perhaps I’m yet to make, I know I am a better monarch than you could ever be.

Everything changes, Victoria. Except us.

Everyone deserves a second chance.

Every woman sometimes dreams of escape.

Am I simply a vessel to be protected because I am carrying precious cargo?

#rp meme #sentences memes #meme call #roleplay memes #sentence meme #( cali meme. ) #rp memes #rp prompt #rp musings #roleplay prompt #roleplay meme

[mysticstarlightduck]

Incorrect Quotes Tag!

Tagged by the very cool, @rickie-the-storyteller! Find her post here!

This is the link to the generator.

Since the last time I did this, I used my characters from The Last Wrath, this time, I did this tag for my main cast of Tales of Wilted Flowers!

It is mostly platonic, the only ships here are: Rylisan/Eiralis, and Xarian/Lorelai.

Micah, Caladin, Arista, and Neoma'ka are their friends and adventuring companions. Kaellel is Eiralis' estranged older brother and Niven is one of Rylisan's many siblings.

Xarian: Is something burning? 

Lorelai (leaning seductively on the counter): Just my desire for you. 

Xarian: Lorelai, the toaster is literally on fire.

-----

Kaellel (flying down to camp like nothing’s wrong in the world): Sorry I'm late, I was doing stuff.

Rylisan: YOU PUSHED ME DOWN THE FUCKING STAIRS!

-----

Eiralis to Rylisan: Turn that frown upside-down!

*a little while later*

Eiralis: What are you doing?

Rylisan, trying to do a handstand: You told me to “turn that frown upside-down” but it is not working.

-----

Xarian: I'm going to ask you to be respectful.

Caladin: I will politely decline.

-----

Rylisan: Did you just refer to a knife as a “people-opener”?

Arista (a dhampir with issues): …

Arista: …Should I not have?

-----

Neoma’ka: While you were caught up in your heterosexuality, I studied the way of the blade!

------

Lorelai: Do you have a self-care routine?

Kaellel: "Keep going bitch,” said to myself in different accents.

Eiralis, coming into the room: Kaellel, no.

-------

Rylisan, stoically amused: Do you need help getting up?

Caladin, after a drunken brawl: Nah, I'm cool down here on the floor.

------

Eiralis: Sometimes I'll start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way.

------

Xarian, incredulous:... You’re giving me a sticker?

Lorelai: Not just a sticker. That is a sticker of a kitty saying “me-wow!”

Xarian: … 

Xarian: I’m not a preschooler.

Lorelai: Fine, I’ll take it back-

Xarian: I earned this, back off!

-------

Kaellel, eyeing Rylisan with a death glare: It’s not that I don’t trust Eiralis, I just... don’t trust my sister's impulse control. Especially when it comes to you.

-------

Eiralis: *eating a cinnamon roll*

Rylisan, feigning shock: Cannibalism.

Eiralis: *confused chewing noises*

--------

Micah: Now, if I may speak for good-looking people everywhere...

Kaellel, walks past: Only as their rodeo clown.

--------

Lorelai: Neoma’ka, no.

Neoma’ka, cracking her knuckles, walking towards a fight: Neoma’ka, yes.

--------

Lorelai: Why do humans have different blood groups?

Caladin, looking at Arista: So mosquitoes can enjoy different flavors.

Arista: *vampiric hiss*

-------

Rylisan: What can therapy do for me that screaming for 30 minutes can’t?

Niven: I have several questions... Namely why are you like this?

-------

Micah: Maybe the true treasure was friendship all along. But I hope not, because I can’t spend my friendship on new clothes.

-------

Rylisan: You're violent.

Arista: Yeah but I'm also short and that's adorable.

--------

Caladin: I was arrested for being too cool.

Xarian: The charges were dropped due to a lack of supporting evidence.

--------

Xarian: Isn’t it a bit dangerous?

Lorelai: Xarian, please. We’ve been in a lot of unexpected predicaments before and we always escape unhurt.

Xarian: …

Lorelai: Okay, we sometimes escape unhurt.

Xarian, narrows his eyes: ...

Lorelai: Alright, we escaped unhurt once... Then we hurt ourselves on the way home.

---------

Rylisan: Do we have any orange juice left?

Kaellel: *pours the remaining juice into their cup without breaking eye contact*

Kaellel: Sorry, we’re all out.

---------

Xarian: What is the most illegal thing you can do with one gold?

Neoma’ka: Exchange it for a hundred copper, put them all in a sock, and then beat someone to death with it.

----------

Rylisan: Niven, I screwed up, big time.

Niven (downing a glass of wine, done with life): Brother dearest, given your daily life experiences, you’re gonna have to be more specific.

---------

Arista: Now it's time for some witty back and forth banter. You go first.

Caladin: *sobbing*

Arista: Look, my dude, I'm not sure where to go with that.

---------

Lorelai: That was so hot, Xarian.

Xarian: I literally called the person who just flirted with you a degenterate dog and told them I hope they get dragged through the streets.

Lorelai: I'm so in love with you.

---------

Kaellel: You know, Micah, you are the sun in my life.

Micah: Why? Cause I'm smoking hot?

Kaellel: Because it hurts my eyes looking at you. LEAVE MY HOUSE-

---------

Neoma’ka: What do you do for a living?

Rylisan: I exist against my will.

---------

Eiralis: Hey, Rylisan, do you have any hobbies?

Rylisan: Swimming..

Eiralis: Really? That’s cool. I never expected you to-

Rylisan: In a pool of self-hatred and regret.

---------

Micah: As a responsible adult-

Caladin: *chuckles*

Micah:… As a responsible adult—

----------

Lorelai: Wow, that was quick thinking on that phony sacrifice stuff.

Xarian: Oh, that was all real.

Rylisan (interrupts): Wait, you were trying to help them kill us?!

Xarian: Well, If I’m gonna be sacrificed, I’m gonna do it right!

Lorelai:... He has a point.

---------

Tagging: @writernopal, @tabswrites, @cabbojage, @clairelsonao3 and @liv-is.

#writing #writeblr #writers #writerblr #my wips #character writing #my characters #my writing #writers on tumblr #incorrect quotes #tag games! #funny! #wip: Tales of Wilted Flowers

[ravencromwell]

For the character ask game, Athos Dane: 7, 10, and 20.

7. A quote of them you remember: "No one suffers as beautifully as you." And before everyone starts laughing at my terrible cliche—it is terribly cliched, I would pair it with "My plaything is dead". The no one suffers as beautifully as you comes just after Athos's interlude with Beloc where Beloc tried, and did real damn good for a teenager, to be defiant, but eventually answered Athos's questions about his name etc. without yet having the Soul Seal on. Contrast this to Athos's "Sing for me, Holland" in ACOL, which Holland refuses to do.

Yes, Beloc is undoubtedly fun, but fundamentally, he knows how this game is going to go. The fact that Holland still has defiance, after seven years, seems to just fucking enthrall Athos. He makes Holland fill the blood goblets partially just to fuck with Kell, but also for that flicker of rage and humiliation Kell notices as being so out of character. Fundamentally, he doesn't know when Holland will give him the last scrap of power, and that's what keeps him coming back.

But any love or fascination or what have you is utterly gone once Holland is no longer a spectacle: my plaything, he says, in his own pov while talking to his sister. He feels "annoyance at his servant's incompetence" The one time he mentions Holland by name, it's to tell Kell how he and Holland are fundamentally flawed when compared to Athos.

Everything this man did for seven fucking years around Holland was either about furthering his goals or getting some kind of reaction, be it in his choice of conversation topics or experiment subjects.

Holland has a line that is so fucking sad to me in that context in ACOL where he says he never screamed if he could help it, out of the quixotic hope if Athos didn't get a reaction, he'd just kill him already. There's something so fucking tragic I don't have words for the fact that Holland's refusal to stop being a person, at least in small ways, and even the ways he tried to provoke Athos, were so much of what made him interesting enough to never let fade into the background as a particularly useful pair of hands. Because as we see with essentially sending Beloc out as canon fodder, and again with the dismissive "my plaything" comment after Holland's dead, once there's no longer potential for interesting power dynamics, he's bored moving on. 

10. Describe the character in one sentence.: "Intelligence has never tempered my desire. It merely ensures I take what I wish without consequence."—Athos Dane, to his hypothetical biographer, poor bastard.

20. A weird headcanon:

He may have learned to read on the coast primarily to sniff out magic, but when he arrives at the castle, he finds he quite enjoys books outside of magic. Vortalis was a military histories fan, which Athos "journey of the battle" absolutely fucking devours for the play by play.

Astrid likes the White London version of Caesar: careful, methodical, only moving when the field was to his advantage.

Athos, though, it's the underdogs. The White London Hannibal bringing his elephants in what everyone called folly; the Lord Caradoc/Caratacus resisting a much larger force. Just _immensely his jam.

And once he got started, he wanted more of anything Holland thought might rouse his interest. I don't think the Danes had any _reason to go to Grey London, but I suspect that by God, if the Mareshes Antari could go, they sent Holland there on the semiregular (I will play with the toys, too!) One of the things Grey had neither Red nor White did was a thriving fiction culture. And if you're one Holland Vosijk, who wants to be able to bring back some escapism for yourself, you'd better be prepared to bring back gifts.

Which leads me to: Athos Dane, sometime Shakespeare fan and more often critic.

1. Huge, huge fucking fan of Iago. Iago knows how to properly manipulate some people. (Except of course, as is the problem with so many people, he got squeamish in the end. If he had killed the messengers from Venice when they found him in the alley, he would never have needed to kill his wife and certainly never have been tortured and executed. But Iago pre–Othello Act Five: _spectacular.

2. Huge Richard III fan—likes all the histories, honestly. But that "winter of our discontent" monologue: gets him _every time. Richard, now there's a man who knows how to embrace being hated. (Though that he cares at all about fool's opinion of him just demonstrates he lacked an Astrid. Without that one person for unconditional affection and non-judgment, he could only embrace it so far.

3. Hamlet completely cracks him up in an awful way. Or rather, the ways in which Holland and Hamlet's desire for revenge mirror one another. "You thought you were Hamlet, coming down that hall and did not understand we were not his foolish uncle!"

4. The rest of it: Romeo and Juliet, the comedies, most of the other tragedies, just _trash. Characters too weak to dominate the way they should or unrealistic ("blood never denies blood what they want" he says of the Capulets etc. smiling beatifically at Astrid.

5. Astrid has the copy of Titus Andronicus. Major Queen Tamora fangirl "We shall serve the Arnesians their royals in pie," Athos says, when Astrid sighs over missing their opportunity with Holland.

Athos is very theatrical, has a multitude of ideas for how to stage the Shakespeare sets with magic when they take Arnes, and is very keen to read other plays.

#am slowly using these as treats for myself as my semester barrels towards finals #my mantra all day yesterday was: “You get to talk Athos's fucked-up Shakespeare thoughts” if you just finish the final history paper #Florence Parpart. Jean Bartik. and Grace Hopper. for anyone interested. talking about how women have been crucial to the luxuries of our #century. all of which is to say: yes am absolutely still doing these and hope you enjoy this even half as much as I did writing it #Athos Dane #Shades of Magic

[r0b0-writes]

| Reasons why I like SCC |

Starting this off with an explanation before anyone has the chance to say anything. Feel free to read these links explaining the trio's canon (or lack there of) relationship. (As of today's date, [07,01,2023). - Explanation from Nelnal (SCC character designer) - Explanation 1 | Explanation 2 With that out of the way, let's get going! First off, this is a hodgepodge of things from canon (gameplay), and things from Nelnal, plus my own perception of the trio. So, be warned in that regard!

1 | The Backstory for Their Creation: - I just find the fact that Toby originally wanted one shopkeeper and instead went with three because he loved them all so endearing. It's just genuinely such a cool and eat fact. I love that in another universe, there's only one… And we're the lucky universe that gets to have all~ three! - Quoted from Nintendo Everything, "I actually have another story about the musical shopkeepers. I asked a designer I love to design a musical enemy, and they gave me three samples. I liked all three of them, so I couldn’t settle on just one… so that’s how those three came to be" (Brian, 2021).

2 | They Robots: - I like robots. That is all I can say. Next. 3 | One of Them Green: - I like the color green. This is all. Next. 4 | Nakayoshi: - As seen in Nelnal's reference page, the word "なかよし" (nakayoshi) is written! This word translates to good friends, intimate friends, etc. I find this just really adorable. That the three are just the best of buddies. Inseparable pals. It's something that I hold dear to me. They just… auaughh… I love friendship. I love them. I love them being besties and so close that they go everywhere together, that they started a rebel band together. TOGETHER!! AUGH!! FRIENDSHIP!!! This also just makes me think of me and my qpp… We kiss and hug and go on dates… We say "I love you" and try to talk as much as we can. When we're together, it's like being home, being with someone who cares for me. And I can't help but look at SCC and see a QPR like that. Not romantic, not strictly platonic. Just… queer. And I love that so much.

5 | Tropes: - SCC have a lot of personality and physical traits that just match some of my favorite tropes ever. Height difference, opposites attract, friends to lovers, etc. You understand what I mean. It's just so cool that all my favorite tropes are bound up in this music trio! Like, how uber lucky?! 6 | Designs: - The way SCC are designed is just very appealing to look at. The spingly-spoingly arms of K_K… The oblong head of Cap'n's. And Sweet is. Cube. I just love how shaped they are! (The object heads are shaped)!! YAHOO!! Cakes is rectangular… Sweet is cubular… Cap'n is football. (You understand). I wish I could word this better, but in all honesty all I can say is I love how they look. They look so cool and robotic and I love robots, so ofc I love them. And I am probably one of the few that love that their teeth are buttons… 7 | Dialogue: - I really like how the dialogue in the game follows the band name. Sweet talks, then Cap'n, then (sometimes) Cakes. Plus! Sweet and Cap'n finish each other's sentences in the game all the time! I'm also really appreciative of just how much Sweet talks. If my mutuals and I did the math right… Sweet's dialogue takes up 36.5% of the overall dialogue for SCC. (Cap'n being 35.6% and Cakes talking 27.9% of the time). Plus, their hello/goodbye is so adorable. I quote this to myself all the time. Yo! What's up? Hey! See ya! Smell ya! Hear ya! 8 | SCC Color Scheme: - Depending on what color you see them as… I kinda go back and forth w/ Sweet between yellow and purple. But Cap'n's blue and Cakes is green, obviously. And if you see Sweet as yellow… yellow and blue make green. Kinda how Cakes looks up to Sweet and Cap'n. I know I'm reaching for this one, but this is my post about things I like, so this stays lmao.

#polyrhythm #sweet cap'n cakes #deltarune #deltarune chapter 2 #capping the count off at 8 so I don't go too intense ya know #feel free to add more things you like or anything I missed!! #[r0b0.input]

[whump-n-comfort]

🔪 this is a sideblog! if you see interactions from a blog called @halorocks1214 in your notifications, that's me :)

🩹 on that note, I go by Halo! I use she/her and he/him pronouns and am proudly aroace 💚💜

🔪 I'm one of those guys that has always been into whump as a kid—I REALLY enjoyed the kidnapping episodes in animated shows lol—but didn't have a name for that enjoyment until I got onto Tumblr and immediately felt at home with all y'all cool people 😎

🩹 as you may have seen by this blog's title and description, most of this blog's motif is sharing hurt/comfort content! I will be upfront and say that I project a loooot onto my faves, which is why I like to see them comforted so much (touch starvation is a bitch 😔) and in general prefer "soft whump" most of the time or explicit happy endings for the harder tropes i'm into

🔪 however, I still also enjoy whump because of its core foundation: being able to beat the shit out of your favorite character. sometimes, I will find something that does not have comfort in it that I want to share because it's simply too good not to! if all you're here for is that sweet sweet comfort, feel free to blacklist the tag #no comfort to avoid those sparse posts :)

🩹 outside of that, I tag art as #art and gifs as #gif as well as gifsets as #gifset when applicable; #whump trope for the posts that get more descriptive and #whump prompt for the posts that are more quotes/"fill in your characters here"-type interactions; #whump meme is self-explanatory and #whump community is for sharing love to all you lovely people out here browsing this corner of Tumblr; I occasionally tag #fave whumpee on characters that have stuck with me through the years (characters in the tag liable to change as time goes on); and of course, #~my stuff~ are the posts where I'm OP; #before whump was here is a cheeky tag I use for specific moments I remember feeling strong whumperflies for growing up but still had yet to learn about the term "whump" lmao

🔪 everything else is up in the air as tagging goes. I try my best to catch as many descriptors in a post as I can, but I'll admit some stuff could slip through. let me know if you think a post is missing something and I'll be sure to add proper tags 👍

🩹 my squicks are mainly things like pet whump, mind break, forced full-nudity, betrayal/broken trust between close characters (if it's because of a "twist villain" then that's fine), and heavy NSFW, so, for the most part, you won't see those on this blog, but my philosophy has always been that if it has comfort, I'm willing to give it a shot, so even if it's really rare, it could happen. remember to just let me know if I'm missing a tag!

🔪 my inbox is always open under the "💌 insert rambles here 💌" button if you ever wanna submit whumpy thoughts. I try to post everything I get, so feel free to hit me up! all answered asks regardless of what they contain will be tagged with #ramble tag

🩹 I will occasionally take requests in the form of "[A] replied to [B]" scenarios, sentence starters, or if you are feeling particularly nice, requests about my OCS! (questions and inquiries about them are always welcome regardless of request status) be sure to watch the "REQUEST:" blip in the description to see whenever they are open as I will switch "CLOSED" to "OPEN" to signify they are, and if they are open because of something like an ask game, I will convert the status into a link that will take you to the original game so you don't have to scroll through a bajillion things to get to it

🔪 as mentioned, this is 99% a SFW "soft" whump blog, but I still support my more NSFW and otherwise "dark" whumpers! I am a firm believer in that there is no "correct" way to enjoy whump. whatever your reason is that makes you enjoy it is valid and as long as you are properly tagging your content then keep on doing stuff that brings you joy :) we may not interact with each other all that often because of squicks or personal preferences, but just know that I will have your back and defend your right to write whatever you want ❤️‍🔥

🩹 I do believe those are all the topics I wanted to cover, so if you managed to make it this far, thanks for checking out my blog, and most importantly, the whump community in general! If you decide to stay, well, then hope you enjoy it to your fullest capabilities :D

#about me #GOD i wanted to make a shorter info post and just ended up making one twice as long how do i ACHIEVE these things- #regardless i got an influx of new followers (hello!!) and figured it was time for me to update a few things #esp since ive been attempting to interact with my blogs in a new way #also next post is my 800th post and thought it would be funny if this was it lmao

[karizard-ao3]

Feed by M.T. Anderson

My new copy of Landscape with Invisible Hand just arrived today, and I'm even more excited to read it than I was before because I'm halfway through re-reading Feed for the first time since high school (which, let me assure you, was a longass time ago) and it is living up to my memories. The world building is so rich. There are so many little details that paint a harrowing picture of a future where people are made docile and disinterested in anything but consumption by corporations. They are using up the planet and almost nothing around them is natural anymore. Everything is decaying. Even the people themselves. They're all getting these lesions, but no one knows why and none of them really question it. In fact, the main concern the characters have with the lesions is whether or not they look cute with them.

The narrator's voice, also, adds to the sense of hopeless consumerism, pandemic ignorance, and pending disaster. His metaphors are strange and sometimes disturbing, he often betrays the deficiencies in the education he receives at School^TM, and oftentimes the things he says sound like he is just parroting advertisements.

The main character/ narrator, Titus, also has this likability and an almost fragile honesty that actually kind of reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's style, where sometimes with a single sentence he can shuck off all the complications and justifications we so often hide behind and simply say something true. Beautiful brevity.

Violet is a bit of a manic pixie dream girl, but I'm letting it slide.

This book is incredibly hard to quote because without context it just sounds goofy, but here's one that I liked and that I think stands well enough on its own:

"I was unhappy because Loga and I had been a diad, and now when I ran into her at high speeds it wasn't anything like when Link ran into her at high speeds. I thought she and I should have a little secret way of collision. But usually we sailed right past each other."

The book is only 237 pages but I'm still only halfway done. It's been a distracting week and I haven't slept well, but I think it's such a worthwhile read if you like dystopian science fiction and don't mind first person narratives written in a conversational style with a bunch of made up slang and stuff thrown in. It's a young adult book, technically, but much more unique than the YA fare I've been coming across recently.

If you read it, hmu and let me know what you think.

#Feed #M.T. Anderson #books and reading #book recommendations #young adult #science fiction #book #currently reading

[zealoussy]

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

✨ Some sort of review

So, basically June (a white woman) is so jealous of her friend, Athena (a chinese american, queer), who seems to have it all, that when she suddenly dies, June steals her friend’s unfinished manuscript. She stole it, polished it so it aligned with her approach to writing, then published the story as hers.

Yes, she's insufferable. Yes, you have to deal with her for the whole book. So, make sure you prepare a snack, a tea, or anything that you can grab when things get frustrating.

As an unlikeable character, June is written too well, I think. When you read this, you will expect to hate everything that she says and does. Granted, there are a lot of things you can hate about June. But the thing is, RFK leaves enough room in the characterization of June for the readers to interpret what kind of character she is.

You see, in satire, usually you have this expectation that the characters will always talk in exaggeration, their behavior and worldview, you can’t help but expect the characters to be some sort of caricature. Yet often, in this book, the things that she says are the messages that RFK wants to deliver.

If you find yourself agreeing with this quote from June,

We’re just suggesting the right credentials, so that readers take me and my story seriously, so that nobody refuses to pick up my work because of some outdated preconceptions about who can write what. And if anyone makes assumptions, or connects the dots the wrong way, doesn’t that say far more about them than me?

may I remind you that in this context, June stole Athena’s manuscript about a WWI Chinese Laborers story? Well you’ll find more layers of irony like this in Yellowface.

That dissonance between how I perceive June and some things she said that I agree with, makes me reevaluate my thinking about what was said, who said, how it was said. (A lot of things said on the internet. It’s easy to lose my voice in the noise, sometimes I even forget to make my own judgment.)

Another thing about June is that she feels human in this book. Before you come at me, no, I am not a June defender. There are moments where you will see how June is slowly deteriorating. In those moments, you can see that June is capable of guilt and grief and fear. That, makes her human.

Although not for long you’ll be reminded again, how still unlikeable she is. What an asshole she is. Some people may not like this way of characterization where, after showing her vulnerability, you'll then be hit in the face with a reminder how bad she is.

For me personally, I like to be reminded that she is terrible simply because I’m an empath.

Aside from June's characterization, there's also the social commentary. Have you ever felt like you have so much in your head but it seems impossible to express what you think? Yeah, RFK spoke what I had in mind like how. This book is I think RFK's way to give words to the things that she has been observing. She's very thorough at that too.

Maybe it's because I'm chronically online. Or maybe it's because I'm always interested in media trends. But there are a lot of nuances in which RFK write the things that she wanted to show the readers.

For example, June thought that the way Athena approached historical fiction is "so hackneyed that they defy belief", although it was implied that Athena was trying to be as truthful as possible to the actual history.

For June, how Athena writes is not accessible, didactic, therefore makes it not a good craft. Meanwhile all this time the opposite has been said about Athena's books: brilliant, authentic, insightful.

Part of Athena's original draft that June's editor said to be "torture porn" was a literal story straight from historical record. That exchange between June and her editor is a good example of "the winner is the one who write the history" or whatever, that sentence, but in a bad way.

From this gaze, we get to see how power is an essential factor that builds the narrative. There's a big part in the story where white privilege plays a role in which they have more advantages over people of color.

SPOILER ALERT

June is misusing her influence towards a POC character which consequently ruin that person's life entirely.

SPOILER ENDS.

Talking about POC, RFK has got some humour in her. I love how Juniper is written being so delulu that it makes her look plain stupid.

"Diversity is what’s selling right now. Editors are hungry for marginalized voices. You’ll get plenty of opportunities for being different, Emmy. "

In booktwt specifically, it is not an uncommon occurrence where readers are debating about diversity. "Just because the book is diverse doesn't mean it's good," that saying is not unfamiliar among the readers. What is a good book, honestly? Pulling the thread from this scope, RFK tried to capture how twitter discourse looks like, what each sides are arguing about.

It's easy for people to dismiss the happenings on the twitter as, "It's just twitter", although in a lot of cases it's warranted that things are overblown in there, but there needs to be some consideration where people's life are depending on it. What does this mean is, it all comes down to the theme of white privilege again. June's career is depending on social media, mainly twitter. Being the June that she is, let's say, she's not nice to people, so there are consequences of her own actions, but knowing how deranged twitter can be, relying your career using that media can be debilitating. June is obviously overwhelmed by this. I like this part because this is where the social commentary shines light about the publishing industry.

But Twitter is real life; it’s realer than real life, because that is the realm that the social economy of publishing exists on, because the industry has no alternative.

I don't think I ever heard a book that tells a story about publishing industry this close. Readers are introduced to the behind the scenes of publishing industry with a sense of familiarity, using terms that readers use when they talk about the books they consume. Yellowface is an intriguing piece of literature that break the door to the source of the enjoyment itself and the way it is created in this profit-hungry society. Not only that, it also a neat composition of characterization, storyline, motif, worldbuilding, and a sprinkle of social commentary.

TLDR: Seriously, please read Yellowface! It's well-written, engaging, insightful, and overall an amazing book.

#book review #booklr #yellowface #yellowface rf kuang #rf kuang #white gaze #books #adablabbooks #sorry for any grammatical errors and incoherent sentences :') #i don't talk about athena liu because i want people to experience by themselves #the character of athena liu

[drunk-on-starlight]

Do you have any evidence that Vanessa is just being manipulated? I’ll admit no one knows exactly what’s going on, but I feel it’s pretty clear there’s at least something similar to mind control present. If the encyclopedia is still valid, it says she was corrupted and then freed from his influence.

As much evidence as anything in this franchise has.

I'm assuming by "Mind Control," you're referring to literal control over mind and/or body? Apologies if you meant something else.

Gonna start with Jeremy (Help Wanted edition), since he's the first "glitchtrapped" character we learn about.

Here's a few choice quotes

"I think it's made worse by the fact that Jeremy tried to tell us something was wrong."-Tape 3, HW

“Jeremy complained of nightmares when he came in this morning. He wasn't talking about it like someone telling a friend about his dreams though. He was pale...looked like he hadn't eaten in days." -Tape 7, HW

"He just stands there like he's talking to someone. Sometimes he [just] rocks from side to side"-Tape 7, HW

"I think Jeremy was too far gone to consider that option though.-They just knew he'd seen something. They needed to discredit him.”-Tape 8, HW

These collectively establish that Glitchtrap (Known here as the anomaly) had clearly gotten his hooks into Jeremy, right? And yet, he was able to injure himself enough to make Glitchtrap back off. Furthermore, Glitchtrap is talking to him in Tape 7. Not only was Jeremy able to legitimately do something Glitchtrap didn't want, he wasn't able to stop him.

Now, to Vanessa. The first relevant quote here; "So, the word compliance by itself isn't going to set off any red flags, but the sentence how to induce compliance in human subjects, and how to induce self-compliance(?)"-"Did you search for 'help' by itself?"-December 2, 2019.

"I was a little worried maybe something is going on with you? One day you're researching flowers and the migration patterns of bees (fascinating, right?) and the next day you type in 'How far can a human being be cut in half before losing consciousness'."-Dec 4, 2019

At the risk of assuming too much, I don't think someone who is mind controlled would need to find a way to induce "compliance."

Then you have "I came by your desk to say hi today and I don't think you even heard me. You had your face so close to the screen"-"I waited for a second to see if you would turn around, but it was like you were in another world. It must be useful to be able to shout out the world and focus like that, I wish I could do it. I thought you were on a conference call at first because I heard voices."-Dec 9, 2019.

Much like Jeremy, Glitchtrap needs to talk to her. If he could just control her, I don't see why he'd need to audibly speak to her(1)(2), or why he'd let her type out help. Or frankly, why he'd let her Google all the other cutsey stuff. Furthermore, she wouldn't need to search how to induce "self-compliance" if he was already controlling her.

Finally, Security Breach's Retro CDs. First up, CD 1-7139

"Yes, of course, you do. Your performance reviews are good, but a routine check of your online history has revealed that you spend quite a bit of time with someone in an encrypted conversation. We have transcripts, and I’ve read them, but it’s not clear what you’re talking about in these conversations. I can’t make sense of it. You must be getting something from these that I’m not getting. Right? Who are you talking to in these?"

Again, a conversation, one in which the therapist here says "You must be getting something out of these."

Next, CD 3-7140. This is where her dad, a guy named "Bill"(3) is first mentioned, along with this "Your dad made you follow instructions, didn’t he? I’m talking about the custody battle between your mom and your dad. Your dad didn’t play it fair, did he? He used to make your mom look bad in court. I’m so sorry that happened to you. Do you want to talk about how that felt? and "He manipulated you. It wasn’t your fault." Keep that last bit in mind, it's not the first time manipulation gets brought up.

CD 5-7141 "Apparently, the IT department has put together a pretty lengthy report chronicling non-job-related communications that have been coming to your computer"-"but what bothers me about what I read is that the messages you're getting seem very manipulative in nature. Do you know who I'm talking about?"

Again, they reiterate Glitchtrap needs to communicate. Further, the messages are described as manipulative. Why would a mind control entity need to do that? And to tie into the previous tape, the therapist says "What you might not know is that this person who's been sending you messages has been hacking into your personal files too. These are the same files I have here. These files are full of details about your life."

The same files the therapist said showed her father being manipulative. In response to being told this person knows a lot of her personal info, Vanessa says "Lots of people know more than I do. Sometimes I need to listen."

Now, CD 11-7145 is where Vanessa says "I can't talk about this. He said he would always be watching. He could be here or there or anywhere in between." to which her therapist responds "Are you talking about your dad?," directly comparing Glitchtrap to her manipulative father. Vanessa also says that Glitchtrap told her that he could be anywhere, which means he's not always with her, and he'd kind of have to be for mind control.

Security Breach itself seems to support this, to some degree. Vanessa makes her entire hunt a game; She presumably knocks Gregory out and locks him in Lost and Found, only to return after dressing up, she skips around the Pizzaplex. She swaps back and forth, none of which is necessary and of which she probably wouldn't do if controlled.

If we look back at Help Wanted, she specifically says (in another example of the one sided conversation) that she can hear him, there's no miscommunication, she understands and that she made the mask herself. She also says "I think you would like it,""I'll be ready" (That she needs to make herself ready is another tally against the mind control) and that "It'll be fun." Honestly, she reads as far more of a daughter figure in HW than anywhere else.

Maybe I'm misreading all this, but it doesn't seem like mind control. It seems like a young woman had serious childhood trauma that left her open to being taken advantage by an experienced manipulator.

#fnaf #(1) This is different in “The Monty Within.” #(2) Or threaten her. This is a personal theory but a few of the emails make more sense as threats than anything. #(3) I want to be clear and say that I think Bill is legit a different character and is her father. #But the Movie did make her actually Williams daughter. Interesting choice considering the name. #A reluctant follower #Sorry this is like a week later. Had to reread a bunch of stuff. #This isn't very polished either. Might redo this post in a bit with some more shine. #(Tag) a reluctant follower

[sizhui]

angie -waving rlly hard -0 why cant i backspace on asks. anyways can i hear ur thoughta on eichi. please ignore the spelling mistakes. ive never heard empathy and eichi in the same sentence and im so curious

HI MATTHEW WAVES BACK!!! of COURSE i've been wanting to talk about Eichi here again seriously so thank you so much for asking ^__^ wait let me sit down and get a glass of wine. Okay. I have a LOT of thoughts about Eichi which are tied to my thoughts about Enstars as a whole so this might end up being incomprehensible but im gonna try to be systematic!

AFTERWORD AFTER WRITING THIS: im genuinely sorry for how insane and reach-y this might sound, this is just my interpretation of the story of enstars and I’m an extremely autistic literature major who read too much pandora hearts in his formative moments...

i. The true nature of the world of Enstars

To talk about how Eichi fits into the story of Enstars, I first have to explain how I view the story itself. The quote that first prompted me to start thinking about Enstars as a sort of a metafictional story was this Wataei conversation from EP:Link:

Wataru: Therefore I plead of you, do not leap to your death nor do anything similar, alright? This world is a dream that you are seeing, so if you die, those who live inside it - yes, even we - will disappear.

Eichi: Is this Alice's adventures in wonderland? Do stop that - if you're the one saying such things, they seem much more plausible... I'm not God, you see? I don't want everything to be just a fantasy of mine. Until the moment my dreams came true, I have always resented God. So, if I truly were God, I would have just been living a farcical one-man show of a life this entire time, no?

Wataru: Even a one-man show can be fulfilling, so long as an audience is there to view it.

I started really racking my brains when I read this. I definitely do not think Enstars would pull a twist as cheap as "everything was just Eichi's fantasy in his sickbed", but this definitely means thatt the world of Enstars is something else than what it appears to be at first glance. After a lot of thought, this is the thesis I came up with:

The world of Enstars functions like a story. The story of Enstars functions like an independent world. Various characters are, to various degrees, aware of this and of the outside audience consuming it, and attempt (and sometimes succeed) to manipulate the narrative and their role within the story. Originally (AKA before the War) everyone within the world of Enstars was very strictly defined by their narrative role within the story: there was the Protagonist (AKA Top Idol - the Godfather, Akepapa, Hidaka Seiya...), there were minor characters (such as Keito who speaks of his struggles to accept himself as a minor character in Crossroad) and then there were those with more interesting roles, such as the Three Eccentrics/Oddballs before they became Oddballs - whose role was more or less to give and give without recieving anything in return. Can I take a small detour and talk about Kanata? I am going to take a small detour to talk about Kanata.

i. i. “the unconditional giver”

I alwayssss see Kanata’s story quoted as the example of Enstars being cheap shock value... but to me, Meteor Impact was one of the most interesting, subtle and thought-provoking stories I read! It presents Kanata’s life this way - he is a God who fulfills wishes. Both for the Shinkai cult and for his peers at Yumenosaki, he fulfills them without being extended any empathy in return. That’s all he is - a wish fulfilling machine. And he seems to be content with that, because it’s all he knows. Once a great calamity comes, the Cult will sacrifice him and feast on his flesh. The end.

One of the heaviest scenes of Meteor Impact, to me, is Kanata finally realizing that his living situation is inhumane through his friendship with Chiaki, a “normal boy” - This kid has never been hugged by anyone before…? says Chiaki. Did he live in an environment that never let him think of that as lonely and misfortunate… and was enshrined as a Living God, just to continue granting wishes? This really is cruel. If there is such a thing as evil in this world - then it must be this.

Yes, so it seems, Kanata finally realizes. I didn’t know that, because my household is within the ocean, I had not once thought of it as agonizing. Humans can’t breathe underwater. Oh gosh, couldn’t someone have at least told me that? 

A child being unable to recognize its own abuse and mistreatment isn’t something that only happens to victims of cults and cannibalism. Kanata explains the process of his sacrifice like this: They tore the sacrifice into parts and everyone ate a piece of it. (...) Once they become sacrifices, they are no longer humans. They become fish - beings made to be eaten. What would a being made to be eaten to satisfy the needs of everyone represent in a more everyday situation? Let’s take a look at it from a different angle.

Shinkai Kanata is a good child, a good student. to the Family and to his peers he fulfills expectations and emotional needs without being extended any empathy in return. He is liked, respected, and even loved, but in the end that’s all he is - a wish fulfilling machine. And just with that, he is content, because it’s all he knows. Once he realizes this is unfair, everyone will have already “eaten their share of him” - taken what they wanted and left.

“Humans eating fish” represents his dehumanization from the Cult/Family. Dehumanization is a major theme in the story of the Three Oddballs - in fact, an “Oddball” is an artificial narrative role fabricated by Eichi whose purpose is to be dehumanized, to become an object for the minor characters to rally against and earn their self respect by trampling the Oddballs over. 

In Rei’s case, the Other are vampires instead of fish. Let’s look at Rei’s quote during his one moment of feeble rebellion against being reduced to the role of an unconditional giver - I have a dream too. I have my own life. Are you telling me to give those up to serve everyone else? If you’re telling me that’s a sin, if even that level of selfishness is unacceptable, then I wish I’d never been born. Isn’t everyone living for their own sake? Why am I the only exception? Is it because I’m not human, but a vampiric demon?

Let’s connect the three stories - one about a fish god, one about a vampiric demon, and one about the greatest performer for whom every trick is possible - into a singular story about a child who everyone thinks is so advanced and mature that they deny them their right to a normal childhood. About a child who will give and give to family and friends in return for hollow praise until nothing remains of their original self - until they are reduced to a creature who lives to be consumed by others. 

Which leads us to...

ii. the War

If we’ve established that the world of Enstars is a story, then a battle for prestige within that world is automatically a battle for prestige within the story. The infamous War of Yumenosaki, approached from this angle, is a battle for relevance within the story, characters battling it out for the role of the protagonist. Tsumugi describes it in Element very clearly for what it is, without any metaphors:

Convinced that they are the main character, they chose the best option for themselves. All they did was put in the effort to make their lives a little better, for the sake of their own happiness. You can’t deny something like that, and it’s not even “evil”. They simply wanted to give a happy ending to the story where they’re the protagonist - the book known as “their life.” They simply just wanted to be happy. And in the story of Yumenosaki Academy, where Eichi-kun became the main character...”

So, to win battles in the war means to elevate your own importance to the story, while to lose means... we all know what happened to Naru’s admirer. The people who died in the war did not only have their dreams broken and commit suicide - they were entirely pushed out of the narrative, not even given names. Even worse than that - they became nothing but a source of guilt for Eichi or something pushing Naru to change as a person - and that, being reduced to mere fuel for another’s character arc, is the most tragic fate for a character who aimed to be the protagonist. 

Okay, we finally got to Eichi. Eichi’s original narrative role seems to be something along the lines of “to die misunderstood.” But Eichi, despite being a person who barely understands human relationships and emotions on a human level, has very good understanding of the mechanics of his world and the nature of the characters around him. He utilizes the roles of the Unconditional Givers and fabricates a new artificial role, turning them into Oddballs, and he has all the minor characters of Yumenosaki “eat their share” of them until they are completely trampled over. Some minor characters, such as Naru’s admirer, fall, while some, like Eichi, rise. Tsumugi also had a major role in this (ough Tsumugi deserves an entirely separate post tbh but I’ll just say that his role is unlike otherss because he seems to see himself as someone “outside the story” rather than a character in it?) And through a long chain of using others and being used by Tsumugi to reach Tsumugi’s vision of the Maximum Hapiness of the Majority world, Eichi finally usurps the role of the Protagonist. As shown in Daydream:

Hey, Wataru. You might not believe me, but you were my hero (idol). So in the end, I defeated you. I had all the heroes I’ve admired crawling at my feet; overcoming my inferiority complex, I obtained my life. An ephemeral, vain dream, but my life. My story.

My body trembles, and I throw up. Unable to hold it in, I cough up a mass of blood. Ahh, Wataru’s graceful, perfect, beautiful face is dirtied with blood. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for being born.

As we see, Eichi has won. But he is not happy. In fact, he is extremely, extremely suicidal, and while rising through the ranks of the story, he sets up a death trap for himself: Hibiki Wataru.

Eichi sets Wataru up as the final opponent, the final bite to eat, his human prize - but in Element, the night before Wataru’s execution, he makes a frail confession: I don’t actually want to see you lose. Uttering those words, Eichi confesses: It is I who wants to be erased.

Between the War and EP:Link, the relationship with Wataru was meant to be Eichi’s means of committing suicide. The final betrayal from Wataru he talks about in EP:Link, the logical conclusion of their story, was supposed to mark his death. This is why Eichi goes to commit suicide in EP:Link after Wataru seemingly abandons him to join a theater troupe. All Wataru has to do is trample Eichi like he’d trampled him and his companions, and all would be well…Or would it?

Natsume: ...you are always so sharp-sighted. If Master can only dance according to a script, then all we need to do is prepare a scenario where the Five Oddballs will win against Fine. (...) I looked for the possibility of us reaching a happy ending. Don’t we, the Five Oddballs... don’t we have the right to be happy too?

Wataru: There is happiness even for villains. You simply do not understand, as you are still young... Everything you desperately prepared is a dream that cannot influence this reality. If we trample upon countless others for the sake of our own happiness... we really will become monsters.

Hibiki Wataru has a plan.

iii. poop i dont know how to title this poop

Let us go back to that first defining scene I mentioned - Eichi has built the foundations of his dream, deduced that Wataru has abandoned him, and prepares to die, and fulfill his original role. Wataru’s words here are enigmatic and interesting. For one, he says Even a one-man show can be fulfilling, so long as there is an audience there to view it. Who is the audience? The audience is “you”, the story’s reader. Even Wataru’s hollow existence as a farcical clown can be meaningful so long as someone turns his eyes to him and finds meaning in it. But how does he get you to do so? What does he do to turn your gaze, among so many characters, to him alone?

He decides to love Eichi.

This “transformative love” is also described well by Keito in crossroads. Though Keito’s love for Eichi remains one-sided and unfulfilled, I find this one of the most meaningful descriptions of love I’ve seen in a story:

Eichi, your dream and mine might not be exactly the same. (...) For it seems that you harbor a pitch-black and muddy hatred within your chest - something that not even I, who has known you for years, cannot comprehend. A darkness that cannot be purified, no matter how many times I recite the sutra. But I still want to save you. Because you have always been my one and only comrade. It’s as if we are separate halves who share the same soul. You are no stranger; you are my very best friend. And I am the son of a temple. Even an incomprehensible creature who is not loved by anyone - it is a monk’s role to hold them close, to love them, to save them. By helping you - you who are just like me - I feel like I myself can achieve salvation as well.

Unfortunately, Keito was not able to save Eichi in the way he needed to be saved. Let us go back to the ending of Daydream.

Eichi: But I could only choose a path that lead me neck-deep in a sea of blood. And that’s why, even if it’s with my enemy, I longed for warmth. Being supported by arms. Embraced. Unconsciously wanting to be spoiled, I rest my cheek against my enemy.

Alone on top of the world, Eichi realizes that his dream all along has been love. Not to become a protagonist on top of the world, but a world where everyone, even he, can become the protagonist. And Wataru tells him, This world is a dream that you are seeing, so if you die, those who live inside it - yes, even we - will disappear. 

He tells him, look at this world, and you will see that that dream has already come true.

There aren’t many memorable things about the first Main Story of Enstars, but one thing that always stuck with me is how Trickstar’s true revolution wasn’t in winning a drefes - anyone could do that, become a new Protagonist, and continue the endless cycle. Their true revolution was in, in the end, perceiving Eichi as an equal and, iirc, letting him choose if he wants to break their tie or put his health and life first. In extending empathy to him. 

After that act, Enstars as a story begins rejecting the notion of a protagonist and becomes a story that repeats the same events many times from everyone’s perspective, giving everyone’s worldview equal importance and being equally meaningful no matter who you choose as your viewpoint character. what Wataru wants to tell Eichi that despite his “crime”, despite Eichi seeing himself and his deeds as disgusting, his dream has reached people - even people outside their world, the readers looking into their world. Despite Eichi being a selfish person - which he is, in many ways - his dream of love and compassion sustains an entire narrative defined and transformed by love. 

You can take all mentions of “the story” in Enstars as purely metaphorical, but if you look at it from a meta perspective with certain characters such as Wataru and Eichi being aware of the story’s existence, then the world of Enstars is a story that’s reached its good ending the moment a reader approaches it with enough goodwill and compassion to come to think of it in such a way. The moment you realize Trickstar’s true revolution wasn’t in winning a DreFes, but in taking Eichi as their equal and empathizing with him. When you as a reader do the same - extend enough empathy to understand everything about Eichi: his desire to win, his desire to die, his selfishness, his selflessness - the storyworld of Enstars unravels before you and rewards you with a good story.

And it doesn’t stop at Eichi. Enstars repeats the same thing again with Eden and then Crazy:B - introducing a character as initially antagonistic, but also revealing their past and their worldview to the reader in a caring way, urging you to want to understand them and empathize with them. This is the only way to “win at Enstars”.

iv. the answer

I believe that the following quote is the most defining sentence in all of Enstars:

Wataru: We are human beings, and so we change, and we grow to love and admire people and such. That is precisely what the answer is - love is precisely what the answer is. I love you, and that is why I’ll continue to be with you from now on.

Eichi is a person with a limited capacity for empathy. As we see in Checkmate, he sympathizes with people by projecting on them, and thinks everyone thinks the same way he does. And one of Eichi’s biggest errors is thinking that human relationships are purely transactional. This is why after Daydream, which can be taken as Eichi “confessing to his crime,” he always believed he would be betrayed in turn by Wataru, and accepted it.

And if it were the same old story, he would receive his punishment willingly, and the cycle would repeat. But Eichi is not the only one who changed the story of Enstars. Wataru - who is, if you remember, aware of the existence of the story, rather than punishing Eichi, chooses to love him and accompany him through the hardships of life. Why?

Wataru’s narrative role is that of an unconditional giver who receives no recognition or satisfaction in return, doomed to only skillfully copy for an eternity, never having anything of his own. And rather than fighting in the War to elevate his role, Wataru employs a different strategy to give his own existence a purpose. He subverts that role - he realizes that the only way he can make an impact on the narrative is through changing Eichi, consciously devoting his role in the story to Eichi so that Eichi can experience unconditional love for the first time, and so the narrative can be transformed. Yes, it was Eichi’s dream of love that changed the world of Enstars, but it’s through Wataru’s loving influence that that dream could be realized. And Wataru isn’t doing it only out of love for Eichi, but also as a rebellion against his own predetermined role by becoming an active giver rather than a passive one.

 Eichi: ...A mask? Isn’t that a precious item of yours, part of your collection?

Wataru: Indeed. This is me, and I offer this to you.

Wataru doesn’t devote himself to Eichi because it’s something Eichi wants or deserves - he does so because devoting his role in the story to another is an ultimate act of love in a world that is itself a story. It’s the only way to meaningfully change anything. By choosing to love Eichi, the person who “ desperately tethered him to this world”, Wataru is giving you, the reader, a push towards his own ideals. He wants you, the reader, to see a better story than the existing one.

And love, in all forms, is at the center of the whole story-world of Enstars. This story of Eichi and Wataru, of a person being senselessly, completely loved and accepted for the first time, lives in every other character’s story. In Leo finally being wanted for more than just his songs, in Kuro being able to sew with his hands that once only knew how to hurt others. Wataru, that person who is doomed to copy others, found a way to make himself the blueprint for all love in Enstars, and its world is defined by that love. And that is his rebellion. That is his strategy.

Rather than squabbling with others for the role of the protagonist, he reaches outside the story, directly to the reader and grabs you - look at me. I am everywhere. Wataru won the war.

SUMMARY:

Only through extending empathy to Eichi could the story of Enstars be changed on an in-universe level, and only through extending empathy to Eichi can a reader outside the story come to realize its full potential and meaning! Loving Eichi is the key, and Wataru showed you how to do it!

#meta

[alyosiuscreightonward]

Dear Diary. Just the other day I had learned that someone I know is in a state of mental distress. I’m not sure what there support system looks like but I also know that there are several people who just want the drama and they then go at it.

It sucks that you are going through this but it really does irritate me to know that trying to parse something down to the molecular level isn’t going to help the situation and also doesn’t offer up solutions nor provides tools to help. MF dealing with shit is definitely harder than putting together something from fucking IKEA. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Yeah I can go back to a place that hurts me and explain the trauma.

Yeah I can go to YouTube and find a video for whatever you are feeling but that’s not gonna solve anything.

Yeah I can then go to the interwebs and find a quote for you and it still won’t solve the anything.

Yeah I also know that I sometimes don’t take the advice that I dish out.

In my world, I allow myself to have these feelings and I allow myself to vomit my feelings. In my world, I believe that shit happens and yes, I’ll hold onto them until I realize that these great big pieces of emotional luggage needs to be checked through never to be seen again.

At the job, I’m usually in a foul mood because of the people I have to interact with because I don’t have time for them nor am I able to deal with their manufactured drama. I don’t want to give them my time or effort. Even the ones who should know better are still attempting to stir the pot meanwhile they’re trying to make it look like they don’t have a ladle or a paint brush and a 55 gallon drum of black paint.

I come here to say shit all the while knowing that lots of people who are on this app don’t read nor comment on my verbal diarrhea. Bitch please. I do read their posts and I don’t comment either. It’s very much like TikTok or Instagram, scroll on by.

Regardless of whether or not I deal with shit or not is my prerogative. The only thing I can do is fight. I fight with all my demons and my feelings and eventually I do come through.

People blather on about how they can communicate and all that rot but I also know that they have their problems and yeah pretty much.

I’m able to say that I have been homeless junkie prostitute and thief and a Shitkicker and I wanted someone to pay attention to me as playwright Arthur Miller scribed the following sentence in “Death of a Salesman,” ‘Attention must be paid.’”

Exactly. The character Willie Loman had been overlooked for most of his life and in his career but now that he’s passed…we’ve got to stop and see that he is and was a human being who existed.

I’ve got my own feelings about this but I also know that some folks don’t care if I have feelings about this that or third. Then I do know that there are some folks who actually care about me because I’ve touched their lives.

I’m going to tell you one story about me and the guilt I often feel.

I honestly forgot exactly how old I was at the time of this incident but I know that I had not moved to NYC yet. My family had a dog and her name was Tabitha. She was a former show dog and was just so beautiful and so sweet. Also she was skittish about herky jerky movements. That night I was given the task to take Tabs on a walk and she’d do her business. I walked down the street, I took a right turn and we walked to the parking lot behind my house. Since it had snowed the night before we were left with a huge pile of snow at the opposite end of the parking lot. We ran like fools. We both had run up the snowbank. I lost my footing and I slipped and fell. I screamed out and Tabs got freaked and bolted away from me. I immediately chased after her. Tabs was a Saluki and she ran like the wind. She would easily outrun Usain Bolt. The next thing I knew, a car appeared out of nowhere and she got hit. I freaked the fuck out and bellowed every single swear word I could ever muster at the occupants of the car. Tabs ran back to the house and I found her on the front porch. I began to wail as to bring my family onto the porch. I screamed and cried and the whole house shook. Eventually my mom and, I think, my brother and sister came out. I told them what happened and as I was explaining it all to them, the occupants of the car were standing on the porch watching me lose my shit. Tabs had a broken leg. She came through it all with flying colors. She wasn’t afraid of me. I thought she’d just avoid me because of the trauma she went through. I’m not sure what happened after that but I did come to learn that my mom had made the decision to to rehome Tabs. From what I remember, Tabitha lived out her life on a 25 acre farm in Vermont.

That was one of many things slash trauma I went through with the dogs and cats in my life.

There are many other things that I’ve experienced in my life that have made me feel numb. When I was with my brother over the weekend, I nonchalantly said that I no longer cry. He said something about how I should cry etc but I ignored him. He has no clue what I’ve been through and why I rarely cry.

Recently my husband’s dog, CoCo passed away. It hurt me deeply but I still love that little fucker to no end. It’s now just myself and my Harry.

I have my moments but I absolutely refuse to let the world know that I’m in pain. I put on the blinders and march forward. Though in my private life, I let the emotions run amok. Then the next morning, I’m able to deal with this shit and I don’t allow it to absolutely consume me anymore.

The one thing I do want you to know is that, you should find an outlet to vomit your feelings and not give permission to control you. Like I said before, I don’t always listen to me and do the right thing or the correct thing. There’s no wrong or right way but if there’s one thing that you can take away from this, it’s a learning experience that will help you build a stairway to paradise. I may never get there but I will fight for me and that’s all that matters.

Lastly, I will leave you with some lyrics to a song that hits my heart and was playing on my iPod when I drove up to vets office with CoCo in my lap and before I said goodbye.

“Well, I wasted years,/All the useless, bitter tears./If I'd known I'd have stopped it at the start./I knew life was long,/And I knew life could go wrong,/But I never knew my life would break my heart./'Cause I made, and I'm gonna lie in my bed of roses./Bed of roses I believed my life would be./Bed of roses I believed my life would be.” written by Bonnie Hayes & sung by Bette Midler.

Rage. Feel some kind of way. Scream. Break things. You do you. Fuck them all.

Then there’s this piece of sage advice that I adhere to on the daily, “Pour yourself a drink (or beverage of choice), put on some lipstick and pull yourself together,” so said Elizabeth Taylor.

😶

#dear diary #no your not the only one #i wrote this for me #inside my mind #my words #my writing #ramblings #pity party #bipolar depression #lgbtq #fuck them all #keep moving forward

[racfoam]

Hi rac! Recently I found out that Tolstoy's war and peace is 580k words or something and checked nynn's word count it's 360k and we are still at Harriet's summer before 5th year. So I am kinda rooting and hoping that nynn thoroughly squash war and peace in word count. No pressure though I just thought at the word pace you are going by the time Harriet's in her 6th year and eventually fall in love with voldemort you will exceed 580k.

Maybe if you exceed 580k I'll try to read war and peace again. last time I tried I gave up after 10 pages which I sometimes find hard to believe because I read your fic in a day.

So I just want to say you are a great writer. Hope you have a great weekend

Hello!

Oh, I have not read Tolstoy's War and Peace, and woow, it has 580k words? 😳 Of a book?! That must be about more than 800 pages depending on the format.

Hang on, you read nynn in a day? You are superhuman, my friend.

Awww, that is flattering that you hope nynn surpasses it. I am hoping that by 580k they'll finally kiss but I’m probably wrong. Ah, do you remember when I said it will only be 5 chapters of summer arc before Harry gets to Hogwarts.

Haha, good times.

Speaking of literature, I know I devoured Crime and Punishment in high school. Nobody could get through it, but I just couldn't stop reading. Of course, I only started reading it 3 days before the deadline, haha 😅 so I didn’t finish the last 50 pages but read the summary of the ending. I came back to it after the exam bcs I just had to know the details ie read the paragraphs. I think the way I write was very influenced by the literature I read in those high school years of my life.

I love when books have descriptions regarding action sequences, the surrounding, symbolism, psychology of the character and etc which are highly found in Russian and Norwegian literature. For Norwegian I only read Jo Nesbo's Snowman but I loved all the detailed descriptions of the city...

So I think Russian & Norwegian novels from back then are my favourite, as well as Jane Austen. They definitely influenced my writing style, which is why I wrote so much for nynn. Even now when I look back, I'm amazed by my own vocabulary and how I weaved sentences, the tension, the descriptions, Harry’s emotions...

Sometimes I can't believe I wrote nynn... I felt like I was in some sort of writing trance as people call it. I am very proud of it.

Regarding how you read nynn faster compared to War and Peace, I believe holding the attention of the reader depends on multiple factors, and it really depends on what an individual likes in literature and novels.

I shall continue working hard on nynn (hasn't worked on nynn in a full month) I have most of the chapters’ events planned out in bulletpoints, I just gotta write them. Hopefully, I get lucky and wrap up the entire nynn within the next six chapters and then onto the sequel that is the official 5th Year at Hogwarts.

You all have no idea how much I have in store for you for 5th Year. OOTP is very fun, add soulmate drama to it... (chef's kiss)

Thank you for this wonderful message 💖💖💖, and I hope you can get through Tolstoy, but if not, don’t force yourself. There are online summaries/quotes for a reason.

Maybe I'll give Tolstoy's War and Peace a peek...

Sending love! 💖💖❤️❤️

P.S. I have seen your ask regarding Harry & Nagini I just have no snippets of them but I will answer it when I do write a snippet.

[ladyhindsight]

... did you say biphobia and slut-shaming? Because here you get biphobia and slut-shaming.

Beati Bellicosi, blessed are the warriors. Blessed is my patience with this book.

The party at the Ironworks has begun. Clary, Simon, Isabelle, Maia, Jordan, Magnus, and Alec are all in attendance. Isabelle wasn’t invited, she just tagged along. I don’t know what Magnus and Alec are doing there (Alec is probably Magnus’ plus one?).

You can incorporate this information without breaking the sentence.

→ Werewolf waiters/Waiters, who were also werewolves, moved among the guests, handing out champagne flutes. Simon declined one. The whole event seemed to be staffed by members of Luke’s pack.

Commas before “who” because the relative clause provides additional information that is not essential to know what is happening.

I previously talked about how incessant Jordan becomes when it comes to Maia. It is obnoxious and relentless how he forces his thoughts about her and constantly calls upon the time they dated. Maia has not welcomed his presence yet. We have not gotten any of Maia’s thoughts, how she is dealing with having Jordan around again, how she doesn’t even know the truth about Jordan’s circumstance. Jordan goggling at Maia is intrusive and annoying and disrespectful.

Alec continues to have his arms crossed. He has not uncrossed them since the scene in the Sanctuary.

Staring ferociously → glaring

One thing that constantly happens in this book is characters telling the same information again and again, just from different perspectives. Here Clary is once again described, though we know what she is wearing.

→ She came around the table to greet Simon. She was wearing...

→ I think the writing has made a point over how Clary does not wear heels. I don’t think she has worn heels at all in the series, so pointing this out gives the impression that she has a habit of wearing heels to look taller, and now that she isn’t, she looks noticeably tiny in her natural height. It is also the same as saying Clary looks like she always does: tiny.

Why is Magnus’ finger white again?

I can’t deal with this. Find another way to describe someone’s expressions without even mentioning their eyes or the eye color.

Considering how this will turn out romantic later, I supposed Jordan’s feelings and worry over is supposed to be regarded as favorable.

No, it’s just stalking.

Alec is being a little brat, and Magnus acts like there is absolutely nothing he could possibly do to alleviate Alec’s mood.

...Aaaabsolutely nothing. Withholding information about your life really creates a feeling like they know each other and trust each other, doesn’t it?

Let’s go back to my favorite quote from The Red Scrolls of Magic:

Leon glanced around, then said rapidly, “I mean, we’re both bisexual. Interested in men and women.”

“Oh,” said Alec. “I don’t know a lot about that, but again, good for you.”

Alec knew Magnus was the same way. He had begun to learn that there was a whole world he had been entirely cut off from, words like ‘bisexual’ and ‘pansexual’ he’d never really known.

[…] In the dark small corners of his soul, Alec worried sometimes. Why would Magnus choose him if he could choose a girl, a woman, an easier life? He thought of how terrified he’d been once of how he would be judged.

Clare doesn’t seem to get that phrasing things in a certain way may have offensive implications. Whether they are intended or not, they are still there.  I think Clare even thought about this scene on any deeper level than some lovers’ spat to spur up relationship drama, which in itself is half-witted because Magnus and Alec aren’t given enough room to spit the drama out. No matter how you slice and dice this, it doesn’t paint Alec in a good regarding these biphobic remarks. I’ve said before (rephrased a bit) that it’s pretty obvious that Alec is immature, deeply insecure, but straightforward, which is the reason any of his juvenile jealousy and his insecurity see the light of day at all. He’s also fucking stupid, but that’s another subject entirely. I don’t think it had gone unnoticed by anyone that everything Alec was at that point took great effect on his relationship with Magnus, adding to the fact that Magnus is reluctant to share anything. With all that in mind, it’s easy to point the cause of Alec lashing out.

Because of that, I don’t think that Alec himself is biphobic. The comment totally is. There’s little else in can be interpreted as, but I don’t think it comes from the place of biphobia. I don’t think Magnus’ sexuality was ever the problem (also Clare’s retconning tries to spin it this way rather than any other though none of it fits). Alec is not biphobic before nor is he afterwards, which is why I see the problem more as one concerning slut-shaming more than anything. The issue Alec has, of course, is Magnus’ multiple past relationships, and his nasty comments are directed more toward that. 

Because in the end, characters can say the most outrageously dumb stuff, but it is the consciousness behind the writing that matters in that case. And there is none with this issue. No matter where you consider Alec’s comments laying, there is still the fact that their issues weren’t given enough time or space to be handled properly. No skill nor interest from the author’s part either, and nor was the intricacy of the circumstance taken well into account. No wonder, having read this book again, I really, truly comprehend how Clare has zero capacity for that. 

From the storytelling aspect, there’s also the fact that any drama that could be resolved if the characters just would talk is effing idiotic and frustrating. For Magnus there isn’t any concrete reason not to talk about his past, only that the past doesn’t matter. I’m taking he greatest offence for the fact that the execution is overall terrible and thoughtless, and there were these actual issues that needed time and consideration but were sidelined in favour of Clary and Jace dry-humping each other against whatever surface available.

Anyway, let’s continue. Simon and Clary talk after this awkward affair.

Did you know that Simon is a vampire and that we, as readers, need constant reminders of things that relate to him being a vampire?

→ His unbeating heart contracted, and he wondered...

Clary sees Jace and leaves after him, and Maia comes to talk to Simon. Simon spills the beans about Jordan.

At its core, the issue is dishonesty.

Sometimes I wonder in retrospect what the hell did I mean when I took these long excerpts, but this is just unfair to dump this all on Maia at once and pretend it’s a favor.

→ Simon was never a boyfriend, they weren’t dating dating.

Clary has followed Jace to a terrace and they talk.

Not once has anyone done anything for Simon for being Simon have they. Even this Clary gets to spin around to be about her.

How exactly one acts like a Lightwood?

The amount of stuff these characters spend time remembering in this book. This paragraph also pauses unnecessarily many times.

→ She had the open-eye rune now on the back of her hand, the one he’d...

Jace then kidnaps Clary and we return back to the Awkward Table of probably uninvited guests.

It is not. At all. And that you are willing to tell?

Alec tells Magnus he heard the conversation Magnus had with Camille.

→ You should say Will was your friend, like he was, instead of this vague bullshit about the relationships being different.

→ The whole exchange that continue here is incoherent. Alec asks Magnus random things and Magnus barely answers Alec’s questions straightforwardly. Then they get interrupted by Isabelle who does that a lot in this book.

Reassuring. Not.

Simon is standing outside the Ironworks and is greeted by Maureen. Simon is shocked to see Maureen has become a vampire. She has come as a messenger and leads Simon away to closer to the long-awaited climactic point of this story.

#Magnus Bane #Alec Lightwood #Simon Lewis #Maia Roberts #Jordan Kyle #Clary Fray #Camille Belcourt #City of Fallen Angels #CoFA Chapter 15

[charlesjosephwrites]

Character Out of Context Tag

Thanks for the tag @fearofahumanplanet!

Rules: Include one character quote — of your choosing ⁠— from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you'd like). Give absolutely no context, save for what's between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it. Have fun, no pressure!

This'll be for my wip The Magician and Ms. Psychic! April has a tendency to say stuff that sounds weird even in context, so this should be fun lmao.

Tagging: @writingpotato07, @eli-writes-sometimes, @did-i-do-this-write, and anyone else who sees this and wants to jump in. As always, no pressure, though!

CH 1 - “I’m not the one who needs to go shove a microwave up their ass.”

CH 2 - “Hey.” I didn’t even bother to look at who was calling before I answered. “I’m gonna remove your kneecaps.”

CH 3 - “I mean, if you wanted to turn it into a fight to the death we could decide that way instead.”

CH 4 - “You better shut up right fucking now, or else I’m gonna replace all of your bones with pool noodles.”

CH 5 - “Maybe after I’ve taken over the city I’ll come back and rip out all of your kidneys."

CH 6 - “You can keep your bones.”

CH 7 - "What makes you think you can just swoop in here with your horrible fashion choices and ruin all my plans?"

CH 8 - Coming from literally anyone else, I would’ve responded to that question with a nice simple “fuck off” or maybe a “touch me and I’m gonna crush your spine into a fine powder and make you snort it,” but for some reason I couldn’t find it in me.

CH 9 - “I’m not the one dressed like an emo circus clown.”

CH 10 - “Seriously, if you’re going to fuck with all my plans, then at least have the decency to color-coordinate with me so we look good when people see us on the internet.”

CH 11 - "You’re allowed not to like stuff. If anyone has a problem with that I’ll boil their bones to make soup.”

CH 12 - “You look like a printer just threw up on you.”

CH 13 - “Go shove your face in a waffle iron.”

CH 14 - "You knew I was too gay for this, didn't you?"

CH 15 - “I mean, obviously I’m here to kidnap you again."

CH 16 - I stared at the oven door for a long moment, but nothing cool happened.

CH 17 - “Well, thank you, Barney. You can keep your spine.”

CH 18 - "You better start apologizing right the fuck now or else I’m gonna string up the bones in your feet and wear them as a necklace.”

CH 19 - “Bold of you to assume that my gay ass can think around a pretty lady.”

CH 20 - “I have never wanted to remove someone’s skeleton so bad.”

CH 21 - “I’m kidnapping you. You’re supposed to be scared. Not whatever” — I made a vague gesture in his direction with both hands — “this is.”

#wip: the magician and ms psychic #tag game #writing tag game #out of context quotes tag game #out of context quotes

[liltaz-asatreat]

Characters Out of Context

➥ Include one character quote — of your choosing ⁠— from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you'd like).

➥ Give absolutely no context, save for what's between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it.

Tagged by

@spuddlespud

Thank you for the tag!! :D

So I now have. Two multi-chapter fics going lskghsdlkgha I don’t have much written for the second one which is called Double Troubles, and I can talk more about that for anyone interested, but it’s basically an eighth bird AU except the eighth bird is an OC named Meadow, and they have a body in the Material Plane and a body in the Plane of Logic, and the two bodies share one consciousness that switches between the two when one body goes to sleep and the other wakes up.

Just thought I’d give that little bit of context because I’ve literally never talked about it even existing with anyone except Sunny lol

Also, most of the stuff I have written in the Julia AU is still random pieces of different points in the campaign, so I’m just going to pick a quote from each individual file I have saved lol

And this is all going under a read more because it’s gonna get long

Julia Burnsides vs Canon Lore

Prologue Memory: Steven Waxmen: “I want you to know that no matter what you decide, whether you're ready to do this or not, I'm always going to be here waiting for you.”

Chapter 1: Yeemick: “We got attacked by these four idiots who came to take back our captive. We managed to chase them off, but they said something about wanting to kill you, sir.”

Klaarg: “Oh, that's so weird because four of the loveliest people I have ever met came here, also looking for Barry Bluejeans, and they told me that you sent them to kill me!”

(I know I know, but I had to add Klaarg’s line too because that exchange is really funny slkghsdlgkh)

Chapter 2: Julia: “One, what is electronic dance music? And two, Kenny Chesney isn't that bad. My dad used to be a big fan too, but as far as I know, he wasn't a big enough fan to actually get him tattooed on his ass!”

Taking the Gauntlet and Going to the Moon: Taako: “I did a traveling cooking show called Sizzle it Up with Taako,” Taako says proudly. “And a TV, Julia, is...” His gaze gets a little unfocused as he scrunches his face up in confusion. “It's like... um... I remember there's moving pictures. It lets people see what people are doing from far away I think. That's why I say I'm from TV.”

Killian: “Are you talking about a telescope?”

Julia: “It kind of sounds like those video james Magnus talks about sometimes from his dreams. Doesn't it, babe?”

Meeting the Director: (this isn’t really dialogue, but it is a thought Julia has, so I’m counting it lol) Julia: Oh to be able to be slightly irritated at his ego again instead of full on wanting to murder him, it truly is a blessing.

Lunch Conversation with the Director: Julia: “It's a long time ago now. I just...” She sighs. “I just wish I knew sooner, you know? I understand why everything had to be erased, but it makes it harder knowing in retrospect. Now I'm mourning them again, but it hits a little harder this time around.”

Briefing Before Rockport: Julia: “If she thinks I'm gettin' dress for this, she's sorely mistaken.”

Petals to the Metal Elevator Incident: Julia: “Don't worry, it is plenty impressive for me, babe.” She smirks at the way Magnus' face goes even redder and ignores the other boys cackling behind her. “Should we go up to the vault now?”

Julia’s First Conversation with Leon: Leon: “I don't think it's supposed to make sense to people like us. If it did, we probably wouldn't be here trying to do our part to save the world.”

Lucretia Confronts Them about RR Crystal Kingdom: Julia: “We have the Stones, Merle. And Director, I– I'm sorry, but even if we did try to run away, there weren't many options of places for us to go. He stopped time, or at least, he stopped Lucas and Killian and Carey and Noelle from moving and perceiving time while he was there, so there wasn't anyone we could turn to for help, and our other option was to run out of the room to a crystallized central hallway with almost all of the airlocks shut down. We couldn't go anywhere, and even if we did have a place to hide, it would have been a waste of time to wait for him to leave, and we might not have been able to stop the crystal from spreading.”

Julia Catches Taako Crying After Refuge: Taako: “When I was with the Chalice, some parts of the memories of my childhood looked like static, and I can't help but wonder if the dreams really aren't just another aspect of myself that I've projected as being another person and they actually are something or someone missing. So I started writing a letter to them. Or me. Or whoever or whatever this dream person is.”

Magnus and Julia Talk to Fisher: Julia: “We're going to find out what happened to it. I promise.”

Julia Talks to the Red Robe: Barry: “There's a thing coming. The thing I've been warning you guys about. The hunger of all living things. It'll be here soon, and our only hope of stopping it lies with, well...” The Red Robe looks uncomfortable for a moment. “You were never supposed to get caught up in the equation, Julia, and I am truly sorry for that. None of this was even supposed to happen. But we're here now, and this is happening, so I guess we have to make do with the cards we're dealt with.”

Julia Talks to Magnus About [redacted]: Merle: “You just admitted that you put ketchup on spaghetti when you don't have immediate access to any form of tomato sauce or don't feel like making it.”

Magnus: “I've seen you eat dirt, Merle, so you're one to talk!”

Wonderland Catwalk Scene: Julia: “Leave Taako alone,” Julia says with a shake of her head. She glares at the stupid mannequins and the stupid catwalk with its stupid spotlight shining down on it. “I'll get up there and strut.”

Julia Hears the Story and Song: Julia: “You literally know way more than I do, Merle. You know who the lich that came out of Taako's umbrella is who is apparently his sister I'm assuming?” Magnus nods, so she continues. “I'm assuming you know what's in the sky and currently destroying the world–”

Magnus: “Yup, it's called the Hunger.”

Julia: “According to the Director, you... you're... all of you are from a different reality?” Julia exclaims, and Magnus hums in agreement. “And, what is hap–”

Julia Talks With Leon After S&S: Leon: “You know, your husband is like a roach, you know that right?”

Julia’s Conversation with Taako After S&S: Taako: “I grew up with Lup. Yes. But where the fuck was she for the past twelve years, Julia? Because it certainly wasn't with me!” Taako tries to stand angrily, but as he puts weight on his legs, he curses before sitting back down. “And everyone else! Where were they? Spread all across Faerûn because someone couldn't fucking handle being wrong! Because that person couldn't fucking handle holding a conversation!”

Double Troubles

Chapter 1: Taako: "Fine, if you don't want them, then Merle and I will eat them, and you can just have the stale ass bread."

Chapter 2: Meadow: "Um, yeah actually. I uh– I got back into contact with some old friends in the past couple of days, and just yesterday, I actually got back into contact with a friend I have been trying to reach for a really long time.”

Chapter 3: Merle: “Gundren could be dead by the time we get there, but that's just my opinion.”

Chalice Scene: June/Chalice: “This lead to your fateful argument where you failed to convince her to take off the Amulet, and she used it against you to completely take over your will.”

Tagging

@institute-of-planar-shitposts @holdmecloser-gandydancer @barry-j-blupjeans @noodyl-blasstal  @yaboyspodcastpalace @lexarga @phantasmagoric-acquaintance @taakosleftshoe @idkanameatall and anyone else who wants to do it!! :D

and if you don’t want to do it, no pressure :)

#tag game #written works of Gab #sort of #Julia Burnsides vs Canon Lore #might as well also start up a tag for: #Double Troubles