#you have failed as a storyteller.

[antidisneyinc]

What do you mean that you consider it a failure of the showrunners that Skyler White was hated?

skyler was hated because of plain old misogyny, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a predictable response. vince gilligan had the advantage of hindsight for the depictions of women in similar situations who were unfairly, heinously hated by audiences, e.g. kay adams in the godfather and wendy torrance in the shining. in an ideal world portraying skyler in a totally neutral matter-of-fact light might be 'good' art, but we don't live in a world where audiences are neutral toward women. the vilification of skyler white was 100% predictable and just like the godfather and the shining before it, breaking bad failed to write and frame its story in a way that forced the audience to see her as a victim. we can talk all day long about how writers shouldn't be responsible for the reaction to their work, but the fact is that all writing everywhere has to take into account the culture and the audience consuming it. when a certain reaction to your story is a foreseeable, historically precedented quantity and you take no steps to rectify or mitigate what you know will be an unfair response to an element of that story. then it's not true that you have no responsibility for that reception, is it

#society is awful yes. but when you tell a story about a meth dealer and his trapped wife and audiences side with the meth dealer #you have failed as a storyteller. #point blank period #breaking bad #fanmail

[natjennie]

what's weird about the fantasy high drama is that like. it seems to me like people forget d&d is primarily a) a game you play with your friends and also b) luck based.

I mean it's fine to say that "nothing felt like a challenge" and "they just dominated everything and there weren't any stakes" but like. it's not as if they weren't up against huge threats. they lost the mall fight. the last stand was an onslaught of enemies. they fought a dozen dragons from an airship. the fights were hard. they're just really good. they've had very good dice luck in general this season and are all very high level and highly specialized. fig is gonna beat deception and performance checks. adaine's gonna figure out the arcana. riz is gonna succeed investigations. like. for some reason their strategical competence and wisely picked abilities are. a downside? a disappointment?

the thing about d&d that you need to remember is it's first and foremost a game. it's mostly random and it takes you down weird paths and you're playing to have fun with your friends. the dice are literally telling the story that it's their time, it's their year. they've struggled enough. they've trained enough. they're good at what they do. and in my post about the academic/domestic/personal stressors being the focus, d&d doesn't have any other system to work them out than rolling different skills. that's what d&d is. brennan set specific challenge levels for different tasks and the players strategized to prioritize which abilities they were strongest in. the challenges were there. and the players rose to them. they were both smart in their delegation of responsibilities and lucky with their dice rolls. of which, both are foundations of d&d.

don't mistake them being good players and getting lucky with there being no hardship. just because they smashed through the wall, that doesn't mean the wall wasn't strong. they were just stronger.

#i know some people are disappointed from a storytelling perspective. but you have to understand. #what was brennan supposed to do. he threw things at them both at and above their challenge level #he created a whole system to simulate academic and person goals and stress throughout the year #he gave them plenty of chances to fail #he set DCs high. #the players just knocked it out of the park #you can't tell any story but the ones the dice want you to #if he had manufactured more danger or difficulty where there was none it would have felt cheap #and do you not remember the night yorb fight #like. the whole point of the year was that it wasn't hard. it just never stopped #they can do it they're capable they're smart. but the hustle and the stress and the fighting and the working never ends #that's why nothing 'had stakes' or 'felt challenging' #it's the slog that gets you. it's how long you're willing to keep going. #how much life can break you almost to your last breath but you get through it and you keep going anyway #but. i digress. #and i say all this with complete and total respect to other people's opinions #i feel no hate and wish no bad feelings on anyone who disagrees with this! #it's just my personal view on the whole thing #sorry if im being annoying i just have. opinions. #fantasy high #d20 #dimension 20 #fhjy

[starflungwaddledee]

Hey got a question, is it normal for your heartbeat to beat rapidly wherever you look at really tense or angsty scenes?

It's Just a question I had in mind

putting these together because they're clearly related. i admit these have me a little bit stumped, but i'll take this in good faith and do my best! under the cut because of length.

topics include: physiological reactions to fiction, emotional reactions/empathy of creators, and finally addressing the unspoken question present in asks like this.

"is it normal to have a physiological reaction (heart beat, jitters, excitement, sadness, etc) to fiction"

absolutely! i cannot overstate how common it is to have reactions of any wide variety to fiction. the whole point of storytelling is to make you feel things! the reactions you have, their intensity, and the specific media or genre you'll have those reactions to will vary person to person. in regards to angst in particular, like i've said on this topic before: reactions will vary. some people might get excited, others might get sad, others might feel it like a gut punch but in a really good and cathartic way. none of these are better or worse or more normal or more abnormal than the other.

"do i as a creator have an emotional reaction to the work i'm creating?"

i personally do, sure. i was actually quite explicit in the tags of the comic that came right before this ask that i found it hard to draw, because seeing kirby so sad was emotionally pulverising to me. do all creators? no. do i feel a strong emotional reaction to all scenes? no. or all types of content creation? no. for me, prose is actually much easier to tackle than illustration; i can write trauma and suffering and psychological devastation until the cows come home, but drawing it is a different matter. consuming the work of others is different again. and this is different for everybody. am i somehow morally better or more empathetic than an artist that doesn't struggle to draw characters sad? hell no! being able to represent- in fiction- a strong emotion generally requires that you empathise with or at least understand that emotion. sometimes creators actually have to be able to turn this off to be able to create the content we make; the way we turn off strict adherence to reality in order to write fantasy. if we couldn't do this, content across the board- art, movies, novels- would be flattened to nothing but the cheeriest and most mediocre parts of our day to day lives. no fun monsters (because those aren't real). no challenges to rise above (because those make us sad). no characters who have different experiences to us (because how could we imagine or feel for that). and it would be okay for like... twenty minutes of all books containing 'the sun was shining and i woke up on time and had a yummy breakfast', but then it would suck, sorry. conflict and imagination are the root of content.

"it's just a question I had in mind".

a way to think about this might be; would you ask these questions about genres that aren't angst? would you ask "is it normal to be happy when these characters finally reunite" or "is it normal to feel resolution in response to a happy ending" or "is it normal to feel excitement when a character has their cool hero moment". perhaps it's because your reaction to angst is something you construe as negative, but if you wouldn't doubt your reactions to cheerful content, then there's no reason to doubt the reactions you have to angst either; these are just reactions! fiction is designed to make us feel things, but what you feel will be up to you. no one feeling or response is better or worse than any others.

lastly, i feel like there is an unspoken question here that i don't like.

and maybe you didn't intend it. i'm going to extend that grace to you, and because you seem to need reassurance about this (though i will not be reassuring about this further. i do not like reassurance seeking from strangers and this is a boundary i am setting right now), this is not an attack or even a criticism. your questions are fine if they are coming from a place of curiosity and- i simply assume- that these are new or difficult concepts to you that you have yet to have explored or explained.

but on the good faith assumption you didn't intend it, and wouldn't want to do this again (especially if you message other creators), i think you should be aware.

because it sounds like this: "do the people who make sad/angsty/dark content care at all or are you heartless to the suffering (of these characters). is angst/dark content made by bad people?" i felt it the previous time i got a question like this too when it explicitly stated "you seem like a nice person", as if being a nice person was in contrast with what i was creating.

please. we are just people. the relative light or darkness of the content you make says absolutely nothing about your morals, your real life attitudes, or your ability to be an empath.

someone making cute animal art could be a school yard bully. someone writing a complex sci-fi warhorror fic could be the most altruistic and compassionate soul in the world.

in my experience, creators are some of the most empathetic people i have ever met, and many of them know their craft intimately. these are people capable of stepping into the shoes of others as easily as breathing. of sitting down at their work station every day and finding inside themselves a way to answer "how would this really feel?" so clearly and honestly that they can put it onto the paper for you to feel it too.

#being able to storytell in such a way that the reader feels something is a skill!! it is a Skill and not an accident or a moral failing. #if what someone's work makes you feel is not something you like; don't consume that work! #again... if angst is not for you you can block it from my work with this tag: cw angst #if it really hurts you my work may not be for you! this is a niche i am interested in and am *very grateful* to find others here are as wel #have seen this surprise expressed by other kirby angst/dark creators. it's a seemingly unlikely place but also the most likely place. #lastly: unempathetic creators also exist and are no better or worse than empathetic creators. #because lacking empathy is not a flaw and it also forms absolutely NOTHING about your morals. okay anyway. #once more: i will not be offering anymore reassurance to reassurance seeking. it makes me deeply uncomfortable. thanks. #also not to toot my own horn but that was a banger ending line. if you read to the end that's your reward. #replies

[the-howling-storm]

If MahaOps doesn't create a subgenre of Fate Go fics, imma be disappointed in the fandom

#fgo #fate go #fate/grand order #fate series #helena blavatsky #altera #jeanne d'arc #ushiwakamaru #grail live #grail concert #MahaOps #you literally have an idol group in the event that prioritizes fantasy knight style storytelling along with their music #AND they canonically have ships amongst their fanbase??? #this is yuri gold right here #fanfic writers don't fail me now

[ashenberry]

this isn’t to be mean I promise ♥️ but it’s a little funny when people are like of course the diamond redemption felt rushed the show got cut early which is true as far as I can tell but it does convienently leave out that SU is a 5 season show with 160 episodes and personally if I was gonna try to redeem all the diamonds I would have started before halfway through season 5

#and idk if they were aware that they were gonna get a movie and spin off but i think they probably just should have focused on just pink a #lil more then try to clunky speedrun yellow blue and whites. leave the plot thread there for the future you can hint it but have a more #satisfying finale storytelling wise let’s u keep the themes everyone loves without sacrificing the execution #<- was watching overanalyzing korra n how I think both are shows that could’ve been a lot better but were kinda failed by their execution

[apollo-cackling]

scanned through some stuff on the superg irl wiki bc some stuff I saw for the ao3 femslash poll made me curious and. goddammit I see why lesbians went (go?) insane over this show there's some compelling character concepts here

#my rambles #from all I've heard it completely fails to follow up on them but. yk #probably's why it has so many fics on ao3 and why every pairing that made it into the tournament got nuked the instant voting started lol #where did I put the space to avoid maintagging last time #oh right #superg irl #this is about me skimming over the early sections of alex (and astra)'s wiki pages and also having read some #-supercat fics bc I was bored and picked out some fics at random #also is it just me or do the people writing the wiki sound like they have unrealised + deep seated issues with women #it's mostly a bunch of small stuff but like that one bit framing the relationship between a 17yo and a teacher(?) as #-an illicit affair instead of y'know. fucking grooming was uh. hello???? #idk at minimum it's got a very bad case of... y'know the like tenor of writing some fan wiki pages have that makes you just go #'oh basically a single person wrote this huh' #yk like trying to capture the wikipedia type tone of cool impartiality bc hey that's just how wikis are supposed to be like #but not rlly managing to and the way it's written makes you hyperaware of the person writing the article? #shrug least it's not as bad as... I forgot her name but yk the travelling bard/storyteller person that accompanies fitz in assassin's quest #last time I checked her page on the rote wiki was an absolute travesty dhajdhsj just *gods* the person writing this has massive issues #-with women huh

[ballisterboldheart]

the only problem i have w civil war isnt even something they did just that they should have kept tony's arc reactor in like do you understand the sheer SWAG of steve LITERALLY having to break tony's heart to stop him. they should have committed. the symbolism would have been so sexy

#s.txt #tony stark's house of ribs #taking out tony's reactor was a dumb decision. its a versatile storytelling device you absolute buffoons #at least i'll always have you black panther's quest. you did not fail me

[lesbicastagna]

(person who is obsessed with nostalgia driven narratives) yeah i just dont know why totk isn't hitting the same with me i know gameplay wise it's better but with botw i got way more invested in its world :/

#ik its just my taste. im still having fun #also im soooo not a gamer girl. the more i grow up the more im like oh yeah. i just dont care that much for video games #as a. storytelling media...? #which is why i was so shocked with how much botw worked for me. but its the tragedy aspect i should have known #YOU WAKE UP IN A WORLD THAT ISNT YOUR OWN THAT YOU DONT KNOW YOU DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND ALL YOU KNOW IS THAT YOU FAILED. #and everyone you knew is dead. slay. banger. love on planet earth

[elegyofthemoon]

I'm still thinking a lot about Ion's grave, and then ranking Ion below Orupeusu in terms of "Most Loved" of the Sunchildren

If you go by Ion's grave, there's a lot of sigils around it -- sigils that you may come across while traversing Enkanomiya (I don't really know if it means much of anything, but iirc I think the sigils also looked like the map of Watatsumi Island--). Maybe the sigils were something related to Ion's fortunetelling for his people -- a charm of good luck he'd give to them to give them some assurance against whatever bad fate awaited them

I guess my brain's going a few different ways with this:

Maybe the people gave Ion sigils to commemorate him because of the joy he'd bring with his fortunes for them. To express their love and gratitude for his act of kindness

In the face of all the false fortunetelling he did, the people would choose to neglect Ion instead, meaning that these sigils instead were made by his caretaker to commemorate him when no one will.

On the same note, because of the false fortunetelling,the people would cast aside the sigils given to them by the Sunchild, returning it back to the Sunchild's side at his tomb. Numbers of false promises of a better life than the one dealt to them.

#OHHHH YKNOW WHAT IM GONNA OPEN GENSHIN TO GO LOOK AROUND ENKANOMIYA AGAIN LMAO #time to go look for the tombs and cry about it LOL #later later though i just needed to air out these thoughts before i go study #for the sunchildren #oh but you know #thinking about the epitaphs as well can give you a good idea as well with how people thought of some of these kids #idk who was in charge of them but #i think ions for example was something like 'gifted with fortunetelling. failed to predict his own' #i think thats like a wonderful piece of 'one sided storytelling' where you only get one part of the story #to someone else he mightve been really good (but the truth is he was lying about all the fortunes to make you happy) #but he knows his own death to come he just didnt say it #maybe thats why he also says something like 'the people here dont have good fate :/' #but anyways #for ion #i love surepio but i think ion might also hit for me as well in terms of fave kids LKAJDHFA #sorry for the favoritism askdjfhsalj but i do love all the kids a lot i just wish i had more info or think more about that #BUT thats what revisiting might do for me... hopefully :)

[hylialeia]

I think my biggest issue with Luke in The Last Jedi is that the narrative introduces a mystery that requires an explanation, goes through an entire arc building up to the reveal, but then just... never actually answers its own question.

There’s so much emphasis on it, too. Why has Luke Skywalker become this jaded old hermit? What happened to him that snuffed out his hope and faith, turning him into the man we see now? And I actually think that’s an interesting route to examine! How did Luke Skywalker go from this hopeful, passionate, caring person we remember in Return of the Jedi to the man Rey has to beg to train her on that island? Even if other writers might have gone a different direction, I don’t think that it’s necessarily a bad decision to portray Luke this way; people change, sometimes not for the better, and the origins of those changes can be fascinating to explore. The only requirement is that the narrative actually sells the audience on its reasoning for that change.

But after the film makes us ask why Luke has become so cynical and distrusting, the answer it gives us, the traumatic event that spurred it all is that... he did something cynical and distrusting. The thing that turned Luke into someone who can only see the danger and darkness in others was... him focusing on the darkness in his nephew. And that’s not an answer to the mystery of Luke’s current characterization, it’s just more mystery.

We don’t know what happened to the Luke of RotJ, even though the film suggests it’s going to tell us. The Luke we see consider murdering Kylo is the one we meet on the island, and that’s a problem, because that means--like Han and Leia in TFA--he’s been stuck in stasis, only worse, because the stasis isn’t even remotely connected to his canon characterization from the Original Trilogy. In the end, we’re left with the same question we had in the beginning: What happened to Luke Skywalker? And that is an unforgivable oversight.

#leia watches sw #star wars #sw meta #luke skywalker #also I think a big part of this was the film's desire to subvert everything it could #subverting not only what the audience expected of luke's current characterization #but ALSO subverting what they thought he'd be like as a teacher #and it does this so that it can lead up to a potential redemption for kylo #BUT THEN #it pulls its subversion card AGAIN #and has kylo reject redemption #I'm fine with subversion at a storytelling device but when you try to pull it at every turn #it ends up undermining your own story #luke's character assassination (which was avoidable in the first place) ends up being for nothing #because to be subversive. kylo has to reject rey's offer #luke needs to be undeniably in the wrong so that kylo's sympathetic. but then kylo still isn't redeemed #(also you could keep the story relatively intact and have it make more sense if you had luke fail kylo by doing the opposite) #(by having him show support for kylo as the darkness grows and just steadfastly believing he can fight it) #(which is more in line with the luke of rotj and would explain why he's now terrified of rey's potential darkness) #(AND it's more in line with what he says in the movie which is that he was too arrogant and thought he could train kylo) #(''but would kylo still be sympathetic that way?'' you ask. yeah if you put effort into writing him right) #(and maybe actually establish within the film's own narrative that snoke was grooming him and invading his mind) #(it also makes his rejection of redemption at the end make more sense bc this way we've seen him do it before) #(but whatever) #(I need to learn to shut up in the tags)

[crimeronan]

the weirdest thing about the HUGE toh fandom engagement i've gotten on ao3 is that people have pretty consistently been like, "wow, you completely transformed these characters from external dialogue/visuals to consistent internal narration, i can tell EXACTLY who's telling the story just based on their words/priorities/thoughts/observations, this grasp of prose and character voice is so meticulous it's fucking mindblowing" (but, you know, phrased like a normal person) and it's like . actually yeah 100% if i had to pick my strength and in writing fiction, i'd say it's Those Things Exactly! i feel Seen and Appreciated and like my frankly very silly amount of editing/drafting work is paying off!

and i've never received This Specific Compliment so often before - "wow, you're really good at writing compelling prose built on strong characterization" - bc i basically Only write for fandoms that are ALREADY BOOKS.

#writing toh fic is like. if you were reading a close third person pov rendition of every character's thoughts at any given moment #what would it look like. can i apply my talent of describing emotions for 3 paragraphs while failing to give a single external detail? #YES BABY #it's genuinely very fun to play around with different characters voices and it's making me remember #how much i just. like storytelling. writing whatever weird fixation i have and building a whole arc around it #idk how 2 explain . just. like #the feeling that by writing my prose i've done st that can't be fully replicated in a different medium. only approximated #that feels INCREDIBLE i always wanna feel like. i made a story that is special Because it was told this way #if it was told a different way thru a different medium it would be a different story #this is less about toh itself and more about just. that nice feeling of like. oh i remember why i love my specific art now #toh #i'm sorry not to be updating my book fics with this energy but sadly this is not how my brain works #it's either toh fic or no fic atm. cannae pull a lever to get the next soulmate jordeclan from the vending machine :(

[depizan]

I see posts go by periodically about how modern audiences are impatient or unwilling to trust the creator. And I agree that that's true. What the posts almost never mention, though, is that this didn't happen in a vacuum. Audiences have had their patience and trust beaten out of them by the popular media of the past few decades.

J J Abrams is famous for making stories that raise questions he never figures out how to answer. He's also the guy with some weird story about a present he never opened and how that's better than presents you open--failing to see that there's a difference between choosing not to open a present and being forbidden from opening one.

You've got lengthy media franchises where installments undo character development or satisfying resolutions from previous installments. Worse, there are media franchises with "trilogies" that are weird slap fights between the makers of each installment.

You've got wildly popular TV shows that end so poorly and unsatisfyingly that no one speaks of them again.

On top of that, a lot of the media actively punishes people for engaging thoughtfully with it. Creators panic and change their stories if the audience properly reacts to foreshadowing. Emotional parts of storytelling are trampled by jokes. Shocking the audience has become the go to, rather than providing a solid story.

Of course audiences have gotten cynical and untrusting! Of course they're unwilling to form their own expectations of what's coming! Of course they make the worst assumptions based on what's in front of them! The media they've been consuming has trained them well.

#Mac vs fiction

[robertsbarbie]

just watched Wish with my sister and unpopular opinion it’s not as awful horrendous as people say like julia michaels should not have written the lyrics, the character animation with the art style could’ve been blended better and some of the obvious easter egg were a little much but i think it was interesting to look at a utopia society and the true corruption that lies beneath the surface

#like even the cringey lines i saw circulating online make sense like the #‘i don’t even make you pay rent’ is especially important in setting up the utopian narrative #and this false jadedness #and yes idk if they fixed the lyricist and cleaned up the animation slightly more it’s message would be there #it was just very tell don’t show kind of storytelling #and most importantly it was different and people don’t like different #especially if d*seny is trying to compete with the puss n boots and spiderverse era of animation #like they’re no longer the pinnacle and one thing is they have to try and fail #anyway again unpopular opinion but yeah i think it goes with the new stories they’re trying to tell #including encanto eternals ect #okay i’ll shut up now #eris: text

[chitterwords]

My love for deathgame/gambling stories VS their innate hatred for character development

#yeah yeah if the protags fail they die but also fuck you write a better setup then #'I have let my precious innocent comrade become mindfucked cause that way I can use them as a tool to trick you my enemy!' #'wait what do you mean my plan is fucked as soon as my comrades grow as people through the past experiences the fuck??!' #death game #dark fic #gambling story #storytelling #not words #writeblr #horror writing

[yandere-daydreams]

Title: Illuminated.

Pairing: Yandere!Apollo x Reader (Greek Mythology).

Word Count: 1.0k.

TW: Stalking, Unbalanced Power Dynamics, No Specified Gender For The Reader But They Are A Hunter Of Artemis, and Implied Kidnapping.

[Commissioned Piece. Donate To Palestinians In Gaza Here.]

“You, my love, are the poet’s demise.”

You stiffened at the sound of his melodic voice, shrinking into yourself before thinking better of taking on such a mouse-like posture and straightening. Still, you failed to stop yourself from crossing your arms over your chest, pulling your knees up and hoping beyond hope that the silvery water would be enough to hide your form from his unfaltering stare. You thought it’d be safer to bathe at night, apart from your sisters, when the softened moonlight protected you from his burning gaze, but you’d been naïve to think that any hour could be late enough to spare you haven. During the day, you lived under the burning gaze of his blazing chariot, busied yourself with shooting down hawks and ravens carrying gifts in their beaks, and at night, he had no burdens to keep him from closing the distance between you using less... ancillary methods.

“I’m afraid you must be mistaken, my lord.” You forced yourself to laugh, glancing over your shoulder. Sure enough, Apollo stood on the river’s opposing bank, his tanned skin nearly radiant in the darkness. If the sight of him hadn’t brought you such dread, you might’ve thought him beautiful. “As of late, my aim’s been so poor that I can hardly call myself a stag’s demise, let alone a man’s.”

You were quick to look away from him, but you could still hear his gentle hum, picture the way his lips would lilt upward as he shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s deathly true,” he went on, taking a step forward. The water rushed to part as he stepped where it had once been, and in turn, you scrambled for the robes you’d left on the shore, barely managing to pull the ashen cloth around yourself before Apollo came to stand in front of you, his light quickly doing away with what little protection the shadows offered. It was only after you were haphazardly dressed that you considered it might be considered an affront to hide any part of yourself from divinity, but the worry was quickly forgotten. It was only natural to want to create yet another barrier between you and him. Even insects knew to run from their betters. “For even the most talented bard would struggle beyond words to describe your beauty. They could be chained to their desk for an eternity, study under the Muses’ own tutelage, and still be unable to write a single line.”

He held out a hand to you, but you pretended not to realize he meant for you to take it. “You’re far too kind. If you have a message for Lady Artemis, there’s no need to bribe me with such—”

“My love,” he cut in, his smile unwavering. “If I had any desire to speak to my sister, your help would not be necessary.”

“A prophecy concerning our next hunt, then? If there’s something we mustn’t do, I ought to get the Huntmaster, she’ll—”

“My love.” You felt your throat tighten, your mouth go dry. “Although your voice is sweeter than honey and lovelier than birdsong, I’ll admit – I do find myself rather irritated when it’s used to employ such thinly veiled excuses. Any more, and I might think it better to encase your tongue in gold. At least, then, I might have something charming to admire while you lie to me.” His fingers grazed over your jaw as he moved to cup your cheek. It was not a gesture you had the luxury of ignoring. “You know why I have come here.”

Oh, how you wished you’d gone with your sisters.

“I… I can’t, my lord.” Unlike his, your voice was perfectly capable of trembling, of shaking, of plummeting into the sort of jarring, unsteady downward inflections that would’ve been the death of any proper storyteller. “My vows are to Lady Artemis, and—” It was your turn to smile, now, to lilt your head to the side apologetically. “—she’d never forgive me if I broke them. Especially with you.”

For the first time, his good humor seemed to ebb, giving way to not anger, but a melancholy sort of disappointment. “I suppose you’re right,” he relented, his golden glow dimming ever so slightly. Suddenly, it did not hurt quite so unbearably to look at him. “It’s a terrible thing. Me and my sister never did learn to share.”

Relief nearly managed to overshadow your revulsion. “I really am sorry. My desire is not to insult you, but—”

This time, when he interrupted you, it was not with a teasing remark, a nectar-dipped pet name, the vague implication of an affection he expected you to return. Rather, there was a sudden brightness in his golden eyes, a sharpened point to his smile, and then, his lips were pressed into yours. The kiss was shallow, but lingering, and when you tried to draw back, the hand on your cheek kept you firmly in place – his hold not crushing, but steadfast, resolute. His unoccupied arm wrapped around your waist, his hand finding its place at the small of your back as he sapped the last of the breath from your lungs. It was only when your palms pressed into his chest, your blunt nails burrowing into his bare skin in a silent plea for air, that he pulled back. Panting and flushed, you made a desperate effort to pull away, to escape back to your encampment, back to your sisters, back to your goddess, but he only cooed, his bowstring calloused fingertips fanning over your cheek.

“Such a terrible thing,” he muttered, and you considered, briefly, that you might’ve been the first mortal to realize just how wretched his voice truly was.

“How fortunate it is, then, that you’ve caught the attention of such a selfish admirer.”

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere greek gods #yandere greek mythology #yandere apollo #apollo x reader #yanderecore #yancore

[its-your-mind]

ALWAYS rotating TAZ: Balance around in my brain like microwave but ESPECIALLY with the announcement of The Suffering Game graphic novel

The dope thing they can do (and are doing) with the graphic novel series is sprinkle in moments of foreshadowing and hints to the reader about what REALLY might be going on here, which is so cool and I’m a huge fan of it, especially when you’re telling a story in this form.

But what is REALLY FUCKING TASTY about Balance as a story is that none of the motherfuckers telling it had any clue what they were doing when they started

Gerblins is dick jokes and not knowing how dice work and making fun of each other for voices. LICHRALLY the scene where Taako grabs the Umbrastaff is immediately proceeded by Clint trying different voices for Merle while Justin begs him to stop, as Taako. Merle gets launched across the room cuz he failed his save, and now Taako has an umbrella. The scene moves on.

Griffin brought them up to the BOB, introduced them to the Director, and gave them memories of a war fought over nameless, lost, powerful but mysterious artifacts. The memory that Taako takes from it is the idea of soured cream (ya know, for his taco quest).

And then they’re off, on different adventures, making friends, saving lives, making more dick jokes, and Griffin is in the background, slowly building in the meta-plot, as all DMs do.

But this meta-plot was HUGE. It was ALL-CONSUMING. It completely changes everything we know about this world and these characters. It takes the moments of dick jokes, and arguments about character voices, and flirting with death, and adds a layer of tragedy and complexity that just wasn’t present the first time they told that story.

AND THAT’S WHY THIS STORY KICKS ASS. The vibe of the story changed as Tres Horny Boys grew closer and closer to remembering the lives they had lost, as Griffin upped the stakes, as people started dying. They still don’t know shit for most of The Suffering Game, but you absolutely could not have predicted the tone of that arc after just listening to Gerblins. It sounds like a completely different story. And so when the other shoe drops, when shit breaks bad, when it’s the end of the world… again, and they have to reclaim their Stolen Century…

It makes sense. The tone has shifted enough to accommodate that kind of change. The characters have grown (back) into themselves enough to make this work.

Because TAZ: Balance is a tragedy. But the tragedy happened before the podcast even started, and had been erased. So of course it started off with goofs and dildo jokes. Of course the three of them started being standoff-ish with each other and making light of every situation that should have had a lot more weight. They didn’t know what they had lost, and we, the audience, didn’t either. So it was easy to laugh and joke… until slowly, it wasn’t so much anymore.

Plenty of people have praised Griffin’s storytelling abilities, but I think the thing that was most impressive to me was how he took the disparate threads laid out behind the Boys on their adventures, and followed them backwards, into the story they had lost, and forwards, into the ending they earned. I fucking love that he settled on Istus as the deity to interact with them, because I don’t think there’s a better representation of the story Griffin was weaving behind the scenes of the arcs.

Story and Song wasn’t really an arc driven by dice rolls and role playing - but it wasn’t railroading either. Griffin took every story they had told, every happy ending they had fought for, and twined them around and through each other. The world was saved not because of a lucky nat 20 roll, but because every person they had helped through the story came out in force to fight beside them to save their world.

And so in the end, the Stolen Century was a tragedy. But The Adventure Zone: Balance was a story of hope, of family, of the power that just a few loveable doofuses can have when they move through the world, making friends and saving lives. So when the world was ending and they needed help, there were dozens of people waiting to hear the Story and the Song that would give them the push they needed to fight, and the hope they needed to win.

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