Nova Whitehouse

[maple-salad]

op says we can repost

[aaglaja]

☄️

[aaglaja]

im sick but im crawling out of bed to post these older things i did

[cuspid64]

I've been trying really hard to be normal about TADC. I've got to much else going on. I've been failing at that.

[cuspid64]

I sketched this out before I realized caine actually makes it to the next round so. Uh.

Here's a comic of him getting kidnapped again

[crystalbeastsquidney]

Halloween at the x mansion but it’s just everyone wearing starfleet uniforms. Charles does Not think it’s funny.

Bonus:

[penumbralwoods]

every time someone realizes they dont have to pick between being a boy or a girl an angel gets its wings btw. and also extremely loud cheering can be heard in the distance from me specifically

[penumbralwoods]

btw if you've ever wondered why i make posts like this and get really obnoxious about nonbinary positivity. this is why

and for all of yall that are still figuring it out or aren't getting the support you deserve:

[xfhsfh]

@this-is-nonbinary-joy

[novastardoughnut]

I am never going to live down being 25, watching dinosaurs with my sibling and going "dinosaurs are kinda like animals" with all the wonder and awe in my heart

[ciricearts]

beautiful buff woman

[novastardoughnut]

Excuse me while i bore you with a ramble thay gonna come off as me over-thinking. but I've been having thoughts about villains. In particular discussions around villains and their roles in stories.

See we have for the last little period of storytelling been subject to a wave of nuanced complex villains whose role often times is to be a mirror or parallel to our protagonist. They are often portrayed more sympathetically because it would be hypocritical for the film to acknowledge the vilian who expresses these flaws but then dismiss the faux-pas of our hero.

This has lead to a very popular wave of people desiring a return of more simple clearcut cartoony "pure evil" villains. And while i agree such cartoonish evil can be fun i also feel the desire for a return to this kind of villainy also ties into the current wave of anti intellectualism.

The thing with nuanced villains is they are designed to make you think about our protagonists, their desires and in particular their flaws or areas they have/could mess up. The cartoonish evil is a form of evil is one that requires no thought. They are evil because... look at them. Its a form of evil that makes broad grand assumptions on what "evil" looks and acts like. Their purpose it to represent a grand unfocused form of cruelty or injustice. They exist for morality plays fables and fairy tales aimed at kids

[bunnymedley]

did u see them btw...

[kuromi-hoemie]

[ooooo-mcyt]

Ren is possibly the most tragic character in Third Life solely because it's very easy to argue he was damned no matter what he did.

I mean, Ren opened his series playing nice with everyone, and he got walked all over. The "Village People" blatantly disrespected him in episode one, Ren ended up giving away tons of enchants for practically nothing, Martyn spent episodes subtly criticizing him and implying he had one foot out the door. Ren was the kind business owner, and it just ended up with him being taken advantage of and left in a bad position where he doesn't know if anyone really has his back or if they're all just using him until he's no longer useful.

When Scar came to him, asking for the enchanter in exchange for a partnership, Ren had the opportunity to drop the enchanting business that had brought nothing but trouble for him up to that point, but what kind of choice would that be? Scar isn't the trustworthy type, especially in Third Life, and Renchanting was all Ren had. The business hadn't been great for him, but he'd be dangerously vulnerable and, most likely, lose what little he had, if he agreed. It wasn't a real choice, he just couldn't afford to do it.

So Ren resolves to be stronger, brutal, like Martyn had been heavily nudging him to be, and the Red King rises soon enough. Which only sealed his fate, as Dogwarts in their devotion to "strength" drives away their potential allies (cleo, bdubs, impulse, tango, scott, jimmy..) and the server practically unifies against them. They didn't really stand a chance against that, did they? How could they win that kind of fight, with only five of them?

And it's hard to see what else Ren really could have done.

Maybe if Ren had just..continued to be nice, even if it cost him resources and pride, the server would have stayed on his side, unified against Scar and Grian. But then, what's stopping them from turning on Ren after the fact? He's soft, an easy target, people had already been walking over him the whole season, it's very possible they would have just eaten him alive if he stayed the way he had been. Not to mention the very strong possibility he would have lost Martyn (arguably his biggest asset) along the way, as both Ren and Martyn acknowledged was a strong possibility early on when Ren was too lenient on others.

Maybe if Ren had actually given up his enchanter to Scar, things miraculously would have worked out. I mean, Desert Duo are a very competent team, much more competent than they were given credit for at the time, if Ren had leaned into an alliance with them, who knows what could have happened. But again, giving up his business would have left Ren with nothing, nothing but trust that Scar would honor his word, which is a huge gamble to make, one that probably wouldn't have paid off in the slightest.

Maybe if the final episodes had just gone differently. If Skizz didn't die so early, or if Etho and BigB were with Martyn and Ren instead of the faction being split for most of the finale, or if Martyn and Ren had managed to win that fight against Scar and Grian in the end. But even if, somehow, Dogwarts had managed to win..I don't think it would have mattered, because I don't think Martyn was ever going to follow through with that fair fight he promised Ren. I think Ren would have been stabbed in the back, in the end.

There could be a world I'm not seeing, one where Ren makes it through Third Life and finds his way to victory, or at least to an ending he's happy with. But I don't think that was ever an option. I think Third Life Ren was akin to a dying animal surrounded by snakes and vultures, and I think his tragedy specifically is that there was no path to take that would have saved him once he realized the hole he'd fallen into.

[novastardoughnut]

when I was a child I was obsessed with video games. I desperately wanted to make video games of my own. The specific game I wanted to make and fantasised about was a 3D platformer inspired by Earthworm Jim. I called it "Beefy Peach" and it was about a Peach with big Muscular arms and legs. the setting of the world would be a giant kitchen and you'd knock over books to get up onto the shelves, jump over dishes in the sink to get across and climb up table cloths. Beefy Peach would also collect peaches like the rings in sonic games. the theme of the the game would encourage eating healthy. Beefy Peach had a roll move where he curls up into a ball and rolls around. here is an image from the best of my memory of what this iconic videogame hero would have looked like

[novastardoughnut]

Been thinking about The Human Domestication Guide recently (don't judge me) and how unique it is within the space of hypnosis stories (especially the kinky ones (I said don't judge)).

I've read a bunch of stories about hypnosis and stuff, and generally within them, there's a hard framing for the hypnosis itself. In most, the readers' perspective is some kind of external observer for events, The descriptions will go. "They looked into the spiral. Staring deeper and deeper and then they went blank. [Insert character] saw them drop. They looked mindless and limp, " ect. Thus They frame the hypnosis with a clear line between when the characters are clear-headed and when they're under. often shifting perspectives to do this. Changes are also often immediate, completely rewriting the existing personality for the new one.

What I've found fascinating about HDG, though, is that the framing is far less clear and far more vague. Most of the time, you're never quite clear when they are under and being manipulated when they're thinking clearly. Pairing this with the much slower burn and more gradually shifting nature of these characters and, in effect, it puts you deeper into the characters' shoes. The character dont feel like they've changed, and they all feel like themselves even if they have, its just that you're not recognising the hypnosis and changes because they aren't either. It makes the afini feel more insidious because the non-con content feels consensual. It also in effect kinda brainwashes and gaslights the readership, which is exactly what's happening to the characters.

[novastardoughnut]

The ones i went through that got me on this thought track are the Tillandsia Trilogy ("no Gods, no Masters", "the Floret in the Mirror" and "Freedom's Embers")

[novastardoughnut]

Been thinking about The Human Domestication Guide recently (don't judge me) and how unique it is within the space of hypnosis stories (especially the kinky ones (I said don't judge)).

I've read a bunch of stories about hypnosis and stuff, and generally within them, there's a hard framing for the hypnosis itself. In most, the readers' perspective is some kind of external observer for events, The descriptions will go. "They looked into the spiral. Staring deeper and deeper and then they went blank. [Insert character] saw them drop. They looked mindless and limp, " ect. Thus They frame the hypnosis with a clear line between when the characters are clear-headed and when they're under. often shifting perspectives to do this. Changes are also often immediate, completely rewriting the existing personality for the new one.

What I've found fascinating about HDG, though, is that the framing is far less clear and far more vague. Most of the time, you're never quite clear when they are under and being manipulated when they're thinking clearly. Pairing this with the much slower burn and more gradually shifting nature of these characters and, in effect, it puts you deeper into the characters' shoes. The character dont feel like they've changed, and they all feel like themselves even if they have, its just that you're not recognising the hypnosis and changes because they aren't either. It makes the afini feel more insidious because the non-con content feels consensual. It also in effect kinda brainwashes and gaslights the readership, which is exactly what's happening to the characters.

[skipppppy]

Watching Star Wars was a mistake. For years I’ve derived so much pleasure from seeing discourse on my timeline that’s like “it’s actually a pretty good writing choice that Glimbo Knutts manipulated the imbledimbians in the force to make Darth Freeble his personal jedi froogler. It gives the original trilogy more depth” and not knowing what the fuck anybody is talking about. But now I do and it’s ruined. I understand what you freak ass dorks are saying and it isn’t fun anymore. Glimbo Knutts making Darth Freeble his jedi froogler DOES give the original trilogy more depth. This sucks man

[bettyxrosex]

I once had to explain to my then-gf that Star Wars is like "at the end of the day, even a single person can be a ripple in the movement to destroy fascism. the empire will crumble when confronted with the inherent goodness of the human spirit. to hope is not weak, our hope makes us strong. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, Admiral Beebo?" and then a little frog in a fighter jet goes "BEEBO WEEE-HOO!"

[novastardoughnut]

after a long time working on it my Soldier Poet King 3rd life art is finally complete. this may have taken more months than I intended but still now this project is Done

[orcboxer]

Have you seen the new show? It's on Tubu. It's literally on Heebee. It's on Poodee with ads. It's literally on Dippy. You can probably find it on Weeno. Dude it's on Gumpy. It's a Pheebo original. It's on Poob. You can watch it on Poob. You can go to Poob and watch it. Log onto Poob right now. Go to Poob. Dive into Poob. You can Poob it. It's on Poob. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you.