#[ these analyses of specific characters and dynamics. why are they the way that they are? ]

[orchideae]

In today's episode of 'Sae, do you (...)': the topic of Ningguang and Yelan, and I thought that I should note my opinion more clearly outside of my rules as it's very important information for my portrayal: I do not ship Ningguang and Yelan romantically.

Honestly, while this is of course my own opinion, I don't find that there's anything to really substantiate a romantic interest between the two. For starters, I don't think that Ning, as interesting of a character as she is with a past that might just be similar in its 'rise' to Yelan's (we're left with very little information on the latter's childhood), ticks the right kind of boxes for her, though to be fair: not many do. Yelan craves a specific sort of thrill in her life, I mean she lives it at the roll of a dice because she is, on some level, bored, and craves the unexpected, the unusual, the 'surprise', and Ningguang's life nor personality seem to play into that. Beyond it, Yelan would need a kinship within this very specific 'loneliness' that I talk about too often and I think that Ning is not one who quite meshes into that in the right way.

Second, despite their long-standing history that even predates their mutual involvement with the Qixing, there seems to be a certain professional distance between the two that I'm quite fond of that is shown in brief event cutscenes, and also Yelan's vision story, that I find inherently intriguing. Perhaps this distance plays more into Yelan's character of not investing too heavily, or rather not too easily, into social dynamics than it does Ning's (I'm not one to weigh in on her character), but it seems evident to me that there's also that semblance of professionalism that creates a line that takes away the possibility of growing closer on an emotional level. And whether that's a mutual decision or not is not up to me to judge, but I think it's one that's made rather clearly from Yelan's side. On top of that, Yelan is Yelan and it's my personal belief that shipping her is rather difficult.

Now I'm also inherently of the opinion (unpopular, I know, I apologize) that dynamics aren't always more interesting when written in romantic settings, and I don't think it's a benefit for all of them to veer into a romantic nature. And in my opinion (and most importantly: in my depiction and understanding of Yelan's character), I think that having Ning and Yelan cross the line from professionalism into something inherently more rooted in romanticism, would be a detriment to their dynamic. Because honestly, I think the fact that Ningguang being one of two people (other being Uncle Tian) to know Yelan best, without ever crossing that line, is too good. I would simply, well, just prefer to keep that not only platonic, but professional, but of course not excluding it of Yelan's quips, and the occasional 'confidant' element.

/rambles in tags because I feel like I have more to say that I shouldn't flood the post with.

#[ psa. ] seeing isn't always believing. and if you can't trust your eyes; you certainly can't trust rumors. #[ also; and this is where you'll learn more about my 'single-ship' self-- i love the concept of ningguang and beidou. ] #[ and i wouldn't want to take away from that dynamic /in my own head/. it's not about what others do/see/view. but about my own head. ] #[ if i did ship it-- it'd counter that dynamic and i don't like that (again: in my own brain). ] #[ i'm an odd rper in that sense; but i almost have difficulty straying from this... single verse concept. ] #[ in my head i tie specific characters to other specific characters after a lot of thought and i don't commit to those thoughts easily. ] #[ but then i construct this entire huge narrative in my head that's almost like its own book. ] #[ and so i can't easily 'copy' that multiple times for multiple ships. does that make sense? ] #[ but /because/ i do that-- i heavily scrutinize dynamics across the board and it's where a lot of my enjoyment as a writer comes from. ] #[ these analyses of specific characters and dynamics. why are they the way that they are? ] #[ it's psychology. i love it. it's not just saying 'i love finding out what makes characters tick' but it's actively really going... ] #[ 'yeah okay i could ship these-- but is there basis for it and /why/ and /in what capacity/ and specifically: /would they decide to/? ] #[ sometimes i tell myself that i'm not made for rp'ing because i'm too analytical meshed in with too much emotion. ] #[ because i get too invested. ] #[ but i just-- i don't know. i wanted to kind of explain why pointing stuff like this out is important to me and my portrayal. ] #[ especially for yelan who has such a... god; it's almost an unhealthy headspace. you can't mesh that with just anyone. ] #[ the person has to /really get it/ and understand it almost on this level that isn't logical for most humans. because it's unusual. ] #[ but it's important that it's understood /by another human being/. ] #[ and i also think some people genuinely don't mesh in /that/ way. some can mesh perfectly platonically in my head and then... ] #[ not at all romantically. but when /my head/ has decided that this is how it is-- i respect when people disagree; i do. ] #[ i will never say that my opinions are the be all end all for other yelans or even yelan's character in specific. ] #[ as much as i like to think i analyze-- /i could be wrong/. ] #[ but all in all; i do respect if people disagree. but there's just certain opinions i have for my own portrayal that i need to note. ] #[ but also-- a little explanation as to why i'm single-ship more often than not. i wish i could budge how my brain works. but alas. ] #[ /sips coffee past midnight. ] #[ it's been a day. it really has been a day; i need to make my own serotonin tomorrow. i miss writing. ]

[demodraws0606]

What Cyberpunk DeadBoy Means and What it's Potentially Foreshadowing (aka very complicated analysis that makes a lot of sense and could happen depending on how colorpalet is feeling while writing the story)

Now I'm seeing so many people like running around wondering what this event could mean for the future for multiple reasons and like I've made like one post throwing my hat into the ring.

I've been frustrated with people's unwillingness to realise that this comm is prob foreshadowing because this is not the first time Colorpalet has hidden foreshadowing into comms weither subtely or not

Exemple's being :

-Akito's second comm foreshadowing his third event

-Lower's cover art literally foreshadowing what would happen to Mafuyu's phone in her event

-88 vocals being emurui and nenekasa foreshadowing the kind of dynamic the disbandement arc had with nenekasa wanting to move forward with emurui being scared of isolation

-Probably way better exemples that I forgot

I've seen people make Some assumptions which I don't agree with but there is one thing I think is true

There is 100 pourcent gonna be struggle between corporation/reality and WxS.

Purely because that's been WxS's entire theme since the beginning. They constantly bash you over the head with the theme of compromising with reality and the importance of dreams. In fact the pick of Maiki-P is not at all surprising as he basically has the same message WxS has just... well harsher.

The Big thing people have ignored however is by focusing on the lyrics, they've ignored something that's personally to me even more telling and that's the line distribution

We know for a fact colorpalet loves to mess around with line distribution, weither it's to make characters say lines that fit them or to kind of foreshadow their headspace.

Now something Big happens with the line distribution of Cyberpunk Deadboy that i've seen NO ONE notice and that's in the last chorus (that and also Tsukasa's lines which people have pointed out but it works less on it's own which is why I'm gonna analyse his lines afterwards).

This is the only time the chorus is like that, the others have a much more even distribution.

In fact the distribution choice makes it look like the rest of WxS is Talking to Rui.

It's even more evident considering the lines they chose to make WxS sing compared to only just Rui

Emu/Tsukasa/Nene saying kimi (you)

Rui saying boku (i)

Which honestly makes me think this is colorpalet foreshadowing some kind of issue reguarding specifically Rui. Remember Emu's second event ? The story of Rilley whose imagination was crippled by the industry to the point where he didn't really have any artistic vision until Emu's grandpa helped him.

In fact remember how the flashback that showcases that has Rilley working on a film

Now we get to Tsukasa's line which have been pointed out to be kind of sus but it's not just his lines.

Tsukasa refuses to sing with Rui (unless it's a line they all sing together but i consider those exceptions). In fact pretty much everyone has a duo line with each other except those two.

In fact in the section where Rui has duo lines with everybody, Tsukasa is the only one he doesnt sing with and the visuals make it clear that it's something that we're supposed to find strange

And then we of course have Tsukasa's solo lines

Tsukasa is the only one that say "fuzakeruna" outside of Rui (of course ignoring entire group WxS lines) and i've seen some people pointed out how it sounds like he's saying it in response to Rui's lines. Which I agree with.

Then we got his big boy solo lines

These lines will make more sense with my theory/analysis but right now if we go with the idea that WxS in the last chorus were speaking to Rui and Tsukasa in this comm refuses to sing with Rui then this implies those lines are Tsukasa speaking to Rui.

And this is where the insanity begins because people have pointed out a concerning trend with Ruikasa that I know some people use for shipping fuel but for me kinda feels more so like foreshadowing.

IGNORING all the ARG ass weirdness of the Fixer 2dmv, this choice to switch Ruikasa's colors have to mean something in my opinion outside of just wholesome shipping influence especially considering the two songs they do this are less than jovial.

What this kind of color switching signifies to me is that, Ruikasa somehow are/or will switch places.

And with that let me bring back Tsukasa's lines

These lines stand out because Tsukasa before remembering his dreams was extremely shallow only doing things for fame and probably the money that would come with it.

Now if you think about everything I've layed out I think you can gain a pretty clear picture.

Of Rui falling into the trap Rilley did, becoming jaded and losing the true motivation of his dream (or at least starting to have doubts). Becoming stuck with the struggle of managing dreams and reality.

Rui's costume even has a mask which can be a metaphor for his artistic voice and individuality being silenced .

Which now you get into the line distribution where WxS is implied to be talking to Rui.

And you get to Tsukasa, who is refusing to sing with Rui and in fact seems to be arguing with Rui if we really want to overthink it. In fact almost switching their roles from the main story.

Because Tsukasa has grown now and how else to show that growth than to switch Rui and Tsukasa's perspectives/roles.

Now how this would happen really depends since there are multiple ways they can go about it with the time they have.

There is obviously mystery dude dude (who i know now is sakaki) who still gives me bad vibes. However there is actually two way they can make mystery dude trigger this sort of plot :

-Mystery dude is malicious and actively manipulates/confronts Rui to make him rethink his worldview

-Mystery dude isn't malicious but instead is just jaded/has been through a lot of industry bullshit which ends up rubbing off on Rui accidentally

But you can even just not have mystery dude involved with this at all (which i doubt but still) because you know what loose plotpoint is still lingering over WxS, fucking Asahi

Rui still has not talked about Asahi to WxS, in fact Curtain Call ends on an explicit cliffhanger which is never really emotionally concluded (at least in Rui's own events, technically the arc ender did but there are still a lot of loose threads from that arc). Why would Colorpalet make Asahi come back after Rui graduates, they could've just had him disappear into the sunset but instead they hint at his potential comeback.

Unless Rui will be forced to again confront similar feelings he did during Curtain Call this time with possibly an added layer of whatever happens during WxS's freelance arc.

Anyways yeah this is overly complicated but then again colorpalet is not being easy with us so...yeah.

#project sekai #pjsk rui #rui kamishiro #wxs #wonderlandxshowtime #project sekai theory #project sekai analysis #rui kamishiro analysis #wxs rui #wxs tsukasa #tsukasa tenma #rui #cyberpunk deadboy #i'm sorry if this giant wall of text makes sense to nobody but me but i need this to leave myt mind otherwise i explode #and also i'm not looking at twitter for theories of this event because twitter is the breeding ground of bad takes so idk if i'm the only #one but it's very interesting #anyways i really don't want any “but what if the comm is not at all related to the event at all” because we've had active confirmation #colorpalet describe events and give at least on sentence prompts to commissioners (which we know pinnochioP and the creators of Mr.Showtime #I believe) and again even if it WERE the case and it was a fluke or a rewrite or whatever #it doesnt change the fact colorpalet made an active choice to make the line distribution and 2dmv like this #this is the motherfuckers that foreshadowed an arc ender years before through a fucking song cover art #complain about their writing all you want these motherfuckers love little detail oriented shit like this for better and for worse

[didyoupainthis]

One thing I see on bylertok way too much is people pointing out that even though Will told Mike it’s “not possible” that he’d ever join another party (replace Mike), Mike still went and joined Hellfire after he told Will to grow up and move on from D&D in S3 (which Will ended up doing)

It takes everything in me not to summarize the situation every single damn time I see someone mentioning it as if it’s proof that Mike ‘doesn’t deserve Will’ or something because it’s so frustrating that people just don’t understand anything about Mike and try and cling to any bit of ‘fault’ in his actions to justify why Byler wouldn’t work and why they don’t ship it

Because this whole ordeal had nothing to do with Mike and Will’s friendship, it was bought about in the first place by Mike and El’s ever incompatible relationship

Mike loves D&D, he loves writing, he loves being DM for the Party, he loves being with the Party. He never stopped loving these things, he stopped pursuing his interests because he was so over invested in being ‘normal’, which in his mind means ditching his friends for his girlfriend. El doesn’t like D&D, she doesn’t share Mike’s interests in his favourite things and because of that, Mike dropped all of it in favour of making out with El. Because that’s what you’re supposed to do in a relationship, and so that’s what he did

Of course, none of that is El’s fault either; El is learning the world and will eventually learn what she likes personally when she befriends Max whilst Mike is lost in juggling between what he should like vs. what he actually does like

All that is to say;

Mike dropped D&D because of El

(again, not El’s fault I’m not trying to blame her for anything it just is what it is)

So circling back to the “not possible” moment, I wanna point out that Mike’s insecurity in that moment specifically is Will leaving him emotionally because Will already is physically leaving and Mike blames himself. He’s mentioned himself obviously that he’s afraid of losing Will but he’s also made it clear many times. After their fight, Mike just wants to know that Will would still choose him and Will assures him that he wouldn’t be replacing Mike. Will placed no expectations on Mike when he said this, he just wanted to reassure Mike that they’re okay and that they’ll be okay which is exactly what Mike wanted

After Will and El left, Mike joined Hellfire because he could focus on doing the things he liked again without having to devote himself to being El’s boyfriend. I was happy for Mike to have D&D back when I first watched S4 and I know Will would be happy that Mike is finding himself again. And while we’re on the topic of Mike finding himself, since he’s joined Hellfire he’s started slowly accepting himself and accepting that he doesn’t care anymore if he fits into the standard or not. He doesn’t care about popularity or people liking him. He is growing and he’s been getting his character development

Anyway that’s all I just love analysing Mike it’s so interesting, but in this case I don’t think it even needs to be analysed. Mike isn’t himself around El and that’s got nothing to do with Will— that’s just Milevens relationship dynamic

#byler tumblr #byler #anti mileven #byler endgame #sorry for the rant i just #need to vent when it comes to mike wheeler #i love him so much #this is also not jow i would SUMMARIZE but u know #i needed to vent

[autistichalsin]

Hi hello good day to you!

First of all, I wanted to thank you for your Halsin analyses, I love them so much! I am so FURIOUS about the fact that Larians literally gave him so much and so little at the same time, that because of the fact that you literally need to dig for the scraps of his personality and story around the whole game to understand him (which most of the players don't want to do and even those who like him mostly romance him for the opportunity of the "threesome" or just his romance scene and I've even seen people who say that he has anger issues because of his actions towards goblins), while other characters speak of this more freely and because of that I think he is highly mistreated by the fandom. I love this man with my whole heart and want him to be as happy as possible and it's very good to know that there are people in the fandom who think as me so

THANK YOU!!!

Second of all, I wanted to ask, what do you think about the Halsin/Astarion and/or Halsin/Tav/Astarion pairings in the fandom? Because for me they feel a bit... Uncomfortable.

I can be mistaken, because I haven't romanced Astarion (I have yet to finish my first playthrough where my Tav romances Halsin solely), but if I'm not mistaken Astarion "allows" you to have a side-relationship with Halsin and then says something like "it's not because we haven't had sex in some time, right?" It's as if he's afraid you will leave him for Halsin if he doesn't give you his permission himself and that makes me very uncomfortable about those ships. Like, yeah, Halsin has some lines about how attractive Astarion is to him, but Astarion doesn't seem very fond of Halsin.

And I understand fully that people may (and will) ship whatever they want, but I still feel very uneasy when I see Halsin/Tav/Astarion on my feed and think of these facts

Hope you have a nice day!

Hello hello! Thank you so much- that is so kind of you to say and so wonderful to hear It makes me happy. And I agree Larian should have given us more. I will say though that I don't feel like I'm digging at scraps. Instead, I feel more like I'm connecting puzzle pieces that were scattered in boxes for other puzzles. And you realize that together, they would actually make their own gorgeous picture, but instead, they're buried in places most won't see them. They're still there- they're just not being united how they should. A lot of the fandom doesn't appreciate him for what he is, but I can and do- and so can you it seems!

I like both ships, actually. I just do in very different ways than the fandom does (different dynamics- a lot of others have Halsin in the role of perpetual caretaker, which doesn't really vibe for me. Not that I have anything against those who do like it that way, but it just doesn't interest me much). I like both pairings in and of themselves.

That interpretation... isn't exactly accurate. It's part of the fandom's pattern of infantilizing Astarion and denying him agency because they fundamentally don't think survivors are capable of making such choices for themselves again. Yes, Astarion does ask if you want this because you haven't had sex; he says this about Mizora as well. But the INSTANT, in either case, that you assure him that's not why, he instantly perks back up, and tells the player he hopes they have/had fun. The devnotes on those scenes specifically say he's being genuine. Astarion truly wants the player to enjoy themselves once he is promised this isn't because they aren't having sex.

The insistence that he can't have really meant it is deeply offensive to me, if I'm honest, because the fandom has a NASTY habit of acting like Astarion can't give consent to anything. I get it, Astarion is everyone's lil meow meows (that's how I am with Halsin!) but there comes a point where the fanon woobiefication gets absolutely infuriating and insulting and infantilizing, especially for a survivor. (This isn't directed at you, by the way, or any one person in the fandom. Just at the trend.) Don't get me started on how people misunderstand what the brothel scene is about, or I'll be here all night.

Whether Astarion is fond of Halsin: is Astarion openly fond of ANYONE? He only seems fond of a romanced player character, and even then, only later on, when they stick with him after the reveal that he was only using them. He's a grumpy, traumatized asshole who doesn't deal with emotions well, and is made deeply uncomfortable by the notions of selflessness and kindness (which Halsin has in spades) because they clash too violently with the framework he built during his time being tortured, raped, and enslaved. Fanfiction is transformative in nature, so really, the question isn't "does canon Astarion show fondness for canon Halsin" (debatable) as much as it is, "could Astarion, under the right circumstances that may or may not happen in canon, find himself feeling fondness for Halsin?" And that one, to me, is a resounding yes.

We already see Halsin showing a great amount of kindness and compassion for Astarion. We know that in canon, this is a turn-off for him, as it makes him feel weak and vulnerable. But what about under other circumstances? What if Astarion discarded those fears, or what if Tav showed him how to let his guard down just enough to trust that Halsin didn't mean him harm?

If you don't personally like the ship for the reasons you listed, that is absolutely your right- no one has to ship anything. But I'm not in the camp who thinks Astarion dislikes Halsin- or, even if he did, that that would be a reason not to ship them.

To me, Halsin and Astarion represent the concept of two survivors of severe, repeated trauma, who are currently coping in opposite yet equally unhealthy ways. Astarion is on the path to furthering the cycle of abuse, to being so consumed at his anger at being hurt by Others that he can't distinguish between the Other who hurt him and the Other who didn't, anymore, and he wants all of them to feel pain indiscriminately. 7,000 innocent lives don't matter to him because he wants his own pain to stop. It's a person whose mental growth was arrested prematurely by trauma. On the other hand, you have Halsin, who was pushed into a subservient role by both his trauma and what came after. He doesn't allow himself to truly feel any pain at all, because Others need him, and that would be Selfish, and he has to be Okay at all time to help Others. He becomes self-negating from his combination of traumas, so dedicated to breaking the cycle of abuse that he... almost seems to join it against himself, not allowing himself a release, not taking care of himself well, letting himself be isolated.

Halsin and Astarion as a ship represent healing. They represent the idea of needing someone opposite yourself to balance out your worst traits. Halsin could teach Astarion to embrace kindness again; Astarion could teach Halsin that you don't have to sacrifice your entire self to be a "good guy." Halsin could show Astarion that others matter just as much as himself, while Astarion could show Halsin that he matters just as much as others. Sometimes, you just need someone diametrically opposed to yourself to bring out the best version of you, I think.

(Ironically, as I write all of this, Astarion/Halsin isn't even my favorite Halsin ship; my favorite two are Halsin/Karlach and Halsin/my Dark Urge, LOL. But I can appreciate the ship's best qualities.)

Thank you again for your message! I hope this is an acceptable answer.

#halsin #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion ancunin #halstarion

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Do ya think theyll do the same sort of thing with the trailers for s5 as they did with s4? Also I used to be a huge byler shipper back when we were waiting for s4 to come out then fell out of the loophole afterwards…not sure what I missed but the amount of people who now believe Byler will happen or even that Will is going to have the focus in s5 is WAY bigger than I recall. What changed (for the better) ??

Good question. I assume you mean how they released multiple teasers during production? I imagine they will. It's going to be another long production, and they'll want to keep fan interest up as much as they can.

As for Byler, there was a lot that happened after we all had a chance to digest season 4. The Duffers themselves said that Will is going to have a central role in season 5, specifically mentioning that we'll find out why he was taken in the first place. There has also been a lot done marketing-wise that has suggested Byler is still in the cards.

The painting Will made for Mike was heavily featured in merchandise after season 4. There's an entire limited edition Funko Pop run of the Party and the Dragon (even if it was done via a crappy NFT lottery). Actors have also reacted more favorably to the van scene than to Mike's monologue in the pizza shop.

Then there's just the observations and analyses that were done after season 4. Yeah, initially, many of us, myself included, were full of disbelief and rage. After that subsided, though, we were able to see details that we initially missed. The way that scenes were set up and edited served to highlight Mike and Will's dynamic. There was the entire ending scene where El walked up on her own while the remaining characters stood back in pairs, with only Mike and Will not being established couples. There was the way that Mike and Will had a final scene, but El was giving Mike the silent treatment.

It just doesn't add up to us seeing Mike and El's relationship in a good light, but it does get us rooting for Will. He's always sacrificed his own happiness for others, and he was ready to sacrifice is own life in season 2. Having his character arc revolve around his love for Mike, only for him to get rejected in the final season, just isn't satisfying writing. Who wants to watch a slowburn rejection?

#byler #stranger things 5

[rottenraccoons]

How do you go about writing witty characters or funny banter, for example between Vesper and Keir? I find comedy to be very hard to nail, and I'd like to hear dear raccoons' advice!

Aw, thank you! This got a touch lengthy so the rest is under a readmore.

I've been sitting on this for a while to think about it, and I think the short answer is that we write banter as an extension of the characters' personal feelings and relationships, and Vesper is a banter-friendly character. They're talkative, they're a fast thinker, and they enjoy being sarcastic. Those are useful traits for writing fun dialogues, in my opinion.

My mindset when writing a dialogue exchange that's supposed to be especially fun or engaging is to treat it as a fight for power. For Vesper and Keir, particularly at the end of the chapter, that fight is play-fighting, but it's still a contest or a sport they want to "win". Sometimes they escalate their rhetoric against each other, sometimes they shift the topic of discussion a bit to get an edge, but they're fighting to win the conversation. And because Keir and Vesper don't actually hate each other they're not fighting to hurt each other, which keeps the atmosphere light and fun. (And bonus! If one of them did hurt the other in their banter, it comes across as more shocking and dramatic, highlighting the hurt.)

There's a lot of things a writer can do to make dialogue and banter more fun and engaging, though, and honestly I think the best way to learn is just to actively watch/listen to media that does it well, and when you find something that hits so good, think about why it hits so good. Pick it apart, find the rhythm of the dialogue, look at how characters choose their words (especially repeating specific words in a dialogue, or from a previous dialogue), when do the power dynamics shift, how do the characters enter and leave an exchange, what is it about this joke that's so funny. It can take away a touch of the ~magic~ to examine a piece of dialogue mechanically like this, but I think there's a second kind of appreciation that comes from seeing the mechanics behind something and seeing how well they fit together.

For me, that thing was the radio programme Cabin Pressure by John Finnemore (who also co-wrote season 2 of Good Omens), so I can highly recommend listening to that. Here's a short clip of two characters meeting up for a date, as a taster. And here's me analysing a very short bit of it like I'm back in high school doing line-by-line readings of the Odyssey again:

(dog enters scene, barking) Carolyn: Hello, darling! Did you hear the silly late man? [Carolyn is continuing a previous argument, asserting her dominance by emphasising Herc is late.] Herc: Oh, hello. What a ridiculous dog. [Herc knows he can't win on the late argument, so shifts the point of discussion. By calling the dog ridiculous, he is poking at Carolyn's pride while staying within acceptable boundaries.] Carolyn: I'm sorry? [Daring Herc to repeat his statement, attempting the intimidation she uses when insulted in other circumstances.] Herc: I said you have a ridiculous dog. [Herc will not be intimidated, repeats his point plainly to assert it as fact. Not "I think the dog is ridiculous" but "The dog is ridiculous".] Carolyn: My dog is not ridiculous. [Continuing to push back on Herc, emphasis on "my dog" to tie the dog to her and she's not ridiculous, is she?] Herc: Then whose dog is this? [Big laugh line, Herc has clearly won the point in this volley. He continues the conversation about the dog (who is, in fairness, delightful but quite a silly creature) because he is winning the "Carolyn's dog is ridiculous" fight, but shifts to the dog's breed for new ground to compete over.]

You definitely don't have to write things out like this (I don't recommend it unless you already find it fun), but being able to look at lines of dialogue and see what they're for in an exchange, both in-character and out of character as a structural element, can help when writing to know exactly what each line is for, and for me it helps me keep power dynamics and rhythm in mind. I hope that helps, nonny!

#obscura vn #rotten raccoons #asks #about us #(by which i mean our process)

[lionheartedmusings]

oh boy, listen, the qsmp election should just be renamed the broken telephone event bc there's no way people are misrepresenting everyone's platform and to be fair character (and, a note, literally all of this is also about characters AT NO POINT DO I MEAN CCS i just get lazy typing the q! tbh) so much. maybe it's a language barrier thing, maybe it's difficulty in being the devil's advocate but it's wild to see in real time.

i watch bad religiously, try to watch as much of forever's pov i can live and what i can't i watch in vods, cellbit i catch when i can, baghera i do my best but french and me don't mix well in my head. this is coming from someone who is a native portuguese speaker and perfectly bilingual when it comes to english. i say this to illustrate that especially between the english and portuguese speakers, i'm not getting lost in buggy translations or difficulty undestanding.

do i disagree with insaneduo? yep, but that's a personal opinion. i also entirely understand not only their stance during the debates (do i enjoy it? not really, the tone — which is not aggressive, it's assertive — is anxiety inducing TO ME PERSONALLY and so i struggle) but also their platform. they're doing the best with what they've been given, and keeping your enemies close is the only thing in their opinion has truly shown any sort of result. using the federation's resources is an opportunity they can't pass up! they have great ideas, good implementation plans, and cellbit isn't even running so really, forever is doing the most as he should. i understand why he doesn't understand the anarchy route in this situation. yes, their platform has been misrepresented, but that's because ultimately what they showcase in public forums aka debates for all to see does come across as very assertive (which is what debates are for, asserting your stance) and at times a bit tunnel vision imo. listening to them properly out of the debates would do a lot to stop whatever circus has been going on.

now, i have seen an insane amount of people almost mischaracterising bad and baghera as a response to the misinterpretation of insaneduo, and that's not fair either. bad and baghera have spoken at length about their issues with presidency, how they don't want to centralise power, how they don't trust the federation and they definitely don't trust anyone who will be actively pulled around by them. are they all puppets? yes, but do you want to give power to someone who willingly or not is giving up their own strings? it's normal that they're reluctant or just blatantly refusing of that idea. they don't think insaneduo are power hungry dictators, they've in fact spoken multiple times talking about how they think BOTH cellbit and forever would be good presidents (bad specifically mentioned it even last night) but that the concern isn't them, it's the federation.

bad making a joke about helping foolish assassinate anyone other than baghera and gegg is… a joke. it's literally a silly goofy joke based on "my coalition vs everyone else" and the idea of political assassination. there's quite literally no need, and frankly imo a disservice to the relationship that bad and forever have to mischaracterise that. if i remember correctly, wasn't forever the one talking about how they should be killing each other bc it'd be fun? i might be wrong there, but i vividly remember that.

my point being, this election is ultimately an exercise in futility bc they're all fucked regardless, this isn't "giving someone power" it's the federation sticking a pacifier in their mouth for soothing and telling them they'll sleep better. it'll end terribly either way, and no character is safe. it's a ridiculous plotline but a wildly interesting one, BECAUSE it's doomed to fail and yet everyone's doing the song and dance.

enjoy the content. laugh. analyse the character dynamics, motivations and plans. don't go out of your way to mischaracterise and demonise any character bc that not only goes against everything the qsmp stands for, but it also sucks the fun out of it for you and everyone else. no one is after anyone, no one is isolating anyone to be mean to them, these people are friends playing characters who are friends. have fun! my god!

#qsmp #q!forever #q!cellbit #q!baghera #q!badboyhalo #if any of this is wrong or misinformed pls let me know #i try to keep up with everyone as much as i can but alas i am but one person and there's only 24h in a day #so i am more than willing to be wrong #i just think it's wild what's been happening #and not in a good way tbh #i also don't think it's polite of me to go around in posts that are blatantly untrue going “um actually that's not correct” BUT BY GOD #THE URGE TO SCREAM “THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN” TO LITERALLY EVERYONE IS ALL CONSUMING

[hxhhasmysoul]

Thanks for sharing your fics recs (especially the KilluGon) most in your list, I have not read them yet... 🤩🌻 Also, love your analysis and reviews, thanks for sharing them....

Okay, so as ItaFushi and SatoSugu shipper, I was curious about SukuIta ship. You are the first person (that I know of and follow) that ship them...Hope you don't mind if I ask you a few things. What do you think are Sukuna and Itadori’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? What make you ship them?

Also, you're the first person that I follow that don't like Gojo (even not entered him in your top 5 fav charas). I don't mean anything negative...I just find it interesting. As a Gojo lover (he's my 2nd fav after Yuji) I found your reasons for disliking him pretty reasonable and I love your metas.....

Happy holiday....

Thank you for your kind words. And I’m glad that my Gojou negativity doesn’t put you off. I haven’t been very kind in my posts about him, they are very ranty. My top charas are honestly related to how much I think about them and how excited I am for scenes with them for various reasons. And like for example Kirara is absolutely on the list of characters I’m always excited for, or: Miwa, Hana, Toudou, Junpei, Nanami, Higuruma, Maki, Uraume, Tengen or Yuki. Gojou used to be on this list because I actually enjoyed how flawed he is, it was: wow this man! A bit like watching an accident happen. But I also find his position in the jujutsu world interesting. Fandom soured me on him and that’s on me. 

______

As to the fic recs, if you enjoy killugon I have reblogged some hxh and killugon fics rec lists over the years: x, x, x, x, x, x, x.

______

“What do you think are Sukuna and Itadori’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why?”

Yuuji has it all. He has this sweet side, he’s silly, cute, compassionate and has people skills. But he also has a darker side. He’s lonely, has unprocessed issues concerning forming relationships with others, he doesn’t value himself too much, he has the tendency to blame himself, it makes him suicidal eventually. 

He can be very introspective and self aware but he sometimes chooses not to do that, like his refusal to think about his parents, or he can use it against himself to bash himself with guilt because he can over analyse his shortcomings. Yuuji both seeks connection and doesn’t easily let people know him too closely. 

He’s also very smart and adaptable. He learns very fast, he can analyse a situation well and employ tactics that will often make him succeed in what he’s doing. 

He also has good intuition, like in how he befriends Junpei, how he doesn’t want to be around Megumi during the culling games, or with plans on how to save Megumi. 

Because he wants to connect with people he doesn’t always know when to put his foot down. He’s very good at asserting himself against people who are bullies and who are hostile towards him, like Sukuna and Mahito. With people he cares about though he’s not really good at that. He will argue but with for example Megumi and Gojou he will fall in line. They intimidate him to an extent, they seem knowledgeable and powerful in ways he isn’t. He defers to their judgement despite them failing him.  

Sukuna is funny in his contrasts. I’ve once written that he’s full of shit. He’s the opposite of Yuuji because he refuses to introspect, to analyse himself. He of course has a huge ego so he has a very specific attitude towards people who exert any form of power over him. He gives Kenjaku the cold shoulder and tries to ignore them as much as possible. (Tell us why, Gege. Heian flashback when ;-;) Towards Yuuji he’s just irritable, disrespectful and petty. 

He’s very nerdy about jujutsu, it’s very clear he enjoys it and he enjoys fighting. He believes that others matter only as much as he can get some enjoyment or entertainment out of them. Which is actually not entirely true, because he very clearly has a friendship with Uraume and he’s very mindful of Uraume’s feelings in it. As I said, not self aware. 

______

“What make you ship them?”

The process of elimination. It will be a story XD

When I first read and watched JJK, I came out of it caring very deeply about Yuuji. I liked other characters but Yuuji was and still is special to me. 

In fandom I primarily seek three things: 

1. Art of the characters I like because I just like art and also it gives me extra emotions.

2. Meta and discussions, because I enjoy over analysing stuff and making theories.

3. Extra emotions in the form of fics. I’m only in two fandoms, they both traumatised my favs very deeply. I want to experience other things with the favs. I want them in situations. (mostly long form AUs but not all AUs, I’m picky XD)

With Gon and Killua, point 3 was easy. I find their romantic ship close to canon, I love them both, I wanted more of that.

With Yuuji I wanted something good for him. I wanted him to be prioritised and on the receiving end of love. I wanted someone to care as deeply about him as he does for others. 

So I went on ao3 and started to look into the tags. 

The first one I checked out was ItaJun. I like Junpei, I think he’s an interesting character. Yuuji and Junpei’s canon interactions can be read as pre crush stuff. They hit it off very quickly, share the passion for films. Are capable of talking honestly about deeper and darker things. Most fics in that rather short tag were from Junpei’s pov. Made him very mopy, soft and fragile, introverted in this stereotypical way. And Yuuji was there as the manic pixie dream boy. Next.

So I looked into the ItaFushi tag. It was long so I had hope. Even though I was and am ambivalent about Megumi. And I don’t particularly like his dynamic with Yuuji in canon. I mentioned it above, it’s about the misplaced deference that Yuuji shows Megumi. And Megumi thinking he’s much smarter than he is. Most fics in that tag were from Megumi’s pov. Made him very mopy, soft and fragile, introverted, melancholic and overly intellectual. And Yuuji was there as the manic pixie dream boy. But also dumber than Megumi. Like in the KilluGon tag you can find fics like that too, fics from Killua’s pov by people who don’t care about Gon. In both tags there will also be these kinds of fics but written by people who seem to dislike the “sunshine” character. It’s not just that they find that character to be a tool to make their fav feel better, but that they are kinda upset about it. There are few fics in that tag that I liked, though. Because despite being from Megumi’s pov, they both wrote Megumi and Yuuji close to as they are. 

But generally, I was growing disappointed and frustrated. And I remembered one smut in the ItaJun tag which was actually a poly threeway with Sukuna. I remembered it because Junpei’s pov was nice and the dynamic was interesting. And I was like: well, can SukuIta be really worse than this? I mean if that poly fic was anything to go by, at least the smut will be fun.

So in the SukuIta tag finally, finally, my chance of finding Yuuji’s pov was high. And the authors there are actually interested in Yuuji’s personality. Not all of them do it justice, obviously, but they are interested. They are interested in putting Yuuji in situations. They are interested in tension and high emotions. They are interested in strange, codependent, very intense relationships, even in some of the more fluffy fics. There’s a lot of E rated stuff there, a lot of dead dove. And as I said before, I’m very picky and I won’t click on most stuff, but that was true for the other 2 tags as well. Just that, when I chose to click on stuff in this tag, the percentage of fics I read till the end was incomparably higher than in the other two tags. And reading through it, I started to get ideas to write for it. 

______

“What do you love about their dynamic?”

As I said above, in the beginning I was mostly amazed that I’m getting Yuuji exploration. Sukuna was there as the vehicle for the situations and the emotions. Even when I started writing my first fic, I was of that mindset too. Writing it made me ponder Sukuna more and grow to like him beyond his fun energy as a villain. 

The thing I like about their dynamic is when Yuuji gets to finally allow himself a close and raw relationship with someone, it’s usually very dramatic and dark in the best scenarios. That he carves something for himself, something often imperfect and kinda toxic, something where both sides are forced to make concessions and navigate around each other, but something where he’s prioritised. 

And when Sukuna gets punished for his personality, like the consequences of his irreflexive nature give him anxiety or something like that. When he’s forced to actually self-analyse. Sukuna is about his own pleasure and you can write him in a way that if someone becomes his pleasure, he gets very intense about it. 

At its best, this dynamic is very intense, dramatic and either goes in a very dark direction or requires a lot of negotiation. 

Also true form Sukuna is the hottest JJK has to offer and my dear Yuuji deserves the absolute best.

#answering asks #thank you for the ask #jjk #itadori yuuji #sukuna #sukuita #also my friend asked me about this ages ago #and i was planning to write this but got busy and forgot #which is argh #i'm slowly going through all the asks #work's been rough and i'm slow

[stellarred]

CAUSE VS. CANON: Making the Case for Qcard

*Warning: May trigger some Qcard shippers*

I had an interesting conversation with a friend yesterday about loving certain dynamics in stories, like Star Trek's Qcard for example, and how nitpicker fans and shippers analyze the writers' work, the actors' performances, etc. to show that a dynamic/relationship is true/canon.

She insisted that if you look hard enough to find proof that a relationship between two characters is canon, or has validity, you will find it "*simply because you want it to be true, even if it's not.*" 😡😡😡

She called it "nitpicking for a cause."

As a devoted and longtime Qcard shipper, I bristled at her comment, and I proceeded to explain how writers intentionally weave dynamics into their scripts and stories through devices, including: parallels, such as STP S2's Q/Picard and Teresa/Rios, and through lines, such as STP S1: the butterfly motif, (Q)ueen cards, (Picard's unusual luck in surviving the explosion), which led to S2 Q's butterfly comments, the S2 trailer (Q)ueen card, The Sun/Q motif, Q, of course, and his lesson to Picard about opening himself up to love, so that he could be chosen by someone else to be loved in return. Then, in S3, we had Q's last minute return signaled by the Sun, and Picard allowing himself to love Jack and being accepted by Jack.

I also pointed out that Trek writers choose very specific words for actors to use at unusual times to indicate dynamics, too.

Ex: Picard (S2): I always filed Q as *unknowable.*

@porgthespacepenguin and @celestialholz both have meta-analyses on Qcard that beautifully prove Qcard as canon by the writers.

She still insisted at this point that I was nitpicking, intellectualizing dialogue, and over-analyzing all because I WANTED Qcard to be real.

Finally, I told her that writers, such as Cindy Appel, producers, like Akiva Goldsman, and Ron D. Moore, as well as actors Patrick Stewart and John de Lancie backed it up, too.

She then said, "Well, De Lancie was told to act a certain way and read the script."

I then pounced, saying that although actors follow scripts, they do have some agency in their performance. John de Lancie and Patrick Stewart both made deliberate choices in their portrayals, using certain types of body language, voice inflections, facial expressions that added credence to Qcard.

At this point, she gave up the fight and smartly so.

I mean for her or anyone else to suggest we Qcard shippers find those nuances/subtext/indications woven into a script and performance out of a desire or desperation for it to be canon irritates me.

My friend then asked me, "Why can't you just casually watch something, like Star Trek and enjoy it for what it is? Why all this analysis?"

It's a fair question.

I guess it's because while I can casually watch something and enjoy it at face value, other things, such as Qcard are like finding gold dust on the ground. You see gold on the surface, and it's great. You could make some money from selling that gold dust, sure.

But, if you dig just a bit deeper, you find a rich gold mine worth much more. Much more satisfying.

So, what do you think?

Was my friend correct in saying we Qcard shippers analyze and nitpick for The Cause?

Or, are we actually on to something?

#qcard #star trek q #q #john de lancie #patrick stewart #star trek tng #star trek #stp #debate #qcard is undeniable #casual viewer's pov

[wildissylupus]

Okokokok

I just realised something that has changed my perspective on Cassidy's dynamic with Pharah, Ana and Ashe.

See when I started analysing Cassidy's character I went in thinking Cassidy disliked Reyes, hated Morrison and liked Ana.

That has since changed, he has shown hatred for both Gabe and Jack, but also shows bitterness towards Ana. It isn't shown in game but it is in the comics.

Specifically these panels.

The way "Your mother" is written shows a specific way Cass is saying it.

Your Mother...

Written like that gives a more intense, angry vibe when reading. If they wanted it to be a more mournful way of saying they would have just italicised it, and if they wanted to have it as a normal conversation they wouldn't have sectioned it off from the rest of the sentence.

Not only that but it's also shown in this comic that Cassidy most likely sided with Pharah in the arguments the she and Ana would have about Pharah joining Overwatch. The way they talk about Pharah joining Overwatch gives the feel that they have talked about this before, back when Pharah was more willing to join.

This leads me into how this changes Cassidy's dynamic with Ana and the bitterness that they're relationship now has. Let's start out with the obvious and that is the fact that Cassidy is pushing for Ana and Pharah to talk and reunite.

Ana in Bastet (and maybe even in Valkyrie) out right states that she doesn't want to reunite with Pharah further then the letter she sent because she doesn't want to hold Pharah back. Then after she meets with Cassidy she suddenly changes her mind on the whole thing?

Cassidy probably convinced Ana to reunite with Pharah because either he knew Pharah wouldn't join because of Ana's previous disapproval, or he just thought that Pharah deserved the closure. Either way, Cassidy is the reason the Amari's reunited.

Now more about the bitterness Cassidy has towards Ana, I don't think it's going to be as big as the bitterness Angela and Pharah towards her. Not only that but Cassidy has been shown to be a forgiving person, so I don't think it'll be that big of a deal.

Now how does this change my perspective on Ashe and Cassidy's dynamic?

Because I think the reason why Cassidy so openly supported Pharah joining Overwatch was because at that point Ana was acting a lot like Ashe's parents, being generally disapproving while ignoring what they're daughter wanted, this is something Cassidy would have recognised instantly because of his relationship with Ashe.

It kinda shows that even years after being a part of Deadlock, Cassidy still thought about Ashe, at least from time to time.

This is further shown by Cassidy's line of "Things were a lot simpler when I was robbing banks with the Deadlock Gang."

Also, when researching for this post, I found this line;

"There we were, watching the world’s most well-guarded train wind across that purple valley. And I said to Ashe, "You... sure about this?" And she said... well, I can't repeat what she said in polite company."

THEY REFERENCED THE NOVEL-

#overwatch #cole cassidy #overwatch 2 #overwatch headcanons #overwatch lore #analysis #fareeha amari #ana amari #elizabeth caledonia ashe #elizabeth caledonia calamity ashe #ashe overwatch #pharah #ana overwatch

[jack-kellys]

west end question: i obviously love my brooklyn girls and would die for them all, but is it bad that it’s taken away the sprace dynamic for me? like i’m still 100% on board with a nowhere near canon ship and it shouldn’t affect me they’ve decided to have spot be a girl, but it lowkey has? and i feel kinda guilty about it? idk i love my proshot boys. but i am 100% here for all the uk newsies cast they are amazing and so talented and it’s definitely my favourite production by far!! idk if i’m making sense

ok part of me feels a litle baited actually because like. i feel like... im vocal abt mlm musical sprace not being a big vibe for me in the first place. so im a funny person to ask if you were looking for relief lmao. anyway here's my thesis below.

wait also if ur a white newsie fan a read-thru+rb of this would be much appreciated thank youuu (also yall have been eating up my character analyses anyway sooooo!)

TL;DR THESIS: if you're feeling genuinely let down that your ship did not see the light of day and a black girlsie spot conlon got to instead, then yes, you should reevaluate that.

followers, if you've been with me long enough, you know that i have quite strong opinions about how this show gets treated when it comes to interpretations and fandom/fanon. mostly, this is because i literally work in theater, and it's extremely backwards in my brain personally when shows get treated more like a movie or tv show than a performance piece.

im also one of the only ppl in this fandom that ever seems to dare speak on race (not the damn character smh). and anon, buddy, kiddo, this does have to do with race, gender, and sexuality.

firstly, what i think needs to be understood about newsies, is that it is theater, which means it is meant to be mutable. there is no one way. there should never be one way. it does not exist. secondly, theater does not exist in a fandom vacuum. its live every night, conceptually. theater is a live performance art.

interpretations change- it's the nature of theater. so i think asks like these really do illuminate the difference between fans of the show's content or fans of... i guess the show's culture's content.

this is a culture content ask.

one thing i really, truly, deeply need you all to understand: from an objective, script- and staging-based perspective, proshot sprace does not exist. they do not speak. they barely see each other. race does not even volunteer to go to brooklyn. the ship originates from the 1992 movie, where they do actually interact, which is why the ship has prevailed through the 90s to today. they're from the movie, not the musical.

of course, this doesn't bash the ship- it has history, and naturally fans want to create new history when they get a new source material (the musical). it's true for like every newsie ship lowkey (but also not lowkey because all the manhattan newsies do interact and sprace literally does not but thats a different post!!), which is something i do admire about the fandom- we do a lot of our own legwork here, we invent relationships and backgrounds from one-liners that could be given to tbh any frickin newsie. i respect the 30 years we have invented ships.

however.

when a huge, publicized, consistently sold out production comes along with spot conlon as not only a woman, but a woman of color (specifically black rn!) as the leader of the most feared group on stage, there becomes something much more important than a "sprace dynamic", which does not canonically exist in the musical anyway bro. you can't miss something that isn't there imo. often the story and casting within a story comes first, and goddamn if this isn't one of those times. lillie-pearl's spot brings bravado, swagger, confidence, and intimidation that is literally....fine maybe i'm being personal but it is slash gen incredible to see in technically a period piece! a black woman in leadership with that kind of assuredness! in such a popular musical! how is that not– automatically surpassing an often obsessed-over (yes i am. hinting at something here, straight girl fans) mlm ship?

and while i'm on the topic of the over-obsessiveness of mlm musical sprace, let me talk about uksies sprace. because what's also wack abt this ask is that sprace is not a hopeless case in this production- it literally has about as much 'evidence' as the proshot imo!!!!!

i got to hop over to 2nd row brooklyn seating for act 2 so i saw once and for all really close up, right. there's a moment when race is upstage letting the newsies in/down from the stairs. spot comes down and she does, in fact, share a look with him. race gives spot a nod and she keeps moving.

and like im gonna see the show again (every day i am counting my mf blessings fr), so if i'm wrong or they don't do it every time i'll correct myself, but that's what i saw with my own dang eyes on saturday. they do acknowledge each other in uksies.

and since they do, i really like. i have to ask. what is bothersome/unpopular abt uksies sprace, other than oh idk.... its not white/white mlm with a twink/manly bf trope? why can't race still love who spot is as a character, this strong and fearless ruler of brooklyn, in uksies? because tbh josh's racer...nahhhh because. this is such a side note now but they'd be so good together oh jesus am i gonna ship uk sprace. and it's not like they're 'taking away' from a queer ship because a) you can headcanon spot as a queer girl and race being trans is consistently popular and b) newsies has ten billion gayass ships bro we've been eatin for literal decades.

anon, i'm sure you didn't mean harm by this ask. i'm sure, honestly, that a lot of fans are feeling the same way as you and weren't quite sure how to put it in words. but, i'm also not surprised you sent an ask like this on anonymous specifically.

should you feel guilty about it? i don't think guilt is the right word. but i believe you should think more about how newsies is not.....static. it does not exist in one form, and it never will. if you're feeling genuinely let down that your ship did not see the light of day and a black girlsie spot conlon got to instead, then yes, you should reevaluate that. in theater, you should always question why something impacted you the way it did- a major point of theater is to discuss and think about it when you leave! i know this because ive spent three years literally studying it, to back up my thesis credentials.

thank you for reading this, newsies fandom. i do honestly say all this with love, and i hope it made u think !! ♥️

#i just. damn dude. im tired #sprace #race x spot #racetrack higgins #spot conlon #newsies #sprace newsies #newsies uk #uksies #newsies the musical #newsies live #livesies #west endsies #west end newsies #race higgins #race newsies #spot newsies #anyway josh's race would fall ridiculously in love with lillie-pearl's spot. like goddamn #i believe in them and you should too!! uk sprace!!!!

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

tag game~

tagged by the incredible @dangerliesbeforeyou to list 5 topics i can talk on for an hour without preparing any material! thank you!! this is such a fun one!!

1. BBC Merlin I think this will surprise absolutely no one dfghkdf but I definitely can talk about BBC Merlin and why I love it and what makes the fanbase so enduring, etc etc for over an hour 2. Film/Show Adaptations of Books/Games This is really broad but I pretty much have talked about this for an hour so I know I can do it hdkfhg I love to analyse films and what makes the filmmaking effective, but I'm not always the most well-versed in the more practical aspects of filmmaking so what I generally focus on is the storytelling aspect of it. I can talk about that in general, but to be more specific I can definitely talk about what goes into adapting one medium to another, and why certain adaptations are good or bad (in my opinion, naturally!). 3. Game of Thrones When the show was airing I absolutely did spend hours talking about it and the theories related to it with my friends, and I feel like despite the shitty ending I still can talk about it for ages. There are just so many interesting characters and so many rich storylines and fascinating relationship dynamics to discuss, and so many debates to be had about it yet. 4. Relationship Anarchy I don't know if I could just straight-up monologue about it for an hour, but I definitely could talk about it for more than an hour if there's a back-and-forth going on with someone. I personally believe it's a great way of thinking about relationships and a way to make society work for everyone and their own individual needs. I feel like a lot of people aren't familiar with the concept and what it entails, and between explanations, counter points, and an exploration into the concept itself I could definitely go on about it haha 5. Asian Dramas I know this is pretty general but I've definitely seen enough of them to go on about them for over an hour. It would be fun to potentially even discuss the difference in styles between dramas from different countries

This was so fun! Thank youu!

I'm tagging: @kuraioshiro, @youdontloveme-yet, @merlination, @cheshyre513, @zoroshonkingbazonkadonkas, @killerspinal, @ladyofthelake, @onstoryladders, @nutcasewithaknife, @thegreymoon, @tardis-to-pendragon, @shana-rosee, @brazilian-whalien52, @archonfurina

#about me #thank youuuu #tried to be a little more specific than just saying 'video games' or 'books' but it was HARD #also i can def talk a lot about anything I'm obsessed with at any given moment #like whatever I'm obsessed with RIGHT NOW can definitely go on about it #but those are like... fleeting obsessions I guess? so felt wrong to put them down

[grishaverse-chaos]

Nina for the ask game

omg ty!! nina is one of my fav grishaverse characters ever (actually she's my fav crow!) so I loveeee talking about her

why I like them: her badassery. she doesn't take shit from anybody which I love, and she has a really strong sense of self-worth and independence

why I don't: she keeps falling for goddamn fjerdans. for legal reasons this is a joke, I love helnik and hannina more than life itself HOWEVER this girl clearly has a type and it's v funny to me

favourite episode/scene: ooooh I'm actually not sure but I do love her scenes with zoya in s2 because their dynamic is SO deep and SO intricate and I could talk about it for hours

favourite season/movie: so she's brilliant in both s&b seasons and both soc books, but I think she's actually best in the kos duology!

favourite line: I WILL LEAVE THIS WORLD ON A HAMMER BLOW holy fuck it's one of my fav quote of all time, I just love it so much. it perfectly encapsulates nina's personality and her determination

favourite outfit: her red dress from the shu han heist in s2! something about it being red but not heartrender red yk? like she's claiming her grisha powers but still refusing to align herself with the second army.... it's deep okay

otp: ugh I can never choose between helnik and hannina (in an ideal world they'd be polyam lmao)

brotp: okay so I love ninej however. nina and zoya are sooooo deep I could analyse them for Hours. I have a playlist for them in my notes app. also nina and nikolai would be the most chaotic friendship EVER which I love sm

headcanon: there's like zero chance she's cisgender. idk what she would be but there's some gender fuckery going on there I swear

unpopular opinion: I love hannina and idk if that's unpopular as such but I'm pretty sure it's less popular than helnik so let's go with that. also matthias's death adds so much to the narrative and there's no way it could have been as satisfying if he'd survived

a wish: she's going to be such an incredible queen omg, I want her to change the world (and specifically fjerda) forever and leave her mark

an oh-god-please-don't-ever-happen: imagine if hanne (I hc his chosen name as demyen!) dies as well.... leaving nina all alone and widowed..... yeah. that would suck.

5 words to describe them: determined, chaotic, badass, independent, vicious (when she wants to be)

my nickname for them: again tbh I don't really have one 😭😭

give me a character and I will answer...

#mayhem.txt #answered #nina zenik #grishaverse #ty for the ask!! <3

[transmutationisms]

I’ve spent the evening going through your tags and vigorously nodding along with all of your analyses of Succession, specifically WRT addiction, drug use and the way drugs are framed throughout the show as performance-enhancing agents for life under capitalism (to sum it up basically, though certainly more nuance could amend that characterization which I think you have covered). Specifically with season 4 and eps 405-408, I’m thinking about the narrative reemergence of cocaine as the waystar universe’s primary “business drug” of choice- though where we would typically see this play out with Kendall’s arc, there’s been fascinating parallels with the Tom/Greg and Shiv/Mattson of it all in terms of their characters conceding to the drug/feigning the appearance of drug use to stay close to the seat of power. IMO next to Kendall, Tom may be the character shown to be most entangled in this inescapable dynamic between drug use and self-image/actualization/esteem; he seems preoccupied and obsessive about the effect of drugs on his personal and financial prospects (“I took the wrong drugs in the wrong order and can’t get happy”) and even moreso in the most recent episode with the whiteboard coke scene (played as a hard comedy scene which I find so interesting!!!)

Meanwhile, we have not seen Kendall explicitly use drugs anytime throughout the season, yet he admits (with a rather surprising candor and self awareness) in 401 that he knows what it’s like to “smoke horse” and therefore needs a business venture as readily able to consume his priorities, and through the season we see him shirking obligations to his family and other loyalties in a seemingly self-destructive spiral that might mirror a normative discourse of “the addict.” So that is just some braindump lol, this is hardly a pointed question but you’re such a thoughtful critic on these themes and I find myself similarly engaged by them as well. am wondering if you have made any similar/different connections or new themes WRT drugs and addiction you’ve seen this season!

yeah, so, tom's drug use is something i haven't really written about and should, because it's a really fascinating angle to his character as well as the portrayal of drugs on the show in general. for purposes of this post i'm just going to assume anyone reading is familiar with the reading of drug use on succession as an expression of neoliberal capitalist subjectivity, and with coke in particular as being a way for the characters to access and perform bourgeois masculinity. also, when i talk about masculinity and femininity in this post, i'm going by logan's definitions of those terms, where the masculine is rational, violent, dominant, and so forth, and the feminine is embodied, passive, submissive, &c. these are the rules by which these characters still live.

what's interesting with tom is that he speaks the language of masculinity and drugs, and therefore also masculinity-qua-drugs, differently than the roys. in 'prague', for example, he sees greg doing coke and tells him to "suck on those big white dicks"—the opposite of what coke means in the text when kendall uses it. for kendall it's a way of enhancing his masculinity, kill drive, &c, which is why his use tends to be SO tracked to his relationship with logan and the demands logan is making of him (for example, seeking it in 'no one is ever missing, using it in 'vaulter' after logan orders him to gut vaulter, or in season 3 when he's at peak patricidality). the fact that tom sees greg using coke as discursively equivalent to sucking cock tells us that tom simply doesn't understand how the roys perform masculinity, or what that means to them. in 'too much birthday' he makes a different mistake, trying to use coke to make himself happy. again, what we can see as viewers is that this is simply not how coke functions for the roys. it's not a party drug or a chemical joyride; it's almost utilitarian in how it's meant to make up for a lack of masculinity or business instinct. it makes kendall capable of functioning in logan's world, where the language spoken is one of violence. tom taking it for fun is kind of doomed from the get-go.

so, there are a few elements of the coke scene in 'america decides' that i find interesting. one is that, although tom actually is now trying to use coke as a performance-enhancing drug à la kendall, the person he's trying to live up to is cyd, who's been ousted. this implicitly feminises tom by suggesting his spectral role model in business is not even his father-in-law, but a woman. second, as plenty of people have noted, greg doing the coke off tom's hand is quite intimate, even tender, and suggests that for tom, coke is homosocial in a distinct way (gayer, to be blunt) than kendall allows it to be. third, tom pressures greg into doing it—again, suggesting he doesn't see it as some kind of competitive advantage but as a male bonding activity, where he wants greg's company (or at least wants someone's company, and uses greg instrumentally). fourth, as you pointed out, it's played for laughs. generally kendall's coke use is portrayed with more nuance: it's not flattering, and there are certainly moments of levity, but it's contextualised as both the ultimate embrace of the logics of capital, and as part of kendall's futile efforts to please his father. both of these elements mean kendall's coke scenes are usually played more seriously. for tom and greg to be hunched behind a whiteboard comedically doing bumps together again stands out, making both of them look a bit foolish and emphasising how tom's relationship to masculinity, coke, and coke masculinity is different to kendall's. both kendall and tom fail at masculinity, but in distinct ways; kendall tries repeatedly to use coke in order to make up the difference, whereas tom doesn't even understand consciously that that's an option.

shiv's refusal of matsson's coke to me parallels roman turning down coke with asgarov. roman and shiv do business and gender differently than kendall. although shiv instinctually identifies with a more masculine role (ie, she sees herself as dominant, in control, the smartest one in the room, &c), she doesn't have the wild insecurity that drives kendall to compensate using coke. shiv prefers to try a more deliberate strategy than the way kendall just goes in swinging his cock around, hoping he'll intimidate someone. meanwhile, roman identifies with a more feminine, coquettish role, which is precisely what logan always perceived as being so disgusting in him. roman's business strategy often reads as flirting, but without following through (inviting matsson to come piss with him, but then refusing to actually take his own cock out; following asgarov to the bathroom but turning down the coke; the lotion situation with mencken). so, shiv and roman have now both had scenes where they're directly offered the chance to try on kendall's overcompensatory masculinity for themselves, and they've both turned it down, telegraphing the way their strategies for surviving in the world of waystar diverge from kendall's.

kendall, of course, has been interesting this season drug-wise by negation. the heroin line is interesting, although unclear to me to what extent he was serious (and, even if he was serious, we have no idea whether he's talking about anything recent), so it mostly just suggests that this is something he and his siblings are comfortable acknowledging / joking about. whether it's a joke or not, the invocation of heroin specifically to convey basically immediate, overwhelming enjoyment / pleasure fits in with how the show distinguishes between uppers and downers, with downers being the drugs more likely to be taken in pursuit of pleasure rather than as tools for neoliberal self-improvement like coke / uppers. besides that, the past 10 in-universe days have essentially been a process of kendall deciding more and more baldly to pursue his father's ceo position once and for all. kendall's drug use is in response to both logan and the broader demands of capitalist masculinity, so i don't want to read too much into his non-use this season (& it honestly wouldn't shock me if we saw him do a bump or two in the last episode or something), but i do think that at the beginning of the season, we catch him at a relatively relaxed point, as he's been removed from his father and had his siblings nearby. so, the show is capable of portraying him spiralling out (as you point out) without using a drug narrative or conventional addiction arc to telegraph that, because his coke use means very specific things in relation to masculinity and capitalism.

#a sandpit for emergent behaviour

[sometipsygnostalgic]

16 for the violence ask game 🔪

Thank you Jagm, I can always count on you to choose violence.

16 - you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

This is a hard one to answer because I absolutely understand why people like most things, at least in the things I enjoy. I consider myself to be very good at analysing what makes media and even fanfic feel good.

The main problem is that my answer deeply ties to every other question on this bloody post!!!!

But with She-ra, this largely ties into romance.

With Entrapdak I don't like the Suave Hordak trope. To me he's not suave at all, I don't like it when he calls Entrapta "Starlight" which is a popular thing people came up with. I prefer a straight up abundance of autism with my Entrapdak. Hordak calls Entrapta "Entrapta." and Entrapta calls him "Hordak!!!!" and nicknames are for losers.

With Catradora I don't like that people remove Catra's fangs. This is probably my answer to every damn question on that post. Why do people mischaracterize Catra as a pathetic little blorbo who is a victim of everything and is mildly tsundere. This is what Hordak should be-- okay ignore that, I have my own issues with Hordak's blorbification especially in canon-compliant fanfic. But in fanfic AU scenarios, people love working with S5 Catra in her final form, they don't bother touching on dysfunctional earlier show Catra, nevermind her S4 self. If I write a Catra-focused AU I think I'm going to focus on that broken version of her.

What is the obsession with characters having kids? Okay I know that we are all gay and gay people having kids is a fantasy but, fucking hell, raising kids is HARD. I don't think "this relationship is so much richer because they had children who look like a cursed crossover of both characters". You can agree with me on that one, right Jagm?

Oh and finally I don't like that everyone has decided the romance is UNAMBIGUOUSLY set in stone. I blame Nate somewhat for this because he basically word-of-god canonized all the unconfirmed romances. But specifically I think of Entrapdak. It's a good reading but it doesn't need to be romantic to still be one of the most amazing dynamics in the show. Same for Scorfuma, a lot of doors have been opened for them and I'm sure they're falling in love, but it doesn't mean they'll settle down immediately and have flower babies. Queerplatonic relationships are good and valuable too, as is intense platonic love. These characters still prioritise each other.

With Adventure Time, it's the way everyone wants Finn to have a GF at the end. Who gives a fuck!!!! The entire point was Finn learning about his own strengths and weaknesses without fixating on the next girl. He is now able to stand on his own two feet and he isn't going to wallow in misery because he isn't smooching someone. After all, Jake is his soulmate, nobody else.

#she ra #spop #adventure time #atimers

[kierreras]

It’s really getting to me how the characters in the show ( besides Steven the best character on the show ) and the show itself are almost painting Conrad as the villain. He is an 18 year old older brother who has been made to act like an adult from a young age, who has depression and anxiety. On the same note the show trying to build up jeremiah the “ nice guy” who yells at belly, constantly throws her heartbreak in her face, and makes her feel like she can’t be herself. I find it quite triggering and I really hope they are doing this for a purpose in season 3 because if the show or writers of the show don’t think that Jeremiah’s behaviour is worse than Conrad’s than that is worrying. I also hated that they made jeremiah some sort angel with the finale. Him suddenly being selfless felt extremely out of character and WAY TOO FORCED. I’m all for character growth but he was annoyed about the candy 5 minutes earlier? The only way it makes sense was him Doing it to try and save himself.

oh, i think the show does a decent job at showing that both conrad and jeremiah are not perfect. for conrad it's more obvious because people usually mistreat anxiety and depression as a "he's toxic, he's bad, he's a villain". but also in the contrast of conrad the show portrays jeremiah as a golden retriever who, if you dig deeper, tends to manipulate and, just like conrad, he can't express his feelings without hurting other people. he's not the villain too, as for me, but also he's not a saint. if some people don't see that jeremiah is not the greatest guy, it's their own ability or inability to analyse people. but i think anyone who can do an analysis of character's action can notice that conrad and jeremiah are always do something in parallel with each other. for example, people looooove to say that conrad only makes a move when belly is unavailable, but also jeremiah, kind of, does too? he tries to embarrass belly in front of cameron on her birthday dinner, he tries to make her sing and draws unwanted attention to her at nicole's party. jeremiah expresses his jealousy by making her uncomfortable, when conrad expresses his jealousy by making her sad. they both don't know how to express feelings correctly and while jeremiah does it with less damage, he's not a saint still. they are teenagers and they know shit about real communications, but if we're treating one brother as a teenager why can't we treat another one as a teenager too? and i think jeremiah's ability to manipulate, whether he does it on purpose or not, is also portrayed as a contrast of conrad's ability to blame himself and close himself up. i don't think that jeremiah is a villain or the worst character, no, but i also can see those manipulations that he does in order to get other people realise things. i see an issue in the way he requires other people to tiptoe around him if he doesn't like something, whereas conrad just backs away when he doesn't like something. not a great thing, really, but again contrasts! i think the show does decent job with them, it's just not everyone wants to acknowledge that their favourite character is not perfect. as for making jeremiah act differently in the last episode, i was surprised too. but also i think for jeremiah it was the peak point. he can analyse people, he was the first one to realise that there's some shift in belly/conrad dynamic in the first season, he's not stupid. so my personal opinion is that he was doing a damage control in the finale, because he realised that he's either going to lose his brother or he's going to lose the girl he likes. so he was making sure that at the end the damage would not be that huge. at the end of the day, i really believe that he loves both conrad and belly and he doesn't want to specifically hurt them or make their lives miserable. but note that is my subjective opinion which can be wrong. and also this part really made me miss obx press because ew recorded interviews with actors in which they were reviewing every episode and discussing why the characters were acting this way. i think that type of interviews could be a great idea for tsitp too, because for tsitp there's always a subtext for everything, you know.

#ask #tsitp