#(( hint: the song is not actually about being evil so it may apply more than you think ))

[waitlifted]

(( I'm kinda sick and about to go to bed but but I would like to once again throw out the idea of a ship dynamic based on the song "I'm glad you're evil too". that's all thank you and goodnight ))

#(( hint: the song is not actually about being evil so it may apply more than you think )) #(( I'm just listening to it and being emotional about au plots and stuff )) #ooc.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Revolution Theme, Part 4 - The Governor’s Episodes

What led me to wanting to rewatch the Gov’s episode was a discussion with @galadrieljones. She talked about Lenny from 4b being an anti-Daryl, and that sparked something for me. I totally agree about Len, but it made me remember that, a long time ago, I remembered that Mitch (guy who operated the tank for the Gov and helped bulldoze the prison) was also an anti-parallel to Daryl.

Now, back when I first realized that, I didn’t have anywhere to really go with it. I mean, we had the leader (Governor) pitted against Rick and his right-hand guy (Mitch) pitted against Daryl. Mitch operated the tank, which Daryl blew up. And then of course Daryl ends up shooting Mitch in the heart. The thing that first made me realize Mitch was a Daryl parallel was the fact that he had no sleeves, lol. I know that’s goofy, but I think it’s intentional.

Anyway, I hadn’t thought about it in a long time. And while we’ve talked about Gov parallels to Beth in these two episodes lots of times before (like the stigmata walker in the yellow wheelchair) it suddenly occurred to me that there’s probably a LOT more to it than that.

Recently, especially since the bonus episodes, I’ve been big on looking at entire sequences and multi-episode arcs from a broad, bird’s eye view because I think they’re templates for future story lines. (It’s totally Find Me’s fault. Lol.) Anyway, I just realized I hadn’t done THAT with the Gov’s episodes, and I probably should.

Long story short, I was right.

Long story long, here we go:

So we start by seeing the end of 3x16 again, right after the Gov kills all his own people and takes off with Martinez and that other guy whose name I don’t remember. He doesn’t show up again and Martinez says he pretty much gave up and got eaten by walkers.

(We’ll skip the discussion about how Karen was a Beth proxy at this part in 3x16, because she was left for dead and even pretended like she was. In other words, she played possum. Then she returned to Tyreese and eventually became romantically involved with him. But that’s beside the point, right? ;D)

Okay, so we see the Gov and the two guys at a camp site and a very Beth-ish walker stomps through his fire, trips, and starts burning before Martinez kills it. I’ve always thought that was a Beth hint, and I still do. I think it’s just the writers’ way of signaling that this is a Beth template for the future.

When the Gov wakes up, his guys have abandoned him and he’s alone in this bright yellow tent that stands out against the bleak landscape. (Yellow.)

Then he goes and burns Woodbury. I’ve always tried to connect that to Beth, particularly because of the Moonshine shack. But looking at it now, there’s just something else entirely going on here. Emotionally, I mean.

We know Bethyl burning the moonshine shack symbolized something positive. Letting go of their pasts and moving forward. When the Gov does this, you don’t get that vibe at all. It’s more bitter and resentful. He’s angry and grieving over losing his leadership, the town he built up, and his people. It almost feels like a “if I can’t have it no one can” sort of thing.

So, this is total conjecture on my part, but I feel like there will be a Beth parallel to this. Probably not quite as destructive, but I’ve always had a head canon that somehow, after waking up, she’ll end up at Terminus, find the riot gear and Daryl’s poncho, and assume they all died there. That may be where the bitterness and sadness will come from. Just my head canon, though.

After that, the Gov starts on his long, lone journey (another thing we’ve always theorized Beth would do). Oh, and the song that plays over this part, which I’ve always thought was very pretty, is called The Last Pale LIGHT in the WEST (emphasis mine). I think the Gov goes west when he leaves.

Then we get voice overs, and this part is SUPER interesting and makes me very happy. We heard two women talking to the Gov about where he comes from and where he used to be. We now know those voices to be Tara and Lilly, but at this point in the episode, he hasn’t met them, yet. So, what’s interesting is that neither of them are named in the subtitles. They are just “woman.”

And where have we seen that lately? In 9x05, every voice (like Lori and Abraham, for example) was named, but Beth wasn’t. We immediately recognized her voice, but she wasn’t named in the subtitles as “Beth.” It just said “woman.” So, what does this mean? We wouldn’t have recognized Alanna’s voice yet at this point, unlike Emily’s, but we had yet to meet Tara yet. So, on a basic level, I think it shows that the unnamed “woman” will soon be a character on the show.

And why would they do that with Beth when, like Lori and Abe and the others, we’ve already met her? I think it’s probably in line with the theme about her being a different person when we see her again. In a good way. “Meet the new Beth Greene.”

The next important thing about this part is what is actually said. I’m paraphrasing here, but Tara and Lily ask where the Gov was before and he says something about having been in a town. Tara asks if the monsters were there. He says no. It was a good place, with walls. But “he” lost it. She asks, “who?” And he says, “the man in charge.” So clearly, he’s talking about himself in the third person, and Woodbury.

But.

If this is a Beth template, then Gov = Beth, right? We always wondered why they would use him, being evil and stuff, as a Beth proxy. But keep in mind that Gimple took over as official head honcho and completely reworked a reportedly terrible 3x16. They were basically done with the Woodbury/Gov storyline, and they needed a good sendoff for him. In a way, this was Gimple’s first Sirius arc. Someone who leaves, is presumed dead, but then comes back. We know Daryl (and Michonne) searched for him, but lost the trail (kinda like losing Beth’s body) and the Gov is even down one eye. Siriusly.

So, my point about the voice over is that everything said there could be applied to Rick, especially during the S4/S5. He lost it. He screwed up. Beth was left behind/separated from them.

Okay, now I’ll jump forward a little faster. For the rest of 4x06, there are really only two big things of note. 1) Tara and Lilly = two sisters who eventually lose their father. A foreshadow of the Greene family dynamic. And even though Tara’s father dies of natural causes (lung cancer), the Gov does end up bashing his face in to keep him from biting Tara. I think that was supposed to be kind of like him “killing” the dad, and therefore a foreshadow of him killing Hershel by taking his head.

The second thing, in terms of future Beth arcs, is that he lost everything, was left behind/abandoned by his people, went on a long journey, and eventually found people that he came to care about and protect. And I think the same will happen with Beth. In fact, it actually works in line with the Charleston template I laid out. Just a community of people she cares about and protects/takes care of.

And I’m sure some people will wonder about the fact that the Gov finds a love interest in Lilly, and if that will translate to Beth. Well, it’s possible. She might have had boyfriends over the years. We’ve discussed this. But it’s also important that her *true* love interest, Daryl, is already back with TF. And that wasn’t true of the Gov. He was never going to return to the prison and have some beautiful relationship with…anyone. The closest thing would have been Andrea, and she’d already died by this point.

There are, of course, small clues in 4x06 that I haven’t gone over, and of course I’ve skipped the rest home with the stigmata walker, because we know about that. But a few highlights: At one point, Tara says, “Ray Charles could have seen it” about their truck out front. Blindness mention. Lilly used to be a nurse, which ties to Grady. And she even talks about being bored, which is a direct link to Edwards being bored. 

Pirate theme, of course. I do think Megan represents Beth, though perhaps not directly in the template. She wears a lot of pink and yellow, blond hair, etc. And I think she’s just another way to say that this template is about the blond girl who, apparently, dies.

We should also probably appreciate that the way the Gov’s arc ends (the situation in 4x08) is a prisoner exchange situation where a Greene dies, and both directly ties to and foreshadows Grady.

But let’s move on. The end of 4x06/beginning of 4x07 is where they fall into a pit and meet Martinez. Let’s be real. In the show they call it “the pit” and it’s just used to keep walkers from overrunning their camp, but it’s clearly a grave. So, we have the Gov and Beth—I mean Megan—falling into a grave with a bunch of walkers (death) but surviving and eventually getting out (resurrection). Side note: we also saw the Gov kill one of the walkers that went after Megan by ripping it’s jaw off. (Speak no evil.)

So, here’s where we get to talk about Mitch and Pete a little bit. And it’ll be fun. I promise. :D

Watching this with an eye toward them representing Daryl and Merle, a lot of the symbolism became a lot more obvious. Keep in mind that they’re anti-parallels, not parallels.

See, between the two, Pete, who actually represents Merle, is the more sweet, compassionate one. While Mitch is the more brutal one. But again, they’re anti-parallels, so in this case, Mitch, the brutal one, is Daryl’s antithesis and Pete, the kind one, is Merle’s.

In fact, the first time we meet them, Mitch doesn’t want to let the Gov’s group in because they already had too many mouths to feed, and Pete says, “come on, man. They have a kid.” Just reminded me a lot of Daryl’s “they had a baby” in 3x10 after saving the family on the bridge.

So, they come back to the camp and start living in a trailer. The Hole in the Roof theory is huge here. The roof of the trailer keeps leaking water and, I shit you not, it looks like it’s dripping from a bullet wound. So, clearly….

And while I stand by it being a symbol of Beth being shot in the head, I also think it represents toxicity of a sort. Things that are wrong and it’s just a matter of time before the crap hits the fan. That sort of thing.

Okay, obviously the most important part of this episode is when they go to the cabin, but let me mention a few things that happen along the way.

Mitch, Pete, Martinez, and the Gov go out looking for supplies for the camp. And they had a really interesting conversation that may give some insight into the spearfishing in Find Me.

They walk by the lake and the Gov asks if there are fish in the lake. They reply, no. The lake is totally dead. Mitch then adds that there are rabbits, skunks, and possums. Obviously, some symbolism in those animals. But it occurs to me that fish = life. Something they can eat, subsist and even thrive on. The lake is dead because there are no fish.

Now, clearly this is a foreshadow of the Gov killing Pete and putting him in the lake. And of the Gov already being kind of dead in his soul. And “dead water” might also foreshadow the poisoned water theme. Water that can cause death if you drink it.

But in thinking about Daryl’s reaction to both Leah and Carol finding fish in FM, it’s kind of interesting. Both times, he says, “no way,” and is pleasantly surprised that they caught the fish (life). So, I’m wondering if this is meant to be him being surprised that someone he thought was dead was really alive. And what if all the fish symbols we’ve seen represent life in some way?

Of course, it could also be that a mounted fish, like we saw near Dwight in S8 is technically a dead fish. So, it might have symbolized the death of his and Sherry’s relationship. Or that it would live again. I’m not sure how granular to make this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Okay, so then they come upon a camp that seems to be doing well. Mitch wants to take all their supplies, but Pete refuses and they leave. Later, they come back to find the camp overrun, most of its people dead, and the supplies gone. Here, Mitch is just pissed that they didn’t take the supplies before someone else got them. (Very anti-Daryl.)

But I do think this points to some future arc. I don’t know for sure what it will be, but again, I think it works with the Charleston template. Like, Beth is in a community. She goes out looking for supplies, and when she comes back, the community has been knocked on its butt by the CRM. And this is one of those things that was never really acknowledged or explained in the show. Who killed off the camp? And why wasn’t anyone in the Gov’s group at all concerned that their camp might be next? Gotta be symbolism for sure. :D

Oh, and the Gov says it must have “just happened.” Just like Daryl said about the wolves and the girl on the tree in 5x15. And again, the wolves are very tangled up in the Native American symbolism.

Then there’s the cabin bit. Again, I’m not at all sure how this will fit into Beth’s arc, but I’m sure it foreshadows SOMEthing. So, we have two headless corpses, one of which says LIAR and the other that says RAPIST. And then a third that still has his head, but killed himself with a shotgun. He is, presumably, the guy who lived in the cabin and killed the first two, and he’s labeled himself MURDERER.

Now, on the one hand, all of these words describe the Governor. He says “Liar” just before taking Hershel’s head, which is what that first one points to. And it’s not too hard to figure out that he’s a murderer. We didn’t actually see him rape anyone in the show, but there were suggestions of it, especially as he attacked Michonne and manipulated Andrea. And I’m pretty sure in the comic books, he does actually rape Michonne. They just didn’t want that to be the case in the show. So, these do all work for his story line.

But I also think these may be things Beth encounters at some point in her arc. Maybe someone will lie to her (or even betray her, Lone Ranger-style) and she’ll have to take them out. We already saw her dealing with rape at Grady, and have long thought that it foreshadows a bigger, potential rape situation that she’ll have to deal with. You get the idea. So, it’s very vague and I don’t have any great inspirations about what these point to, but in general, I’m sure they’ll apply to her.

It's also important to note that all these guys are dressed in military clothing. So, we might be able to tie them to CRM, symbolically if not literally.

I didn’t find anything massive inside the cabin that we haven’t already discussed. You asked me to look for revolution/George Washington pictures, @wdway, and I didn’t notice any. I didn’t try overly hard to see every single picture in the background, but most of them looked too blurry to tell much detail anyway. The major one is of Abraham Lincoln, and I think that’s important. But I’ll come back to it.

Of course, we have all the Native American symbols in this cabin. So, here’s the thing. Because of Tonto in TLR, I feel like whoever the Native American symbolism points to, whatever group that is, good or bad, it represents the group that Beth found after she woke up/lived, who nursed her back to health. And the reason I say good or bad is because the Claimers do theoretically fall under this same symbol theme for Daryl. The first group of people he ran into after he lost Beth. After the big disaster.

And here, I think Martinez’s group works in that regard for the Governor. He wasn’t hurt badly but he was in need of help after falling into the pit. You could say the same of Daryl after losing Beth. He just needed people to pull him out of his slump.

Now, here’s the other thing I’m not entirely sure how to interpret, but it does lend credence to the idea of the guy who lived in the cabin, who took out the two headless corpses, being representative of Beth. Once they’ve cleaned the walkers out of the cabin and are all sitting down talking, the Gov finds a picture of the guy who lived their and his family. The guy’s left eye has been colored over with read. Like red pen or marker. But it’s clearly a Sirius symbol and the red looks like blood.

So, I thought about what must have happened in this cabin. I kind of thing it might have been sort of like what happened with Abraham’s family. We were told after 5x05 that he killed the people who were actually part of his group. People he trusted. That’s because while he was out on a supply run, they raped his family. They just couldn’t show that in the show.

So, for the cabin guy, taking out a rapist and liar who might have harmed his family is straight forward enough. But why would he kill himself if his family still lived? And the Gov’s group found them as walkers in the house. Why would they continue to live there if the husband/father had shot himself on the porch? So, I’m thinking that these two headless corpses not only raped but perhaps murdered his family. So, he beheaded them and, in his grief, took himself out.

Or, because he labeled himself a murderer, maybe something happened where his family went crazy, or just got bitten, and he had to put them down. And that made him feel like a murderer. Because I don’t think justly taking out bad guys would have made him feel that way.

This may feel largely irrelevant, but it’s in the episode for a reason. Once again, I think this probably points to some part of Beth’s future arc. I mean, this sort of thing, the kind of thing Abraham went through, since it happened at the hands of people that were part of his community and that he trusted, is the ultimate betrayal, right? So maybe it will be a matter of someone in her community that she trusts betraying them to the CRM or something. IDK.

I keep saying it’s the west/lone ranger stuff that = betrayal, but the Native American theme always seems to be tangled up with it, doesn’t it?

Some minor details.

They find *beer* in the cabin.

We find out that Mitch and Pete were in the army before the turn happened. And in this case, I don’t necessarily want to link that to the CRM. We could, but given that both of them are now dead, it doesn’t really matter.

But it occurred to me that this is more evidence of them being anti-Daryl and Merle. Daryl and Merle were nobodys and drifters before. So, their opposites were in one of the most disciplined professions one can enter. Daryl started in an unproductive place and evolved. Mitch started in a disciplined place and devolved.

Of course, they’re playing GOLF when he kills Martinez. After doing so, he sits like Daryl at the crossroads. Then when Lilly finds him in the RV, he says he had a bad dream. He doesn’t remember. (Memory loss mention.)

They tell the camp he was hitting golf balls, got drunk, and fell into the grave/pit. *coughs Bethyl*

There were some interesting mushroom mentions. I noticed that before they met up with Martinez’s group, they were talking about Tara’s ex girlfriend (who was named SAM, btw) who lied to her about her feelings for Tara. Lilly says, “Yeah, then you went camping, ate mushrooms, and the rest was history.” Or something like that. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but then later, we see the same mushrooms on the trees around the Gov that we saw in Still. Hmm.

I’m also a little unsure of what to make of the walker pit they reach when they try to leave the camp. Remember they all take off in a car, including Tara’s girlfriend, but they have to stop because the road is impassible. It’s turned to mud and is full of walkers. I’m sure that’s symbolic of something, but I don’t know what.

Of course, the Gov kills Pete and recruits Mitch. You could say he has a very Negan approach, ruling through fear. He kills Pete specifically BECAUSE he’s the compassionate one and Mitch is the brutal one. Very different to how Rick ever approached things.

Okay, that’s most of what I have for the Gov. Except that at the beginning of 4x08, after he takes Michonne and Hershel prisoner, he says, “they’re the key.” (Key Theory).

#beth greene fan art #Beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional for the win #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[the-busy-ghost]

If you don't mind answering, what are some things that you really, really wish you'd see more of in depictions of medieval Scotland/Early Modern Scotland?

I absolutely don’t mind answering, thank you for asking! 

I’m told there are some better quality novels than there are tv shows and films, so there are some aspects that have been done in good novels (though I’m not so familiar with them). There are so many things though that could be done on screen:

- Chiefly I spend a lot of my time wishing that there was more attention paid to the actual geographical make-up of Scotland and its regional variety, e.t.c beyond just splitting everything into Highland/Lowland, or just portraying everyone as being part of a Clan in the Highland sense, or just sticking everyone in Edinburgh as if that was the only place where anything happened. Orkney was very different to Galloway, and the Borders were very different to the Western Isles, and Ross was different to Aberdeenshire. 

Now if this was true for the sixteenth century, it is even MORE true for the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. Between the early Middle Ages and the end of the thirteenth century, Scotland was settled by a lot of different cultures- so in the twelfth century for example, much of the country (the traditional heartland of ‘Scotia’ north of the Forth) may have spoken Gaelic but Lothian had been settled by speakers of Old English some centuries ago and their language became Scots in time, and spread north of the Forth into Fife, Angus, Aberdeenshire and elsewhere so that by the sixteenth century it was much more widely spoken and the language of government. The south-west, especially the area around the Clyde and Glasgow was a British kingdom for a long time, speaking a language not dissimilar to Old Welsh- this kingdom had (sort of) disappeared by the mid-twelfth century but the language took a while to completely disappear. Up in Orkney, Shetland, and Caithness, rather like in Iceland and the Faroes, Norse settlers had taken over and Norse culture has still left traces there today. From the fourteenth century, Scots began to take over in the Northern Isles but there was still a very clear Norse background in the sixteenth century. Meanwhile in the Western Isles, the Norse newcomers did not manage to erase Gaelic so completely as they did in the Northern Isles, but they did leave their mark on the Hebrides, to the extent that the inhabitants in the Western Isles in the in the twelfth century were descendants of both cultures- they are sometimes called Gall-Ghàidheil in Gaelic, meaning ‘foreigner Gael’. Then over the course of the twelfth century more new immigrants moved in. The ranks of the nobility were swelled by Norman, Breton, and other French settlers- unlike England, there was no ‘Norman Conquest’, and the process was more gradual, but although the French language never had the same power in Scotland as it did in thirteenth century England, these settlers left their mark on the feudal system and other aspects of Scottish society, and in turn they too were affected by the cultures they encountered in Scotland. Other smaller pockets of immigration existed- immigrants from Flanders and the Netherlands, for example, were instrumental to developing Scottish towns and improving agriculture. In the east coast burghs of Fife and Lothian you can still see some architectural elements that may have been the result of trade with the Dutch- crow-stepped gables and red pantiles for example. 

Although most of these cultures have altered and changed by the sixteenth century, the fact remains that the cultural backdrop to fourteenth or fifteenth century Scotland was a real mix- Gaelic, English, French, Norse, Flemish, British- and, perhaps, whatever it was that the elusive Picts left behind beyond their wonderful stone monuments. I have perhaps oversimplified things here but the point is that mediaeval and early modern Scotland was not a cultural monolith- something which both Scottish and foreign film-makers would do well to remember. 

There are also changes to these regions across the years- Orkney going from being a Norwegian/Danish territory to becoming part of the Scottish kingdom, or the borders which had some of the best farmland and richest abbeys in the country in the thirteenth century becoming a very militarised and rather lawless zone after the Wars of Independence. I think it would be really interesting to see that portrayed on screen.  

- Ok so that was the fundamental thing, apologies for the rant. But to go with that, more understanding of the landscape and architecture. In all fairness most tv shows and films involving Scotland, no matter how bad they are, at least have some lovely panning shots of the Highlands but there’s more to the country than Glencoe- you could really work with views like the sun on the sea from the Carrick coast or the beautiful if ruinous religious architecture- like the abbeys of Melrose or Arbroath or somewhere like Elgin Cathedral or Rosslyn Chapel or Inchmahome Priory. 

- Costuming! Again this fits into the regional thing a bit, but it’s also more general. It’s a quibble I have with almost any medieval media but especially when it comes to Scotland people get really lazy with the costuming and just slap some shortbread tin stuff together rather than putting any thought into it. 

- More traditional music! A surprising number of ballads and songs that are still popular among folk singers today are thought to have their roots in early modern if not mediaeval Scotland. And again the musical heritage of Scotland is varied depending on the culture it comes from. 

- More properly developed female characters. Even though half the historical films made about Scotland are about Mary Queen of Scots, there are almost no good depictions of historical Scotswomen- and that’s NOT because there aren’t any interesting women in Scottish history before the modern period! There are lots of fascinating women’s stories from mediaeval and early modern Scotland, and although we are often frustrated by a lack of sources, we know they were there. More importantly, even if every woman was not a Certified Bad-Ass, as a whole women in Scottish history are not invisible and we can often see them in the records, whether operating in domestic, business, religious, or political contexts. Oddly, in their quest to show how Uniquely Misogynistic and Evil the Scottish nobility were to Mary Queen of Scots or Margaret Tudor or whoever, film-makers often end up ignoring women’s stories and therefore perpetuating the sexist view of history they claim to hate. (Though, yes mediaeval and early modern Scotland WAS misogynistic- but show me a country that wasn’t. Also it was misogynistic in a slightly different way to some other countries). I could list off dozens of interesting Scotswomen who lived before 1603- even though we sometimes can’t tell that much about their inner lives from the surviving sources, it’s obvious they were of some importance. And again it fits back into the cultural variety thing, because that was not limited to Lowland, Scots-speaking noblewomen. 

- More art and literature and architecture and education and music and EVERYTHING. Scotland lost a LOT during the Reformation and due to Anglo-Scottish warfare (that’s what happens when the main centre of your kingdom is near to a border). But we know that, though it was sometimes an out of the way place, Scotland could be just as heavily tied into European cultural trends as any other northern country. And there are some beautiful surviving cultural artefacts that hint at a more vibrant past- both produced in Scotland (in the Gaelic and Scots-speaking environments) and imported from abroad. 

- Equally on that note, more focus on its connections to countries other than England.  Scotland had three universities by 1500, and yet many Scottish students still went to study abroad, especially in France, but also in England, the Low Countries, Italy, and elsewhere. An Italian humanist taught at the Abbey of Kinloss away up in Moray in the sixteenth century, and Scottish thinkers were in touch with other great minds of the day. Scots also fought abroad (see mercenaries in Sweden, or James IV’s support given to his uncle the king of Denmark, or the Garde Écossaise), and traded heavily across the North Sea (there were multiple Scots merchant colonies on the continent, not least at Veere). Scotland’s relations with Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries, the Papacy, Ireland (both as part of the kingdom of England and with individual Irish families), and other countries could be almost as important as its relationships with France and England. The eternal triangle of Scotland, England, and France, was not actually always the story- there were occasions when England and France played very little role in Scotland’s foreign affairs, let alone its domestic history.

- In particular an acknowledgement of the high quality of Scots poetry in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries wouldn’t go amiss. 

- This is one which applies to all mediaeval media- but a more varied and interesting depiction of mediaeval religion would be good. In Scotland, this was also linked to the way people saw their own history- any sixteenth century Scot would have known some of the native saints, and anyone half-educated might have heard the names of David I and St Margaret and Columba, and known where the great abbeys in the kingdom came from. 

- Actually a basic knowledge of Scottish history and legends beyond a few famous names. For example family was important in noble society- just because the stereotypical The Clans Are Gathering model is massively inaccurate, doesn’t mean that noble families in Scotland didn’t care about ancestry and kinship. But it would be great if tv shows and movies could actually think about how to portray that- and it really shows how little some of these scriptwriters know about their characters when they’re supposedly obsessed with the honour of the clan but the only piece of their country’s history they know is the name William Wallace. If you’re portraying the Douglases- even the earls of Angus who weren’t directly descended from him- the legacy of Sir James Douglas would have been a source of some pride. For actual ‘clans’, you could be dealing with some of the clans in the west of Scotland who, like some families in Ireland, claimed descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages. Some family histories got warped along the way- the Stewarts, for example, seem to have forgotten that they were descended from a Breton named Flaald by the fifteenth century and instead latched onto a story involving a character named Fleance (the one who later appears in Macbeth). As for legends- you could have a lot of fun with the different kinds of fairy belief that existed in Scotland, from the Borders (where it inspired ballads like Tam Lin) to the Highlands, or you could bring up legendary figures that are shared with other countries like King Arthur or Fionn Mac Cumhaill or Robin Hood or Hector of Troy. Sometimes the legends even cross over into real life- Thomas the Rhymer, hero of ballads and fairytales, seems to have been based on a real person who lived in the reign of Alexander III; while stories about William Wallace and Robert Bruce often became folk tales in the tradition of other greenwood outlaws like Robin Hood. 

I think it’s pretty evident that my main issues with depictions of mediaeval and early modern Scotland on tv and film are largely because it’s so utterly unlike anything I see in the historical record. I’d love to list specific details and characters I’d like to see portrayed on screen, but before we even get to that point, the whole Generic Portrait of Scotland needs to change, because it doesn’t currently feel very realistic or interesting. All I really want is for the same level of research to be done with regard to Scotland as is done for England or France or any other country- England is often portrayed inaccurately, but there’s still at least 200% more effort put in than for Scotland.

On that note though, James I’s career (or at least the early fifteenth century as a whole) has been ripe for a television adaptation for years. Also I’m personally fascinated by ordinary rural life, patterns of agriculture and landholding, e.t.c. so even just an ordinary story set in an early sixteenth century fermtoun would be cool. But I don’t really think these stories would make any sense to people if Scotland was just portrayed the way it usually is - a generic country with no culture beyond a few scraps of tartan and alcohol and Anglophobia.

Thank you for the opportunity to rant, and apologies for the screed! I couldn’t express my enthusiasm very concisely I’m afraid. I genuinely don’t mind if there’s some inaccuracies to portrayals of Scotland, but now all portrayals are exactly the same and almost wholly inaccurate so it gets frustrating.

[shachihata]

traffic jam // niru kajitsu theory post

This is a theory post about the song Traffic Jam by Niru Kajitsu, ft. v_flower; the music video was drawn by Akashi! Ultimately, in my opinion, the meaning of the song boils down to it being a message about the dangers of anonymity and the cyclical nature of blame and guilt. For the English lyrics, I’ll be using tosiaki’s translation of the song, with some of my own minor corrections for grammar and the like. Fair warning, there’s a bit of suicide imagery throughout the music video, so if you’re sensitive to that, I’d proceed with caution.

The song features two main characters: Flurry and Welter, although they take on two different forms through the plot of the music video. Flurry is the woman, and Welter is the man; for reference, I’ll be referring to the less-humanoid versions of them as Anon Flurry and Anon Welter, respectively (I’ll explain these titles in the theory section of the post).

LITERAL PLOT

The song starts off with a car crash, and the eyes in the background flicking towards it; the people who’ve been hit are Flurry and Welter, as you can see from Flurry’s yellow dress and earbuds and Welter’s hair.

The businessman who’s hit them is horrified, and attempts to pray for forgiveness/hang himself to escape the blame for their deaths, only for Anon Flurry and Welter to be watching. Anon Welter is holding scissors to cut down the rope and Anon Flurry has an insect net to catch the businessman as he falls. The businessman attempts to run…

...only to be caught in a car accident of his own.

Anon Welter is shown explaining to a bystander what happened, while Anon Flurry seems to be listening to other people arguing over the events Flurry was caught in (I’d personally assume this is some kind of interview, due to a brief scene at 0:30 where Anon Flurry is posing much more obviously at a press conference.)

There are a few more surreal scenes in between 0:50 and 2:40, featuring some dancing fruit, Anon Flurry/Welter alternatively flirting/fighting with each other, and a scene where they’re humming along to the music while looking like they’re about to go to a medieval-themed abstract wedding, but in terms of pure plot, all there is to really take away is that the two of them look for trouble while being haunted by their more human counterparts/consciences.

The two of them are watching YouTube (or NND, if you’re watching the NND version of it!), with the car crash being the video playing, and what looks to be Maddy Marmalade, Wozwald, and A Mistaken Belief of Love in the sidebar. The door behind them opens, and they’re shocked to see…

...themselves in the light behind them.

They revert to the more human Flurry and Welter, and are tormented by the new Anon Flurry and Welter.

As Flurry and Welter attempt to run away, the new Anon Flurry and Welter sit back and watch them. At the end of the music video, the same businessman from the beginning is seen getting back into the car that hit the two of them, implying that the plot loops on infinitely.

THEORY

The song’s meaning boils down to it being a cautionary message about, essentially, the Blame Game. Anon Flurry and Welter are representations of mass media, public opinion, anonymous sources, etc. while Flurry, Welter, and the businessman are victims being exploited for the sake of drama and attention. I’ll be going through the whole video, starting from the beginning, in the context of this theme.

パシャパシャとフラッシュ焚いた まあなんて可哀想な

With click, click, it flashed, “Well, how pitiful.”

Firstly, we can see Flurry and Welter being killed by the businessman in the car crash. The eyes represent how the minute any disaster occurs, there’s suddenly a million eyes watching it, no matter how personal it may be -- and a million people who weren’t involved in the incident itself giving their opinions on it, being shown by Anon Flurry at the press conference, obviously not having been killed like real Flurry was in the accident. She’s here for the attention -- instead of talking to the audience, she’s posing, like she’s acting in a movie.

In the second image, we see Anon Welter’s hands blinding one of the bystanders who saw the accident -- the line here, translated, reads “Well, how pitiful.” The lyrics in this section refers to both the flashing of the cameras of the press conference as well as the publicity that an accident like this would immediately get, with the media caring more about the general spectacle than the actual victims of the crash; the condescending nature of the bystander’s response show how desensitized the public’s become to horrifying incidents like this, once again, focusing more on the spectacle and asking who’s to blame.

許さねえや 追い込めや 逃げんのかい この腰抜けが

It can't be forgiven, corner 'em, you fleeing? This coward.

Returning to this image of Anon Flurry and Welter cutting down the businessman from his noose, they demand that the blame for the accident be passed on to somebody -- if there’s a victim, there has to be a murderer, and there’s nobody to blame if the businessman is dead.

ああまただ 衝突だ 赤信号点滅だ さあ

Ah yes, again, it's a crash, a flashing red light, now.

今度はどいつが悪いんだ 誰でもいいや

Who's at fault this time? Doesn't matter who,

じゃああいつのせいだ

Then it's this one's fault,

譲り合いもへったくれもない

To hell with compromise.

The businessman is subsequently killed in a car crash of his own in an attempt to escape the watching eyes of Anon Flurry and Welter. In the top picture, you can see Anon Welter at the top and Anon Flurry at the bottom, with many other eyes accompanying their own in yellow -- a hint at how they’re a mere representation of the public as a whole, instead of simply being individual people. Even though the true culprit of the accident is caught, the two of them continue to demand that somebody be put to the guillotine for this new crash, even though it technically provides justice to the original Flurry and Welter who had been killed by the businessman -- Niru Kajitsu illustrating how mass media cares less about justice and the victims and more about the drama of it all. Anon Flurry randomly blaming somebody and saying “to hell with compromise” shows how truth and justice aren’t valued, anymore -- once again, spectacle is.

おいらにゃ関係ない?

“It has nothing to do with me?”

そうは問屋が卸しゃしねえんだわ

The wholesale won't sell this.

Assumedly, the text bubble in the top image is from the person that Anon Flurry’s blamed for the death of the businessman. Anon Welter rejects the accused’s protests, claiming that the “wholesale won’t sell this.” The “wholesale” typically refers to a company that mass-produces goods for the purpose of other retailers to sell them, and in this context, refers to the story that Anon Flurry and Welter have made up -- if the accused refuses to play along, they can’t give the story up to the media and get the attention that they crave.

Deuce Deuce Deuce！

君が逝くまで

Until you pass away,

僕が逝くまで

until I pass away,

痛み分けなどしないんで

we won't cancel the game 'cause of injuries,

Deuce Deuce Deuce！

鍍金が剥げるまで 朝が来るまで

until our outer shells fall off, until morning comes,

二人で涎分け合っていよう

let's share the drool between us two.

In the pictures, the rapidly-switching fighting and flirting of Anon Flurry and Welter is repeated in many other places throughout the music video -- I took this to represent how public media and anons on the internet have constantly shifting opinions that, at different moments, both conflict and come into concord with each other. However, the teamwork that overshadows the love-hate tones throughout the video shows that they’re ultimately working towards the same goal -- deception of the public for the sake of views and attention.

Now, onto the actual analysis of the chorus. The repetition of the word “deuce” has multiple meanings, all of which apply to the theme of the video. Firstly, there’s the meaning directly referenced in the chorus, with the “deuce” referring to the two on dice or playing cards -- showing how Anon Flurry and Welter see the entire incident as just a “game”, the two of them having fun as they exploit the suffering of others. Secondly, in tennis, a deuce refers to, essentially, a draw -- a reference to the cyclical nature of the music video, in which Anon Flurry and Welter never truly win and merely become the victims of the next accident (also vaguely referenced in the chorus: “until you pass away / until I pass away.” The two of them are at a stalemate with the other Anon Flurries/Welters stalking them and waiting for them to slip up. This makes more sense in the context of my explanation for the scene when Anon Flurry and Welter are exposed by new versions of themselves.). The last meaning of a deuce is in the use of “deuce” as a euphemism for the word “devil” (i.e. the expression “what the deuce are we supposed to do”). It’s a bit dated, but it could be a reference to the inherent evil of media, Anon Flurry and Welter focusing on the drama of their counterparts’ deaths instead of on the deaths themselves.

The meaning of “until our outer shells fall off” is made clearer later on in the video, when they’re exposed by new versions of themselves. I’ll be explaining this part more thoroughly when we get there.

Now, onto some of the more surreal scenes in the video.

然も さもしいこの魂 生を受けたは良いが

Moreover for this self-seeking soul, it's good it received life, but,

粗探し、穴探し 飽くなき人の性

Fault-finding, flaw-finding, tireless human nature,

爪 灯した火で養生せんとな

Recover by the fire lit by claws.

Personally, I think that the fruit-people are symbols of the people that Anon Flurry and Welter have exploited for the sake of the media. The lemon is put under spotlight, dancing, and putting on a show for the camera; the apple is under spotlight as well, tied to a chair, before an arrow pierces it (once again, putting on a show -- except in this case, it’s metaphorically killed for the sake of it); and the banana is being peeled, with Anon Welter taking spoonfuls of it (how people are “eaten alive” by the media).

The lyrics are pretty straightforward in this part. Anon Flurry and Welter are glad they’re alive to experience the drama of life, but, as “human nature” demands, they’re constantly searching for faults and flaws in others in order to try to fulfill themselves (“recover by”); however, the fire was “lit by claws”, meaning that the gossip they’re trying to fulfill themselves with was never started with good intentions in the first place.

This part of the song is pretty straightforward, as well. The town switching to night shows how there’s a “dark underbelly” to the bright side of themselves that Anon Flurry and Welter try to portray; Anon Flurry’s heart “freezing over” shows how she’s given up on her emotion and empathy in her need for drama and attention; Anon Welter casually sipping on a drink while all of this is going on around him shows how one can numb themselves to the pain they’re causing in others.

雨晒し憂さ晴らし 屁理屈の速贄

Weather-worn and distracted from worries, an early sacrifice of sophistry.

The second part of this specific lyric is interesting enough to point out, though. “Sophistry” refers to a fallacious argument, typically made for the purpose of deceiving others. A “sacrifice of sophistry,” I’d assume, refers to Anon Flurry and Welter offering up fallacious stories and arguments to the people around them just for the sake of drama.

The following chorus doesn’t offer much, just more sick animation of Anon Flurry and Welter dancing and another fruit-person performing for the camera. The lyrics after that, though...

不安に駆られて ふらふらとさ

Succumbing to unease, staggering,

行き着いたが最後 後に引けない

The place arrived at is the last, with no turning back,

ゆりかごから墓場まで亡者

A dead person from bird cage to grave.

This part clarifies the part in the first chorus that refers to Anon Flurry and Welter’s “outer shells.” In these images, you can see how under the masks that the Anons put on, there’s the hint of humanity -- and the lyrics only reinforce this, claiming that they’re “succumbing to unease… a dead person from bird cage to grave.” Anon Flurry and Welter put on a brave mask, being uninvolved with the incident and merely spreading lies about it, but have had to kill off their true selves (the “humanity” inside them) ever since they were bound by the bird cage of societal pressure for attention and success. The implication here is that they’ll never escape until they die -- presumably, in a car accident of their own.

This next image is pretty interesting -- it’s a moment of (relative) silence in the song. Having been preceded by these lyrics that show Anon Flurry and Welter finally feeling uneasy about their decisions, I like to see this as the Anons being trapped by the web of lies and blame and drama that they’ve woven around themselves. I looked it up, and the word “kansou” is translated as “feelings” or, more specifically, somebody asking you “what you think” about something. The Anons have to put on this “holier-than-thou” guise, now, when they’re being asked their opinions on something -- now that they’ve gained the social standing that they so desired, they have to be careful not to lose it.

Unfortunately, their hopes are about to be crushed in the next part of the song (my personal favorite part of the video).

This part of the video is when everything seems to click together. The Anons are watching the car crash again, presumably laughing at it or at the drama that they’ve sparked… until they’re suddenly exposed to the light that they’ve been hiding away from for so long. The minute they’re confronted by another Anon Flurry and Welter, their “outer shells” melt away, as seen in the half-human, half-Anon Flurry in the last image. This sequence, very quickly, reveals the true message behind the song: Anon Flurry and Welter and their human counterparts aren’t just single-instance characters, they’re a representation of the constant cycle of drama, exposure, drama, exposure, that permeates mass media today.

Anon Flurry and Welter could afford to be so bold, constantly looking for trouble and blaming others for the deaths of Flurry and Welter, because they were hiding behind their anonymous masks of a YouTube screen and their “holy” attitudes. Once they’re exposed -- notably, by another set of Anons, who presumably are looking for the same trouble that the originals were -- they immediately lose that “anonymous” mask and are now the subject of the same scrutiny and bullying that they subjected Flurry and Welter to.

俺は人間なんかに成らずに済んだのにな

It'd be fine even if I never become human.

Being “human” -- or, rather, not having the mask of anonymity to hide behind -- is seen as a loss. They don’t want to be Flurry and Welter, the victims of a car crash, they want to be the Anons, who can afford to bully people until their personal victims become victims of a car crash.

さあ往生しよう

Now, let's move on from life,

この終わった世界で Deuceが尽きるまで

In this finished world, until Deuce runs out.

The car crash isn’t a car crash at all -- it’s drama that leaves people socially (or physically) dead, their hardships suddenly making them the center of a sob story instead of the people exploiting it for attention in the first place. Original Anon Flurry and Welter are killed, once again, in an attempt to escape the watching eyes of new Anon Flurry and Welter; a bystander who inadvertently caused their death is blamed for it, until they’re killed as well; the new Anons take their newfound notoriety and make it big before they’re exposed for their own role in the suffering.

Once again, gotta emphasize -- Flurry and Welter are just representations for entire groups of people who go through this constant cycle. As Niru Kajitsu said in the comments:

They’re just symbols. The world is made out of victims (Flurry and Welter) and the people who exploit them (Anon Flurry and Welter). Eventually, once the anonymous “outer shell” is peeled away, they’re nothing more than victims themselves. It’s a criticism about the culture of mass media and public opinion today.

(Also, a fun little note: Flurry and Welter’s names both essentially symbolize the chaos of this system! Taking the most applicable dictionary definitions of each, a flurry is a “short period of commotion and excitement,” and a welter is a “state of general disorder.” Most of the meanings of those two words apply, though -- special shoutout to another definition of the verb form of welter meaning “to lie steeped in blood with no help or care,” which I think you can infer the significance of.)

(Another fun note: the synth from the beginning of the song is repeated again at the very end of the song, but, even if you’re just a casual listener, you can tell how different the tone is.)

Anyway, thanks for reading! This was pretty fun to write -- I haven’t dissected a music video like this before, so I hope it all makes sense. I’d love to discuss it with you, if you’ve got any questions!

#other stuff #niru kajitsu #traffic jam #v flower #vocaloid #flower #this song is SO good please listen to it nd watch the mv #we do stan niru kajitsu vocaloid producer master

[thegodskeeper]

Roll Initiative and Draw Your Cards

This post began life as a Patreon exclusive post! To see posts like this at least thirty days before the rest of the world, please consider supporting me on Patreon! 🎲🏹🤺💔🧩

Roll initiative! As some of you may know, when I’m not looking at my runes and figuring out my life, I like to play a couple of roleplay games. I have a weekly Pathfinder game, and in fact one of my main characters is also a diviner. And a storyteller. Perhaps they’re looking over my shoulder while I make this post… They say to write what you know, so I guess that applies to roleplaying too; which is where this little idea sprung up from! Ever have trouble thinking up what character you want to play for a new campaign? Then perhaps this six-card “spread” can help you learn a little more about your deck and build a character at the same time. Let the cards be your GM!

Since this is an entirely new idea (to me) I actually took this concept to a couple of people on the Diviner’s Anonymous server and asked them to help me test run it and give me their thoughts! Big thanks to beamagical​, centerpointwitch​ and the-odd-aardvadillo​, especially for unraveling some of the kinks in the first draft. In this tutorial, we will be creating three characters - one for each of my beta-diviners - and explaining how they built the characters that they did.

Fun bonus fact: some aspects of how you signify “you” in this method are a little sneak-peek at the Wandering Oracle system that I am hoping to debut on mu Patreon.

What you need:

A tarot deck - physical is best. If you happen to have to use an online deck or an app, then you’re going to need a piece of paper or some other way to keep track of all cards already drawn.

A character concept (optional) - we don’t want the key details, that’s what this system is for, but if you happen to have a real inkling to play a Chaotic Evil half-elf called Daisy Dukes, roll with it!

A roleplay system - I had Pathfinder in mind when writing this up, but it should be adaptable to Dungeons and Dragons, Dark Heresy, Changelings… it’s designed to be open-ended. If you’re going entirely from scratch, I would heavily recommend looking up the d20PFSRD.

Start by shuffling your deck and drawing cards until you find a face card (ie. any of the suit cards beginning with Page, Knight, Queen or King). That is your character’s class.

Analyze the key traits of the card, and decide what role would suit someone with that sort of personality, or those kinds of personal skills.

Keep drawing cards until you find a Major Arcana card (ie. the ones without suits, such as Temperance and The Lovers). This is what motivates your character in their chosen class.

Note: Whether or not you choose to use reversals in your character is entirely up to you. Some may have an obvious meaning, while others may seem irrelevant. Trust your gut, or honestly, go with whichever sounds more exciting for you to play!

Example 1: Cas drew ‘The Page of Cups’ and ‘The Heirophant’, and settled on “an idealistic Bard who aims to learn every heroic epic they can”.

Example 2: Bea drew ‘The King of Wands’ and ‘The Magician’, and decided that their “character is  a Paladin, and their motivation is personal power”.

Example 3: Alene (also) drew ‘The Daughter/Page of Cups’ and ‘The Emperor’, and thought of “a Rogue from a noble house who ran away from home to be in control of their own life”.

Next, draw another three cards; any cards. These are the cards that tell you about different parts of your character’s backstory. At this point, hold on to any jumpers - they may be extra information you might not otherwise have thought about, perhaps a plot hook to save until a special moment in the game.

Family and Childhood

Career and Evolution

Beliefs and Influences

You can analyze these cards the same way you did your class, as well as considering what they might mean in the context of what we learned in the first two cards. What are the key traits of the card? What might this mean for your character, knowing your class and goals? Think of it like a three-card tarot spread, and build your backstory based on how each card relates to the next.

Example 1: Cas drew ‘The Knight of Swords’, ‘Temperance’ and ‘The Two of Pentacles’. In their words, “basically [my bard] studied anything they could as a youth, and their studies of heroic songs showed them how few and far between heroes really are. So they became a paladin, a knight of goodness to help any they can.”

Example 2: Bea drew ‘The Eight of Pentacles’, ‘The Hermit’ and ‘The Five of Wands’. In their words, “my character came from a family of craftspeople. They made shoes, but my character really didn't like the social aspect of being a salesperson, so they wandered off. While they were out wandering, they realized that the world is not a safe place and that they needed to learn to protect themselves, so they learned how to fight and became a warrior.”

Example 3: Alene drew ‘The Father/King of Wands’, ‘The Two of Wands’ and ‘The Three of Wands’. In their words, “my rogue decided on their path after leaving their Noble background and their father behind. They were joined by two loyal companions and are boldly going in their new direction but probably still have some internal conflict to resolve due to their upbringing and relationship with their father.”

Finally, draw cards from your remaining deck until you find a Minor Arcana card (anything with Wands, Cups, Pentacles or Swords in the name). This final card helps determine your character’s reasons for joining up with an adventuring party.

Yet again, it’s time to analyze your card. What key traits do you have? Did your character have ties to members of the party beforehand, or are they a true newcomer? Are they simply traveling with people for security? Did they even want to be in a group? Do they have a score to settle?

If your GM has given you a little bit of story to work with already, then you can align your results from this step with the overall plot, as well. Who says the GM needs to know everything...

Example 1: Cas drew ‘The Six of Pentacles’, and is thinking their character met the party ‘on order of their god… to join a group’.

Example 2: Bea drew ‘The Nine of Swords’, and tragically their “character was about to jump off a bridge, and someone saved them”.

Example 3: Alene drew ‘The Son/Knight of Wands’, so their character ‘charmed their way in’.

Bonus Rounds!

Still want to add some spice to your mix? Keep on piling on those cards:

Does your character have a secret? Draw a Major Arcana card from the remaining cards, but keep it hidden from the rest of your party. Analyze the key traits of this card, and how they relate to the “main spread”. Perhaps you have a secret alignment (oooh) or you used to work for the bad guy (aaah).

Is there an important NPC(s) in your character’s life? Draw face cards from the remaining cards - as many as you want there to be characters - to learn a little about their personalities and roles. If you can’t find any left, then maybe your character has no ties (oh no!).

Not settled on an alignment, yet? Draw another card, any card, and see what it says. All together now… “time to analyze the key traits”.

So, what building blocks do you have to create your character? Has this method been helpful, or has it left you even more confused than before? If you don’t think you have enough to work on to build a detailed personality or backstory, why not do a reading for your new character! A good ol’ Past / Present / Future reading may give you some more hints.

If you think you have enough to work with without that, then now it’s time to go hogwild! Name your character, figure out their age, figure out their race (if you haven’t done all this already). And then take that character out into the wide world over yonder and throw some monsters at them. Happy adventuring.

#tarot #roleplay #lee talks

[marlutterianae]

Dragon’s Dogma Monster Appreciation. IT’S DAIMON.

Well, let’s get this out of my system already... Here’s everything cool and great about Daimon’s design and why I love it so much. 

Demons are my favorite creature in media. They are so versatile and adaptable to any setting. You can have medieval demons manifested in reality through spiritual magic, like in most Fantasy stories, and you can even apply them into Science Fiction with some pseudo science/magic, like Warhammer’s Warp Chaos Daemons. The point is, demons can take any form, any origin, and any nature they are literally a ‘free real state’ concept to work in fiction. I love writing about demons. I love drawing them. And I love seeing their varios forms and interpretations in media. And now, we have this amazing display of demonic power in the form of Daimon, the final antagonist of Dragon’s Dogma expanded world, the big bad of Bitterblack Island and a true force to be reckon with. 

His Lore (SPOILER WARNING). 

Avoid part of this section if you want to discover the truth behind Daimon’s origin by yourself. Take it as a recommendation to play the game. It’s worth it! If you don’t mind hearing about it and still want to play the game (I don’t blame you) then hear me out. 

As I mentioned in my Evil Eye post, Dragon’s Dogma manages to link the origin of some of their monsters to the theme of Dragons. Daimon is no exception. 

Daimon used to be a human. Not just any human, but an Arisen like the player, named Ashe. He fell in love with the Arisen that saved his life long ago, but after that Arisen, named Grette, was killed in her attempt to kill the Dragon, Ashe was chosen to be the next Arisen, destined to slay the beast. 

Once he stood before the Dragon, he gave him a choice (a similar choice the player must take when facing Grigori, the Dragon of their time). 

The choice was fight him, or sacrifice his most important thing in exchange of a wish. At this moment, he fell in love with Grett’s Pawn named Olra, who inherit her master’s heart after dead and learn to love, soon becoming the lover of Ashe. He refused to choose, and damned the cycle, the world and it’s creator. The Dragon interpreted his words as a wish and granted it in exchange for the life of Olra, turning him into the hideous demon named Daimon. 

As for Bitterblack Island? His new domains? It turns out the massive dungeon island is actually an illusion, drawn from Daimon’s memories. There are several hints throughout the exploration of the place that reveal this detail. 

That’s all I could understand not only from the game, but from investigating further online. Now, getting all of that lore out of the way, let’s get into the meaty design... 

About Medieval Demons. 

Daimon is a fantastic representation of a medieval demon given new flesh in a modern work. If you take a look at Daimon’s design, you’ll see incredible similarities with medieval depictions of demons in old books, art and illustrations. 

Medieval demons always had that surreal and grotesque “Chimeric” look and feeling to them. Freakish abominations mixing several animal parts, and lots of faces and heads where heads and faces absolutely shouldn’t be. You can see that represented in Daimon’s body, complete with avian talons in both hands and feet, furry legs, bat wings, a human face and a grotesque monstrous face in his chest. Which isn’t just a monstrous face, it’s the Dragon’s face! Again, Dragon’s Dogma links their designs to the theme of dragon’s once again with this, but I’ll get into more detail about the dragon chest face when I talk about the fight in game. 

The Fight. 

Daimon is an extremely tough opponent. This is a two phased fight. In the first one, the Arisen and their party arrived at some ominous hall, where Daimon awaits patiently, sitting in the back, obscured. He rises, flies and lands closer to the adventurers, standing up in his full hight, towering over the Arisen. Then, the fight commences. 

Daimon is a formidable foe who has control over magick, and he will cast numerous powerful spells as a means to attack. Both projectile spells of all elements and others of closer distance. He will charge at you, taking flight and ram you, doing massive damage, and he can still deliver devastating punches and swings with his claws and even agile kicks. He is also capable of grabbing the Arisen, crushing them with his massive grip, and incinerate them, all in one move. He is a master of brute force and magick. 

This is a fight of genuine epic proportions. The columns around the hall will collapse after Daimon breaks them apart with an attack. Depending on your class, you can climb on top of him and go for specific body parts, struggling for dear life as he flies around fiercely. 

All the while, during this phase, a beautiful song plays in the background called Coils of Light, that sounds like a lullaby. 

Depending on the Arisen’s skills, Pawns and level, this fight can last from 10 minutes to 30. But I’m just using estimates, since I’m aware there are people who will go face him underleveled, and those who will unload all of their overpowered skills against him, ending the fight faster than expected. It’s all to the player. 

But this is just part of his first form. And depending on the players choices, the fight might end after beating him like this, or else... 

Daimon will back off away from the Arisen, coughing blood, trembling. And eerie glow will start to shine within his chest, a light that resonates with the Arisen’s chest scar. Then, the flat grotesque face will sprout from his chest in a mighty roar, as a head. This head resembles the Dragon’s own head, even to the sinister glowing eyes. Daimon will lose control over his body, floating like a lifeless puppet with loose limbs, with the head presumably assuming direct control. 

During this phase, Daimon will float around, and continue to attack using powerful magick. The music changes to something more intense. And the most spectacular display of his power is that when he attacks swinging his arms, two enormous spectral dragon arms will manifest around him and inflict devastating damage to anything it gets in his way. Almost as if he were summoning the power of his full dragon form. 

Conclusion. 

After doing some research about the boss to refresh my memory, I stumble upon some opinions of other players about how Daimon is such a bullshit boss, the worst boss even, and that this fight is more of a matter of luck than anything. I just want to clarify that I make this appreciation posts more to praise the design of the creature, it’s aesthetic, the feel and atmosphere of the fights against them and their lore. I don’t want to say Daimon is an amazing boss, gameplay wise. This is just me talking about how much I like it conceptually, and personally. What it makes me feel. 

Daimon is definitely one of my favorite designed demons in media (though it matters little since it’s a very large list already) and the noticeable links to medieval demons actually impressed me a lot, since those are demons that you don’t see very often. Demons tend to be fucked up and brutal dinosaur looking monsters, abstract spectral beings, horned humanoids, or eldritch abominations. Among many other designs that, don’t get me wrong, are all good in their own right. 

But it’s cool and refreshing seeing modern media depict the surreal and almost silly and absurd looking fiends from ye old times, where demons where these lanky grotesque goblin men with animal parts, faces on their asses, exposed genitals and creepy smiles. I hope we can see more medieval inspired demons in future works. Who knows in what context. Will we fight and slay them? Will they haunt us from the dark? Or would we drink a beer with them? The possibilities are endless... 

Also, I see that Devil May Cry 5 already knows what I’m talking about... 

God, gotta love that demonic Belly Maw™

#dragon's dogma #monsters #demons #medieval demons #videogames #creature design #monster design #monster appreciation

[k-aleidoskop]

How I feel about the ending of Game of Thrones*  (or Anna rambling)

Game of Thrones fans went through a lot in the last six weeks. The last season seemed to have divided the fandom into those who did not like the season at all, and those who barely dare to say that they are actually happy with how things turned out. Personally, I felt like being a bad fan or being enough into it for actually seeing the good things, and that even though I am (compared to most of my friends and relatives) and expert on the subject.
It is interesting to see how much things have changed over the years. People seem to look for something to criticize in almost everything I see. Don’t get me wrong. I know and I saw that some of the character developments and plotlines do not make sense at all. But not every weapon handed out to someone, and not everything someone learned over seven (!) seasons may be of use in the finale. That was never the case, not with Harry Potter or any other fandom. Signing a petition to re-do the final season is, in my eyes, just rude. Not only towards the writers but towards everyone who worked for so long to finish this.

The thing with Daenerys

The thing with Daenerys is, that I kind of saw her turning into the mad queen coming. From season one to four I was a huge fan of Daenerys. This ended with her claiming her “rightful” throne too often for me to not be annoyed by her behaviour. As it turned out in season seven and eight it was not all about a Targaryen rule. No, it was about Dany ruling the Seven Kingdoms. Otherwise, Jon ‘s heritage would not have been a problem. Except for the fact that Jon never wanted the throne, anyway. But expecting of him to deny his heritage and lie to his brother and sisters (our cousins) whom he had known for much longer than Dany is just unacceptable. Over and over again, Dany tried to turn Jon against his family, expecting things Jon cannot promise even though he loved her. In season seven my dislike for Dany grew even stronger. I mean, what else did she do except reciting her names and her claim? Not too much. I do understand why for some, her behaviour was kind of abrupt, but there were hints that she might be a little bit mad. I do agree, though, that it would have been easier to understand if we had more time on the one hand, and seen what triggered her to burn down Kingslanding on the other hand. In my opinion, having lost Jorah and Missandei besides having lost her claim to the throne is enough. She shows signs of depression, like mistrusting everyone. This can be seen in the episode after the battle when she feels like everyone is celebrating Jon as their hero. If she knew Jon better, or they had talked about it (Communication is key!), she would have known that he has no interest in the throne.
It is sad, that Game of Thrones ended with Dany as a tyrant, but it also shows how much she has been through. I do not see her as an evil person, but as someone who has been through a lot. Who has fought for the innocent and freed slaves, as someone who has lost everything. In my eyes it is comprehensible that she got mad, most of us probably would have if we had to go through, what she has been through.

High in the halls of the kings who are gone
J enny would dance with her ghosts
 The ones she had lost and the ones she had found
 And the ones who had loved her the most

Those lines to Jenny’s Song can be applied to Dany as well. Daenerys standing alone in the Red Keep, the halls of the kings and the queen who are gone. And it is Dany who dances with her ghosts, with all the ones she had lost: Most recently Missandei, Jorah, Rhaegal, and Viserion, but also Drogo and her unborn child. No one can deny that Dany did not do everything she could for her goal. Here is to queen Daenerys.

The thing with the Iron Throne

To be honest, I am not happy with Bran sitting on the Iron Throne and ruling over the (now) Six Kingdoms. When I watched the last episode, I was angry and disappointed. Why Bran? Then it came to me. On one side: Who else could have done it? Tyrion, Arya, and Jon clearly do not want to rule. Same for Brienne and Davos if they would have ever been considered. Sansa going back to the North, where she actually belongs just makes sense to me. She fought so hard for the Northerners, I love the idea of her ruling there. ( Even though I would have loved seeing her on the Iron Throne). Tyrion says it is all about the story, we all love hearing stories and Bran is (for sure) a good storyteller. In the end, this is a great metaphor for the whole series. We are here, we were part of this because we wanted to hear a great story. A story that surprises us, which made us cry and laugh and root for characters. Characters who are not just black and white, but all the many shades in between. A story in which characters develop, but in the end stay true to themselves.Jaime, for example. Did I yell at my laptop because he left Brienne? Yes. Does it still make sense? Yes. Jaime and Cersei have always been part of each other. For their arc, it makes sense that they die together. Furthermore, it was (in my eyes) not a ‘romantic’ reunion. They embraced, yes. But they did not kiss, neither did I feel a tension between them. Jaime still developed, otherwise he would not have fought in the Battle of Winterfell. In the end, he still stayed true to himself and admitted that he kind of belonged to Cersei. All the characters who are still alive are SO broken. Not only mentally, as it is the case for Arya and Jon (amongst others), but in Bran’s case also physically. In the end, the finale focuses on one aspect the most: hope. The Wildlings return back home, Jon is back in the North where he always belonged. People who were deeply broken by the events of the last eight seasons are trying to heal. Nevertheless, there are people we lost along the way. People who could not handle the pressure (if so to say) and people who were too broken to be fixed. Hope is what the finale ended with, and this is not what we really need these days I do not know.

*this one goes out to those who wished for a more brutal ending, or a less happy ending.

#game of thrones #got #finale #thoughts #happy #are you happy? #character development #sansa #jon snow #arya #fandom

[stardust-and-blades]

*looks at s7 and s8′s writing of allurance and throws it away”

Okay yall here are ways I, a klancer, would have made Allurance so much more sweeter:

--Season 1 allura @ Lance: Your ears are hideous!” --by the end of season 1: “You know, your ears aren’t so bad. They are actually kind of cute.” --Switch Shiro out with Lance. Yes I loved the mission they went on with each other but consider this hot take: Lance immediately swooning when Allura beats the shit out of a sentry and steals his gun hEART EYES MOTHERFUCKER --*yeets lance into escape pod* Lance: Allura no! It should be me, not you! *cue aNGST* --Lance and Coran viciously tracking down where Allura could be and Lance and Pidge sneaking in without a hint of comic relief bc this is a dire situation and he is worriedTM --Pidge: “She’s going to be okay, Lance. Something tells me they wont dispose of her right away. We have time.” Lance: *cocking gun* Then we better get moving --Pidge and hunk actually gossiping about the possible relationship between Allura and Lance rather than uhhhhh being mean --When Allura first gets captured Keith pulls him aside to check up on him because he is a worried friend and knows what it’s like to have someone--a friend--be in danger --”What do you care, mullet?”  “Listen, I know you’re hurting. We all care for Allura and I was in the same state when Shiro was captured” (he is speaking from a platonic lens but regardless of platonic or romantic it applies in terms of emotions) --Bc I’m a feminist I like the idea of Allura breaking herself out and meeting up with Pidge and Lance. and they end up meeting a whole slew of Galra trying to stop them from escaping Allura is thrown Lance’s weapon as a strategy and it tURNS INTO A SPEAR --DUAL WIELDING COUPLE? YES. THEY SWITCH THE WEAPON AROUND WHILE ALSO INITIATING COMBAT AGAIN COMBAT COUPLE ACTIVATED --#PidgeAndKeithShooketh --Hunk and Shiro: :3 --Coran: -_- --Coran: “That’s weird the bayards are only supposed to be used through one chosen person not two” --Allura: ??? Lance: *clueless as fuq* --When Lance gives Allura his bayard since she is the next blue paladin he cracks a joke and she laughs. Is happy to give blue to her bc he trusts her --Lance gets himself in a pickle during a fight scene and Allura comes in with her lion like pew pew bish don’t fUCK WITH HIM --When Allura had to sacrifice her father’s memories for the good of the castle, Lance lent out a hug bc he too, may experience loss since he is away from his family and not sure if they are alive. And they in turn are not sure he is alive. --When Allura is being harsh to Keith about his Galran heritage, he pulls her over and explains to her the past of Earth similar to her background, but that hating doesn’t solve anything. what is important is to love others for who they are, not their ethnic background. He even brings up the evil Alteans, that no one is all pure and no one is all evil.  --When one of the evil altean sentry’s almost shot lance (but sven jumped in), Allura hears and checks up on him, going all healer mode. Same with sven (altean magic biiiiissshhhh where wAS IT THE REST OF THE SEASONS IM DISTRAUGHT) --Lance doesn’t really flirt with the mermaids in season 2 and when plaxum goes to kiss him on the mouth he gets distracted and she gets his cheek --Lance: O_O surprised but also going “why do am I not a fan of that??? I should be? @ God explain” --When Lance unlocks his sword bayard she teaches him all sorts of sword techniques since Keith is gone and when Keith does return, the two of them teach him. Allura demonstrates with Keith so Lance can analyze and Keith most of the time doesn’t react to Allura “attacking” and touching him bc again, ACE AS FUQ. --Lance: Man I wish that were me Allura: *literally flings Keith across the room with one well planned kick to the solar plexus* Lance: Man I wish that were me --Lance at Keith: I need relationship advice Keith mcfucking knife kogane: what’s a relationship Lance: God I need to set you up on dates. What about that acxa chick Keith: nah I’m good *goes back to book* --Lance at hunk: i need relationship advice Hunk: say no more *whips out countless of poetry and song lists for lance to use to wooTM Allura* --When lotor comes in fuck jealousy. Fuck it I hate the jealousy trait so Lance is sitting there, seeing them interact, and is confused as to why it slightly hurts but he is willing to let go --When you love someone so much you see them happy with someone else, you let them go bc you care about their happiness more than forcing a happy ending for yourself (cue more langst rip SHE LIKES YOU YOU SILLY BOY) --While I am a lotura shipper since this is strictly Allurance rewrite, Lotor is ace as fuq and sees Allura as a friend and she in turn thinks the same thing --As they are looking into alchemy and shit they stumble upon Honerva’s entry on Zarkon and her growing affection of him and Allura is like “Love is both beautiful and chaotic Lotor: Maybe, but it is what warms the heart and sparks endless passion Allura: Do you love anyone? Lotor: I love my generals. Not romantically, but they are my family. Allura: What is romantic love like? Lotor: That, my dear, is something you must find out on your own. Alchemy can only take you so far. Allura: *crISIS* -When Allura saved Lance from death’s grasp she is checking on him like, every hour  “Allura I’m okay” Allura: you dIED Lance: But your sweet talking brought me back to life *cue goofy grin* Allura: I don’t know if I should smack you or kiss you Lance: What Allura: whAT --Fuck the fight with Lotor bc they are now best friends and allura goes to him for advice and gossip and be like “what is this feeling so sudden and new” --Lotor: :3 --Lance one night is walking around the castle with his face mask on and runs into Allura and she sCREECHES “WHAT IS THAT” “IT’S A FACE MASK” “WHY IS IT EATING YOUR FACE OH MY GOD LANCE TAKE IT OFF” *Cue Lance informing her of what a face mask is and, when he removes it, she can’t stop stroking his cheeks and he’s livingTM) -They have a night of talking about their families and Lance putting a face mask on her to help her skin and braids her hair. It soothes her from all the stress she has been dealing, especially as a diplomat and paladin of voltron. --Hunk even made them altean brownies in the shape of hearts awwww --They fall asleep next to each other and the mice inbetween them --They were spooning until fucking pidge barges into Allura’s room and stARTS PLAYING THE HORN TO WAKE THEM UP PIDGE WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS --They scream, I scream, we all scream bc pidge is a shit --They don’t kiss in season 8 no no no they actually kiss in like, season 5 or 6 as the finale and it’s under the stars in the castle and all pretty and despite my bitterness over the red and blue and pink stars being completely thrown out the window, the blue and pink stars glow -three words: Space Mall Date --He gets her something sparkly at said mall or on earth and she marvels over it.  --On earth he gets her a rose quartz necklace and she loves it and never takes it off. She tucks it under her armor and when Coran advises it would be best to take it off she refuses  --When they crash land on earth after honerva’s fucking weird ass altean mech attacked for like, two episodes, Lance is sleeping by Allura’s side bc he woke up first and when she wakes up she pats his head. --She frames his drawing what do you mean it isn’t nice it is pure ART --Lance makes her another tiara as a replica of the one she sacrificed for Shiro. He gets Shiro’s help in finding the perfect stone to resemble the one she gave Shiro --It sparkles. Cue brownie points --They get in like, one argument and its about who the space mice are traveling with when they were in the voidTM --Lance doesn’t know how to dance but Shiro and hunk teach him so he can woo the socks off Allura --There is a ball episode. She enters in a beautiful dress and Lance is pure mush holy shit thats mY GIRLFRIEND --She even hAS THE NECKLACE HE GAVE HER RATHER THAN THE DIAMOND ONES ROMELLE FOUND OOF --Allura? Dying?? No the lions are sacrificed or there is no sacrifice at all bc Honerva alone should have been the one to have died only, not Allura. Dying is Dumb. --The alteans see through Honerva’s lies and actually overthrow her and Allura takes over the Altean colony because she deserves to be with her people and get to know them and yes that is her human boyfriend what about it. --They have a pretty wedding and she has juniberries as her bouquet. Shiro catches it. Adam isn’t dead bc like I said DYING IS DUMB. --They rule new altea together and explore the universe and help other planets learn to be independent and no longer used to Galra control. They help find proper galra diplomats (like the blades and kolivan and krolia and Keith) --They still have to fight the living supporters of Sendak bc the fires of purification yea what happened to them did they die --Peace is a long road for them but they achieve their dreams, love each other, and have fantastic friends  --side note lotor still not dead bc again he is a diplomat for both alteans and galrans and is as valuable as Allura is with diplomacy

EVERYONE LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER WHADDUP THATS MY TAKE HOPE YOU LIKED IT AND UUUUUUHHH YEAH FUCK CANON BYYYYYYYYE

#shania writes #allurance #allura #lance mcclain #VLD #voltron #yeah it isn't in depth but listen still better than all of season 7 and 8 suck my dick producers

[lostbutterflyutau]

Character Colour Palette: Carla Delgado

Note: This was sparked by the discussion of character designs and colour meanings on Episode Four of The Magic Within Podcast. Their discussion got me thinking, obviously, about my girl and what her colour palette might mean. So,I’d like to say Thank You to the Podcast Princesses for their cool segment!

 First Outfit

Carla’s first outfit is a mix of different colours, with the main colour being yellow. The colour Yellow is said to have conflicting associations. While it generally represents sunshine, hope and happiness…none of which really apply to Carla at this particular point in her story, it can also represent energy, which she certainly has a lot of. Carla is fierce, feisty and is the only one on Team Shuriki who’s having none of Shuriki’s crap. She grows increasingly annoyed with her father’s loyalty to the sorceress, openly talks back to her and is just an overall pain in the ass. (And I love it!) She’s young and passionate and just has a lot of energy that would be a great asset if channeled properly. But, I digress. The colour can also represent honour and loyalty, which seem like strange traits to describe Carla, but hear me out. Carla is fiercely loyal to her father. Or, rather, they’re loyal to each other. Despite all her doubts, she goes along with his plans and they never leave the other behind. On the other hand, yellow can also represent cowardice and deceit, which needs little explanation. Carla was raised as a thief. She was born into a life of criminality and always on the run. She’s a master manipulator and a flirt who knows how to get what she wants through deceitful means. The whole Spy in the Palace trilogy shows this well.

 Additionally, a dull yellow, like what Carla wears can also represent caution and jealousy. Jealousy in particular is something she’s shown to be privy to. Once the dynamic shifts and it’s no longer just her and her father, she gets aggravated. For as long as she can remember, it’s always been two, her and Victor, and then Shuriki and Fiero join the fray and she’s shoved aside. Yeah, that doesn’t work for Carla. She doesn’t like being shoved off and certainly doesn’t like being number two to Fiero’s number one.

 Carla’s second major colour is black. Black is associated with fear, mystery, strength, authority, evil, aggression, and rebellion. Now that’s a lot to break down. But, some of the traits go hand in hand. Obviously, Carla’s (current) alignment is evil, and with it she wants to strike fear into others, gain respect and hold authority and power. At least, that appears to be the path they are going down. She’s always been told that ambition and power will get her what she wants, so she strives for these things, which leads us to rebellion. Her alignment in itself is a rebellion, along with the way she was raised. She’s going against the rules and norms of society, making her way by thieving, scheming and conning alongside her father. Additionally, Black often represents the emotions and actions of rebellion in teenagers, which Carla is. As previously stated, she openly rebels against Shuriki and has no problems talking back. Carla is very strong and opinionated and hates being shoved around.

 Black is a mysterious colour, typically associated with the unknown and negative. Now, this is interesting to me, because, beyond the obvious negativity and aggression, I believe there is some mystery to be talked about. This may be my bias talking, but Carla is one of those characters that I believe has more to say what’s on the surface. We don’t know a whole lot about her, her life experience and more importantly, her mother, which I believe is a big part of the puzzle that is Carla Delgado. There’s this whole cloud of mystery surrounding her that we have yet to unravel.

To finish it off, we have small splashes of orange, red and green. One meaning for Orange is creativity. As shown in A Spy in the Palace trilogy, Carla is actually very creative. Not only in her scheming, but also when it comes to projects and crafts, though she seems to dislike the latter. She designed a whole new banner for the Jaquin festival and was said to be helping with decorations for other events throughout her time in the palace. It is also said to be vibrant and flamboyant, which fits in the sense that Carla can be a bit…extra. She definitely has a touch of drama queen in her.

The subtle hints of Red are representative of several things. On the positive end, we have Carla’s leadership, determination, willpower, and confidence. Carla harbours traits that I believe, if channeled correctly, would make her a great leader. When she knows what she wants, she’s determined and hardworking and will do whatever she can to get it, such as in The Jewel of Maru, when she refused to give in until she got the jewel that she was told would get her power. She kept going even when her father wanted to just give up.

On the negative end, we have rage, malice and wrath. Carla has one heck of a temper and is likely the type of person to hold grudges. The way she glares at Shuriki is enough to tell you this. Being a villain, malice and wrath are part of the deal. Her actions against Naomi during the preparations for the Jaquin festival show this well as she purposely and maliciously breaks everything apart simply to make Naomi look bad and ultimately get what she wants with no regard for anyone’s feelings.

 Lastly is Green. Green is said to represent a lack of experience and need growth, which seems like a weird thing to point out, but, being young, I believe Carla has a lot of room for growth. We see this in Realm of the Jaquins where, not knowing anything of her father’s plans, Carla spends time berating him with questions, not being able to see how each piece of the plan is meant to connect to the others. Even asking if it was wise for them to return to Avalor after what happened last time. Her inexperience is shown in the way she sometimes jumps into things without thinking. But, green can also be associated with greed and jealousy, two of Carla’s prominent negative traits.

 Second (Malvago) Outfit

Carla’s Malvago robe is different shades of purple. The color purple is often associated with nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, dignity, devotion, pride, mystery, independence, and magic. Some of which, namely mystery and creativity, I have already covered.

 The two that stick out the most here are magic and power. Carla started wearing this colour after she was granted dark magic by Fiero, which she is shown to be quiet adept at after a few early mistakes. These powers seem to give her a boost of confidence and only fuel her ambitions. Magic gives her a new skill set to use in her and Victor’s climb to power. Speaking of her father, as mentioned previously, she’s loyal to him. It’s subtle, but they do honestly love and care for one another. And she’s devoted not only to him, but their overall goal, doing whatever she can to be included in the overall plan, even outright telling Shuriki that she has a “clear shot” to bring down Elena in Song of the Sirenas.  

 As far as nobility and luxury are concerned, that’s less what she is, and more what she’s striving towards. She wants to truly be someone, and not just someone, but royalty. After all, in Don’t Look Now, she says she’s “coming for the throne.”

 Dignity and pride go hand in hand for Carla. She’s a very prideful person, and doesn’t appear to fluster easily. In fact, she tends to get defensive rather than deal with embarrassment. Even when in the wrong, she holds onto her pride. In Race for the Realm when Victor brushes her off, says to “leave the spell casting” to him, she doesn’t listen, instead casts the spell in part to spite him and prove she can do it and make up for her first failure.  

 Different shades are also said to hold different meanings. Light purple hues represent feminine energy and delicacy. Dark purple hues evoke feelings of gloom, sadness, and frustration. Bright purple suggest riches and royalty. All things we’ve seen in Carla at one point or another. She’s a flirt who can use her feminine charms to her advantage. The endless failed schemes on the rise to power frustrate her. In fact, she frustrates easily in part because of her impatience. And, as stated, riches and royalty is what she’s striving for. The dream that she’s always been told she wanted and is eagerly chasing.

 Lastly, there’s hints of white on the outfit as well. Now this one was a little more difficult to figure out, but, ultimately, I think it may be used as a hint of things to come. White is typically used to represent humility and purity, but can also represent new beginnings, brilliance and understanding. I’m just going to leave it at that. We all know I have a lot of feelings about Carla, but since we’re talking about canon designs and details, I’m going to leave speculation out of it.

#Elena of Avalor #carla delgado #magic within podcast #pizzansunshine #lovelyrugbee #missnobodynobodius #chrissybell648 #podcastprincesses #magic within squad #colour palette #character design #yeah i did the thing

[clairen45]

Thank you so much for you bird meta, I used to compare Porgs to Ewoks, now I love 'em! I'd really love to have your insight on two matters I came upon rewatching Kylo scenes in TFA 1) did he know he was going to kill Han all along (and play his dad with the "will you help me?" speech?) or wasn't his mind made until the last second? 2) Did he sense Rey before he was told about her? Otherwise why ask for BB8 to be "unharmed" (metaphor for Rey?) and say "again" when feeling the pull to the light?

Dear Anon,

I am sorry it took me some time to answer your question… Thank you for the kind comments on the bird meta. I know Ewoks have their fans, but like you, it seems, I was never one of them. They were ok enough as a concept, and I see the point of having them to show a point about David and Goliath, guerilla warfare, and the fact that nature always wins in the end. I know they were also supposed to be cutesy and appeal to kids. I was a kid when the movie was originally relased and they never appealed to me. If anything they upset me. Plus, they are not so cutesy: they would have gladly eaten the whole crew had they had the chance. It’s not just Granola and Tree hugging, you guys, they are vicious hunters and carnivorous. As far as I am concerned they have four redeeming qualities:

they did a great makeover on Leia

I love their village (which also makes for the best Lego set honestly)

they introduced Warwick Davis to the world (I am a fan of Willow and I love that this actor is in every Star Wars movise since ROTJ. It’s like a Where’s Warwick game every time).

The Nub Yub song (which was outrageously deleted from the edited versions of the OT and turned into crappy Pan flute music)

And then there is the unspeakable: the Ewok movies they did afterwards. Brrrrr…. Talk about crappy spin offs! I know they want to forget about them, but they did, they did! So, no, for me, you can’t compare the Porgs and the Ewoks. I don’t think porgs are as intrusive as Ewoks were. And also, where porgs represent fertility and the resilience of life and love, Ewoks were evil cock-blockers. They were!!!! Items: trying to get Han’s attention away from Leia by cuddling with his leg, or jumping in in the middle of their kiss after the destruction of the Death Star. No, that’s not cute!

Now, back to your important questions. That is some heavy stuff!

1)Did he know he was going to kill Han, and was he playing cat and mouse with him? NO, to the N, to the O. I don’t believe it one minute. First, remember that he senses his father. He knows he is on Starkiller base. In one deleted scene, he even finds the MF. Is he tracking his father? Not really… He is more about looking for the girl. In the movie, we know he is aware his father is near him, because he turns his head in the direction of Han. Twice he pauses, when entering the structure, and then when passing by his father hidden behind a column. Does he go after him? No, far from it: he stomps away as far as he can… When his father calls him, he also pauses, not turning right away, as if debating…as if delaying as much as he can. He avoids the confrontation. I think he is probably scared of the outcome. By the way, love the symbolism of the bridge. It conveys the idea of a decision being suspended, not made, of a transition, of being caught in the middle. He hasn’t fully crossed the bridge yet, he is at the midpoint: it can go any place from there. Which to me is there to signify that the decision of killing his father has NOT been made. And I don’t think that he was toying with him either. He starts angry and aggressive, but, with the actual mask off, there falls also the psychological mask and the cool façade.

I believe everything about his pain and dilemma. This is a boy who has been requested to kill his father because he loved him too much and that it was seen as a weakness. He is not allowed any attachment. Take the important line: “[your son] was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him”. Killing his father is really more about killing himself, his feelings, his emotions, what Snoke views as abject sentimentalism. Han is the embodiment of sentimentalism. And we know that Kylo has not been able to suppress his emotions twice: when looking at Finn after the village massacre (which brought forth his feelings of guilt), and when meeting Rey (compassion, desire, curiosity). Meeting his father is the ultimate test in TFA, and a test where he miserably fails before and after the deed: he is unable to repress his emotions before and after killing his father. His face tells it all. And if it were not clear enough (apparently it wasn’t for a lot of people), Snoke was very vocal about the failure of the whole thing: ‘‘the deed split you to the bone”, “you have too much the heart of your father”. The whole line about “the seed lives” can also very much apply about Solo. Yes, Ben is the seed of the Jedi through his mother, but he is very much so the seed of his father. That’s actually the whole point of the “seed” reference. Han still lives through him, because he has not been able to kill his emotions, his feelings.

In th novelizations, especially the Junior one, they give us more clues about that. Both novelizations (adult and junior) insist on the fact that Ben has tears in his eyes during his conversation with his father. And in the adult version, we know this is no ploy: Kylo was not expecting to cry, the sensation seems unfamiliar and strange to him. In the adult version, though, Kylo seems more intent on looking after his father, trying to find his hiding place, “prepared for whatever might ensue”. Dark Kylo is still very much a topic. But in the Junior novelization, this is very different. Han is not sure whether his son saw him or not (which hints that maybe he did but chose to ignore), and then passes him by (instead of looking for him in the adult version). Emphasis is put on the sadness in Kylo’s eyes, which is actually the last vision Han has of his son, and his last vision before dying: a boy with sad eyes. Not cruel. Not victorious. The description of Kylo through Han’s eyes is also very reminiscent of someone who has been abused: “everything about him was narrow and stark, as if he had starved himself of nourrishment”. Kylo is like a member of a cult, or a sect, that has been brainwashed: such sects usually rely on sleep and food deprivation…

So, yes, this is a last second decision. As the light suddenly turning dark underlines. It’s like a cloud passing in front of the sun, something that curiously happened to Luke as well when debating about killing Kylo, two moments that are key in his arc, then. The fleeting moment when Luke hesitates but DOES NOT kill his nephew is what loses Ben, and turns him into Kylo, strong dark sider.. The fleeting moment when Kylo hesitates and KILLS Han is what weakens the dark sider. Interesting parallel.

2)Did he sense Rey before he was told about her? Otherwise why ask for BB8 to be “unharmed” (metaphor for Rey?) and say “again” when feeling the pull to the light?

I really hope we will eventually get the idea that he had visions of Rey before meeting her. It may have been distorted or partial. Or maybe it happened when he was a kid and he barely remembers. Rey’s Force vision was hinting at some prior knowledge, since we were supposed to get young Ben with Snoke (which they kept in the novelizations), and that in the movie Kylo’s figure is turning towards her twice. Of course, these could be visions of the future. And this is how we can tell that the visions are partial or distorted because there is no reason in the future for him to keep his mask. Of course, we know from Yoda, that the visions of the future are everchanging and Kylo, at the time, was intent on keeping his mask, so the future had not been altered yet… Anyways, there is someting eery about his reactions to “the girl”. Everyone caught up on that. And I think this eeriness is also a big part of what prompted the whole; she is his sister, his cousin, or what not… Because everybody got the idea that he had prior knowledge of her: “the girl I have heard so much about”. This is a weird line because honestly he has only heard talk about “a girl” twice in the movie: from Mitaka and from the stormtrooper saying that a girl was spotted in the forest… That’s not a lot of intel. It doesn’t come from Snoke either, because even if he starts talking about an awakening, he doesn’t mention a girl at all, and in TLJ he seems surprised that Rey is the opposite in the Force to Kylo. Kylo acknowledges Rey as the awakening when he sees her with the saber.. I doubt that they conducted an investigation on Jakku about the girl… It’s a possibility, but I doubt it. So it must be something else… Dreams, visions? Will we ever know? That’s the best possibility, though.

I like your idea of the parallel between Rey and BB8. Kylo does start looking for the droid, and yes, he wants it “unharmed”. To be honest,  there is no reason normally for the stormtroopers to be shooting at a droid, especially a rather innocuous BB unit (I know BB8 is bad ass, but still…). Shooting at the droid might damage the information it carries, so I understand he wants to minimize possible damages, but still, it is a weird way of thinking. And indeed the BB unit is off his mind as soon as he sees Rey. Admittedly because he knows she has seen the map, but before he retrieves this information from her head, it would have made more sense for him to be looking after the droid than the girl. Who would care about the girl? He does? He goes straight for her. And this substitution is weird enough that even Hux acknowledges it when Kylo is speaking to Snoke. This is unconventional. Of course, Kylo can rationalize by finding excuses such as “she has seen the map”, “she is strong with the Force” so potentially valuable, but the fact is that he strayed from the original mission.

As for the pull to the light, I am not suprised that he says “again”. I am sure that must have happened to him many times. It just becomes stronger because his coming to Jakku has triggered the dormant connection between him and Rey…

Thank you again for the questions! I hope I have covered them ok enough…

#reylo fandom #kylo and rey #ewoks and porgs #kylo and han

[agnesgoesadventuring-blog]

The past week has been filled with discussions and arguments about whether or not Scanlan "deserved" to be claimed as Ioun's champion, whether or not Percy was a "better fit", etc. I wanted to make a post about my thoughts, which are based on the characterizations, the characters' past actions, and the information on the gods from the Tal'Dorei campaign setting book.

Personally, I don't feel that Percy would have been a "better fit" than Scanlan. I've seen people talking about how Scanlan isn't a storyteller, that he hasn't shown any interest in telling Vox Machina's story, and that Ioun choosing him was based on what Matt's idea of what a bard is supposed to be rather than what Sam actually does with Scanlan and the bard class.

I don't feel this is true, and I'm basing that on canon. We know that Scanlan wrote the poem Resident Evil, about Vox Machina and the reclaiming of White Stone, and that he was looking to publish it. Also, so many of the songs he uses for Inspiration or even for attack spells are about Vox Machina. He doesn't  utilize storytelling in the most traditional way, but he absolutely does tell Vox Machina's story.

In the Tal'Dorei campaign setting, it is stressed that Ioun, the Knowing Mistress, is about the spreading of knowledge, philosophy, and lore. Her commandments are:

Unmask those who would destroy the Knowing Mistress. Learn their secrets and tell them to the world.

Uphold and teach the importance of reason, perception, and truth in guiding one's emotions and path.

Condemn those who lie, even among your allies, for evil folk gain power when their followers obscure the truth. Never stoop to the level of liars.

A lot of people have been making a big deal about the secrets Scanlan kept about his personal life, but I think that much of it mischaracterizes what was happening. Scanlan didn't actually tell any lies. He didn't misrepresent part of his life, he didn't tell his friends anything that wasn't flat out untrue. It could be argued that by not telling them everything he was committing lies of omission. But a lie of omission is intentional, it's an intentional effort to obscure the truth through silence. There's a difference between that and just never revealing personal information. I don't want to go into a big meta about Scanlan's issues. That's a meta for another time. But keeping personal details personal due to emotional issues is absolutely not the same thing as intentionally obscuring the truth and misrepresenting oneself.

Moreover, much of the section on the Knowing Mistress in the campaign setting book stresses not personal information, but knowledge, philosophy, and lore. Things that Scanlan has absolutely no history of lying about or hoarding.

As fast as Percy goes, I feel that there are definitely gods who would be a better fit for him, and that considering the description and commandments given for Ioun in the campaign setting book, I don't really think that Percy fits that.

While Percy is very interested in and dedicated to science and innovation, that has translated to learning and consuming information, but it hasn't really translated to spreading and disseminating it.

A lot has been made of Ioun calling out Percy's secret keeping in regards to his invention while she's keeping the sealing ritual hidden. But I think the argument of hypocrisy is a bit too simplistic and ignores a couple of major things.

The sealing ritual isn't hidden away and hoarded as some kind of special, just-in-this-instance, Ioun-is-hoarding-it way. As is made clear in the campaign setting book, and as has been hinted at in canon, such as when we saw the way the worship of Ioun was hidden beneath the Slayers' Take in Vasselheim, she was "grievously wounded" during the Calamity, and that didn't just effect her, it also effected her followers, who are now "hunted by agents of her ancient foes as she recovers in her weakend influence." Her followers worship in private and spread knowledge, philosophy, and lore "anonymously", without making a big deal about it being done in her name. So it's not just the hoarding ritual that's been hidden away, it's Ioun herself and everything having to do with her, both for her own protection and for the protection of her followers. And that still hasn't translated to any kind of selfish hoarding of knowledge. She hasn't used the knowledge she has selfishly, to benefit only herself and her followers. She created something incredibly powerful and dangerous and hid it away for nobody to use, not even herself. And she freely gave it when it was needed to people who proved they would use it for good.

That's very different from Percy's relationship with his invention and the way he's kept it a secret. Yes, he recognizes that it's incredibly dangerous and that it could be catastrophic if it was able to spread throughout the world. But he continues to use it to benefit himself and his people. He continues to use guns as weapons himself, and he has armed soldier in Whitestone. Rather than recognizing the danger of his invention and hiding it away so nobody can use it, he indeed did hoard it in a selfish way, as he kept using it himself and gave it to his soldiers to use. Whatever his reasons, that very much is a sort of selfish hoarding of knowledge.

Percy's main focus, his relationship with intelligence, has very little to do with the spreading of knowledge. He very much wants to consume knowledge, yes, but just as important as seeking knowledge is to Ioun is the spreading of knowledge. What Percy is far more interested in is learning things for himself, innovation, creating new things and furthering technology. That doesn't really fall into the Knowing Mistress's portfolio. There are, however, other gods described in the campaign setting book that far better encompass those things.

The Allhammer is the patron of craft and creation, and he grants inspiration in those areas. He's also the patron of home and family, things that are also incredibly important to Percy. His commandments are:

Remain stoic and tenacious in the face of catastrophe

Uphold and promote loyalty to family, loyalty to clan, and loyalty to your people

Legacy is paramount. To create something that lasts the ages is to change the world for the better.

Each of these commandments apply to Percy in, frankly, pretty blatant ways. Percy prides himself on being calm and efficient in battle, in times of great stress, and when disasters are happening. He places a very high importance on loyalty to Vox Machina, his sister, and the people of Whitestone. And one of his defining character speeches was about the legacy he would leave behind in his city, that even after his mortal life is over, he will live as long as Whitestone lives.

The Lawbearer, while perhaps not as precise a fit as the Allhammer, would also be a decent fit for Percy. The Lawbearer is described as "the driving inspirating behind many great inventions..." While Percy may not have such a devotion to the tenents of law and order, the spirit of invention is obviously incredibly important to him. The god's commandements are...

Embrace the company and aid of others. The efforts of the individual often pale against the capabilities of the community

Strive to tame the wilds of the world in the name of civilization, and defend the points of light and order against the chaos of darkness

Uphold and rever the spirit of invention. Create new places and colonies, build where inspiration hits, and expand the laws of the Lawbearer.

While it's arguable whether the first two have a particular connection the Percy, the third certainly does, far more than any of the Knowing Mistress's commandments.

Yes, it could be argued that there are also better fits for Scanlan, such as perhaps the Moonweaver. But when it comes to whether Percy or Scanlan are the better fit for Ioun, while neither may be perfect, Percy has aspects to his actions and character that very much go against her teachings, and Scanlan, with his songs and his writings, has done more to spread knowledge and lore.

And as far as Percy goes, he doesn't necessarily need a god. Whether or not they will all need one tactically is another matter, but from a personal, character-based perspective, Percy seems perfectly fine with not having been chosen by a god. As Marisha has explained, a lack of faith in this universe is very different from a lack of faith in ours. Generally, if people in our world have a lack of faith it means that they do not believe in a higher power. It's very different in the world of Critical Role and D&D because the existence of the gods is an absolute fact. Everyone knows the gods exist. And Vox Machina personally have tangible proof of that. So Percy (and Keyleth) being "the faithless" isn't the same as not believing the gods exist. Percy can see that library, be moved by the fact that nothing ever disappears, that every person and every action is kept somewhere, forever, and still not feel a particular connection to the gods, even that particular god. He can still feel, as Keyleth does, that the gods aren't necessary for every individual. He can, and certainly seems to be, very comfortable with the idea that he isn't necessarily chosen and that he doesn't need divine guidance in the way he once perhaps thought he did. Personally, I find it a little odd that Percy and Taliesin made it pretty clear that he's perfectly fine with not having a divine patron, but the character's fans still seem to be personally offended on his behalf that Ioun didn't choose him.

#critical role #percival fredrickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #scanlan shorthalt #the knowing mistress #my metas

[thenumberfour]

sticks my leg out, reylo, with all of them?

Wow this took me waaaaay longer than I thought it would. Sorry! Some of these are in-universe and some are a more modern AU. Some can apply to both.

1) Who rocks the Ferris Wheel seat and who flips out and begs them to stop?

Rey rocks the Ferris Wheel because she wants to know how long it will take to break through Kylo’s uncaring, fearless facade.

2) Who is always horny and will have sex at any time, at any place and at any time?

Kylo. Or at least he wants to think so. He’s too vanilla for public sex but doesn’t really WANT to be. Also he doesn’t have a whole lot of impulse control so there’s that too. 

3) Who is more into taking showers/baths together? Who tries to make it relaxing and who tries to make it sexy time?

I think they’re both into taking showers together when they want to, though probably Kylo more than Rey. Rey, being raised on a desert planet, likes to enjoy showers alone more often than not, since the water relaxes her. That being said, she does enjoy the company, but doesn’t really want sexy times unless she’s really in the mood.

4) Who likes to walk around the house naked and who tells the other to go put some clothes on?

“I lived 19 years in the desert heat fully clothed. You can at least put some pants on.” - Rey to Kylo “Stubborn Child” Ren

5) Who sleeps on the couch when they get into a fight?

Kylo. No way in hell is Rey letting him in the bedroom. Though not for lack of trying. The emo teenager in him always reacts to arguments by stomping to the bedroom and slamming the door.

6) Who takes photos of the other while they sleep?

Kylo. There’s literally a scene in TFA where he watches her sleep. He does enjoy watching her sleep after he’s redeemed, though, in a much less creepy context. Mostly because he’s an insomniac.

7) Who said “I love you” first? and who ends their arguments in a fight with “Because I love you”?

Kylo said it first, incidentally because they were in a fight and he ended it with “Because I love you!”

8) Who likes to wear the others sweatshirts?

Rey wears Kylo’s because they’re so big and warm and cozy. Big sweatshirts are the best sweatshirts.

9) Who wakes the other up in the middle of the night to tell them a cool dream they had? Who has the most nightmares, and who sings them back to sleep after?

Rey gets super excited about cool dreams, because she spent so much of her early life not having great sleep, let alone good dreams. Kylo has a lot of nightmares, because of his encounters with Snoke and such, so Rey sings him to sleep with a lullaby she picked up on Jakku.

10) Who is more likely to cheat?

Kylo. As I said before, his impulse control is not the best. Although I don’t really see him as being at all attracted to multiple people at a time. That might be more characteristic of Rey, who was probably shaped by a long childhood of limited interpersonal interactions and may be thrown off and overwhelmed by many feelings for many people at once. 

11) Who makes fun of the other for having a crush on them, and who has to remind them that they are in a relationship?

Rey makes so much fun of him because he’s got this whole uncaring, emotionless, scary (literal) mask that he likes to put on in front of people, but he still fell for her first. Rey of Sunshine thawed his cold, dead heart.

12) Who starts a food fight in the kitchen?

Rey, once she gets used to the fact that food is no longer so difficult to come by. Kylo comes home after a bad day and is just snapping at her for no reason. Nothing she’s saying is helping and she just gets fed up. So from across the table, she Force-throws a glob of mashed potatoes right in his face. And it just escalates from there. (Side note: FORCE FOOD FIGHT WOULD BE HILARIOUS)

13) Who initiates duets? and who is the better singer?

I haven’t really heard either of them sing but I’d like to think they’re both really good. Rey initiates the duets though, when Kylo is singing quietly to himself and thinks no one is listening.

14) Who starts the hand holding? Who grabs the others butt? Who slides their arm around their waist? Who likes to put their fingers in the belt loops?

Rey starts hand holding. Kylo, ever Han Solo’s son, grabs Rey’s butt. Also Kylo slides his arm around Rey’s waist all smooooooth-like (still. Han Solo’s son). Rey puts her fingers in his belt loops

15) Who likes writes the others name on their wrist?

I like to think Rey writes her name on his wrist to ground him if he’s having an emotional episode. Kylo keeps it because it really does help.

16) Who is more seductive when they are drunk? and who is louder in bed?

Rey is definitely more seductive when drunk. She gets all bubbly and giggly and overall enthusiastic. Kylo is louder though. Awkwardly louder.

17) Who is more protective?

Kylo is more protective. He’s actually more jealous than anything though, since Rey is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

18) Who talks to the other while they are sleeping?

Rey talks in her sleep and says the absolute strangest things. Sometimes it’s in Binary (droid language) or other languages she picked up around Niima Outpost.

19) Who drives and who has the window seat?

Rey’s a better driver but Kylo always INSISTS on driving. They often argue about who will drive but she lets him most of the time just to shut him up. He’ll just sulk in the passenger seat if she drives.

20) Who falls asleep in the others lap and who carries them to bed?

Rey falls asleep in Kylo’s lap and he carries her to bed more often than not, though there have been instances where the roles have been reversed. She carries him up the stairs with more ease than he carries her.

21) Who cuts the others hair?

Rey cuts Kylo’s because if she didn’t it would get wAAAAAAAY out of control.

22) Who is super bad at sexting? and who sends them encouraging messages throughout the day?

Rey’s really innocent and bad at texting sometimes. “What are you wearing?” “Some jeans and a t-shirt. Actually they’re covered in grease so thanks for reminding me to do laundry!

23) Who thinks they are not good enough for the others love? and who’s more afraid of loosing the other? Who thinks they keep messing up, only for the other to tell them they don’t need to worry?

Kylo, Kylo, and Kylo, for emo and previous evil reasons. He still feels (after redemption) that he needs to make up for everything he did.

24) Who starts random slow dancing with the other in the kitchen? Who holds the other just above the ground and kisses them?

Rey actually finds dancing really really romantic, so she always initiates slow dancing. And Kylo actually has had some experience with ballroom dancing which makes the experience that much more fun and sweet.

25) Who says shitty puns and sex jokes just to see the other giggle and blush?

Once he gets comfortable, Kylo whips out (pun intended?) jokes Han taught him as a child.

26) Who kissed first?

“Every kiss begins with K(ylo)”. No but seriously he has many impulse control issues and he was doing really well holding back until one day he just couldn’t (not that Rey minded at that point since she’d been dropping hints to his oblivious ass that she wanted to take things further)

27) Who orders take out at two in a morning? and who wakes the other up at three in the morning to go downstairs with them to get a glass of water because it’s too dark?

Kylo Ren is a nocturnal being and also has cravings so he gets that takeout at 2AM. Kylo is also pretty afraid of the dark despite dressing like he isn’t all the time. Rey has taken to filling several water bottles and keeping them by the bed to avoid such sleep interruptions.

28) Who writes poems/stories and love songs about the other? Do they sing the songs the write for them?

Emo Kylo Ren has poetry/song books galore, but if asked to recite/sing any he will refuse and probably pretend that he has no clue what you’re talking about.

29) Who does some crazy stunt to try and impress the other and who ends up driving them to the emergency room after it backfires?

I’m honestly just imagining them getting into a fight and Kylo appearing somewhere random (and possibly public) and being “that dude with the guitar who sings to his girlfriend to make up for dumb shit he said to her” So that kind of stunt is all Kylo, but physical stunts that backfire are definitely all Rey. (Mostly because she finds his worried face cute and gets distracted by it while freeclimbing up a wall or some shit and loses her footing)

30) Who is embarrassed when they have to wear their glasses and who thinks they look super cute?

Kylo wears glasses. He hates them and thinks they’re stupid-looking but Rey ADORES them.

#reylo #artemis-crimson

[kpopfanfictrash]

Binary Star (IV)

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: You / Jaebum / Mark

Rating: PG

Word Count: 3,749

Summary: “In some cases, these close binary systems can exchange mass, which may bring their evolution to stages that single stars cannot attain.”

You and Jaebum have been dating forever when Mark Tuan shows up in your classroom. You’ve always been against change - a bit debilitating, being a writer - but for some reason this new kid has you thinking there might be an upside to chaos.

Before you know it, you’re at the back. At the back during your song. The one Jaebum wrote for you and you’re struggling not to feel upset about that fact. Struggling to hang onto the bubble of excitement you felt when the music started. It’s hard though, when Jaebum is still singing to the crowd as though nothing happened. Is still singing to the idea of you, not to you.

This song is a hit. A smash, actually. All around you the club is out of control. This is the song that could get them famous. But do you want that?

Even having to ask yourself that hurts.

It’s been three weeks since Jaebum’s concert. Three weeks since the blur of meetings and discussions about whether or not Jaebum and his band have ‘potential.’ The whole thing ended with James saying he would call as soon as he heard.

Apparently James now submits a review to his higher-ups. Who submit a review to their higher-ups. Somewhere above that lies the final say in whether or not On the Shore gets signed. When Jaebum asked how long this process takes, James couldn’t say.

“Hard to tell,” he said, packing up his briefcase. “Sometimes a week – sometimes months. Once time I had a band on the ropes for a whole year before someone at corporate finally decided to let them in.”

On the ropes. That’s what agents call their waiting bands. They have signed bands, potential bands and bands who are on the ropes. Jaebum’s band is currently one of these. As more and more days tick by, you know Jaebum is internally freaking out. Every word he says is on edge and you find yourself tiptoeing more than usual. Not that this bothers you – much.

It’s just that with Jaebum so wrapped up in his own problems – there’s no one to talk to about yours.

Mark slides into the seat next to you, glancing sideways as the bell rings. “Hey.” He nods. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” you ask, trying not to smile. “Not much, homie.”

“Oh, god.” Mark winces. “Never say that again.”

“It’s my new thing!” you protest, tapping your pencil on your desk. This is an inside joke with you two now – you doing mundane things and calling them special to get a rise from Mark.

Mark rolls his eyes. “You know you’re completely misusing my concept.”

“Poor Mark,” you sigh. “Lost in a sea of angst. Continually made fun of by the evil Y/N.”

Mark starts to laugh as Mr. David enters the room. “Settle down, settle down,” the teacher says, turning towards the board.

Raising your eyebrows, you grin at Mark. “He means you, giggle nuts. No one else is speaking.”

“Giggle nuts.” Mark starts to laugh even harder.

Mr. David turns with a frown, effectively sobering you both. Mark straightens in his seat, ducking his head into his notebook. He’s still smiling though, as are you reading through the lines of chalk on the whiteboard. It looks like today’s lesson is on solar systems. The suns of solar systems, to be exact.

When the bell rings at exactly 9:00 am, Mr. Davis clears his throat. “Good morning class,” he drones, not waiting for an answer. “Today’s lesson is about the sun. Last class we breached the topic of galaxies – groups of celestial bodies associated with natural law and bound by gravity. This class we’ll delve deeper.”

Flipping to a new page in your notebook, you smooth out the corners. Your previous page is filled with drawings of star clusters. General rules and theory on galaxy formation as well as its degeneration. Concentrating on Mr. Davis’ words, you sketch today’s date at the top of the page.

“Most planetary systems are single star systems,” he lectures. “Meaning there is only one sun. All non-stellar objects rotate around this, drawn in by the gravitational pull. This is not the case in all systems.” Continuing on, Mr. David finds a blank space on the board. “There also exist multiple and binary star systems.”

Raising his hand, Mark waits until Mr. Davis notices. “What’s a binary star system?”

“Good question.” Nodding, Mr. Davis scribbles Mark’s comment down on the board. “A binary star system is one whose systems contains two suns orbiting a common center of mass. These systems balance each other in careful harmony, continuously influencing as they rotate.”

Your hand pauses halfway through your drawing. On the left-hand side of your page lies the singular star system. One sun with its planets drawn orbiting, accepting a singular star’s light. On the other side is a binary system. Two stars circling one another, coexisting together. Both stars are strong, powerful – equal in their light.

You can’t help but think the singular system is Jaebum. Bright, gravitational, drawing everyone into his orbit. In that system, you’re a planet. Maybe the closest planet, but circling him regardless. Allowing him to pull you onward, always thinking you’re surviving while secretly knowing you’re following.

The thought makes you dizzy and you exhale through your nose to steady yourself. Do you really see your relationship with Jaebum that way? No, of course you don’t. He might be a strong presence, sure – but so are you. You’re intelligent, confident and creative. What does it matter if he’s currently successful and you are not? Jaebum is the exception in that regard.

So is the star, though. You fall quiet for the rest of the class, barely even glancing from your notebooks. When the bell rings for second period, you gather your books tightly to your chest.

“Y/N?”

Mark is staring at you. Has been for several minutes, actually. “Sorry, what?” you blink, shaking your head.

Mark frowns. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you say, playing absentmindedly with your pencil case. “Everything is fine.”

Stepping before you, Mark effectively stops your walk. “Liar,” he says, eyes glinting with humor. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Have you filled out all your college applications?” you ask, avoiding eye contact.

Mark’s forehead wrinkles. “Some. Why?”

“What major did you list?”

“Biology.”

This surprises you. “Really?”

Mark nods, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah. After everything that happened to me, I want to do something in medicine. I’m not sure if I want to do research or pre-med yet, though.”

Rather than make you feel better, this only serves to increase your nausea. “Right. Good,” you say, a laugh escaping. “Everyone seems to know exactly what they’re doing except for me.”

Mark gives you a curious look. “That’s not true. You want to be a writer.”

“Ah, yes. How practical,” you laugh. You feel breathless, unable to regain control over yourself. “I need to find a real job.”

“A real job?” Mark folds his arms over his chest. “Writing is a real career.”

Staring past, you start to walk again. “I know,” you sigh, voice hesitant. “I know that if you’re successful writing can be a career. But if you’re not…” Trailing into silence, you allow your lack of words to speak for you.

Mark’s pace is even, footsteps lost in the deafening shouts in the corridor.

“Look,” you say, turning to face him. “I’m not being self-deprecating or searching for compliments. I’m just saying a lot of people are talented. There are a lot of good writers and there’s only a small chance I’ll succeed, even with talent.”

Rather than object, Mark falls silent. “That’s true,” he admits.

“So you agree?” you ask, raising your eyebrows.

“Yes,” Mark nods. “But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason not to try.”

His words give you pause and somewhere inside, a voice you’ve been shoving aside lately grows slightly louder. “No?”

“No.” Mark looks thoughtful. “Put it this way. If you try, you have two options: either you fail or you succeed. If you don’t try, there’s only one: you fail.”

Considering this, your heart beats strangely. A new kind of courage enters you and for the first time in a long time, you find yourself wanting to try. Wanting to fight, wanting to fly - or wanting to fall trying.

Mark grins at your expression. “There it is.”

“Fine,” you exhale, turning towards your classroom. “I’m doing it. I’ll apply to college as an English major.”

Mark lets out a whooping noise. “Thank god! I was scared I’d have to do a covert ops mission. Sneak into your house, switch out your application – something like that.”

Shaking your head, you shove him away as you enter your classroom. Sliding into your seat as your front pocket vibrates. The teacher is still busy setting up for lecture, so you chance a glance at your screen. 

Hey, babe <3 excited for tonight?

Tonight. Tonight; your and Jaebum’s four year anniversary. He’s had something special planned for months now – dropping hints while unable to hide his grin. You quickly type back.

Tell me what we’re doinggggg

The bell rings then, so you shove your phone into your pocket. Jaebum won’t answer before lunch anyways, which is the next time you’ll see him. The rest of the morning flies by like this, filled with people and notes. At lunchtime Jaebum still refuses to tell you where you’re going. He grins each time you ask, folding his arms over his chest. Today he’s pushed his hair back, which he only does when you’re going somewhere nice. 

“How nice is nice, though?” you whine, poking him. “Should I wear a floor-length dress? Would a high schooler even be allowed into a place fancy enough to wear a floor-length dress?”

Jaebum just grins. “It’s not that fancy. Just wear something you like.”

“I like sweatpants. Is that good?”

Jaebum shrugs. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

He’s being stupid but he says it with such sincerity that you groan and lean into him. Allow his arm to wrap around your waist and pull you close. “Fine,” you mutter, kissing his cheek. “I’ll dress nicely.”

Hours later, you’re regretting this edict. 

Your mouth is pursed, hands on your hips while you stare into the mirror. Pushing your hair back with both hands to see what it would look like off your neck. You let it drop - down, definitely down. Grabbing your purse from your table, you hurry downstairs.

Jaebum said he would be here at 7:00 pm and its 6:58 pm now. He won’t be there a second before 7:00 though, he’s just like that. So now you sink into your kitchen chair, watching your mom work on her laptop.

“Happy anniversary.” She glances up from her work. “What has it been now, four years?”

Nodding, you find yourself happy she remembered. “Four years exactly.”

Your mom sighs, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Growing up so fast,” she says, folding her arms across her chest. “Your dad would’ve loved to see this.”

“Would he have?” You laugh quietly. “I seem to remember him threatening Jaebum every time he came over.”

“Yeah,” Robbie nods, entering. “It’s why I’ve taken up the mantle. Fight Jaebum always.”

Your mom laughs at this, leaning back in her chair. “Your father loved Jaebum,” she counters. “Or rather – he loved how much he loved you. It was always terrifying how much you loved Jaebum.”

This is the first your mom has ever spoken of this and you find yourself wanting to hear more. “What?” you ask. “Why?” From the corner of your eye, you see headlights swing into your driveway.

“Well.” Your mom shrugs. “Losing the people you love hurts, even if it’s losing them by choice.”

You blink at her words. Even if it’s by choice.

It’s been two years since your dad passed away. It’s just now getting to the part where it doesn’t hurt as much to talk about him. But saying that it doesn’t hurt as much is like saying you’re only hit by one lightning bolt, not five. One may hurt less than five, but even one is enough to kill you.

You usually think of your dad in terms of your own emotions. Never really in the light of your mother. She lost her husband though – her partner, life, love. Lost the man she thought she’d be spending the rest of her years with, not just his. This makes you think of Jaebum and when you do, your heart clenches. Losing someone you love hurts.

Leaning over, you give your mom a quick kiss on the cheek. “Love you,” you say, drawing back. “Thank you.”

She doesn’t ask what your gratitude is for. Your mom knows there are things your family do that go without saying. That’s one thing about loss – it either tears you apart or makes you stronger. The three of you are stronger now than you were before. Even Robbie has had to grow overnight.

Like now. He stands before you, arms folded in the doorway. Frowning as you walk past. “Be home by eleven,” he scolds.

From behind him, your mom laughs. “Midnight,” she corrects.

You wave at both when you leave, blowing Robbie a big, exaggerated kiss. Jaebum sits in his car, immersed in some game on his phone when you slide into the passenger seat. “Hi,” you greet him, leaning over.

Jaebum kisses you, lingering for just a second before pulling away. “Happy anniversary,” he grins, putting the car in reverse. “Let’s go.”

“Let’s go … to the park?” you ask, settling back in his seat. “To the circus? To an airplane show?”

“No, yes and no.”

“We’re going to the circus?”

Jaebum looks over. “You’re so crazy already, why not give in completely?”

He’s in a good mood tonight and you find yourself giggling, sliding lower in your seat as you turn to face him. Jaebum’s hand finds yours on the console, pulling your fingers into his lap. He lowers the windows, allowing the early breeze to caress your cheeks. Curling into your own seat, you watch him. Watch the sun play across his face.

“What?” Jaebum asks, glancing sideways.

“Nothing,” you smile. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The drive is quiet after that, silent except for the music on the car’s speakers. Jaebum turns the volume up, sliding his fingers over yours and humming in time to the music. Before long he pulls into a parking lot, coming to a stop beside a restaurant.

A restaurant you recognize. “Really?” you ask, starting to laugh.

Jaebum nods, eyes sparkling. “This time we’re eating inside.”

You laugh unbuckling your seat belt. This restaurant is known for its food and amazing views and on your fifth date, Jaebum tried to take you here. After just one glance at the menu though, you realized there was no way in hell you could afford this. The two of you ended up out on the cliffs, just sitting and talking.

That day was also the first time Jaebum kissed you.

Now though, Jaebum takes your hand in his, pulling you forward. You’re glad you decided to wear a dress when you enter the lobby, realizing this place is even fancier than you remembered. Jaebum blends right in, completely at home in a button-down and slacks, blazer thrown over top.

“Im,” Jaebum says, walking up to the hostess. “Reservation for two.”

The hostess nods thumbing through her booklet. “Here – Im.” Grabbing two menus, she smiles back at you. “Follow me.”

Raising both eyebrows, Jaebum gestures for you first. At the table, Jaebum pulls out your chair, holding it while you sit. Sitting across the table, he watches the waiter fill your glasses with water. When the waiter leaves you peruse the menu, flipping open to the first page. Smiling gently when you travel back to that fifth date.

“You’re smiling.” Jaebum sounds suspicious. “Why are you smiling?” 

You set your menu down. “I was thinking about the first time we visited.”

Lowering his head, Jaebum hangs a few centimeters from the table. “Will you never let me live that down?” he groans.

Starting to laugh, you reach over. Lifting his chin with your finger. “I was thinking about the end of the day,” you correct.

Jaebum’s frown lifts in a smile. “Oh.”

After leaving the restaurant that day, the two of you hiked over the tops of the cliffs. You talked about a lot that night – both about everything and nothing at all. Whatever thoughts popped into your mind. That was the thing you liked most about Jaebum. It was so easy to be with him, like you could say anything and he wouldn’t judge you for it.

Jaebum was a great listener. He took everything you said with a grain of salt, listening with a small tilt to his head. You noticed that that day on the cliffs. It was the first time you ever felt close to Jaebum - the two of you sitting close enough to feel but not touch.

You kept glancing at one another. Looking sideways until one of your eyes met the other’s. His gaze was enticing, entrapping in a way you couldn’t get out of. It’s often said that the last hour before sunset is called the golden hour. Called so because the light at this time of day is so soft, muted with diffused rays of the sun. People are most flattering during the golden hour.

The way Jaebum stared at you was as though he saw you clearly for the first time. As rays of sun slipped from his cheeks, they illuminating hair half-ruffled by the wind. When Jaebum leaned in, you hardly knew what he was doing.

When his lips met yours, you understood.

It was your first kiss. The first time you’d even considered kissing someone. As Jaebum kissed you, his lips pressed firmly to yours, you wondered if Jaebum might also be the last.

Now he sits across the table from you, smiling in the same way he did that night. You find yourself ashamed for the emotions which have churned your stomach since his band’s last performance. Ashamed of the fear you felt. The fear of him pulling away. Of him embarking on a new part of life which you can’t follow. 

Or won’t. Because now you’re realizing that although you’ve applied to college, Jaebum hasn’t. He keeps holding this in his back pocket, patiently waiting for the call from James Marolin. His future is at fork in the road, while yours is at an arrow.

It’s just as you’re thinking this Jaebum’s phone rings. Wincing, he shoves his hand deep in his pocket. “Sorry,” he sighs. “I thought I turned it off – let me just check if it’s my mom, she –"

He stops talking. At the look on his face, you feel yourself sinking. Stomach churning, thoughts scrambling because you know exactly who is calling him.

“Hello?” Jaebum answers, switching his phone to his other ear. “Mr. Marolin?”

You can’t hear the other side of his conversation. Can’t hear what the other man is saying but you watch Jaebum’s eyes widen. Watch his mouth drops and no words come. Instead he just nods, suddenly recalling that he’s on the phone and can’t be seen. “Yes,” he blurts, continuing to nod. “Yes. This is amazing news – thank you so, so much! We won’t let you down.”

Jaebum hangs up. He doesn’t speak at first, just staring at the phone in his hand. Reaching across the table, you touch his arm. “Jaebum?”

His gaze snaps to yours and suddenly – brilliantly – he smiles. “Y/N,” he gasps. “Y/N, They want us to sign. They want us to sign and record an album. An album,” he laughs, full of disbelief.

“That’s amazing,” you say, struggling to smile. “Congratulations!”

It is amazing. It’s amazing and wonderful and perfect. Jaebum’s eyes find yours when he jumps up, fumbling across the table to grab your face. His lips press quickly to yours and you start to laugh. “Wow,” you say, grinning when he sits back down. “I guess now there’s two things to celebrate tonight, huh?”

“Oh.” Jaebum freezes. Glances at his phone. “I just – ah, shit.”

The knot in your stomach tightens. “What? What is it?”

Jaebum looks away, unable to meet your gaze. “I was just thinking… It would be nice to tell the guys in person.”

It’s a reasonable request. You know this, know you’re stupid for wishing it otherwise. Of course Jaebum would want to tell them himself. Of course he would want to see their faces at the news. Of course, of course, of course. 

Your gaze drops to your lap.

“Y/N?” Jaebum asks.

Exhaling softly, you look up. “You should go.”

Jaebum doesn’t move. “Are you sure?” he asks, watching you carefully. “This is our night, Y/N. It’s our night and if you want me to stay, the news can wait until tomorrow morning.”

If you want me to stay. These words echo in your mind, making you feel guilty for wanting this. You do want Jaebum to stay. You want Jaebum to be yours, want him beside you because right now every step he takes seems further and further away from you.

Lifting your gaze, you force a smile. “Of course,” you say, though your voice sounds robotic, unsure. “You should go. Our night is any night – tonight is about the band.”

Jaebum smiles. “Thank you,” he says, jumping up. Kissing you briefly before helping you upwards. “Let’s go,” he grins, lacing your fingers with his.

You’re practically pulled from the restaurant, Jaebum stops quickly at the hostess to mumble an apology. Then you’re outside, in his car. Speeding down the highway, barely able to hold yourself together. You think you respond to everything – you must, because Jaebum doesn’t seem to realize something is wrong.

Once you’re dropped off in front of your house, you wrap your arms around your waist. You don’t want to go inside, not yet. You’re afraid that if you see your mom and hear her questions, you might cry. Tears are already threatening to spill over onto your cheeks.

You don’t want to cry and so you walk over to the tree in your front yard. Folding your legs beneath you to lean against the rough bark. You’re not sure when you began to feel like you couldn’t tell Jaebum things. It used to be you told him too much. Told him everything, no matter how difficult or sad.

Not anymore.

Sighing, you look down at your phone in your hand. There’s a small kernel of anger growing larger by the second. Yes, you should have told Jaebum this tonight was important to you. Should have said you wanted to celebrate his most recent success together.

But should you have had to tell him?

Without stopping to think about what you’re doing, you unlock your phone.

Hey.

It only takes a few minutes before Mark texts back.

Hey?

He sounds confused and you don’t blame him. The two of you rarely text on weekends.

What are you doing tomorrow? Something crazy?

Maybe. Why? Want to join?

After staring at your phone for a long second, you lower your fingers. Fighting every natural instinct in your body to respond.

Yes.

[Master List]

#got7 fic #got7 fanfic #got7 fanfiction #jaebum fic #jaebum fanfic #jaebum fanfiction #got7 jb fic #got7 jb fanfic #got7 jb fanfiction #jb fanfic #jb fic #jb fanfiction #mark tuan fic #mark tuan fanfic #mark tuan fanfiction #markbum fic #markbum fanfic #markbum fanfiction #got7 #jaebum #im jaebum #jb #got7 jb #mark tuan #got7 mark #mark got7 #mark #Binary Star

[ljones41]

"The Meaning Behind the First Evil"

Season Seven of "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" has been a favorite of mine for years. But it has been rather unpopular with many fans of the series and television critics. And I suspect that this unpopularity may have centered around the character and main villain of Season Seven – the First Evil:

  "THE MEANING BEHIND THE FIRST EVIL" If there is one nemesis that has baffled fans of "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" during its seven seasons run, it would have to be the First Evil. This entity first made its appearance in the Season Three episode, (3.10) "Amends" and became Buffy Summer’s main nemesis in Season Seven, the last season of the series. In a nutshell, the First Evil was an incorporeal entity that manifested from all of the evil in existence. It could assume the form of any person who has died, including vampires and dead persons who have been resurrected. Because of this, it had appeared in various forms over the course of the series as a method of manipulating others. For this reason, the First had appeared as Buffy Summers to the Slayer and her allies. But it also assumed the forms of Jenny Calendar, Warren Mears, Spike, and Jonathan Levinson on multiple occasions, and a variety of other forms less frequently. It was also able to merge with a corporeal individual, as it had done with a serial killer named Caleb and provide the latter with immense strength. The First Evil’s only real weakness was that it was non-corporeal and could not inflict any real physical damage. However, it was an expert at psychological manipulation, and could act through its servants such as the Bringers, Turok-Han, Caleb or whomever it could manage to control. As I had stated earlier, the First Evil made its debut on "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" in the Season Three episode, (3.10) "Amends". It tried to drive Angel into killing Buffy by appearing to him as Jenny Calendar and other people he had murdered as a soulless vampire. The First Evil told Angel that it was responsible for his return from "Hell" and that he could end his sufferings by turning evil again. Whether or not this was true is unknown. In any event, it did not mind when Angel chose to kill himself, via a sunrise instead. Fortunately, Buffy's confrontation with the First Evil allowed her to stop Angel from committing suicide. Using Buffy’s second resurrection in the Season Six premiere - (6.01) "Bargaining, Part I" as an excuse, the First Evil returned in full force in Season Seven in an attempt to eliminate the Slayer line permanently. Using servants such as the defrocked serial killer Caleb and the Harbingers of Death (or Bringers), the First Evil not only brought about the deaths of many Potential Slayers and Watchers, it also destroyed the Watcher’s Council (no loss there) and nearly came close to killing Buffy, Faith, the Scoobies and Spike. It used both Andrew Wells and Spike to raise the Turok-Han (a race of ancient powerful vampires stronger and fiercer than the regular vampires). It manipulated Spike by using an old English folk song - "Early One Morning" - into killing again, hoping his actions would attract Buffy’ attentions. According to sources from the "All Things Philosophical on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel the Series’" and "Buffyverse Wiki" sites, the First Evil wanted to seize the opportunity to upset the balance between good and evil whenever the Slayer line was disrupted. It tried to manipulate Angel into committing suicide in "Amends" about a year-and-a-half after Buffy’s brief death and resuscitation in (1.12) "Prophecy Girl". And about a year following Buffy’s resurrection in "Bargaining", it made its move to manipulate Spike and destroy the Slayer line and upset the moral balance permanently. Many fans did not like the First Evil as Buffy’s main antagonist in Season Seven. From what I could gather from many message boards, forums and blogs; they seemed confused about the First Evil’s intentions or what it represented. Nor did they seemed impressed that it was the one Big Bad that Buffy could not destroy in a physical manner. Some fans even accused "BUFFY" creator Joss Whedon of writing himself into a corner with the creation of the First Evil. Personally, I disagree. I do not feel that Whedon had written himself into a corner by bringing the First Evil back in Season Seven. It is easier to identify a nemesis that is solid enough for someone – namely Buffy - to physically kill or fight. Nemesis like the Master, Angelus, Mayor Wilkins, Adam, Glory, Warren Mears or even Willow Rosenberg. But the First Evil was a different matter. It symbolized a continuation of the theme from Season Six - namely "You are your own worst enemy".In other words, I believe that the First Evil symbolized the spirit of Evil that existed in everyone - from Buffy to some minor demon minion or some housewife. I must be one of the few fans who actually enjoyed Season Seven. But even I had one or two issues about that particular season that did not sit right with me. One of those issues was the appearance of a supernatural being called Beljoxa's Eye in (7.11) "Showtime". Rupert Giles and Anya Jenkins visited the being to learn everything they could about the First Evil. Instead of fulfilling their wishes, the Beljoxa’s Eye told them that that the First Evil cannot be destroyed and that it made it presence known due to a disruption in the Slayer's line, which was in fact, caused by the Slayer. Both Giles and Anya concluded that Buffy’s second resurrection brought about the return of the First Evil. This did not make sense to me. One, I found it hard to believe that the First Evil existed because of Buffy’s resurrection. It had already existed before the events of "Bargaining". In fact, I believe that it had already existed before "Amends". Why? As I had stated earlier, I believe the First Evil was . . . or is the spirit of evil itself. It was all of the negative thoughts, emotions and impulses that reside within all living beings. And the late Joyce Summers hinted this during Buffy’s dream in (7.12) "Bring On the Night": BUFFY: Something evil is coming. JOYCE: Buffy, evil isn't coming, it's already here. Evil is always here. Don't you know? It's everywhere. BUFFY: And I have to stop it. JOYCE: How are you gonna do that? BUFFY: I-I don't know yet, but— JOYCE: Buffy, no matter what your friends expect of you, evil is a part of us. All of us. It's natural. And no one can stop that. No one can stop nature, not even . . . Joyce would eventually be proven right in (7.22) "Chosen", the series finale. When Buffy, Spike, Faith, the Scoobies, Robin Wood, Dawn and the Potentials battled the First Evil’s army of Turok-Han vampires inside the Hellmouth; all they did – especially Spike – was ruin the First Evil's plans to upset the balance of good and evil in the mortal world. In my personal opinion, that imbalance already existed before Buffy’s first death in "Prophecy Girl". It never made any sense to me that a balance between good and evil had been maintained by the presence of one Slayer against a slew of vampires, demons and other forms supernatural evil for centuries. I suspect that the First Evil saw the presence of more than one Slayer and a vampire with a soul as a threat to that imbalance. Like many others, the First Evil believed that only one Slayer should exist. And as I had earlier stated, I found this belief rather ridiculous and I am glad that Buffy proved that it did not have to be so at the end of the series. Would the Watcher’s Council or the African shamans who had first created the Slayer line approve of the idea of more than one Slayer in existence? I rather doubt it. I suspect that they may have feared the idea of dealing with more than one Slayer . . . or even more than two. I suspect that controlling the Slayer or wielding her as a weapon mattered more to the shamans and the Watcher’s Council than the idea of more than one warrior against the forces of Evil. And I would not be surprised if the First Evil – or their own inner darkness – prevented them from considering this possibility. And I believe that is what the First Evil represented in Buffy’s story – the inner evil or negativity that she, her sisters and friends all harbored within themselves . . . and which they had to learn to acknowledge. Buffy’s conversation with the vampire sired by Spike – Holden Webster – forced her to face and acknowledge her own negative traits. By (7.15) "Get It Done", she also realized that her two most powerful allies – Willow and Spike – needed to face their own personal demons as well: BUFFY: The First isn't impressed. It already knows us. It knows what we can do, and it's laughing. You want to surprise the enemy? Surprise yourselves. Force yourself to do what can't be done, or else we are not an army - we're just a bunch of girls waiting to be picked off and buried. (Spike stands and walks toward the door) Where are you going? SPIKE: Out. Since I'm neither a girl, nor waiting. All this speechifying doesn't really apply to me, does it? (walks away) BUFFY: (calls after him) Fine. Take a cell phone. That way, if I need someone to get weepy or whaled on, I can call you. SPIKE: (turns to Buffy) If you've got something to say - BUFFY: Just said it. You keep holding back, you might as well walk out that door. SPIKE: Holding back? You're blind. I've been here, right in it - fighting, scrapping... BUFFY: Since you got your soul back? SPIKE: Well, as a matter of fact, I haven't quite been relishing the kill the way I used to. BUFFY: You were a better fighter then. SPIKE: I did this for you. The soul, the changes - it's what you wanted. BUFFY: What I want is the Spike that's dangerous. The Spike that tried to kill me when we met. SPIKE (angrily): Oh, you don't know how close you are to bringing him out. BUFFY: I'm nowhere near him. The above conversation was one of the most interesting I have ever come across during the series’ seven seasons run. A vampire Slayer – someone considered the epitome of "goodness and light" – encouraging a former killer to face that darkness that made him such an effective killer. She even gave a similar speech to Willow, who as "Darth Willow" nearly came close to destroying the world in the Season Six finale, (6.22) "Grave". Many fans had thought Buffy may have lost her mind. I understood what Buffy was trying to say. During Season Seven, Spike and Willow had spent most of it wallowing in guilt over certain acts they had committed in Season Six. I could probably say the same about Buffy. Like Spike and Willow, she learned to face her past treatment of the blond vampire in the episode, (7.08) "Conversations with Dead People". But duties and the re-emergence of the First Evil made her realize that she had no time to wallow in her guilt. Her rants against Spike and Willow in "Get It Done" expressed her own impatience with their guilt and tendencies to hold themselves back in fear of releasing the inner evil that made them fearsome. She forced both the vampire and the red-haired witch to realize that they can only be fully effective by learning to face their personal demons . . . and controlling it. By facing the many aspects of their nature, Spike and Willow could learn to develop as individuals. The First Evil’s activities forced Buffy to develop in another path. She had to start learning how to evolve beyond her inferiority/superiority complex and learn to connect with others . . . when the situation demanded. Thanks to her former Watcher, Rupert Giles, she tried to use this aloofness to become an authority figure to the many Potential Slayers that had arrived on her doorstep. She also had to learn not to allow her insecurities and fear (traits that originated from the negativity within) of being alone to give others like her former Watcher Rupert Giles and even her friends a chance to dictate her actions and behavior. Like Spike and Willow, she had to learn to become her own person. She had to stop being afraid to connect with others and at the same time, allowing them to dictate her behavior. In the end, I found Season Seven to be very complex and mature on a level that may have eluded certain viewers. Before the season first began, Whedon and Mutant Enemy had announced that the series would take viewers back to how it used to be during the earlier seasons. And perhaps that was what they had been looking forward to . . . simply recapturing the past. Season Seven did just that . . . but with a twist. The season reminded viewers that no one can recapture the past. Not really. In a way, Spike and Willow tried to recapture their former selves – the mild-mannered Victorian gentleman and the shy computer geek. And Buffy, at Giles’ orders, tried to enforce her authority upon the Potential Slayers as the Watchers’ Council had done to her in the past. Even the fans got into the act. They wanted Whedon to take this season back to what "BUFFY" used to be, failing to realize that would never happen. Buffy and the Scoobies could never go back to being what they used to be. Too much had changed for them over the years. They had changed. And so had the series. Not only did Buffy and the Scoobies' conflict with the First Evil - namely their own inner demons - made them realize they could not recapture their past. They may have learned something else. Battling the First Evil was like battling a part of themselves. And in battling themselves, they ended up battling their worst enemy. By allowing the characters to do so, Whedon continued the theme that had been prevalent throughout the series’ run . . . namely growing up.

#Buffy The Vampire Slayer #btvs season 7 #buffy sumers #spike the vampire #willow rosenberg #rupert giles #potential slayers #Sarah Michelle Gellar #James Marsters #alyson hannigan #anthony head #jossverse #the first evil #joss whedon #buffyverse #7x15 get it done #buffy the vampire slayer 7x15 #joyce summers #7x12 bring on the night #buffy the vampire slayer 7x12 #kristine sutherland

[213hiphopworldnews]

Coachella’s 2019 Lineup Is An Expertly Crafted Vision Of Where Music Is, And Where It’s Going

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We’re only three days into 2019 and already one of music’s biggest annual talking points has arrived. Go on social media and you’ll see countless takes about how Coachella’s 2019 is its worst ever or its best, with even a few rare evenhanded approaches that paint the latest docket as neither inherently good nor evil. The reality is that your opinion of the Coachella lineup largely depends on your opinion on the state of music in 2019. As is its power and prerogative, Coachella holds up a giant mirror to the cultural zeitgeist every year, reflecting the trends and interests back. If you don’t like what you see, it isn’t the fault of Coachella, it’s more that the music trends of the time aren’t resonating with you.

Few, if any, other festivals can do this because few have Coachella’s reach and vision. Sure, virtually any festival would love to book Lady Gaga following the Super Bowl or LCD Soundsystem’s first large-scale reunion shows or a Beyonce set that felt like it stopped the world from spinning for a couple hours. But no one else can do this, in major part because of the cultural cachet that the festival was worked so hard to build. This year will be the 20th Coachella and no other music event in the world matters in quite the same way. You don’t get there by trying to please everyone, you get there by constantly pushing forward and evolving as unapologetically as the music world at large does.

So while this list of artists that will descend on the gorgeous Southern California desert in April might just look like a list of names, we can break down what it means for the state of music as a whole, starting with a pop star who owned last year thanks to her artistry, her savviness, and a narrative that showed her to be one of the bravest and most resilient public figures to emerge in ages.

pic.twitter.com/v7RmGri9O0

— Coachella (@coachella) January 3, 2019

Ariana Grande

Feel like Ariana Grande could be in play after the critical love she is getting for this record.

— Philip Cosores (@Philip_Cosores) August 20, 2018

There’s no question that Ariana Grande owned 2018, and there is little inclination that she is going to slow down for 2019 thanks to an expected new album, Thank U, Next. But while songs like “No Tears Left To Cry” and the title track for her upcoming record became some of the biggest of her career (enough so that she actually gave the former song a huge live debut at Coachella last year), it felt like the booking that would make the most sense for Coachella couldn’t happen due to Grande’s gnarly tour schedule. But Grande is not going to let her moment pass her up and will complete a travel schedule that is generally unheard of for an artist of her caliber: Friday and Saturday performances in Indianapolis and St. Louis respectively, with Coachella on Sunday and then back to St. Paul for her arena tour again on Monday. For week two, it gets a little easier with her Coachella set sandwiched between stops in Denver and Salt Lake City on the days before and after. With Grande now the youngest ever Coachella headliner, she’s also showing that she might be the hardest working, too, a trait that also applies to Coachella’s second-biggest headliner.

Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino was an easy headliner to predict almost a year out. He scored the biggest musical hit of his career in 2018 with “This Is America,” was nominated for a ton of Emmys for Atlanta, starred in a Star Wars movie, and made a music video that is already an all-timer. For a festival that has long loved (and catered to) the celebrity class of southern California, getting a legitimate Hollywood star to close out a night is a no-brainer. Coupling Donald Glover with Janelle Monae on Friday, another musician/actor that represents something bigger than just a recording output, gives the festival a star quality that it has rarely seen previously.

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No Kanye?

By all reports, Tame Impala seems to be the last headliner added thanks to negotiations breaking down late in the game with Kanye West. But even without Kanye on the lineup, his presence is majorly felt. Why else would Kid Cudi be so high up on the Saturday bill? And with other slots by known Kanye associates like Pusha T and 070 Shake, the stage was set for both an epic West headlining set and possible Kanye guest appearances throughout the weekend. That’s not saying this is off the table. Kanye loves showing up unannounced (and has previously done so at Coachella on numerous occasions with the likes of Jack U and The Weeknd), so we can’t count out a MAGA hat appearance just yet. But this ultimately feels like a gift to anyone that’s a little sick of Kanye’s political ramblings, as well as to rock fans who didn’t have a headliner in their preferred genre in 2018.

And let’s not discount the presence that Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker has had across genres of late, working with the likes of Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky, Zhu, and Lady Gaga. Who knows what the band has in store for 2019, but the possibilities have never felt more open. Still, this does ultimately feel like a lost opportunity for Kanye to do something special and get himself out of the doghouse in many fan’s eyes.

International Acts

Coachella has always acknowledged that it is more than just an LA festival or an American festival, and has booked accordingly throughout its run. If you walk around the polo fields, you’ll find fans traveling in from the far corners of the world just to take in the spectacle, and more and more, the sounds of non-English artists are resonating domestically. This previously manifested in acts from Mexico to serve its Spanish speaking audience and the occasional act from much farther away, like X Japan or Mbongwana Star. But because non-English language music has found its way more and more into American pop music’s consciousness, this year’s Coachella finds artists representing the worlds of Latin trap and K-pop and J-pop and reggaeton, and not just in the tiny font. Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Blackpink all pop up on the second line and are already proving to be some of the most anticipated artists on the bill, with other acts like Hyukoh, Perfume, Rosalia, and Los Tucanes de Tijuana showing up further down the lineup. Every festival features artists from around the world, but Coachella is actively curating a festival that incorporates a global sound as diverse as the musical tastes of the general population. This really feels like a tipping point in the best possible ways.

The Music From 2019 We’re Excited To Hear

One of the most exciting aspects of festival lineup announcements is the glimpse it gives as to what is to come for the year. With Coachella, that includes someone like Solange, who has already hinted at new music to come and seems primed to make that a reality (and, it should be noted, guested with sister Beyonce last year and has previously had Beyonce guest with her at Coachella). Of course, Tame Impala falls into this category too, if mostly because the band has already played Coachella in support of their most recent album, 2015’s Currents. And in addition to already announced new music from artists like Maggie Rogers, Gesaffelstein, and The 1975, we now know to expect likely new tunes from Beach Fossils, Kaytranada, Four Tet, and others. And of course there is the possibility that headliner Childish Gambino has a record to offer before April.

Philip Cosores

The Best Music Of 2018

This is an argument I make every year, but I’m going to make it again. When you think of the ideal music festival, wouldn’t it be filled with the very best music that has been created in the last year. Like, isn’t that the hope? And like it does every year, Coachella is filled with just that. Kacey Musgraves, Janelle Monae, The 1975, Soccer Mommy, Ariana Grande, Jon Hopkins, and Pusha T all placed highly on our best albums of the year, while Childish Gambino, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Juice WRLD, Sheck Wes, Ella Mai, Anderson Paak, Zedd, and Chvrches all found their way onto our best songs list. In our genre categories, we featured Playboi Carti, YG, King Princess, Kero Kero Bonito, Smino, Christine And The Queens, Sophie, Turnstile, Hop Along, Blood Orange, Let’s Eat Grandma, and U.S. Girls. And both Rico Nasty and Maggie Rogers were named on our best concerts list. In all, it’s hard to figure how a lineup could better represent the best of what music has to offer in exactly this moment.

And Not To Mention…

And even with all these shout-outs, it feels like Coachella does not run out of talking points. How about a DJ set from Stringer Bell himself, Idris Elba? Or great local artists like Steady Holiday, The Garden, and Ty Segall & White Fence? What about finding out whetherGucci Gang, the collaboration between Gucci Mane, Lil Pump, and Smokepurpp, ends up being any good? Or whether the festival’s resident old dudes, Weezer and Aphex Twin, can attract the young kids? Rising stars like Khalid, Billie Eilish, Tierra Whack, and H.E.R. will have coming out parties in the desert, while buzzy underground artists like Yves Tumor and Khurangbin will have the chance to see if they can make sense in a more pop-oriented environment. In all, this is what music is in 2019, and whether or not that resonates with you depends on how you view the state of music as a whole. Popular music in 2019 is younger, more diverse, possibly not even in English, and cares little about the traditional gatekeepers that decided what was cool. And that’s what Coachella is now, too. It’s not about what Coachella was, it’s about what Coachella will continue to be.

source https://uproxx.com/music/coachella-2019-lineup-reaction/

#hiphop #hip hop legend #hip hop history #hip hop #music #trending #hip hop news #ballin #hip hop scen

[stories-aha-blog]

Why Game of Thrones, ultimately, doesn’t make it among my top ranking series

There are obviously a whole number of things I like about Game of Thrones --- why else would I’ve been watching every single episode so far, and watched particular scenes over and over again on youtube? It’s always a good idea to start with the things you like about a story, rather than the things you dislike. And I promise I’ll try to deliver on this in the future, but right now, I feel like ranting a bit about why, ultimately, I very much doubt that either “Game of Thrones”, the tv series, nor “A Song of Ice and Fire”, the novel series, will ever make it into my top top ranking stories.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: There is the whole “White Walkers” / “The Others” thing, that consumes a lot of screen time, and becomes a major driver of the plot in the later, and that I find utterly boring or “without potential”.

Okay so it’s important to approach things with an open mind. The fact alone, that that it would never cross my mind to somehow make the whole subject of “manifest supernatural evil”, or “evil menace looming behind the horizon” part of one of my stories alone, proofs nothing. When I ask myself "what’s the most similar thing I can think of, that actually DID end up working for me”, at least one thing comes to mind. The Dominion in “Star Trek: Deep Space 9″. If you haven’t watched it: At some stage, very subtly at first, and very much on the margin of what happens, rumors and first signs start to pop up, that there is some other, alien power looming in some other Quadrant of the Galaxy, that has a record of enslaving other races. As the story progresses, more and more facts start to pop up, until there is actually contact, conflict, and ulitmately full out “world war”, or “galaxy war”, resulting from from this, putting the federation on the brink of defeat.

The reason that worked for me, is that ultimately it becomes revealed ---- I’m not gonna worries about spoiling this here, since the series is so old and dated and not really worth watching any more ---- the whole Dominion thing isn’t simply some featureless incorporation of evil, like, say, it is much more the case for the Borg, but that there is a kind of touching backstory behind it, of the creaturs that started the Dominion,were actually a very week and powerless beings, that, as a result, got “bullied” by other neighbouring races, until they decided to make sure this was never going to happen again, by kind of establishing proxy races, that would lead their wars for them, and enslave the neigbouring races, as sort of a somewhat out of proportion preemptive strike.

You know that you are on to something, when you create something that is uttlerly fantastic, but the proves to be quite valuable as a metaphor for describing certain real life constellations.

I wasn’t aware of it when I watched Deep Space 9 in the 90s, but recently it dawned on me, that the Dominion is actually quite a good metaphor for the policies of the present day Iran ... leadership or whatever you want to call them. (I am approaching this from a strictly storytelling point of view here, not from a political angle, or from an angle “which side would I side with?”.) They are technologically inferior, they had the experience of an ongoing draining war with their neighbour Irak under Saddam Hussein, they experienced the US sacking Iraq with their technologically far superior army ---- and, partly as a consequence of this, partly fuelled by religious zeal, they decide to “defend” themselves by establishing proxy armies, like the Hesbollah or, more recently, their ways of strengthening their ties with Hamas, to direct any kind of military threat away from their territory.

Even if this parallel should not resonate with you, you may still kind of agree with me, that something like the Dominion, has far more story telling potential, than the unstructered, language less, Others, whose character less nature makes them more similar to some menace arising from nature, like a volcano, or and earthquake, or what have you.

White Walkers are a waste of Screen Time.

That for me, would be the most obvious place to start.

Then ---  while we are at it --- there is the plot driving element of prophecies.

Prophecies are a perfect means to string people’s attention along. But, like the element of “unstructered, unpersonalized evil” --- they are a bit of a cheap trick, in that they simply can’t deliver. To my best knowledge ---- the real world simply doesn’t allow for anything that comes even close to “real prophecies”. So again, the books and series spends considerable amount of time on something that is of zero value, other than encouraging people to come up with solutions to the puzzles inherent in them. (Who is the Valoncar? Who are the three riders of the dragon? Who is the prince that was promised? etc. etc.)

But it’s not even the most important item for me.

The most important thing for me, off the top of my head, would probably have to be the fact that ... let me put this in a denouncing, devaluing way first, and then try to improve on it ... that George R. R. Martin’s characters are simply too boring, and his fantasies are too simplistic, to warrant spending extended amount of times on them.

Think of the Starks. Ned, Catlyn, Rob ---- all complete bores. Just like Bran, apart from the things that are happening to him. The two girls may have a tiny bit more potential, but as soon as we come to Jon Snow, we are back to complete bore.

To me those are characters, that come pretty close to “insignificant young clerk with no distinctive qualities gets thrown into a position where he has to save the universe”.

The characters that maybe come closest to being interesting in my sense, would probably have to be Tyrion and Oberyn. But even with those, similar things apply. Yes, Tyrion likes to hang out with whores and thieves. But, you know ... that by itself doesn’t make him all that intersting. And Oberyn is too much of a clichee, “throw in a little bit of everything, a little bit of martial arts, a little bit of studying at the Citadel, a little bit of traveling the remote and mysterious part of the world, a penchant for sexual experimentation, with just the right amount of bi curious --- and voila, you have your interesting character”. No. What is Oberyn driven by? By revenge for his sister. And also maybe a bit by providing for his daughters, in his own Obery way. That simply doesn’t make for an intersting character. They’ve both been known to act somewhat non harmlessly, or even ruthlessly, at certain times, so I’ll give them that. But that alone is not enough for me.

And those are the best candidates for interesting characters.

Yes, of course, you got Joffrey and Ramsey. But they are too one track minded vicious to count. How many people seriously empathize with either of them? Now very many, I would imagine.

It’s a bit like Quentin Tarrantino movies: Showing people casually committing atrocities --- to me is not a sign of being willing to explore the darker sides of one’s soul; but a sign of simple nerdiness. A slightly childish joy in shocking suprising the audience, and of indulging in urban legends.

Compare this to, say, some of the stories of Hagra here on tumblr, or ???, where you can see much more genuine drivenness and interest in these things at work.

Yes, “Game of Thrones” does have to count as a “day dream story”, that does make an effort to deliver things that are meant to stirr awe in one’s heart. But they are the fantasies of a person, that is ultimately too harmless for my taste. Yes, he kills off his characters in shocking and unexpected ways, that are not just played for their shock value, but actually do a good job of invicting making one --- or at least making me --- feel the tragedy. But that alone is not enough. Compare this to, say, “The Liaisons Dangereuses”, or the novels of Genet, or even people like Pedro Juan Gutierrez or Bukowski, where the very fact that the non harmless events they show tend to be somewhat less spectacular than in the case of people like Tarantino or Stephen Kind ---- and also, in my mind, Martin --- is a strong hint that they are engaging with deep rooted dispositions, as opposed to “visiting evil for the sake of thrills or entertainment, like a tourist”.

“This time, I will write books as big as my imagination”.

Yes a wall made of ice, that is more 700 feet tall, is a spectacular sight. As are dragons. But they are nerdy spectacular.

“Upping the ante, always has to go in the direction of the subtle, not of the spectacular.”

“A Song of Ice and Fire” is good at many things. It’s good at delayed pay-off. It’s good a posing riddles and puzzles, that inspire fans to come up with their own theories and suggestions for solutions. It’s good at creating drama and tragedy, and it’s good at creating “cozy situations” and settings, like, say, Sam and Jon having converations during their night watch on top of the wall. The writers of “Game of Thrones” the tv show are super good at writing strong dialogues, that have perfected the skill of achieving the maximum effect with “not one word too many”.

Game of Thrones excells at the use of story telling devices.

But no matter how good you are at HOW to tell your story, there will always be an upper limit induced by WHAT you tell. What your story is about. How captivating and deep and intriguing the subject matter of the story is.

George Martin writes Fantasy for a reason.

Yes, his capacity for taking his characters seriously and following whereever they make take him, is impressive. But that alone isn’t enough. Yes he paints a larger than life, alluring-with-respect-to-Marin world. But alluring-with-respect-to-Marin is simply too far removed from the things I find alluring, for the story to make it among my top top faves.

#writing #storytelling #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire