#I have a lot more to nitpick but these were my impressions right off the bat too

[boydepartment]

Hii. So can you write sim for Hoon where like him and reader are ice skating partners and aren’t really the biggest fans of eachother but they end up kissing once or twice but reader tries to go back to how they were before but SH wasn’t having it. IDK💀 Idek if you write this kinda stuff

stfu - park sunghoon x reader (skating au)

a/n: i have never ice skated in a professional way in my life nor done competitive sport anything. SO IM GONNA TRY MY BEST! :3 also! i am totally okay with writing stuff w smooching :) i just wont write smut so you’re all good anon i pinky promise

warnings- annoyances to lovers, bickering, i wouldn’t really call it angst, kissing obviously lolz kinda open ended and i am open minded to doing a pt 2 this time

wc- 400-500

MASTERLIST

park sunghoon was annoying.

and hot, but mainly annoying. when you found out you had to work with him because your managers wanted a collaboration between the both of you, both you and mr. annoyingly hot were not pleased with the information.

obviously you were both in competitive skating and anything and every opportunity was a competition

it was weird though having to work on this competition together as a team.

you sat down on the bench after a somewhat successful practice with him. he really was professional on the rink. you took a swig of water.

“you need to practice landing more. you almost fell, i saw your leg shake.” sunghoon sat next to you.

your eye twitched and you went to stand up with your bag, “you’re not my trainer or manager.”

“yeah but like it or not i’m your partner right now.” sunghoon looked up at you, you looked down at him, “the last thing i want is for you to fuck this up for the both of us. because i know im not going to mess it up.” he stood up and placed his hand on your shoulder, “so please take-“

you slapped it away and kept glaring at him, “i’ll see you tomorrow.”

that’s how your interactions went for almost every practice, he would nitpick you, you’d bite back, he’d be snarky, and you’d both go home.

that was your relationship. until one practice where things got a WHOLE lot more complicated.

you were waiting outside to get picked up after practice, it was a warmer spring day and you were enjoying the balance between the cold of the rink, and the warmer night air.

“do you need a ride?”

you looked over and saw sunghoon, “i have someone picking me up.” your phone buzzed and your ride was apologizing profusely, cancelling on you.

“looks like you don’t anymore. did you annoy them that bad?” sunghoon asked looking over your shoulder.

“fuck off, sunghoon.” you turned your heel preparing to go wait for the bus but he softly grabbed your bag.

“i’ll give you a ride home.” his voice was stern.

“okay why?” you flipped around, you weren’t impressed by this gentlemanly act.

sunghoon looked at you, “it’s nighttime and you’re walking to the sketchy ass bus stop by yourself. let alone riding the bus by yourself. it’s late.”

you looked at him, “okay and you don’t think i could handle myself?”

“walking alone and taking a sketchy bus is dangerous for anyone. plus if someone wanted to kidnap you they’d let you go in 5 minutes tops because you yap too much.” he said simply, turning around to start walking. you followed him angrily.

“i don’t yap! you’re fucking ridiculous! you talk more than i do!”

“no i don’t. you asked for an explanation i gave you one.”

your shoes were loud on the concrete and it made sunghoon laugh slightly.

“you’re so fucking annoying! i can handle myself!” you don’t know why but you were following him to his car, he was right about the bus and you already had bad experiences. but lying was better than admitting he was right.

“mhm.” sunghoon hummed and unlocked his car, walking to the passengers side to presumably open the door for you.

“i can open the door myself! i’m perfectly capable of-“

you were cut off by him pinning you to the car by your waist. your breath hitched.

“perfectly capable of what?” he asked, his eyebrow perked up ever so slightly.

you went to speak but he beat you to it, “i easily just pinned you to the car, and you can’t do anything about it. what makes you think i’d let you walk home or take the bus alone?”

you felt yourself not being able to talk, looking at him with wide eyes, your heartbeat on fast forward.

“like i said a few weeks ago, whether you like it or not, you’re my skating partner right now and i’m not letting you be reckless because you’re too fucking stubborn to think about anyone but your burning hatred for me.” his grip tightened slightly before loosening.

“who said i hated you? and who said i think about you?” your spark of annoyance came back.

he chuckled and looked away, his side profile and laugh making your knees buckle ever so slightly, “no one has to tell me for me to just know y/n.”

sunghoon looked back at you and leaned down to your level, “no one has to tell me for me to know that i drive you fucking crazy on and off the rink.”

your whole face contorted in anger and you placed your hand on his collar before he leaned in more to crash his lips into yours.

all you remember is how your hands felt in his hair and the feeling of his hands sneaking under the bottom of your shirt to softly touch your bare waist.

after that night, right after practice you would already have an uber waiting for you. you wouldn’t run into him. you’d avoid him after work hours. and act professional on the rink.

after the practice the night before the competition you walked to the bathroom. you wanted to take a breather and wash your hands. when you looked up in the mirror you saw sunghoon standing against the stalls.

“what the fuck are you doing in here? this is the girls bathroom!”

“rinks closed. closed practice remember?”

you turned around and leaned on the sink, “so you waited for me in here like a fucking creep?”

“you’ve been avoiding me, why? that’s not very good chemistry for the competition…” he shook his head disapprovingly and walked toward you.

“so you only kissed me to focus on that? work?” you scoffed and looked away, “very typical of you sunghoon.”

he pulled you closer to him just like he did that night, “no. you’re not just some business partner to me. obviously i like you and i refuse to sit back and not let you at least be aware of that.”

“you what…?” you breathed out.

sunghoon chuckled again before leaning down to you, his lips so close to touching yours, “do i need to repeat myself? i like you. cancel your stupid uber and i will give you a ride home.”

he pulled away from you and started walking out of the bathroom, “we’re going out to get food too. hope you like western food.”

“o-okay…” you mumbled touching your lips before he fully walked out.

what the fuck was going on?

#enhypen #kpop #enha #enhypen imagines #enha imagines #enhypen x reader #enhypen scenarios #park sunghoon imagines #enha park sunghoon #enhypen park sunghoon #park sunghoon x reader #park sunghoon #enhypen comfort #enha comfort #park sunghoon comfort #sunghoon fluff #sunghoon x reader #sunghoon imagines #enhypen sunghoon #sunghoon #sunghoon angst #enhypen fluff #enha fluff #enhypen icons #enha angst #enha pics #enha x reader #enha icons #heeseung imagines #jake sim imagines

[marshmallow-biscuit-blog]

Disability Pride Month - Narcissism

(red sentences are my particular thoughts/reactions to situations and not verified studies. Yeah, I guess I'ma be frank and let you see I'ma little fucking bitch. Enough with my mask.) Reminder that narcissism isn't a personality trait and that it's a disorder. A true narcissist cannot help it. It doesn't make our behavior okay, but just like a schizophrenic person can't help their delusional behavior, a narcissist can't help that we have an elevated sense of self worth. It's incredibly rude and hurtful to use the word as a quirky personality trait. Use our term correctly. Narcissistic people often seem extremely confident, but in reality we're highly unsure of ourselves and have extremely low self worth and break at the smallest nitpicks. We have a tendency to cling to people in a show off way, but mainly because we like these people and we want to impress them. Because we're trying to be "better" but also because we're so desperate to be good enough for them, that it comes across as being better than thou type of situation. Someone can say something like "I had ___ experience" and we try to one up it. Not just because we want to be better, but because we don't want you to lose interest. It's a fear factor of losing someone we care about because "we're not good enough/interesting enough." because they had a slightly more interesting situation. That leads onto the fear of rejection. If someone dislikes us, unlike most people being able to "oh well, they weren't worth my time anyways" and shrug it off, it becomes an end of the world situation for a narcissistic individual. Why wasn't I good enough? What haven't I done? Why am I not good enough? Just because narcissists are full of themselves and have elevated self worth, that doesn't mean they don't have guilt and shame for things. In fact, for me, guilt and shame takes up a LOT of my mental space and makes me feel the need to be BETTER than others to compensate for it. I find myself going "shit why'd I brag about that in that moment?" And I over react, and the cycle continues. We have a really hard time being vulnerable. We don't like to share our little secrets. We don't want to seem weak or imperfect, and what other way to do that than to say "Oh yeah I was just crying the other day because blah blah blah" no why would we say we were crying? Can't let you know we're crying, that lets you know that we finally broke down over something, and that gives you a chance to break us down more. It's our job to make you feel like you can break down into our arms and why we're your "only safe space" because we're a greedy bastard and we'll be jealous and honestly really hurt for some reason if you have any others. One thing I feel I don't have space to talk about along side other narcissists is emotions since despite being diagnosed with narcissism, I'm highly empathetic towards others and will literally sob over things people tell me even if I don't know what to do, so I'll speak from an entirely research based response here. (Though, my psychologist does say that empathetic narcissists are a thing, and that's what he diagnosed me as, so lol) Anyways, many narcissists have a hard time keeping up relationships because they lack empathy. I'd say that's the only reason I HAVE any decent relationships with anybody, because really, I'm a fucking bitch. I mean, I'd defend you or something, but the first thought through my head would also be "what about me though" Sorry about the long rant, but yeah. Stop misusing the word narcissist/narcissism. We may not be right, but we can't help it either. Best we can do is go the therapy. (also, I'm sure there's plenty of typos, if so I apologize.)

#narcissistic personality disorder #disability pride month #diagnosed narcissist #empathetic narcissist #narcissist #narcissism

[beevean]

With the caveat that I can't comment on the actual gameplay because I sucked at it (yes, even in easy mode), I want you to know that the problem with Frontiers is most certainly NOT you. I liked Sage because I like most characters like Sage, but even if I enjoyed her scenes with Eggman, there were lots of moments where I kept putting down my Switch like "wait...would he ACTUALLY behave like this tho?" And if the doubts hit a kidfic fiend like me, I can't imagine what they did to a genuinely knowledgeable person like me (btw yes, the ending was VERY...boh?????)

"Boh" is ngl the perfect word to describe most things about Frontiers' story lmao, rip english we're built different :'D

IIRC Flynn said that the ending is like that because of time restraints. Which, okay, it's not uncommon for Sonic games to be rushed and it's not the writers' fault. But it says something that the ending focused so much on Eggman being saaaaad that his AI got destroyed (not long before recreating it perfectly in the golden ending, way to cheapen a supposedly emotional moment), while Sonic apparently doesn't give a single shit about her and her sacrifice. yeah. because sonic has always been always so flippant in the face of the death of others, am i right sa2, battle, unleashed :^)

I'm kind of the opposite and I find Sage's archetype too generic to be enjoyed in a vanilla state. I keep referencing Rei because Sage is so blatantly inspired from her that the Death Egg looks original by comparison, but Rei has not only a much sadder backstory and situation, she has a much more unique personality than Sage, mostly when she sasses back and displays an acute emotional intelligence. Sage... really doesn't have much other than her desire to be seen as a daughter by her creator. Apparently she told a joke off-screen? But it's such an odd inclusion that it nearly feels OOC rather than a way to give her depth.

And Gamma did the "Eggman's creation grows emotions" arc better, come at me.

Sonic was fine, to be fair. I can't really remember a moment of his that stood out as being OOC (aside from what I mentioned above lol), and I liked how he impressed Sage with his perseverance once his corruption hit a critical point: no snark, no arrogance, just a grin through gritted teeth. That's a good Sonic :)

Knuckles was also good! He had good chemistry with Sonic and his writing felt earnest overall. His arc is a little... I don't know, maybe the idea of him detatching himself from the ME is a little late now? But that's a nitpick.

But hey, still better than Amy and Tails, who deadass learn respectively how to "share love" (Amy???? the one who befriended Gamma and Shadow????? what's next, does Sonic have to learn to accept the help of his friends???????) and to not be wildly inconsistent break free from Sonic's shadow, which he already did in SA1, a game at this point older than most of the fanbase.

And Eggman is. Yeah. I think I said enough lol.

Anyway, thank you for coming forward to not make me feel insane lmao :'D

#sonic the hedgehog

[ericaxkobi]

SPOILERS for the new Mario Bros. Movie

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..

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Okay, so I’m not typically the type of person to share my thoughts and opinions like this on social media. Not for anything that’s brand new and just came out and there’s a chance someone will see spoilers for it if they read my post.

But I cannot stay silent on this one. I NEED to talk about the Mario Bros. Movie.

I saw it on Good Friday with my friend since we had both been looking forward to it.

I’ll start off by saying, I went into the theater with very low hopes. Not because I wasn’t impressed by the trailers and tv spots, but because I didn’t want to be let down if I didn’t see something I had hoped to see.

I wasn’t disappointed. At all.

I won’t lie, the Voice Actors were my biggest nitpick. (That and the overall pacing of the movie), but I feel like there was enough going on that I wasn’t CONSTANTLY reminded that Chris Pratt isn’t even Italian and Peach didn’t sound like Peach, etc. etc.

I liked Mario a lot more than I expected to. I like how they made him more relatable and not just this untouchable hero that he’s often depicted as. He felt like a normal guy thrown into a crazy world and just trying to find his little brother. The overall plot of the story is pretty simple. Peach and Bowser are at way and Mario and Luigi get caught in the middle of it—on opposing sides. They’re just trying to make it out alive.

I’m pretty sure I was smiling like an idiot 90% of the movie because I was just so in awe by the beautiful animation and designs. Hundreds of tiny details and Easter eggs and references from the Mario franchise EVERYWHERE. It just shows that the creators really took the time to add those details and little sounds and music bits to honor the games. I loved that.

So, we get to see Mario and Luigi’s family. That was a lovely surprise. We don’t see them for very long, but we get a sense that Mario isn’t taken very seriously in his family—which is often the complete opposite of how we’re used to seeing him. It’s a nice change that I do like. It technically is a commonly used trope where the hero is looked down at the start and praised later but it feels more refreshing in this case.

Mario’s dad comments that Mario is going down with his new plumbing business and “dragging his brother with him”.

Okay, since when was Mario the one dragging Luigi down? That was a nice change. Luigi wasn’t exactly the golden child either, since everyone at the table but their mother and Mario himself ignored him, but I was still not expecting that.

Mario hates mushrooms. I love that. He gives Luigi his mushrooms the second Lu says he likes them. (Also, “Lu” as Mario’s nickname for him. ❤️)

It’s shown straight off the bat that Mario and Luigi are close. They’re best friends. They do everything together. They’re in sync and truly twin brothers (don’t think it’s ever stated they’re legit twins but to me it seemed heavily implied and has been stated so in the games). Luigi comforts Mario and encourages him to keep going.

I think that’s the pivotal message in the movie: brotherly love. They’re a set. They’re better together and nothing bad can happen so long as they have each other.

Luigi….I could talk forever about how adorable Luigi was. The same can be said about Mario. Just too cute for words.

Toad….. I would have liked him better if not for his voice. Didn’t sound right at all. But ignoring that, I liked him. He was a bit much at times but not necessarily in a bad way.

Peach was badass. Her voice didn’t bother me…but I would have preferred it had they gotten someone who sounded MORE like Peach. I think what I don’t understand is, why didn’t Peach do anything about Bowser before the start of the movie? Clearly Bowser had been taking over lands before reaching the Ice Kingdom (penguins). I get that Bowser found the Power Star, but shouldn’t she have been trying to rally supporters before then? Maybe not, but I did wonder it.

Bowser was the perfect combination of terrifying and ridiculous. Jack Black did a fabulous job and I loved his portrayal.

The REUNION HUG!! If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m feeling just thinking about it!

Omg! That was one of the few things I was secretly demanding— an emotional hug from the brothers and I was not disappointed!

DK and Mario rivalry? Amusing and enjoyable.

Luigi. ❤️ (That’s it. I just wanted to say that amazing man’s name again).

The Mario Kart stuff was cool. They executed the whole sequence better than I thought.

I also liked the end battle. I was not expecting things to end up in Brooklyn but I feel like it helped tie in the beginning stuff so that it wasn’t left unfinished.

Overall, loved the movie. Can’t wait see it again and own it. I will definitely be buying it when it comes out!

Thanks for reading and listening to my opinion!

Lemme know what you guys thought of it too!

#the super mario bros movie spoilers #super mario bros #Luigi #Mario

[fizzingwizard]

a brief complaint? observation? complervation? obserplaint

I don't watch Riverdale, but this is tumblr and it was impossible to not hear about the final season hijinks, namely the polycule. alright thats cool but i couldnt help side-eyeing how it's really the boys get to sleep with all the girls, and the girls get to sleep with each other as well as the boys... but the boys aren't physically interested in each other. recently i read a quote from one of the show creators where they said Archie/Jughead would have been "too hot" which, lol, but Betty/Veronica isn't?? but anyway was certainly a joke, as the rest was about not forcing something to happen for the sake of representation.

individually all of that is fine, and i hate to nitpick but... I can't help it. I really can't. You tick all the boxes, not for wonderful lgbtqia couples, but for a male fantasy: you can date more than one girl you find hot and they're also bi and into each other. Not part of the typical fantasy are having to share the girls with another guy, and not actually watching the girls at it yourself. But that doesn't matter, because the fantasy isn't for Archie and Jughead, it's for the viewers. Who get to see everything.

Just a few years ago we X-men fans were treated to the great Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops threesome. This was the culmination of literally decades of pining, envy, and truly epic ship wars. At first I was like, wow, really?? Even Cyke and Wolvie getting it on with each other? But that wasn't it - all three of them weren't together - Cyke and Wolvie just each got a piece of Jean and had to live with each other also having a piece of her. It was the sharing of the woman in the relationship which was seen as so amazing and "progressive." My bf was like "lucky Jean!" Meanwhile my reaction was, holy shit, do not want.

If I really believed this threesome came about because it's what Jean wants, that'd be one thing - and yes I'm aware Jean is fictional and can want whatever the writers want. But not even superhero comics are written in a vacuum. All I could see in my head was the writers throwing Jean to the dogs like a piece of meat. "You both want her? You can both have her!" I didn't, and don't see how Jean mattered in any way except that both Scott and Logan want her. And tbh, if they had done the same thing, but also made Jean in love with Ororo, I would still feel the same way: that the Ororo bit was shoehorned in to make people like me whine less about the curious lack of balance here. Lucky Jean, indeed.

So there's two situations which are canonical in their respective universes. It's kind of stunning to me. We lept right past "gay male representation" to "male fantasy re-spun as gay representation." The guys get the girl. The girls make out with each other. The guys still get to be like "no homo, bro," somehow. And this is like, so progressive. What's progressive about it?? Men have been watching lesbian porn since forever. My brother once told me he didn't believe women who said they were bi were really bi because he assumed they were lying to impress men with their bi-ness. Then there's the "sharing with another man" thing which I guess is such an impressive feat. Isn't that just a form of voyeurism though. Don't lots of people get off just on knowing their partner is wanted by others? I'm not seeing the sexual liberation here. I just see girls being sexy in ways men have always wanted them to be, and the men just kinda existing.

Some people insist the greater acceptance of women-loving-women on screen means women in general have far more sexual freedom than men. But being free because people think you're non-sexual or that your sexuality is for them, thus controllable, isn't freedom. There's a reason people believe Queen Victoria thought it was impossible to be a lesbian. She didn't actually. But people were happy to think she did, because they secretly didn't understand how it was possible for two women who lack the right "equipment" lol. That was culture talking. Furthermore, half of what allowed women to sneak around having fun lesbian times with each other was homophobia itself. Because women (in our strict, transphobic gender binary definition) don't have dicks. In many societies around the world, it was historically okay for men to have sex with other men as long as they were the "penetrating" partner. The one in the "male" role. To be in the "female" role was degrading. (There were also class distinctions that determined which role someone would be, depending on the culture.)

It was about pride and dominance. (This stood out to me in the comments on the Archie polycule article: fans [whoops it was the writer of the article!] were worried about how Archie and Jughead's actors would have felt about having to do homosexual scenes with each other. But they didn't express any concern at all for the possibility that Betty and Veronica's actresses may have not liked it.) And for some reason, it still is today. You can have TV lesbians, not because you're so progressive and pro-women loving women, but because lesbians are hot. But TV gays are another matter. They're not hot, at least if what you're trying to construct isn't queer representation, but a male fantasy. It's embarrassing to admit you, a man, are attracted to your male friend, let alone that you have soft feelings toward him. Honestly, even the lesbian relationships are often reduced to their sexual aspect and free of any solid foundation for why these two women picked each other. Which, I mean, it's all good to have fun for fun's sake as long as everything is safe sane and consensual. But it is rather playing in to the stereotype that homosexuals are sex-obsessed, and will wind up in socially-acceptable, straight relationships when they decide they want to have families and contribute to society.

I realize I've only used two examples here, Riverdale and X-men. Which don't really have much in common (although also more than you might think, haha). One reason why I fixed on them is that they're both media with a history. They've been around forever. They have fans across ideological and political spectra. We've seen a lot more positive queer relationships in movies and TV over the past fifteen or twenty years, including gay male relationships, and that's awesome. But by and large it stayed away from the most popular characters in these long-lasting brands. Wolverine has an alternate universe self who is gay and in a relationship with Hercules. It is hairy and bold, I guess. But not as bold as Wolverine being gay. And I'm not saying he has to be. I agree that queer relationships shouldn't be forced. I am saying I think it's curious that Wolverine can't be gay, but he can be in a threesome where he and Scott both get what they want, Jean, and the male fans don't need to feel uncomfortable, and can tell their girlfriends that Jean is so lucky. And Riverdale, like I said I'm not a fan, I never watched it, but my impression is that it was pretty weird and strange in a lot of ways... weird and strange enough to let its female characters be in love with each other as well as the boys... but not weird enough for the boys to do the same? I do think that if these weren't media with such a long history, things would be different. But no one wanted to upset the "true fans." And what makes a true fan is not wanting male characters to be gay. Female characters, sure, that's hot! But if you're waggling your brow at the male ones you must be just into it for the hot guys and incapable of fully appreciating the series. Lol. Double standard what?

This is more or less my struggle with poly relationships in media. It's not that I don't think they should be there. I just think that all the ones I've seen have been cop-outs on the writer's part, either because they don't want to disappoint fans by picking one ship to be end game or because they want the media fuss a poly relationship will make. While, ultimately, the poly relationships in question are just the sort that anyone who's used the internet in the past two decades has seen in porn ads way more times than we wanted to. Where is the polycule where the guys are dating the girls, but also dating each other, and the girls aren't interested in each other sexually at all? I can tell you where to find it: fanfiction! On a popular TV show though? You know, a place where men are more likely to see it? Hmm. Maybe tomorrow...

#random #talkin about poly and homophobia etc

[windlion]

Malevolent podcast scream-along part 2, let's go!

Roll out of hospital bed, defeat a demon, stagger out into the morning streets with a complete lack of medical discharge-- yep this fits the genre

Ep title: "The Hill." Could it, perhaps, be a Silent Hill?

Let's just assume John-the-Passenger is providing some convenient CON boosts

And either John gave him control of the hand back or this impromptu jam session is a lot more impressive than it first seems

This hits me every time but you guys did not look into the currency value for the supposed time period and I'm just all ". . . well it's already an AU anyways"

(Otherwise SOMEONE lost a hat with like several years' wages in it and I hope those were smaller bills or Arthur is going to be one even-more-conspicuous MFer)

Speaking of: did you really just waltz into a store and ask for a big ass gun, ammo, flashlights, and a crowbar. Did you. Really.

WITH NO ID AND NO STORY

Could you *at least* have presented that in a less suspicious way!

Jon from TMA and Arthur solidarity in being absolute shit at telling lies

Actually they probably had f' all ID requirements in the time period

And then *everyone* is shady/eldritch as fuck! Woo!

You might mention the murder as a reason to be buying a gun?!

Writer nitpick: this is just personal opinion but I like my bullshit to feel grounded, so there's a solid baseline of reality vs Everything Else. . . but it could also be an entirely valid approach to have the narrator being increasingly unreliable and detached from reality because: Cthulhu.

OH delightful it's Creepy Old Lady, round two

*sounds of distant death* Arthur, "Time to be a good Samaritan and die horribly!"

This clearly is going to end well!

"Everyone is *wrong*" YOU DON'T SAY, JOHN

I am waiting for the partner to Come Back Wrong and for that to be why he's not being charged with murder yet because there was not actually a corpse - aside from the possibly-possessed janitor

Arthur: "This is not fast-forwarding fast enough for me!"

John: "You can only trust me, Arthur."

Time to go find your boat with a head in it!

Okay, fine, any boat can have a severed head in it, just give it time. I believe in you, boys

Just two bros. In a boat. Singing love tunes. Chilling 0 ft apart, because one's possessing the other.

John. Eldritch Buddy. You want to sound a little less like a sociopath there, dude

"This is fucked up, clearly we're in the right place."

*squints* ancient graveyard . . . in the US. . . there for centuries . . . why is it European. . .

did you just get suckered into being the new lighthouse keeper

Rude to go tearing up someone's floorboards!

*facepalm* you are not final girl material, Arthur

just got the job and quit again that quickly, for shame

I hope you're prepared for a long swim

Eldritch entity you swing wildly between anger management issues and "Deep breaths, try not to panic"

"Ohhhh Arthur" that's alarmingly sensual

"No part of you is lost to me" *side-eyes*

One thing that's noteworthy to me is that they're not comfortable with silence, that everything has to happen back-to-back, no pauses. Be more confident, linger uncomfortably in your

"I wonder if the voice he heard is this" OR JOHN YOU DIPSHIT

Time for the next cult hideout!

So the mansion was the Black Goat's, who's in residence here?

Oh that's who, howdy, ma'am

and then they find the homemade porn!

Is no one else concerned with the quantity of A names

. . . are you about to become a triple occupancy?

Tentacles! For everyone!

Good times when your eldritch beastie bestie has a mental time out

"Or we could kill her"

You actually took a surprisingly long time to get to the murder plan, you okay?

Uh, eldritch bestie, you should have raised your alarm earlier if you had concerns

Trading off murder sociopath duties, good times

My dude you are definitely not coming across as the most hinged of individuals

. . . this would be an interesting time to just panic and let Satan take the wheel now that Satan doesn't want to drive

exactly 0 people surprised who was responsible for the first death

"Oh this is going to end well" Glad we're on the same page again, bestie

"You must be this much bitch to get admittance" "WELL I GUESS WE'RE BOTH GOING AREN'T WE"

I will be more surprised if any of these people live than the obvious alternative

*looks up from filing nails* Oh, they're dead? Smeared across every surface in the room? You don't say

"Maybe someone's still alive" Do we need to go through this again? Not genre savvy, are we?

Eldritch bestie you are extremely inconsistent, which I suppose ties in well to insanity and gaslighting

"This is our life now" look at that, commitment!

Meat puppet does not enjoy the meaty aspect v much

. . . Why was it so heavy if it was only half?

Ewwwwwww. That will be all.

"did you see it" "DID YOU FORGET I AM BLIND"

Oh, we're doing this again are we

Eldritch bestie you better be paying your rent

Hand in unlovable hand~~~

No really, Lovecraft, what was with all the tentacles

Oh, someone else paid their rent!

I am somewhat amused that everything swears by Christianity aside from the favored F bombs

Right, so this is definitely someone else's playground, eldritch #. . .4?

"We lose guns more than anything else" XD

"It sounded like you" *waving lighter*

And that's Eldritch #5 on the horizon

Time for a screaming head or leviathan maggots?

Eeeeeeey old friend!

Why you lying, why you always be lying

. . . Okay I was worried that was going to be even worse than it was

Aw bestie with domestic daydreams

What's some B&E after a spot of murder?

John did you just make Arthur piss himself over an opossum

A mole-faced possum, you act like you haven't seen one before!

Why you gotta be running from snuffles, what did snuffles ever do to you but SCREEEEEEE

Oh it's you again! Great unhinged minds think alike

And then we're done with ep 10 and time to stop again~

#Wind is a ridiculous creature #Malevolent podcast #screamalong #any commentary is not to be taken as criticism so much as me peeling the veil back and poking at how things are constructed

[ursaspecter]

Spirits Unleashed is fun actually. It's not perfect but it is a solid game! My laptop does not like running it unless I turn the graphic settings to garbage tier, so unfortunately I have no decent screenshots.

I only have a few hours of playtime, so these are just my first impressions. It's really fun to play and catch ghosts and collect the clippings and fungus samples! I like the addition of Catt and Eddy and I hope as I get through the story I can see more of them. I like seeing all the details in the Firehouse and how it's different from the 2009 version. I also like being able to go and explore Ray's bookstore.

I do have a few minor grievances with some of the mechanics, but it wouldn't be a Ghostbusters game if I didn't have a few complaints. These are really just me nitpicking, so if you're not interested, I'll have them below the cut.

It's a fun game that feels like a good step in the right direction for the Ghostbusters Renaissance! I hope the game will continue to be updated with new cosmetics and missions and stuff like that, but for what we have right now, it's a solid comeback for Ghostbusters games.

Again, these are just nitpicks, so please don't take them too seriously. I haven't really run into anything that genuinely negatively affected my play.

-The new trap mechanics. In the 2009 game, I could drop a trap while wrangling a ghost, and that's what I'm used to. Now when I try to do that, it cuts off my stream. I understand why they have it like this though since it is a co-op game and you're not the only one catching the ghosts. -There's no way (that I know of at the moment) to see where all the controls are mapped in the settings menu or in the training handbook in the Firehouse. -I kinda wish the bodies were just a bit more customizable, but I get there's only so much you can do with the models and still make them look right. Also, maybe I've been playing too much of The Sims 4 lately, but I wish I could get in more precise with the customization. Overall though, I am satisfied with how it is in its current state. -Picking which voice you want is kind of annoying. The voices themselves are NOT annoying, mind you, but when you go through selecting what voice you want, it plays the same line for each of them. -I wish we had just a bit more time to look at our stats post-game. Or maybe have everyone ready up again before moving on to the next mission? I dunno I feel like I hardly get any time to examine how I did after a mission. -I get lost a lot, but I'm sure the more I play, the more I'll become familiar with the layouts of each level.

Ok I'm gonna end it off here because I really feel like I'm grasping at straws lmao. Again, I still very much enjoy this game and I hope it does well.

#shut up casey #ghostbusters #ghostbusters spirits unleashed #might draw some fanart of catt and eddy. maybe them hanging out with the sanctum of slime team #if anyone else even knows that game exists #bc yeah there was another ghostbusters game between the 2009 one and spirits unleashed #and i feel like im the only person keeping it from becoming lost media

[lessapander]

Right, so. Just the grande finale/whatever the name of the final route is called to go, and I thought I might ramble a little to get my thoughts in order about Steam Prison (specifically on Switch, so Fin's route is included by default).

Mild spoilers under the "read more". Nothing plot-based, just my personal thoughts about world-building or personality stuff with the LI's/Cyrus.

tl;dr: I liked this game, but the plot and pacing really drags a lot, and I feel like it was trying really hard to not be an otome game, and getting dragged down by the fact that it is, indeed, an otome game.

World Building: Right off, this is my favourite part of the whole game. There was so much room for cool exploration of the differences between the Heights and the Depths that I feel got kind of pushed to one side. I suspect that this is because the otome-ness of the game interfered with really exploring that, but it still had a lot of (ahahaha) depth to it. The fact that the two cultures have deviated written languages was a very interesting point that I felt should've really been explained more, for example. Or why the people in the Depths revere Yune, though he only became a saint after leaving for the Heights. What's up with that? I kind of hope some things may get a bit clearer once I do the final route, but I'm not holding my breath.

Voice Acting: Always top notch. No complaints. Excellent casting choices. Especially impressed with Furukawa Makoto (Adage) and Shingaki Tarasuke (Fin) during their anguished scenes. Also deeply enjoyed Kameyama Yuji (Sachsen) in his very villainous role. I'm not in the camp of wanting a route for him, but I can definitely understand why. They really let him go wild in that role.

Eltcreed Route: I went in thinking he'd be my favourite LI and was wrong for once. He's just kind of weird and inconsistently written. They tried to hint that he's got an iron fist ruling his territory in his route, but it really doesn't come across well (it was better executed in Ulrik's with a few points, but ... still a bit meh). His route did provide me with some of the best one-liners of the game, however, and spawned an in-joke with my partner as a result of some of the dialogue options.

Ulrik Route: Probably the least logical among the LI's in terms of ending up with Cyrus. His plot was the highest stakes (in my opinion) but also kind of dithered out in a few of the endings. It felt like they chose one ending that would be "the ending" for each of the routes, but I really felt it with Ulrik's. Most of his endings (and the Elt ending hidden in his route) didn't really have the same ring of sincerity for me. I did like him as a character, but not as a love interest for Cyrus.

Adage Route: Similar to Ulrik, I felt like his route was a bit illogical but only really had one ending that was up to snuff. It was very satisfying finding more out about the overall plot in his route, and starting to solve the mysterious nature of Cyrus' parents' death, but I again felt like he just wasn't a very good fit for her romantically. A lot of the romance kind of got in the way of other plot and on occasion annoyed me. The pacing and timing of the route also was really bizarre and hard to track at times. However, the intertwining of Fin's story and Ines' behind the scenes work with the HOUNDS was expertly woven in on route-replay. Thumbs up to that. I actually was very pleased to see how that was handled. Similar to Eltcreed, some of the one-liners in this route have resulted in an in-joke with my partner about childbirth and where babies come from.

Ines Route: So his endings were a bit more varied and made sense, but I really hate the final CG for his good ending. It's a personal nitpick, though. Overall, he was kind of my least favourite of the LI's because he was just so ... bland. He almost never committed to anything until the very end of his route, and his brushing off of Sachsen's rampages really kind of bothered me. His route does have some of the most twisted Fin interactions hidden in it, though (oh man, poor Fin).

Yune Route: I wondered how romance with an immortal god-like being would go and didn't expect the direction this route took. Turns out, he's a little bit of a sociopath. Go figure. Playing this route after Ines was a bit refreshing, because he has a similar attitude of apathy to Ines, but at a basically global scale. Most of his endings made sense, though I was very annoyed that his "good" ending puts the majority of the plot and story after the credits with no choices to be made. I get why it was done that way, but man. Annoying.

Fin Route: Poor. Fucking. Fin. I think his is probably the overall best otome route and the one I enjoyed the most, and it's probably due to the fact that he and Cyrus have so much history to build on. It felt more organic than the other romance routes, even though there was less plot and overall development. It really felt like the other routes were trying to be a regular VN and build a story around a really cool world with the romance shoehorned in as an afterthought, while Fin's was pure otome with a bit of the world surrounding them. So it was kind of a nice one to end with, honestly. I was starting to get a bit burnt out on the half-assed love affairs. That said, I do have some beef with Cyrus in this route (I have beef with Cyrus in every route, but especially this one lol).

Impressions of Cyrus: There's good and there's bad. She's sassy, has a strong sense of justice, and takes decisive actions. She's a bit of a feminist and very resilient. But because they wanted to her to also be naive to romance and sex, the writing sometimes goes way too far off track and is completely illogical. There are times where it's funny (watching her learn about childbirth was amusing and fine; watching her learn about affection and romance was heart-warming) and times where I rolled my eyes because it just ruined scenes (eg: she knows what rape is, she knows rape is bad and protects other women from sexual assault, but somehow doesn't know that consensual sex exists???). There are holes in her logic in this area in particular that drove me bonkers, because there was no pattern to what she did and didn't comprehend when it came to relationships other than "love, BAD". Her happy ending with Fin was actually soured somewhat for me because of these misunderstandings.

So would I recommend it? Yeah. I would. And I'm looking forward to the fandisc. But man, it wasn't an easy one to get through. I used the skip function a lot more often during replay than I normally do (I have 100+ hours in a lot of otome games from just re-reading the dialogue to get new endings or missing scenarios, to see how it looks with fresh eyes; I did not do that with this game).

I also followed a guide to get the non-happy endings so I didn't have to spend time floundering about (which I normally enjoy a lot in otome games and VNs).

#lessa musings #steam prison #steam prison spoilers #cw rape mention

[aviculor]

A film that came out this year, simply titled Blood. A child is bitten by the family dog after it went missing for several days in the woods, giving him a...condition. One with an....unorthodox treatment. That's all I know ahead of time, and anything further will be under a read-more just like before.

Oh, I guess I can say one other thing before I dive in. I didn't intend things to work out this way, but it's fitting that I'm watching this after Birth/Rebirth since this is also a film about what lines a mother will cross to save her child. We got a theme this week.

Oh, this one comes with subtitles, nice.

As much as I like environmental storytelling, I think we need a little more details about this family where the dad already moved on, implying the divorce was because he was having an affair, yet the mom is such a stranger to her kids that she didn't know the son doesn't like olives. And what do you mean the dad used to pick them off? Wouldn't he just not put them on the plate in the first place? Anyway, point being, I think it might be a bit selfish for Jess to want sole custody. I suppose it's a thematic "I wasn't there for my son before, so now I need to do whatever it takes to keep him" type of thing. I mean, I'm not going to sit here nitpicking the plot's setup. I do get the point. It's just that I don't know if I'm actually rooting for Jess as the protagonist here. But that could make what happens next more interesting.

...Ah, I see that was the intended idea after all.

Okay, so it's not rabies but like slow-onset vampirism. I'm not sure if that makes the situation better or worse than Birth/Rebirth which had a strictly mundane reality where it just happened that a doctor found a way to successfully resuscitate someone from brain death...and stage 1 decomposition. But the supernatural begets a certain suspension of disbelief that softens the impact of the horrors you're witnessing. Like, it's definitely more painful to imagine yourself in Lila's shoes than Owen's because her condition is more grounded in reality.

Damaging out the blood bag in the hospital's inventory while stealing it, that's smart. Didn't see Rose or Celie do that in Birth/Rebirth, they just filled up a luggage case with whatever they needed and ran when anyone called out to them. Although, I think Jess might raise a few eyebrows by saying their whole supply of O- was bad. I don't mean to keep comparing the two films, there's just a lot of overlap in the plot and themes. Jess and Celie are even both nurses.

The tissue sample didn't show signs of any known viral infection. That's very...specific wording.

Oh my god, the sudden shot of Owen with tapetum lucidum is great. Ooh, this is what I'm here for.

You know, I really don't think a cancer patient who's been continually having blood drawn for days would be capable of ripping apart the metal scaffolding of a bed or shoving open a padlocked door. Very impressive display of her newfound will to live, someone should call up John Kramer and tell him about this. Wait, what? How long? Since Saw 3?

Oof, right on the barbed wire. That's rough. For a second I thought Owen was going to go full predator mode on her. Given Jess' reaction to what she walked in on and what happened next, maybe that's what should have happened.

"Something in the tree"? Maybe this lore development could have happened sooner instead of it coming out of nowhere when something more pressing is actively happening.

You know, for a second I thought we were leading up to Owen eating the baby as the last shot before credits roll. Although this still is its own brand of Unfortunate. At least Patrick didn't walk in on it, that would have been a little hard to explain. But also another missed opportunity for a gut-punch ending.

Prosecuting Jess for negligence because the kids were (allegedly) playing near a known water hazard? Buddy, you already took them away from her. This literally happened on your watch.

I liked it. Two different sites refused to buffer properly which made actually finishing it a chore, but the film itself was very good. A couple criticisms about the writing, but that's just because I can see the vision. Everything else about it was solid. I did like Birth/Rebirth more.

WAIT, PATRICK IS SKEET ULRICH!?

#horror #blood #blood 2023 #blood 2022 #its theatrical release was in january but it premiered at a film festival before that

[tasticdrita]

Cyber shadow release time

The major nitpick I had were late-game stages do border on being close to unfair with their difficulty. I kind of wish more of those elements were sprinkled throughout, but regardless they were definitely memorable sections.Īrt and music design are fantastic and suit the 8-bit era that Cyber Shadow emulates and the atmosphere of the overall tech inspiration of its world. These completely change up your gameplay and took me by surprise. In a later section of the game, you get to ride a motorcycle and control a mech suit. Many make an already punishingly tricky game even more insane, but they are enjoyable to take on.Ĭyber Shadow’s level designs are exceptional and well-paced. For those that are genuinely looking for a challenge and additional content, there are several feats you can tackle. I often felt like I reached the peak of my abilities during these fights, but with a bit of persistence and memorization of tells I was eventually able to overcome.īased on Cyber Shadow’s influence, I wasn’t expecting a very long game but was pleasantly surprised at the 6 to 7 hours it took for me to complete the main game. Late game bosses are massive and stand out both design-wise and from an overall gameplay standpoint. Out of its ten levels, there are usually two bosses for each stage. One of Cyber Shadow’s most impressive sections is its numerous bosses. These are all optional, so you can make the area more or less difficult for yourself depending on how you wish to play. Save stations also serve as a store where money can purchase health and item restoration or temporary upgrades. It makes clearing sections rewarding, though, when you finally make it to that next save. Savepoints can feel generous some moments and feel a world away in trickier areas. Luckily, you have infinite lives, so you get a chance to try again and again. Several enemies require a bit of familiarity and strategy to take out, and with many enemies on screen at once, Cyber Shadow asks you to think and move quickly. They may seem deceptively avoidable but add in noticeable kickback when hit by enemies, making platforming a lot more precarious.Įnemies and projectiles swarm the screen, compounding precision platforming. Lava, spikes, and other instakills cover levels. After these initial early stages, though, the difficulty ramps up.Īrguably some of Cyber Shadow’s most significant challenges come in its instant death pitfalls. I can see where diehard platformers may find upgrades turning early levels into a cakewalk, but there are still plenty of challenges to be had even with these handicaps for the average player. On early levels, I managed to keep some of the upgrades until bosses which made the encounter infinitely easier. These extend your blade range or give you a shield to deflect long-range weapons and last as long as you aren’t hit three times. There are also temporary blade upgrades that can be game-changers. It’s risky and requires you to time the d-pad perfectly with the oncoming bullet, but it is incredibly satisfying when you get it right. One of the standout techniques is the bullet deflect, which not only stops projectiles coming your way but can actually send them back at your enemies. Other moves like the double jump, wall-glide, and dash are unlimited to use. This forces you to use them sparingly, which makes sense given the range and power some of the moves inflict. Offensive special moves are limited and must be refilled by blue gems from item drops. The same can be said for the other moves in the game, where your skills seem to evolve alongside Shadows. This only took some getting used to on my end and did add to the originality of the adventure. It’s not totally out of line with the era of games it’s emulating, but I was thrown off by the lack of the action when compared to a particular other ninja game on the NES. The trade-off is there is a slight lack of maneuverability, like crouching, which forces you to jump and move more to avoid obstacles.

#Cyber shadow release time

[bts-weverse-trans]

210104 Weverse Magazine ‘Be’ Comeback Interview - Suga

SUGA “I'm grateful that there are still unvisited areas in the world of music” BTS BE comeback interview 2021.01.04

SUGA has this way of talking passionately with a deadpan look on his face. Full of passion about his life and music.

How is your shoulder? SUGA: Good. I think it’ll get even better once I take off this brace. Apparently, it takes several months for a full recovery, but I'm trying to get better as fast as possible.

How does it feel like to have resolved a problem that has distressed you for long? SUGA: First of all, I'm glad. The pain is one thing, but when my shoulders got worse, I couldn't even raise my arms. But when I heard that this might recur when getting the surgery at a young age, I waited for the right time and had decided to get it done early next year regardless of the COVID-19 situation. I had planned to get the surgery after the year-end stages, but I got it done this year (2020) because my doctors advised me to start preparing early for next year’s promotions and activities.

How does it feel like watching the other members doing promotions? SUGA: I can't say it feels great. I could see the emptiness because we've been together as a group of seven for so long. Not necessarily because I'm not there but because something that should be there is missing?

Is that what made you join the promotion as much as possible? You shot lots of video footage in advance and you even appeared in the Mnet “2020 MAMA” through VR. SUGA: Fake SUGA (Laughs). There’s this 3D studio where we shot it. I shot, scanned, and acted there, but couldn't see the actual result at the studio. I thought a sense of displacement was unavoidable, and that was exactly the case. (Laughs) I acted normal because it would have been aired anyway even if I hadn’t had the surgery, but it seems a lot because it’s aired after the surgery.

You must feel restricted not being able to go on stage. SUGA: The thing is, it's only been a month after I got surgery, but my absence on stage is so apparent. But my doctors keep telling me that I shouldn't be impatient and in fact, many athletes get a resurgery when they return to the field without proper rehabilitation. So I'm working on trying to care less. For the first two weeks after surgery, I felt so frustrated that I tried out new things. I even watched movies I didn't watch.

What movies did you watch? SUGA: I watched ‘Samjin Company English Class’ as it happened to be on IPTV, and now I have ‘Tenet’ on my list. ‘Parasite’ was the last movie I saw at a cinema. As the social distancing measures became stricter, I haven’t been going outside, except going to the hospital. I even eat at home. I'm also watching a lot of TV nowadays. Watching music shows like ‘Sing Again’, ‘Folk Us’, and ‘Show Me The Money 9’ made me think of what I should do in the upcoming days.

Could you elaborate on that? SUGA: A lot of candidates on ‘Sing Again’ are very talented but hadn't had the opportunity, and on ‘Folk Us’, I noticed that many took their own guitars on stage. I started playing the guitar lately and I'm having this urge to broaden my scope of music. And since my interest in the music industry in the U.S. grew, I'm getting prepared, studying English and all.

What fueled your interest? SUGA: In some ways it’s the most commercially developed market. You could lose the industry attention in a flash if it's not feasible. So in this system, you would try everything and that would be an efficient way. I want to do music for a long time, and to this end, I always want to learn more about the global music industry because I want to do music that’s loved not only in Korea, but also in the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Speaking of which, it seems BE was influenced from music of the past rather than today's trends. SUGA: I especially like impromptu music. I love the songs that were made in one take instead of being recorded several times. In this era of crossover genres, the desire to do better in music is growing inside me.

As the genres become more blended, the melody you use must be more important. Does starting to play the guitar affect your composing in any way? SUGA: I always liked using guitar sounds. And I have always liked the Eagles. If you play the guitar, it’s way easier to write songs because you can carry it along wherever you go, pluck on the strings to create melody lines. Keyboards are difficult to carry around. (Laughs) I usually work on my laptop but I had this thought that I definitely needed an instrument. It accelerates my work and improves my understanding of chords.

It makes me think you could intuitively make melodies. SUGA: It’s easier to write a song because you can intuitively make a progression and try many different things. During my work on ‘Eight’, IU had recorded and sent me a song from her phone. At the time I couldn’t play the guitar, so we tried to make sure we’re working on the same page when keeping track of each other's progress. That made me feel the need to learn an instrument.

This is actually before you started playing the guitar, but I found ‘Telepathy’ in BE very interesting. The varying melodic progressions between hooks for each member made me wonder if you wrote the melody intuitively for each part. SUGA: I tried writing a melody for the first time this year (2020), and as I started knowing the fun of music, it opened a lot of new doors for me. So it was kind of easy working on it. I just played a beat and wrote from the beginning until the end. Done. I wrote it in just 30 minutes. The song almost wrote itself. The trends of pop and hip-hop these days cross boundaries between vocals and rap. I like this trend.

When I listen to your singing, it feels like you’re hitting the beats rather than singing along the notes. So I thought perhaps you're singing as if you're rapping. SUGA: When you're rapping, you just think of the rhythm, so it’s like simply putting on a melody to a rhythm. To define which comes first, I think melody adds to it while writing the rap.

In ‘Life Goes On’, the lyrics ‘Thankfully between you and me, nothing’s changed’ are somewhere in between. It's not rap but it’d be mundane to say it's a mere melody. SUGA: There are obviously songs where the rap needs to be highlighted. For example, in ‘Dis-ease’ or ‘Ugh!’, you have to be good at rap. But in songs that should be easy to listen to, impressive raps are not always the way to go. Sometimes, you want smooth transitions without obstacles.

In that sense, the rap flow of ‘Blue & Grey’ was impressive. Rather than a dramatic effect that emphasizes each part, you extended the rap just as much as the slowing beat. SUGA: To be honest, this beat is difficult to rap to. The beginning of the song only has a guitar line, which made it even more difficult. I participated when we wrote lyrics for ‘Blue & Grey’ and I've always wanted to work on a song like this. It was because verse 1 talks about the theme of the song.

It seems you achieved almost everything that you wanted in BE. SUGA: I think it took less than a week to make my part in the album. After having written one or two melodies for ‘Life Goes On’, I wrote a version complete with rap, and liked it that I even worked on a separate arrangement and lyrics. Rather than pondering over the ways that might work, I choose to simply play the music and write.

Many creators are unsure even after they’ve produced good work. How do you get the conviction to release your work? SUGA: Many musicians are unsure whether they should release their music or not. It was the same for me, but the thing is, you’ll never release anything if you nitpick everything. For example, if we release 10 songs, we have a chance to unveil them in concerts or fan events. And sometimes, as we listen to the song, we think, ‘Why does this part that had bothered me no longer bother me?’ Some things might feel awkward at some point, but in time, it no longer feels awkward. Even I forget about it. So it's more efficient to fine tune, looking at the big picture, rather than thinking too much about the details. On top of that, during promotions, I don’t have the time to pick tracks that others have sent for 10 hours. It would be a success for all of us if each of us play and write a melody in their own time and collaborate with others on the details. So the way of songwriting has evolved in many aspects.

What motivated such evolution? SUGA: I think it evolved naturally. I've changed in personality this year (2020), as well as in terms of my interpretation and attitude toward life to the extent that I almost thought I've been rehearsing. How would it feel like if there were no stage to go to or anyone looking out for me? This thought made me realize the value of these things.

In ‘Dis-ease’, you sing ‘I don’t know if it’s the world that's sick’. Was it this lifestyle that changed your thoughts about your work? SUGA: Yes. When I was young, I had embraced the belief that ‘It must be my fault’, but as I got older, I realized that this is not always true. Most of what I had thought was my fault was in fact, not my fault. On the other hand, there are things that I did well and times I had been lucky.

‘I NEED U’ came out during a time when you were still thinking, “It must be me”. After the members put on a stage with ‘I NEED U’ in KBS' ‘Song Festival’, you wrote on Weverse, “It’s the same as five years ago.” How would you compare with back then? (This interview was held on December 19, 2020.) SUGA: We've matured quite a bit. And our stage performances have become more natural. I still like ‘I NEED U’. Just listening to the beat makes me sentimental, and above all, the song came out nicely. So as I was watching this and that when I stumbled across old videos. Watching them made me think that we haven’t changed much.

In what aspect haven't you changed much? SUGA: Before the social distancing measures got stricter, I talked with the photographer for BE, whom I had met four years ago. The photographer was surprised that we hadn’t changed much after all the success, even though he had assumed we’d be very different.

I'm amazed personally. I’ve had the chance to meet the members before your debut, but from your way of talking with members or others, it seems you haven't changed. SUGA: I think it's because we don’t give it a big deal about success. For example, it's incredible to be ranked first on the Billboards, but there’s also this sense of, “Okay, and?”

Even the Grammys? (Laughs) SUGA: When we got nominated for the Grammy Awards, we thought, ‘Is this real?’ (Laughs) Of course we were delighted, but it didn’t make us think, ‘We're singers nominated for the Grammy.’ If you're nominated, you're nominated, and if you get the award, you get the award. You don't get shaken by that. I know it's a great award and would be so grateful if we receive it, but we know that nothing is possible without the tremendous support of our fans. What’s more important is that the fans are more flattered than us when we receive a great award. So everyone's rejoicing, but it’s like, ‘Let's do what we have to do.’ We've been training ourselves to keep finding our places, so no one remains overexcited.

In ‘Fly To My Room’, there are lyrics that say, ‘This room is too small to contain my dream’, and ‘Sometimes this room becomes an emotional trash can, but it embraces me.’ I had this feeling that the room had been such a place and that you were accepting that you have changed. Then the essence must have remained the same. SUGA: It wasn’t easy to accept that we eventually change. But I think it's a good thing that we changed. What we did back then was possible only at that time, and we could change because of the things we had accomplished.

Then, what new things are you dreaming about? SUGA: I'm eager to continue doing music. Since all performances were canceled due to COVID-19, I had a chance to talk to so many musicians in Korea. I talked with legendary singers as well as people who are my contemporaries. Talking with them once again made me realize that I love music so much. Because music is my profession, I can’t imagine myself not doing it. I'm grateful that there are still unvisited areas in the world of music.

What kind of music do you think you’ll be engaged in in the future? SUGA: I was greatly motivated when I saw the concert of Na Hoon-a last Chuseok . I wondered how many musicians would actually be able perform and write music for so long like he has. At that moment, it occurred to be that ‘I want to be like him’. He has passion and desire, and most of all, he is a superstar. A few years ago, I took my parents to a Na Hoon-a concert, and when they watched the performance last Chuseok, they said it was way less impressive to see him perform through the TV. (Laughs)

That must explain your interest in a broader spectrum of music from instruments to composing and musical genres. Because you want to be doing this for a long time. SUGA: My goal is to continue doing music in any shape or form. In that sense, I have this great respect toward Cho Yong-pil. He takes the best sound there is and reinterprets it into his own. I think that’s something I want to emulate and keep changing and evolving so that I can continue doing music for decades to come.

The lyrics ‘Thankfully between you and me nothing’s changed’ must sound more meaningful for the fans because they will be listening to your music for a long time. SUGA: A month and a half in the current times must seem like a lifetime for the fans when we're far apart. I feel the same. But I think that's proof that we worked hard for the past seven years and that the fans have been passionately reaching out to us. I'm striving to get to them as fast as I can, and I'm eager to go on stage. I'm going through this because I want to be better on stage in a better condition, so don't be sad, and please hang in there a little longer.

Trans © Weverse

#bangtan #yoongi #weverse #weverse magazine #Be Album #comeback interview #210104 #2021

[homo-sex-shoe-whale]

Online shipping, the fetishisation of gay men, and the romanticisation of queer trauma

An essay by me!

Word count: 2.8k

A link to the Google Doc version of this essay.

A big thank you to my friends Nathan @themeerkatnate, Mav @not-mavv , and Duke @dukedark-ness for reading this essay and giving me their thoughts as mlms on the topic. Make sure to check out their blogs and give them a follow!

So I was on a lovely website by the name of Twitter.com yesterday, just scrolling through while having my afternoon cup of coffee, when I saw that viral post of a girl reading a Larry fanfic through a classroom projector. I'm sure most of you have seen it. It's gone viral on Instagram, TikTok, and likely Tumblr too, and if you haven't come across it I'm positive you will soon.

Now, after getting through my initial reaction to that post which was, holy fuck, that's so embarrassing, I had a second reaction of... wait, this ship is still around?

And after I had some thoughts on the incredible permanence of some online ships and the weird obsolescence of others, I did get to thinking of how lots of these popular ships seem to stem from the same types of perceived relationship dynamics and homophobic stereotypes.

These online fandoms often seem to have an obsession with objects of queer trauma, such as having to hide a relationship, lying about sexuality for self-preservation, and even social rejection. So, after some opinions from my followers and the great archive that is the internet, I've decided to discuss some of the most popular examples of online shipping and the particular nuances they came with.

NOTE: Out of respect for all these people, I won't be sharing viral images or videos of them in perceived romantic proximity (or even kissing, as is applicable for some examples), but I will be describing certain moments I deem to be relevant. So even if you're unfamiliar with them, you won't be confused as to what I'm talking about.

NOTE 2: Although not all people within these fandoms were/are toxic, this essay is focused on the overall toxicity of the fandoms, and how they are toxic more so as a "hive" than as a group of individuals. When I refer to a fandom I don't mean every person involved in the fandom, but rather the collective impact of the group.

 1. Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson 

This is arguably the most popular example of online shipping. The absolute permanence of this ship, and how its fandom never seems to fully die off even beyond the lifespan of One Direction as it once stood, is downright impressive.  

I'm going to be the first to admit I was never in the loop with this fandom. My childhood best friend was actually a massive Larry shipper and asked me to beta read one of her fics, but that was before I even knew who tf Harry and Louis were! Not because I avoided the fandom or even because I rejected the online shipping, but just by coincidence, I delved into the world of pop punk music right when One Direction began gaining its popularity. I bought my first ever album, Riot by Paramore, in 2011- only a year after One Direction made their X-Factor debut. So, this fandom just bypassed me by a sort of weird coincidence.

But I don't need to be in the loop with this fandom to know the astronomical obsession with these two men, no, these two BOYS, was extremely toxic. In 2010, when One Direction made their debut, Harry Styles was only 16 years old. And Louis Tomlinson wasn't much older at 19! This made the two of them incredibly young when this unprecedented wave of shipping hit the internet, and although that must be traumatising for anyone, I cannot even fathom how overwhelming it must've been for two boys that young.  

I'm 18, almost 19 now, and I cannot begin to imagine how scary it was for the two of them to have their every interaction nitpicked within an inch of its life by thousands upon thousands of people online. I do not know this myself, but from numerous recounts by some of my followers, this massively impacted Harry's and Louis' nondescript relationship in real life, seemingly driving the two previously close friends apart. 

Now, before we move on, there's something we need to talk about. And that is the obsession with the dominance/submission dynamic within the world of gay shipping. 

With almost every popular mlm (an acronym meaning man-loving-man) ship based on real people, it seems that fandoms have a particular fascination with power imbalances in these relationships. You don't even need to look at the insane amount of fanfictions based on BDSM to figure this out. In almost all of the examples I'll be citing today, there is an age gap within the perceived relationship and a person the fandom has seemingly decided to be the top/dominant figure. 

Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are 3 years apart in age. Although it isn't all that relevant now, an age gap of 3 years when you're in your late teens is a lot more significant. In 2012, for example, when this shipping really started gaining traction, Harry Styles was 18 and Louis Tomlinson was 21. That power imbalance, albeit not that significant, is enough for a fandom to latch on to. We'll see this a lot more in the coming example with Dan and Phil.

 2. Dan Howell and Phil Lester

It's impossible to have a discussion about internet shipping without talking about Dan and Phil.

 Dan Howell and Phil Lester, although being popular YouTubers individually, are arguably one of the internet's most iconic duos. The two creators published their first videos together in 2009, and while their relationship was already a motive of speculation back then, the peak of the "Phan" shipping definitely came in the 2013-2016 era of Tumblr.

Now, I'm going to admit… I was actually on Tumblr when that happened. 

The 2013-2016 period perfectly aligns with my middle school days (I started middle school in 2013 and high school in 2016), and I was not only on Tumblr back then, but I was on Wattpad too! Again, this wasn't a fandom I had much contact with as I had a huge anime phase in middle school and I was on Tumblr posting mainly photography and Soul Eater content more than anything. 

But I did watch some of Dan and Phil's videos! And the occasional "Phan" content did not completely evade me as one of my closest friends in middle school had a fanchat for them. I wasn't involved in the fandom myself but they were actually one of the few English-speaking YouTubers I watched once in a blue moon (back then I watched mainly Brazilian YouTubers). One thing I did in fact notice over the years, around 2014ish perhaps, was that the two of them seemed to grow increasingly "awkward" around each other, in a way that many folks on the internet thought was reminiscent to Markiplier/Jacksepticeye, two YouTubers who also dealt with extraordinary amounts of shipping.

I'm not the only one who thinks this. The change in Dan and Phil's relationship, at least to the outside world, was clear to almost anyone who watched their videos for a while. I cannot blame them at all. The shipping was nuts. Between the countless fan videos, speculative comments, and insurmountable number of fanfics, there's no way the two of them didn't feel the weight of the shipping. The term "demon phannie" made its way into internet vernacular and there it stayed for years. Even Shane Dawson, who was one of the largest creators on the platform at the time, made several videos speculating on the nature of Dan and Phil's relationship and their sexual orientations. 

There was even porn made in which actors with similar appearances to the creators were made to have sex on camera. 

Now, this is actually a rare example where the two people involved in the ship actually came out as gay once the shipping seemed to die down. I'm incredibly happy Dan and Phil both reached a point where they were comfortable being publicly out, but I hate to say I'm shocked this day ever came. If I'd gone through what the two of them did, I don't know if I'd ever trust the internet. 

And again, this ship's fandom definitely had an obsession with the power dynamics they thought existed between the people within the ship. Dan Howell is 4 years younger than Phil Lester, and was only 18 in 2009, when they started making videos together. From my personal understanding, the shipping was often quite focused on this dominant/submissive dynamic especially in discussions from their early relationship. And this is in no way exclusive to Dan and Phil.

This general fascination with the older man/younger man dynamic, in my opinion, plays into the homophobic stereotype that gay men are predators. The idea that gay men usually seek younger men, and somehow "convince" them to engage in homosexual relationships, is popular homophobic rhetoric. The popularisation, exaggeration, and fetishisation of these power imbalances, in age and/or in relationship dynamics, is directly harmful to the mlm community. 

Not only that, but the romanticisation of a "hidden/forbidden relationship" is also detrimental not only to gay men and the mlm community, but to queer people as a whole. Queer people face huge trauma having to hide their relationships; queer attraction is already a societal taboo. And acting like this is good, or even desirable, is harmful to queer people as a whole, regardless of whether or not it's actually applicable to the people being shipped. It normalises this trauma not only to cisgender, heterosexual people, but to impressionable queer youth who grow to believe this type of trauma is to be expected. 

3. Frank Iero and Gerard Way

This is another example where the perceived power imbalances between the two subjects of the shipping were directly exploited online. Now, this ship did precede the others mentioned above. If we're looking at this topic chronologically, this particular ship did come first in the shipping timeline. It's closer to the origin of the shipping extended universe, if you will.

In case you aren't familiar with them, Frank Iero and Gerard Way are both members of the American emo band My Chemical Romance. This ship is the first one here of which I don't recall the full popularity. It really peaked in popularity around the late 2000s, circa 2008. And I don't remember this moment online as in 2008, I was only 6 years old and believe it or not, I wasn't really all that concerned with rumoured homoeroticism as a first grader. 

However, the popularity of this ship did carry over into the 2013-2015 Tumblr shipping boom. The emo fandom (or "bandom" as it was called) involving not only My Chemical Romance but other similar bands such as Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Pierce the Veil, found its hub on Tumblr. 

During this time, I did in fact listen to this style of music, but was focused a lot more on the anime side of Tumblr as mentioned earlier. Of course, I wasn't 13 years old like, "hey, this type of content might be harmful and can inadvertently perpetuate homophobic stereotypes," I just happened to care more about my silly little anime and ended up not getting involved. 

This ship does involve a discussion that the others don't, however. With Frank Iero and Gerard Way, there is quite often a certain sentiment of, "Oh, they brought this upon themselves!" as the two band members very famously kissed during a show in 2007. In my opinion, though, this doesn't really justify all the obsessive shipping. If you look at Green Day, a band often grouped in with MCR as another famous pop punk group, the members don't follow too different of a trajectory. Billie Joe Armstrong has, on numerous occasions, kissed both of his fellow band members onstage- particularly Tré Cool, the drummer. And Billie Joe Armstrong is openly bisexual, which none of the members of MCR seem to be but some, or even all of Billie's bandmates, are too. 

You'd think Green Day would face a lot more shipping as the more persistent onstage homoeroticism and Billie Joe's openness about his sexuality would warrant more "substantiated" speculation. However, Green Day faces nowhere near as much shipping as My Chemical Romance. Why is this? I actually don't know. It might've been because Green Day has been around for over a decade longer and generally has an older fandom, but I really am not that sure. 

 It could also be because of the lower lack of potential for forced relationship dynamics. The members of Green Day are all less than a year apart in age and are even similar in height. However, Frank Iero is 4 years younger than Gerard Way, who is not only the frontman of My Chemical Romance, but also considered to be the group's intellectual and creative "leader". Even beyond that, Gerard Way is quite visibly taller, and the perceived power difference between the two of them definitely did not elude their fans. 

This difference could even be partly due to the lack of a "mystery" with Green Day. There's not as much to speculate as, well… the members of Green Day are already open about their sexual orientations. It might be that shipping in the Green Day fandom has less of a forbidden appeal for most people. 

Of course, I won't just keep repeating myself, but my previous points about forced relationship dynamics still stand.

4. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch

Better known for their roles in BBC Sherlock as Sherlock and Watson, Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch unfortunately had their roles follow them well into real life. This is the example I know least about, so have these thoughts from a follower by the name of @indubitably-a-goblin, who had the following to say:

"the main issues i had with it were:

a) they were both married at the time, freeman to amanda abbington and cumberbatch to sophie hunter (in which both had children)

b) the main reasoning for it was their chemistry in the many projects they've done together. which is, shockingly, their Whole Job. They're actors! That's what they're supposed to do! if they weren't good at interacting then they wouldn't be good actors! i don't know how people can't understand this.

c) they're real people. we don't know them. we aren't friends with them. we aren't their family members. we have zero right to be pushing this onto them and ruining their friendship by doing so. (this one relates to most of the ships you've mentioned though)

d) healthy friendships between two men are ignored so plainly in most medias and in fandom. its obvious that these two men have a relationship, but that doesn't mean it's a romantic one.

e) its fine to ship their characters, but actors shouldn't be treated as less-than-human or some sort of prop. they're doing a job, and once they are off-screen, they aren't here for your entertainment."

I believe she did a great job of summing it up on her own, and for the sake of avoiding redundancy, I'll leave it at that!

5. Corpse Husband and Sykkuno- an emerging yet subtle example

I am absolutely positive you remember how popular the game Among Us was a couple of months ago. And with the popularity of this game, some of its most prominent content creators became the targets of online shipping- as is the case with YouTubers and streamers Corpse Husband and Sykkuno. 

Although the shipping involving these two creators is nowhere near as strong as it was/is with the examples above, I do think there is once again a reemergence of a common theme here. Whilst Sykkuno is known for his happy-go-lucky, almost "innocent" persona, Corpse Husband is the antithesis of this, known for his much darker and moodier personality. 

Do I even have to mention what the common theme seems to be?

Again, although the popularity of shipping - at least with real people - seems to have died down a bit since the Tumblr shipping boom of the early to mid 2010s, I do believe this example is worth mentioning. Even though the creators are still close, they have in fact expressed discomfort regarding the shipping, and I can only hope the internet as a whole lets their friendship blossom and exist naturally without obsessive speculation. 

My final thoughts

As explored in the essay:

The romanticisation of objects of queer trauma as a part of online shipping normalises queer trauma to both cishet and queer youth. 

Online shipping, especially at a high intensity, can end up negatively impacting the very relationships they pine over. 

The relationship dynamics often forced on mlm ships perpetuate homophobic stereotypes about non-heterosexual men. 

If anyone else has thoughts on this matter, do share! This essay is moreso an opinionated observational piece and isn't meant to be taken as fact but rather just as my thoughts on the matter. I hope it was useful as a reflective piece regardless!

Date of posting: June 16th 2021

#lgbt #lgbtq #gay #mlm #I cannot believe I said the phrase 'shipping extended universe'

[rrasado]

Yo! If that's okay could i request the brothers (or some of the of your choice) reacting to a teen mc who already has a pact with a demon long before coming to the Devildom and this demon is pretty much their (very protective) guardian/caretaker? Like, the demon is really sweet and gentle with MC and babies them constantly but they're wary of the brothers (Nothing romantic, just platonic hcs!) Feel free to ignore if i'm bothering you!

Congrats on the 400 followers!!💞

Who’s The Guardian?

On another episode of “why didn’t I see this in my inbox before-“ but this is such a cute request.

I...haven’t played OMSWD in half a year ;-;. I never got past lesson 40 so, sorry in advanced for the OOC-

When you already have a pact

Lucifer

...is caught off guard, big time.

He probably skimmed through your files and records but not once did the thought of a seemingly innocent teenager already having a pact with a demon prior the exchange program crossed his mind.

That’s coming from someone who overthinks a lot.

As the so called right hand man of the young lord himself, he’ll want to conduct a thorough investigation on whoever this demon is. He can’t risk sullying the honor of Diavolo because of some minor slip up.

Under the guise of a friendly get together he asks MC to invite their demon pact mate over for a nice afternoon tea. Harmless correct? Well that -less becomes -ful when the demon immediate smothers their favorite human with such rare affections he didn’t knew demons were capable of.

He’ll attempt to be discreet about his intentions but, it seems the demon is more vocal about their displeasure of finding out that their dear human is living with seven of the most powerful demons in hell. So lucifer would blatantly put on a facade to keep the dignity of the council and the prince at peace. But if it were up to him...

“We all care for the human’s well being yes? A little cooperation is to be called for”

Mammon

...Feels betrayed. And disappointed

He...wasn’t MC’s first- oh god the others are laughing at him as we speak aren’t they.

Would probably try to not so discreetly compare himself to the demon, arms crossed™️

Is that why MC was so fast in making a pact with him? Like no fear whatsoever because they’ve already done this before? Now he feels dumber than before

It all ultimately ends with..the demon and mammon trying to out do each other when it comes to spoiling Mc whether material wise or affection, of course mammon is at a disadvantage given how much he denies his concern for not being Mc’s first.

But in the end, if anything bad no matter how small happens to the two demon’s beloved human, they’d probably set aside their differences and hunt down the source. It’s a whole other story if the source was mammon-

“Oi the human also has a pact with me Ya got that!”

Leviathan

...is both amazed and disdained.

On one hand- HOLY SHI- YOU’RE YOUNGER THAN MOST SUMMONERS AND YOU ALREADY HAVE A PACT? THAT’S SO SHOUNEN-

And on the other hand- wow...you’re such a normie for being able to pull in other races, what in the name of damned friendship is this-

But that disdain turns to envy, whether envying you or the demon sometimes it’s interchangeable- because he wished he was also that cared for. Being able to be brought gifts or being protective over- it’s the otome dream he’s secretly wanted.

But once he realizes that the demon just genuinely cares for MC, for whatever reason- he seems to understand along the way, maybe he to wishes to protect one of the few people that willingly put up with him with a wild smile. Teen mutuality huh.

He might even invite their demon pact mate over for a game or two- heck if things go well they three might even become a triumvirate. Overall he’ll learn to get along with them but...it’ll take a good while djdndnbd.

“H-hey...ya sure you wanna hang out with someone as yucky as me? Ah- wait I have games for three here somewhere.”

Satan

...Is highly intrigued suffice it to say.

The guy was highly enthralled when you managed to even make a pact with him through hard work and it seems there was a much farther history as to why.

Unlike the first born however, he’d be actually successful in hiding his true intentions when he decided to investigate whoever demon managed to wind up with the young human in the first place.

Those detective novels did him good Huh-

On a more serious note. He’d actually be encouraging to a certain extent until the demon directs their threats to him. Like how dare this lowly bastard make a point to the Avatar sin of Wrath- oh it was for MC’s sake...hard pass-

At one point he’s probably the closest to this demon in terms of peace next to Beelzebub since he’s the most serene of the brothers. Overall neutral to them unless the demon gives him a reason to.

“It’s nice to see the human having someone to lean on to...I wonder what would happen if that support were to suddenly collapse”

Asmodeus

...is sappy to the brim

Look at the lovely human already catching demons with finesse! Proud wine aunt moment™️. And the fact that it was prior to the program? Damn the kid has more potential than he thought.

At first the demon themself is gonna- Ehe carry MC away everytime asmo ties coming in but. With a little nudge and convincing they’d probably stay to listen to Asmo.

Trust me when I say these three will go shopping every weekend once everyone is comfortable with each other. And for what it’s worth they might even get matching outfits.

Asmo would probably try and nitpick how MC even managed to wind up in a pact with a demon without knowledge of the Devildom in the first place but at the same time he thinks it adds to the younger’s charm

These three end up being the child the mom and wine aunt dynamic and y’all can’t convince me otherwise.

“Ehh~? Oh don’t look so weary it’s bad for your face darling~”

Beelzebub

...For some reason happy.

Is this why MC managed to make a pact with his brothers so easily in so little time? Is this why the teen never seems to be bothered by any of his brothers’ threats? Overall he’s happy that you have experience.

He remembers something oddly like this...but in his case he didn’t had experience prior the fall wow way to go at angsting this am I right-

Because unlike him, a being millennia old was so confused of what’s in store for hell after the fall but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and bare the fear.

And someone so young managed to get a taste of a fraction of that experience but here was MC...laughing without a care whilst this other demon places a protective arm in front of them as they interrogate beel- oh wait they were talking to him-

Food as peace offering? You bet, thankfully they did settle with food and unlike first impressions- the demon actually is the most sensible to beel seeing as he was one of the few who...didn’t actively attempt to kill their human- in fact, the demon is probably the one to inform Beel of what demon food the young teen can actually eat and what they prefer.

“I see...ah, would you maybe wanna join us? Food always tastes better when shared”

Belphegor

...could care less until they talk about the whole time universe killing thing-

Ohhh boy- belphie run I’m telling you run- no beel won’t defend you on this one in fact I think I see mammon running with the demon but belphie run boy run-

In all seriousness him and the demon will take the longest to get into terms. Heck not even Mc’s convincing has effect, because the demon really really doesn’t like the avatar of sloth for good reason.

Depending on how the demon even winded up with MC. Belphie would also not like the demon.

That...is until something actually bad happens to MC-

The demon might blindly pin it on belphie but the thing is- he’s also panicking because if he and his brothers were there and the demon was there- wHO TF IS WITH THE TEENAGER-

He...didnt want to have what he did to MC happen again. Let him be the last one to harm the spunky human. I even considered him and the demon to never actually get along no matter how long of a time but...again it all depends on the Hows and Whys.

“I...Care for them as much as you do. Just- Tsk... I don’t need you to believe me.”

#if there are any typos Gomen ;-; #now I want to write another angst fic jdjsjsjs #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me! #obey me swd #swd obey me #obey me headcanons #om headcanons #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me mc #rras’ inbox #rras writes #writings from the eclipse

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#5: The One With Astruc's Self-Insert

In my introductory post, I said the main inspiration for this blog was @hypocrisyofandrewdobson​. For those who don't know, Andrew Dobson is an infamous webcomic artist known for drawing webcomics that tend to demonize people he's come across in public or people who disagree with him online (either critical of his art or his political views), while portraying himself as the victim or wise man calling them out on their differing beliefs.

If you want to learn more about this guy who I consider to be far worse than Astruc, check out the blog in question. And no, I don't know why he draws himself as a blue bear.

Why am I talking about this? It's one thing for some schmuck on the internet to use his work to respond to criticism, but the creator of a popular animated series dedicating an entire episode to attacking his critics and trying to get others to feel bad for him is another story.

The second episode of Miraculous Ladybug's third season, “Animaestro” served as a wake-up call for fans (myself included) to make them realize how immature Astruc could be. The plot centers around the premiere of a movie about Ladybug and Cat Noir directed by Thomas Astruc, who voices himself in the original French dub.

And this isn't just a brief cameo like what Stan Lee did in the MCU. Astruc is the Akumatized person this episode, so there's naturally a lot of focus on him. Throughout the first half of the episode, Astruc portrays himself as this timid man who nobody recognizes or respects, like this idiot who doesn't know what animation is.

Doorman: This is a private event, sir.

Astruc: Huh? Excuse me? I'm Thomas Astruc, the movie director.

Doorman: You filmed Cat Noir and Ladybug? What are they like in real life?

Astruc: Er, it's an animated movie. It's all cartoon characters. We don't actually film anyone. See, there's this whole team that draw the chara—

Doorman: Whatever. Who would want to see Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters?

Get it? Wasn't that meta joke hilarious? This is how much I was laughing:

And Astruc continues to get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield when he interacts with other characters like Jagged Stone and Chloe.

Jagged Stone: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie!

Astruc: Well I—I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak.

Jagged Stone: Oh, so you're the one who created the story?

Astruc: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits.

Jagged Stone: Oh, okay. So you did all the drawings?

Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings.  

Jagged Stone: So what do you do then?

(Later on...)

Chloe: So you're the one responsible for this movie?

Astruc: Yes, yes! Exactly! That's me!

Chloe: Then you were the one who left Queen Bee out of the trailer. You're lame, utterly lame.

I can't believe Astruc had a scene where he interacted with Chloe and didn't insult her at all.

The episode is determined to make the audience feel bad for Astruc. Nobody respects him and what he does. Isn't that saaaaaad? Nobody cares about animated film directors like Walt Disney or Tex Avery anyway. Not even these stupid children understand how hard Astruc works.

Several Children: Ladybug! Where's Ladybug?

Astruc: Hey there, kids!

Teacher: Ladybug isn't here children. We came here to meet the director of the movie. Children: (frowning in disappointment) Aww.

(Astruc looks visibly disappointed.)

Way to insult your primary demographic, Astruc. I thought you said kids have a better understanding of these stories when people criticized the writing of a certain episode (It's that scene in “Puppeteer 2” if you're curious/don't value your sanity).

It's almost like you're using that as an excuse to half-ass your work while still getting to claim this show is so groundbreaking.

In case you can't tell, “Animaestro” is one of those episodes. The ones where the showrunners decide to dedicate an entire episode to attacking critics of the show in a blunt fashion. Whenever a show addresses criticism, they either create an obvious strawman character to parrot the opinions of fans who don't like their work, or have someone defend the show and insult the critics directly.

The problem isn't that they're ignoring criticism. It's their show, and they aren't obligated to listen to critics or fans who don't like the direction the show is taking. On the other hand, they aren't obligated to fight back like this and treat their audience like crap. Any show that does something like the three clips I showed you usually comes off as petty and immature because they dedicate so much time to insulting the critics. 

Even during the Akuma fight, Astruc has to call out Ladybug for having problems with his movie in-universe, obviously representing critics of the show Astruc claims have no right to criticize the show while it's still airing.

Ladybug: What's with that trailer too? I am not scared of cats, at all.

Astruc/Animaestro: You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?

Cat Noir: He does have a point, you know.

Ladybug: I wasn't slamming it. It's called constructive criticism!

Yeah, how dare Ladybug be angry that this movie is portraying her as a powerless coward dependent on Cat Noir as opposed to a confident and brave superhero. She just doesn't understand the genius of Thomas Astruc!

And of course the character Astruc claims is “perfect” is the one to take his side.

And that's another problem with this episode, the metatextual references. Before he gets akumatized, Astuc says he spent three years of his life working on his movie. I get that time in this show is weird (we somehow had episodes taking place on the first day of school, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the first day of Summer), but how did Astruc's self-insert work on a movie based on a superhero who has only been active for a year? Meta-wise, it's an obvious reference to the scorn Astruc has gotten from fans after working so hard on his show, but the only people who would get that reference are the ones who are aware of Astruc's reputation online.

Self-Insert aside, I actually think the titular Animaestro is one of the more visually impressive Akumas featured on the show. Animaestro takes on several forms based off several different forms and eras of animation, like flash, anime, rubber hose, and they all stand out. Granted, some of them are obvious parodies of other characters like Goku or Sailor Moon, but the actual Akuma fight is fun to watch. According to the Mexican Miraculous Ladybug Twitter account, this episode took two and a half years to create, and it shows. It's too bad the story behind it is completely insufferable, almost like the cartoon equidistant to Pixels.

But then comes the part that honestly makes the episode worth it, mainly for how unintentionally hilarious it is. Do you want to know what Animaestro's weakness is? Do you really want to know?

Animaestro is physically incapable of moving unless someone is watching him. I am not making this up.

Ladybug and Cat Noir literally defeat Animaestro by getting everyone to stop paying attention to him.

I could make so many jokes with this, but I can guarantee you're already thinking of something just as good, if not better, than whatever I write.

And there's the end where Astruc gives Marinette his ticket to the movie, which prompts Marinette to kiss up to him for no real reason.

Astruc: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either.

Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc, the movie director!

Astruc: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me!

Nothing happened to make her change her opinion on the Ladybug movie, she didn't really say anything to him earlier in the episode that connects to this exchange, and outside of a few lines Animaestro said, she doesn't even know why he got akumatized (even though ironically she and Chloe accidentally contributed to it because of the awful subplot involving Kagami I talked about last time). If anything, it comes off less like she actually appreciates Astruc's work, and more like she's stroking his ego just to keep him from getting akumatized again.

So yeah, this episode is awful, and the fact that it came out right after the controversial “Chameleon” only proved to show what kind of direction the show was taking this season.

But honestly, even if Astruc still wanted to make about how he doesn't get enough respect the episode could have potentially. All he had to do was make a simple change: Instead of making it about validation for Astruc as a creator, make it about validation for animation in general.

It's a common misconception that animation is only used for shows and movies aimed at children, so the episode could reflect it. Instead of the huge turnout where several celebrities appear at the premiere, instead, the turnout could be a lot smaller, with the media dismissing it as some stupid kiddie flick. Instead of getting akumatized because he gets humiliated in public/getting no respect from anyone else, Astruc gets akumatized because he sees the audience didn't go wild for the movie after the premiere. All he can hear them say is that it's just “kids stuff”.

So when Astruc is Animaestro, he goes on about how important animation is. How it's helped produce propaganda since World War II. How it helped improve special effects in big blockbusters. How the medium is used to create movies that simply can't be filmed on a physical set.

After defeating Animaestro, Ladybug shows up to talk to him. She had seen the movie earlier, and actually enjoyed it. She had a few problems with the story, but they were just minor nitpicks and inaccuracies Astruc wouldn't know about, and she was blown away by the animation. She tells Astruc not to be deterred by his critics, and continue to do what he does. As a designer in her civilian life, Ladybug knows the joy creating brings her, and both she and Astruc want to spread that joy through their work.

Back at the premiere, Astruc thinks about what Ladybug said to him when he sees some kids reenacting a scene from the movie. Astruc walks over to them and asks what they thought of the movie. They said they loved it and how energetic it was. When he tells them he is the director, the kids' faces light up and they say they want to do what he does when they grow up, bringing a smile to Astruc's face.

Isn't that a much more humble approach instead of what we got? It would have helped Astruc come across as more sympathetic, especially with animation fans. But instead, we got an entire episode of Astruc whining about how misunderstood he is.

And you know the footage used for the movie at the beginning? Remember that, because I have a huge rant about it saved for a later post.

For now, here’s an example of a creator appearing in his work done right.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #thomas astruc #thomas astruc salt #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #animaestro #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #jagged stone #chloe bourgeois #queen bee #queen b #star trek: the next generation #the simpsons #harley quinn #teen titans go #thundercats roar #thundercats #spider-man #stan lee

[junko-and-riri-domain]

exam season ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ni-ki

“you aren't wasting my time, and you need rest. please, ___ this isn’t healthy.” riki pleaded, and he seemed so genuinely concerned for you.  “I know we’re labelled as rivals all the time but I want to get to know you better. as someone who ranked 1 consistently, I wanted to meet the one person who managed to achieve the same thing."

or 

you and nishimura riki are rivals under the same company. after all, being the same age and pretty much the same level of talent made you and him quite unstoppable. the company thought it’d be a good idea to let you two meet and get along, but it turned out to be quite the opposite ordeal. though, this always remained to be a respectful rivalry. nothing petty.

warnings : overworked reader, insecurities, fainting from exhaustion, hints at negative body image ( good ending ) 

note : this is also off the top of my head, please ignore any mistakes !

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ rest under the cut

what were you supposed to think?

you had to admit it to yourself though, similar age and practically same amount of skill in dance would mean that this unit would be pretty much unstoppable. it’s just ;; the unspoken consequences of young teamwork at play. 

training for about half a year at belift, you’ve become quite popular among the trainees. they describe you as a dance prodigy. if you were going to be honest, it was kind of embarrassing. the spotlight was okay depending on the circumstances but, to be described as something so honorable made you feel like you weren’t worthy of it. on top of that, your vocals were always stable while practicing, making you stand out and always place #1 on exams. 

and so you started to practice harder, with the same thought of

‘i have to prove that i’m worthy to be labeled as a prodigy, otherwise why else am i here?’ 

to ni-ki, you were always so hardworking. sometimes, he thought it was too much. he’d pass by the room you were practicing in during lunch breaks and he would see you dancing your heart out, sweat threatening to fall from your face. he could tell you were tired, but due to the rules, he wasn’t allowed to talk to you. he considered you his opponent in a way, but it wasn’t to the extent of ruining your workflow. 

and to you, ni-ki seemed like a charming rival. the way he danced had always mesmerized you, his snaps and swift moves are always close to perfect. this motivated you to practice even harder, despite already achieving extreme skill. you often nitpicked on yourself and keep saying that you’re not doing something well enough, and that you’re not good enough and you have to try harder. you honestly thought he was kind of annoying. not only is he literally so tall, he's a dancing machine. everything that you wanted to be. ni-ki may have been your unspoken rival, 

but overcoming your extreme feeling to be better than the previous day is your true rival. 

coming home after training, you were always exhausted. as much water you drank, it never felt as if it quenched the thirst you brought upon yourself from working so hard. while doing homework you always zoned out, your concentration nowhere to be found. at some point, you even stopped messaging your friends as much as before, ignoring any notification that popped up and practicing till the sun peeked above the horizon.

this feeling of wanting to slip away into well-deserved rest never sat right with you.

'if I have time to do something, then I'll do it now. rest can wait.'

---

the week before, an exam was assigned to all the trainees. the exam was to be separated by gender, but you thought this was kind of dumb. and so what did you do? you asked the choreographer if you could take both of the choreographies instead of being categorized into one section.

"that's a great idea, ___! I'll allow it this once, since you always rank 1 anyways. in fact, why don't I ask riki if he wants to do an co-op exam with you? you guys are the same age right?"

all you could do was let out a hum and nod.

'nishimura riki... I hope I don't mess anything up.'

"he always ranks 1 in exams as well so I think it'd be perfect!" he continued, a bright smile flashed across his face at the realization of a great performance in development.

he walks off, and briskly walks to where riki usually practiced.

phew

you let out a breath you didn't even know you were holding. you've done many exams before but it had never been with another person. trying to convince yourself everything would be okay, your intrusive thoughts came in again.

'what if i embarass myself? what if I can't learn the choreo and mess everything up? what if he doesn't like m- wait. that doesn't even matter- ugh.'

you stood there for so long thinking to yourself about the future that one of the trainees had to tap you on the shoulder to make sure you didn't see medusa or something. repeating your little sorries and thank yous, you left the practice room and went on your way home.

you'd think that after weeks of non-stop overworking you'd hit your limit by now. the thing is, you never learn your lesson until you have to learn it the hard way. and that's exactly what's gonna happen.

---

back to the present, riki was currently doing a run-over of what he thinks you guys should do to make the choreography better. if there was one thing you and him had in common, it's that you always wanted to be ranked 1 through hard work.

however, you disagreed with some of the steps he created, and respectfully asked if you could show him what you were thinking of. in all honesty, riki was quite impressed. he'd never seen you dance up close since all he was able to do was take quick glances, but seeing you pour your heart into what you love and being absolutely great at it, it kind of gave him the feels.

yes. the feels. the butterflies. 🦋🦋🦋

though, in the next moment, butterflies was far from what he felt. his stomach did a full 180 and his face in such a shocked state as he watched your eyes roll back as your body practically shut down in front of him. he sped down to your side quickly and shouted for help, as he tried to shake you awake.

"please please wake up, I'm not sure if you'd wake up at all if you fell asleep so please..."

was the last faint thing you heard before slipping into unconsciousness.

---

beep , beep , beep

your eyes flutter open to reveal that you were in the nurse's office in the same building. to say you were relieved was an understatement, hospitals scared you a lot more since they'd have to call your parents.

looking around the dim room, it still resembled a hospital room, monitor, needles, riki, IV, wait. riki?

your eyes practically shot back to where he sat, head bowed down in an awkward position, closed eyes with phone in hands.

honestly speaking, it was kind of cute. but you knew it was uncomfortable. and you also felt SUPER guilty making him wait for you and practically ruining practice. he stirred a bit, easy to wake up due to the uncomfy position his neck was in.

in a couple of seconds you hear him ask, "___? you're awake?"

"riki.. what happened?"

"the trainer, our choreographer and the building's medical team were all here. they said that you were overworking yourself. not only that, you didn't eat, drink, or sleep enough. which I can only assume is because you're constantly practicing."

"... I'm guessing that has to be true then, if I'm already here. riki, I'm sorry."

"sorry for what?"

"for wasting your time. you didn't have to be tangled up in my mess if I wasn't an idiot and asked them for a different exam. we could'v-"

he cut you off, “you aren't wasting my time, and you need rest. please, ___ this isn’t healthy.” riki pleaded, and he seemed so genuinely concerned for you.  “I know we’re labelled as rivals all the time but I want to get to know you better. as someone who ranked 1 consistently, I wanted to meet the one person who managed to achieve the same thing. you didn't disappoint me, you didn't waste my time, in fact, it was fun watching you disagree with the things I said. but then you fainted in front of me. I had no idea what to do, but thankfully Jungwon-hyung came in and helped me. but all that aside, your body needs rest. I've talked too much."

"it's okay, your voice seems to be making me sleepy anyways."

he didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.

you handed him a spare pillow from your bed though, so he'll just take it as a compliment for now.

he didn't know what took over him in the next few seconds but he slowly put his phone in his pocket and reached his hand out to you, his hand resting on the bed right next to your waistline. as if it was beckoning you, your hand gravitated towards his, and the warmth of his hand and his comforting presence was enough to lull you back to sleep.

---

all the trainees in the floor were gathered in practice room #1, awaiting the announcement to see who got rank 1.

of course, they were expecting you and riki, but not together at the same time.

"nishimura riki, ___ ___. rank #1"

you and riki looked at each other in excitement, you could do nothing but listen at the moment, but celebration was in order later.

celebration? oh did you mean cuddles, making sure you're rested well and eating okay, hand holding, and a whole lot of light-hearted teasing? yeah.

[end]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ written by junko

|blog masterlist|

#enhypen #enhypen fic #jungwon #sunghoon #sunoo #enhypen ff #enhypen imagines #heeseung #jay #enhypen jay #enhypen x reader #enhypen niki #enhypen imagine #enhypen x you #ni ki #niki #nishimura riki #jake shim #enhypen jake #enhypen heeseung #enhypen sunoo #enhypen sunghoon #enhypen network #engene

[isagrimorie]

[initial reactions] Doctor Who - Revolution of the Daleks

TLDR: I liked it! But I do have some nitpicks. But bottom line, I liked it! Especially the exit! 

Apologies going in, if it’s rambling and incoherent.

First off, I’m going to get my criticisms out of the way:

- They really need to hire these two people:

a) Sensitivity readers

b) They need to have people of color in charge of casting. Andy Pryor has done a great job casting people but. Since they opened up casting more actors of color to be more diverse... most people in guest roles die. So it ends up being Not A Great Look.

It’s the kind of breezy: We’re hiring more actors of color without really considering the optics of it. Colorblind casting in this way shouldn’t be colorblind. More diversity behind the scenes is needed, especially in casting.

Colorblind casting isn’t representation. Execs have to consider how it looks that a black man is helping create ‘Security Drones’ for the government.

c) I get why Jack Robertson lived, and I’m actually okay with it because I know Chibbs is going somewhere and he’s interconnecting Specials to be their own kind of continuity, so next Special or series we will have Robertson appearing. But I can’t believe the Doctor believed Robertson. Unless she’s really learned from not interfering with politics, but man I wish there’s more vindication to that. I do have a sense of where this is going though, more on that later.  

d) I wish they’d gone harder with the Dalek = Police thing.

e) I really kind of wish the Doctor escaped on her own.

And now for my thoughts and the happy!

RYAN! I LOVE RYAN. I LOVE RYAN BEING EMOTIONALLY MATURE AND PUSHING BACK ON THE DOCTOR. It felt... earned that they do and, Ryan’s always been the more hesitant of the three and the more grounded. I love that it’s Ryan that the Doctor confided in, I’ve always felt like Ryan was the one Thirteen connected to the most after Grace died. And I love his development, ever since Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos Ryan is the first to quote the Doctor back to herself from the guns rule and now here to ‘New can be scary’, reminding the Doctor of her own words.

But also, I love that Ryan felt more connected to Earth, with his friends. Yaz was always the one who looks to the horizon. I like that Ryan pushed back on the smokescreen the Doctor tried to put up. Ryan was tired of the smokescreen. He had 10 months to work on his feelings about it and realized... he liked being home.

I wish we saw more what they were doing at home, like what Chibnall wrote for the Ponds in Power of Three. I did see this was his arc he was building to.

I liked that Graham was torn but eventually his loyalties are with Ryan.

I honestly think the fam thought the Doctor was just gone for a week, her time.

Also: FINALLY A COMPANION EXIT WHERE THEY’RE THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY. And because it’s time.

NO MORE TRAPPED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE OR DYING OR BEING CONVERTED PLEASE. Anyway, that is why I was vindicated because I was getting pretty antsy at all the twitter posts almost gleeful at the thought of companion death.

Nope. No more please. No more world ending, universe ending, heartbreaking ends. I want a Jo Grant walk away, and that is what happened. (Er, I hope we don’t get a Tegan leaving from Yaz, though. Sad and disillusioned walk away).

Yaz. Oh, dear, Yaz, who seems to have tossed her career away running after the Doctor’s shining star. I loved her conversation with Jack, he was a nice contrast and sounding board. Also, Jack was much kinder to the Doctor because they didn’t miss each other, the Doctor (according to RTD’s retcon) deliberately left Jack on Satellite Five.

Yaz is willing to run and jump without looking because of the Doctor and I love that we got her feelings about this.

And, of course, the Doctor. The moment Ryan said she missed 10 months, I felt she knew the clock was ticking on her ‘fam’. She’s trying to be good to them and do right by them.

(The Doctor knows Ryan’s ready to leave, she knew it. She’s trying to be in denial about it. But she knows).

It’s a small detail but when she processed the ‘ten months’ bit, she quickly looked to Ryan. Because if it’s one of the subtext things around is that she wanted to be a better father to Ryan than his real dad. But she still skipped out on him unknowingly.

The way he just brushed it off, because the worst part is. Ryan is used to it.

It’s sad that the Doctor opening up to the fam was brought on after a decades’ long solitary, and probably a promise to be better. But, she calculated wrong, or the TARDIS deliberately chose to go to that time. Whatever the case, just when she’s opening up to them is when Ryan decided his time with the Doctor was at an end.

God, the moment when Thirteen said: “Mostly... angry.”

I felt this. hard.

I think it was @ssaalexblake​ who mentioned that Thirteen acknowledging she’s angry might help with all of Thirteen’s repressed anger issues. And I think these are baby steps towards that.

She’s actually been so angry for so long, but she kept pushing it down. Like I said, Thirteen, in a way, reminds me of Raylan Givens of Justified. People think he’s mild mannered, but as his ex-wife amicably opined, Raylan was the angriest man she knew.

And I feel this for this Doctor but at least, now she’s addressing it. The first step in fixing a problem, is identifying the problem.

This was made in 2019. Thirteen being in a repeating lockdown felt very 2020 to me. The things that made me go: Oof, was the Harry Potter thing, the Doctor’s always loved HP. Unfortunately it’s post-2020 hindsight where we go: whoof.

I love Thirteen still mouthing off and being obnoxious towards other Doctor Who baddies. The Weeping Angel thing is cool and so are the Silents. BUT ALSO THE DOCTOR CALLED THE P’TING TINY! AND SHE TRIED TO EAT THE PRISON BARS. 

And then, of course, being more obnoxious with the Daleks. It’s pretty clear the difference in rawness of the Doctor’s feelings for the Daleks and the Cybermen. The Daleks’s an old ember. Her feelings for them are ice cold. A purity of feeling. The Daleks are evil and she has no compunction on killing them, the Cybermen? More personal and a raw nerve.

She’s willing to be cold towards the Daleks. 

I really like that Yaz has more skin in the game, and she knows what she can lose now. And after her talking with Jack, after seeing his perspective on it, and from his words knows that sometimes the Doctor just disappears from people’s lives.

And I love the pushback:

Skewered.

But true because she is trying to stay still and be with the fam and not leave them. But the unfortunate truth is, the Doctor does run away, and the Doctor does leave people behind and a lot of the times, the Doctor doesn’t come back because they’re an emotional coward.

The thing about Thirteen is she’s probably the longest of the Doctors to not disappoint her companions. She’s always managed to stop bad guys and always been there for them.  It’s an impressive track record for the Doctor. She’s built herself up in their eyes as someone they can rely on, and then she failed them by not getting back to them in time.

It’s not her fault, and none of them know how long it’s been for the Doctor, by the way she’s asked them I feel like they think she’s only been gone for a week.

Honestly, I’m impressed how the Doctor didn’t make it about her -- being in prison for longer than they thought. She’s looking at it from their point of view, because she already knows what big leaps in time would affect her friends.

TBH Revolution of the Daleks felt like shades of Last Christmas in that the Doctor regretted missing out time with her companion/s. In Last Christmas, the Doctor got his time back with Clara, in RotD, time passed.

Back to the Doctor and the Daleks tho.

This reminded of Twelve’s: “You are monsters. That is the role you seem determined to play. So it seems I must play mine. The Man that stops the Monsters.”

(Look, Chibnall’s Moffat references aren’t as sledgehammer, but he does reference a lot of Moffat’s things.).

Except with Thirteen, I’m actually more terrified. Jodie does this thing where her eyes goes black and she kind of disappears into herself, this is what happened here. This promise isn’t actually good IMO.

This is not a comforting face. This is a ‘I’m gonna kill a whole boatload of Daleks face and I’m not sorry, in fact I might enjoy doing that’ face.

(And, a brief aside to Robertson, I feel like the Specials have their own kind of special ‘movie’ continuity and more of his story will play out in the Specials, where hopefully he will get his comeuppance because, to me, I feel that’s where it’s going. This is more groundwork laying.

I don’t like it when the Doctor interferes with Human affairs, especially government -- because look what happened with Harriet Jones and how the Doctor broke the Golden Age. Also, I don’t want real world leaders to exist in the Whoverse because I want them to have a completely different track from us. So. Yeah, New Year’s Specials have their ongoing storyline. I’m actually not mad about it, and I enjoy Mr. Big’s performance. He’s a sleezeball. A sleezeball that knows more now. (He isn’t T rump but he isn’t better either). At least I find him enjoyable and not outright offensive. I’m okay seeing him again for the next Specials. I hope next time he does get his comeuppance.)

Now, the goodbyes:

 The HUG.

We’ve been waiting for the Doctor to be more physically affectionate with the fam, and it took the Doctor being locked down for decades (maybe?), and Ryan and Graham leaving for her to hug them. And we’re all right, Thirteen gives great hugs.

The feeling Thirteen’s been running away from is here, sadness. It’s good that Yaz decided to stay other wise... she’s just going to run headlong into forgetting her problems, Doctor Style.

And again, learning and re-learning things: ‘It’s okay to be sad.’

Oh, Thirteen.

(Before Twelve, I don’t think I was this sympathetic to the Doctor -- no wait, I was with Nine. Ten and Eleven tested my patience but it’s with Twelve and Thirteen where I’m 100% invested in the Doctor.

I also love that they’re kind of soft touching the Timeless Child thing, and as someone on twitter mentioned, this feels like an examination of an adoption story. The Doctor is going to search for their identity, their home).

I honestly wish Jack stayed in the TARDIS with Thirteen and Yaz. Jack’s a great balance, especially pushing back at the Doctor and her tactics. Her NUCLEAR tactics. I am glad that the Doctor’s still a dick to Jack, not much of an asshole as they were when the Doctor was Ten but still a dick.

Also, one thing I really love about Barrowman is that when he’s in Doctor Who, he knows it’s not his show and he doesn’t showboat, and the man can showboat. 

I’d rather Jack than random guy that I didn’t even know was gonna happen until very late.

Anyway, TLDR to all this: I enjoyed this very much! Still a lot to be parsed through in things that needs to be parsed through as I mentioned, but on the whole? I loved it.

#doctor who #doctor who spoilers #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #ryan sinclair #graham o'brien #jack harkness #revolution of the daleks #initial reactions #long post #rambling and incoherent