#I needed to make this post before I wrote a meta/theory post

[imminent-danger-came]

LMK Story Motif

Tang: “The thing you need to understand about the old legends, is that the story is never finished. There maybe be no more pages left to turn, but there’s always more to the journey. “

(1x00 A Hero is Born)

-

Tang: “It’s nice to know someone is taking in all these stories—pearls of wisdom, DRIPPING from my lips.”

(1x00 A Hero is Born)

-

Mirror MK: “UGH, stop that! Listen- every time we get in trouble, we turn to Monkie King or our friends or SOMEONE. They tell us a story, and we find that smidge of motivation we need. Well! Now we’re on our own. It’s just you.”

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

-

MK: “Wait! I am worthy, definitely worthy! I’m Monkie Kid! Basically the new Monkey King—might have heard of me? You know, the next chapter? I’m totally worthy!”

(2x01 Sleep Bug)

-

Totally Not Macaque (TNM): “Haha, what would you like to hear—the Hero suddenly remembered his beloved friend the Warrior? That they lived happily ever after?”

MK: “No! Nah no no no- well uh, yeah! Maybe. Um. Okay, I don’t know why I’m telling a complete stranger this but, I guess...I kind of feel like the Warrior in the story. A little. Is that dumb?

TNM: “I take that as a complement young man.”

TNM: “The tell-tale sign of a good story—that you resonate with it so personally. But I think maybe you missed the point.”

(2x07 Shadow Play)

-

Macaque: “Ah MK, you really are dense, aren’t you. Haha, you saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn’t have to work for anything, and you thought you were the other guy? The second the hero got real power, he couldn’t care less about his friends. That’s you bud.”

(2x07 Shadow Play)

-

Tang: “Now, any chance at hope lies in the hands of a monkey, and a kid who wishes he was a monkey.”

MK: “Ugghhhh Mr. Tang! Would you quit it?

Pigsy: “You’ve been reading your diary out loud LITERALLY all day. You’re bumming everybody out!”

Tang: “Hey! It’s not a diary, I’m writing the next chapter!”

(3x01 On the Run)

-

Sun Wukong (SWK): “Okay! Gather round everyone, it’s Monkey King story time!”

(3x01 On the Run)

-

SWK: “Kid, why did you...?”

MK: “Uh, well yeah- I- I was trying to do you in- in the omelet story! Do the weird impulsive Monkey King thing and escape the bad guy!”

SWK: “Well, I mean- Ne Zha ain’t really a bad guy but, did you forget about the part where I got really hurt?”

(3x01 On the Run)

-

(3x05 Amnesia Rules)

-

(3x06 The First Ring)

-

Tang: “But...compared to the great monk, I’m not so...great.”

Pigsy: “You’re pretty great to me tang. Besides, you’re story ain’t over—not yet.”

(3x12 The Corrupted King)

-

Tang: “MK, from the moment you picked up the Monkey King’s staff, their stories became our stories. It’s our responsibility to write the final chapter, no matter the outcome. If we do this, we do it together.”

(3x13 Time to Be Warriors)

-

Tang: “The curious thing about legends is the way we can continue to be moved by the same stories. We’re comforted by familiar tales of friendship, courage, redemption. At times, the path of the hero might seem unclear, and the stories chaotic and directionless. Sometimes it may seem as though we’ve ended back where we began, but it’s clear to see how much we’ve grown on the journey—for although the story is over, there’s always room on the shelf for another.”

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

MK: “I wasn’t really gonna slice ‘em and dice ‘em you know, I just- I just thought we looked cool and edgy! But like, what if this is the point in our heroes journey where things get a little bit...darker.”

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

MK: “You’re telling me that I’m holding THE Journey to the West legend in my hand right now?”

Azure Lion: “That and a great many other tales I’m sure."

(4x02 New Adventures)

-

MK: “Alright! Find our friends, defeat the curse, and get back to the good old fashioned story of the week!”

(4x03 The Great Tang Man)

-

Tang: “L-listen you! Stop holding onto the past, it’s time to go!”

“Aah! What did I say before—earthly connections can only weight you down? Well, I don’t believe it! Your time with your family was precious, and nothing will ever take that away. The memories we make with the ones we love—they’re what lift us up! Your time here is over, but that doesn’t mean your story is finished—you’re not being cast out or pulled down, you were being lifted up!”

“The next chapter is calling you to start a new adventure, it’s time to answer the call!”

(4x03 The Great Tang Man)

-

Tang: “That’s it! This Tang has had it! We’ve been through a bajillion chapters from Monkey King’s Journey to the West, and I feel like we’re no closer to finding Pigsy, Sandy, or Monkey King!””

(4x04 Pig Napped!)

-

Subodhi: “A simple creature, with no past, no family, and no name. There is a reason you were at the center of these stories—a reason you can harness the power of the Monkey King himself!”

“Without question, you were not born from the stone as he was! Who or what you are, even I do not know the answer; but, of one thing I am certain, fate has plans for you—great plans, or foul? Time will tell.”

MK: “I- I can’t be! I’m just- I’m just MK!”

Subodhi: “The Monkie Kid?”

(4x06 Show Me the Monster) (Isn’t it so funny that he’s named MK? Like the initials of Monkey King? Haha. It’s so funny isn’t it? HAHAHA. YEAH. I’M HAVING A GREAT TIME. THIS IS SO FUN.)

-

Curse MK: “Hey no no I get it man—you want to get back to our monster of the week adventures, get back to our simple missions with Mei, mastering all of Monkey King’s powers and delivering noodles for Pigsy. Right?”

MK: “Yeah. Yeah actually, that’s exactly what I wanna-”

Curse MK: “-But we can’t. Not after all we’ve seen. All we know and all we don’t—*sigh*, right friend?

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)(THE HERO’S JOURNEY INTENSIFIES. MK IS NOT RETURNING WITH THAT ELIXER)

-

MK: No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain. It’s like the Lady Bone Demon said—it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or NOT, everything I do it just- it just makes things worse!

Mei: “You’re all stuck up in your own head! None of this is your fault-”

MK: “It’s ALWAYS my fault! Ever since I picked up monkey king’s staff, I-”

(4x08 The Brotherhood)

-

Ne Zha: “We should have stood and fought till the end.”

MK: “We didn’t stand a chance against them, if we'd stayed, it wouldn’t of made a difference.”

Ne Zha: “So you’re just gonna stand aside and let Azure become the new Jade Emperor!?”

MK: “There’s only one person who ever stood against the Jade Emperor and lived to tell the tale.”

(4x10 The Jade Emperor)

-

Stories, Legends, and Tales.

#FUCKING DYING Y'ALL #LIKE. #THE STORY MOTIF LEGITIMATELY MAKES ME GO RABID #I needed to make this post before I wrote a meta/theory post #it's gonna be fucking GOOD Y'ALL #I'M. I'M DYING #Do you know what 4x06 does to a person. Do you even understand #lmk parallels #All of our characters are dead men and the story was over since the beginning #Our characters are living past their stories and have been doing so since the start. Now they're DOUBLY living past the end of their stoires #LIKE LADY BONE DEMON SHOULD HAVE WON. THAT'S WHAT DESTINY HAD IN STORE #YET MK DEFIED THAT DESTINY #HE IS A DESTINY DEFYING BOY. DO YOU GET IT. #THE SAMADHI FIRE SHOULD HAVE BURNED MEI. PENG AND YELLOWTUSK NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN FREED FROM THE SCROLL. #Every single fucking character is living past the end of their myth #lmk #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #story motif #lmk mk #lmk meme #lmk macaque #lmk tang #lmk swk #lmk sun wukong #I'm eating both of my legs! I really am!

[ineffable-suffering]

INEFFABLE META MASTERPOST

Because I'm slowly losing count and need to organize. So, here's all my self-written metas or ones that I reblogged with my own added theories and commentary! In rainbow colours, naturally.

1 – Aziraphale, I love you. But you lied. And here's why. My most lengthy and proudest meta about the Final Fifteen and why I think Aziraphale lied on purpose. (Also: The absolute darling @esthermitchell-author bravely fought their way through it and wrote up some more interesting points and different takes on what I came up with. If you want to go down a S2 rabbit hole with us, go read it here.)

2 – Why Aziraphale is an unreliable narrator (links below) A three-part meta in which I try to analyse and explain that all of the minisodes in Season 2 are not objective narrations but actually Aziraphale's memories.

Part 1: The Story of Job

Part 2: The Story of wee Morag

Part 3: The Story of the Magic Show in 1941

3 – The Jane Austen Ball and why it was never about Nina and Maggie A meta in which I go into unnecessarily great detail about how the Whickber Street Meeting Cotillion Ball was meant to be Aziraphale's confession to Crowley.

4 – Crowley & Aziraphale were never free (reblog) A reblog of @baggvinshield's post in which I explain why miscommunication is the single biggest ineffable enemy in Season 2.

5 – In Defense of Aziraphale (double reblog) A double try at explaining why I think Aziraphale's POV in the Final Fifteen is just as horrible as Crowley's and why I don't think him "choosing" to go back to Heaven was the only point of his character journey.

6 – The Art of Miscommunication: Ineffable Edition A meta in which i once again explain why miscommunication is the single biggest ineffable enemy in Season 2.

7– Season 2 Bookshop Shot Meta A meta where I briefly loose my mind because of a single bookshop frame in Season 2.

8 – What if it wasn't Aziraphale and Crowley who performed the 25 Lazarii miracle? A mini-meta in which I propose the theory that Jimbriel helped with the miracle to hide himself away from Heaven & Hell.

9 – Things in Good Omens Season 2 I still find weird (reblog) A reblog of @ok-sims and many other great OPs' thoughts on the weird loose strings in Season 2 and what unanswered questions I still have myself.

10 – The Deleted Bookshop Scene (reblog) A reblog of @skirtdyke's video and @i-only-ever-asked-questions' smart thoughts on it, with my own overly-excited 'what that could have meant for the "It's too late" line'-theroy.

11 – The Bentley Handle Easter Egg A meta I can proudly say has been liked by none other than Mr. Neil Gaiman himself about Crowley's Bentley handle that might have existed before the Bentley ever did.

12 – The F*cking Eccles Cakes A meta where I briefly loose my mind because of a pastry. (Addendum: People said very smart things in the comments of the post!)

14 – Re: "You go too fast for me, Crowley" A meta in which I make myself sad by connecting that infamous line to Aziraphale assuming Crowley wanted the Holy Water as a suicide pill.

13 – Trauma-Dumping on your plants: The Anthony J. Crowley Chronicles A meta on why Crowley treats his plants the way that he does.

14 – Demonic Mental Health Awareness Post In which I talk about why I want to get Crowley a therapy voucher.

15 – The Curious Incident of The Flaming Sword in Good Omens A meta on why the Flaming Sword has no deeper meaning. Or does it? (Updated: here's a reblog from @queerfables who did a wonderfully exellent job at calmly explaining all the swordy questions I was yelling about! Consider this meta solved.)

16 – Ceci n'est pas une plume A meta in which I'm a bit of a nerd for language and also explain why learning French and magic the human way says so much about Aziraphale as a character.

17 – The meaning of "I forgive you" A meta in which I explain what both "I forgive you"s mean and why Aziraphale will always fight for what is right until he wins. Also, the lovely @sharksbeerr translated it to Chinese on Weibo!

18 – Memory, or the lack thereof, in Season 2 A little reblog on how memory is a big and unresolved, leaky-bucket theme in Season 2.

Addendum:

The one non-spoiler-y ask I could come up with about S2 that was actually answered by Neil, yay!

Also, this wholesome little post I added to that Mr. Gaiman also reblogged. :‘)

*** This is a work in progress and will get updated every time I post a new meta! ***

#good omens #good omens season 2 #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #gos2 #go2 #good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens s2 #my own meta #good omens season 1 #meta masterpost #ineffable-suffering

[percheduphere]

LET'S TALK ABOUT MOBIUS'S HEAVY KEYS

I wrote a meta on S1 Mobius here, mostly exploring his interrogation persona and emotional trajectory toward S1E6. I also have a fun little list on all the things I love about him here.

@mitromana posted about how we should talk about Mobius's sass and even cruelty more. @wowwwmobius posted how Mobius realistically would not be doing well post-S2E6 (I wholeheartedly agree), and they and @inwantofamuse shared amazing comments. All of this inspired this meta.

Thank you @mitromana @wowwwmobius @inwantofamuse!

Mobius's interrogation scenes are him at his most cruel and ruthless. The flipside of being a highly empathetic person is that it is very VERY easy to use this skill in highly abusive, cunning, and powerful ways. This is especially true if the person armed with this skill is exceptionally intelligent and is convinced their motivations are good. At the TVA, before Loki's exposure of the truth, Mobius is both of these things. Worse, he has access to the TVA's more ethically unconscionable technology, which he does not hesitate to use.

The road to evil is paved with good intentions. Mobius strolls onto this road more than once, but he manages to not stay on it because two people curb this risk: Loki and, yes, Sylvie.

Take in Loki's words and posture in this scene. The words alone are a frail and weak comeback for a silver-tongue God of lies. They do nothing but reveal Loki is in FACT scared. His arms are crossed tightly over his abdomen, a primal protective response. He's leaned as far away from Mobius as possible. This is the best Loki can come up with in the face of a boring man in a boring suit, really?

You can see why Mobius was moved into the position of Analyst from Hunter. He may not be able to prune children, but he can literally bring a God like Loki to the ground, breathless, confused, and frightened, with nothing more than WORDS. And this is with a variant Mobius likes. Imagine what he can do to a variant he hates.

For HWR and Ravonna's purposes, Mobius is the perfect weapon to get whatever they want out of whatever variant they capture before sending them off to get pruned. How do they keep him from questioning anything?

Memory-wiping (more than once), brainwashing, propaganda, and:

A little something for Mobius's identity, something that fulfills his intrinsic need to take care of others while also gently stroking his ego.

Yes, the genocide of multiple timelines over the span of eons is horrifying. But Mobius is capable of being complicit with it as long as his environment feeds his intrinsic psychological and emotional needs. The people on the Sacred Timeline become his new children, and he will do anything ANYTHING to protect them.

There was one thing HWR and Ravonna didn't anticipate: that this man's empathy for a specific Loki would be the very thing that liberates the multiverse and his own bondage from a corrupt bureaucracy.

However...

I don't believe Mobius ever anticipated becoming emotionally compromised when he advocated on Loki's behalf. He likely genuinely believed that after centuries of studying Loki, he knew him well enough to make him useful for the TVA. But the subconscious, oh. That is a different story, and in Loki's own words, Mobius has a gift for lying to himself.

I discuss the interrogation scene and Sif loop scene in depth here, so I won't repeat myself, but I'd like to draw our attention to the 2 gifs below, framing my analysis:

Imagine where Mobius's mind must be at:

I spent centuries studying you and believing in you. I waited more centuries for your nexus event to come. I tasked every hunter to inform me of your arrival immediately, no matter what I was doing, no matter where I was. I abandoned a case. I ran to your trial. I put my job, reputation, and eons-long friendship with Ravonna on the line. I tested your theory. I brought you with me on the field. You talked to me. You challenged me. You made me proud. You made me laugh.

I gave you daggers and you stabbed me. You STABBED me. When all I wanted to give you was--

Mobius cracked hard and fast. Applaud Owen Wilson for THIS interpretation of the script and THIS delivery.

Thankfully, the very person who put Mobius in this fragile state of mind is also the person Mobius deeply wants to believe in. Even after being betrayed, Mobius still wants to believe in Loki and his capacity to be a wonderful person. And so he looks at Ravonna's TemPad, decides Loki deserves to be with whoever he wants to be with (even if that person will never be Mobius himself), frees Loki to help him save the woman he loves, and gets pruned for it.

Mobius survives thanks to plot-armor. And who is the first person he meets?

The bane of his existence.

And Sylvie wastes no time driving a knife into a very fresh wound. Mobius, however, only recently unleashed all his rage. His reservoir for compartamentalizing has refreshed, so he can take Sylvie's truth bravely, without a flinch, and acknowledge that truth with one of his own.

Mobius owns it. He doesn't deny it. He tacitly agrees with her and gives her a reason why.

We should remember how dangerous Mobius can be. He is currently sitting in a car with the variant he is most likely to hate. Sylvie is strong, clever, and resilient, but her ability to regulate her emotions is weak, especially if she is triggered. Mobius can destroy her very easily with his words.

But Mobius can't hate her. He can't. She was right and he was wrong, but most importantly Loki loves her.

He won't hurt the person Loki loves most. No. He will take her to him instead. He can stomach the pain, the disappointment. He's good at that. Loki's well-being, his happiness, comes first.

In fact, Mobius stomachs Sylvie's knife twists a second time and chooses not to defend himself. I don't doubt a large part of him agrees with her. Nevertheless, he can't help but hope Loki might stand up for him in that moment. He tries, and fails, to make light of it by rolling his eyes and turning to his friend. When Loki leaves him not explaining why, his true feelings about this interaction surfaces on his face.

Aren't you going to say anything?

The saddest thing is that this is the LAST intimate moment THIS Mobius has with Loki before Loki crosses the gangway and never returns. This is it. This is what he's left with: the thought Loki didn't care enough to defend him and Loki leaving.

HE doesn't get to hear that he's just trying to see in the dark and is doing everything he can to keep the surviving timelines alive. SYLVIE does.

HE doesn't get to hear Loki tell him he saved his life. DON does.

HE doesn't get the final goodbye and "thank you, Mobius", his PAST SELF does. And if Mobius happens to remember this moment in the present, he will know that he was the one who propelled Loki to bear this massive burden ALONE.

My worry for Mobius post-S2E6 is that he is more than talented at ignoring his own needs and addressing his own problems. He is infinitely better--a master, even--at taking care of anyone else. It's a devastating flaw, but it comes from a very raw place:

His heart, his soul, will always remember being a single parent.

Being a parent at all is hard to begin with. There are only so many hours in a day, and the majority of it is devoted to putting someone else's needs before your own. Being a single parent is even harder. You might have a few people to help you, but ultimately, there's no partner to share every high and low intimately. To be a single parent of not one but TWO children?

Game over.

Some viewers have interpreted Don ignoring his sons' phone calls at work as negligent. Honestly, I don't think that's the case. He will call them back. Don is Mobius and Mobius is Don. He will take care of them. But refusing every beck and call at work is the only personal boundary he has. He cannot have many boundaries for himself at home or anywhere else. He has to decline not one but two calls for his own sanity. Nevermind that he works Monday through Saturday, nine to five, to make enough money to keep them healthy and happy. Where is the break? There is none. This is Don's glorious purpose.

Mobius leaving the TVA is understandable for two crucial reasons: One, it is a reminder of all his horrifying acts and complicity. Two, it is a reminder Loki is no longer there. But by leaving the TVA, Mobius separates himself from his only support system. That's not good. That is decidely unhealthy. The fact that it doesn't cross B-15, Casey, or OB's minds that this is a very bad idea tells you everything you need to know about the number of genuinely close friends Mobius has.

Mobius has two. He walked away from one to be with the second, and the second walked away from him, too. TWICE.

But he still loves him anyway.

When you take a man like this and take away everything that's kept him functional: the TVA, Ravonna, Loki, and then show him a content life in which he cannot even be with his own children because another version of him already exists, what do you think will happen to him given we've seen how violently Mobius can snap?

And guess what: only one person has ever seen Mobius snap on more than one occasion. Only one person understands the triggers and how to handle them. I'll give you three guesses as to who it is.

Mobius "has a happy ending" is absolute bullshit. He is at risk.

#loki #mobius #lokius #loki series #loki season 2 #loki spoilers #loki meta #sylvie #my meta

[empty-movement]

sorry but please... post your akio plastic covered couch tweet here... the world needs to know...

Warning: pics of gross shit happening on the couches

I'll do you one better and include the STORY! So, I, Vanna (note: Yasha mostly does the Tumblr and I mostly do the Twitter,) was smoking enough weed to knock out a large horse or put a very tiny dent in my constant back and shoulder pain, as one does when when they're a middle-aged Registered Nurse in the year 2023. (I'm 39 but it's an old 39, lmao.)

Scrolling through Twitter, I stumble on a fanart of Suletta from Witch of Mercury sitting goofily on a white couch. Now I haven't seen this show yet, but the white couch....looked familiar, and I know the show is very much a descendent of Utena in terms of creative teams. For those that don't know, the series is written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, who also wrote the two Revolutionary Girl Utena novelizations...which if you didn't know about before, you know about now, and can read translated on our site here! (Warning: Touga and Miki uh, in the novels...)

Anyways, so I hop onto my own website and start downloading the images that will constitute receipts, before realizing 1. these images are all on multiple computers feet away from me, 2. the couch isn't an identical match, 3. that'd have been weird anyway, and most importantly, 4:

AKIO'S COUCHES DON'T LOOK RIGHT. OBSERVE:

The edges of the armrests have sloppier upholstery than the blanket I have covering my computer desk. I took the time to tuck seams at least. What is this??

Now it could absolutely be leather, I thought. It would absolutely track. But leather upholstery doesn't look like this. It doesn't wrinkle quite this way. It would have cleaner seams.

No. No that's too shiny for leather. So here I am, presented with this strangeness I'd never really considered in how Akio's couch is drawn, and having spent the last few months learning about my Italian-American family history, my chemically altered ass came to the only reasonable conclusion:

Akio Ohtori has plastic coverings on his white couches, like he's a depression era American in poverty.

Fuck yeah, I though, A HIT TWEET, there, at the end of all Tweeting things. (Yeah I'm working on that, stay tuned, lmao. I of all people know when to bail on stupid men with stupid power.) Because I am me, I framed it as semi serious by pulling a context to explain it out of my ass:

I was joking.

But the replies? They were not. And then I thought about it some more. And I've kept thinking about it. Do I seriously think Ikuhara and Co literally are intentionally drawing a plastic covered couch? Doesn't that feel, Vanna, like a bit of a stretch, even for Utena meta?

Listen to that CRONCH when Akio sits down in episode 31, before Anthy is seen by Nanami. Look, the buttons on the back rest don't quite fit, but the rest? Yeah it kinda does. I was high, but not wrong!?

Akio *does* surround himself with a bizarre hodgepodge of Americana as an aesthetic. The arm garters. The piping and cut of his cowboy-ass shirt. His American car. His mullet. His miniature fucking golf. Why not the plastic covered couch? It's a trope of American poverty that would absolutely have fallen neatly into the diet of American pop culture that influenced Ikuhara. (He makes references to E.T. and The Godfather and Suspiria and all kinds of things in his other work, Utena itself is a little less obvious with individual references but inherits HUGE amounts of vibes from the same content--Ikuhara and Co watched Lost Highway in theaters during the production of the Akio Arc and I will not be convinced otherwise.)

So yeah. That's the story, and that's the theory. Do I seriously believe it was deliberate? Maybe. Probably. Possibly. But it fits so well it's headcanon for me, and in the Utena fandom, pretty much all canon is kind of headcanon so enjoy this one.

What an asshole.

#utena #revolutionary girl utena #utena meta #akio ohtori #akio's couches #do I really need to point out the functional utility of plastic covered couches for this particular character though

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 2 ("I PROMISED YOU THE MOONSHINE") EDITION

Being a day late to watching and writing about Only Friends allows me a little airspace away from the gasps and dopamine of the collective community first watch of each episode, and lemme tell ya -- my dash yesterday was so hot, it was like melting Tupperware on a stove. Unfortunately for many in the fandom, the ships are going to sink. That shower scene got some folks wrecked. Many folks on my dash have a sudden disdain for Neo Trai (poor kiddo). For anyone who reads around here, you might remember my implored begging of the Tumblr family to watch Gay OK Bangkok before Only Friends premiered, and I still stand by it. The Only Friends team -- Jojo Tichakorn, Ninew Pinya, writers Den Panuwat and Best Kittisak -- are playing with a lot of concepts that I thought were just FABULOUSLY explored in this second episode, and these concepts ARE going to lead to further innuendos and endings that the shippers are just not going to like. (I think GOKB primed us for this.) And frankly, by the way this episode played out (as we were talking about a couple days ago, @lurkingshan) -- I think that's a hell of a point that the team is making in our faces.

I'm going to get to this more in a moment. Let me explain more, by way, of all things (!) -- plum wine.

So a bunch of us meta clowns (cc @ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan) were talking about a theory I had on Friday regarding the theme of ephemerality in the first episode. How Cheum indicated to Mew that there's a lot in Thailand that'll bring them down, from pollution to radiation. She wanted Mew to nab Top -- she indicated that life is fickle, so what did her homeboy have to lose? Go get yer man, she said.

@ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan and I took this conversation further yesterday (please read all the reblogs on this link, folks, it's a great conversation!), exploring the many more references to the ephemeral, fickle nature of time and life that Only Friends is referencing. @chickenstrangers clocked that Yo's bar is called YOLO. @ranchthoughts clocked that Sand's bag of plum wine read "you only live once." @lurkingshan noted that Jojo's played around with the ephemeral before -- in Gay OK Bangkok, examining the impact of HIV on Bangkok's gay male population.

The reblogs of the post linked above also capture some common mentalities about the "future" for our current crop of young folks today (I... am not young, lol), particularly for the young queer community. That through climate change, the slow-snail-paced fight for equity (like the legalization of same-sex marriage in Thailand) (and even comparing it to the roll-back of rights for the LGBTQ+ community in the States) -- as @ranchthoughts wrote, there seems to be a stronger sense of "live fast, die young," among younger cohorts than when I was a young lass, born in the 1980s, when a middle management career could get you everything you needed, with a unfettered retirement in sight.

To me, the most wrenching references to the ephemeral in this second episode focused on death. "Do you want us to die?," Sand asked laughingly as Ray played around in the car. Top can't sleep alone because after a childhood trauma, he's afraid he'll die alone. Ray's deceased mom is shown with a glass in her hand.

And how are these young folks behaving? In the face of literal death, as they themselves are referring to it: they're living life very riskily. Top's a player. So is Boston. We hope they're playing safe. (Gay OK Bangkok had condoms all over the place. I haven't seen any yet in OF.) Ray's blood alcohol levels are clearly through the roof. Sand's committing a crime.

Say what now? Committing a crime?

I hope folks clocked that. What's REALLY making me shake my head is how slick the non-sexual commentary was in this episode.

Going back to my original post on ephemerality that I let loose on Friday: I talked about the metaphor of plum wine and the passage of time -- how plum wine tastes sweeter and better as you let it age.

Sand was pissed that his bottles of plum wine broke because he's making it himself. That's why he wanted Ray to pay him back for the lost supply. Sand lost both product AND time.

Making and selling plum wine is illegal in Thailand. It's like the selling of rotgut during Prohibition.

SAY WHAT? For real. Thailand's laws around alcohol are wild, y'all. The display of alcohol logos is weirdly regulated (I laugh at how bottles are often blurred out in Thai dramas), brewing alcohol within Thailand is insanely complicated (some people brew alcohol in Thailand, then bottle it elsewhere and import it BACK into Thailand to skirt these laws), and -- you cannot buy alcohol from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Remember we saw Ray sneaking some sips from a flask outside the hostel site? That's a major flag for confirmed alcoholism (drinking alone during the day). But also, if Ray wanted a drink during the hours of 2-5 pm -- he had to have the booze on himself to have a tipple.

We know Jojo does NOT shy away from political commentary. We saw it in spades during Dirty Laundry.

What I love about Jojo's work is that he's unafraid to call out the hypocrisy of these kinds of laws. The making of plum wine is ILLEGAL? In Japan, making umeshu is traditional. (It's also the easiest and most delicious thing ever, please try making it!). For many of us around the world, making umeshu is a hobby, and a perfectly safe one at that. Considering Thailand's economy is so dependent on tourism, and that Bangkok itself is a world-class city, you would think that the selling of alcohol wouldn't be so complicated, and yet... 'tis.

This leads me to what I saw as the second Big Theme of this episode, besides ephemerality: I saw a lot of hypocrisy in this episode.

We got the liquor laws bullshit. We got Boston. Boston strikes me as a hypocrite for setting up his friend Mew with Top -- all while Boston's still wanting to get with Top, to the point of sneaking into Top's shower.

And Mew strikes me as a hypocrite, too. He wants to "redo" the start of his relationship with Top?... on his own terms? So, they're not boyfriends anymore? After already....having dated? Believable, my dude. The guys are in a PatPran-esque battle of... something, and I don't think it's wits, because neither of them seem to have many wits about them. They seem to be more interested in just winning a goal that (except for sex for Top) seems wholly unclear. Does Mew not know that Top may very well NOT respect Mew? Is Mew aware that his read on Top may not be at all accurate? And.... does Mew actually care? I'm not convinced of it.

Live fast, die young. What does it matter to be a hypocrite if the future is unstable, if time is speeding by -- and if no one is holding these young folks accountable for their behavior, as I put into the tags of @ranchthoughts's post yesterday? As Nick says to Boston: "you're a rich guy -- you don't care much for things." What, exactly, would make these rich kids care about being ethical human beings?

Accountability is around the corner for this group. Nick is starting to catch feelings. Boston is wondering why he's getting rejected by Top. Sand's recognizing that Ray's sniffing out something between them (cc @neuroticbookworm) (and, who knows, as NBW first referenced in her post -- Sand might be catching feelings, too). All of these friends -- it's mindblowing! -- leave Ray alone, often, wasted off his ass, to get himself home, as Sand himself notes.

These characters are going to get hurt, and it's only a matter of time until we begin seeing it happen. At the micro-level, human to human, they will hurt each other. And society, Thai society, is doing these young people no favors by not helping to equalize the inequity between rich and poor -- as Sand has to take risks to sell illegal hooch, of all things, to just get by.

Wrapping this up with what I was mentioning up at the top about the jibbles that the fandoms are starting to feel towards the established GMMTV ships of this show slowly sinking. Isn't there a bit of hypocrisy there as well? This show is NOT going to be pretty for the ForceBook/FirstKhao established ships. What are we, as fans, going to do when that time comes? Will we condemn Jojo? Will we stop watching the show? Will we equivocate by way of blaming other characters?

This show should be celebrated already for the risks it's taking, and the risks it will take. (Remember: fans protested at the GMMTV building in 2019 when the KristSingto ship was broken for He's Coming To Me.) Only Friends deciding to take on the toxicity and hypocrisy of shipper fandom? Bring it on. We cannot only enjoy the performances of these actors when they're paired up with one repeating partner. As the life of Gay OK Bangkok depicted, as the life of Only Friends is depicting -- life is a whole lot more complicated than just a dreamlike, over-organized monogamy between two people (ahem, Mew). Life -- and TIME -- will bring complications and change, sometimes unwanted change, that we have to learn to handle and manage. I'm not colored surprised in the least that Jojo's making this experience for us jump out of the screen and into our own hearts, as we see our beloved actors take risks upon themselves by their breaking of their own ships. I am all here for it, and I hope the shipper fans can be, too.

(BIG UPS to the small meta army family -- @ranchthoughts, @lurkingshan, @chickenstrangers, @neuroticbookworm -- I'm so thrilled to continue being thoughtful with y'all!)

#only friends #only friends the series #only friends meta #only friends the series meta #jojo tichakorn #ninew pinya #den panuwat #best kittisak #first kanaphan #first khaotung #firstkhao #force jiratchapong #book kasidet #forcebook #neo trai #mark pakin #neomark #lookjun bhasidi #nonnie pitchaporn #liquor regulations in thailand #shipper culture #only friends the morning after

[nightgoodomens]

I’ve see your post about that deactivated blog and I think I get who you're referring to, because she was one of my favorite people here. Yesterday she wrote a funny post about Aziraphale being a damsel in distress and someone added to her post a take about Crowley being Aziraphale's devoted dog. She replied that she was very tired of things like that. Someone else accused her of treating Aziraphale like an idiotic teenager and told her there was no need for people like her here. Then she wrote that the last 15 minutes might not have any secret code and people started being mean to her for no reason. She asked them to stop. In her last post that I saw she said that wasn’t feeling well because of something she was told and now her blog is deactivated. I don't know if anything else happened. I hope she’s okay, because her last post was concerning. I've been following her since her first meta and she wrote some of my favorite aziracrow posts. When I asked her a question, she wrote a long answer and she was very kind. I have a multifandom blog and I will now stop posting about GO because the fandom has become toxic and it has made my love for the show fade.

Thank you for writing in!

Oh I am so done with the fucking idiots in this fandom. So done!

The past few months we’ve seen an influx of idiotic trolls who don’t know shit about the show and have problems they should take to a psychologist instead of bullying loving fans off the fandom. They really should find shows made for them instead of being toxic in a fandom that has nothing to do with what they’re insisting on.

Seriously? Someone asks to please not add such things to their posts because it clearly bothers them and they do that in spite? What’s wrong with you people.

I remember I made a funny post about my OC & Crowley/Aziraphale and someone added such extremely sexual content to it that I literally stared in disbelief and blocked them after a minute because I could not even find the words to respond to that.

It really stops you from posting more. I had so many theories and scenarios to post everyday and now I barely bother anymore.

It really has been nice here for a couple of months but now I barely scroll my dash because within a few gorgeous fan arts it’s just a shit take after shit take and that kind of insanity with how Crowley is treated. I’ve never seen a fandom so badly ignore what a show said about a character, or both actually, and then decided he needs the opposite that actually in canon would just kill him. Sickening. It makes me shudder how people think he needs to be put in a situation that would mentally ruin him and that kind of thing is everything he’s against and people dare to say he needs that. That it would be good for him that it’s affection. Fucking hell. No wonder so many people are starting to deactivate and say they’re moving on. At this point it’s to not lose their minds and to keep their mental health stable because some takes are horrifying at this point.

The amount of trolls jumping on people’s posts to ruin them only to upset them and stupid anons has increased too.

What a shame. Honestly what a shame. I can’t believe they did it to one of the best people here. I am so sad she’s gone but I understand - there is so much you can take before the show you love begins to only be associated with everything you dislike. There are some scenes I can’t even look at anymore because people fetishised everything to the extreme. And I know she was struggling with trying to keep on loving the show too.

Fuck, how fucking sad. I hope she’s doing okay 😞

#NightGoodOmens answers #I’m so mad and sad fucks sake #I’ve never seen a fandom hit the ground so quickly before #no love left in this fandom for both fictional character and real people

[dreamingofthewild]

Hi there! I was just reading your post on Mystra grooming and I thought it was very well articulated I just had one question on it. You mentioned that Elminster reached out to Gale when Gale was 8 years old and I haven't seen that mentioned in the game or in other lore for the game. Would you mind letting me know where that was sourced? Mostly because I'm interested on reading on that more, thank you

Hello there kingtycoon13

SPOILER ALERT: EPILOUGE

The reference to Elminster reaching out to Gale comes from a letter that Elminster writes to Gale when he ascends to Godhood. The letter can be found in a basket full of letters the player can read in the epilogue.

More under the cut

In the Forgotten Realms Wiki, it does say that Elminster took on apprentices from time-to-time. Sometimes they were by Mystra's request.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elminster#Apprentices

We do not know why Elminster appeared on Gale's doorstop when he was eight years old. We do know that Gale was a child prodigy who could summon rabbits when since he was toddler (I cannot find the dialogue for this on the web). If magic was unstable at the time this makes his power an even more impressive feat.

So Elminster had connection with the Blackstaff and was prominent in Waterdeep.

There is every potential that he heard about a boy prodigy who was living with non-magically inclined parents and rocked up to their doorstep to offer help. He might have been thinking about how Mystra will need more chosen when she returns, or he might have just decided that it was time for another apprentice.

On the forgotten realms Wiki it says that Elminster spoke to Mystra who possessed the body of a bear and asked him to find new candidate's to become her chosen. Gale would have been 22 at the time if we go with his cannon age of 35.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra_(Midnight)

I think that Elminster may have suggested Gale as a candidate when Gale was 22. Elminster has helped train her chosen before, such as Sammaster.

There is also a very interesting tidbit I found upon looking him up where he says he left the encounter feeling as though he and Mystra were in love;

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Sammaster

I do not know to what extent Mystra's presence could be felt whilst she was gone. But Midnight was said to have felt a 'presence' and her spells which might've failed succeeded and she felt like she was being groomed, before becoming the next Mystra. I cannot find any evidence to support a theory that Mystra was behind Gale's ability to cast magic at such a young age. But it is an interesting theory nonetheless.

Anyway, back to my original point. When I said that Elminster had a part to play, I meant that he is a renowned wizard and former chosen of Mystra. And he inserted himself into Gale's life when he was 8. It is implied that he did help him, and potentially recommended him if she did not already have her eyes on him herself.

Elminster does mention making a mistake in his letter, so could that be the mistake he refers to?

We don't know if Mystra sought Gale out as her chosen because of Elminster or vice versa. She may have set her eyes on him regardless but perhaps at a later stage. Either way, Elminster had a part to play in Gale being selected as her chosen.

My idea also stemmed from a post a read a while back where someone wrote Meta's on each BG3 character;

The final point I wanted to make was that grooming does not always involve one person. It can be an organisation or an entire industry which is set up to suck the souls out of people who have talent. Be it academia, sports, the film and music industries or the fictional industry of Wizardry.

But in general the process of becoming a chosen is exploitative and manipulative. We witness that in game with Shadowheart and Lae'zel. They were all groomed in different ways.

#bg3 #gale dekarios #My attempt at a lore dive #It's not that deep this is headcannon based on lore information I have read and things in the game #Because the game leaves a lot to interpretation #I am going to regret posting this #It's still grooming #gale of waterdeep #gale defense #mystra hate club #bg3 Gale #bg3 discourse

[blobghost]

Blobby's Master List

You can find all my writing under the tag #blobby wrote something or you can look below! Click fic title to take you to its post! (In order of oldest to newest)

Ectober 2021 Masterlist (DP)

ectober ficlets

Exhausted Teen to Eternal King (DP)

Essentially exiled from Amity after a reveal gone wrong, Danny is on his way to becoming High King of the Infinite Realms. With a quick stop by the Core, who tells him about being an Ancient and something concerning about how the portal works, Danny ‘survives’ his final trial and coronation with only like ten different new things to worry about! Now, he just has to face his parents, stop the permanent portal that killed him, and repair a giant hole in reality. So like just another Tuesday for him. Written for Invisobang '23.

Anaktáomai: regain for oneself, recover (DPxDC)

Jason is trying to live his second chance at life to the fullest: protecting Gotham's streets as the Red Hood, going to college to get a degree, participating in Gotham's Renaissance Faire, getting a boyfriend, all of it. Sure, he's been daydreaming a lot more and it might be becoming a major problem and his boyfriend is apparently a meta who saved his kid brother after a mission gone wrong, but as far as he was concerned those were nothing to worry about. What he does need to worry about is homework and rogues attempting to kill him… right?

Take the L (DP)

Dash wants nothing more than to be a hero. When he gets a chance to be Phantom's hero for once, he takes it. Things get complicated when Dash finds out that his dad is Operative L of the GiW and demands that Dash hand over Phantom. Can Dash make things right or is everything doomed to go wrong?

Blobs of Love (DP)

Danny has been protecting Amity Park alone for what feels like years. After a long day of sleep deprivation and various rogues pushing him to his limit, he finally starts breaking down when he can't fully switch from Phantom to Fenton. Unfortunately, certain blobs who love him can't stand to see him break so bring in some help. Written for Ecto-Implosion '23.

Battle for the Ancient Realms (DP)

After having to go to the Far Frozen to check why his ghost sense is acting up, Danny finds himself the primary target during a fight with Dan and Pariah Dark. Things get more complicated when the Ancient Seals of the Barren Realms become involved. Now, Danny has to learn about the Ancients and the new powers these Seals provide the wearer before once again fighting the two hardest foes he's ever faced. Written for Ecto-Implosion '23.

Danny Doesn't Want To Go... (DP)

Five times someone drags Danny somewhere he didn't want to go and one time he drags them somewhere. Written for Phandom Truce '23.

Holding Each Other Back (DPxDC)

When the GIW appear in Gotham, Jason finds himself needing to find out what they are up to. Unfortunately, they find him first and use him as the nice sacrifice for their Ghost King summoning. Will Jason be able to fight his way out of this mess with his secrets (and life) in tact? Written for Ecto-Implosion '23.

I Know What You Are. You're (Not) a Goon. (DPxDC)

Jason can't figure out why his boyfriend keeps missing or being late to dates. He thinks that Danny is a goon, but it's only a theory. He might get his answers from the newest Justice League member Phantom, though. Written for Valentine's Core Exchange '24.

#blobby wrote something #masterlist

[akiizayoi4869]

Master Meta post (updating)

The Last Agni Kai

Azula's family does indeed owe her

Zuko at age 13 vs Azula at age 14

Azula fanfics that make her stand trial for war crimes

The most tragic character of the show is Aang, not Zuko

If Kuvira can be redeemed, so can Azula

The dumb letter in The Search

Zuko did not realize that Azula was abused

Zuko only asks Azula what's wrong with her one time in The Search

On the topic of Azula, Ozai, and Abuse

Zuko and Ozai in The Promise

The Search: a story about abuse, abuse apologism, and ableism

Smoke and Shadow: "Trust is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way!" On steroids

Stealing food: Suki Alone vs Smoke and Shadow

Comics! Zuko and Comics! Ursa don't care about Azula

Azula brought Zuko home with her because it's what Ursa would have wanted

Azula redemption circle jerk

Azula and Zuko in the Crystal Catacombs

Azula and Zuko in the first half of Book 3

Azula and Zuko headcanon

Zuko's fever dream

Ursa and Azula: "What is wrong with that child?"

Azula and Ursa: A complicated mother daughter relationship

Commentary from The Search and Smoke and Shadow

The Search commentary

Aang killing Ozai dies send a powerful message

"Azula should be blamed for everything wrong in Zuko's life"

Azula did not think that Zuko would join her in Ba Sing Se

Jet had every right to be suspicious of Zuko and Iroh

My thoughts on Uncle Iroh

Zuko and Mai in Nightmares and Daydreams

Mai and Zuko in The Beach

The Family Portrait

"I just asked if you were cold, not for your whole life story."

Aang hate in fandom

Azula in Nightmares and Daydreams

Who cares if Azula did bad things? She's not real.

Why Azula killing Aang does not mean that she is evil and irredeemable

The Invasion Plan

Zuko and Jin's date

Zuko apologizing to Iroh

Why Zuko's arc falls flat for me

Most horrific Mai and Ty Lee take I've ever heard

Zuko doesn't know what's wrong with Azula in The Search

"She was right, of course, but it still hurt."

Azula did not hold power over Zuko

The bedroom scene

Aang when Appa gets stolen

Zuko needs to forgive Azula in order to move on and let go of the anger and resentment that he has towards her

The Infamous Smirk

The Southern Air Temple

Azula is not irredeemable

Zuko's redemption arc deserved better writing

Unpopular opinion: Aang understood Katara's pain better than Zuko did

Azula in The Storm flashback

King Bumi

Original cover art for The Search

Zuko and Azula both get undeserved hate

Why doesn't Zuko's crew know about his scar

Azula is not a feral animal or a bumbling crazy person

Azula was abused in the asylum

Book 3 should not have been the last season

Azula saying "I am about to celebrate becoming an only child!" to Zuko is not abuse

Little Azula eating mochi

Gene Yang's favorite panel in The Search

Yang forgot all of the bad things Zuko did when he wrote the comics

Azula and the doll

Azula and the sandcastle

Azula in the spirit temple

"I think we should take they're precious hope, and they're land, and burn it all to the ground"

Azula and the mirror scene

Iroh not wanting to fight Ozai

Azula calling Zuko "Zuzu" is not abusive

"Dad's going to kill you."

Tumblr ask: "Why do you think that so much of the ATLA fandom just violently hates Aang?"

Tumblr ask: The WORST Azula take ever(probably)

The Fire Nation and genocide

New(?) Unpopular Takes

Tumblr ask: Would you mind explaining the mirror scene?

Azula is not an irredeemable spawn of Satan

Part 2 of Azula is not an irredeemable spawn of Satan

Azula and war crimes list from villains wiki

Ghost Azula AU idea

Why the theory that Azula brought Zuko home to use him as a scapegoat makes no sense

Azula defeated herself before her agni kai with Zuko happened

Kya and the Southern Raiders

Iroh encouraging the toxic sibling rivalry between Zuko and Azula

Suki Alone

Sokka's trauma

Zuko was a willing participant in the sibling rivalry between him and Azula

Iroh never told Zuko what the "correct way" was

Azula sketch

Stop downplaying Sokka

Azula the mochi thief: wanted dead or alive

DOBS Kataang kiss

Tumblr ask: Azula slept her way to the top🤮

Sokka training the children of the Southern Water Tribe

Azula and Zuko in the Lost Adventures comics

Azula did not force Mai to join her in Omashu

Atla fandumb thinks that Azula should not have told Ursa what she overheard that night

#atla #my metas #azula

[esther-dot]

GRRM's treatment of Ratgar is something I go back and forth on a lot and is a prime example why Death of the Author is a thing lol. I saw one fan say that anyone with critical thinking skills (so let's remove Targies from the equation) would see R as a douchebag but she was annoyed because she thinks GRRM himself does not see R that way and I kind of agree lol. I keep seeing some meta writers saying that GRRM "definitely thinks badly of R and R/L is some commentary on grooming", etc., and I'm not saying I totally disagree, but I 100 percent believe when GRRM conceived of R/L he meant for it to be a romantic, completely consensual star crossed lovers situation and R was meant to be a tragic, but Capital R romantic figure. However, that fan also said that because so much time has passed since he wrote the first book (90s to 2023 lmao) a lot of the shit GRRM romanticized is now seen as problematic and would need to be "fixed" or retconned. That being said, I don't think ADOS will see the light of day so we may never get the full R/L backstory or GRRM may choose to have what happened with R/L forever be some amorphous mystery (the more I think of it the more I think this will be the case for various reasons). I also don't think GRRM himself has a lot of what happened worked out in his head as he is not a plotter, but a seat of his pants writer and changes things as they go. He's the type that puts things in his writing that look/sound cool or interesting and then needs to find a way to bring it together which is one of the reasons it's taking him forever to get the second to last book out.

(in reference to this ask)

I agree we need to remember the impact of his style of writing. He made a blog post last year talking about that, how he can reach a dead end or explores and finds something wonderful, how he’s discovering things as he writes, so it’s good to strive to be as open minded to revelations as the author is. Although yes, we should all feel free to dislike and criticize some of those developments!

My hesitancy to believe Martin has changed his perspective on Rhaegar is that in AGOT we get Lyanna’s anti Robert stance (anti unfaithful husbands) which imo is the biggest “Lyanna wouldn’t have wanted to go with Rhaegar” sign we have. And then it is in ACOK I believe, that we get prophecy baby as an additional motivation for Rhaegar to pursue Lyanna, not love. It’s later, ASOS (I think), when we learn she wept while he sang which to me would be where we see the “love story” theory really enters the picture. That’s why I feel like Martin’s version is likely “complex” rather than one thing. As in, to me, he’s adding layers, making us understand the initial story isn’t entirely correct and slowly unraveling the truth, not changing directions.

Agentrouka has talked about parallels between R/L and Jon/Ygritte, with Jon in the “maiden” role being moved by the singer, but Jon believed he loved Ygritte, and Sansa believed she loved Joffrey (another Stark maiden charmed by someone who sang to her), which is why I think Lyanna willingly went even if in the end, she regretted it. But even that...when I read Ned’s memories of her dying while holding the crown of roses...idk. It’s definitely romanticized. Like, holding a lock of hair or a dry flower from a lover as someone dies is something I’ve read before, so perhaps we’re meant to read that and damn Rhaegar for being the cause of her death, but I’m not sure. Whenever/if I ever do a reread, I’ll be open to being swayed in either direction.

I’ve said before that I think Martin has a much more expansive view of people than I do, as in, he truly doesn’t want us to allow one bad thing they do to negate the good, and on the one hand, cool, we’ve all made mistakes so we can appreciate the concept, but on the other, I’m not sure I agree with him on what is or isn’t a forgivable wrong. Based on things he’s said about Dany, I know that we don’t have the same view of teen girls, and that has impacted what I think he’s capable of writing.

I do agree that there will be a lot of things that we have conflicting views on without getting a clear cut answer. It might feel like a cop out, but it’s interesting to deny the reader an emphatic, authorial “here is the truth” and leave them to determine it themselves. For a series utilizing the POV structure, that seems fitting, and I’m sure that will be true for some prophecies as well. What is the truth? We have to determine it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#dot chat #< tag to filter

[echidna-auxiliatrix]

Two questions: 1.) Do you have more than one blog? 2.) Can you recommend any good nge analysis and fandom blogs to follow?

I've had this account since the Obama administration and since before SCOTUS heard the Obergefell case...naturally, I have several side blogs. Five, to be exact, but only three of them are used with any amount of regularity.

So, I'm not really tuned into the Eva fandom these days. Years of seeing rancid takes on a daily basis (and having been treated rather poorly by this fanbase at times) have lessened my enthusiasm for engaging with other fans, as you might imagine! There's a reason why most eva analysts post consistently for short periods of time and then disappear. My ideas on the show are also pretty specific and set in stone, so I don't have much of a desire to seek out new theories. I feel like I've seen it all, to be honest.

Tumblr users baldmisato1 and qmisato are definitely to go-tos, though they're both inactive. asuka--langley--soryu and reivelation are also great blogs. If you, for whatever reason, care about Kaworu, then adamworu is a good blog for that. My friend, blisseylesbian, has written some insightful posts about Ritsuko and Ritsumaya! Avoid Evageeks and r/evangelion. In fact, if the fandom is dominated by men (as is the case for Eva), then avoid the fandom subreddit.

Regarding Utena, empty movement is a truly wonderful archive of analysis essays, some of which predate the new millennium. We really need something like this in the Eva fandom. The palace perspectives essays are also a must read (if you can find them! OP has deactivated, as best as I can tell), though the OP gets some minor factual details wrong (it does, in fact, rain more than twice in the show).

Regarding Soul Eater, that fandom suffers from the typical shonen fandom BS, with the girl protagonist being neglected in favor of Death the Kid, Soul, and my least favorite anime boy (Black*Star). When Maka is centered, it's largely within the dreadful context of SoMa. People are also rather unaware of the lack of thematic cohesiveness in the manga relative to the anime, which makes discussion insufferable. Tumblr user soul-dwelling is the best SE blog, from what I've seen.

Sailor Moon probably has the best fandom of all my SpIns...and that's probably owing to the fact that SM makes no attempt to say anything deep. r/sailormoon is generally delightful.

What to say about Homestuck...I still love Homestuck, but the release of the epilogues kickstarted a series of bad events that has left the fandom inhospitable for me personally. Kanaya my beloved <3 I have no idea who's writing good Homestuck meta these days. In ye olde 2017, there was a Tumblr user named swamp-wizard who wrote some very good posts, but he's long since deactivated.

Also check out my AMVs, which are linked in my carrd. Not analysis but they're good :)

#personal content #anonymous #anon #anons #ask #asks #answers #answered #answer

[chase-the-windandtouch-the-sky]

2022 Fanfiction Review! - Top 5 Fics

I cannot believe we're on the precipice of 2023 (please be kinder), and I'm feeling sentimental, so I thought I'd call out some of my favorite fics of the year:

Been Holding My Breath, Been Counting Till Ten (over something you said) - Buck / Bobby Post 5A Roadtrip!AU

This one I wrote in 2 days when I struggling with insomnia and just had to get words out to help me sleep. It honestly really did and I loved delving into Bobby and Buck's relationship as father/son. I know there are so many characters that we don't have time for everything in the show, but I really hope 6B gives some more scenes between the two.

2. 9-1-1, What the Hell Are You Doing? - Dispatcher!Eddie Post 5A AU

This fic was 100% based on the 5B trailer with Eddie and his cute little haircut and the misleading shot of him as a dispatcher. I really enjoyed listening to all the theories because this was my first season in the fandom, and had to get words down. I really loved writing Eddie / Hen because we need more of their judgment to keep everyone on their toes.

3. To Make With These Hands - 5 Times Buck Cooks for People He Loves + 1 Time They Cook for Him

This one is probably the most different out of the fics - I love to bake and cook and it is very strongly my love language (food = love!). I love making food when I don't know what to say, so I've had so much fun writing some of my favorite recipes in this fic and having it be much more lighthearted than my other pieces. I know I'm not particularly funny, but I enjoy given the opportunity to pretend I am. :P

4. Hello, I'm Here, I'm Living in the Wall - 6A Car Crash + Couch Character Introspection

Named after a lyric in a song I was obsessed with at the time (Eighth Wonder), there were so many couch metas running around, I had to try my hand in it. If I'm honest, the original planned fic was going to be MUCH longer with several scenes I just had to cut out due to time, because I wanted to post it before the potential car crash fic aired, because I tend to get distracted by canon and struggle to finish. I still like several pieces of it, regardless though.

5. Tick Tick Boom - 6A Buck Breakdown Spec

Probably my favorite fic I've written this year, mainly because I was working through some depression of my own and it felt rather healing to write this fic. A lot of the therapist conversations were those I've had, and it felt very scary but also relieving to put it out there. A piece of me, buried in fanfiction, in hopes someone may find comfort too. Just know that if you related to the words, I love you very much and you are so, so important to me, even if we've never spoken. <3

+ Bonus - Soon to be posted mess of a fic, that I couldn't get out of my head (Bring the Lion Out)

#9-1-1 #lindsey writes #buddie fic #eddie diaz #evan buckley #eddie x buck #top 5 fics of the year #lindsey's feeling sentimental

[almostbeabeauty]

Some people are obviously checking the anti tag and Helaemond shippers' blogs because there's no way they randomly came across your posts, yet we're the bad ones and for what, coming up with theories they disagree with? Big deal, why is it so hard for them to block us though? (I'm also pretty sure one of your anons is a well known anti from Twitter who's known for sending anon hate and stalking others, the message sounds a lot like them lmao, they're not very slick) Tbh I don't personally think Phia and Gayle are going to look alike that much when the latter is going to be wearing a black haired wig, but to say they don't resemble each other at all pretty delusional. They do, especially from certain angles, it's fine to admit it as it's highly likely the casting directors didn't specifically look for an actress similar to Phia anyway. However the denial some have over Helaemond and Alimond is pretty interesting. IMO they may very well be dropping the Helaemond thing in S2 despite playing with it in S1 (confirmed by legitimate leaks), but the Alimond subtext/Aemond's mommy issues are pretty obviously going to a major thing in his relationship with Al*s, denying this won't make it go away.

They most definitely stalk some Helaemond blogs. The way certain Helaemond friendly blogs will get hate as soon as their anonymous asks are turned back on. Yeah, how did they know it was back on unless you've been following their blog or stalking it.

They don't want Helaemond's to put out theories because deep down they must be worried those theories could happen. And when most people don't like something they want to live in denial. As to why they don't block OR at least blacklist the tags they don't want to see.. I have no idea.

Perhaps they are nosy and need to see what others have to say on the matter, even though they don't like it. Hey, I've been there. I've needed to see the theories and metas of my NOTPs before, to see if I thought the ship had a leg to stand on or not. But you know what you don't do after you do that? You don't send anon hate. Seriously. Making a real life person feel shitty over fictional characters is not it! It will never be it!

The one thing we disagree on is, I think the casting decision on the actress of Alys looking similar to Phia was a deliberate choice. But as others have pointed out, the actress also looks quite a bit like Daemon, who we know Aemond idolizes right now. Alicent's name, looks similar to his sister and uncle, has visions similar to his sister, and is supposedly a strong bastard just like his nephew he was obsessed with. She's like all of his obsessions rolled into one and I think the show is purposely playing on that.

I don't think they will drop the Helaemond relationship in s2 - why would they even bother setting it up otherwise - but they definitely could.

There is a reason the show made Aemond so close to his mother before he meets Alys. They made him the golden boy and now he's about to fall from grace in her eyes. Their relationship will most like never be the same (Alicent will always love him. She loves her kids unconditionally.) and that will take it's toll on Aemond since he's never had to face her disappointment like Aegon has.

We have Alys's audition leak and she says to Daemon "it's a pity you never had a mother." Umm.. why did this even need to come up? It didn't but the writers wrote it for a reason. If was shipping Aly$mond, I'd be worried right then and there about her playing on Aemond's mother issues.

#sorry this reply is so late #thanks for the ask #and you were right about pretty much everything! #anti alysmond #don't send anon hate people #block people or blacklist tags #it's so easy not to see the content you don't want to see #now i welcome anons that want to debate or have proof where I'm wrong with evidence behind them #ask #anonoymous

[pikahlua]

Theory vs Theory: A Second Guess at Second’s Quirk

Y’all take me way too seriously sometimes.

Okay, I said I’d let y’all sit with my last theory post for a while--which was entirely meant to spark conversation, mind you. The deal is this: I had some incomplete pieces of spoilers that night and had only just sat on my translations for like an hour before I wrote my suggestion that time travel and/or alternate events/butterfly effects could play into the function of the Second’s mystery quirk. It was 3:30am and I was excited to throw an interesting idea out there, because gosh darn it that page in chapter 349 has to be hinting at something, and I’m determined to figure out what it is before the big reveal.

I want you to understand that half the time I’m throwing these theories out there, it’s because I’ve connected dots and want to see what other people will make of them. I’m not crafting a foolproof system of meta that the series must logically follow, nor am I saying I necessarily want my theories to be right (because all I’m usually saying is there’s SUPPORT for such a theory, not that I like it). So yes, these observations will contradict themselves at times, because the point is “LOOK AT THIS THING, IT COULD WORK OUT LIKE THIS MAYBE? OR MAYBE NOT? MAYBE THIS WAY?” This is guess work, friends.

I am the Todoroki Conspiracy Theorist meme given life.

Anyways, I told you that to tell you this: I have other theories.

This post isn’t even gonna go into my first guess at Second’s quirk from ages ago (the theory was a light-based quirk, btw). I’ve had further discussions with others, and I still cannot say with any certainty that I know what the mystery quirk actually is (even when I use hyperbolic titles like that for some of my posts). But this post is about those discussions, because there’s another big elephant in the room hinting at some things, and we should probably talk about it.

THEORY: Maybe the Second’s quirk has something to do with teleportation

Table of Contents I don’t need a ToC for this, we’re speedrunning it

1. Chapter 349 implies Izuku tries to use the Second’s quirk while thinking about how he could get to UA faster if only he could use faux 100%.

2. Chapter 349 isn’t the first time there have been allusions to speed/acceleration regarding the Second’s quirk. A particularly notable instance is the final page of chapter 310.

3. The series has made many allusions to the rarity and interest of warping quirks:

In the MHA canon, warping quirks are considered extremely rare

Class 1-A wondered if Mirio’s quirk was OP warping

AFO was interested in warping enough to steal a mediocre warping quirk and create a noumu specifically to combine multiple quirk factors just to create a superb warping quirk (and if you’re wondering how this ties to the Second’s quirk, see my point in the time travel theory about AFO’s obsession with OFA likely being linked to wanting the Second’s quirk)

4. A warping quirk, depending on its attributes, could require the equipment Second used on his arms (although I’m not convinced that has to be quirk-enhancing equipment like so many people seem to believe; see “red herring”).

5. I’m not saying time travel is necessarily part of Second’s quirk, but some unique version of teleportation could involve time travel, which definitely makes these two theories potentially compatible as opposed to contradictory.

The above panel is from just after Mirio vs Class 1-A, btw.

Anyways, there’s more food-for-thought for everyone. I’m tired now.

#mha 349 #mha spoilers #mha manga spoilers #my hero academia spoilers #my hero academia manga spoiler #second ofa user #second user's quirk #munch on that one #tired and mildly indignant #please stop taking me too seriously #i'm an ideas machine not a truth machine #covert venting post #meta #theory

[1895locktva]

DEAR PEOPLE

I saw a post just now and I felt I needed to talk about this.

People have to stop trying to defend "Mary Morstan" for shooting Sherlock. "She shot him accurately knowing she wasn't going to kill him and called an ambulance." NO, SHE DIDN'T.

I'm not even going into any metas about it – let's talk about the facts.

Sherlock enters the room, seeing a figure in black and Magnussen begging at gunpoint. We will soon discover that the figure is "Mary".

Sherlock is clearly (or apparently) shocked. As soon as he starts to speak or take a step forward she threatens to kill him, already pointing a gun at him.

Sherlock then moves on to a strategy – their love for John. He has done this already, to disarm Major Sholto and convince him to open the door (TSoT). It worked before, he believes it will work now. For as mirroring his and Sholto's love for John was able to convince him of a better purpose, he tries to do the same with "Mary". So he uses the term "Mrs. Watson", reminding her of this purpose, and steps forward.

It doesn't work – she still shoots Sherlock. Because her love for John (if there's love involved, there are several interpretations for it) is selfish and toxic, unlike Sherlock and Sholto's selfeless love. They would do anything to make John happy (going to the wedding to watch him marry someone else, even if it hurt them, is a great example).

"Mary's" love is not like that. She shoots Sherlock, knowing how miserable John was after Sherlock's "suicide", and not even once apologizes or shows remorse for it (on the contrary, she goes to the hospital bed where Sherlock is recovering from the shoot she fired and threatens him again if he tells John anything. Guys, honestly).

Now for the question "Did she actually shoot to kill him?". We know that "Mary" is a great snipper – impeccable, even. Yes, she could make mistakes (she's not a foolproof machine after all) but at that frankly ridiculous distance, the chance of a trained assassin miss the target is minimal, if not nil.

Now to the question of "She called the ambulance right after shooting him". Many things prove that, in fact, she didn't call the ambulance at all.

The show is very precise about details, especially cell phones and guns (I'll be making a meta on that last one later). For example, when Sherlock calls John to meet him in this same episode (when Ms Hudson passes the cell to John, we see discreetly, but distinctly the glow of a cell phone on a call).

In the 'replay' of what might have happened after "Mary" fired the shot (remember, this can't be taken as true for it's a hypothetical scenario that Sherlock creates, and he was unconscious at the time), we see that when she catches the cell phone to "call an ambulance", the phone remains turned off. [You can rewatch the scene, the screen remains discreetly black].

I don't think this was a coincidence, after all, the Universe is rarely so lazy.

And more: if she actually called an ambulance, she would have immediately used that information to try to reassure John of her purpose and to appease her actions.

There are several metas and theories that go deep into this, but I don't remember who wrote them. Please feel free to mark these theories or the people who wrote them and add something you find interesting.

Finally, understand that "Mary Monstan" is an assassin. She shot Sherlock, knowing what it would do to John, apparently just to keep him. Her relationship with John is toxic, she came into his life at his most fragile moment and took advantage of it. She abused him psychologically, putting him down at every possible opportunity (she compared his intelligence to a dog's, for god's sake) and John is clearly miserable with her. It's not healthy, stop romanticizing a toxic relationship like theirs.

Sorry my English, it's not my first language.

*Oh, and something else: we all saw how hard Sherlock struggled to stay alive. He actually died for a short period of time. It was just the strength of his love and concern for what "Mary" could do to John that kept him alive. "Mary" couldn't have known that the strength of Sherlock's feelings would make him survive the shot – not to mention how surprised she seems to be when she knows Sherlock survived and how ready she was to kill him again.*

#sherlock holmes #johnlock meta #watsonxholmes #bbc sherlock #sherlock season 5 #mary morstan #sherlock meta #johnlock #sherlock and john #sherlock

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Costume plot!! make sure you've got a cuppa and a comfy chair!!

First time trying to upload documents on tumblr so fingers crossed the link works!! if not please let me know and I’ll screen shot the documents and post those so you can see what i’m talking about! I’m going to intersperse some images from 4x14 to make it look a little less texty and a little more fun - they don't always relate to what i'm talking about, but a couple do!!

I promised to do a ‘fake’ costume plot for you so that you could see an approximation of what the costume designer and wardrobe team are working with and from! The popular vote was for me to do 4x14 - Survivors. So that’s what I’ve done - you’re all evil for making me watch both the shooting and will scenes several times over, they get me every time! 😭😭😭

What this post will hopefully do is help you to understand the process of a wardrobe department on a tv series and show just how much work goes into making the magic happen! I’ll walk you through step by step as if I was the designer and show you each of the documents I would be creating as I move through the process - fingers crossed it will all make sense and be interesting for you.

I've put the rest under a cut to save your dash!

Okay, so first things first - you get hired to do the show (yay!!) this will come after you’ve had an interview with producers. Once you’ve agreed terms and signed on the dotted line, you’ll be given at least 1 script (as well as at the very least a season outline for each main and recurring character because often before production begins there will only be maybe 2-3 scripts ready) to read through before you go into a concept meeting. A concept meeting can vary, but generally speaking they’re about establishing a cohesive creative outlook for the production. On an established production this will be a shorter meeting, but is still needed to establish the tone of the series (perfect example of this is how S5 is much darker than previous seasons of 911 and this is where this would be established!) this meeting will involve other creatives and producers, so production designer, set designer, hair and make-up, SFX, directors, lighting designers etc.

After this you’ll go away and create a concept presentation if its a new show, but this may not be necessary on an established show unless you’re a new designer being brought in (like Alayna Bell-Price moving into the designer role from season 3 onwards). this will be presented to the producers to make sure a cohesive look is being created for the show.

You will go through a couple more rounds of meetings and each department will be honing and finalising concepts and designs. As costume designer this means developing a style for each of the main characters, colour ways for characters and an overall schematic for the show. It is very much at this point about getting to know all the characters - what makes them tick, their backgrounds anything that will help you create the look of a character and allow people to subconsciously gain an understanding of them when they watch. Eddie is a great example of this - his military background is an important but also an easy thing to play on, its why we see Eddie in lots of khaki and army fatigue colours, its also the reason his clothing looks smart but functional. we don't see him with rolled up sleeves the way we do with Buck, his work shoes are always a bit more polished than everyone else's and its very rare we see him without a watch.

It is during this process that many of the design choices I’ve written about in my metas will come into being, so things like Bucks white trainers, Christophers themed t-shirts and pyjamas (probably born of discussions with the set team!) or the check pattern theory I wrote about recently. Then from this stage you move into full preproduction!

Preproduction is when you (as Costume designer) get your full team together. Most teams will consist of the following along side the designer;

Assistant costume designer

costume supervisor

costume production assistant

costume buyer

set costumer (can also be known as key costumer)

trailer costumers (this role is also known as costumer)

on set tailor/ alterations team

dailies (for big scenes, will often deal with background cast and extras)

There will be a host of makers etc. involved, but they are usually a separate entity on show like 911, because Fox probably maintains a work room for all its productions, and so, for ease, I will be ignoring them for this project (we’ll assume everything is being brought in rather than made and we have our on set tailor/ alterations team to make alterations etc!).

Preproduction is a very busy and important time, because once production starts you have 10+ months of 14+ hour days ahead of you without a moment to breathe so you need to make sure you have everything that can be, in place because writers and producers can and will throw curveballs at you! While you’re getting your crew in place, you will also be working on the breakdowns I’m going to be talking about and that I’ve included in the excel document (the link is below!).

With your crew in place, as a team, you’ll start sourcing and acquiring equipment, costumes, meeting and measuring the cast, undertaking fittings and continuing to hone your ideas - this development stage is often the most exciting, because you can collaborate with the individual actors - gain an understanding about how they see their character, discuss colours and style. When you have good actors this will be a fun process but some come full of their own ideas and are unwilling to listen or take direction - these can be a nightmare (naming no names but I’ve worked with a few people like this and if they’re a big enough name they can try to pull rank ruin your concept!) thankfully it doesn’t seem to be the case on 911 because it’s fairly cohesive, especially considering the change in designers over the first couple of seasons!

Before we move into the nitty gritty I should mention terminology! There is a little bit of terminology to cover so you know what I’m talking about!

breakdown - there are two types of breakdown - the first is a break down of the script into scenes and sequences (more on this later), the other breakdown is a costume that has to be pre distressed before shooting - so this could be anything from distressing a flag patch, to making clothes look like they are tattered and worn (perhaps for a tramp!) or covered in soot, dirt or dust. There is usually a specialist role within a wardrobe team - breakdown artist - who will be responsible for this, but it could be a doubled up role with one of the other roles.

Action prop - this is something that an actor may take off and put down, or pick up and put on during a scene. Think things like helmets and hats, gloves, jackets, shoes. It’s important to note this because it won’t always be handed to the actor, or be handed back by the actor - it may very well be a set dresser or props manager. It should always be known who will be checking them out and back in and sometimes you’ll have to go on the hunt to find where they’ve ended up.

Ok the link to the spreadsheet is below - it should have 10 tabs - please let me know if its not working and I'll attempt to fix it (I have a mac and use numbers, so I've converted it into excel but I have no idea if it converted properly!)

Script breakdown - into scenes and sequences - the first tab on the spreadsheet

I should point out here, that, because I don’t know what the actual script looks like, I’ve had to rely on a bit of guess work, and using camera angles (which wouldn’t necessarily be detailed in a script, beyond possible close ups on faces!) so its not exactly accurate, its probably a fair bit more broken down than it would be via the script (because of editing!)but its close enough for our purposes! I’ve used time stamps so you can see how it relates to the episode, but obviously these wouldn’t be included in a real script breakdown!

Scenes are broken down into sequences and a sequence is a run of action taking place at the same time and same place - so for example at the beginning of the episode we see Eddie lying in the street, Buck pulled down by Captain Mehta, buck then scrambling under the fire truck, pulling Eddie under and out before hoisting him up and into the truck cabin. All of this will be one scene, but will form a sequence of 17. Once they’re in the truck and on the move, that’s a new scene.

The point of breaking the script down like this enables the designer to see who is in each scene. They can start to build up an idea of the costume requirements for that scene, if there are stunt doubles involved, how many replicas of the costume might be needed, how many extras are likely to be used and if it takes place outside.

Knowing if a scene is outside is an important factor because outdoor shooting requires extra stuff - such as spares, storage for wet costumes/ the ability to dry them quickly, additional layers for cast such as coats for between takes/ scenes.

Crossplots - tab 2 on the spread sheet

Once this initial breakdown is done, it’s onto the cross plot. When I worked in film and tv, I used to make two versions of this - the first is the one I’ve done for you. It’s pretty simple and it’s meant to show you the cast requirements at a glance. Each scene is listed across the top and the cast down the left, then each scene the appear in a X is put in the box - it gives you a quick guide to which cast are used when (it’s a great indicator of how much time they’ll likely be in screen for in the episode!)

The second cross plot I do looks almost the same, but it will be done once we have a shooting schedule and it will be split up into shooting days and which scenes are scheduled to be filmed across the top so you can see which actors will be in on any particular day and which scenes they’ll be shooting so you can ensure you have the correct costumes ready. This document is a little bit of a movable feast because the schedule can get changed and new scenes added or cast can be added to scenes at short notice, but I used to update it as and when this happened so we always had a reference to quick check from!

The costume master lists

I haven’t created these, because it is a little tricky when I don’t have the items, or the labelling system they’re using, but basically this is the complete list of every costume item for each main cast member and any recurring and named guest cast.

Each item of costume or accessory will be given a stock code, this code will be written inside/ on the item and a full stock list will be kept - there is specialist software to create this - its basically an inventory or costume management system. very often they will just start assigning numbers from 00001 onwards, ,but I always liked to use the character initials where possible at the beginning (this is an especially good idea on shows where characters are in matching uniforms because its easier and quicker to keep track of when production is rolling) so for example; EB0001 would be the first item of Evan Buckley’s wardrobe and AG0234 would belong to Athena Grant.

A hard copy will hang on the front of their character rail in the store and a digital copy will be kept and updated as well - with new ones being printed to replace the hard copy as items are added/ removed. This will be the same for accessories - there will usually be a set of drawers for each character and it will contain all accessories such as watches, glasses rings etc. as well as their character underwear and shoes. There will be additional rails with their own lists for stock such as spare firefighter uniforms etc which can be used for extras when needed (these may very well be given a more generic numbering system!)

For example Eddie’s uniform shirts will be listed as short sleeve or long sleeve and how many of them you have for him so it might be;

long sleeve uniform button up shirt x 5 ED0045 - ED0050

Long sleeve uniform button up shirt for breakdown x10 ED0051 - ED0060

And so on! It’s a working document, so stuff will get added and taken away all the time as and when you know it won’t be used again - mostly stuff that’s been broken down or damaged during filming - but new items will not be assigned numbers that have been used before - so the numbers will keep getting bigger, so just because you might have an item labeled HW01234 doesn’t mean that Hen has 1234 items of costume in her section, she might only have 400 or so, its just the other 600+ items are from previous seasons or have been damaged during filming or broken down for specific scenes.

Character costume plot - the remaining tabs of the spreadsheet!

I’ve only done these for the main cast because if i did one for every character in this one episode, you’d all be going cross eyed and I’d have had a mental break down (its so much easier doing this when its for real I can assure you!!), it suffices to say that when it comes to characters such as Captain Mehta who are only in one scene, I’d have them all on the same spreadsheet rather than lots of separate ones! I’ve also had to leave a fair few blank squares because the camera angles etc don’t allow me to see what people are wearing (especially footwear and trousers), but the costume would be a full design because you don’t know what angles are going to be used so you have to think of absolutely everything!

This is broken down by scene and should list every item needed in that scene and if it needs to be broken down, if it’s likely to get dirty (fake blood is a pain to get out - especially from white clothing!!), if spares will be needed etc. This is also a working document - you’ll start off by just listing anything that might be mentioned in the script (they may have specified that Buck needed to be in white for the shooting scene because they wanted the blood splatter to be very visible) and because you’ll be reading the script time and time again, having meetings etc you’ll be able to flesh out from there - including if a specific item needs to fit with a character or series theme and arc (Buck in white shirts, Check pattern shirts etc).

It might start out with something as basic as saying t-shirt or shirt, trousers, boots/ shoes. But you might also put colour preferences in and as items are purchased/ made and decided on you can update the descriptions so Bucks white shirt for the shooting will go from white top/ shirt to white button up shirt with grey pinstripes.

It’s at this point colour theory and any specific stylistic choices will come into play. So for example there will be a stylistic costume arc for each character for the season and this could be about comfort levels around certain characters (as we’ve seen with Buck in 5a around Taylor) to the deliberate fraying of patches to indicate a characters state of mind. Using a specific colour on a character or a pattern (check and plaid theory I’m looking at you - because Christopher had a green plaid shirt on when he found out about his dad being shot!) to foreshadow, parallel or declare intentions. This will include things like designing logos to be printed on t-shirts or pyjamas (think Christopher space themed pyjamas) to ensure you have complete control over the messaging on them (because yes the dinosaurs and space themes are deliberate and will have come from those concept and production meetings and that’s why we see them in both set and costume)The idea of paralleling and foreshadowing will have been discussed with the writers and directors at this point. Collecting all this information as you’re creating the costume plot will help with the buying and or making and might lead to drawings or picture searches for reference.

As items are pulled from stock, (if you’re on season 4 things like jeans will have been kept from previous seasons for reuse and you’ll have kept uniforms) purchased (often your buyer will go out and buy 6 different tops for one scene and you then say yay or nay, try them on your actor and make a decision if it’s one you know you’ll need many duplicates of you can work with the shop to put stock back until you can confirm or in some cases make your own replicas!) and confirmed, the plot gets updated until you have a completed one. The uniforms will be the first things checked off because they’re fairly standard and as items are purchased and fitted they will be labelled and altered. Items such as Christopher space pyjamas may be designed and printed on plain pyjamas and this is the point it will happen This is the point when faux shirts/ tees will be noted for actor comfort and less bulk showing up on screen! (I’ve made guesses on this based on if it’s seen or not!)

I like to colour code mine for ease of reference when it comes to action props, breakdown and duplicates being needed etc, but others don’t. there are some gaps in this fake one I’ve done - because we don’t see on screen if and what they’re wearing (such as shoes etc) so I can’t fill it out, but there will be costume items chosen where the gaps are because you never know what camera angles a director is going to use!

You have to list every item of clothing the character is going to wear in the scene as well as any requirements (such as Eddie not having his LAFD tee on under the shirt when he’s in the truck because Buck needs to be able to easily rip it open and tend the wound).

You’ll see underwear listed and have probably chuckled, but as a designer you have to think of everything, and underwear is important because it might get seen, or could even be the costume itself. Often times you’ll go with the same type of underwear the actor them self wears, but you’ll have specific colours etc that you want to use. The perfect example of this is actually when we see Buck pull Eddie out from under the truck - we can see both Bucks socks and briefs/ boxers in this scene they’re both black so they don’t draw the eye - imagine how distracting it would be if Oliver was wearing socks with Brussels sprouts on and neon pink briefs!! 🤣🤣🤣

And yes I did make the silly picture to hopefully make you giggle!

This plot will then be divided up and written on separate sheets for scenes where the same thing is worn, along with an image of the costume (preferably with the actor in it, but this isn’t always possible) - this is for the set costumers to refer to and it will contain info about if items are taken off between scenes that are being shot at the same time so the costumer responsible for that actor can ensure they keep track of everything. Perfect example of this is when in the truck Eddie’s radio and radio harness are removed - the set costumer will need to be aware of this and collect it for resets and end of shooting. (Radios would probably fall under the remit of the props department, I’ve listed them as part of costume for this exercise, but what is prop and what is costume would’ve been decided in preproduction!)

So after all of this you should be in a position to keep track of everything and successfully costume a show - as you can see it’s a lot of work and I’ve not even gone into the day to day running of a department, the sourcing of costumes, budget tracking or all the fun that’s to be had along the way!! These plots work just as well for theatre as they do film, with just a few adaptations (no need to do sequencing or shoot schedules etc!) and it’s important to remember that you’ll be constantly creating new breakdowns, cross plots and character costume plots as you get the scripts for the next episodes and shoot schedules!

A typical day on set when production is up and running will consist of taking each characters costumes to their trailer before cast arrival (yes it often means silly early starts!!) assisting with any dressing that’s needed. then its off to set if your the set person/people for the day - holding onto any bits of costume not is use at any given time, having changes ready if items are being damaged or destroyed during takes, and general supervising! if you’re not a set person, you’ll be doing laundry and prep work, this means putting all those worn costumes through the wash (yes including the underwear!!), getting it dried, doing the ironing, returning costumes to the correct racks, running errands (such as dry cleaning) running repairs if they need doing and setting up for the next day of shooting - pulling costumes ready to go out the following morning.

If you’ve made it this far - you’re amazing and I love you asyou've just made it though 4000 words - have many gold stars and virtual brownies (without LSD in them!!)🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Hopefully this has all made sense and has been interesting and useful to show what goes into costuming a show like 911! I had great fun getting to step back into the costume world for a little bit.

As always my inbox is open for any asks you may have, related to this or otherwise. I love hearing about what you’ve spotted or learnt or if you think something is worth checking out in more detail so don’t be shy!

Like reblog or comment ily all and I'd love to know if this has been interesting or useful and what you'd like to know next😎

Edited; just to let you know I’ve linked this post on my pinned post - it’s at the top under costume plot for anyone who wants to comeback to it!!

💜💜💜

#Kym costume meta #kym talks costume #Kym waffles #costume meta #costuming #costume design #911 on fox #911 fox #911 #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buck #eddie #bobby nash #athena grant #hen wilson #maddie buckley #chimeny han #christoher diaz #super long meta #4000 words later #fingers crossed the link works #911 hiatus study #911 hiatus costume meta #4x14 #911 4x14 #survivors