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ceci-seesaw · 3 months

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i meant to mention this back when season three first came out but uh. i forgor. but. I think the third season of The Witcher really demonstrates how the presence of queerness does not negate the presence of queerbaiting, and that it can in fact be used as a method of sidestepping allegations of queerbaiting.

Like I know I'm not the only one who noticed how aggressively they "no homo" backpedaled the dynamic between Jaskier and Geralt. They did it in a way that was really aggressive and jarring too, like even if you saw zero queercoding you could tell the relationship dynamic was altered in a weird way. There was just such an absolute lack of subtlety with their no-homo'ing? like iirc there's straight up a scene where Jaskier pretty much explicitly is like "i could never see you romantically <3 we r suuuuch bros <3 best buds !" which was such a weirdly transparent attempt at shutting down the previous dynamic established between them.

What's especially wild to me is that in that season they changed the dynamic between Geralt and Jaskier so much that there really wasn't much going on ship-wise between them anyway, regardless of that weirdly explicit declaration of platonic-ness. They didn't even need to do all that !!!!

This weirdly aggressive and sudden change in dynamic at the same time as making Jaskier canonically bi was such a transparent attempt at escaping the queerbaiting allegations lol. Like it was like "yeah we wanna shut this down hard but people will get mad so. here's a canon queer character" lmao

idk. i feel like this may be something that's getting phased out as a tactic to a degree -- or rather, shifting its exact methodology -- but "escaping queerbaiting allegations by introducing a canon queer character" is definitely an established thing i see pretty often. I also think the shift in tactic (from introducing a new side character for that purpose, to canonizing a main character's queerness) isn't actually better when the intent remains the same. Idk ! I'd just be a lot less critical of Jaskier being canonically queer if it weren't so clearly linked to an attempt to sidestep queerbaiting allegations.

#does this make any sense #i know what im trying to say i just dont know how to articulate it #geraskier #the witcher #geralt of rivia #jaskier #so many other fandoms i could tag for this but i dont wanna kick that many hornet nests #ceci says stuff

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variousqueerthings · 7 months

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I think it's also interesting to see how things change depending on the time in which they're being engaged with. so I see things about rose today that point out that she's written to be 19 when she meets the doctor and that's a big age difference (which... I understand the point is it's a big age difference because billie piper was 23 and eccleston was 40, and then dtennant was like 34/35 when he started which isn't so big of a shift but anyway the optics I get what people are getting at, but also I think it does oversimplify a lot of what's actually going on in the written dynamic, anyway-)

and also that the rtd run's Themes start coming together properly around s3 (although they are present from day one), and in some ways at this point, because nu!who has been running for... fuckn. actually quite a few years, which is wild to me as someone who started watching as a kid, and I wonder if classic!who fans felt the same way about their show and anyway -- she shifts from being Literally The First Companion You'd Seen For 17 Years (not counting the movie and fan things and the sketch) Who Was Defining A New Era For A New Generation to... a companion

comparable to other companions, comparable to the rest of the show

we sift through the writing to see what worked and what didn't (in our opinion), and we know how the ten-and-rose storyline Really ends, and how the ten storyline ends (sort, of because now that doctor and donna are Back), and we know what happens afterwards, and we talk about tenrose with a 2020s eye, and rose is "just" one of the people that travels with the doctor, one of several, and notably the one who gets most of the sunshiney doctor that buries a lot of the (wonderfully portrayed) angst of the latter half of the rtd show, and doesn't have as much lore as everything after that, so the story is "just" more simple overall

and to me she's kind of incapable of being just that. doctor who was still a risk that first season, it wasn't a done deal that it would have legs at all, never mind that it would continue for as long as it has. rose was created to be the Face of what nu!who was, moreso than nine/eccleston, because even with the extra angst and the eccleston gravitas, we know the doctor, the doctor is established, it's not actually the doctor that needs to sell what the new show is going to become and what the Feel of that new show is going to be (I mean, partly ofc, but-)

rose was doing so much heavy lifting and she succeeded! she was the face of who before dtennant or any other doctor or companion of his era and subsequent eras. she was created to appeal to a demographic of girls who wanted someone relatable in science fiction, because rtd wanted this to be for the girls, and billie piper came into it off the back of being a popstar and it changed her entire trajectory (for the better I think/hope -- there's a lot of bad shit in billie piper's past and I'm always sending her a fond thought)

nine/ten-and-rose were It! not calling it romantic or platonic or any secret third thing (haunting the narrative), but simply It! that's why it has so much staying power as a ship (which, my opinion on shipping has been somewhat *eh shrug* in later years, but in early-days when that was how you engaged with dynamics that got to you, of course it was going to be massive). it's so hard to properly describe how "for the time in which it was made" that this dynamic was written for, and how successful it was. it was rose that breathed doctor who -- and the doctor's character -- to life, as much as herself

she sets the stage for everything that comes next, both within and without the show proper

and I'm always so pleased that rtd at the time was thinking about what was needed to create this character and he opened with a shot from a girl on the estate with messy hair, clumpy eyeliner, and a minimum wage job, and went "that's the girl who's going to go on the adventure of a lifetime, that's the girl we're seeing the story through and relating to, because that's what girls (and uh... those who were girls at the time - and their parents and the boys) should be seeing."

I know rose isn't the first working class companion including classic!who, but she set the tone for nu!who and her family and background are important to why she is who she is, and is explored

"I've got no A-levels, no job, no future-" said the girl about to see the universe

she was very much for teenagers, and so she reads differently when you're an adult watching it back (much like those "teenager saves the world," novels you loved as a kid), but that's why she's 19 at the beginning. that's why she's billie piper (who does a perfect job). she was there to bring a new generation into this story, and it was perfect. and then she grows up. and we grew up. and she had adventures and it was brilliant and she survived and she made a life for herself. that's her story

#doctor who #dw #rose tyler #of course 2005 who is a simpler story #and of course rose is basically still a kid #because it was (is?) for the kids who were going to be taken along for a much much bigger story over a longer space of time #when i started watching i didnt know what a dalek or a timelord or a tardis was #and i didnt know what sort of adventures dw was known for and ofc nobody watching knew where it would go #it was brand new -- rose in my head is always that brand newness #before you get to the more complex narratives of martha and donna #and the more in-depth lore of s5-onwards #there was a girl on an estate seeing the future stretch on and on -- and then she embraced the future and grew up #and it wasn't all happy all the time of course and the ending may have been quite bittersweet but that's also growing up #it's a growing up story that isn't depressing! crucially!#and yeah it includes falling in love with an incarnation of a near-immortal alien and getting with that alien's other human self #and also inhabiting some element of a godlike being/self that maintains an eternal connection with said alien in some way #it's a bit fanfic-y for good reason #i cannot overstate how much she means to me Because i saw her as a kid and she made the future seem possible #long post

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sneezemonster15 · 2 years

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Chapter 698 isn't the only chapter that is a love confession. The first love confession between Sasuke and Naruto is clearly shown in the first arc itself. First arc guys.

First.

The whole protecting each other and saving each other back and forth is pretty consistently shown in the first arc and it serves to develop their dynamic.

It is a statement of power, ability and evolution in strength. But it has an underlined emotion as well. So much so that it becomes the central emotion of this entire arc. To be motivated to protect your most precious person.

Sasuke protects Naruto from the bad guys without compunction and teases him on top of it. Lol. It hurts Naruto's ego and solidifies his resolve to quit whining and be courageous. Sasuke, as is his wont, gives Naruto the inspiration he needs to be the strongest ninja ever, closer to his goal of becoming hokage.

Fast forward.

Lol, Naruto was so proud that he came to Sasuke's rescue given it was Sasuke coming to his earlier. But Naruto is Naruto, my sweet idiot.

Poor Sasuke is so exacerbated, lol. Although, there's just absolutely no one else Sasuke talks to like this, openly and without reservation. Yelling and swearing, veins popping. Anyway.

And then what happens at the end?

Sasuke comes to his rescue again and this time, Naruto isn't able to believe it. What's the difference between before when Sasuke rescues him and here?

Simple. He sacrificed his life. Naruto thought Sasuke was just showing off before, or was just trying to rile him up, but now he knows that Sasuke wouldn't have gone this far just to tease him.

This boy with a very clear objective of his own, gave up his life for a boy who was clueless about Sasuke's own feelings. But now Naruto knows that Sasuke cares for him very deeply. They were both secretly harbouring complicated, inexplicable feelings for each other but couldn't really figure it out. But this arc makes them figure it out at least partly. They both finally realize how much they really care for each other. Sasuke remembers all those moments regarding his feelings for Naruto (including the 'accidental' kiss) at his moment of death.

Sasuke says - I hated you.

What he really means is - I loved you.

Naruto thinks - I hated you too.

But we know he never did.

So what he really means is - I loved you too.

And this is the first arc. Like it's so obvious they couldn't possibly have hated each other when one of them evolved his kekkei genkai and then died for the other. And the other one also unleashed a new beastly strength after this event that tied up the conclusion of this arc. They might not have known the full extent of how exactly they care for each other, at least, not in the case of Naruto. But at this point, when he almost lost Sasuke, he realizes that he felt quite deeply about Sasuke all along as well.

Hate doesn't really mean hate here. Kishi couldn't have made them say 'love'. And it's understandable that it would be a little too awkward for preteen boys to have said I love you to each other. So this is actually subtext. This is what we get and it fits.

And all this is why this panel below makes sense.

So awkward. Lol.

They just admitted their feelings for each other to themselves and each other. This is where their feelings of deep care and affection for the other are solidified. And so now they are clueless as to how to go about it. At this point, they are still far away from giving their feelings a name. But the rest is pretty clear to them. That all that animosity and rivalry between them before this was just smokescreen to hide their true feelings from each other and themselves.

And after this, something shifts between them slightly. Now, Naruto doesn't get so much mad at Sasuke teasing him but takes it in good, gamely spirit.

They even flirt. And Sasuke acknowledges him and his strength freely.

So cute. And so cleverly written. Kishi ain't foolin' around. He made them kiss in the third chapter, right at the beginning of the First Arc, right after he introduced Sasuke and then made them say the kid version of 'I Love you' at the end of the arc, at the highest emotional beat in the entire arc, everything built up to it. Heh. That's how you write an arc.

Yeah it's not a mystery. Sasuke and Naruto love each other. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

#sns #naruto #sasuke #sasunaru #narusasu #uzumaki naruto #uchiha sasuke #naruto meta

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theidiotabides · 1 year

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Don't mind me, just turning my lurking TLT blog into a full-time Animorphs meta factory since nobody I know personally has the 25-years-later brainrot I'm currently suffering.

Here's a parallel that fucks me up about Marco, specifically as it relates to his dynamic with Jake:

From Edriss, in Visser:

But I kept seeing a billowing white sail above me; feeling salt spray on my face, stinging my eyes; my hand on the tiller, the pressure of it against my palm; the sense that the boat itself was alive, endowed with life by the need of sky and sea to create some sort of union. Eva’s husband, my second husband, so to speak, was there, lying back, feet propped, a drink in one hand, a book he wasn’t reading in the other hand. And Marco, of course, climbing dangerously in the rigging, playing superhero.

From Jake, in #1 The Invasion:

So anyway, we crossed the road and headed into the abandoned construction site. ... Originally it was supposed to be this new shopping center. Now it was just all these half-finished buildings looking like a ghost town. There were huge piles of rusted steel beams; pyramids of giant concrete pipes; little mountains of dirt; deep pits that had filled up with black, muddy water; and a creaking, rusted construction crane that I had climbed once while Marco stayed below and told me I was being an idiot. (#1: The Invasion)

This is such a stark difference in behavior from Marco, and the whole arc happens before canon even starts, and I feel like it doesn't come up enough in discussions about him? Like, Edriss thinks of Marco as being too sweet & trusting to survive, and the books highlight the shift from that to his ruthless cynicism as a central tragedy of his character, and that is definitely a major part of the Marco equation. But there's also something in the shift from "fearlessly climbing in the rigging" to "calling your best friend an idiot for climbing a crane." Once upon a time, Marco was a fearless adventure-seeker. Then, too young, he learned what it really meant for somebody to die, and it destroyed that part of him.

My personal headcanon is that baby Marco was the kind of kid who could create adventure from wholecloth and regularly picked fights with bullies and probably also teachers on idealistic moral grounds, his miniscule size be damned (specifically, I like to imagine that he was very into the concept of knights and chivalry, although the superhero metaphor is more obvious). Following from this, I think the early years of his friendship with Jake were largely characterized by Marco ringleading and Jake backing him up. Marco was the one driving their adventures, picking their fights, and espousing their philosophical duty, while Jake followed in his wake, delighted to have such a dynamic person to orbit around, priding himself on his role as bodyguard. So their natural dynamic - the one that their friendship was built on, before losing Eva fundamentally changed who Marco is - was the opposite of what we see in the books.

Because Jake isn't a born leader. He doesn't actually want to be in charge. He doesn't have strong personal convictions or goals; he doesn't like making decisions; he's not comfortable weilding power (while Marco does and is). This is why Jake spends so much of the series looking for any excuse at all to abdicate, often calling for group votes or explicitly putting the burden of major decisions on individual teammates (especially Marco - "your mom; your call"). Ironically, this is part of what makes him a good leader: He can see everybody's perspective, he's willing to cede power and trust in expertise not his own, and his entire identity is a meditation on other people's values, helping him find middle grounds that nobody else can see because they're too set on their own paths.

Left to his own devices, though, Jake prefers to find people who he feels good about and then devote himself to them, adopting their worldviews wholesale so that he never has to wrestle with his own. In short, Jake wants a boss. And before the Animorphs, before Cassie, Jake had two people filling that slot: Tom and Marco. And Tom is his brother, so that's a default setting. Marco is the one he chose for himself. Marco's sense for adventure, his idealism, his willingness to pick a fight for a good cause - these are the things that made Jake choose him as a personal North star.

But then Marco lost his mom, and with her went his sense of the world as a just or safe place. Before, he thought of injustice as something temporary that you could defeat with a clever ruse or a brandished sword, and he believed that evil would always inevitably bend before a sufficiently determined good guy. Basically, he believed in the version of the world that exists in superhero stories: Sure, bad things happen, but you'll win in the end so long as you're in the right and you're clever about it.

For a long time, I made up stories about how my mom had survived. Maybe on a desert island or something. But I’m a realistic person, I guess. After a while I accepted it. (#5: The Predator)

No clever plan could bring Eva back, no matter how many stories he told himself about it, and accepting that meant accepting that anybody - including him - could just... die. Gone forever, for no reason at all. And even if they didn't die, they could disappear from him emotionally, like his father was actively in the process of doing, and no amount of fighting on his part could stop that, either. With Eva's death, Marco's world morphed into a senseless place full of random horrors, and Marco himself went from glory-seeking idealist to terrified realist. He's not telling himself superhero stories anymore; he sees them for the lies that they are.

And then Jake - a kid who specifically chose Marco largely because of Marco's idealism and sense of adventure - has to grapple with Marco's abandonment of those things, but with none of the personal emotional context attached. What does it mean to be eleven years old and watch your fearless leader suffer a complete crumbling of his worldview? And what does it mean for you, personally, when you've built your entire identity around following him, but he doesn't want to lead anymore?

I think it says a lot about Jake that he didn't abandon Marco. He easily could have found another optimistic, adventure-seeking person to follow instead, and indeed I think that's what Marco expected him to do. Afterall, if Marco's dad can more or less abandon him, it logically follows that Jake will probably do it, too. I think Marco's snark is largely a coping and deflection tactic, but on some level it's also an attempt to justify his continued role as Jake's best friend. He knows Jake picked him for the superhero-worshipping kid he used to be, and the only parts of that person he still has any connection to are his humor and his smarts. So he leans into constant clownery to reassure himself that he's still giving Jake the friend that he wants, and therefore Jake won't leave him. It gives him a sense of safety: As long as I'm smart and funny, Jake will have my back.

Jake’s my best friend. But he’s my best friend because I’m me, you know? Because I’m funny and smart and I’d back him up anytime, any place. I mean, what am I supposed to do? I’m me, Marco, not some touchy-feely, share-your-feelings-with-the-group kind of person. I don’t share feelings, I make people laugh. (#15 The Escape)

But of course Marco is never in danger of losing Jake at all, because Jake is an absolute loyalist where his people are concerned. You have to fuck up pretty bad for Jake to turn his back on you once you're in his inner circle. So Jake never even considered finding a new best friend; the job belongs to Marco, fullstop. Instead, he started trying to fill the void left by Marco's personality collapse himself, mirroring the traits that Marco used to have back to him, maybe in hope of sparking that part of Marco back to life. Jake idolizes superheroes. He intervenes with bullies. He flaunts danger to climb the construction crane.

But Marco can no longer see the crane as an adventure. He sees it as a death trap that could kill Jake at any second, and he doesn't feel safe until Jake is back on the ground, and he's angry that Jake can't understand that, so he insults him. Both because Marco can't express any feeling straightforwardly so his fear has to come out sideways, but also because Jake is a mirror of who Marco used to be, and on some level Marco hates that naive little kid just because he doesn't get to be him anymore.

By the time we meet them in canon, Marco and Jake are two years into this new dynamic. Jake is occupying the leadership role full time while still modeling himself after the way Marco used to occupy it (with a dash of Tom, because little brother syndrome), occasionally succeeding at drawing out bits of the old Marco in the form of harebrained schemes. Meanwhile, Marco is intensely aware that he is no longer the person Jake wants him to be, and he vascilates wildly between regret/fear (because he might lose Jake if he can't retain some scrap of that person) and contempt (because that version of him was a naive child who believed in superheroes instead of death, like an idiot), and both of these come out in his treatment of Jake. They love each other absolutely, but there is also a disconnect that they don't know how to talk about.

And then the universe is like, lol, let's give these two boys with a specifically superhero-flavored interpersonal power struggle actual superpowers, plus a team to lead in a mandate to save the world.

It's also worth noting that in #50, when Jake has fully given up and is actively trying to abdicate all responsibility for leadership, he tells Cassie that he's only leader because Marco said he was:

“Marco can be in charge,” he said helplessly. Again he pulled his hand away. This time I let him go. “He’s smarter than I am. Or Tobias. Or Ax. Or you. Rachel. Anyone. Anyone but me. You know why I was in charge in the first place, Cassie? Because once upon a time, a long time ago, Marco said I was.” “Jake, that’s not the whole truth …” “Well, now my term of office is over,” he continued bitterly. “So how about for once you guys figure things out and tell me what to do.” (#50 The Ultimate)

But Marco didn't say he was, at least not until after that consensus had already been reached by the others (at least, I can't find it in the pages of the early books - somebody please point me to the passage if it does exist!). If anybody, it was Tobias who waved the fearless leader wand over Jake. But Jake remembers it being Marco, because Jake's whole life is colored by Marco's abdication of leadership in their interpersonal relationship. Everybody else sees Jake as being in charge (and most of them put Rachel second in line), but Jake sees himself as a placeholder for Marco, ready to step aside just as soon as Marco tells him to. But Marco never will.

Anyway, that's my headcanon about what those two lines mean for the Marco/Jake dynamic.

#marco animorphs #marco and jake #animorphs meta #animorphs #what I'm saying is that Jake Berenson is a sub #he's a bratty sub too #Marco come and get your boy #also something something Jake fell for Cassie because she embodies all the sweetness and idealism that he misses in Marco #I ship jakemarco but in postcanon because they gotta defuse their not-it power struggle over who's in charge first #and an ongoing war effort is not conducive to constructive conversations about interpersonal hierarchical command structures #jake berenson

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starguardianniom · 1 year

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The 1 lesson learned in the season 5 finale

One thing I remember seeing in the leaks of the finale of season 5, is that all the heroes are back and with their miraculous full time. Knowing that, I can only think this:

Only lesson Marinette learned was to not put all her eggs in one basket it seems, as she has been doing since she became the guardian, though I feel she got that lesson from Fu who was the first guilty party of doing it.

What I mean is, the show made Marinette too important.

SHE is the only one who can purify akumas.

SHE is the only one who can fix everything.

SHE is the only one who gets to choose new heroes and know their identities without them or Chat Noir knowing hers or each other.

SHE is the only one aware of Fu until Syren.

SHE is the only one trained to be a guardian.

SHE is the only one who gets to be the guardian.

SHE is the only one who keeps all the miraculouses and kwamis.

SHE is the only one who makes the rules now.

That's way too much for her alone.

Chat Noir is not in the knowing of Master Fu until he gets so fed up he almost renounces Plagg, and to be fair at first he didn't complain with Rena Rouge, but then Ladybug keeps not telling him anything when before it was just the 2 of them, and it's shifting their dynamic even more, and he can't help her if he knows nothing.

But then, Chat Noir gets to learn the identities of some holders anyway, with or without Ladybug's knowledge, Queen Bee and Ryuko he learns because they out themselves immediatly (to be fair to Kagami she was the only person in Ikari Gozen so even if she hadn't call Ikari Gozen "Mother", her identity was busted anyway).

Between Queen Bee and Ryuko, another holder he gets to learn about, Marinette being Multimouse, of course made so that he wouldn't guess that she was actually Ladybug and deceiving him with an illusion, but still him knowing Marinette is Multimouse is enough for Ladybug to tell them that Marinette can never be Multimouse again, showing unwittingly no trust at all for him in the situation that is entirely not his fault, and yes it's an illusion BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW THAT!!!! And yes it's to make sure Marinette isn't asked again because she's Ladybug and can't keep up 2 secret identities and have them meet all the time without running herself ragged so she needs to make sure that she can't be Multimouse again, it does put her partner in what seems an unfair choice and seriously I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up again since then.

Anyway.

Ladybug then becomes the Guardian. She knows has to be the one who fix everything, purify the akumas and keep the miracle box and the kwamis safe and also keeps choosing new heroes.

She doesn't accept Chat Noir's help when he offers to help her with her burdens, like maybe choosing holders or delivering miraculouses.

She confess her identity to Alya and tells her everything instead.

Chat Noir is not considered despite his offer and being there from the start.

Alya is a great support to Marinette and also a huge help, but Marinette then starts wanting to control what Alya can and can't do with her knowledge.

Of course she makes Alya lie to Nino.

Which from a certain point of view sounds stupid because Nino is a hero she chose and knows Alya's identity as Rena Rouge like Alya knows Nino is Carapace.

It does bring up some problems.

Oh and also, Ladybug never tells Chat Noir that she told someone her identity for a while now.

Instead, he finds out the day he has to work with her replacement, whom he (rightfully has every rights since past experiences with fake Ladybugs have happened before) mistakes for a fake and tries to Cataclysm. This of course strain the beginning of Scarabella and Chat Noir's working together, though they get better and I honestly prefered Scarabella working with Chat Noir than Ladybug, because one no romance, 2, so funny and refreshing and 3, Scarabella has a killer style that Ladybug could only dream of.

But Alya has to tell Marinette that she needs to have an urgent talk with Chat Noir about it. I love you for that Alya, the kitty deserves more respect than that.

I mean she nearly got cataclysmed because Marinette couldn't bother telling Chat Noir that she had left the city for a weekend and had a replacement because she seriously couldn't not not go.

She can be bothered to text hundreds of rules for Alya to follow while in the train, but not one message to Chat Noir telling him to not be surprised to see a new Ladybug for a little while in case something happens.

I'm honestly will never get over that one, seriously Marinette, you sucks at communication as much as you suck with empathy.

Let's not forget Rocketear where Adrien learns that Nino and Alya are Carapace and Rena Rouge and they knew from the start who the other was via Ladybug and shoving in his throat that the rules only apply when Ladybug see it fit to herself and she makes the rules and doesn't have to bend to them unlike him, to be fair Alya knew already because Nino gave himself away with his "dude" and Alya and Nino were together so Ladybug couldn't really think fast enough of an excuse to separate them to give them their miraculous alone so she had to do the reveal but Nino doesn't tell Adrien that. Also Nino was being in a foul mood that seriously was affecting his judgement and outting him and Alya can't be on Marinette's shoulders, but to Adrien who doesn't know all that just feels even more drowned by the rules and now feels it's only him.

Another thing I'll never get over, the Ephemeral episode.

The gal of Marinette hatching a plan to have 2 people know Chat Noir's identity in his back without his knowledge seriously pissed me off to no end. Sure she told off Su-Han in the end, but honestly she is a bigger hypocrite there. She outrights say that she believes Chat Noir will never reveal his identity to anyone else but her first, not bothering to consider that he would probably listen to Su-Han's idea (which frankly is kind of fair, as if something happens to Adrien, they would be in hot waters, sure Plagg can deliver the news and Kaalki knows where Adrien lives, but they can't tell Marinette and it is one of the 2 most powerful miraculouses around). Chat Noir is more understanding than her, if she would just explain herself, she could avoid deceiving Chat Noir, but nooooo, she will swear by what she thinks and it's final. It shows now that she already makes decisions for Chat Noir because she thinks she knows him best so naturally she can decide for him without problem, another right stripped from him apparently, by herself no less. But that timeline did stick for most of the episode, and it did show that yes, Marinette would be willing to go that far, and well she kinds of does in the season 5 finale by not telling Adrien the truth about his existance or his father's crimes.

There was also Strike Back where Chat Noir seems to get annoyed that Ladybug tells him he doesn't know what he's talking about, and outright tells her she never tells him anything, and her never relying on him when she should bites her hard as her trying to control everything makes her lose almost everything but her own miraculous and Chat Noir's. Of course, she also thought it was a good idea to go fetch her crush instead of calling Sabrina for the Dog, or just unify with it herself, and seriously not asking herself how could Adrien be the only person in the city to not be marked if it happened the day before. After an entire season of doing everything alone instead of relying on people, she learns the hard way that the villains just need to swipe the miraculouses from her to get them 98% of them all and win.

The one lesson she learned: not put all her eggs in one basket.

That one lesson Fu could have also learned.

Because seriously Marinette had so much power and control it wasn't even funny, it's scarier than Gabriel with the miraculouses I would say.

Imagine if she had been stopped before she told Alya anything, nobody could have helped her or save her, Plagg knows, but he can't bring back people unless he destroy the place where they're holded, or if the villain lets them leave, which is not always easy to do.

But seriously, she had way too much to do and learn to be completely efficient, because she wouldn't share the responsabilities.

If she had given at least some miraculouses to Chat Noir and maybe even Alya, it would have been better.

But even when Marinette is taken out and others needs to step up and take her place, you can be sure an event or something will make her still don her earrings or not to save the day. Apparently Scarabella and Chat Noir can't save the day by themselves without Marinette having to deliver the final blow to Robostus. Or Scarabella and Kitty Noire can't replace Marinette and Adrien permanently because Marinette never bothered to tell Alya and Chat Noir to not wear Alliance rings as they can track their superhumans movements, immediatly busting their identity if someone hacks them, as seen in Jubilation.

I must wonder if the writers gave her all the calls and powers only to show us the reality of why it's important to delegate some of your duties least if something happens to you not all is lost.

Hence why at the end of the season 5, Marinette gives all her teammates their miraculous permanently.

Hopefully Chat Noir will stay her number 2 and not Rena Rouge cause he's more experienced than her and it would only be fair after 2 seasons of being less important than Alya given he doesn't know Marinette is Ladybug but Alya does, immediatly changing the power dynamic, even if Alya can't be Rena for an entire season, she's still more privy to the secrets of Ladybug than Chat Noir ever was. No hate on Alya at all though, she was amazing. Just wish Marinette would trust Chat Noir just as much, as he is her first partner and the one she has been working with since day one and they came back alone for an entire season again so another different dynamic than with Alya but it shouldn't be given less importance for it.

Alya and Chat Noir are awesome, I just wish Marinette would trust them equally and communicate with them better. And delegates some of her duties to them dang it!

#ml bible spoilers #ml season 5 spoilers #ml s5 spoilers #ml s5 leaks #ml season 5 leaks #marinette salt #master fu salt #alya sugar

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beautifulpersonpeach · 8 months

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As promised here, I'm continuing a series of posts on NewJeans and why I think the group holds real potential. What I want to briefly talk about this time, is the quality of their music.

Credit: @/haerin1sta

Not exactly sure how this is going to come across, but the truth is very few groups in k-pop give me a quality sonic experience. I mean, for a lot of groups, I get no joy from playing them out loud in my space. BTS is one group where the music is so dynamic, textured and layered... I know this probably sounds pretentious, but BTS's music is the perfect blend of cohesive + complex + simple to suit my taste. I enjoy sitting back in my living room, dimming the lights and drawing the blinds, to hear Dis-ease play over my Bowers & Wilkins 800 D4 speakers. It feels like an actual pleasure. I get this with BTS, nearly every time. There's a handful of other groups whose songs I sometimes feel this way about, but there's been no other group that consistently gets me this way lately more than NewJeans.

At least I'm pretty sure there's no other group that gets me to break out a subwoofer more than NewJeans, after BTS.

All their songs have such a deep and rich bass.

It's almost sickening. Listen, k-pop has done R&B for years. The sound isn't new to the industry by any means, but the way NewJeans does R&B you can tell whoever makes their shit, cette personne a eu le cœur brisé par une personne noire.

Take for example a song like ASAP. That moment the bass comes in at 0:40, during the chorus - it sounds heavenly on my speakers. The whole song feels kinda magical and odd, like Christmas in July, and I suspect one reason why is the chord progression which I recognize to follow that of many Christmas hymns... and the deep heavy bass.

youtube

You might not hear it right in this clip because of how Youtube compresses their sound, but I think one can still tell the pitch shifts slightly. The tweaky game-beat percussion that fills up the rest of the song feels disorienting but that's also the point. By the time the second chorus comes in, the contrast it creates feels like you're diving into a pool of cool water on a hot day. It's so good. It's like that weird genre-mix thing SM likes to do in their songs, but with NewJeans it's so much more effortless, weirder, and cooler.

This is Minji.

This is Danielle.

This is Haerin.

This is Hyein.

This is Hanni.

All five girls have clean, clear vocals and very distinct vocal colours. One reason their music is so good, is because all their songs put an emphasis on their vocals. For example, listen to the pulled stems for Hurt.

The first 2 minutes and 50 seconds is pure acappella heaven, and then you realize it's placed in the center. The mix is so full and centered, it's perfect. The other stems in the video from 2:50 too are such a delight to listen to.

youtube

The sense of easy excellence is everywhere in NewJeans' sound and concept. They don't need to force anything, they don't need crazy ornamental riffs, or ridiculous beat switches to capture and hold attention. All the harmonizing that needs to be done is already in the music. It's simple and for that reason, good. Hurt for example is just a well made song.

It's so fun to play in the car. It sounds like a joint Andre 3000 would produce.

Another song that absolutely blows me away when I play it, is Cookie. Can you even try to imagine what the intro on Cookie sounds like with subwoofers?

It's mad.

youtube

Ador encourages the girls to fully participate in several aspects, from songwriting (the members have been writing their songs since debut and 4 out of 5 members are credited on their songs so far), to making their choreography, to applying their ideas towards their marketing. It's really remarkable for a rookie group, but I also feel this is a culture HYBE has been trying to create at all their sub-labels.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more music from NewJeans. Get Up was a solid treat - my ranking of the songs on it so far:

New Jeans

Cool with You & Get Up

ASAP

ETA

Super Shy

(Haerin - dancer and vocalist)

(Danielle - dancer and vocalist)

(Hyein - dancer, vocalist, and maknae)

(Hanni - dancer and vocalist)

(Minji - dancer and vocalist)

(I don't have a bias in NewJeans. And that's the first sign for me that this is a solid group.)

#Do y'all think I should continue with this series?#If so please let me know either with a reply DM or ask #newjeans #minji #hanni #hyein #danielle #haerin #ador #hybe #bts #bpp music posts #kpop #kpop music #kpop industry #Youtube

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halfagone · 1 year

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...I have such complicated feelings about the Anger Management ship. This isn't to say that I don't like the ship (I do, I actually adore it) but I happen to be very nit-picky about the execution and dynamics that I'm always super hesitant to read new fics with these two as the main pairing.

(If you plan on reblogging this, please do not put the crossover fandoms or the ship name in the tags. This is a rambling essay, not a purposefully antagonistic vent about other people's writing style or preferences. I KNOW not everyone likes or dislikes the same things that I do, and just as they are due their own opinion, so am I.)

To be completely transparent, I don't think Jazz would like Red Hood. Oh, I think she'd absolutely adore Jason, but I don't think she would like Red Hood. I honestly believe that if she found out Jason was Red Hood sometime later into their relationship, she would want to take a step back and think things through. This isn't to say that she would break up with him because of it, or hate him suddenly now that the truth is out, but it's one thing to find out your boyfriend is secretly an anti-hero vigilante, and it's another thing to find out your boyfriend is secretly a crime-lord who beheaded EIGHT PEOPLE and stuffed their severed heads into DUFFEL BAGS to send a message to Batman. It's one thing to find out your boyfriend doesn't get along with his family, and it's a whole other thing to learn your boyfriend beat his adopted brother brutally and PAINTED THE WALLS WITH HIS BLOOD without ever meeting him first and based on information he hadn't even found out firsthand but was given to him by a woman that was purposefully stoking the flames of his anger and hatred to make things easier for her son.

She knows Jason a little more personally now, so she's aware of the layers to his character and history so she has a better understanding of what his motivations might/could be, but that doesn't lessen how HUGE of a shift in perspective this could be for her. It'd be worse if Jason hasn't expressed any regret for what he did to Tim, especially considering Red Hood supposedly protects kids but went along and beat Tim so viciously anyways. You can't even use the excuse that Tim is a 'child soldier', when Jason is just as willing and ready to use that same excuse when he gripes about how terribly Bruce treated him or Bruce's supposed lack of grief and regret over losing Jason. It doesn't mean what he went through was any less terrible, but it does make him a hypocrite.

I feel like they would have to steadily overcome this obstacle, and I do honestly believe that Jazz would implore him to get therapy to help him, and if he didn't agree, she would be seriously concerned about their relationship. Seeing as Jason has also inherited Bruce's miscommunication (or general lack of communication) and poor coping mechanisms.

Of course a lot of this could be outright avoided or fixed in the background, but I don't find that it happens a lot? Or, if it does, it's never properly explained? I can understand if it's a short fic and all that background plot points can't be properly addressed in the short amount of time, but when it's a longer fic I always feel like it's a missed opportunity NOT to have and/or show more growth in Jason as he learns what a civilian relationship (hell, a healthy relationship in general) is actually LIKE after losing so much of his life to his need for revenge.

Which kind of leads up to my next point... I'm very nit-picky when Jazz is shown to be super BAMF and always ready to throw down. Jazz has always been badass to me, but I always felt like her type of strength always relied more on her intelligence, sharp wit, and most of all her compassion. She's a good shot, and she's always willing to step in physically if she feels like it's necessary, but violence has never been her first choice. She wants to be a psychologist/psychiatrist - for her to constantly be willing to roll up her sleeves and punch someone out is not conductive to a working and trusting relationship between a doctor and their patient. Or between most people, in general.

(Another thing! I feel like Jazz would believe that people deserve second chances. While she might agree that someone like the Joker might be beyond saving (something she might agree to with great hesitancy and reluctance), she wants to believe so badly that people can change for the better. This could be caused and/or linked to her childhood, and how her parents never spent time on her and Danny but she was desperate to fix their family. Which could be the reason she got into psychology in the first place. For her to admit that some people can never change, would be like Jazz admitting that she wasted the early formative years of life trying to fix a broken home all for nothing. This, however, would cause more contention between her and the Red Hood. Can you tell I don't think they'd get along?)

However, this sort of personality and behavior is very reminiscent of someone else. That person of course being Danny himself. Danny is the one that's often throwing himself into fights and roughing it up before thinking twice. When he grows up, he might learn to rein it back in and think things through more, but I find it strange that the exact opposite it applied to Jazz's character when she has already succeeded with a balance of careful forethought and affirmative action. I like when there are differences between their characters, I like how they differentiate and balance each other out. I like how it shows their opposing thought processes and principles.

This does lead me to my next point... Liminal!Jazz is very hit and miss for me. Giving her ghostly qualities not only takes away some of the things that make her unique to Danny (it sucks too because I adore how Jazz is so sympathetic and tries so hard to understand what Danny is struggling through, it really shows how supportive Jazz is and has always tried her best to be). It particularly irks me when it's explained that this is caused by ectocontamination when Danny supposedly never had those same ectocontamination effects BEFORE his Accident? When he was similarly contaminated for all of his life as well. Technically speaking, their parents should be contaminated too in order to make the reasoning consistent. But most of all it... and I hate to say this, but I feel like it cheapens Danny's tragic death. Danny went through SO MUCH and suffered excruciating pain and now whenever he looks in the mirror he will never see the same human kid he'd once been, while Jazz didn't have to suffer the same thing or even CLOSE TO IT and still got those same physical characteristics. ESPECIALLY when the reasoning feels hollow. And even I hate how I can't get into the concept because I've seen the headcanon utilized in some pretty inventive ways! Nonetheless it still bothers me and I see it so much that I find that I have to outright avoid so many fics to get away from it. The premise of the fic itself might interest me but the concept bothers me THAT MUCH that I just can't.

And a lot of this is connected to how Jazz is so often characterized or shown in conjunction to Danny. De-Aged!Danny fics where Jazz takes care of him are really cute- god knows I love a good baby!Danny story- but I feel like these fic concepts don't give Jazz the opportunity to shine on her own. When I heard people complained about where Danny was in Elizabehta_Beilschmidt's Friendly neighborhood vigilante (and yes I know what her @ is, but I am PURPOSEFULLY not tagging her), I was honestly SHOCKED. I loved that Danny wasn't really around. That might sound harsh, but I came for a Jazz/Jason fic where these two were the main characters. And who we, naturally, should spend the most time with.

Most of all, Jazz's whole personality and life should not be based on babysitting/caring for her little brother. Especially in a lot of these fics when Danny is an adult of his own. Danny has been shown to take care of himself even at fourteen, if he's eighteen or even in his twenties, that shouldn't have suddenly changed. Jazz should not have been forced to take care of her younger sibling to begin with, for her to be forced or feel obligated to continue and spend more of her life unnecessarily worrying and fussing over her brother is not fair to her. I hate to separate them, but their lives take them in different directions and it's not healthy or fair for them to curb their wants and dreams to satisfy their desire (and perhaps even codependency) to stick together. It's both adorable and heartbreaking in kid!Danny fics to see how she continues to hold strong and try to do her best for him, but she already spent so much of her life doing that. Let her have time for herself and her interests and her cute boyfriend GODDAMMIT!

So yeah. I have Complicated TM feelings about Anger Management. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

#halfagone rambles #don't take this personally if you disagree #you do you my friend

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clotpolesonly · 3 months

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So, I started a cleaning job where I don't have to talk to anyone, which is lovely, but it also meant I started listening to audiobooks, and I've started listening to some book series I've been hearing about here and there, and the latest was The Raven Cycle. Why? Because you posted about it. You are literally the only person on my dashboard to post about it, but the few ones I have seen over the last months? years? have been enough for me to be assured in it having queer rep, being well written, and potentially worth my time. And yeah, it very much was, cause now I'm kinda hooked on it, like not just Adam/Ronan, tho very much them as well, but Maggie even got me caring about a straight couple with Gansey/Blue, cause she just writes such beautiful and unique characters!!! And anyway, besides asking you if you have some favourite AO3 recs (Don't even care much about the ship, as long as it's with these characters) I come having finished The Raven King a week ago, and now humbly but also very desperately asking, do you have any other book recommendations like TRC for me to listen to?? (Oh, and maybe also whether or not the dreamer triology will be just as good? Cause I'm curious about it having Ronan in focus, but more than the story, it's the characters that got me hooked on TRC, and like Maggie Stiefvater's writing style, but yeah I'm unsure how much of Adam there is in the trilogy, and the new characters, are they just as intriguing??)

YESSSSSS I LOVE SNAGGING PEOPLE AND DRAGGING THEM INTO MY FANDOMS XD WELCOME

the Dreamer Trilogy has its pros and its cons. if does significantly shift the focus of the narrative away from the established group, so if the Gangsey found family dynamic is a really big factor in your enjoyment and you don't want to be without it, you'll be disappointed by TDT because the rest of the gang simply isn't present 😭 it's very much Lynch-(and new characters)-focused.

Ronan is the main character and gets the most screen time, but honestly, Declan steals the show in that series. people can go into TDT Declan haters and come out of it with rabid Declan brain rot afdkjgh, i for one am obsessed with him. Matthew gets a real arc too, which i love for him. Adam doesn't have a huge role but he is around and relevant. i am IN LOVE with some of the new characters, and Maggie got us again with the straights!!! she makes us fucking YEARN WITH THE STRAIGHTS, on par with Bluesey imo, the new canon ship destroys me ok??

i will say that TDT doesn't feel as cohesive and satisfying in the overall narrative structure sense, compared to TRC. there are some things about it that confuse/frustrate me or don't make sense if you look at it too closely 😅 but there's so much really interesting compelling character/relationship work that it makes up for it, for me. i enjoyed TDT a lot, have read it multiple times, and will definitely read it again. it expands upon the world and lore, and i'm a sluuuut for complicated dysfunctional family dynamics so the Lynches get me good.

as for other recs! in case my unrelenting TRC blogging isn't damning enough evidence, i'll admit openly that i tend to just read the same thing over and over again instead of reading anything new lfkdjgh, so i don't actually HAVE anything else to rec myself, i am useless to you 😅😅😅 so instead i reached out to some other fans on discord and got suggestions from them to share with you!

The Scorpio Races (also Maggie Stiefvater)

The Wicker King (K Ancrum)

Aristotle & Dante (Benjamin Alire Saenz)

A Darker Shade of Magic (VE Schwab)

Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao)

In Other Lands (Sarah Rees Brennan)

Hell Followed With Us (Andrew Joseph White)

The Darkest Part of The Forest (Holly Black)

All Of Us Villains duology (Amanda Foody, CL Herman)

Self Made Boys (Anna Marie Mclemore)

Legendborn (Tracy Deonn)

Folk of the Air series (Holly Black)

Six of Crows duology (Leigh Bardugo)

Winternight trilogy (Katherine Arden)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

The Atlas Six (Olivie Blake)

so, again, i have not personally read any of these books to make the recs more specific or say what part of them invokes TRC vibes, but it sure is a place to start?? 😂

for fic recs, oh god, my brain is SWISS CHEESE, let's see if i can remember and dig up anything aldkfjg

(ok first i rec my own fics #shameless self promo)

Magnetic i've read SO MUCH and will again, it's everything to me

don't it beat a slow dance to death is a timeloop thing A+

I'm an Empathetic Drunk, Ok? is the first long TRC fic i read i think

All That I Know is Gone has dreamer!Declan, obsessed with this

King by the Roadside Gansey-didn't-die-the-first-time + polyam

A Sound Of Thunder Declan died instead of Niall 😭😭

aaaaaand these are the ones that are coming to my mind as of right now, the first 3 are all Pynch. i think the 4th has Pynch but it's mostly brother feels - that one introduces some elements from TDT but i don't thiiiiiink anything that would be a significant spoiler as long as you've read the short story Opal, which was included in my physical copy of TRK if it wasn't in yours, i have the epub). could hold off on that one until you (maybe) read TDT (if you wanna), but i've read it too many times not to rec it. 5th one hooks up the whole gang in one big polycule and i love it for that, and the last one hurts my HEART as a Declan stan but it's otherwise a great fic 😂

anybody else with TRC recs, add on/reply/hit @so-very-asleep up with 'em!!!

#and the answer is #so-very-asleep #TRC #TDT

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jazzypizzaz · 9 months

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Red White and Royal Blue

*deep sigh* read the book twice in a row, watched the movie twice, want to complain about them but also can't stop reading the fanfic even though only I've only read a couple that capture what I want but anyway might as well lean in so... fine. here's some rambling thoughts under the cut

what I liked better about the movie:

tighter narrative (book went on way longer than it needed to)

smoothed over or cut out all the parts I found most cringey/over-indulgent... especially pop culture & real life political references

the public image/role of Alex made way more sense - like yes he's worried his relationship "scandal" (& that word wasn't used in the movie! thank you!) impacts his mom's campaign/image, but it's not built up as a huge deal that he's bisexual. yes the media still gets carried away with the dumbest shit, but the First Son isn't treated on the same level of importance as like actual political figures

cutting Rafael Luna. ok I love the character!!! & his relationship with Alex but c'mon the idea he'd infiltrate Richard's office was so so dumb. no serious, intelligent politician would think that would be effective let alone go through with it

Alex & the Texas strategy was a more direct way to show his ambition and passion, it felt like a more authentic expression than his role in the book

the shifts in their relationship felt more organic. I didn't buy Alex still felt they were rivals in the book as long as he did, or that he ever thought they were keeping it casual. I liked the shift from physical to romantic in the movie, as fast as it was in the book it sometimes felt jarring to me

tbh the way identity was treated in general - always impacting the characters & their motivations, but not expressed in hamfisted statements or OTT angst or *as* tokenistic as the book could be. I feel like this especially with Alex as biracial but admittedly not my place

kept a fantasy romantic tone throughout without the jarring relationship to real world politics

the way the turkey scene didn't 100% crib from the West Wing episode lmao

Zahara and Amy and Ellen were incredible side characters. absolutely perfect, no notes.

what I liked better about the book

Alex was a lot rougher around the edges - overworking & pushing to prove himself, being "too much" with talkativeness and messy big emotions, bright as a fire burning too hot too hard too fast... he's able to be fully himself with Henry in a way that he holds back or scares off other people!! it's important for their relationship dynamic!

in the movie he was kind of a lovable friendly jock type with some insecurity, but not the same level of unbridled need to prove he's good enough (he's a Blaine archetype in some key ways imo ok, that's dear to me)

in part because he had a more complicated relationship with his parents in the book, being a child of divorce, living with his mom who is understandably more career focused as Pres than paying attention to her (adult) children, and his dad living across the country also busy with his own political stuff...

I can only picture Oscar as Jimmy Smits which is entirely because of West Wing. movie Oscar was fine this is purely a personal problem

no loose ends with the emails leak??? felt like there could have been more resolution/explanation of that in the movie!!

THE LETTERS!!! THE INTENSITY THE ROMANCE THE YEARNING when they are separated... I don't think there was a good way to better incorporate this in a movie but it's the Entire reason I fell in love with the book despite its many shortcomings

THE REFERENCES TO GAY HISTORY, the weight of there have always been queer people, that Henry/Alex's love is specific & individual & special but also nothing new, it's rooted in deep human tradition just as much as quote unquote family values, but what IS revolutionary is the role they can play in this history for the next generations of queer people... ("history huh" was fantastic in the movie but I missed the quotations in the letters)

Pez, Bea, Nora... completely made into devices solely to support Alex & Henry in the movie without any effort to make them seem like their own people with their own shit going on... I mean the book wasn't super effective at this but at least it tried to make them characters if somewhat cardboard. like Pez was in the movie solely to not make Nora a third wheel. ok. nora & bea were conventional women more or less. (June was barely a character in the book, although I liked her existence in general) & I missed Nora and Alex's bisexual friendship. felt true to my own experience

what I liked about both

History, huh?

text convos

Alex's bisexuality. they have different flavors of discovery between book and movie, but the journey is still there in both. He connects the dots of past experiences that he's been ignoring, he puts a name to this part of himself for the first time, his feelings for Henry help him confront it but aren't the sole evidence by far... it's more show less tell in the movie, but fits that narrative

everything Henry <3 darling

the playfulness and flirting between them

#rwrb

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steamberrystudio · 2 years

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Hi there! Congrats on the new game! I adored Changeling, so I am excited for this. 💜 If you don’t mind me asking— my favorite route in Changeling was Danny’s. Can you tell me which LI is closest to him personality wise in GS? Thank you so much!

Probably Reuben and/or Lance....though Reuben is not released yet.

But here is a short list with what personalities are like (in most cases I feel like it's difficult to do a 1:1 comparison with GS characters and Changeling characters because GS characters are adults, most of whom have deal with a lot of difficult situations that have impacted their personalities in profound ways. But I'll try to compare them all.

Ari - logical and no nonsense, but very gentle. Softens up and learns to show more emotion as the route goes on. (There really isn't a remotely close comparison to Changeling but I guess if I had to make one, I'd say he's closest to William though they're quite different.)

Caissa - cold at first but actually very soft and very much a romantic at heart. Deeply cares for people. (Weirdly, I would say he feels like a bizarre cross between Ewan...and Danny? 🤣 )

Caleb - Grump. But very loyal to his friends. No-nonsense personality. Roasts people as a form of affection. (Very different from Marc or Ewan but definitely has that banter-dynamic and bluntness.)

Jack - Has the charming rogue sort of vibe and is flirty, but surprisingly sweet and caring. (....🤔 I don't know about a comparison. Maybe he's like a super confident version of Elliot?? 🤣🤣)

Lance - Wholesome, devastatingly kind, pacifistic. A natural care-taker. (Closest comparison is probably Danny but they're quite different too.)

Magnus - He's a smug troll who likes to provoke people. Two-faced, hides his "true self" from people. ...Very broken. (Closest comparison is definitely Corvin. But he's like Dark!Corvin. They have similar vibes but are also very, very different)

NOTE: The following three routes are unreleased and personalities nearly always shift as I write. This is how I currently view them but their personalities may present a little differently when I actually write their routes.

Quill - Pragmatic, very straightforward, shockingly altruistic, likes to tease. (Probably closest to Marc or Ewan but is far more amiable than either one of them, really. Has Nora's coffee-drinking habits)

Reuben - Sweet, earnest, boy-next-door type. Somewhat easy to fluster. (Closest to Danny for sure. Like a more mature Danny I suppose?)

Yuu - Snarky, very no-nonsense, quick tempered (very), and horrifyingly blunt at times. Likes to tease people he knows well. Can be very flirty when not working. (There's really not even a remotely close comparison to a Changeling character, I don't think).

Anyway, hope this helps for anyone wondering this same thing!

#gilded shadows #changeling #character comparison

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chawarin-panich · 2 years

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(znn/jent/hockey nonny) i am so glad you're not a bruins fan because I'm a leafs fan 😂 but Sidney Crosby is my hero so maybe we still can't be friends 😂

KAT-TUN/Akame were my faves back then (I was most unhinged over them) but drama-free those boys were not 😅 I used to lowkey love Sho from Arashi tho

(please continue to be unhinged about ZNN and do more posts like when did they seal the deal 🤭)

Ah dont worry its more geography than anything else so we can be friends - also i cannot tell hockey players apart so....

AKAME!!!! You really picked the messiest fucking bitches on the planet to stan didn't you. I did not envy what Kattun and Akame fans went through. I stuck to simpler pairs: Ohmiya, Sakuraiba, MatsuJun x Ikuta Toma (+ Oguri Shun), RyoShige

But ugh I love the ZNN+Joss OT3 so much SPECIFICALLY because they give off such MatsJun x Ikuta Toma (+ Oguri Shun) vibes. Zee needs to let up and let Joss play with New a little bit so I can get more OT3 content

It honestly tickles me that you guys like the Fuck Point Analysis I made only because people in my country are so obsessed with figuring out when a married couple first Do The Deed. I'm not joking there really is a term for the night the married couple loses their virginity HAHAHAHAHAHA

okay anon im taking notes about what the masses (😂😂) want. I am obsessed with what @ambruises has so eloquently coined as the ever shifting power dynamics between ZNN

I've been doing this thing that I can share a little bit here is compiling a timeline for them to understand what the major arcs in their relationship were. I originally started this as research to dictate the major arcs in the 'canonverse' ZNN fic I'm writing (this is a long term project so you won't see it for maybe another six months but I am happy to share scenes if anyone is interested)

DISCLAIMER: these are my personal views and meant to be just harmless fun. its just tedious to keep writing 'i think' in front of every sentence but I am very acutely aware that this is totally just in my head.

I can identify four arcs somewhat dileneated around the Fuck Point and the Feelings Point (they've obviously had feelings for each other before the Feelings Point but I had to call it something) which the boys have identified themselves. New has said - i think more than once even - that things changed for them after their First Date. I would stipulate that the Feelings Point is the First Date AND the separation they went through soon after for New Year's when Zee went back to Chiang Rai (its always Chiang Rai isn't it)

My guess is that Zee put so much thought and effort into the First Date MOSTLY subconsciously and once it happened it triggered a 'oh no what is this' moment for him specifically. I am convinced New straight up came in with a crush on Zee (someone please write me fic where New jerks off to Fighter) so the Feelings Point did two very different things to Zee and New:

Zee went into a 'oh shit oh shit this is a thing' and New had a 'oh my god this could ACTUALLY be a Thing(tm) thing'

Anyway here is my timeline:

#nani answers #zeenunew #i cant believe i did this #i busted out canva for this #someone please explain to me why i went so hard at 7am #im normal i promise #I PROMISE

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hournites · 1 year

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would you agree with the take that they're trying to make hournite's dynamic less romantic as possible this season? personally, i saw them to be a slowburn (which is what show was going with as well i think) and i feel their storyline was going to be a main focus in s4 bc this season is already juggling with the influx of the new mains (sylvester, the crocks), their storylines + dynamics and the whole frenemies aspect... hence, we ended up being subjected to just mere crumbs for hournite (not that i'm saying that's okay or anything, i just think that could probably be the case!). also, hournite has a pretty solid foundation tbh and the shift to being a romance is an extremely charged moment away; (idk if that makes sense but anyway).

would love to hear your thoughts on this take if you wish to answer <3 anyway, i hope you're having a WONDERFUL DAY! and HAPPY STARGIRL DAY TOO🌟

I don't agree with that take (nor understand it) because last season Rick and Beth never even spoke to each other after episode 7. In season two, episode 8 was an Hournite episode thematically without them actually interacting but after that from 9-12 they had zero scenes together. That's 4 full episodes in a row, and then in the finale they shared two looks. Like it was non-existent lol.

In that regard, season three has in fact improved the connection between Rick and Beth, solidifying that they're a partnership. They're together early in the season, and even while the team is fighting, they're still aligned together and choosing to pair-off together in the blackout mission (which was episode 7, the point in time where the season before their focus had waned). The fact that Rick cuts Beth off as a PLOT point is in fact driving a story. Last season they had romantic-coded scenes together but they were mostly random? Like they had individual storylines that didn't intercept. This year, they do intercept.

And this is relevant because Beth DID say at the end of 2x13 that everything would be okay as long as they were together, while looking at Rick. In this season? They were okay up UNTIL the point where they're not together and they're not on the same page.

So, yes, they are written as a slow burn, and I do believe that the impact of this hourglass storyline is what was going to push/shift their dynamic like you said. Because this is where Beth is going to be reaching out because she cares so much for him when everyone else in the JSA isn't taking the time or same effort to share her concern. This season wasn't written with the assumption that it was going to be the last. It just has an alternative ending (something added in at the end). So you can see where their relationship is progressing and being set up for the next season because Rick and Beth simply won't be the same after Rick acknowledges his addiction- and change is a good thing, it brings new possibilities.

Also happy Stargirl day to you too!!

#ask #anon #hournite #hn talks #stargirl

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foxymoxynoona · 2 years

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Another thought as I reread... Does Sasha want to control the relationship or have JK be an equal partner? I thought of this from the Zelda file, which I took as a analogous example of their relationship dynamic. She doesn't usually want his help, she would prefer to guide him, but then is frustrated when he's lost or does not understand. I don't mean to be rude to her here; I am a lot like her in relationships when it comes to control. I simply wonder and send it to you to see what you make of the interpretation. 🤣

Could probably be more eloquent, though. This might be too concise to get my point across and make sense. They are both so contradictory! It's so wonderfully human of them and also maddening! Like I could phrase the question in an alternate way too: Is JK really happy to go along with Sasha and follow her lead or does he want to step up, learn more, and take more control?

Ha. They're perfectly imperfect for each other sometimes.

🎉

Yeah, it does feel contradictory a lot! I think there can be a difference between what you theoretically want, what you do, and what's familair/safe to fall back into. So like theoretically Sasha very much dreams of an equal partner. But I think there's a big part of her trauma-brain that doesn't think that's actually possible. And in practice, ceding control and showing vulnerabilities is scary, she's not sure she can actually trust a partner like that, so it's safest to quickly to retreat to what she knows is likely to hurt least: a relationship where she controls everything. But then she winds up feeling like she's doing everything an isn't supported in an equal and fair way, because her needs have actually grown beyond that now.

Similarly, JK is so used to being guided and directed. And that's often really cozy and easy because hey, you just go along and let someone else tell you what to do! But there's a coming-of-age thread in this story for Jungkook where he's realizing he really does want to be his own person and control his own fate, and that means taking control of his life, and being an active and equal partner in relationships (which could be always 50/50 but could also mean a relationship. But it's also scary! Because taking control means you can fuck up and there's no one to blame and you may not always know what to do! And you could make the argument right now he swung a little too hard into wanting to be the one in charge, and protect Sasha and make decisions about what she needs, because he wants to take care of her! But maybe some of these were actually opportunities he should have been equal partner, if that makes sense?

The balance of their relationship definitely has shifted from the beginning an will continue to --not just how they are with each other, but who they are in themselves and what their ideal is! A lot of these tumultuous times for them I think are periods of growth. It was easy when Sasha wanted to be in charge and JK wanted her to be in charge. But then their needs changed and that requires everyone adjusting together and learning new roles and expectations! Then you get comfy. But then it changes again when suddenly Sasha needs her partner to be more than usual, or then JK needs his partner to take over for a while again, or whatever.

Anyway, there's my rambling abot your question, it's a fun thing to think through!

#🎉anon #asks #flux

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zorilleerrant · 5 days

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I think the reason the early seasons of Buffy are better is because it's plotted like a superhero show, but it's structured like a high school drama. and like. college dramas are very much a thing, but they don't have anywhere near the same kind of structure as a high school drama - for people who dislike that type of thing or aren't interested in it, they're very similar. (and, in general, similar to most flavors of soaps.) but there's a disconnect because trying to push through the high school drama into the college years makes them feel like they're suddenly in the wrong story

the tension of a high school drama is that all these high stakes things are happening because the characters are essentially trapped. they meet the same students every day, the same teachers, the same places and especially the same liminal spaces. it's drudgery and mundanity, but more than that it's repetition, and the knowledge that there is a finite span of this, there is an end, there is freedom somewhere out there, but the character in question has no control over the length and breadth of their stay in purgatory. combine that with fantasy elements, and you have an interesting contrast of actually high stakes things, and things that necessarily feel high stakes to someone with little life experience.

the tension of a college drama is almost the opposite of that. college dramas are about having almost infinitely expandable new people, places, things. developing bad experiences and avoiding whole swaths of those, creating unnecessary and sometimes silly obstacle. finding new instant friends, new instant enemies. taking a long time to get to know and like/hate other people. teachers who never reappear, students who appear once and can never be found again. the whole place is liminal, except when it isn't, and instead of freedom in sight at the end of a long road, the whole place is freedom - it's just freedom with an expiration date.

anyway, if people aren't prepared to write that shift in experience - which almost no one is - then it comes off wonky, like college is just high school part 2. (which is some people's experience! so the feeling is occasionally used to good ends, but it has to be on purpose.) but even if they are prepared, it's something that has to take a dramatic tone break, with accompanying shifts in characterization, so if you're not willing to spend a season with everyone yelling "you've changed!" at everyone else before becoming friends again, you're not going to achieve anything like that.

the problem is that BtVS tries to achieve the tone break by changing the villains, which is really the opposite. the villains should've stayed exactly the same, so Buffy could look at them and say "nothing's changed, and I haven't changed, so why have all my friends suddenly turned into weirdos" (with, presumably, Willow immediately becoming a party girl and Xander joining a LARP group). instead the show tries to maintain character dynamics (wrong) and have a slightly different feel of antagonist - which misses the mark because most people read Buffy as a fantasy show and not as a superhero show, so they're unused to military robots.

#look i said something

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lexstellaris · 1 year

Text

Daily Draw - 17/5/23 - Sacred Rebels Oracle (Alana Fairchild)

13 - Power of Attraction

Is this the part where I go on a long rant about how much I hate the whole 'law of attraction' bullshit? no? okay then lol. /hj

also my phone is just. Not in the mood to upload anything. and the tumblr app will let me do everything except post so. Getting this one up has been. A Time lol.

That said, this card isn't actually about law of attraction stuff, which is a relief. On the other hand, not jiving with the hetero fertility imagery on the card here tho frfr. Like, I get what they're going for here, with the birthing of new ideas and letting the fertility flow from me in whatever way that manifests, but tbh, this is why I actually Dislike Intensely associating fertility with creativity. It bugs me so much.

I had this issue with the ADF Dedicant's program, where we had to write/reflect on each of the nine noble virtues, and I just wanted to rant about fertility bc like. Try as you like to associate it with other things, it still has all that baby-making baggage that you just can't easily shift.

I know much of this is a Me problem, in terms of just hitting roadblocks with stuff like this. Especially when it comes to Sobek and Hekate, and my brain doing its absolute best/worst to decouple that from Wiccish God/Goddess dynamics. Just bc I have a god and a goddess as my primary deities doesn't mean They have that Wiccan dynamic of a couple.

(...........................I MEAN. THEY KINDA DO IN A 'SOBEK-WESIR/ASET-RENENUTET-HEKATE SQUISHY KIND OF WAY. BUT I DON'T WORK WITH THEM IN THOSE FORMS.)

But, like, I just don't know how to work around those things. As someone who is a) queer, b) not interested in babies, c) not Wiccan nor d) interested in a God/Goddess couple, it's a struggle to work around it. To let it go and not simply just see that hetero baggage all the time. I wish I couldn't. I wish I could see beyond it. But when it comes to anything to do with fertility as a concept or as a value, it's just super difficult.

And for the God/Goddess thing, it's like. I feel like I'm actually rare in having a God/Goddess pair who aren't a couple, nor do I ever see them that way. They have their own queerness, but my head can be stubborn, and this is one of those things I struggle to unlearn.

...None of this is necessarily related to the card, but fertility is just one of those trigger words for me that just sets me on edge like this.

Anyway. I got work tomorrow so I'm going to not rant about this for the next twenty minutes and leave this here. Maybe I'll revisit some of this later idk.

#daily draws #sacred rebels oracle #reflective writing #sobek #hekate #witchcraft #fertility #and the issues i have with it as a word #esp when it is used to mean creativity #like #i am not here for that bullshit #i get it #but also #i hate it

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