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waitmyturtles · 5 months

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SOME GOOD SHOWS THAT I LIKED IN 2023! (AND SOME THAT I DIDN'T)

I watched A LOT of stuff that did not originally air in 2023 by dint of my Old GMMTV Challenge. This list is inclusive of this recognition!

THE BEST SHOW I WATCHED THIS YEAR: HE'S COMING TO ME

I have no other words: this is my favorite Thai BL of all time. Perfect length, perfect plot, perfect celebration of Thai culture, perfect acting, the greatest coming out scene of all time, the BEST of the best BL moms. Perfection.

THE OTHER BEST SHOW I WATCHED THIS YEAR: BAD BUDDY

I don't even want to think about how many words I've written on Bad Buddy this year, but they're well deserved for this REMARKABLE show. I've got a thing for shows by Aof Noppharnach that feature Ohm Pawat, what can I say!

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SHOW(S) I WATCHED THIS YEAR: LOVE SICK AND SOTUS

The influence of Love Sick and SOTUS can be seen in SO MANY Thai BLs, even through today. Without having watched these two shows to start my OGMMTVC project, I wouldn't have the context for what later shows like Bad Buddy and Theory of Love were commenting on by way of their content and structures. Love Sick in particular was a HELL of a lift -- but I am damn glad I watched it, and I certainly feel nostalgia for it today.

Honorable mentions of influential pieces that had impacts on Thai BLs: Love of Siam and Dew the Movie

MY OTHER FAVORITE OLD SHOWS I WATCHED: UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN AND THEORY OF LOVE

BANGERS!!!

If New Siwaj ever tops Until We Meet Again, I'll fly to Bangkok and give him a gold medal. That long-ass show, 17 EPISODES, I WANTED MORE! OhmFluke's chemistry was great, the story delved SO deeply into historical homophobia and how culture and acceptance changes over time -- scrumptious. Theory of Love, man, the way this show ate up implicit compassion bias and gave it right back to us. I loved it. KHAI FOREVER!

THE BEST SHOW I WATCHED THAT ACTUALLY AIRED IN 2023: MOONLIGHT CHICKEN

Not only was Moonlight Chicken my first real live fandom experience on Tumblr, it was a hell of an amazing show, incorporating so much of what I love particularly about Thai BLs, and how many Thai BLs do not shy away from celebrating Asian cultural touchpoints. From exploring Jim's internalized homophobia by way of his rural upbringing, to juxtaposing Pattaya's spiritual symbols with growing development that upends older strains of local culture, Moonlight Chicken offered a lovely commentary on what it means to be queer in an ever-changing Thailand.

THE OTHER BEST SHOW I WATCHED THAT ACTUALLY AIRED IN 2023: WHAT DID YOU EAT YESTERDAY?/KINOU NANI TABETA? SEASON 2

BRILLIANTLY ACTED by literally the best actors in the Asian BL game: we are blessed that Nishijima Hidetoshi and Uchino Seiyou have given so much to this franchise. It's hard to write about this show because it's so perfect -- it needs no extraneous words. Plot, pacing, acting, character development, gratuitous food shots. It has it all.

THE OTHER OTHER BEST SHOW I WATCHED THAT ACTUALLY AIRED IN 2023: I CANNOT REACH YOU

Just like Bad Buddy looked at Thai BL tropes in the eye and said, "over my Nong Nao," I Cannot Reach You asked Japanese BLs about the efficacy of almost every trope we've gotten used to, and questioned them with efficiency. The biggest shocker for me? REAL COMMUNICATION, encouraged by the CIPHER, Hosaka, that allowed the two lead protagonists to confirm their love and understand each other. It was straightforward and FUCKING GOOD.

A SHOW THAT AIRED IN 2023 THAT I HAVEN'T WRITTEN ABOUT YET, THAT I NEED TO REWATCH IN CHRONOLOGY, THAT ALSO DID SOME TROPE/GENRE ASS-KICKING THAT I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT: LA PLUIE

La Pluie was FEARLESS. The show had a LOT to say about romance and soulmates not being as much of a realistic thing as content-makers... and, frankly, majority society would like us to think. La Pluie made its characters WORK for love and understanding, and had us viewers face our implicit biases about how romantic content should and could work. I watched this show out of order of the OGMMTVC watchlist to see it it was one of the best of the year, and it certainly is. I'm planning a deep rewatch for early 2024 to pen my words on it.

A SHOW THAT ALMOST TOPPED MY 2023 LIST BUT GOT DOCKED BECAUSE I ENDED UP LIKING THE NOVEL A LOT BETTER: I FEEL YOU LINGER IN THE AIR

@neuroticbookworm and @lurkingshan know that I flipped THA FUCK out over this show -- FABULOUSLY acted by Nonkul Chanon and Bright Rapheephong, FABULOUS cinematography, great story up until the end of the series. My fangirling led me to read the original novel by Violet Rain, and -- I found out that Jom was a lot more damn sassy than we got in the show! Tee Bundit's penchant for sadness won. This is not to dock the show, but the novel had more than enough material to carry the series through without repeating themes in the end. So it fell on my 2023 list, womp womp. BUT I STILL LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SHOW, DON'T GET ME WRONG.

TWO SHOWS THAT I'M SUPER GLAD I CAUGHT UP WITH WHILE THEY WERE AIRING: THE EIGHTH SENSE AND BE MY FAVORITE

Be My Favorite looked at Krist Perawat's checkered past as a BL idol and said: we are going to examine this and make an honest BL out of inspiration from it. It wasn't a perfect show, the time travel shit didn't end up adding up in the end, BUT -- excellent acting from two GMMTV VETS made up for those tangles, and I loved the contextual philosophical references throughout the series. The Eighth Sense looked at the tug-of-war that Korean BLs have with K-dramas and their tropes and said, actually? We will have these dudes full-frontal kiss, and placed that energy against commentaries on mental health, both topics that Korea hasn't quite embraced as quickly as other countries.

HONORABLE MENTIONS OF OTHER AWESOME SHOWS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE AIRED IN 2023

Make It Right, Our Dating Sim, Dark Blue Kiss, Gay OK Bangkok, Dirty Laundry, 10 Years Ticket, I Told Sunset About You, I Promised You the Moon, 3 Will Be Free, Lovely Writer (underrated?!), Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars (UNDERRATED!), and Manner of Death.

And the shows that are airing that I know will stay with me well into 2024: Last Twilight and Cherry Magic Thailand.

I had fun!

WHAT ELSE, WHAT ELSE: THE "NO" SHOWS: THE PROMISE AND STEP BY STEP

I'm not even hyperlinking my thoughts on these shows, nor gifting them with gifs. Insert Bugs Bunny NOOOOOO gif here! We got Man Trisanu, though.

THE SHOW I WAS THE MOST OBVIOUSLY DISAPPOINTED BY: ONLY FRIENDS

Despite my passionate disappointment for this show and how it ended: in the context of the OGMMTVC, Only Friends is still an incredibly important inclusion to the list. Some amazing Tumblr bloggers offered commentary that the bias against sex that OF contained within the show was actually importantly and culturally contextual to the still-conservative state of acceptance that Thailand is currently in (here and here for more reading).

Only Friends reminded us that despite any kind of marketing that we here on Tumblr, as a majority non-Thai audience, may receive about a Thai show -- that we are still not fully plugged into the non-verbal expectations of what a show like OF could promise to do, and to be okay when it doesn't reach those heights. In light of the seemingly pro-sex marketing blasts that previewed the series before its airing, OF ultimately seemed to want to take casual sex, chew it up, and spit it out. There might be reasons why that happened that we just don't know about as outsiders to Thailand. But as an Asian-American viewer that was hoping for neutral -- and maybe even supportive -- commentary on single folks having casual sex without judgement, OF did not deliver for me.

I'm ending the year reading Dr. Thomas Baudinette's book, Boys Love Media in Thailand, the first book-length ethnographic study on the impact of BL on queerness, media, and more in Thailand and across Asia. Baudinette comes from the world of Japanese queer media studies -- as someone who came to Thai BLs this year from Japanese BLs, I appreciate his trajectory. It's clearly a necessity for me to read this book in the context of the OGMMTVC, to understand how Thai BLs have changed over time, and to understand the incredibly larger impact of heterosexual/heteronormative media and themes on Thai media as a whole, as larger and larger swaths of Thai, Asian, and international societies welcome and watch BLs with open arms.

All of this feeds into my ever-growing body of knowledge about the impact of Thai BLs, both in Thailand and across Asia, as Baudinette writes about, and how these shows have and are developed/developing over time. It's been an AMAZING YEAR of watching old and new dramas for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the genre grows even more in 2024.

I also made AMAZING FRIENDS on Tumblr -- y'all know who you are! What a year of growth and discovery for me: this has been a fabulous experience, and I'm looking forward to even more growth in the new year!

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vergess · 26 days

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A work friend of mine's daughter has recently developed (?) schizophrenia. He seems to like my advice in general, and in particular thinks I gave him helpful advice about handling traumatic experiences he's had, and so talks to me about this a lot. I've tried to give advice along the lines of prioritizing her comfort/well-being/calmness over her "connection to reality" (his words), like not picking arguments over things she says in pursuit of correcting her, similar to taking care of someone with dementia.

Do you have any points I can focus on or resources I can look up to support him and by extension his daughter better? I'm not very familiar with the subject but do know that in looking this up I'm wading through a lot of stuff that's not very supported or with the schizophrenic person's well being and agency in mind.

You're exactly right about the comparison to dementia. Although not nearly as severe an illness, schizophrenia is one of those "redirect not reinforce" conditions.

So, one of the big things you can suggest, especially while the person is in the early period of onset (which can happen over the course of a year at any age, but usually between 20 and 30), is try to help them make plans for the future. Which sounds big and scary, but it mostly consists of honestly going through with them to make lists of the things they enjoy, the things that stress them out, etc. Because there is going to come a time, and it's sooner than anyone wants, where remembering what she finds relaxing will become impossible on her own (at least, during periods of high stress; she may always be able to self regulate in normal conditions).

Schizophrenia often makes people feel deeply afraid and out of control of their own thoughts, which is really scary!!

But your friend's daughter is likely still able to remember what things she enjoyed before the onset of her illness. Whenever she gets too wound up in a fearful delusion, rather than trying to combat the delusion, I suggest redirecting her to one of the things she enjoys, whatever that may be. A hobby, a movie, etc.

It's important that the idea for the redirection initially come from the schizophrenic person themself. This way, you can honestly say, "hey, remember when you said you like X, why don't we try some X together," and it be something reaffirming to the person's sense of control rather than fighting it.

Of course, if the delusion isn't fearful/scary/stressful, the best thing to do is to accept that it is her genuine reality right now, and just work around that belief. No need to start a fight and make it stressful.

Another thing is, and this is MUCH more controversial in the west but I'll go ahead and say it. Another thing is, if the daughter's voices are friendly or kind, to support her engaging with them (if she so chooses). This way if/when her voices become mean she can choose to "disengage" with them as a conscious change. In practical terms, this means if his daughter is ever having conversations with her voices that seem to be in good spirits, to treat that more like she is talking on the phone with someone you don't know, than to treat it as a scary hallucination.

Then, if the voices ever get mean, she can "give them the silent treatment" to help establish a sense of control over them and help her feel like she doesn't have to listen to them.

In a way, it can be good to conceptualize her voices as "influential strangers" and just encourage her to listen to good influences and ignore bad ones.

Finally, depending on where the daughter lives and her support needs, it might be good to get her registered with the healthcare service in your area sooner than later. In the US, a young person with schizophrenia automatically qualifies for medicaid and can also qualify for disability. Both will need to be applied for, and the application process is a byzantine mess.

Especially regarding disability, it is best to hire a lawyer to make your application (they will be paid out of your benefits not your pocket).

As such, if your coworker's daughter is unlikely to be able to live entirely on her own, including job, hygiene, travel, etc it's a good idea to get there registrations started ASAP. That way if the coworker ever becomes sick or when he eventually dies, etc the daughter can be supported.

If the daughter has low support needs and is likely to be able to live on her own (which can and does happen sometimes!! Even with schizophrenia), one of the biggest challenges she's going to face in the long term is going to the doctor.

Not only are doctors deeply, deeply scary to the mentally ill in the west (for good reason!), which makes doctors a prime target for delusions of fear and abuse. But also delusional thinking can interfere with a person's ability to identify their own body sensations.

EG, it is very common for schizophrenics to "be really angry and not know why" and it turns out it's because they have a UTI but couldn't feel it due to delusions. In fact, it's so common that one of the first things we do at work when a client is very upset like that, is ask them if they have been peeing more often (the answer is usually 'yes').

A huge part of the reason people with schizophrenia die young is the inability to tell when they are sick, followed by feeling unsafe going to the doctor.

Ultimately, the biggest thing to remember is that no matter how stressed or scared you are as a carer, the person with the illness is just as of more stressed. They aren't fighting you, they're fighting terror. Remembering that can make the intense demands of caring for someone with higher support needs less draining.

The second biggest thing is to remember to take time for yourself, because if you burn out as a carer, then you've left your kid without support for potentially months or years, and that's pretty bad compared to having them go to a fun adult program like a summer camp every day for a month while you recover.

Finally: there are more programs for schizophrenia support than you think. Even in my rural bumfuck town of 3000, we have two (2) different programs, including a year round day program that operates 5 days a week and takes walk ins.

Your coworker does not have to take care of his daughter alone. Support exists.

#Asks #Answered asks #arctangential

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luaveltarot · 11 months

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P.A.C. - JULY’23 phase will go like…

Group 1 🐾

Overall energy

You will move on or rather learn to live without something that was a part of your existence or something that was really close to you. Past is both good and bad,can be related to an object or person but some memories brings a sense of nostalgic happiness which you don’t want to let go of. You will overcome this gap in your heart and become wise, keeping your heart in the right place. The incompleteness inside you won’t keep you back from going forward in your life to fulfil your aim.

Energy the new month brings

This month brings a feeling of independence and reaping the rewards of your manifestations or efforts. You will no longer feel the burden of any given task or if you had this attitude of ‘ I have to do this or that’, this month you’ll reprogram yourself to ‘ I want to do this’. Things will no longer come with a responsibility or duty feeling but somehow you’ll effortlessly find yourself do it in a lighter mood to go about it.

Something to leave behind this month

You will shed your dependency on others and find your inner strength/inner voice this month. It’s like you will no longer wait for the sun to rise and shine to give you the green light to start the day or keep you in a good mood instead your sun will be your mind, as you will take control of your mind and train yourself to the world of your being, ‘it will go my way’ kind. For some, I see you trying new necklaces or a new way of style where you step into bright colour schemes. . A physical glow up of some sort.

How can you get most of this July

You just have to train yourself to BE in the situation. By BEING in any moment where you are mindful and able to live in present, that’s how you’ll be able to feel each moment of your july. In future, I don’t want you to look back and be like damn I miss the feel of July because it was so chill back then. Don’t have this regret instead live in present and enjoy the stillness of your life.

Something related to spiritual journey to explore

You are being guided to reflect on your inner self. Is your soul and body in alignment? Have you been taking care of your physical vessel, feed what it craves, do you give it enough vitamin D, do you have enough movements to stay active? Do you take deep breaths and not survive on short breaths? Do you feel deep enough to appreciate what you have and not constantly stay in lack mindset? Express gratitude, appreciate people or stuff that gives you hope, the strength to continue in this world.

Besides this, trust your intuition, ik everyone says this but this month if your intuition tells you to eat cherries then eat it because it could be your body needs an antioxidant to flush out whatever toxin is in your body. The only thing I meant to tell you is what your gut tells to do,it will be beneficial if you listen to it. Your intuition will help you navigate if you feel it deeply without the help of external influence.

Something to be mindful of this month

You might have to focus on old things which needs renovation. You will have to repair few things. Old files or paperwork should be in structure. Keep your stuff in order because you never know what can be asked for next so stay alert and prepared with everything that yk needs attention and could be of importance. Just don’t keep any work in pending mode just do it and get over with.

Channeled words- new idea, excitement, prosperity, self discovery and evolution, rewards, independency, judith, orchard and publication.

Significant dates- 2 ( came twice) , 12, 18,19 & 25.

Group 2

Overall energy

A quick side note to begin with, there were too many kings and queens card which came out for this reading. You are definitely becoming solid in July, you have collected all resources, read all guidelines to move forward in your life. This month you will put your skills to use and will be highly influential. This month is the active month where it’s full of activities and you being noticed for your hard work or a skill you a master of. You could be receiving recognition online or offline. You will become solid enough for people to seek your presence for any advice or help.

Energy the new month brings

In July, you will attract people who have the same goals as you, these people could be from different backgrounds than you but what they bring to the table is in alignment to your skill, desire/ goal. Somehow what they bring and what you have planned, it merges to form a piece of art that would be revered. This collaboration of some sort will keep you motivated but also don’t forget to recognise others efforts alongside yours.

Something to leave behind this month

You will have to shed your rigidity regarding any matter this month. What you learnt, what are your ways or what you deem is right might not be helpful, instead this month cooperate and listen to what others tell you, because what they tell you could be more helpful than what you already knew. So it’s important to regulate your passion and use it in a moderate way. Don’t let your eagerness get the best of you. Don’t be hasty or quick to object. Just stay calm.

How can you get most of this July

Spend time with your family, whoever you count as family; could be a close friend, pets or anyone yk. Spending time at home will make you feel alive again if that makes sense like you will feel a sense of purpose in life this month and it will improve your health if you have been dealing with health issues or if anyone close to you is sick then you might consider spending time with them as it will give you a feeling of completeness and doing the best you could. This month you have to be the strong one in your family or in close circle, who others can lean onto because this month could be the time to give back what you received in the past.

Something related to spiritual journey to explore

Continue with what you’ve been doing spiritually as it’s working out for you. However, you could struggle to find your me time this month so don’t feel the struggle of running behind in something. You don’t have to follow the set beliefs of a ritual or a specific structure to go about. You can just do it your way rather than feeling the pressure to do it the right way. I find it hard to breathe rn so you might want to take more deep breaths this month during your meditation or workout. If you find things too hard to handle then remind yourself to focus on your breath and heartbeat and let it calm you.

Something to be mindful of this month

Don’t try to do everything by yourself. Remember to give everyone the credit they deserve for their work and not feel you are the only one who did the work. You might feel like you have done a lot, sort of a loner who carried their burdens forever. Ik this part sounds negative but listen don’t feel like a victim in any circumstance. You just need to stay mindful and remind yourself constantly that they helped you when you needed help. Now it’s your time so don’t run away instead step into your duty. This is your trial period of being good to others.

Channeled words- slapdash, visioning, help the world, decision, virility, warrior, sun, judicial and probation.

Significant dates- 2,3,5,7 & 10

Group 3

Overall energy

In July, you will gain bifocal perspective where you get the ability to see things closely and also from afar, you’ll probably be detail oriented where you not only focus on minor things but also how it is as a bigger picture. However, what you expected this month will not go the way you wanted to go. You might have a set plan for future but things will go downhill. You will spend good times with friends, it will cheer you up in a way. This month do things without fear holding you back. You would be more in explorative energy and trying your hands in different themes of life. It seems like a busy month as friends, family and neighbourhood keeps coming up. You could also be recognised for your achievements after a long times of hard work. This group was hard to read because I tried 4 times but some or other work came up which made it hard to read this group and now that I’m finally able to do it, it doesn’t feel exciting probably this could be how you will feel this month.

Energy the new month brings

This new month you are probably starting a new phase or a new career, don’t let your emotions control you too much, it’s best to ride the wave. If you let your will get in the way then it will obstruct your creativity and expression. You will also try to use your money in a balanced way, where you will focus more on growing your asset and feeling a sense of satisfaction it brings with it.

Something to leave behind this month

You will go through life’s most mysterious transition of your life. I see you stepping more into your alter ego self than your authentic self. You have seen that being authentic in this world is dumbest thing a person can do because everyone is ready to pounce on you for whatever desire you can fulfil for them. You’ve gone through a lot and this month you will create a perfect mask and outfit for yourself that will fit the new you. The you no one can see through, that what lies in your heart or mind will always be unknown. You had two choices to keep getting hurt or to set boundaries and go forward in life. You chose the latter.

How can you get most of this July

You have to realise this month that whatever you’ve been through , will begin to finally pay off. You will see that without struggle, victory is impossible. Winning is not the focus but it’s the lessons learnt during the process. You could have had a lot of ego battles, encountered arguments and discrimination but remember to leave it all behind as you start this new phase. It’s best to start your new journey with an optimistic outlook and give a rose 🌹 for every insult that came or will come your way. Just let go of the past this month, that’s the only you can move forward.

Something related to spiritual journey to explore

Your manifestation did not manifest exactly the way you wanted but they manifested in a smaller level. That’s ok, you can struggle to feel happy about it but know that you have made progress as to where you were earlier. This month, spend time with loved ones and at home if possible. You need to feel alive again to get spiritual. This month let the sun shine and heal you. Your main focus should be to feel calm and grounded. Don’t set benchmarks for yourself. You are different and your journey is different so no comparisons please. Work on your strength and self esteem.

Something to be mindful of this month

Keep trying. Whatever it is you want to achieve don’t give up, don’t leave in the middle, you are being guided to continue because you’ve reached your destination almost. All your tears, sweat and cries were worth it so celebrate.

Channeled words- wishes, choose your words carefully, resources, click, try to sleep, vicinity, discuss, girls, drunk and fiancé.

Significant dates- 3,5,68,9,10& 19

#tarot reading #tarot #pac #pick a pile #tarotblr #pick a card #luaveltarot #tarot community

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cookinguptales · 2 months

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Okay so now that I've had some time to digest and think about Late Night with the Devil, some thoughts.

Sorry in advance, this got really, REALLY long as I rambled about all-male secret societies, who and what was possessing whom throughout this movie, literal and metaphorical hauntings, how fame and fortune tempt us all to give up our humanity, and uh. Family youtubers.

I really enjoyed the film, but I do have to wonder, to start with, if other people will get all the allusions...? I didn't think about it until later when I was reading confused posts by other viewers, but I guess the film does kind of predicate on a lot of somewhat arcane knowledge. Like you can understand what's going on without it, but I do think you get a lot more enjoyment out of it if you have a good working understanding of, like, the Satanic Panic of the 70s, the parapsychology/esper craze, James Randi's whole thing, Anton LaVey, Waco, late night hosts like Johnny Carson, and of course the Bohemian Grove.

The Bohemian Grove is kind of... like, obviously a lot of the people making up conspiracy theories about that recently are alt-right assholes (see: Alex Jones), but it is very much a real thing. It's kind of a modern Masonic situation, imo, where you get these big groups of rich, influential men together and they do silly, juvenile vaguely pagan frat boy shit. It's edgelord stuff. But because they are secretive and they are powerful, people come up with all of these conspiracy theories about them.

(I mean lbr that's kind of the history of the occult in general, isn't it? lmao. People ask me if I was afraid when I was studying secret societies and occultism and it's like -- no, these were by and large just rich assholes fighting over headcanons about rituals that they made up based off of deeply faulty scholarship. But I digress.)

The fact of the matter, though, is even if the actual rituals and stuff are kind of silly, the main focus is really rich, powerful men meeting up with other rich, powerful men and networking like crazy. It does keep the rich rich, the powerful powerful, and political resources focused on men. Like the Masons, women aren't allowed in the Bohemian Grove -- and women in politics have bitterly criticized the way that they're being excluded from this kind of networking.

(God, it's so fratty. It's so fucking fratty.)

So in that respect, it is kind of something to be feared.

And... I do think you see that aspect of it reflected in Late Night with the Devil. The consolidation of power, the networking with shitty people, and the way that women are "sacrificed."

[massive spoilers for the entire film to follow!]

I do think I want to see this movie again to firm up some of my ideas, because I suspect that there are a lot of details that I missed the first time I watched this. (And I really should have watched the open captioned version of this; I couldn't understand a lot of what the demon was saying, rip.) But here are some initial thoughts.

The heart of this, obviously, is the demonic presence at the Grove and the way that men go there to sell their soul for power. In a very literal sense, that's what's happening in this film and it's what happened to Jack Delroy. He made a deal with a demon for fame, and that demon ended up taking everything from him to achieve that.

But... metaphorically speaking, it seems clear that Jack Delroy was very willing to make human sacrifices in his day-to-day life. He may have literally (and I think accidentally) sacrificed his wife's life to a demon at the Grove, but he very consciously and willingly sacrificed her for fame when she was alive, too. I mean... imagine having a spouse who is actively dying of cancer and making her make an appearance on your show two weeks before she passes. For ratings. Imagine how much it must have physically taxed her. Imagine how difficult it must have been for them both emotionally. It even could have hastened her death. But he was still willing to do all that for views. He sacrificed his wife, his home life, and his overall privacy for views.

(Family youtubers, anyone? 🙃)

He's also willing to sacrifice his girlfriend, his crew, his audience, and a little girl for ratings. Gus, his voice of reason. He was willing to humiliate him onstage and wouldn't let him go home when he was scared. His audience, whose trauma he was entirely willing to capitalize on through Christou's act. His gf, who I'd argue was probably using Lilly as well, was totally thrown to the wolves when he realized it'd make good television.

Like -- yes, there were supernatural forces at play. Supernatural forces claimed these lives. But Jack sure as shit wasn't being very careful with them, and these supernatural sacrifices always, always mirrored his mundane ones.

(I mean... he performed a human sacrifice of a little girl on national television while in a hallucination about using the sacrificial dagger on his dying wife. It wasn't subtle. lmao)

Moreover, the producers of the show were also very willing to put people in harm's way and capitalize on tragedy for ratings. So... there's a really unsubtle message here about fame and capitalism and the way it tempts you to sacrifice your humanity to get ahead.

(MAYBE LIKE UNDERMINING YOUR ARTISTIC INTEGRITY BY USING AI INSTEAD OF HIRING ARTISTS, IDK)

I'd in fact argue that pretty much everyone who got on that stage that night sacrificed their humanity a bit for fame, with the possible exception of Gus. Gus was the voice of reason, but I mean... he was still there. Maybe a message about how once you get in, you can't get out. :(

But yeah, Jack's obvious, but also Christou, who was willing to use people's trauma for fame. June, who was willing to use a little girl's incredible trauma to advertise for her new book. Carmichael, who got off on humiliating people just to make himself seem smart.

Like... they all started with a kernel of something good (wanting to help the grieving, wanting to help traumatized children, wanting to stop charlatans) but in the end, show biz turned all those urges into the most amoral, selfish, and cruel versions of themselves.

And all of those people crumbled when they were confronted with something real.

(Side note, our theater was in hysterics when Carmichael tried to offer the demon the check. lmao)

Truthfully, it felt like all of them had made their own individual deals with the devil years ago. Halloween 1977 was just the devil finally coming to take his due.

That's the main message of the movie, I think, but there are still some smaller details I want to talk about.

The Grove itself was an obvious allusion to the Bohemian Grove, which is a secret society of powerful men who meet amongst the redwoods in Northern California. Their mascot has always been an owl, which is why you repeatedly see the owl motif throughout the movie. (Happy Owl-ween, the owl mask, etc.)

Abrasax makes sense as a demon to choose (the strong historical associations with magic and demonology, the reoccurrences in many world religions (and occult groups), the role in Gnosticism, etc.) but there seem to be vibes of Stolas, an owl deity who communicates arcane knowledge to humans in exchange for their souls, as well. I noticed a lot of little allusions to Abrasax throughout the film even before Lilly started manifesting, like the movie being shown after the show being about Abrasax.

Lilly... She was rescued from a cult that seems to be a hybrid of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan and the Branch Davidians who died during a siege by the US government in Waco, TX. (Like the cultists in the movie, their compound caught fire when they were being raided. IRL, it's unclear whether the fire was started as a suicide cult situation or if it was started by the actions of the government as they tried to flush people out.) In this cult, girls were sacrificed at age 13, and all who witnessed that sacrifice would fall under the control of Abrasax.

So... she was rescued at age 10. Three years have passed. So she is now 13, the age at which these girls were sacrificed. She was due, in other words. Who and what was possessing her... that's the question, I guess. Demons, historically speaking, were known to speak foreign languages, speak in the voice of other humans, have psychic knowledge their hosts shouldn't know, etc. So she did exhibit symptoms like that.

I think... there are a couple of options here. There's Abrasax specifically, there's June's theory that she was possessed by a minor demon, and there's Minnie. Or a combination of the three.

It's pretty clear that Minnie's presence is felt throughout the whole taping. You can see her reflection various times throughout the movie, she manifested through Christou, and obviously you see her in the tape playback.

(And when I say my theater YELLED. lmao)

The question is, though... Is it really Minnie? And if it is, what does she want? Has she been haunting Jack all along? Is she there because, as it's the first Halloween after her death, it's her last chance to deal with her unfinished business? Did the demon allow her to manifest? Or was the whole thing an illusion created by the demon all along?

(I'd like to note here that, historically speaking, there was a theory that ghosts aren't actually real. They're actually demons masquerading as the spirits of departed loved ones, and they want you to summon them and listen to them so they can tempt you away from God. You can read this in the writings of a lot of the ancient Christian theologians. Or you could have talked to my grandmother, who also told me this when I was a kid! :') But she's dead now so I guess you'd have to do a summoning and find out for yourself.)

All that said... I come down between two current theories. I'd have to watch it again to firm up my ideas.

The first theory is that she's been trapped on earth for the past year, but because it's Halloween, she can haunt them. They mention at the beginning of the film that Halloween is a recent spirit's last chance to take care of unfinished business. So this could have been the case with Minnie. That said... what exactly was her unfinished business? Was she trying to protect Jack and the others? Or hurt them? Was she angry, or was she just, as Christou said, sad? Was her "an unmarried man wearing a wedding ring" referring to the way that Jack was grieving her and still wearing his ring, or the way that he wasn't much of a husband to her when she was alive?

The second theory is that, when she was sacrificed to Abrasax, she became a part of that legion. She was, like Lilly and the other little girls, essentially raised to be sacrificed, and once she was, she joined everyone else who is under the control of the deity. It's still hard to sense whether she was trying to help or hurt throughout the broadcast, but it explains her presence (she came with Lilly, not Jack) and how she was used during Jack's hallucinations to ultimately get him to perform the sacrifice on Lilly, thus bringing all audience members (both in the studio and at home) under Abrasax's control.

Either way, Minnie, in this film, is literal ghost haunting the stage -- but also a metaphorical one. The ghost of all of Jack's past misdeeds and the humanity he's sacrificed to get ahead. She's guilt and she's shame and she's desperate grief, and I guess it's no wonder that the negativity surrounding her was enough to kill Christou when he touched it.

I do think it's fascinating that all of the women in this movie are, in a very real and physical sense, sacrificed for the aspirations of men. (The little girls are sacrificed, Minnie died of a mysterious cancer, June dies because Jack pushed for her to stay, etc.) But metaphorically speaking that seems to be the case as well. They're constantly expected to put their own comfort and safety aside for the men in their lives, and their own aspirations are consumed by the men's.

Like I said, it feels very telling that women aren't allowed at the Grove. Women are constantly being denied power in this movie (or are only allowed power when it's in service to a male costar/deity) and it's largely because they just don't have the connections that the men do. The deals were made while they weren't in the room, essentially.

I'm not sure if that was a conscious choice being made, but it does seem to dovetail nicely with the strong, strong sexism and male privilege present in real-life secret societies of powerful men that disallow women. Like June only getting to shill for her book because Jack let her, women are only allowed at the real-life Bohemian Grove in very limited areas -- and only as a male member's guest.

Um... back to Lilly, though. What the hell is possessing her? She speaks as Minnie a few times, but that could be because Minnie is a part of their legion or just because she's trying to freak out Jack. Demons are known to lie using the voices of loved ones. Minnie's presence could have been influencing her, but I definitely don't think that's all that was in there.

The question, really, seems to arise from what June said about Lilly changing like a week ago and how she started talking about Jack nonstop. At least one presence in Lilly seems to be the same deity that Jack spoke to in the Grove when he was making his deal with the devil (so to speak) because it mentioned that encounter. But is that the only one in there? Is it the same deity that's always been in there? Or did it come to her only a week ago as a way to get to Jack and complete their contract? ("It is done.")

Lilly refers to her demon as Mr. Wriggles (which feels like an Exorcist allusion) and it seems like she has a pretty good lid on it. And when that demon is brought out of her by June, it seems confused and frightened. But Lilly is pretty clearly possessed the entire rest of the broadcast, so really the two options are that she was faking the entire time just to fuck with them (entirely possible) or there were two different deities, perhaps the original (lesser) one put in her in the cult and Abrasax(?) newly arrived to claim Jack and his audience.

It's fascinating watching her, because you can see her slip in and out of a possessed state several times when people aren't paying attention to her (jerking, spacing out, etc.) but it's hard to tell whether that's different presences coming in and out of control, her "talking" to what's inside her, etc. Again, this is a thing I think would benefit from multiple viewings. I'm really not sure if the Grove creature is new to her body or if it's been there all along biding its time, and it's only changing its behavior now because it wanted to be on tv.

While her recently changed behavior seems to lean towards the former, I am sort of stuck on the detail that Jack said early on, that he read June's book and couldn't stop thinking about it. That could just be normal fascination (and he did end up having an affair with her) but it could also be demonic intervention. That would indicate that the demon was manipulating him into putting Lilly on TV long before a week ago.

What is not really up for debate is that the presence inside Lilly now is one that has connections to Jack through the Grove and promised him fame. Lilly (before she was visibly possessed) alludes to this promise by telling Jack that he'll be very famous after tonight. And once the ritual starts, she is seen taking electrical energy from the set and cameras. She is literally getting her power from the audience viewing the sacrifice. (It's very Ringu.) And after Jack stabs Lilly, the studio audience, audience at home, and presumably real-life audience watching this movie, are all put under Abrasax's control.

("Hail Abrasax" is seen multiple times throughout the film, which might also imply that the documentarians themselves are trying to spread this contagion after watching the video.)

Uh... a few more small things.

Carmichael Haig is obviously James Randi. Like Houdini before him, Randi was also a stage magician who dedicated his life to exposing "supernatural" charlatans. He did indeed offer a huge sum of money to whoever could prove him wrong. Carmichael even looked like James Randi. (Though I'd point out that "Haig" is the name of the man who constructed the owl statue at the real-life Bohemian Grove!) I suppose it makes sense that he'd be such an asshole in a world where demonic possession does actually exist.

The one thing I'd say is... it's hard to say whether this was a case of the filmmakers not thinking through implications or if this really was a nasty joke, but Randi was, IRL, gay. He came out late in life and got married to a man shortly before he died. So the implication that Carmichael, in the movie, wanted to join the Grove largely because he was perverted is... iffy. Carmichael was never stated to be gay in the movie (that I noticed) and it's hard to suss out whether the orgies he was talking about were relating to the all-male membership of the Grove (i.e. a gay orgy) or the women that these powerful men had hanging all over them (i.e. a... less gay orgy) and I do think which they were implying has major implications for what they were saying about a man who was, IRL, gay.

Like... if the implication was that he must've been willing to hurt people in order to have wild sex because he's gay, that's uh! Not great! But if the creators didn't realize that aspect of Randi's life (it was less publicized because, as I mentioned, it happened later in his life) then they might have just been pushing on that trope of powerful men using women.

Really, really hard to say.

Next, Christou. Christou... it's hard to say whether the man was psychic at all. It's clear that he was doing a lot of fake-ass cold reading beforehand (though I do want to go back through it and see if there really was any allusion to a Peter- character involving the skeleton) and was using interviews to find grieving audience members. (Two practices that James Randi talked about a lot IRL.) But he also did have a very real experience when he sensed Minnie and, while overwhelmed, didn't seem particularly shocked by it.

If I had to guess, I think that Christou does have some psychic powers (which is why I want to investigate the Peter thing) but can't control them well and is easily overwhelmed by real phenomena. He plays things up for the cameras (I noticed his accent slipped when he had his real experience, lmao) but I wouldn't be surprised if, like everyone else on stage, there's a kernel of something real in him.

Finally... that fucking skeleton! I want to do an entire watch through just to examine that guy. He was in the flashbacks about the Grove, so I think it's likely that he might've been a member of that. He also is the only one who refuses to take off his mask, which seems to relate to the dialogue at the beginning of the film about wearing a mask to protect yourself from spirits during Halloween. I think he's definitely in on what's going on, to some extent, but it's hard to figure out exactly in what capacity. Was it a Grove member, or maybe a cult member? A follower of Abraxas? Was it actually the personification of Death?

Hard! To! Say!

Like I said, I really do want to rewatch this movie to pay more attention to small details I might've missed in the theater. I'm also looking forward to seeing it with subtitles. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was intriguing and original enough that I really enjoyed it and want to watch it again to puzzle through it. Really, the one big mark against it was the brief use of AI, which is just -- god, it's infuriating.

It's such a small part, so it would have been so easy to not do. (Apparently it wasn't even IN the first festival showing.) But it kind of pollutes the whole movie, especially when such a large message is not fucking over real people in the quest for success in the media landscape.

Plus, it just kind of looked like shit.

I know it's probably a lost cause, but I would be thrilled if they hired a real artist and redid those images for the Shudder release. It would be so easy to fix, and it would make the movie a lot better. Those commercial breaks were so funny and if they had better interstitials (that didn't make you feel icky just looking at them) then it would boost an already great film.

I just. I don't even know why they did it in the first place. I'm guessing, based on the fact that they weren't in the original screenings, that they were pressed for time to finish things...? But come on, surely you can find some artist who can do something quick for you. It wasn't even a moving image.

So uh... yeah, I guess that's where I'm at. It was an interesting (if slightly hokey) movie pulling together a lot of threads to make something cool and mysterious, I liked a lot of the acting (particularly Jack Delroy's) and set design, I wanna chat with people about it -- but I can't really in good conscience fully recommend it because of the AI thing. It's just such a disgrace to artistic integrity. Here's hoping they hire a real fucking artist.

#this got really long sorry lmao #really though more than anything this just made me feel like #damn why did I stop coming out to the bourse and east #like yeah they're a little further than the PFS center and the amc but not by much #I felt so nostalgic there #I gotta get back into seeing weird indie movies I miss it #late night with the devil

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thelostgirl21 · 7 months

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When you read some of the things you'd written before watching Season 3, and they suddenly take on a new meaning...

His "weapon" isn't a sword, magic, or even his lute. After all, "Whoreson Prison Blues" sounded fantastic accompanied by spoons!

Yes. Spoons always make Jaskier sound fantastic. Jaskier really knows how to work with spoons, and work those spoons!

All Jaskier truly needs, to sound great and inspired, really, is a spoon!

Give Jaskier a spoon, and they'll be making sweet music together... Both literally and figuratively...

He doesn't need a weapon, he's one of the single most influential character of the series, in a sense, just by virtue of existing and doing "what he does best" - being an impulsively chaotic bard either seducing or pissing people off; and just touching things he probably shouldn't touch, and putting random stuff in his mouth.

Radovid, Comma Prince of Redania: *Spends his whole life doing everything he can to stay under the radar, be kept out of Redanian politics, and appear really dumb, incompetent, and drunk (note: although he was only pretending to be drunk with Jaskier in that scene, I think Hugh Skinner mentioned that Radovid does drink quite a lot to cope with everything that's going on, though, sort of as a way to "self-medicate") so people will let him be.*

Jaskier: *Shows up.*

Radovid: *Intensely crushes on him. Forgets he's supposed to play dumb, and instead offers actually good and sensible arguments as to why Jaskier Cirilla should come live with them in Redania.*

Jaskier: *Shows willingness to listen to Radovid, and offers to do what he can to convince Geralt and Ciri to accept the offer, should they find a way to get rid of Rience.*

Philippa: *Is impressed, and compliments Radovid on it.*

Radovid: *Immediately attempts to go back to playing dumb, hiding, and hopefully being of no interest to her or anyone else at court.*

Jaskier: *Shows up again, flirts with Radovid, lets him know that he's not fooled by his dumb drunken playboy prince act, utterly seduces him with a song (and as many "come hither looks" as one can humanly make fit in a single encounter) and humbly asks for his help.*

Radovid: *Falls even deeper in love with him, drops his act with Jaskier and agrees to help him. Suddenly gets deeply involved in Redanian politics. Argues with the spymasters that, maybe, they should start using carrots with people instead of sticks. Puts Philippa on Rience's trail, while letting Dijkstra know about his brother's secret meetings with Nilfgaard (probably counting on him to change Vizimir's mind regarding his plans of handing Ciri over to the Emperor), regularly starts showing disdain for Dijkstra's methods and gets himself on the spymaster's "shitlist"...*

Of course, one thing leads to another, and next thing you know:

Queen Hedwig is dead,

King Vizimir is dead, and now he's

Radovid, Comma King of Redania.

Right at the start of the second war between the Northern Kingdoms and the Nilfgaardian Empire, no less...

With his sister-in-law and brother's murderer(s) still likely running around the castle somewhere, and working for the people that just put that crown on his head...

And the love of his life still out there, risking his own life, hopefully having managed to reunite with Geralt, and now facing who knows how many dangers to attempt to go rescue Ciri...

So much for staying under the radar and avoiding to get politically involved!

Jaskier: *Seduces the Prince of Redania and uses his lips for extraordinary things...

...accidentally triggers a series of events that changes Redania's line of succession, and totally upends the power structure and dynamic of the strongest kingdom of the Continent!*

By this point, I would almost expect Geralt's response to learning that Vizimir has been assassinated, and that Prince Radovid has ascended to the throne, to be:

"Alright Jaskier, what did you do?"

Obviously, I knew that Prince Radovid was rumored to be Jaskier's new love interest in Season 3 back then... But I had absolutely no idea what Radovid's character would be like in terms of personality, motivations, etc.

Turns out that they found Jaskier a love interest that is basically as directionless and lonely in life as Geralt used to be in Season 1. Someone that doesn't want to get involved in politics or any of those games people in position of power like to play, and is basically just going through the motions of his life...

Until Jaskier shows up and, suddenly, he finds himself right at the heart of those politics, forced to make decisions and choices that will shape the future of the whole freaking Continent!

The main difference is that Geralt sort of continuously fought against Destiny, tried to ignore it, deny it, and push it away. And then, he blamed Jaskier for everything that went wrong and attempted to cut himself from him!

Whereas Radovid just immediately found himself irresistibly drawn to it and embraced whatever changes Jaskier brought into his life, while starting to make choices and take risks out of love without ever blaming him for it, or making it sound like he remotely held Jaskier responsible whenever things misfired or went wrong.

And even when things do go horribly wrong, all Radovid can think of, apparently, while looking at his dead brother is "going to see Jaskier."

But then, Geralt is much older than Radovid is and, from what I understand, has had his dreams and hopes crushed quite a few times whenever he's let his guard down and dared get attached to people in the past.

When you keep suffering loss after loss after loss... at some point, you probably figure that the best way to avoid loss is no longer feeling like you have anything valuable to lose. If you need no one, then you won't risk losing anyone.

Whereas Radovid's never had anyone from his own world he was able to genuinely emotionally connect with. And suddenly, he finds someone that sees him and is making an effort to attempt to understand him - something and someone he's discovered that he needs and doesn't want to lose.

But yeah, it's really fascinating, on the show, to see the way that our beloved bard just keeps... basically causing stuff to happen!

For better or for worse, Jaskier is making people that seemingly don't want to get involved be involved, and making them discover whatever their purpose appears to be in the grand scheme of things!

Yennefer:

The "Destiny" that brought them together:

And now that Lauren Hissrich has clearly stated that Ciri wasn't the descendant of Éile and Fjall that the prophecy was referring to in "The Witcher: Blood Origin", one has to wonder if it could be Jaskier.

Okay, first I just want to address people saying that it's sort of a "retcon" on what she'd said in the past and that she'd "all but confirmed it was Ciri already", because I actually found that interview and listened to it, and that's not quite what I took from it.

I mean yes, I can see how it could have been interpreted the way it was, but what she actually said is:

"Éile's pregnant, at the end. And we know that that's part of Ithlinne's Prophecy; that there is a seed in her that will eventually lead to someone who's important in the Witcher's world.

So, as someone who, for instance, on "The Witcher" 's side, follows Ciri and the origin of her genes and her blood... It's like, I kinda wanna know where that character's gonna go.

I wanna know if these two things are going to, you know, crash into each other at some point."

So, the way I personally understand it is that:

"Blood Origin" introduced the idea that there currently is someone, in the Witcher's world, that is connected to the Ithlinne's Prophecy by blood (by virtue of being the descendant of Fjall and the Lark), and that they will sing the last note of a song that ends all time.

The prophecy about them goes:

"The time of the spheres is upon us. Aen Seidhe [the elves of the Continent] lost across the skies. Cast adrift in time. Ever searching for love, lost and left behind. The Lark’s seed shall carry forth the first note of a song that ends all times. And one of her blood shall sing the last."

And that, on the show "The Witcher", Ciri's also a character whose genes and blood is given a lot of attention and importance to. So, as a member of the audience, she'd be curious to know if these two different characters are going to crash into each other at some point, and those two parts of the Prophecy are going to connect.

The rest of the Ithlinne's Prophecy from the books, that's connected to Ciri, is:

"Verily I say unto you, the era of the sword and axe is nigh, the era of the wolf's blizzard. The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh, the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt: Tedd Deireádh, the Time of End. The world will die amidst frost and be reborn with the new sun. It will be reborn of Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of the seed that has been sown. A seed which will not sprout but burst into flame. Ess'tuath esse! Thus it shall be! Watch for the signs! What signs these shall be, I say unto you: first the earth will flow with the blood of Aen Seidhe, the Blood of Elves... May Ye All Wail, for the Destroyer of Nations is upon us. Your lands shall they trample and divide with rope. Your cities razed shall be, their dwellers expelled. The bat, owl and raven your homes shall infest, and the serpent will therein make its nest..."

She also said, in a Tudum Interview: "One of the things that we love about Sapkowski’s books is his attention to genes, to bloodlines, and to how families grow and develop."

And in Season 3, Jaskier keeps referring to Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer as "his family".

They may not be related by blood, but they are still "family" to him, in the truest sense (like, I think, the Seven established a family-like bond).

And Jaskier is the one that brought them all together. "The Lark’s most precious note shall be the key to all things", and Jaskier does feel like he's the key to all things, at times.

He's just randomly traveling the Continent, unlocking people's destinies left and right, connecting with them, struggling with the thought of settling down.

He's also drawn to people that are "ever searching for love", and that feel "lost and left behind".

Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri... Radovid, even.

And, of course, the elves, that he became "The Sandpiper" to protect.

What I'm also wondering is if the part of the Ithlinne's Prophecy, at the end of "Blood Origin", was added at the same time that they chose to introduce Seanchai and change the role that Jaskier was initially meant to play in the spinoff.

Because it would appear that Seanchai's true form would be that of an ancient elf.

So, "Blood Origin" introduces us to two incredibly powerful ancient elves with the ability to cross time and dimensions.

Avalach, that shares a connection to Ciri in the books (I won't spoil it for those that haven't read it), and

2. Seanchai.

So, what if Seanchai was the child of Éile and Fjall? The Lark’s seed, that shall carry forth (throughout history) the first note of a song that ends all times?

And this is sort of what the show's creator had to say about her character:

It just sort of fitted so well in. When I was thinking about this idea with Seanchaí story collection, it was that moment where all the story about music, and story and words being more powerful than any army, sort of all felt less than [compared] to [having] it sort of personified in this sort of creature that’s raison d'être is to collect stories because they are so powerful. It was great. And the name Seanchaí actually comes from... It was a position in Ireland where you were a storyteller, and you went between the halls of kings, and you went to chieftains and people, and they were the most powerful people in the land and kings were fucking terrified of them – and queens – because one bad story would destroy you as a king. And they were far more worried about that than any army. And then bringing that back to life in this world, it just all clicked. It was one of those lovely synchronous moments of story.

Because the child of Fjall and the Lark is supposed to carry forth (not sing, carry) the first note of the song...

...and one of her blood shall sing the last note of that song.

And when Jaskier asks Seanchai "Why did you save me from the Temerians?", she answers "I need you to sing a story back to life. We're related you an I."

She then explains that he's a bard and she's a storyteller, of a sort...

But that's just the thing. A storyteller might be able to carry the notes of a song - for centuries, perhaps - but she would need a bard to actually sing it when the time was right.

And yeah... The idea that she meant a bit more than just "storytellers and bards have a lot in common" when she said "we're related, you and I", would be intriguing...

The problem, however, is that should it be Jaskier (regardless of him being related to Seanchai or not...), it would sort of make that part of the Ithlinne's Prophecy extremely literal. Almost too literal, one might say.

Not to mention that the way the scene is filmed really seems to be meant to heavily imply that it is Jaskier.

Because, when Seanchai says "...and one of her blood shall sing the last", we are pulled out of the past to the present, where Jaskier is seen writing the last words of a story.

And, when he tries to get her to elaborate on who she's referring to, the answer Jaskier gets is: "Sing the 'Song of the Seven', Sandpiper".

Then, when Jaskier looks back at the last page of the story he's just written, the camera zooms in on "...and one of her blood shall sing the last.", while it starts raining, some dramatic ominous music starts playing, and Jaskier is suddenly back to standing on the battlefield.

So, it feels like she's giving him the answer to his question by telling him to sing.

Then, Seanchai goes on, saying "...so the oppressed may find hope and strenght in the tale of their ancestors; and be ready for the great change to come;" and you see an elf come to squeeze Jaskier's shoulder to let him know the battle is won (at least, this one), and invite him to follow them.

And, even if the only way that Seanchai and Jaskier were "related" would be through their love for either collecting and preserving stories, and/or sharing those stories with the world, she still says that she needs him to sing a story back to life.

So, if you were a powerful ancient elf that actually knew who was meant to sing the very last note of a specific story, wouldn't you want to let them know how the story actually began, too?

Jaskier: I'm just a bard.

Seanchai: In her mind, going:

A bard with a blood marked by beast and magic, that felt an instant connection and deep sense of kinship towards a Witcher that everyone hated, feared, and called a "Butcher"...

A bard that brought said Witcher to Calanthe's banquet - where he prevented Duny's demise, and claimed his future daughter, the Elder Blood Princess, as his own.

A bard that brought the Witcher to Yennefer of Vengenberg, the sorceress that would come to love that child as her own daughter, too, and help protect and raise her, too.

A bard that feels intimately drawn to everyone on the Continent - men, women, elves, dwarves, even polymorphous, apparently... - regardless of race or creed, and would step in and risk his life to protect those being persecuted on the basis of being seen as "the other"...

A bard that embodies the complexity, beauty, and diversity of everyone's stories on the Continent, and feels like - if the muses stopped talking to him and inspiring him to write and sing those songs - he'd have no idea who he was anymore, and would no longer be able to do the one thing he was put on this Continent to do?

A bard that inspires people to grow, get involved, and ultimately become the better versions of themselves...

A bard, whose ancestors' fight against Balor lead to the Conjunction of the Spheres, the arrival of the humans on the Continent, of the monsters, the creation of the Witchers, and the beginning of a story that he'll witness and sing the conclusion of.

But yes, just a bard.

But yeah, it's like the show is pointing us so strongly in Jaskier's direction and wanting us so much to think it's him that it's almost suspicious or "too easy" to assume it's him.

What also makes me hesitate, in some ways, is that people would expect someone that's been described as having "a blood like no other, marked by beast and magic", to be exhibiting superhuman powers of some sort, and have powerful magic of their own, I suppose.

While Jaskier is very much human. But Seanchai (and the show runners, apparently) sees great power in the ability to shape the world through storytelling, and she makes it sound like she truly respects Jaskier's "power", and the way he's been using his voice to help change people's perception of outcasts.

Even "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" was all about changing the way people irrationally feared and reviled witchers, and treated them as freaks.

Yes, he threw Filivandrel and the elves under the bus with that one!

No one's denying that, and I've always headcanoned that one of the reasons why he became the Sandpiper is because he realized he truly messed up with "Toss A Coin", and was attempting to take responsibility for his mistakes and right some of his wrongs.

But "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" was still about changing people's perception of witchers, so that Geralt would be seen as a noble, brave, larger-than-life heroic protector that was also a friend you could just enjoy a pint with, rather than some unrelatable mutant freak without any emotion that one should fear and keep their distance from in general, unless they had an even more dangerous monster needing killing.

He tried helping one outcast, but sadly made things worse for others.

And we also have to remember that we're talking about a very young Jaskier that had been brought up in the human world until then, and likely didn't fully grasp nor understand how much damage humanity had done to the elder races. We're talking about someone with a fairly limited worldview that genuinely thought elves were just "hiding in their golden palaces" while humanity suffered until, like, seconds ago.

Filivandrel might have started shaking those perceptions, but I doubt it would have been enough to completely make him unlearn all the lies and prejudices he'd been taught, and fully realize that what had happened to Filivandrel wasn't the exception when it came to elves, but the norm.

Now, Jaskier knows and understands better. Back then? He still had things to learn. I guess my point is that, despite all of his flaws and shortcomings as a young bard, Jaskier was still using his voice in ways meant to help someone connect with, and be accepted by, the world.

He's always been highly empathetic, and likely to spontaneously side with those that needed to have a voice after having been cast aside.

And, should Jaskier be, indeed, the descendant of the very first Witcher, it does add a rather unique element to the way he immediately trusted that he'd be safe traveling with Geralt, and never instinctively feared who and what he was, regardless of the reputation he'd acquired after Blaviken.

Something in Jaskier's DNA would apparently be telling him that Witchers make perfectly suitable life companions!

And Fjall was kicked out of his clan when they found out he was having an affair with Princess Merwyn!

So, getting into trouble because you hid your sausage in the wrong royal pantry would be a family trait that would go back generations!

It can't be helped, really!

Éile was into Dog Clan people and Witchers.

Jaskier is into Wolf Clan people and Witchers.

Fjall was into Royals and Bards.

Jaskier is into Royals and Himself.

These three are obviously related!

"Song of the Seven" would be a part of Jaskier's own heritage, too. He'd be singing about the history of his own ancestors, and their very own "found family", rather than singing about a group of outcasts he has no intimate or personal connection to.

And, should Éile indeed be one of Jaskier's ancestors...

Well, she was called "The Lark"...

And Jaskier chose to call himself "The Sandpiper"...

It's actually what Seanchai replied when Jaskier asked "Are you sure you've got the right man for this?"

Something like "Of course I am. You're the Sandpiper. Smuggler of elves to safety."

Apparently, small sandpipers are also sometimes called "sand larks".

So...

If Jaskier was the one referred to in that part of that Prophecy, then the song would start with the Lark's seed... and end with a Sand Lark!

Then, there's Radovid...

Because, of course, out of Jaskier's entire repertoire, he would be drawn to that song the most!

A part of me can't help but think I'm just looking way too deep into this, and making connections that are probably extremely accidental, but still, I can't help but think it would be really cool if Jaskier did end up being the Continent's MVP, in a sense.

If the whole point of Blood Origin - beyond giving us some insight on how the first Witchers were created and why, the Conjunction of the Spheres, the humans arriving on the Continent, etc. - was to clearly establish bards/storytellers (namely Éile, Jaskier, Seanchai...) as being some of the most powerful beings of their world.

While some would probably find it anticlimactic that Ithlinne's Prophecy, in "Blood Origin", would simply be about a "humble human bard" that would have inherited Éile's gift for storytelling and singing - rather than some sort of primal power or something (due to their connection to the first Witcher) - I think it would be fitting.

Dijkstra & Philippa: We have control over Redania’s resources!

Radovid: I have a Sandpiper.

He's just like the Queen on the chessboard, fiercely protecting the King by messing up the other pieces' moves, hard to predict because he can take off in too many directions and in too many ways...

And everyone's also after him, trying to knock him down, because he just keeps fucking their game over!

Also, as it turns out, there were many more character posters this season! And Jaskier wasn't the only one without a "physical weapon" or object of some sort...

But my favorite's got to be Radovid. I mean Jaskier's standing there, taking everything in, hyper-alert and ready to do "something" about it.

And our poor sweetheart is just... standing there with his fur heavy blanket cloak, discreetly looking over his shoulder, looking half-curious about what's happening and half totally done with this shit, just about ready to pour himself yet another drink...

Story of his life!

#Jaskier #Radovid #Radskier #The Witcher #The Witcher: Blood Origin #My Posts #My Thoughts #My Stuff

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katebeckets · 2 months

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usually i'm not really one to talk about this but i am in a weird space with all the personal loss happening and with all the ttpd stuff on my dash, i can't help but reflect on the very real but ambiguous grief i've been feeling the last year and i just need to write it down. because it goes beyond the loss of my concept of who she is, but also revealed some things about people in this fandom that made me just as sad (if not more, because i realized how prevalent these things were). also, since this was primarily a taylor swift blog for so long, i feel like this might be worth saying.

i am fully aware that i don't know her personally and i never knew her personally, but she has always acted like someone who really cares and, to some extent, built her brand on it. and it was one thing when i could give her the benefit of the doubt and just assume she was ignorant of a lot of things due to privilege/being out of touch with reality (still not great), but still trying. but a lot of what happened in the last year made it impossible to reasonably draw any other conclusion than that she is choosing to stay in her little bubble. (also, people knew i was a fan and would ask me how i felt about her essentially being the quintessential white feminist).

i'm not saying that it's a celebrity's job to be an activist and champion every human rights issue, but i think what's so painful for me is the fact that a lot of her behavior indicates that she doesn't feel any sort of responsibility to use her massive platform to talk about anything but things that directly affect her; everyone knows how incredibly influential she is, including her. that can feel like a burden since it's not something she asked for, but it's still true. so even things like choosing to announce ttpd at the grammys while overshadowing so many other artists and Annie Lennox's call for a ceasefire... like sure, she can do what she wants to do. but i guess what makes me sad is the progression from "maybe she doesn't know" to "there's no way she's unaware." I am a random person with virtually no influence in comparison, but there's still a feeling of responsibility that weighs on me.

and before anyone argues by saying "what about this person," of course this is not exclusive to her. this mainly is just coming from a feeling of loss because it's learning things about people I really love (not just her, but friends too) that you just can never unlearn (and it's exacerbated by the new album being so close).

i'm going to listen and i know i'm going to enjoy and be excited about and deeply care about the new music, but it's also weirdly heavy because it reminds me of how many things i miss about swiftie tumblr prior to last year.

#there are some feelings about joe too tbh but i KNOW no one is ready for that #idk might delete #but also i feel like im always grateful when i see these posts and i know who i can talk to?#lol we'll see

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heymacy · 1 year

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As this fandom’s resident astrology babe would you say that Gallavich match-up based on their signs?

anon, i need you to know that i am coming out of my moving hiatus to answer this question because it scratches a very specific itch in my brain and i adore you for asking it. also, "resident astrology babe" has me melting into the floor. i know i haven’t talked astrology in a hot minute but it's an HONOR to relay messages from the stars to y'all. an honor ✨

i'm going to try and keep this as simple and straightforward as possible (narrator: she's a liar) because i take astrology very seriously (haters be gone, you're not welcome here) and know Too Much so i'm gonna streamline my answer into the most cohesive possible form.

first of all, we are very very lucky to have canon birth dates and locations for both ian and mickey. i have their charts in my little app on my phone, though since we don't have their exact birth times, we don't know their rising signs or house placements, only their planetary ones. so for these purposes i will only be using their sun & moon signs for compatibility. read more under the cut!

the short answer is this: yes, i think they are deeply compatible on multiple astrological levels. and here's why:

ian gallagher. taurus sun, aquarius moon (me 🤝🏻 ian 🤝🏻 being aqua moons). mickey milkovich. leo sun, virgo moon (that fire + earth combo is chef's motherfucking kiss).

at first glance, a down-to-earth, reliable taurus like ian doesn't seem like a solid match for a vivacious, bold leo like mickey (also anyone that says mickey isn't a leo can catch these hands). however, fire/earth combos are highly, highly underrated pairings. there is a balance there, with sensible taurus grounding dramatic leo whilst the confident leo helps to bring stubborn taurus out of their shell. ian is the very definition of a taurus: hard-headed, loyal, and deeply, deeply caring. mickey is the very definition of a leo: ambitious, generous, and warm-hearted. since they both encompass these signs so fully, it makes sense that their differences would cause both strife and balance, much like their relationship in the show. is it perfect? absolutely not. but do they as individuals, just by existing and being themselves, bring out the best in each other? help each other grow? absolutely. it's also important to note that taurus, ruled by Venus, and leo, ruled by the Sun, both love indulgence, comfort, and the finer things in life. they haven't been afforded that in their youth but as they age, striving for a nice life with nice things will be a common goal that will keep them moving in the same direction. they want to be proud of what they have and what they've built, and we saw that in s10 & 11 VERY explicitly, which as an astrology hoe made me very happy.

moon signs are representative of your deepest emotions, the parts of yourself you keep locked away and out of the light. they also influence how you react to emotional situations, or what your behavior might look like in times of stress. ian's aquarius moon and mickey's virgo moon are, once again, a pairing that doesn't make much sense when you look at it passively. but when you get right down to it, there's that same balance, that same common ground. aquarius moons (ian) are socially minded, progressive, charming, and often have difficulty expressing their emotions, both in general and in relationships. virgo moons (mickey) are emotionally reserved, influential, and love to be of service to others. they also often keep a very stuff upper lip when it comes to emotions. stone faced on the outside, crying on the inside. both these men struggle to express their emotions, this much we know. so to know that their moon signs, the signs that govern emotion, are aligned with that truth is extremely satisfying to me as a student of astrology. as they begin to open up, both aquarius and virgo will begin to realize that they both have a common emotional goal in mind: stability and service. we see this prominently in the last few seasons which again, tickles me. they're both a bit emotionally, uh, fussy, for lack of a better term, but at the end of the day they just get each other. they understand. one of my best friends in the world is an earth moon and while we process our emotions very differently, we GET each other. and it makes for a very strong, stable relationship.

so long story short: yes, i feel they are incredibly compatible on multiple levels. it's important not to put too much stock in the whole "i'm a _____ therefore i am only compatible with _____" concept because it doesn't have a very strong foundation in actual astrology. maybe it makes sense in a fun way in sun sign astrology, which is to say magazine horoscopes and meme accounts, but we study whole chart astrology in this house, and honestly? any two signs combined will have their benefit and drawbacks. but with these two boys, their compatibility is off the charts. personality-wise, sexually, emotionally, and astrologically. nobody is doing it like them!! nobody!!

#anon this just made my entire fucking week #talking about astrology gets my brain buzzing in the best possible way #these two are the very definition of 'what? that wouldn't work. ohhhhh waaaaaiiiit i see it now mhm okay okay'#which like. is also canon. so. i win asjskjak #FAVORITE QUESTION EVER #macy babbles #anons #astrology

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darishima · 11 months

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With the Mashle post, I agree with some parts that the show (at least the writing) is just.... not good at all. If you've read the manga... it doesn't really get better(? Kinda? As in, there is no development between any characters lmao, but more concepts for the world itself kinda gets added).

For me, what drew me in was the comedy of the first chapter before it got very repetitive with its jokes and humor because the world itself seemed fascinating to me. The idea of magic marks, markless people (what is basically eugenics), and then this one person who by all counts should be the least powerful among an entire population is fascinating.

The writing is just not it in the slightest.

Characters are very one dimensional (shown with Lemon being the worst of the main 5, Mash is right next to her). The only ones I saw with the slightest hint of development would be Finn towards the end of the series.

Like I said, many things that are just thrown out there and then left in the wind that could've been more deeply explored, the actual role of a Divine Visionary because (lowkey what does head of Talent even mean??? Is their most influential really just some kids who were the best of the year??? Why aren't there more of them??? How are they given their roles???)

I'm rambling so hard, but I think I'm honestly interested in how you saw the series (or at least the anime) since I'm trying to do more on its world in a personal rewrite project 😅

thank you so much, i'm so glad someone agrees!!

i'm gonna try to break why i don't like it into sections so this doesn't get too rambley

the stuff it steals i'm using "steal" pretty lightly here, taking inspiration from another work is fine and i dont even know for sure if the creator was familiar with these other properties, but still. i don't know if you're super familiar with one punch man, mob psycho 100, and harry potter, but mashle is basically if you took all of those, squished them together, and then made it bad. he's basically just saitama (mc of opm) mixed with mob's personality (mc of mp100) and dropped into harry potter. (and i know "a magical school setting" isn't unique to harry potter but the house system and that one broom scene are WAY too specific to not be explicitly taken from hp. if it was supposed to be a parody/satire of harry potter or western fantasy in general it could have worked, but rather than making any kind of commentary on that it just... stole it. but i digress.) "insanely overpowered anime protagonist" is a typical cliche and i often find annoying (if your mc is too powerful, there's not much evolution/development to be done) but the thing that made saitama's strength work in opm is that he doesn't LIKE his strength. if you're at the top, there's nowhere else to go. he feels unfulfilled and is constantly searching for an opponent as strong as/stronger than him, so he can finally have a real fight that doesn't end after a single punch. mash.... doesn't have that. he's strong, but nothing interesting is DONE with his strength. he just Is Strong, period. no commentary on how it makes him feel, no impact on his personality, nothing. there is a commentary that could be made (and is kind of made) about the world as a whole but i'll get to that later. basically, he's just saitama but without understanding why saitama works.

the characters the characters feel like they're created to fill archetypes rather than actually be people. they're all completely one-dimensional, as you said. i can't speak for finn's development because i haven't read the manga, but at least in the anime he's the same. lemon is definitely the worst, i agree, and mash is right next to her. abyss razor COULD have been interesting i guess but he was just a throwaway villain. dot is the stereotypical guy-obsessed-with-women because of course he is. lance is the attractive bad boy with a really creepy thing for his sister (because it's not a shonen without something deeply uncomfortable and unnecessary). the only character i liked was cell war but only because he looked cool. i don't think i've ever seen a more boring cast of characters tbh, they're just... Nothing.

cynical cash grab honestly a lot of what made me angry rather than disappointed about the show was that a lot of it seemed to be, like... designed specifically to be popular, if that makes sense. the world copying harry potter, the main character copying mob and saitama, two beloved shonen protagonists, the characters filling all the shonen archetypes, all of it just felt like it was made in a lab to be the most stereotypical easy to watch shonen anime. i don't know if that's actually true- maybe the creator is really passionate about it and loves it. but it felt like a soulless cash grab.

the potential this is what REALLY pissed me off. i've seen plenty of bad animes, and they're always fundamentally flawed. they have bad plots or bad settings and everything based off of that will be bad as well. it's not a problem with the execution, it's a problem with the basic concept. but mashle is not that. the idea of it is brilliant, and that's why i wanted to watch it in the first place. there's so many interesting angles to be taken- for example, mash mentions at the beginning that magic users have grown physically lazy and complacent, because they can achieve anything they want with magic. and that is SO INTERESTING !!! i've never considered the realistic consequences of magic like that before, and i was so excited to see that concept explored... and then it was never brought up again. mash's strength, like saitama's, could've had really interesting effects on his character.... never addressed! the eugenics aspect, like you mentioned, could've been really interesting, especially with the way it affects some magic users too (namely abyss razor and his evil eye or lance's sister), but nope, it's never fully touched on. rather than dismantle the system entirely and save all non-magic users, mash is content to work within the system to achieve freedom for only himself. rather than commit to any interesting commentary or fascinating angle, the story is content to ignore all those things completely. there is endless potential, and it's all wasted.

the comedy there isn't any. it's not funny. the slapstick comedy of mash breaking everything at the beginning could have been funny but it's never used for anything besides doors (and also, is he never scared he'll accidentally hurt someone? has he ever hurt someone he loved? more cool strength-related character commentary that was never even touched on). the only part of the show i found funny is that one time he tried to cook but everything just ended up as a cream puff. i really liked that actually. all of the running cream puff gags i found funny but they aren't enough to carry the rest of the show's non existent jokes or the jokes that completely fall flat

the fight scenes not much to say here, which is the problem. the animation's decent but not outstanding and the fights are lame as hell. "strong magic user thinks he's badass and can kick mash's ass but mash just like, punches him a couple times. the end." they were cool to look at sometimes, but again, so many cool things could've been done with the magic and they refused to commit.

that's pretty much all of my points. usually i hate the term "shonenshit" because it's just used to discount actually good shonen like one piece or demon slayer but honestly i think mashle is the epitome of shonenshit. full of potential yet mid in every way, the most average and boring characters imaginable, zero impactful emotional beats, it just tastes like air. i cannot fathom how this anime has a 7.58 rating on MAL, it blows my mind. i'm not shitting on anyone who enjoys the show, i think if you turn your brain off (and haven't seen one punch man or mob psycho) it is, at the very least, popcorn entertainment, and i can understand why someone would like it, i just think it's poorly written and disappointing.

thank you so much for sending that ask and giving me a reason to rant all my thoughts, i've been waiting for an excuse to do it lmao. sorry it was so long </3

manga spoilers under the cut bc i have one more thing to mention.

AND APPARENTLY INNOCENT ZERO THE BIG BAD LEADER GUY IS MASH'S DAD ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. i was spoiled on this completely accidentally, i just googled innocent zero to see what he looked like and saw that spoiler. and my god that is the most generic stupid boring ass twist they could POSSIBLY have done. and not only that, it ruins whatever good was left in mash's character.

mash is the "everyman" type of character. he's just a regular normal guy, he is nothing special, in fact he's literally the opposite of special. he's the complete opposite of a "chosen one," and that's why his character works (i'm saying "works" loosely because he's boring but ykwim). so to make him the son of the Big Bad turns him into the chosen one that he's not supposed to be. chosen one narratives do work, but only if done right, and his story from the beginning is not supposed to BE a chosen one narrative. but they throw all of that out the window for the sake of a cheap twist. keep in mind i havent read the manga so i dont know anything about the way it was revealed but i would bet money they didn't set it up or execute it in any kind of interesting or well-done way. i hope i'm wrong about that, but i doubt it.

#casey talks #asks #mashle

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banrions · 6 months

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hi ive checked your faq & i know the answer to when will you write x is "ehhhhh, soon? hopefully?!" but i figured this is maybe a specific case! i just found your pansmione fics and loved them so, so much––i saw that the story hasnt been updated in years & i wanted to send an ask bc i know a lot of folks (reasonably) stopped engaging with hp when jkr went mask off. so i wanted to know whether its a wip that fell by the wayside or if you purposefully left it? so i know whether to hold out hope xx

sorry for answering possibly very late (i'm not on this site quite as regularly as i used to be).

ummmm. well. that one is def complicated. that's a fic that i've wanted to write for YEARS. i've had it plotted out for um, smth like going on a decade or more, now. and i only got the prologue up and complete, and haven't posted any of the main slow burn fic yet. it WAS initally def just a WIP that i hadn't gotten back around to finishing after i graduated, and then lost a lot of writing motivation in general in the last few years/pandemic etc. but always planned to return and finish.

BUT ALSO, the jkr of it all.

tbh, i've waffled a lot on whether or not to finish it. i haaaaate having unfinished fics up, so like, i wANT to. i'm gonna be real. it's smth i've wanted to write for years. i 100% want to, but i feel weird abt it, ngl. like, everyone can only make their own choices abt how to engage with harry potter/death of the author, at this point. (i personally don't want to engage in anything of monetary value, and still feel a little weird engaging with fic/fandom stuff. i don't know if that will last forever, but it's def how i feel right now). but it's still a story that was very influential to me as a kid and i still rlly love the world and the characters. and i am DEEPLY fond of the versions of them in this fic. i rlly want to write hermione and pansy falling in love. (bonus, i think jkr would hate it!!).

i'm gonna be real, i think it will dive me up the wall to leave it forever and not finish it. i've waffled a lot over the last few years between just finishing it and then being done ever engaging in hp again, just leaving it as is and calling it a wash, or something (somehow?? lol) in the middle, but i honestly haven't fully decided. i DO think abt the fic quite often, and seeing it incomplete bothers me. i haven't touched the files in years, but i have gotten some general writing motivation back reccently, though not for more than fic exchanges and more shorter things. i want to finish it, i feel like eventually i will, i just don't know when that will happen. i don't know if there are a lot of people who want it finished or not, but likely i would finish it for me if i did. i might start writing in a few weeks, i might not touch it for a few more years. i wish i had a better or clearer answer for you. i will say, i really appreciate that you loved it, and you liked it enough to reach out, becasue that means a lot and knowing someone else DOES want it makes me feel very happy<3

#it truly could go any way but i do feel like i will eventually write it #idk man. she sucks!!! she's a bigot and she sucks!! she's ruined a lot of the fun #but also fuck her these are my characters now etc etc. you know?#idk. everyone feels differently and weird abt it in varrying ways.#herblazinglook #asks #my fic #things that are mine #good bones au #GOD I TRULY HAVEN'T USED IT'S TAG IN AGES #this ask is actually making me think abt and miss it even more.

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rainydetectiveglitter · 7 months

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what about mars/pluto in 12th house

With Mars hanging out in the 12th house and buddy Pluto right there with it, you've got an interesting combo. It's like having a powerful undercurrent of assertiveness in the hidden corners of your life. This dynamic duo suggests that your drive and your desire to take action are deeply connected to some intense psychological stuff and big transformations. You probably approach those behind-the-scenes matters with a lot of determination and maybe even some force. This can make you quite resourceful and influential, especially when you're dealing with things that aren't immediately obvious. But, a word of caution, this energy can stir up inner conflicts and make you confront some deep-seated issues, so it's essential to use it wisely.

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bsaka7 · 2 years

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G, K and R for the ask game please 🥰

THANK U ❤️❤️ ENJOY THIS LITERAL ESSAY

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Start to finish... Always straight through (unless of course the order is intentionally nonlinear. But then straight through from the outline anyway)... Sometimes I'll skip part of a scene if it's like... Travel or something I'm having trouble with (I like to use tags like [GET TO RESTURAUNT]) and then I'll go back later and either flesh that bit out or decide its unnecessary. but usually that's not more than one or two paragraphs. I do worry sometimes that I "run out of steam" at the end of fics bc of this strategy but also idk. I don't think any other way would work for me.

K: What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with?

I don't know..... I'm not very good at knowing what other people will consider angsty or not (truly I have next to no sense of what fics will emotionally resonate lmao)... anything with infidelity where it like... ends bad for both people...I love falling short of your own destiny/ordained by fate in some terrible way.... I love "it could have been right but it wasn't".... idk. I guess I don't really think of my own ideas like this?? I think i like angstier stuff than I actually think up LOL?? also i don't usually have a ton of ideas im not actually working on I guess

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

in fic.... marthe @wdcseb and milo who has a new blog but I can't remember what it is... bc they are the ones I talk fic the most with and read their stuff and get to know their process!! and because of that sometimes they are who i write for.... also like anyone I'm friends with is an influence lol.

everything else under the cut this is long. I can talk about books forever

I'm not USUALLY trying to emulate other fic writers (though there certainly have been some deeply notable fics for me who have impacted my writing)... I am often taking bits and pieces from published authors. Here is a SHORT list:

Brandon Sanderson. This embarrasses me because I've read a lot of him. He's not a great writer! His stuff reads different when you think about how Mormon he is! But in terms of structure (esp for fantasy), and the idea that you can just sit down and write it. Just pound it out. Has been VERY influential for me (esp for star wars au)

Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, Gretel Ehrlich. I very much enjoy people who write about the natural environment in both a scientific and experimental and sometimes narrative and/or religious way. Generally isn't something I'm trying to imitate, but does occasionally come out.

Cormac Mccarthy. Sorry to be a bro. Milo got me into him and I love how he cuts out so much chaff in his writing. Have my critiques, yes. Influential, also yes.

John Steinbeck...East of Eden is one of my fav books), I like how he puts together characters and families. I like the biblical allusions. I like how he writes the landscape. I think reading helps me think about how to put things together. And I think Steinbeck strikes a balance between aspirational and readable and like.... arid and present in a way that works so well for me.

Probably a lot more than I'm not even THINKING about rn. I read. Kind of a lot. Some. Of. It is good some of it is not.

I'll also write a lot of fic that is a response (either an imitation of or how I felt whole reading it) to a book or an author...the two most DIRECT ones are:

hymn of -> Cormac Mccarthy, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

to what will come ahead -> all the kings men by Robert Penn Warren

Okay this is so long. By now you know I can be SO wordy. but there are some thoughts.

#This is literally 1 million words. Tetrapod WHAT #Ask game #Ask

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irrealisms · 2 years

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☕️ + we know the devil. i know ur icon is venus wktd & i’d LOVE to hear ur thoughts on the game if u’ll indulge me

ABSOLUTELY so we know the devil is something i have.... deeply and profoundly bittersweet feelings about

when i was 14 and had my first real experience of The Divine which led to me getting put on antipsychotics i latched onto Venus very very hard. i had the same haircut as venus and i was constantly kind and self-effacing and sincere and compulsively apologetic and i saw lights and angels around every corner and there was Something i wanted, and it was connected, the wanting and the lights, i wanted it in and around me and the entire world, but i didn't know what i wanted or what to do with all the want. and my previous blog's avatar was venus wktd not in her devil form but as a human.

and now i am 21 and i am not a queer high schooler, i am Catholic, and the thing I wanted so desperately that my entire life was bending around that want wasn't the devil or being trans or gay sex? it was God, the God that the game is so intensely angry at, the God in whose name troubled teen camps are made that convince high schoolers they are the devil & the devil is freedom and love & God is everyone you are afraid of and told you that you are not good enough and you are going to hell. the thing that I wanted wasn't what the girls in wktd want, it was the thing that hurt them. and, like... what do you do with that? bc the game is coming from a place of such trauma that i can't be mad at it, only mad at every church that caused it to exist, and at the same time it still speaks to the part of me that is 14 and seeing light that i know i should be afraid of and wanting it instead, and being desperate for a story in which this is [holy and good and beautiful and Right, the sort of thing to show the whole world] and not the sort of thing that gets you sent to the guidance counselor or the hospital

and my icon then was venus's human form and now it is her devil form because.... i get to have what i want now, i guess.

and i've also thought and talked somewhat about venus as psychosis narrative/as a textually psychotic character lol & there's also absolutely something abt, like, me age 14 was incredibly incredibly scared of myself & pursued/went on antipsychotics/therapy/psychiatry willingly vs. i started this blog not long after Going Off antipsychotics and being very critical and wary of therapy/psychiatry

also this whole thing is about venus but i do also have an immense outpouring of thoughts about jupiter.... i have a lot of the same ocd [i am too much Want and it is going to hurt everyone and there is nothing i can do about it, i am evilwrongbadcontaminated for my Want and i cannot stop it, i am inherently violent and hurting others by Wanting] Stuff as she does. however it's uh kind of super funny-inconvenient that in a lot of ways i have them in the Opposite direction recent years-- see, well, a lot of the above... i wasn't raised Christian and i actually feel quite guilty a lot of the time about being and wanting to be Christian! because it hurts people in the way Jupiter is hurt! but at the same time i find that [repressing myself and my wanting] to be so deeply relatable. and it's not that i don't find Jupiter's direction unrelatable, either... i have a lot of issues around [finding kink very appealing] which are very Jupitercore lol

and also on a surface level in general i spent my childhood and teen years in girl scouts in a group of Three Friends where one of us was perpetually being left out due to The Buddy System and it depended on the year which of us it would be. and now they have both graduated college and moved away and i have not been in a group of three or at a scout camp making bad decisions at 3am in years... it's very much a game that was made for me at one time and now i have outgrown in some ways. it's complicated!

anyway this post is long enough but. point is. ohhhhh it was so influential on me and it shapes the narrative of my life and also i am at a point where i am opposed to it (in the sense of, standing on the opposite side from) in many ways and this is kind awkward but also it is still a part of me. feel free 2 ask/talk more to me abt it i love talking abt it tbh

#wktd #therapists dni

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mariacallous · 1 year

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I got this email from Princeton University Press, and I like to try to share this sort of stuff and I think it might be interesting. And if not, at least I'll have the info somewhere other than my email:

Princeton University Press: Enjoy this edition of Office Hours with Kimberly Kay Hoang

Dear Subscribers,

This month, I am delighted to bring you Office Hours with Kimberly Kay Hoang, author of Spiderweb Capitalism: How Global Elites Exploit Frontier Markets. She has some excellent book recommendations, she offers valuable career advice for graduate students and junior faculty alike, and she shares a story that illuminates how a single conversation can completely change the trajectory of one’s research.

Enjoy!

Meagan Levinson

[email protected]

What are you reading now?

KKH: I am reading two books right now more for leisure.

Permanent Distortion: How Financial Markets Abandoned the Real Economy Forever by Nomi Prins. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been concerned about elite capture of academia and have found much more inspiration in the work by journalists who take a much more critical approach in exposing systems of welfare for the rich. Her concept of quantitative easing exposes how fractured policies crafted by financial institutions has led to the manipulation of central banking policies around the world. The book sheds light on the widening gap between billionaires and millionaires in what she calls permanent distortion. It also seems most relevant right now with news of a debt ceiling crisis.

Privilege and Punishment: How Race and Class Matter in Criminal Court by Matthew Clair. This is an incredibly rich study of criminal defendants and the differential ways in which they are processed in court based on their race and socioeconomic differences. This is a story about how those from working class backgrounds tend to become their own legal advocates in court while those with privilege navigate the courts with a greater level of trust in their attorneys to advocate on their behalf.

Both books make me think more deeply about the idea of impunity and the ways that it intersects with social class and race not just in the United States but globally.

What book has had the most impact on your career?

KKH: To be honest I can’t name just one. I would say the three most influential books for me have been The Managed Heart by Arlie Hochschild, The Purchase of Intimacy by Viviana Zelizer, and Servants of Globalization by Rhacel Parreñas. What connects all three of these books is an analysis of intimacy and the economy. Emotional labor (Hochschild) and intimate labor (Zelizer) are ways of thinking about the links between the private and public spheres. Parreñas really pushed into new fields by thinking about these concepts globally and at the intersection of race, class, and gender more specifically in domestic work, care work, and sex work. These three texts really shape the foundation for my own sociological imagination.

What is your favorite book to teach?

KKH: This changes for me every single year. In fact, I’m in the process of updating my syllabus right now, and I try to teach new books so that my courses provide students with some of the latest works published. I would say right now the book that seems to resonate with students and generate very interesting conversations is Ballad of the Bullet by Forrest Stuart. Being in Chicago and at the University of Chicago, there is a tradition of research on communities on the Southside. This book really advances that work by looking at poor urban youth and the use of social media technologies to capitalize on the public’s imagination of poverty and violence. Many of my students know of the music Stuart studies in the book and appreciate the nuance that he brings to a study of a local community.

Do you have a favorite moment as a researcher, maybe an encounter that unexpectedly changed your way of thinking or the direction of a project?

KKH: Absolutely. As an ethnographer those moments can feel like you’ve stumbled upon a diamond in the rough. For my latest book, Spiderweb Capitalism, I started with a small question about how foreign investors navigate new frontier markets around the world in different ways based on the laws that govern their investment activities abroad. I remember having lunch with a lawyer one afternoon when he asked me if I knew what a special purpose vehicle or holding company was. As he explained them to me, I found myself suddenly thrust into a whole world of offshoring, anonymous paper companies and a web of financial professionals who are connected but purposefully obfuscated from one other. This moment completely changed the trajectory of my research in ways that were both exciting and intimidating. It forced me to imagine a global ethnography that was not bound to a single space or place and instead theorize webs of people and capital that span the globe.

What is the best career advice you ever received?

KKH: Everyone arrives on their own time. Do not compare yourself to others; instead, focus on your own journey. I think that the journey through a PhD program—and, later, tenure—can create this unhealthy navel-gazing that can make us feel inadequate in relation to those around us. But if you keep your head down and focus on the journey of scientific discovery while also finding joy in making sense of complex data, things do eventually fall into place in their own way and on your own individual timeline.

What subject do you wish more sociologists would study and write about?

KKH: I wish that more sociologists would study elites and the systems that enable them to accumulate wealth. At the same time, I wish there were more research on the elite capture of the academy and social sciences more generally. I think that Charlie Eaton’s book, Bankers in the Ivory Tower, really begins to poke at these questions, but I would like to see much more research in this vein. I often think about how social scientists claiming to be objective researchers are, in many ways, either consciously or subconsciously working in a shadowy role of policy implementation that only serves to legitimize institutions of power. To me, this is concerning and dangerous, especially when it comes to proprietary data provided by private companies or governments.

If you could have dinner with two sociologists, living or passed, who would you choose, and why?

KKH: I’ll pick one of each.

Ibn Khaldun, who has passed, is someone I would love to sit down with. I only discovered his book The Muqaddimah within the last couple of years and often wondered why this work is not part of the canon of sociology. I would love to hear him talk more about his theories of the rise and fall of dynasties, power through states and bureaucracies, and the birth of social groups.

I would love to have dinner with Ruha Benjamin. I have her book Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want on my nightstand and will read a chapter here and there before bed. It reminds me of this mantra that inspired me as a graduate student: “personal is political”. Viral Justice does this work of forcing us to confront systems of injustice as they relate to mental health and the carceral system while also offering a vision for how we might be inspired to build a more just world. Perhaps this is my way of manifesting this, but I would just love to have a one-on-one dinner with her because I feel that I would not only learn so much but also find inspiration in her idea of collective healing. I think that as sociologists we are very good at identifying problems and systems of injustice and less creative when it comes to finding viable solutions to the problems we care about so deeply. Viral Justice provides a great model that broadens my imagination.

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glennmillerorchestra · 2 years

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☕️ people calling the beatles overrated 👀 (and even specifically paul and songs like hey jude/yesterday/let it be)

okay okay okay. there is much to discuss here and i’m going to try and organize my thoughts without sounding like a beatlemaniac okay!!!!

first off, to call the beatles overrated is really and honestly just wrong. are all of their songs/work the cream of the crop, flawless, etc.? absolutely not, but it’s impossible to deny their influence on pop culture and history at this point; a lot of songs and styles and whatnot wouldn’t exist without the beatles!! which brings me to my point that it’s simply impossible to “overrate” an entity like the beatles that extends its roots so deeply into so many facets of what we consider to be a given in modern life (i made them sound like a creature…) i mean in the end the beatles were just four guys creating a LOT of music at the right time and in the right climate and were talented + good-looking + revolutionary enough to bring about a massive culture reformation in a time that was desperately seeking it! and because of their massive popularity and longevity, it’s become somewhat popular to act like they actually weren’t good at all, which opens up a different discussion on how people don’t like to examine why they find things dated and why they think it makes them interesting to act like such staples of pop culture aren’t staples for good reason! it’s just frustrating because it doesn’t make you a better person for hating something so popular, and it doesn’t give you some moral superiority over people who do listen to them- which is the majority of the world btw. and like i said, they were creating a LOT of music, so if “hey jude” isn’t your cup of tea, i guarantee you’ll be able to find at least one song with a completely different vibe and story to fit your tastes; people just don’t want to take the time to like. open their view a bit? and this is speaking strictly on the terms of listening to beatles music; to cover the actual beatles would be opening one hundred cans of worms at once let’s be real! and again coming back to the hits like you asked- you can’t deny that THE hits are hits for a reason! they are musically good songs with good lyrics and good care put into them, and they just so happened to once again come out during a time of change, hence why “yesterday” is the main reference point for both beatles influence (most covered song of all time?!)

okay now i won’t open up those worm cans but you asked about paul so i will speak on paul(‘s music). i love paul’s solo stuff and i love his beatles contributions- i definitely don’t make that a secret, but as an ex-beatle he definitely got the short end of the stick after the breakup. i think people expected him to be putting out more beatles songs but you can’t put out beatles songs without the beatles so he put out paul songs and the world was too wounded from the loss of this pop culture monster known as the bee-ah-tles to really even care. and critics were really harsh for this reason as well! in the present, a lot of paul’s early solo work is being seen with fresh eyes, but for most of his career in the 70s and 80s he was left trying to outrun his former legacy- while still outputting an insane amount of music, most of it of exactly as high quality as the stuff he put out with the beatles. i really do think that the massive hate he got from the critical world + public, as well as his “overrated” reputation because he could only write “silly love songs” stems from the massive impact of beatlemania and how as a beatle, he took on a part larger than himself, and not entirely human- and man, how could anyone live up to a heartbroken expectation of millions of fans? so that’s my stance on the public reaction to paul’s solo stuff (stream RAM stream wings etc etc)

but overall to wrap up! a lot of the reason why the beatles/paul/the biggest hits are considered overrated are because they’ve been such a constant influential presence in pop culture for so long; people are bound to want to try and find issue with something that has maintained popularity for as long as the beatles have. and the fallout from beatlemania and the fact that the beatles story has largely turned to myth has to do with all of that- a lot of the world is still worshipping these random four guys from liverpool, a lot of people are still heartbroken that their body of work didn’t extend into decades past the 60s, and a lot of people don’t know much beyond that. and i think it’s easier to recognize this than to blatantly criticize on either side, or try to psychoanalyse people because their beliefs don’t line up. like c’mon people! listen to some groovy tunes, have an open mind, and do a little music research :) you may come out of it happier than you were before

#hi hazel :)) this is a little disjointed but i think you get the point. the pages of essay i could write on this… the essays WE could write!#but yeah and to anyone else reading this this barely covers the scope of the beatles because i didn’t have room to get into side discussions #on their personal lives and parasocial relationships and beatlemania trauma and their repackaging of black artists’ works and teenage girl #repression but. i guess if you want any of that just shoot me an ask :)#combefferre #ask #the beatles

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