#it will still be them because they will remain important to culture and music

[leroibobo]

some notes on specifically "middle eastern" (mashriqi + iran, caucuses, and turkey) jewish communities/history:

something to keep in mind: judaism isn't "universalist" like christianity or islam - it's easier to marry into it than to convert on your own. conversions historically happened, but not in the same way they did for european and caucasian christians/non-arab muslims.

that being said, a majority of middle eastern jews descend from jewish population who remained in palestine or immigrated/were forced (as is the case with "kurdish" jews) from palestine to other areas and mixed with locals/others who came later (which at some point stopped). pretty much everywhere in the middle east and north africa (me/na) has/had a jewish population like this.

with european jews (as in all of them), the "mixing" was almost entirely during roman times with romans/greeks, and much less later if they left modern-day greece/italy.

(none of this means jewish people are or aren't "indigenous" to palestine, because that's not what that word means.)

like with every other jewish diaspora, middle eastern jewish cultures were heavily influenced by wherever they ended up. on a surface level you can see this in things like food and music.

after the expulsion of jews from spain and portugal, sephardim moved to several places around the world; many across me/na, mostly to the latter. most of the ones who ended up in the former went to present-day egypt, palestine, lebanon, syria, and turkey. a minority ended up in iraq (such as the sassoons' ancestors). like with all formerly-ottoman territories, there was some degree of back and forth between countries and continents.

some sephardim intermarried with local communities, some didn't. some still spoke ladino, some didn't. there was sometimes a wealth gap between musta'arabim and sephardim, and/or they mostly didn't even live in the same places, like in palestine and tunisia. it really depends on the area you're looking at.

regardless, almost all the jewish populations in the area went through "sephardic blending" - a blending of local and sephardic customs - to varying degrees. it's sort of like the cultural blending that came with spanish/portugese colonization in central and south america (except without the colonization).

how they were treated also really depends where/when you're looking. some were consistently dealt a raw hand (like "kurdish" and yemenite jews) while some managed to do fairly well, all things considered (like baghdadi and georgian jews). most where somewhere in between. the big difference between me/na + some balkan and non-byzantine european treatment of jews is due to geography - attitudes in law regarding jews in those areas tended to fall into different patterns.

long story short: most european governments didn't consider anyone who wasn't "christian" a citizen (sometimes even if they'd converted, like roma; it was a cultural/ethnic thing as well), and persecuted them accordingly; justifying this using "race science" when religion became less important there after the enlightenment.

most me/na and the byzantine governments considered jews (and later, christians) citizens, but allowed them certain legal/social opportunities while limiting/banning/imposing others. the extent of both depend on where/when you're looking but it was never universally "equal".

in specifically turkey, egypt, palestine, and the caucuses, there were also ashkenazi communities, who came mainly because living as a jew in non-ottoman europe at the time sucked more than in those places. ottoman territories in the balkans were also a common destination for this sort of migration.

in the case of palestine, there were often religious motivations to go as well, as there were for some other jews who immigrated. several hasidic dynasites more or less came in their entirety, such as the lithuanian/polish/hungarian ones which precede today's neutrei karta.

ashkenazi migration didn't really happen until jewish emancipation in europe for obvious reasons. it also predates zionism - an initially secular movement based on contemporaneous european nationalist ideologies - by some centuries.

most ashkenazi jews today reside in the us, while most sephardic or "mizrahi" jews are in occupied palestine. there, the latter outnumber the former. you're more likely to find certain groups (like "kurds" and yemenites) in occupied palestine than others (like persians and algerians) - usually ones without a western power that backed them from reactionary antisemitic persecution and/or who came from poorer communities. (and no, this doesn't "justify" the occupation).

(not to say there were none who immigrated willingly/"wanted" to go, or that none/all are zionist/anti-zionist. (ben-gvir is of "kuridsh" descent, for example.) i'm not here to parse motivations.)

this, along with a history of racism/chauvinism from the largely-ashkenazi "left", are why many mizrahim vote farther "right".

(in some places, significant numbers of the jewish community stayed, like turkey, tunisia, and iran. in some others, there's evidence of double/single-digit and sometimes crypto-jewish communities.)

worldwide, the former outnumber the latter. this is thought to be because of either a medieval ashkenazi population boom due to decreased population density (not talking about the "khazar theory", which has been proven to be bullshit, btw) or a later, general european one in the 18th/19th centuries due to increased quality of life.

the term "mizrahi" ("oriental", though it doesn't have the same connotation as in english) in its current form comes from the zionist movement in the 1940s/50s to describe me/na jewish settlers/refugees.

(i personally don't find it useful outside of israeli jewish socio-politics and use it on my blog only because it's a term everyone's familiar with.)

about specifically palestinian jews:

the israeli term for palestinian jews is "old yishuv". yishuv means settlement. this is in contrast to the "new yishuv", or settlers from the initial zionist settlement period in 1881-1948. these terms are usually used in the sense of describing historical groups of people (similar to how you would describe "south yemenis" or "czechoslovaks").

palestinian jews were absorbed into the israeli jewish population and have "settler privilege" on account of their being jewish. descendants make up something like 8% of the israeli jewish population and a handful (including, bafflingly, netanyahu and smoltrich) are in the current government.

they usually got to keep their property unless it was in an "arab area". there's none living in gaza/the west bank right now unless they're settlers.

their individual views on zionism vary as much as any general population's views vary on anything.

(my "palestinian jews" series isn't intended to posit that they all think the same way i do, but to show a side of history not many people know about. any "bias" only comes from the fact that i have a "bias" too. this is a tumblr blog, not an encyclopedia.)

during the initial zionist settlement period, there were palestinian/"old yishuv" jews who were both for zionism and against it. the former have been a part of the occupation and its government for pretty much its entire history.

some immigrated abroad before 1948 and may refer to themselves as "syrian jews". ("syria" was the name given to syria/lebanon/palestine/some parts of iraq during ottoman times. many lebanese and palestinian christians emigrated at around the same time and may refer to themselves as "syrian" for this reason too.)

ones who stayed or immigrated after for whatever reason mostly refer to themselves as "israeli".

in israeli jewish society, "palestinian" usually implies muslims and christians who are considered "arab" under israeli law. you may get differing degrees of revulsion/understanding of what exactly "palestine"/"palestinians" means but the apartheid means that palestinian =/= jewish.

because of this, usage of "palestinian" as a self-descriptor varies. your likelihood of finding someone descendent from/with ancestry from the "old yishuv" calling themselves a "palestinian jew" in the same way an israeli jew with ancestry in morocco would call themselves a "moroccan jew" is low.

(i use it on here because i'm assuming everyone knows what i mean.)

samaritans aren't 'jewish', they're their own thing, though they count as jewish under israeli law.

#jewish #mizrahi #palestinian jews #info #my posts #repost with more info #sorry if this isn't the best time to post it (?) then again this is my blog and i'm not indebted to anyone so (shrugs) #i've been seeing a lot of misinfo too so

[icarusbetide]

hamilton & in the heights

i understand and often agree with the grievances people have with hamilton for perpetuating certain inaccurate narratives but i still love the way it intertwines and builds off of in the heights.

in the heights was probably on lmm's mind in 2008 when he read chernow's biography, since it won the tony for best musical that july. i can see why he was instantly taken in: the potential parallels are too good to be true. a biography about an immigrant from the caribbean, heavily emphasizing family or lack thereof. chernow's narrative (because he does create a narrative) is such a good parallel and foil to the previous musical it's actually crazy.

usnavi: the 21th century new yorker who yearns to return to the dominican republic. an orphan, but one that grew up in a strong community with love and support. family is incredibly important - he wants to find his roots. by the end of the musical, he realizes that he contributes to his culture and family's legacy by remaining in washington heights, keeping stories alive as their steady, dependable streetlight.

hamilton (musical characterized, not the historical figure): the west indian who yearned to get off of his island, and finds himself in revolutionary new york, never to look back. an orphan, but one shamed for illegitimacy. obsessed with legacy, but his own legacy, because what else does he have? he doesn't have "roots", a true community. constantly struggling between private and public duty. after his death, his wife picks up the mantle to protect their legacy, both the familial/personal and the public achievements.

i'd even argue that you can see hints of in the heights characters in hamilton. vanessa's "it won't be long now" would fit right into a hamilton prequel musical about his time on st. croix when he was still dreaming of a way out.

one musical feels burdened by the things that came before, usnavi's parents, nina's parents (and their parents), etc. etc. all passing something down to the next generation. hamilton seems to be burdened by the future and history as a concept - the weight of creating something entirely new, if that makes sense. it's only in the second act that loved ones take a forefront: philip & eliza during that tragedy. during the duel, we get theodosia (this man will not make an orphan of my daughter) and the long list of people hamilton thinks about (my son is on the other side, he's with my mother...washington is watching from the other side...eliza) right before the bullet gets him.

both are american stories, but there's clearly a very personal, continuing thread between them. i find myself willing to overlook certain issues if i think of hamilton as less an accurate retelling of a particular historical figure, but more about the themes that can be delivered effectively through that figure. i started this ramble with a point but i forgot it.

#hamilton #musical hamilton #hamilton musical #in the heights #lin manuel miranda #alexander hamilton #amrev

[ultfreakme]

Cn I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them? Thanks....

Hey anon!!! Thanks for the ask!! Favorite fics...I've written. You've given me too much freedom by asking my why I like them I am so sorry for the wall of text about to hit.

To Veer The Tides

It's a fic for Kuroko no Basuke which is basically just me slapping the character names onto a WILDLY different fantasy setting. It's for Akashi x Furihata. An arranged marriage AU where Akashi is the son of an emperor who went too power hungry and wanted to consolidate 7 mostly independent states(provinces??) into one, but he was defeated by the remaining states and to control Akashi, he is arranged to marry far below his station to Furihata, son of a destroyed noble house which is under the rule of Kagami's state. So it's about Akashi climbing back to power with Furihata initially thinking Akashi is pure evil but he soon realizes that maybe Akashi and his family aren't as evil as the people believe.

I ended up doing so much research, world-building and character expansion. It's more political intrigue than romance, lol. I still love that fic to death, I think I honestly peaked there for world-building, at least. I wrote it immediately after reading and watching Mo Dao Zu Shi and being first introduced to the concept of cultivation as a magic system and really wanted to put all my faves in flowy robes and long hair.

I want to get back to it, but I've discontinued it because I am simply not qualified to right about Dissociative Identity Disorder, systems and alters. Akashi has a terribly stereotypical portrayal of it in canon and I thought maybe I could research enough to write that, but I just, I don't know any systems and I felt like if I can't respect it, I didn't want to do it.

But it's still my favorite in terms of the world and aesthetics I had going on for it.

2. Tell Me Your Story (I'll Tell You Mine)

My current baby. The one I incessantly post about and draw for. Single-handedly over saturating the kyoshi warrior sokka x blue spirit zuko market. It's set in the canon world but I had to do so much research for this one too. I learned a lot, I think, while writing this. Big lesson being never ever write in present tense but if you're 200K+ words into it there is simply no going back RIP.

It started as just a silly romance because I thought it'd be funny to have Sokka and Zuko be completely oblivious to who they like. But as I began plotting and writing, it transformed into me projecting all my issues with colonialism and using the ATLA setting as base to dip a little bit deeper into the themes the show itself brings up, and some issues that it doesn't. Like, how colonialism uses your own culture against you, how it makes you fear who you are, makes you do things you don't want.

I deliberately chose that title because lots of indigenous communities in the world have lost their stories because of colonialism. Oral traditions and tales that are forgotten because people were killed and forced to never repeat them, forced to forget their languages. And that, really got to me. How colonialism slowly strips you of what makes human beings what they are; stories, art, music, dance, etc.

So this fic ended up being about how colonialism steals from you, uses what is yours AGAINST you and how it is important to embrace who you are and fight back.

3. Tell The Neighbours I'm Not Sorry

It's for Jon and Jay from DC Comics and Superfam. I wrote it when I was seeing a lot of biphobia against Jon and racism against Jay. As a bi asian, even if it was towards fictional characters, it was getting to me. People kept talking about how there's a specific way to be bi. Why did Jon never have a crisis about being queer? Why did Jon and Jay move so fast? Is Jay manipulating Jon just to get what he wants? It was all filled with a lot of stereotypes and biases.

Superman comics especially often taken up real world issues and puts it into the story. So I took all my anger and frustration from the biphobia and racism and wrote it into a fic.

It's about how there's no one way to being queer, and about how immigrants and non-white people are immediately classified as some kind of 'other' and 'bad' with zero grounding. It's also a little bit about colonialism on Jay's end. It's so charged with me going "FUCK IT!" and still somehow came out okay as a fic and I think I like that I managed to turn my anger into something productive.

Bonus

4. An Itajun fic I have not published and am still writing

It's my first JJK fic! It's an absolute mess in my drafts right now but I really like it, it's very fun for me. Junpei starts seeing and sensing curses far earlier because of built resentment from his bullies going too far and severely injuring him, his mom finds out and they move to Yuuji's area of Tokyo to get away from the school since they won't do anything about the bullying. Yuuji and Junpei run into each other and meet early at school. So the dynamics are kinda reversed, where Junpei is the one who is into the world of curses first while Yuuji has no clue, but they slowly interact and come together, forming a tight bond.

Junpei trusts no one and is dealing with all this curse nonsense trying to understand what it means. Yuuji is seemingly happy and chipper but he's going through tough times because his grandpa got hospitalized. It's both of them supporting each other and making sure the other isn't alone.

#riki asks #zukka #akafuri #itajun #jonjay

[mikazuki1709]

Portfolio: Kaeluc Fics

I am currently trying to organize my stuff here on tumblr a little bit. This is a list of all the fics I wrote about Kaeluc. It's a lot because I have been obsessed with this ship for years now. 😂

To this point I have written 171.436 words about them. I guess you could say I love them a totally normal amount. 😝

🦚 🦉

*~♥~*

2023:

A warm place to call home - One stormy night, Kaeya knocks on the door of his former home with a fluffy bundle in his hand. What starts as a simple incident soon and unexpectedly turns into an opportunity for the relationship between two estranged young men (G-Rating, 4.611 words)

For better, for worse, forever - Almost ten years have passed since Kaeya and Diluc got married, and together they have seen good times and bad. As they reminisce, they decide that after some really tough years, it is high time to make some beautiful new memories (G-Rating, 2.168 words)

He loves me, he loves me not - Young Master Kaeya is a man with many admirers. When he one day receives an anonymous love letter, hope awakens in him that it could be from his Diluc, who he is secretly in love with. His attempts to find out who is behind the letter cause his sworn brother a great deal of awkwardness (G-Rating, 4.901 words)

Husbands - The day of the wedding is finally there and many things go through Kaeya's mind while he waits for his future husband to arrive (G-Rating, 1.212 words)

Letters of love and affection - While Kaeya knows many ways to show affection, sometimes an old-fashioned handwritten letter still remains the best way to express his feelings (G-Rating, 1.013 words)

Make your move - When Kaeya comes to the Angel's Share to relax after a long week at work, he finds Diluc teaching chess to the traveler. The sight stirs up complicated feelings in him, but Diluc shows him that the game they used to play so much when they were younger and happier can still teach him a lesson or two about life, love and everything in between (G-Rating, 2.277 words)

Moonlight dancing - After the wedding, Kaeya and Diluc welcome their guests to the winery to celebrate with them. There is music and there is dance, and Diluc cannot help but reminisce about some fond memories from the past (G-Rating, 1.583 words)

More than mere child's play - Diluc overhears Kaeya playing a game of Truth or Dare, and perhaps he is a little too interested in the truth his former sworn brother has to tell (G-Rating, 1.575 words)

Sharing a blanket, sharing warmth - At several points in his life, Diluc finds himself forced to share a bed with Kaeya. In retrospect, it is always these nights that become important for the two of them (G-Rating, 2.930 words)

The joys of summer - Newly married, Kaeya and Diluc set off on a journey to Inazuma, where they discover the beauties of a foreign culture together (G-Rating, 2.843 words)

The language of the heart - The guestlist, the decoration, the flowers - Diluc would never have expected the wedding preparations to be this complicated. Luckily, Adelinde is there to help (G-Rating, 1.756 words)

Two glasses - It is no secret that Diluc neither likes the taste nor the effect of alcohol. Still, in the night before Kaeya's birthday, he sits down with a bottle of wine and a lot of thoughts in his head (G-Rating, 1.041 words)

Warm - Kaeya has always loved it when Diluc has held his hand. When they get closer again years after their falling out, such touches are suddenly no longer a matter of course, and Kaeya cannot help but miss them (G-Rating, 1.388 words)

Would you still love me? - When Kaeya returns from his trip to Sumeru, Diluc immediately notices that something is wrong. It takes a lot of patience before his friend finally pours out his heart to him in a special place on a frosty spring night (G-Rating, 2.499 words)

2022:

A Cavalry Captain's struggle - As the Knights Of Favonius' Cavalry Captain, young Diluc has to present his profession to the children of Mondstadt's kindergarten. He asks Kaeya to help him with this task (G-Rating, 1.390 words)

A game of truth - Kaeya challenges Diluc to a game of chess. The loser has to drink a truth potion, the winner gets to ask three questions. However, he has not expected that Diluc, just like him, agrees with certain ulterior motives (G-Rating, 1.755 words)

A lazy lunch break - Kaeya and Diluc are enjoying their lunch break together at Windrise. When Diluc falls asleep, Kaeya uses the chance to look closely at his friend's features and discovers a detail he enjoys more than anything else (G-Rating, 844 words)

Close to you - Kaeya is worried because Diluc is clearly overworked and needs some rest, but is too stubborn to admit it to himself or anyone else. Only after he has fallen ill does he realise that Kaeya was right and accepts his request to take a short vacation together. They set off together for Liyue, where they spend a few pleasant days and grow closer again, both emotionally and physically (E-Rating, 9.561 words)

Comfort Habits - When Diluc gets a report that Kaeya was seen at the Statue Of The Seven, catching crystalflies, he knows immediately what the other needs. But with things being so difficult between them, is he really the one to offer him comfort? (G-Rating, 2.165 words)

Everything I want to see - When they were children, Diluc made a promise to Kaeya, but was not able to keep it back then. For a long time, the promise seems forgotten and unattainable, but many years later they both find out that it just took a little bit longer than expected for the right moment to arrive (G-Rating, 2.605 words)

Fools in love - Kaeya bought a gift for Diluc but does not dare to give it to him. Rosaria is annoyed, but still decides to help to finally get her favourite drinking buddy back (G-Rating, 715 words)

I'll be here - When Kaeya borrows a shirt from Diluc, the sight of the other's body, so clearly changed over the years they have been apart, triggers an inner turmoil in the redheaded man (G-Rating, 903 words)

Lost and found - Mondstadt and the Windblume festival just belong together, but although Kaeya loves his adopted home, he does not only hold good memories of the celebrations (G-Rating, 2.829 words)

Seven Flowers - Young Jean tells Diluc and Kaeya about a flower magic that can show you who you will spend your life with later. When Diluc wants to try it out, Kaeya worries: who does his sworn brother hope to see in this prophecy? (G-Rating, 1.229 words)

Small favours - When Diluc asks Kaeya to put some sun lotion on his back, who is he to refuse the request? (G-Rating, 1.260 words)

Sunburnt - Kaeya is having a good time at the Golden Apple Archipelago. Seeing him like this brings a lot of complicated emotions back to Diluc (G-Rating, 1.332 words)

The brothers - Young Diluc and Kaeya are confused when the other Knights Of Favonius suddenly seem to look down on them and no longer even want to talk to them. Jean helps the two to clear up the underlying misunderstanding (G-Rating, 1.105 words)

The empty room - Little Kaeya is feeling very lost and lonely after his arrival at the Ragnvindr estate. When Diluc finds out, he does his best to console his new friend (G-Rating, 889 words)

The fever - Kaeya falls asleep at the Angel's Share because he has caught a fever. Diluc wants to take care of him, but struggles with his own contradictory feelings (G-Rating, 1.448 words)

The picture - While looking through the drawers of his desk in search of a quill, Diluc discovers an old picture of him, his father and Kaeya. It brings back a lot of memories and he can't help but wonder what his former sworn brother did with his copy of the photograph. When he coincidentally finds out the answer a little later, it unsettles him a lot (T-Rating, 6.137 words)

The promise - Even in the city of freedom, not everybody agrees with young Kaeya and Diluc having a relationship. Master Crepus has his own thoughts on the matter, but his life ends before he can share them with the two young men. Many years later, be it by chance or by fate, his message reaches them after all (G-Rating, 6.151 words)

The question - There are times when Kaeya just feels insecure and alienated from himself. One night he finds a little comfort in a place where he had not expected to experience something like this ever again (G-Rating, 1.591 words)

The secret plan - It is not a secret in Mondstadt that Kaeya Alberich does not like to celebrate his birthday. Diluc thinks that this is not okay, and he is not alone in his opinion. With determination and dedication he sets about preparing an unforgettable birthday for his beloved (M-Rating, 11.760 words)

The tattoo - Kaeya tells Diluc that he wants to get a tattoo. Diluc soon regrets not telling his friend that he does not like that idea at all… (G-Rating, 774 words)

The War In Your Eyes - Kaeya wakes up in his appartment after a night of drinking. Next to him lies the corpse of another knight, pierced by his sword. He has no memory of what happened and no idea what to do now. Diluc learns of the suspicions against his former sworn brother and can no longer pretend to be indifferent. Both have to work together to clarify what really happened and are forced to face their greatest fears and doubts in the process. (T-Rating, 39.624 words)

The winter storm - Nobody wants to be alone during the darkest days of the year around midwinter. When a snowstorm sweeps over Mondstadt, Kaeya and Diluc suddenly find themselves separated from each other, but at the same time in unexpected company. They find out that even spontaneous changes of plans can have their very own charm (G-Rating, 5.064 words)

Things left unsaid - It was a rainy day when both Diluc and Kaeya lost everything that was important to them. Estranged from each other, they parted ways. But does it really have to end like this or can their relationship be mended? (E-Rating, 18.557 words)

Today, here and now - Diluc's birthday is approaching and Kaeya is unsure what to do: He wants to be there for him because he knows very well that it is a tough day for his friend, but does Diluc want him around at all? And is there anything he can do to help and make this day the happy occasion Diluc deserves in honour of his birthday? (G-Rating, 3.311 words)

Trapped - The Acting Grand Master informs Diluc that Kaeya did not return from one of his missions. Diluc does not hesitate and sets out to find him, but things don't work out the way he had planned it (G-Rating, 2.562 words)

Under The Summer Moon - Kaeya was hoping for some quality time with Diluc at the Golden Apple Archipelago, but their travel group grew a little bit bigger than expected. When he wakes up in the middle of the night to the bright light of a huge moon, he knows their chance has come (G-Rating, 2.704 words)

2021:

A suspicious gift - Diluc receives a mysterious present that sends him down memory lane (G-Rating, 433 words)

A very peculiar feeling - Young Kaeya wonders: Why is it that he can't hold his sworn brother's hand anymore without getting nervous? (G-Rating, 643 words)

For better or for worse - Once upon a time, two boys swore an oath to each other. Many years later, one of them is no longer sure if the other even remembers it (G-Rating, 1.646 words)

Leaving you breathless - Diluc can't accept losing to Kaeya. Luckily, he has a plan (G-Rating, 235 words)

The black market auction - Kaeya tries to infiltrate Liyue's underworld undercover. When Diluc also turns up on the scene, he fears for the success of his plan. What brings the other man into the city in the first place, and can Kaeya stop him from revealing his identity? (G-Rating, 2.166 words)

The dessert - It is Kaeya's birthday and Diluc invites him to the winery to have dinner together. It turns out that he has prepared a special treat for dessert (T-Rating, 1.080 words)

The last waltz - The last dance of the New Year's Ball always has a special meaning in Mondstadt, so Diluc gathers all his courage to be able to dance it with someone special to him (G-Rating, 798 words)

The secret competition - Everybody in Mondstadt is excited about a new kind of game. Kaeya and Diluc also enter the competition for the first place (G-Rating, 1.520 words)

The Windblume offering - For his achievements in the Knights Of Favonius, young Diluc is appointed as Windblume Star. But what flower will he choose as an offering to Barbatos? (G-Rating, 810 words)

Walking in your shoes - Kaeya and Diluc find out what it means to take the other's position for one day. They both handle the situation quite differently (G-Rating, 1.265 words)

Who wants to be a pirate? - Little Kaeya is not happy with always being the one who has to play the pirate (G-Rating, 778 words)

#kaeluc #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #portfolio #masterpost

[orange-locust]

thinking about screen time for oluwande in s2. i'd love it if the pre-reunion arc of s2 had a focus on the dynamic between olu and stede as they try to get back to the revenge. i think it would present really good opportunities for developing both characters

like: oluwande was elected captain by the crew not long ago. now stede rolls up, broke, with no actual skills, and does - what?

my guess is: greets them as their captain. which creates a very interesting moment of tension in which i suspect everyone on that sandbar stares at oluwande.

it's loaded because, on one hand, i still do not think the crew of the revenge find stede especially capable; i think they just learned by the end of s1 to like and appreciate him as a person. this does not mean they necessarily trust him with their lives! on the other hand: stede has a rowboat.

there's still a power dynamic here but suddenly it is much closer to being balanced. oluwande is experienced, a competent leader, trusted by the crew - what does stede have on him anymore? not a salary, not a ship, not even a legal identity. stede has white privilege, a certain amount of upper-class cultural capital (though who knows how far that will get him without the clothes to go with it or how many spaces he still has access to where it will do him any good), and a rowboat.

but it's this show! and so i think it will be treated as an opportunity to unpack all that stuff with a great deal of heart. im curious about, like...

oluwande's development as a leader. what is he a natural at, and where do we get to see him grow? why does he avoid leadership? has he had much opportunity to try?

if we're going by actors' ages, olu is the youngest among the remaining crew by about 10 years. yet everyone, including stede, seems to look up to him. how does he feel about that? (it can be very complicated, when you're a younger person who perhaps has some insecurities and is not going out of your way to Be Important, to be treated like a leader figure.)

the reshuffling of power dynamics among the crew now that inherited wealth is out of the picture, but race and class aren't

stede being forced to actually talk it through, as a crew. what is "it"? dunno. a lot. maybe they decide to do music therapy after all

oluwande and the crew getting to demonstrate some object lessons in what power can be in the absence of wealth. violence, sure, but also collective power, charm, skill, trickery - i suspect they'll all make a name for themselves and i'd love for it not to just be the stede bonnet captain thomas show but a fierce irrepressible gory theatrical weirdness that emerges from all of them.

who is explicitly, and implicitly, the captain at any given point in time? does stede have trouble handing off leadership? oluwande seems sympathetic to stede in s1, but how does he navigate his loyalties to stede and to the crew when they're placed at odds with each other?

obviously, i would also like backstory - i'm very curious how someone with oluwande's temperament ends up a pirate. we've all seen the text post that says oluwande has veteran mcdonald's manager energy. this being the show that it is, i don't think the answer is just going to be Upsetting Colonial Violence, either, although i doubt they would ellide the role of empire completely either. so what happened? did oluwande run away as a young man and have a rude awakening, only to realize you can't really come back from being an outlaw, and maybe that's why we saw him being so sympathetic to stede? did he work on a ship that gradually slid into piracy?

to get sentimental for a second: does oluwande love the sea? or is he dreaming of a home on the shore? has jim changed that? how?

oluwande was a really great supporting character in s1, but i'd really love to see him driving the story in s2. i think it would take the show to some really interesting, fun, heartfelt places

#oluwande boodhari #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2

[fan-mans]

I did some ship chart stuff a while ago and I've been sitting on it for too long lmao. So here it is with some bonus colors as well!! Original is by redcrowz here

(Btw this is more my headcanons about the inter-character relationships than my feelings on the ship itself cause I don't care too much about them aside from otps, lol.)

Color-coded versions with more analysis under the cut

I'd like to add that I think all the circuit are their own friend groups except the special circuit because the bruiser bros don't have many friends. I have more friendships as well, but this is meant to be the more important friendships, lol.

Narcis and Dragon + Heike are a bit of a given since they're the youngest boxers in the West coast wvba gang, so they quickly became friends and started hanging out together despite their different skill levels.

Hoy and Gabby are friends mostly because they're the oldest boxers, though Hoy still sees Gabby as a 'kid', much like the rest of his co-workers. Gabby doesn't mind though, he thinks it's funny.

Dragon and Hoy are another pair that sprung up due to coincidence. When Dragon first came to the US, he knew nothing about it and Hoy took him under his wing and kept close watch on him, bonding over shared culture and experiences. Even though they speak different forms of Chinese, they got along really well and still remain close.

Gabby and Joe are in a similar boat. Gabby watched over and befriended Joe when he was younger and they've had a very familial relationship since. Gabby and Joe see each other basically as surrogate brothers and by now nothing can change that.

Joe and Bob are more of a weird pair, bonding over a love of music and singing after having met through Gabby. They chill together when in the same city and Joe sometimes makes guest apperances singing/playing piano for Bob's music.

Clown and Bear are second cousins twice removed via marriage and met at a wedding in Italy. They were overjoyed to see each other in the ring again and have their 'buddy I went on hijinks with at that one wedding' back!

Bear is friends with Sandman and SMM mostly because they're all Jewish and feel a lot of solidarity because of that. They like to have debates about anything and anything they can think of which, though they can get heated, are all in good fun.

Hondo and Carmen are friends through Don and are often seen talking about sailor moon together.

Carmen and Disco meeting was a complete accident as they ran into each other at a salon once and got into a conversation about their hair (And bleaching it). They were both really surprised to meet each other in the wvba building and laughed their asses off at the whole situation.

Disco is friends with Doc exclusively because they both like disco music. Disco adores Doc's leopard print jacket and looks up to him as a boxer as well.

Disco is buddies with Sandman and Soda mostly cause he thinks they're both cool. With Soda especially, they share a very bouncy and positive look on life as well a a sense of humor. Sandman is someone he just really respects and vibes with.

Hippo and SMM are big surfing buddies and hang out mostly because of that. Also Macho really likes Hippo's Hot Wheels collection and has contributed to it many times.

Pretty much everyone dislikes the bruiser bros but I put the especially bad relationships down here.

Sandy doesn't like them especially because, though he tries to be neutral, he gets the worst vibes and especially doesn't like Nick for being such an asshole to Joe.

Hoy... well Nick is just ablest to him, saying that if he needs a staff to get around he's too pathetic to be a boxer.

Nick didn't take his loss to Joe well whatsoever and harassed him for months. It got so bad Joe needed a restraining order. He never told Mr. Dream because he's too scared of what either of the brothers might do as revenge.

Pizza just loathes Clown because he thinks Clown makes their country look like a joke. This is part of the reason why he no longer even watches boxing.

These are guys I just hc as aro so no romance for them. Though Mr. Dream is pretty positive about romance himself, Macho and Hippo are more negative about it and don't want it in their lives.

These are 'other' characters I ship the guys with. Bear and Pizza both have wives they adore and Disco has a boyfriend stuck in another state.

Not pictured: All of Carmen and Don's side-partners.

For Don and Hondo, their relationship is complicated due to them being mutually in love but unable to bring romance into their relationship because Don agreed that Carmen would be his only romantic involvement.

Pizza, Dream, and Doc all fought together back in the day, once close friends, but drifted after Pizza left the boxing world and America itself due to mob threats. Deep down, he still misses them.

This is characters who have a mutual crush, but won't really pursue those relationships.

Aran and Mask really admire each other's cheating but mutually agree that a relationship between them, especially a long-distance one, just wouldn't work. They meet up every once and a while to hang out and mess around, though.

Hondo kinda has a crush on Carmen, and vice versa, but Hondo is scared to pursue anything with her due to the whole thing with Don.

Don is crushing hard on Joe and Joe would happily reciprocate a date, but Don is having a hard enough time dealing with his love for Hondo so he refuses to pursue Joe. Joe meanwhile thinks Don is taken fully and loathes the idea of 'taking' him from Carmen.

Sandy and Joe have a strong mutual crush but are too scared of each other to do anything about it. Joe looks down on himself a lot and thinks Sandy would think he's weird. Sandy meanwhile is scared of hurting Joe and thinks Joe secretly fears him.

These are one-sided crushes, the arrow points to who has a crush on who.

Narcis and Don both really like Wii Aran, but he doesn't feel much the same. Narcis doesn't try to hide his feelings much but Don definitely does. Aran doesn't hate either of them (Okay, he used to hate Narcis because he dislikes British people by default) and might even consider a relationship with either if they brought it up to him. However, he just wouldn't be able to trust them or develop feelings on the same level.

Disco has always had a mild crush on Heike but it's never been reciprocated. Heike is aware of Disco's crush and has put out very gentle hints that he really likes Dragon instead.

Kaiser has always liked Joe a lot, but never dropped hints or let Joe know. Joe's feelings are complex because though he thinks he still likes Kaiser romantically, he doesn't actually love him like that or want them to be anything more than close friends.

Nick has a raging crush on Joe and HATES IT. He hates himself, he hates Joe more, and he's madly obsessed with the guy who beat him. Joe is 100% oblivious. It's chaos.

And now my very weird otps!!!

Joe/Aran (Burnt Bread) is obvious as my fave. I just think that their dynamic is perfect for what the other really wants in life. For Joe, he wants to be bold and brash and embrace his weird side like Aran. For Aran, he wants to be able to accept that he actually has people who care about him and have more stability and trust both in his life and relationships like Joe. Also I like the idea of Joe just becoming so weird because of Aran, it's hilarious. They're perfect for each other.

Don/Carmen (Perfecto) is obviously perfect (Or as close as you can get). It's a long-lasting love from childhood situation with these two, almost like a fairytale. They've loved each other deeply for years and years and had plans for marriage since they were kids. Even while loving other people, they're each other's soulmate. If they were to ever separate, they'd both be devastated. This ship is perfect for angst and drama as they balance their love for each other with their desire for others and deal with all the emotional chaos that can bring.

Kaiser/Tiger (Magic Combat Boots)... Okay, I'll admit, this one is weird. I don't remember what drew me to ship them in the first place- maybe some fanart, maybe the shared 'stache power, idk. But no matter what it was, this relationship is like a marshmallow, sweet, soft, and easy. Tiger and Kaiser come off, to me, as very normal guys who are straightforward and down to earth and are the types who don't need a lot of chaos in their love lives. This ship is 110% fluff and very mellow- no drama, no chaos, just two aro/aspec dudes with great mustaches falling in love. I also like the dynamic of Tiger becoming a parent to Kaiser's adopted boys as well :).

Bull/Soda (Angry and Sweet) is the cat/dog dynamic I have for punch out. Though they don't have opposite personalities, they do contrast a lot and have different ways of approaching life. However, they definitely desire each other for such strong personalities and find a mutual bond in a lot of their traumas and with being gentle to each other. Another fluffy ship, but with a lot more angst potential with how I write their backstories.

Bob/Hurricane (Hurricane Shuffle) this one is another 'opposites attract' type ship. This time however it's an introvert/extrovert pairing. Bob is a huge overwhelming extrovert and Hurricane is a self-conscious introvert. They're the type to not stray form their comfort zones, but with each other's help, they both grow more mature and comfortable with their lives. Though there's definitely drama to be had with them, there isn't much angst and much more fluff.

Heike/Dragon (Mandarin Ducklings) is all about young, inexperienced love. These two are some of the youngest boxers, so it makes sense for their relationship to be kinda clunky and awkward, in a cute way of course. For them, it would be chaotic and strange to deal with since they're each other's first serious relationship. A lot of this ship, imo, is about figuring things out, dealing with common problems, and just navigating through love! Sweet in a super chaotic way.

Narcis/Snes Aran (Prince and the pauper) is an unlikely friends to lovers story. Despite Narcis being kind of a brat, there isn't any initial dislike between him and Snes Aran like I hc with him and Wii Aran. Instead, I think Snes Aran starts hanging with him to satiate his own curiosity, before actually coming to like him a lot, and vice versa. Snes is head over heels for Narcis and ends up following him around as his bestie for a time before Narcis realizes he LIKE likes this un-civil, low-class guy. Snes is Narcis' bro and backs him up whenever and doesn't challenge him very much at all, while Narcis not only doesn't look down on snes but does what he can to make him feel equal. And that's what they want in relationships!

#minor circuit #major circuit #world circuit #special circuit #doc louis #mr. dream #pizza pasta #punch out #punch out wii #super punch out #punch out arcade #glass joe x aran ryan #burnt bread #don Flamenco x Carmen #perfecto #great tiger x von kaiser #magic combat boots #bald bull x soda popinski #angry and sweet #bob charlie x piston hurricane #hurricane shuffle #Narcis prince x aran ryan #prince and the pauper #heike kagero x dragon chan #Mandarin ducklings #oh my god #i've really been rambling lmao #but i have a million thoughts sooo #I'm not gonna be ashamed #if you're sensitive to people disagreeing with you about ships or character interpretations just don't look at this

[tygerbug]

DOCTOR WHO: The Star Beast (2023): It's great to have David Tennant and Catherine Tate back on Doctor Who. That's enough to give this a good review; little else matters. It's a return to form (or format) for the series, and should delight fans of the 2008 incarnation of Doctor Who. The things that are bad about it were also bad in 2008, and might seem nostalgic by now. Tate and Tennant have funny and touching moments, and are still a great team. It's like they never left. It's also about as subtle as a croquet hammer to the face. This is not necessarily a complaint. This is Doctor Who, after all.

It's the 60th anniversary of the venerable British sci-fi series, which follows a sort of Sherlock Holmes from space, a hyper-intelligent Time Lord from Gallifrey, travelling in his blue police box, the TARDIS, on adventures through time and space, battling monsters and saving the day. Originally running from 1963 to 1989, the series was revived by Russell T Davies in 2005. Series star Christopher Eccleston left after one series. He is a man of strong principles, who had a terrible first shoot as the producers and directors were still figuring the show out (and putting the cast in mortal danger quite by accident). Perhaps he disliked the producers, and their phony praise and positivity. Perhaps he disliked the sex criminals in the supporting cast, John Barrowman and Noel Clarke. Or maybe he couldn't see himself as part of a franchise selling action figures.

Eccleston said later: "I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up around the series … I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility, the price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of shit … My face didn’t fit and I’m sure they were glad to see the back of me. The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails."

The revived series was a hit, which became a culture-shifting phenomenon in the UK during the tenure of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. There were endless toys and spinoff series (including The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, and Doctor Who Confidential). Steven Moffat took over as showrunner in 2010, for series with Matt Smith (and later Peter Capaldi). Matt Smith's series got a big promotional push in America, but in the UK, viewership peaked during David Tennant's later series and specials (including his guest appearance with Matt Smith for the 50th Anniversary special). By viewership figures, David Tennant was the Doctor for a generation. Russell T Davies had also cultivated a female fanbase who enjoyed this more romantic take on the Doctor, and who didn't connect quite as much with Peter Capaldi's Doctor later on.

The series has its issues, its weak points you can criticize it for. Almost all of these involve the writers. None of these problems involve the lead actors. Doctor Who is a meaty role for any actor to play, and every actor has given an interesting and unique take on it. David Tennant, however, cast a longer shadow than most. He felt like the actor that Russell T Davies had been writing for the whole time. Arguably, Christopher Eccleston and Peter Capaldi based their portrayals on Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor. But Matt Smith and Jodie Whittaker were interpreting what David Tennant had done.

Russell T Davies' tenure was criticized for its lack of subtlety, with loud music by Murray Gold and over the top emotional content. Plus whatever was going on in Torchwood, the sex pest spinoff of Doctor Who. There was a hint of sex pestery in Steven Moffat's Doctor Who as well, along with misogyny, and it wasn't nearly as clever as it pretended to be, a problem which affected later seasons of Sherlock (with Benedict Cumberbatch), and that 2007 Jekyll show. These shows presented complex puzzle-box mysteries that the writer had no actual answers for, and then openly called the audience stupid for asking for those answers.

In spite of these issues, Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat produced a lot of excellent television during this time and are some of the best and most consequential writers the show ever had. It has been said that every Doctor Who writer has one Doctor Who story within them, that they are going to rewrite over and over again, and that the show needs to switch writers and lead actors every few years in order to avoid repeating itself. The Davies and Moffat years eventually did repeat themselves, and needed to move on to something new.

The series has suffered declining viewership since its heyday around 2008-2010, even taking the years of 2016 and 2019 off for budgetary reasons. There were long stretches between new episodes, and social media was not as interested in the series as it had once been. Chris Chibnall's tenure as showrunner, beginning in late 2018, and starring Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor, was not as much of a cultural force as the show had been a decade earlier. There wasn't much press coverage, and very little merchandise. In Tennant's day, every minor character seemed to get an action figure, even a "Faceless Grandma" and the metal frame that previously displayed minor villain "Cassandra." This time round, only the Doctor and a few of her friends got toys. There was even an incarnation of The Doctor that didn't get a figure- Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor. It also caused a civil war within the older Doctor Who fandom that the lead character was now played by a white woman, and a black woman. Most of the older fans on social media came out as openly racist, sexist and transphobic, declaring that the show had lost its soul and had been ruined by "wokeness."

Meanwhile, other Doctor Who fans, who are not raving bigots, struggled with this incarnation of the show for other reasons. Personally, I found it rather dull. While Jodie Whittaker herself is a delight, writer Chris Chibnall was less so. He introduced more women and people of color into the cast, and gay themes, but the result was hardly explosive. As a white Doctor Who fan, he wrote these characters as if he was afraid to break them. Canonically, Doctor Who becomes a woman and has a lesbian romance with a woman of color, and that should be more interesting than it is. In practice, the love interest is a police officer with no character traits, and the two barely hold hands, or show any affection toward one another. At one point, Doctor Who, herself, has more sexual tension with a frog on a chair. Many scenes consist of one of Doctor Who's friends telling another friend how wonderful they think the other friend is. This was the introvert's Doctor Who.

Chibnall wrote with subtlety during his first year, not wanting to bring back classic villains, and preferring to let this incarnation of the show have its own vibe. For the second year he attempted to be Russell T Davies and bring all the villains back. Then he did whatever Flux was. There's a big, overarching story where they retcon the Doctor's lineage, basically to fit the backstory hinted at in novels in the 90s, and in some of the last stories before the show was cancelled in the 80s, where The Doctor is a more ancient figure than suspected. It's nerdy, and a bit "woke," as Doctor Who often is. This was a little controversial and they leave that plot thread hanging. It's unresolved by the end of Chibnall's tenure, making me wonder what the point was. Oh, and Chibnall has clearly watched the Russell T Davies episodes but not the Steven Moffat ones, so for anyone still paying attention, the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey gets destroyed and restored and destroyed and restored and destroyed and etc, because the writer has lost track of the series lore. I guess 90s lore from novels when the show was cancelled was more important than the last few years of actual episodes, which normal people would have watched.

This incarnation of the show wasn't bad, exactly, but it wasn't enough either, at least not for me. Doctor Who has always been a silly show, and it's allowed to be good or ridiculously bad, as long as it's interesting. There's not much room for bland subtlety, and Chibnall didn't do "over the top" all that well. The Sacha Dhawan version of The Master, for example, could be a bit much at times.

"Come back, Russell T Davies, all is forgiven?" There is no such subtlety in Russell T Davies' interpretation, for better or for worse, and I'm thankful for that. Russell has invited Steven Moffat to return, and I wouldn't be surprised if he brings Chris Chibnall back as well, to get the three flavors of current Doctor Who. For all the bigoted fan complaints about Doctor Who becoming a black woman, and the show becoming "woke," Russell T Davies' writing here is about as "woke" as the show can manage. Yes, the Doctor is a familiar white man again, with a familiar white woman as his supporting player. But the supporting characters are basically just talking into the camera and giving speeches that boil down to "Trans rights," "Queer rights," "Nonbinary rights" and/or "rights for the disabled." There's a good-guy UNIT soldier in a turban, and women have a particular superpower. It is as subtle as a croquet hammer to the head.

Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Well, politically it's a good thing. Transphobia has taken over every newspaper in the UK like a disease, and the average British journalist has a position on trans rights indistinguishable from that of Adlf Htler. So it is important to say these things without equivocating or "listening to both sides," since in the UK this is the great civil rights battle of our time. (The US is having a similar battle, but not one where the bigots control the newspapers entirely, and pretend to be left-wing feminists. In the US, wanting to exterminate the queers Dalek-style is generally considered to be a right-wing position, rather than a feminist one.) At one point, back in the day, Russell T Davies wanted to do a David Tennant Doctor Who story guest-starring Joanne Rowling. Guess that's not happening now. That would be scarier than the Daleks.

In practice it's a bit clunky, and the characters of Rose Noble (Yasmin Finney) and Ruth Madeley (the wheelchair-using Shirley Anne Bingham of UNIT) end up feeling underdeveloped, like day players saying political slogans, as if they're in a commercial. At least they're pleasant enough, and in a Doctor Who context one welcomes the lack of subtlety. But I'd have also welcomed a few rewrites. Who is Rose talking to, when she's saying this? Doesn't firing a gun cause kickback that would send someone on wheels flying backward? Is no one asking these questions? As has often been said about Doctor Who, a Doctor Who writer needs someone to stop him, someone to say "no."

Oh, but these are not questions for a Saturday Doctor Who. This is nit-picking a family adventure show which was never designed to hold up to such scrutiny. The onscreen representation is saying "Trans and non-binary and disabled people are good," and there are just enough little human moments here and there to make that feel lived-in and relevant. These characters were designed to be cosplayed. Rose faces bullying from her schoolmates, and Donna gets most of the good lines about it. Maybe the problem is that these characters aren't Doctor Who or Donna Noble. We don't know as much about them, and they're not allowed to be as funny.

Because, hey, have we mentioned, David Tennant is Doctor Who again, with Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, fifteen years later? Tate was a television comedian and they're still a funny team together, returning to these roles as if they never left. Tennant's glee at being back in the role is infectious, and seems to multiply tenfold in his scenes with Tate.

Tennant had returned for audio plays by Big Finish, with both Billie Piper and Catherine Tate, and the Tate ones are better. Billie Piper, as Rose Tyler, was really the star of Doctor Who for its first two "new" series. She's good, but it pushes Tennant into a romantic role, almost as a supporting character, which is tougher to play. Tennant was more secure in the part by 2008, and he and Catherine Tate have great chemistry as a comedy team, something they also did onstage in "Much Ado About Nothing."

The character of Donna Noble was originally a one-episode celebrity guest star, having a terrible wedding. Donna proved too memorable not to bring back for a full series. There's something honest and real about Donna, and Tate's performance. Russell T Davies seems to delight in writing bitchy middle-aged women. Incidentally Jacqueline King is back as her mother Sylvia.

Donna Noble also has unfinished business here, and Russell T Davies is all too happy to finally undo her bittersweet ending. (Whether Martha Jones will even get a mention is still up in the air. The poor girl ended up with Noel Clarke's Mickey Smith, and Torchwood, a nasty fate indeed.)

Rachel Talalay is also back in the director's chair, after doing several excellent episodes with Peter Capaldi's Doctor. Murray Gold is also back, doing his usual loud job on the music. Bombastic and overpowering, but memorable. They've done something different with the theme tune! It's kind of weird! But it's fine! It has chewing noises!

The Star Beast is also the first onscreen appearance of Beep the Meep, a creature who first appeared in Doctor Who comics (starring the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker) in 1980 (and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, who is credited here). A practical character enhanced with some CGI, Beep the Meep looks very impressive onscreen, and instantly becomes an iconic Doctor Who creature. Miriam Margolyes is the celebrity guest voice. (Stuntwoman Cecily Fay also performs the character.)

Yes, it's a return to form for the series, as it was intended to be. It feels like a 2008 episode, apart from the murky, dark, contrast-free, cinematography which has infected most television these days. (See: any Disney+ event show.) The show has struggled with budget and cultural relevance lately, and bringing back a popular Doctor for three specials feels like exactly the right move for its 60th anniversary. They've partnered with Disney+ for this run of episodes, a move that I hope they don't regret. And you see it in the budget, including an astoundingly large TARDIS set, which Tennant's Doctor visibly loves running around.

Davies and Tennant already did a five-minute comedy scene for the Children In Need charity this year, where we see Davros, creator of the Doctor's evil arch-enemies The Daleks, without his famous mutation and disabilities. Oh yes, it's the "woke" agenda again - Davies felt it was in bad taste to show an evil disabled character alongside an appeal for disabled children, and will apparently present the character this way going forward (at the cost of his familiar design). Since The Doctor is always meddling in time, any continuity errors between stories in the show's long history can technically be explained away by the timeline changing. And for example, the James Bond series has a long history of associating disability with villainy. There were complaints about the change, of course. The short is funny and cheeky, playing off of older Doctor Who lore while demolishing it at the same time. "I am allowed to do this," Davies and Tennant seem to be saying to the viewers, "and I am having fun doing it." Well, as long as you're having fun.

Jodie Whittaker's Doctor Who didn't get as much press coverage and merchandise, nor did Capaldi's, and maybe this is the shot in the arm the show needs to be a cultural force again. This is not a knock against these actors, who did good work in the role despite my nitpicks.

The original anniversary specials for Doctor Who involved bringing back the second Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton, whose layered and mischievous performance inspired every Doctor that followed. Bringing back David Tennant, the second Doctor Who of the New Series, feels very similar. It worked ten years ago, for a special in 2013, and it certainly works now.

This is an attempt to get the general public to say, "Wow, Doctor Who is back." It's big and silly in a very specific way that you'll remember from 15 years ago.

And yes, Doctor Who is back. Oh, and this isn't David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. It is, somehow, David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. Older and unshaven, The Doctor remembers being female very recently, and it has changed the character's perspective on things.

Some of the ending sucks, and some of the middle involves Tennant doing schtick apparently written for Tom Baker, who is a different actor than David Tennant is. (The 1980 comic was adapted for audio in 2019.)

I believe that two more specials will follow, followed by a series starring Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who. This promises to be extremely "woke" and "queer," if we're lucky.

Neil Patrick Harris will also be playing The Toymaker, an incarnation of Michael Gough's famous villain from a now-mostly lost 1966 serial, who was always teased to return, but never quite did. An 80s version, "The Nightmare Fair," has been recorded for audio. The original serial is so old that the character has slightly racist Asian undertones, and the N-word is said by a supporting player. It's not a great serial, but Gough is good in it, as a seemingly all-powerful puppetmaster, playing deadly games. The show considered writing (an ailing and cranky) William Hartnell out of the program here, using the Toymaker's powers. The Doctor would "rejuvenate" instead in "The Tenth Planet," later established as the "regeneration" powers of a Time Lord, which cause one actor to become another. Convenient. It's also the crucial reason why the show has lasted as long as it has. The show's format is fairly repetitive, but it can switch out lead actors and headwriters at will, and interpret the character in a different way, every few years.

Oh, but we miss them when they're gone. Most of the actors who have played Doctor Who and his friends have come back for audio dramas presented by Big Finish (and, occasionally, the BBC). There has also been the occasional anniversary special. But David Tennant coming back as the current Doctor is something a bit different, something unprecedented. They should do this with the other actors as well. They won't, but they should. Especially since Paul McGann and Jo Martin never actually got to do series as the character.

In the same week, we saw two special presentations. One was 2013's "An Adventure in Space and Time," made for the 50th Anniversary and starring David Bradley as the first actor to play Doctor Who, William Hartnell. For this rerun, dialogue from the first story "An Unearthly Child" has been cut, as the son of credited writer Anthony Coburn is currently having a months-long racist shit fit on Twitter, claiming that the BBC killed his father and is "woke" and gay, and withdrawing rights to that classic first adventure. All of classic Doctor Who is now streaming as part of the online "Whoniverse", but not that story, due to Coburn's meddling. A lot of the series is also streaming on Pluto TV. Ah well, you can still get the old DVD, which also includes the unaired pilot for the 1963 series. (About 100 early episodes are missing and only exist as audio. Many have been animated.)

The 2013 film has also been cheekily updated for this airing. A scene in which William Hartnell imagines seeing 2013's current Doctor Who, Matt Smith, has been reshot to involve Ncuti Gatwa. This fixes a small continuity error, as the background for Matt Smith's greenscreened closeup was identical to his medium shot. Maybe they should shoot one of these with Tennant, Capaldi, Whittaker, and Martin as well.

Meanwhile David Tennant, and presumably Ncuti Gatwa, become the latest actors to remind viewers to subscribe to the official Doctor Who Youtube channel, in what is becoming a tradition, or at least a meme.

(The 2013 film spends a lot of time on the production of the first episodes of the series, but gets sketchy toward the end, having very little time for the later episodes of the series, and the "replacement" actors that William Hartnell was less keen on. A cameo by Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton is unconvincing, and Mark Gatiss was also onset as Jon Pertwee, as a joke. This was elaborated on later, with Bradley reprising the role for Big Finish audio dramas, and the Peter Capaldi episode "Twice Upon a Time." Scenes from Hartnell's final story "The Tenth Planet" were reshot for this episode with Bradley, as a flashback, but largely cut from the final product.)

The week's other special presentation is "The Daleks," the second ever Doctor Who story, which has here been colorized and reedited to be much shorter, in a "feature film" edit with new music and voice work. It's a bit of a hack job but gets the point across. Back in 1965, this was also adapted into the first of two color feature films starring Peter Cushing, and intended for a younger audience. Bernard Cribbins turned up in the second, decades before appearing as loveable grandpa "Wilf" in the 2008 Doctor Who. Cribbins is expected to appear in these specials somewhere, having taped an appearance before his death, and this special has Tennant's Doctor giving a heartfelt tribute to him.

There's also the matter of "Tales of the Tardis," in which some of the past stars of Doctor Who return for brief segments inside the TARDIS, introducing and reminiscing about their past adventures. It's a nice excuse to involve actors who would be hard to shoehorn into these specials otherwise. They've returned for audio plays from Big Finish, and in-character trailers for the Doctor Who Collection series of Blu-Rays, and even the final Jodie Whittaker special "Power of the Doctor." But this goes a step further, and is designed to feel like catching up with old friends. It also accomplishes what the first series of "Doctor Who Confidential" did. That was a series about the making of Doctor Who, whose first series also spent time talking to the stars of the classic series, and attempting to sell the classic series to young viewers who might not be familiar with it. You could get something similar by watching the classic Doctor Who DVDs, but presenting them alongside the making of the new series really gave a sense of perspective, and made Doctor Who feel like the long-running cultural icon it is, rather than some cruddy low budget relic. "Doctor Who Confidential" (and its kids counterpart "Totally Doctor Who") did a lot to sell Doctor Who as a cultural phenomenon, past, present and future, to audiences in 2005, and that sort of hype has been conspicuously missing as the series has gone on. Oh, they've got a "Making of Doctor Who" show again? Yeah, I'm thinking they're back.

It looks like Doctor Who fans have a lot to be happy about this year. And Doctor Who fans have a lot to write about, and worry about. And complain about. Doctor Who fans are very good at complaining. The Star Beast isn't perfect, but what Doctor Who story is? It is good fun, and a return to form for the series. And a lot of so-called fans will hate it. And that's a very good thing.

#doctor who #the star beast #david tennant #catherine tate

[sekritjay]

How does one judge a song like Now and Then? I'm someone from around Merseyside and yeah, we're of immigrant extraction, but my family came to settle in the north-west at the peak of The Beatles' popularity - listening to them was as important to us as an symbol of our integration but also as a source of common heritage with our adoptive home. And it was certainly genuine. We have some second pressing vinyls of Please Please Me and Rubber Soul knocking around in the basement. And Electric Light Orchestra but we'll ignore that one

So when Now and Then was billed as 'the final ever Beatles track' I knew it'd be a challenge to detach my personal feelings and examine the track as a piece of music rather then as an indelible part of my cultural identity. And so it proved that despite it being four days since its release I've rehashed this post several times as I take the time to reflect on both the music and the professional critiques arrive simultaneously

Doesn't help of course that Now and Then seems specifically tuned to sound whistful and regretful, a moody piano and guitar ballad. Two Beatles long since passed away and the remaining two severely aged despite still performing, pining for the return of some non-specific loved one. Said loved one being the person who wrote and sung the song in the first place

Yeah. Is it a good idea to critique it in the first place? We know it was dumped for a reason when they were first going to put it to tape, and we know of abortive attempts in the nineties to do it too but the technology just wasn't there to do it justice. Now that we have the technology, courtesy of Peter Jackson, should we judge it as a piece of music, or judge it by the context of its release?

Because there's a reason why George Harrison originally described it as 'shit'

Sure even when they were passing back it forth they knew it was hardly going to be the next Strawberry Fields. And when they were recording the demo with Lennon the lyrics at the time were always going to be more for a general feel rather then the final draft and it shows. "I know it's true, it's all because of you" is sincere and heartfelt and flows well too but hardly poetry. And despite all the techno-wizardry something still feels odd about the modern instrumentation and techniques paired with Lennon's resurrected vocals ripped unchanged from the seventies. Some might well argue the dead ought to stay dead and use Now and Then as a cautionary tale

And yet. And yet I'm still thinking about it, rolling the words and melody on repeat, in my head and under my breath. Can't detach my love for the Beatles from the part of me in a black turtleneck tutting and sniffing, more concerned with trying to think of a piercing bon mot, just to ignore the fact that at the end of it all I do love it

I guess I'm trying to say that I think the value of Now and Then comes from its context really. Starr and McCartney, years after their split felt that they had unfinished business with the band that formed with their mates, and after all that time, in their twilight years, some sense of closure. I think much of Merseyside feel the same way. Myself included

#no i don't know what pretension is #music #the beatles #Spotify

[discoverboleyn]

Anne Boleyn and Religion

(This is taken from my art folio from a piece I did on Anne Boleyn)

Anne was raised in a traditionally Catholic household however, throughout her short life she advocated for reform within the Church. She got her hands on banned books and supported reformists. Anne’s beliefs alienated her, and in general, while the English people supported and stood by their king and his break from Rome, they were mostly in favour of their traditional ways of expressing their faith. Eustace Chapuys, a Catholic Spanish ambassador, remarked that Anne Boleyn was “more Lutheran than Luther himself.” Historians argue however, that she was not a Lutheran and that she still held Catholic beliefs such as participating in the Eucharist and veneration of the Virgin Mary. When her Protestant daughter, Elizabeth I became queen, Anne was revered for her Protestant views and was said to have “banished the beast of Rome with all his beggarly baggage.” (John Aylmer, 1559).

One of Anne’s closest friends was her brother George. They spent a large amount of time together debating Martin Luther’s theologies. George was a devoted reformer, and overall the Boleyn children, Anne, Mary, and George, were encouraged by their father, Thomas Boleyn, to question the Catholic Church and what it stood for. In their contemporary time, questing the Catholic doctrine was a very dangerous ordeal to undertake, especially as a noble family, because the king had to be supportive and supported by the pope of the time.

George travelled to the continent regularly and sought after banned Protestant works which he brought back to England, where Anne read them. After Anne and George were executed, evangelical works were found among both of their possessions. Among these works was a translation, by George himself, of a Lutheran text, which shows the dedication both George and Anne had to the Lutheran way of thinking. Similarly, transcribed manuscripts dedicated to Anne from her “moost lovng and frynddely brother” prove Anne’s interest as George would not have spent so much time painstakingly copying and translating the manuscripts and commentary on them if she did not.

Anne’s exposure to different religious ideologies probably began when, in 1513, when Anne was around 12, Thomas sent her to continental Europe to be a maid of honour (not wedding related) at the court of the Archduchess Margaret of Austria. She stayed on the continent for around 9 years as a teenager. It is across the courts she stayed at and the people she met that her worldwide would’ve been shaped.

Margaret of Austria’s court was a sophisticated Renaissance court, and it was here that Anne would learn French, music, dance, and all the important parts of culture and courtly love. It is also likely that Anne’s love of illuminated manuscripts developed here as Margaret had an expansive collection.

In 1514, Thomas Boleyn wrote to Margaret and asked her to release Anne to let her go to France as a member of Mary Tudor’s (Henry VIII’s sister) entourage for her marriage to Louis XII of France. Anne is not listed as being a part of the journey from England to France but it is likely she was present in Paris on the 5th of November 1514 for Mary’s coronation.

It is, however, known that in 1515 Anne joined the household of Queen Claude, daughter of Louis XII and his second wife, Anne of Brittany, and wife of the now King of France, Francis I. She was here for approximately 7 years. Queen Claude’s court was not as public as her much scrutinised husband’s and was known to be sophisticated, chaste, and culturally adept. She had strict morals and Anne would have been expected to remain virtuous. It is here that Anne would have been exposed to a much wider variety of culture and religion.

It is possible that Anne may have met the greatest minds of the Renaissance era like Leonardo da Vinci and accompanied Claude and Louise of Savoy on a pilgrimage to Saint Maximim la Sainte Baume, the supposed location of the tomb of Mary Magdalene.

Queen Claude’s younger sister Renée of France is known to have had lots of respect for Anne from the affectionate way she spoke of her to Nicholas Throckmorton in the 1560s. Renée was in regular correspondence with Protestants and was known to have taken Communion in a Protestant manner, and was eventually arrested as a heretic. She married the Duke of Ferrara and when the duchy introduced a special court of Inquisition, many Protestants were executed, however, Renée evaded serious punishment when she recanted and received Communion in a Catholic manner at mass. When Renée’s husband died in late 1559 she returned to France, and following King Francis II’s death, she established Protestant devotion and refuge at her estate, Morntargis.

Another influential member of Anne’s world was Marguerite of Angoulême, who was Queen Consort of Navarre and sister-in-law to Claude of France as the sister of Francis I. She is a famous Renaissance figure and is well-known as a patron to the arts and for her strong religious views including her famous religious poem “The Mirror of the Sinful Soul,” which Anne’s daughter Elizabeth translated as a gift for Catherine Parr. The poem combines evangelical protestant ideas with Marguerite’s own idea of her relationship with God as familial, God as her brother, father, or lover. Anne wrote to Marguerite in 1535 that her “greatest wish, next to having a son, was to see you again.”

Historian Eric Ives suggests that perhaps it was Anne Boleyn herself commissioned Hans Holbein’s renowned painting “The Ambassadors.” Historical evidence to support this is the fact that Anne was a patron of Holbein and had previously commissioned “Mount Parnassus.” “The Ambassadors” must have been painted at the same time that Anne was preparing for her coronation, and a pillar dial in the painting depicts the date 11th of April, the day when the royal court was told that Anne was queen. These facts point to Anne being the commissioner of this work.

“The Ambassadors” is rich in symbolism. It depicts Jean de Dinteville, a secular landowner, and George de Selve, a bishop. The seven liberal arts popular in Anne’s contemporary period, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, are all depicted in the painting as well as religious symbols including, a lute with a broken strong and a case of flutes with an instrument missing, both symbols of discord. An arithmetic book open at a page about division very clearly symbolises division and again discord. A hymnbook open to show “Veni Creator Spiritus” (“Come Creator Spirit”) and the Ten Commandments shown in a vernacular Lutheran version and a crucifix. If Anne actually commissioned “The Ambassadors,” it further solidifies her interest in Lutheran ideology.

Anne’s personal faith is a controversial topic amongst historians, some believe she was a passionate reformer and a Protestant martyr, while others believe she was simply a Catholic with interest in other doctrines as a means of learning rather than to implement into her own faith. During Elizabeth I’s reign there was a need to reimagine Anne Boleyn as the public perception of her was as a witch and slut, but she was the queen’s mother and an image as a Protestant reformer was much for favourable and in line with Elizabeth’s own religious and political needs. Anne was said to have believed that everyone should be able to read the Bible in a language they could understand, a key belief of Lutheranism. The Catholic Church at the time was rife with corruption so perhaps Anne’s interest in reformation was a reflection of her distaste for this corruption and a desire to have a church in line with the teachings of Jesus himself.

Whatever Anne’s personal beliefs, it was her influence on Henry VIII that led to the break with Rome and the eventual establishment of a Protestant England.

#Anne Boleyn #England #English #English Reformation #Costume #Costuming #Historical Costuming #VCE Art #VCE #High school #Sewing #Hand sewing #Pattern making #Tower of London #period drama #1530s #maximalism #queen #europe #european #london #english nobility #misogyny #partiarchy

[aworldforastage]

entertainment industry melodrama, x2

Since I'm not an entertainment/culture news reporter, I do get a bit embarrassed at times when I somehow end up too knowledgeable about celebrity gossip. And it's an entirely different level of awkward when that becomes true for a fictional universe.

But in my defense, I saw a lot of it twice, since 冰块儿/Bing Kuai'er has two stories in the celebrities/entertainment industry genre with overlapping timeline, cast, and plot events:

专属深爱/Exclusive Love

黎明之后/After Dawn

The main love interest in Exclusive Love and the protagonist of After Dawn are best friends dating back to childhood and make cameos in the other CP's story.

Even though these two stories are closely related, they are in very different genres. Exclusive Love is a mostly "sweet" entertainment industry story, and the major plot elements are centered around the main characters' artistic careers. After Dawn is a bittersweet (dog blood) reconciliation story, and is really centered around the family/business rivalry that caused the initial break up; the main characters just happen to work in the industry.

(Audiodrama cover art for Exclusive Love, After Dawn. They even made audiodramas with the same cast for the main characters! Unfortunately it is not on Mao'er and the reception, especially for Season 2, hasn't been great.)

Synopsis [Spoiler-free]:

专属深爱/Exclusive Love -- Idol singer Xia Xi'ai is an orphan from a humble background, and despite having accumulated a massive fanbase within a year of his debut, is still a relatively powerless newcomer in the entertainment industry. He meets award-winning actor Jiang Liushen, who comes from an elite family in the industry and has been famous since childhood. Xia Xi'ai wins over Jiang Liushen with his talent, kindness, and tenacity, and Jiang Liushen helps free Xi'ai from his exploitive management agency and realize his full potential as a musician.

黎明之后/After Dawn -- Star actor Li Luo's management agency is acquired by his ex Duan Mingyang, with whom he parted on very unpleasant terms. However, now they agree to work together to take on a common enemy in Duan Mingyang's half-brother, who is both Mingyang's competitor in the family business and the business rival who framed Li Luo's father for serious crimes. During their collaboration, new information forces them to re-evaluate their perception of each other and their understanding of what happened during their relationship five years ago.

[Minor Spoilers]

专属深爱/Exclusive Love is really a "sugar pie", fairly straightforward story in which unlucky but resilient idol find his true love in the confident and powerful star actor. Xia Xi'ai has endured some of the harshest hands dealt by fate, but remains determined, optimistic, and grateful. However, losing all the important people in his life at a young age has left him with deep insecurities about attachment and abandonment. Jiang Liushen comes into his life with the kind of confidence and kindness that can only come from someone who grew up extremely talented, loved, and supported. With Jiang Liushen's help, Xi'ai works through several major setbacks in his musical career, and stops needing to brave every storm all by himself. Meanwhile, Xi'ai's experiences and resilience inspire Jiang Liushen to work through some recent personal and professional struggles.

In contrast, 黎明之后/After Dawn is just a waterfall of "dog blood". These two people nearly destroyed each other with heartbreak and betrayal, but they refuse to move on even after five years of having no contact, to the point where it's irrational and unhealthy how attached both of them still are. They talk about their bitter separation multiple times because they are not over it, but their choice of a few crucial words always make the misunderstanding worse. This novel is one of my favorite guilty pleasures: all the evidence points to them making bad decisions out of stubbornness and desperate hopes to rekindle a dead romance, but eventually the plot vindicates their choices and gives them a happy ending. [Warning: This story has made some people very mad. It's the kind of story for wanting to be taken on an emotional roller coaster on "head empty, just and love and feels" kind of mode, not for when you want to think critically about relationships and personal growth whatnot.]

In the end, I just want to laugh a bit at Jiang Liushen. Since Exclusive Love is written first, Jiang Liushen plays a more extensive role in After Dawn than the other other way around. He is a movie star and romantic hero is his own sweet romance novel, but in his BFF's story, he is providing Li Luo with friendly brotherly support, drawing Duan Mingyang's ire as an imaginary romantic rival, and also very active in foiling financial crimes -- who would have thought being s a supporting character would take more work?

#黎明之后 #专属深爱 #After Dawn #Exclusive Love #danmei novels #book review #my reading #danmei faves #modern danmei #celebrities danmei

[tenthgrove]

New AU: Alternate History (General Notes)

In this universe, the map of Europe is largely different although general cultural groups (Italians, French etc) still exist. The Mongol invasion of the 13th century was successful and this is responsible for the cascade of events that led to these changes, though the invasion itself is not a major point of discussion. It is now the early 17th century and technology/culture has largely caught up with our timeline, even though politics and warfare is radically different.

(Y/N) is sole heir to the kingdom of Visigota, which stretches across modern north-west Italy and coastal south France. Their nearest neighbour is Occita, a kingdom covering the rest of south France which is reconciling with Visigota after a long war. Occita is warring with the duchy of Ancona in Italy.

(Y/N) is twenty and betrothed to the crown prince of Occita, who they are fond of. As the sole heir to the royal family they are incredibly politically important and have lived away from the court for four years, in an isolated country manor that does not receive many visitors. La Squadra are (Y/N)s personal staff, living with them in their private house.

Risotto is the butler. He is the head of the staff and manages (Y/N)’s affairs, though is of course limited by the orders of the king. He gets along well with them and they lean on him heavily for advice, but they restrain themselves for the sake of respectability.

Prosciutto is (Y/N)’s personal tutor. He teaches music and various languages and is rather strict, treating (Y/N) as though they were several years younger. This, combined with the fact Prosciutto was brought in to replace a previous tutor who was outed as a spy puts a lot of strain on their dynamic.

Melone is the household doctor. He helped (Y/N) recover from tuberculosis a year earlier and has remained ever since due to concerns about (Y/N)’s immune system. He is a good doctor but has a like of experimental treatments.

Sorbet and Gelato are (Y/N)’s personal ‘maids’. The lady they were originally sent ran away to elope and with no means of finding another maidservant with the restrictions placed on the household it was decided Sorbet and Gelato should step in, since it wasn’t like there were any visitors to witness this scandalous staffing decision.

Formaggio is the household chef who also serves as a footman where needs be. He is one of the most informal with (Y/N) because nobody else comes into the kitchen, giving them privacy.

Illuso is the huntsman, who like Formaggio also doubles as a footman. He works closely with Formaggio since he has to catch whatever Formaggio cooks. He is very flirtatious and bold and resents being a servant as he would rather fight in war.

Ghiaccio is the coachdriver. He has a reputation in the local villages for impeccable rudeness which (Y/N) often has to apologise for.

Pesci is a junior manservant taken in to save him from poverty. Prosciutto is secretly tutoring him so he can find a better profession in the future.

[septembersghost]

As our Austin and Andrew girl, why do you think Austin has been treated badly for Elvis when I don't remember Andrew getting that criticism for tick tick boom?

i understand why you draw the parallel, both of them are such talented, empathetic actors, both of them really dedicated themselves to those roles, but it's still very apples and oranges, in the end there are a lot of reasons. ttb is a beautiful film, while it doesn't bear the burden of being as grand in scale, nor about someone world famous. i wouldn't expect the average, non-broadway aficionado, audience to know who jonathan was, but most people at the very least have an image of elvis, if not a litany of stereotypes to also go with it. ttb is a musical in the truest sense of the term, and not a biopic, really - it's part autobiographical, but jonathan was telling a story through his writing too. andrew and austin both took various lessons to prepare and sang (amazingly!), but austin had a far more overwhelming mountain to climb there because of who he was playing. the fact that he surpassed that expectation is astonishing. baz and other creatives who worked on elvis have said a true biopic was not their goal (that the word itself was even verboten on set), and i'd actually hesitate to categorize it as one in some ways, i think it somewhat simplifies what the film is and its purpose, but the...stigma? that goes along with that was attached to it anyway. what's particularly odd is this seems to only accompany biopics of musicians - will's oscar last year was literally for a sports biopic? anyway -

in their unique ways and approaches to their crafts, andrew immersed himself in jonathan, austin immersed himself in elvis, but only one of those comes with both an icon and a joke connotation in pop culture. austin also, to most people, seemingly came out of nowhere, whereas andrew is already established, so people saw this "kid" (he is 31! but i've seen him referred to in this way a lot) playing this unthinkably famous man (trying to comprehend his level of fame and the sheer amount of stuff - true, false, idolizing, spurious, out there - is too much to wrap my mind around, in awed and heartbreaking ways) and were making a lot of judgments and preconceptions. there was that snide, ridiculous attitude towards austin's voice (andrew had to drop his own accent and speak like jonathan! but the judgment here stems particularly from the baggage surrounding elvis' "southern drawl"), there seemed to be this idea that he was too genuine and therefore ~cringey~ (or so genuine, in fact, that it must've been disingenuous! make it make sense), and that the level of care he took and felt was weird/extra. almost all of this has to do, ultimately, with the way elvis himself is perceived, despite the film doing its utmost to dispel that and reach for his humanity. *we* know that, but the overriding noise of social media and the press cycle was starkly different for a long list of reasons.

jonathan's sister speaking about ttb and andrew, and how true and moving his performance is, giving some measure of her brother back to her, being like seeing his light and life again, makes me think so strongly of lisa marie and her response and pride in elvis and the way austin captured the heart and soul of her father - both of which are the most important responses and amongst the greatest gifts those films provided. they were both crafted with respect, reverence, and love.

they should feel nothing but proud of their extraordinary performances and the films they made, which truly touched people and introduced them to other music and art they might not have experienced. the press fades, and what remains is the work. what also remains is who they've proven themselves to be as human beings. i love that both of them are such passionate, introspective humans and provide such insight, into their art but also their perspectives. andrew is well-regarded for a reason. austin, this entire awards season, established himself with graciousness and humility and kindness, and that impacted a lot of people (not only fans, but those across the entire industry, including other, more famous, actors, which is why we saw so many of them take him under their wings or gravitate towards him, and he mentioned himself how much that newfound camaraderie meant to him). his next project will shift the narrative and hopefully no one will focus on the superfluous things. what will stick is the compassion and the meaning of what was created.

#anonymous #letterbox #my fave boys (actor edition) it's true #e in my head isn't that famous btw. who??? only we have ever heard of him. gaslighting gatekeeping girlbossing

[breesays]

c'est comme ça / admit

I hate to admit getting better is boring

But the high cost of chaos, who can afford it?

A few months ago came upon an ace blog on Tumblr, an entry that said the person didn't want to read anymore about the "ace experience" because they were living it, and spent a lot of time assuming everyone was just like them. I, on the other hand, would love to and am actively searching out more ace experiences to read and hear about. You know what I am NOT curious about? The allo experience. That was one of my biggest problems during the very brief stint we had with a sex therapist. She was pushing "non judgemental curiosity" on my part. Por que? The allo experience, in all it's many forms and narratives, has been effectively shoved down my figurative (um and maybe literal) throat since I was a teen. From having to (over)hear hormonal peers pine pine pine to sex scenes in books ("he entered her" VOM) and movies (I'm in love with TWs) and like every TV show ever UGH, I have truly had enough. While everyone is shipping fictional characters my suspense is that I hope it WILL NOT hit that physical tipping point. Watching Wednesday I definitely felt her ambivalence about her admirers/supposed love interests. Or her being strategic about hanging out with them. I know I'm projecting, but it's so draining to have someone you're fond of look at you and also search you for MORE. I filled teenage journals to the brim with that theme.

What a thing to admit / That when someone looks at me with real love / I don't like it very much / Kinda makes me feel like I'm being crushed

I was thrilled that in the Marvel movie Shang Chi that the main characters relationship with Awkwafina's character remained platonic. THAT is what I want to see more of, hear more of.  I just finished Claire Kann's "If It Makes You Happy" and while it was not a page-turner or the kind of book that had brilliantly crafted sentences that stunned you into awed silence, it had SO many things other books did not.

A fat main character who did not care to lose weight, or have self esteem issues

A QPR - not without it's issues, but still

Polyamory - a soon-to-be college student who didn't necessarily identify as such but who knew she could be in a relationship with more than one person

That said, it wasn't easy to get into. Winnie is not a super likeable character (but also she wouldn't care that I said that) and it takes awhile for you to get the gist of allllll the relationships she has - family and friends. But this work of fiction is important for the sheer amount of representation that is not so easily stumbled upon. I can't even fully express how much that means to me, but when I get around to articulating it, I will write my own book. Thank you, Claire Kann.

Just realized that was a book review, so all that is on my GoodReads and I only write like 3 reviews a year. Why? The same reason I don't write music reviews - it's personal. What it means to me has everything to do with what I need, who I am at any given moment. It's a prescription. Doled out in strings and timbre and lyrics.

Realizing so much of my love has been platonic and somehow that was offensive. Two of them asked, "You think I'm cute, like a puppy?" (Yes?)

Thinking about dividing up my blogs - keeping breesays for the daily (ok, monthly?) life stuff, toddler life moment recording and then putting all my ace experiences on a different domain. It all intersects, sure, but there's potentially some darker themes in the ace stuff, and I don't know who wants to go there. breesays - love and light and parenting and recommendations and culture. littlespooncrimes - "People talk to me, and all their faces blur / But I got my fingers laced together and I made a little prison / And I'm locking up everyone that ever laid a finger on me" knife emoji x3

At this juncture in my life I am NOT doing a lot of exploring of that aspect of my identity. I did pre-order all the ace books. I'm listening to a lot of science podcasts on longevity, working on my meditation practice - kind of grounding myself before I go back into excavate some of this stuff. Some of it is humorous in retrospect, some of it physically pains me. I want to be able to rip open old wounds, sure, but I also want to make sure I can recover. I'm not asking for Wolverine-level regeneration, just being able to breathe through a memory and go on living life as opposed to needing 3 hours to be catatonic. See also: cold showers.

Can I recommend another book for you? Elissa Bassist's "Hysterical" - now THAT one had some sections that stunned me into silence. Also rage. And tears. But I read it on GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS so none of my goddamn notes were saved.

Sometimes I get caught up in wondering what kind of havoc I wreaked on ex-whatevers. What is it like to encounter an ace in the wild, when she doesn't know what she is? When she's faking it (but not well) and taking secret shots in your kitchen? When she would love nothing more than to be little spoon but if that was a breadcrumb to sex let's just off ourselves right now. Die inside, by suicide. No blue moons. Crush the stars they can't align.

They're OK. The rest of the world was designed with them in mind.

#aspec #asexuality #breesays #books #ace #compulsary allosexuality

[mothmouth]

My Splatoon Agents

Since everyone has their own version of the splatoon agents, I thought I'd contribute! Also this helps me not forgor 💀

For me, I have multiple universes of splatoon, but I'm gonna be focused on the ones I actually work with most of the time. Most of my other universes are results of 1000%ing hero modes multiple times (like five... im normal) but I only tend to focus mostly on the fanon-agreed universe where agents have traits most people agree on, and my own little blorboverse where the agents differ pretty greatly from canon.

Universe A: The Fanon Universe

Captain 3: Default f inkling hair, orange and teal ink, teal and blue eyes. Non-biney lesbian. Quiet protag type, usually tired and seemingly no-nonsense but with a wry sense of humor. They have a scar in the area where they were semi-sanitized, but aside from the aesthetics they suffer no ill (physical) effects. Come off more stoic than they really are.

Agent 4: Short f inkling hair, orange-yellow ink, yellow eyes. Energetic and sporty, and not too smart.. but the sports she's done definitely contribute to her skills as an agent! Brain empty when it comes to food or hot women. She knows the slang better than everyone else.

Agent 8: Default f octo hair, pink ink and eyes. Excitable in an innocent way, complete baby but her lack of knowledge in inkling culture can lead to misunderstandings. Looks up to Captain 3 a lot, but is more casual friends with 4. Stims when she's excited.

Agent 3: Braided inkling hair, pure yellow ink and eyes. Bit of a gremlin. Usually they're silent which sorta gives off the impression they might be stoic or calculating but they're kinda just dogy and when you're not looking they're gonna pounce on an octarian. Loves smallfry to death even if they're stupid - it's okay because they are too.

I totally ship agent 24 in fanon bc I love the idea of them continually having misunderstandings about the other not liking them and bouncing between being avoidant to avoid conflict and appealing to the other because they're gay. 3, 4 and 8 form a friend group but the new 3 just sits on the sidelines staring like a feral animal.

Universe B: Non-Fanon Universe

Notable changes: The Squidbeak Splatoon is a general army with multiple soldiers. Octarian society is oppressive and does not allow contraband such as music from above ground, lest it lend sentiment to the enemy.

Captain 3 (Gamma): Salacia, Sal for short. Has default inkling f hair, orange ink and green eyes. A golden child - the older and more naturally gifted of two siblings, Sal took to sports and turf wars with enthusiasm. Being both a tomboy and overachiever, it's only natural she would get scouted and enlist in the Squidbeak Splatoon. She earned herself renown as the agent to end all agents, as well as always being active (this is why Marie thinks she smells). Exercise is an important part of their day! Their one regret is they're somewhat estranged from their sibling..

Agent 4 (Delta): Tethys. Sliced f inkling hair, light purple ink and deep purple eyes. Compared to Sal, who always stood out in physical studies, Tethys both admired and envied her older sister. Though it took more time, dedicated study got Tethys as a position in the undercover division of the Squidbeak Splatoon. Compared to the front lines where glory was common, Tethys' experience was fraught with danger in a situation where they were often alone and surrounded by the enemy, crawling around the Octarian underground to gain intel and report back. This resulted in several close calls when they were still green around the ears - their right (our right) tentacle was chewed halfway off by a octocommander, and a scar remains on the top of their head where an octosniper narrowly missed hitting something much more important. Tethys also knows rudimentary octoling as a result of their time having to decode what the enemy soldiers were saying at any given time.

Tethys left home under their birth name, but came back with a new identity and many awards for the service that still haunts them. Tethys has depression as a result and spends most of their time sleeping in their apartment, giving off a very lazy appearance. Support from the Squid VA has kept them afloat, but it has yet to heal the emotional scars. Despite all this, Tethys likes to act cool to younger inklings and plays in the occasional turf war to get pocket money. They have a great sense of humor and look at younger inklings as siblings to protect. Above all, they're just trying to enjoy their retirement until their services are someday needed again. But, their estranged sister is still looking out for them after they left so long ago. And a position like being a Captain means she can find out everything she needs.

Agent 8 (9?): Self-named Novi after her ID of 1,009, Novi woke up in the underground with no memory of where she came from after her close escape from the octarians. But, unfortunately for her.. the underground has already been escaped by Agent 8, and kambado co. and the surrounding architecture had already fallen to ruin. Without a goal, Novi had no choice by to fight up through broken tests and crazed and uncontrolled sanitized octolings to reach the surface with only a pair of dualies she'd found from a weapon depositor. She made it eventually - but it came with a cost. Having been fighting for her life and escaping death by sanitation so many times, the enemy ink had begun to have a negative effect on her body. Novi was slowly turning.

After being recovered by Off The Hook and left with 8, it was found the only way to delay the illness was by bathing in normal ink - namely, participating in turf battles in perpetuity would keep her healthy. But Novi, after her experience, longed to be a pacifist. So she tends to delay until the last possible moment.. Despite this, Novi is a very excitable and peace-loving octoling. She looks up to 8 for escaping before her, and all of the others who have helped her. She wants dearly to help her friends, but she has a problem of minimizing her own suffering - which is a certain danger when she basically has octoling rabies. When she's getting close to turning, Novi will become more aggressive, combative and lose positive emotions. She lives with Eight, partially because she has no other place to go and partially because they're not afraid to rev up their splatling and shoot her for her own good - even if she begs.

Zarya: Wears a ponytail with light blue ink and deep blue eyes. A deserter of the Octarian army. Her life was changed when she discovered a soldier under her with contraband - music from above ground. While listening to one track to confirm her findings, the Inkantation came on by chance and broke her from the subtle, yet continuous and pervasive brainwashing octarian soldiers endure from enlistment. She could only stand staying below ground for so long until she fled, leaving her troop behind.

Zarya was discovered by 8 and Tethys, and Tethys offered their apartment as a temporary home (since the housing market is garbage). However, they're in seemingly constant conflict - Zarya still strictly adhered to the Octarian work ethic, and saw Tethys' actions as lazy, as she basically has zero understanding of what mental health is. They fight often, but she has been ultimately successful in getting Tethys out of bed and practicing self care more often.

Zarya has a strong work ethic and strict morning routine that includes exercise and meditation. She has a strong desire to adhere to her own cultural standards even when above ground, aside from being partially mind controlled. This can also cause friction with Novi when she views the other octolings adaption to the surface as a betrayal of their values.

Despite all of this.. Zarya does care for those she knows, and she's grateful for the support she's been given. Maybe she could just use some help expressing those feelings...

Calder: A silly boy. Calder has the m inkling ponytail + tentacle bang haircut, typically in a dark blue ink with grey-blue eyes. He's younger than most of the crew, being at the very end of his teens whereas everyone else is in their twenties. Calder works part time for Grizz co. to make money, part of which he sends to his large family in another, smaller city. He has a problem with acting very haughty and talking himself up, but he's actually a wonderful communicator on the job. It's just when they get off work that he starts rambling and scares people away.. Berdly ass.

Calder's other part time job is at a hole in the wall cafe, where he's a barista and server. He keeps his two jobs separate as much as possible, and at work comes off as rather quiet and polite to customers.. once again, until he starts talking like Salmon Run is the peak of real battle. He insists on a lone wolf persona where he acts like an adult, but really he's just a kid trying to keep both himself and his family afloat while getting people to like him. Any mention of being childish makes him puff up something fierce.

Tethys took him under their wing after meeting on a salmon run shift, as they were both amused and vaguely worried that Calder's inflated self-image would get him into trouble in a real battle. After thoroughly trouncing him in a one on one match, they started training him in what real combat looks like. Calder respects them greatly, but still tries to act tough despite all this.

And finally..........

Agent 3 (Epsilon): A little skrunkle. After the movement of octolings from the underground to the surface, he was happy to follow. Epsilon has curled long tentacles, typically in teal, and purple eyes that fade to pink. He left the army because he thought doing whatever some guy told him was kinda.. lame (lol). But then he just ended up getting recruited by a different military anyway, and he's honestly kinda confused by how no one's noticed or cared that he's an ex-octarian. Even more confusing is when people see him as a girl - real femboy hours. Despite being a deserter due to laziness, Epsilon is very dedicated and a bit of a completionist when it's something he likes. And what he likes are: mysteries, food, money and having a number go up. However, he still values rest and will never work for a full day when he can work half and relax half of it. Epsilon ended up fascinated by Alterna and then mortified by some of the later logs and the philosophical implications.. but he's fine, probably! He ended up picking up his lil guy while traveling to splatsville, where he decided to move because it's allegedly very cool and also very far away from where anyone might be looking for him.

If you got this far - thank you so much for reading!!! This was really just an excuse for me to infodump about the ocs who live in my head and I really appreciate anyone who sticks around. Feel free to comment if you have anything you'd like to say.

#my writing #splatoon #you can tell how normal i am by how many paragraphs my versions of the agents have lmao #splatoon spoilers #only mild tho

[artekai]

For OC asks: 23, 25, 36, 35, 20, 19.

Plus whichever ones you want to do the most. Go ham.

Thank you so much, I appreciate it!!! :D

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Answered here!

But I do have another OC that fits this description, which would be QT. He started off as an AU version of Artekai, so they were a lot more alike personality-wise. But then I wanted to see him interact with canon Kai, so I made him his own character. He's less rough, less bitter, more naïve, and more anxious now, but he's still self-centered and rash. So he has mostly just changed in presentation, but that's okay ^^

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

I'm kind of what would happen if you blended Artekai and QT together (but with more QT than Artekai), and then raised me in a very different setting 🤔 Pretty much lmao.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

Yes! I keep bringing them up in these asks hehe, but that would be Sunne ^^ The angel she's in love with, Sahariel, belongs to my beloved @akeshuharu :3

Also, Kai and @kitsunephantom09's OC Chey can be siblings depending on which timeline you pick. Peace and love in the ideal reality <3

35. Any sibling characters?

Bartenak and Artekai are siblings by blood oath ^^ Artekai and QT are genetically twins (and QT does consider Artekai to be his big brother, but whether Artekai will end up seeing QT as a sibling too remains to be seen). Rae has an older brother who I haven't named yet. And there's also three fankids I've been rotating in my brain who are siblings but I'll leave those for another time, hehe.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Well, all of my Banuk OCs sing, given it is a very important part of Banuk culture, so that would include Artekai and Bartenak ^^ But Kai also likes singing in the P5R AU, so that's just a character trait he has since he enjoys music in general.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

Kai is everything 🥺👉👈 I don't think I could fully explain why because words hard and personal, but he's just so, so, so much to me. His personality, his relationships, his ideals, his likes, his fears, his gender. His strength, his conviction, his persistence. Just... everything about him. I love him so, so much :') Definitely my current emotional support character ;-;

#ask tag #oc tag #penthepoet #i'm sorry again for the wait! #i know i'm taking ages to get to these asks (how could i have known i'd be away for most of today ;-;) but i really do appreciate them! <3

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hello BPP! I hope you’re doing great :) I used to follow your old blog and was sad when you deactivated so when I found out that you were back, I was so happy!

Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you have any opinions on the common discourse of white people trying to become k-pop idols. I’m not much of a k-pop stan but I am of asian descent so seeing fellow asians rising through the world stage as k-pop idols makes me happy for the representation.

A lot of stans say that white people are encroaching into asian spaces - k-pop is still just one of the few ways asians CAN take vs trying to get there through the USA or UK or any of the western countries - and taking away chances from asians because white people traditionally have it easier if they want to establish a music career compared to POCs. They have fewer barriers of entry so them trying their luck in SK is seen as greedy.

In a way, I can see their point but I also don’t want to gatekeep, you know? I guess I want to be more inclusive and that way of thinking is kind of racist or at least discriminatory? I’m aware that a homogeneous country like SK and Japan can be racist too and can make foreigners very othered so the chances of them blowing up the same way as native koreans is slim… I don’t know, I haven’t reached my own conclusions yet so I was hoping to hear your perspective.

Thank you!

**

(Thanks for the kind words anon 💜)

Oh goodness,

Anon, this topic is one of the discourse topics that can get me heated. Even my casual manner of speaking is typically a bit caustic so I'm going to try to keep it together in this post. And the best way to do that is to try to make this short.

"In a way, I can see their point but I also don’t want to gatekeep, you know?"

I (EYE) want to gatekeep. I want to gatekeep everything. Needless to say, I think most white people are perfectly capable of respecting whatever culture they take interest in, and many will be phenomenal idols. I might come to love a few. But if I was convinced that K-pop and Korean artists will also be elevated, respected, and accepted as true equals to their white counterparts in America and the West, I'd be all for this. But it would be stupid to expect equitable treatment even though Asian representation is so needed. Real and equitable Asian representation is terribly needed, and just when it's starting to really happen partly thanks to BTS, non-Asian artists want in. White/American artists are already played everywhere in South Korea. Random people on the street know what Billie Eilish did on TikTok last week. But if you ask Jennifer from Kansas if she knows who Yuqi from (G)I-dle is, I hope she'd say yes, but it's more likely she says no. If White entrants into the genre increase rapidly, Korean artists will benefit as well, but the benefits won't be split equitably imo.

An influx of white entrants would also facilitate some exchange of culture as well, which is a great thing, but...

There's so many ways I can go about saying this, but the bottomline is, roots are important. K-pop is distinctly Korean and should mostly remain that way. By this I don't mean all the members have to be Korean, I mean the group has to remain Korean. We have Korean groups with members of all nationalities and races, but the group's identity remains Korean - the language and culture is infused somewhere in the group. I'm not talking about J-pop or C-pop or whatever, I'm talking about K-pop. And let's be real, it's easier to have this arrangement with POCs than not, because we can’t ignore a history of imperialist/colonizing impulses in white cultures, and the impacts those attitudes have had on other cultures. It's not just possible but likely that whatever is Korean about K-pop will be appropriated and whitewashed, and I struggle to see how respect will be given to the history and culture behind the genre.

But,

Ironically, and maybe because of my background, this is exactly how I feel about k-pop, but with regards to Black culture. This time the k-pop industry is the offending party, because k-pop also borrows heavily from Black culture and even in the big year of 2022, refuses to sufficiently credit and elevate the Black artists they too often, blatantly rip off. And this one thing I will always give props to BTS for.. Because these guys do their homework. They put in the work and pay up. It's respect and cash, from Bangtan to every single Black artist they've referenced (because let's be real, money talks and you should put your money where your mouth is). We need to talk more about the sort (and lack) of homage paid to Black culture, Black artists and activists by the K-pop industry.

*

More exposure and collaboration with other nationalities/races is almost always ultimately a good thing. Homogenous societies like Korea are somewhat unprogressive in their politics and racist in their attitudes, and mingling with more liberal ideas could be a good thing for the industry. There's a lot of room for growth in K-pop.

I think it's inevitable we get more white participants into K-pop. It's also possible that rather than white entrants into K-pop in Korea, what we end up seeing is something more of a hybrid of "K-pop" with more Western ideas of a boy/girl band. So something a bit like FLO, but a group with more of a K-pop structure.

Music entertainment is going to evolve in interesting ways this decade. And I hope to be here for all of it. I hope the same for you too anon.

#music asks #k pop music #kpop #cultural appropriation #kpop industry #music industry