#like I know that sounds pretty surface level BUT I have reasons relating to character development and all that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thebroccolination · 1 year

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I never hold budget issues against a series that was made with love.

Sound engineering issues abound in most Thai BL series. I don’t have industry experience, but I think a lot of those issues stem from a very short postproduction window. Most series are filmed over a few months and then they’re put together in even less time—usually while the series is airing. Nuchy, director of Not Me, was editing some episodes the night before they aired. Not because she wanted to, but because she was under a strict, tight budget and didn’t have the time to do it any earlier. She’s gone into minute detail about the budgeting issues they faced, and it’s nowhere more obvious than in how the writing unspooled toward the end of the series—where they had episodes cut mid-production and didn’t have time to course-correct or edit or reshoot properly.

Meanwhile, shows on Netflix or Amazon or Disney take much longer to film, and postproduction takes even longer. Spending hours picking through each minute of footage for accidental clothing noises or unexpected sounds or muffled voices or echoing rooms takes budget. So does paying everyone to come back and reshoot a scene when you can’t remove those sounds.

Recently we found out that Prem wanted to add a pool-related scene to the end of Between Us because he thought it would enhance the story, but the production had already wrapped filming at the pool. So Prem offered to pay most of the cost of renting that location again because the production just didn’t have the money to do reshoots on a whim. Prem understands that and still wanted to shoot the scene because Between Us is a passion project about characters he loves. And New, the director, covered the rest of the cost as well as the cost to hire everyone back for that one scene.

Like most series, there have been sound issues in Between Us. But I’ve noticed more of them in the past few episodes than in the first five, likely because they had more time to work on those. During the homophobia scene in episode seven, Boun’s mic was under his shirt, so when he hugged Prem, his dialogue was muffled. The fact that they kept that take doesn’t mean they’re lazy or they don’t care—I have no idea how many other takes they had, or why they couldn’t use a boom mic instead, or what other technical issues they were having. I suspect they didn’t have the time or resources to correct it.

What I do know is that there has been a metric ton and a half of love put into this series by every person involved, and for me personally, that’s all I want from any series. A series can be as well-produced and dazzling as can be, but if there’s no heart in it, my interest in it plummets like a rock. I’ve dropped better funded series because they’re flashy and pretty but there’s no heart in them. They’re purely a vehicle to launch their actors into the larger marketing scheme.

So, y’know. Win’s changing roots, sound issues, etc., none of it makes a dent for me, and it’s why I never mention them even though I’ve noticed. That’s surface-level stuff that doesn’t make a significant difference to me. The acting, the story, and the character growth—that’s what I came for, and I think that’s what they’re excelling in. Boun and Prem have loved WinTeam for over three years, and it’s clear from their every scene together that they committed every iota of feeling to their performances.

They could have dropped Between Us at any point. Their popularity was skyrocketing before they even started filming, and the only reason they were only playing side characters in other series for so long was their commitment to Between Us. They love the story and the characters so much they both agreed to effectively put their careers on hold. They kept their popularity on a steady increase by doing promotional, sponsored work while they waited for their passion project.

It’s passion that I love. I’ll always love a story told with sincerity over a series that took thousands or millions more and lacks emotional depth. Everyone’s priority is different, of course, and some people value both production quality and emotional depth equally.

I’ll always look the other way with production shortcomings if the people telling the story are telling it with their whole heart.

#between us the series #between us #winteam #bounprem #not me the series #thai bl

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tangytiramisu · 1 year

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Oh! The karaoke event sounds like so much fun!

Can I request Bucci gang reacting to the reader singing "Oh no!" By Marina and the diamonds?

Thank you and have a nice day 😊

Hello!! Honestly, great song choice. 👌🏻 Some of the headcanons got a bit sad so I’m sorry about that, but I hope you still like them!

Also I’m a fan of your works so thank you for requesting! ^^

(JJBA) Karaoke Event 🎤- Reader Sings “Oh No!” by Marina and the Diamonds [Bucci Gang]

Warnings: Song talks about not feeling good enough

Bruno Buccellati

When it starts he’s already waiting intently for you to start singing.

As you sing, he pays close attention to not only your voice but also the lyrics and he quickly realizes, wow this song is actually rather sad.

He wants to believe that this isn’t how you feel but since you’re the one who chose this song, he sort of can’t help but worry a bit.

As a capo, he completely understands what it’s like to have many expectations put on you, and he knows plenty of other people who’ve had to face the same difficulties throughout their life. It’s not easy.

When you finish singing, he claps loudly, congratulating you for your performance. He doesn’t ask you why you chose this song to avoid making you feel uncomfortable, but regardless of your reasons, he makes a greater effort to show you that he appreciates your hard work.

Leone Abbacchio

He sort of stares at you the entire time, listening to you sing as he takes little sips of wine. You can’t really tell what he’s thinking.

He’s honestly kinda digging the song. While pop isn’t really his thing, he’s into more serious and depressing lyrics, so he’s content.

Unlike Buccellati, he takes your performance at surface level and doesn’t speculate. He just thinks you like the song and decided to sing it. Besides, he isn’t really the type to dig into people’s personal lives.

He will casually applaud you after you’re finished, but if he ever finds out that you chose this song for deeper reasons he will be more protective of you in the future (don’t ask him about it though, he will be tsun 🤫).

Guido Mista

He’s pretty chill when it starts, grooving along with the tune while watching you.

His expression doesn’t change much as the song goes on. He does notice the heavy lyrics though and tilts his head slightly in surprise.

He widens his eyes at the more “graphic” lyrics and exchanges glances with Narancia, but like his friend, he will take it at surface level. This isn’t the first cheerful sounding song he’s heard that has dark lyrics.

He whoops and claps for you when you finish, telling you that you rock.

Though Mista is a really loyal friend and if he finds out that this song is somehow related to something you have gone through, he will make every effort he can to show you that he appreciates you.

Narancia Ghirga

Being the music lover he is, he’s already swaying slightly to the beat when the song begins.

You start singing and he’s watching intently, still bopping a little to the beat. He doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to the lyrics.

That’s until he hears “‘Cause I feel like I’m the worst so I always act like I’m the best” and he’s like wait,,, what???

His eyes widen and eyebrows furrow in realization and he looks at Mista.

He becomes more visibly concerned at “I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna die” and looks to the side with worry. His expressiveness is sort of adorable.

You may even notice him knowingly glance at Fugo every now and then.

Regardless of the lyrics, he takes your performance at face value, and claps and cheers really enthusiastically. He will ask why you chose this song though, and if it is for personal reasons, he will be extremely supportive and hug you tightly, telling you how brave you are. He loves his friends so much 💕

Panacotta Fugo

There’s no character that relates to this song more than he does.

At first he watches you nonchalantly while resting his cheek in his palm.

When the song starts he actually likes the sound of the music. While he’s more of a classical music fan, it’s still a pleasant tune.

Though as the song goes on his demeanor changes and he looks lost. Almost as if he’s… remembering things…?

“If I fail I’ll fall apart…”

Wow, this song hits him right in the heart, it’s almost as if the artist dedicated it to him. He’s never related to a song so much and, while the memories make him sad and maybe even tear up slightly, it lifts part of the weight off of his shoulders.

He’s too dazed to applaud you when you finish. Though he definitely asks you to tell him again what song it was, albeit shyly.

Giorno Giovanna

Like Abbacchio, it’s hard to tell what’s going on in his head, other than the focused look he’s giving you.

But he’s sort of wondering what made you choose this song. Is it because you like the way it sounds? Or do you connect with it in some way?

He finds the contrast between the cheerful music and sad lyrics interesting.

And he’s 100% reading your body language to confirm whether you actually relate to the song or you’re just singing it for fun.

He doesn’t show much emotion throughout the entire thing but you can practically feel him examine your every move.

He claps for you when you finish, still observing you. If he thinks that you just chose this song for fun he doesn’t do much except compliment you with a smile, though if there truly is a reason behind your choice he will look out for you even more in the future.

Trish Una

Ooo the beat is nice! She’s visibly more lively once the song starts and listens intently as you sing.

Though she soon realizes that this song is deeper than the music may let on and is a bit taken aback. Though that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like it!

She sways ever so slightly as you sing, though she lowkey hesitates when you get to the “I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna die” part.

She claps politely when you’re finished, complimenting your song choice and making sure to ask you the name of the band later. Though if she overhears you talking about personal reasons behind this song she will make an even bigger effort as your friend (even if she was great already) by hanging out with you more often 🥺💗

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galaxymagitech · 4 months

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In Nightwing (1996) there’s a character named Tad Ryerstad who actually bears a startling amount of similarity to Jason Todd; it’s like DC took a crack at the Red Hood arc several years early. And I find it interesting, because I have very different opinions on the two characters but on the surface level, it’s really difficult to spot the difference.

Tad actually has two backstories. The first one given is that he was abandoned as a baby/young child and the kids in a group home named him Tadpole, which is where he got the Tad from. The second backstory is given in a later comic. He was raised in poverty and his father was abusive to his mother and possibly him. (Jason’s father is often portrayed as abusive in fanon). Tad’s father was a criminal. When Tad’s father was killed by a drug lord he betrayed, Tad’s mother was arrested and he was sent to foster care. (Willis Todd was a criminal killed by Two-Face, the guy he worked for. Jason was left orphaned at a young age.) He was possibly abused there and ran away and had difficulty surviving on the streets. (Jason Todd also ran away and was homeless.)

But Tad wasn’t picked up by Batman. Instead, he became a vigilante of a sort on his own. He beat up bad guys and then took their money for himself to survive. He started small, but eventually develops a superhero identity of “Nite-Wing” and starts going after the big fishes of Blüdhaven. He’s angry and hurt by his past. He thinks that superheroes are bleeding hearts and jail in Blüdhaven is a revolving door. So, convinced that they’re irredeemably evil, he kills the criminals he fights, putting him into conflict with Nightwing. Sound familiar?

Now here’s the thing. From Tad’s first appearance I hated him. Because very early on, he gets it wrong. He sees a Black guy following two white children and assumes that he’s a pervert attempting to kidnap them. He attacks and kills the man and leaves, without ever realizing that the guy is the kids’ uncle. That may have been racial profiling, but given Tad’s characterization it honestly may not have been, because he destroys a neonazi group and in a later comic, he sees a white guy waiting in the snow and randomly grills him about what he’s dealing. The guy insists that he’s not selling anything and is just waiting for his brother, but Tad thinks the guy’s trying to trick him. There is literally no reason for Tad to think the guy’s dealing anything just like he had no reason to think the guy with the kids was a pervert, but he kills him. After Tad leaves, the guy’s brother shows up. Now, Tad has a very simplistic mindset and doesn’t seem entirely sane. He assumes the worst of everyone because of his past. Tad genuinely doesn’t know that he’s making mistakes.

But I’m left wondering, is that all that separates him from Red Hood? The fact that Jason hasn’t gotten the wrong person but Tad has? Because their motivations are so similar: anger, a troubled past, hatred for people who do the wrong thing, disillusionment with people propped up as heroes (Batman for Jason and cops for Tad), and a belief that jail isn’t permanent enough. I don’t think one character being good and another character being evil can be separated by a mistake, right? Jason can’t be morally better because he’s smarter.

And yet, I like Jason Todd. Tad is pretty easy to hate; he could easily be an allegory for police violence if Dick wasn’t simultaneously training to become a cop. But I like Jason Todd and I can’t figure out what the huge difference is. Is it just that he’s more correct about identifying criminals? Or that he is snarkier? Or he just seems more interesting so I like him more? I think maybe this is why the Batman writers thought Jason would be hateable, because DC Batman-related comics pulled off “angry vigilante guy who kills criminals because jail isn’t secure and he doesn’t trust authority” as evil before and figured it would be easy to do it again.

I don’t know. Maybe Jason’s motivations are actually different and more complex. Or maybe I should actually hate both of them. I try to constantly question my perception of things and this really got me thinking.

#batman #nightwing #dcu #jason todd #tad ryerstad #vigilante #meta #philosophy #text post #morality

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uwubeggar · 7 months

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Why Omega Matters in TBB

I've seen many instances of people exclaiming that Omega is a useless part of the show. I initially agreed. Its hard not to start the show after TCW and think who tf is this random girl clone. Blonde hair, a girl, the secret clone experiment who is the head scientist's assistant that no one knew about?? Sounds like a self insert fanfiction. However, as the show progresses you can't help but like Omega (at least I couldn't). She's funny, cute, always trying to prove herself, and just trying to find a place in the world that is just as confused about her existence as the viewers. No matter what, however, you have to ask yourself, what's the point of having her in the show?

My first line of reasoning I want to point out is pretty surface level; from the standpoint of developing a children's show, it makes sense to make the show center (or at least include) a child or teen that the viewers can relate to. While it isn't necessary persay, (many kids shows don't have a child lead (think superhero shows and such)), with a show that has a pretty dark atmosphere/tone as TBB or TCW, it makes sense to include a child for balance and relatability. This is probably a pretty similar reason as to why Ahsoka was put in TCW. There really is no point in giving Anakin an apprentice except for a younger character the viewers can latch onto and learn things along the way with. And as we all know, after years Ahsoka has become a fan favorite. A mid character can be made great with good writing.

Jumping off my last few points, a new member of the batch allows the viewer to learn new things/context without a weird info dump. The batch literally has to explain what is happening to a kid: Omega and the viewers.

I also want to point out benefits to the plot that come with having Omega around, which I think is pretty important to the themes of the show. While TBB is about this squad fending for itself in a galaxy ruled by the empire, it is also about the relationship dynamic between members. I think the fandom has picked up the "found family" aspect, but it is also about family in general, loyalty, friendship, and what being a team means. Before O66 the squad was so efficient and trusting to each other, that they had a 100% success rate on missions. With the introduction of Omega, their priorities no longer align. Hunter wants to go into hiding with Omega, Echo wants to help Rex, Tech just wants to keep them alive, etc. As well as this, their team doesn't function as well. Omega throws them for a loop and leads them, mostly Hunter, to take paths they wouldn't normally take. This makes for an interesting show.

You're probably wondering why I haven't talked about Crosshair. Especially since his splitting from the group would definitely throw their dynamic into turmoil without needing Omega there. And, you're right. The Crosshair plot probably could have sustained the conflict throughout the season as they try to get him back while also fending for themselves. That is what leads me into my final point.

Omega fulfills the role of "the heart" that none of the other members really fit into. While all the members have morals, obviously, they have been shown to be picky with the missions they take. They avoid missions that are too risky, keep to themselves, and try not to make trouble where it isn't immediately needed. Omega is always the one who pipes up first when someone is in crisis. She was the most visibly concerned about "Muchi", she made them hear Hera out on Ryloth, she heard Gungi and refused to leave without rescuing him, and she was always the most vocal about trying to get Crosshair back. While the batchers may share some sentiments with her, obviously they don't want children to die or be ripped from their family, we can't say for sure that they wouldn't have abandoned these people unknowingly without her to be so unendingly caring about everyone she meets.

And also Omega is just adorable and we all like them being forced into the role of father and uncle and killing it.

Sorry for the long post....This is also my first post so forgive me if I don't know what I'm doing hehe

#tbb #the bad batch #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #bad batch #clone force 99 #sw tbb

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countessofravenclaw · 2 years

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The *Real* reason why Gastón and Delfi didn't work

Okay, I don't know how many know that I actually have a dark past of being a Gasfina shipper. Yes, I actually shipped Gastón and Delfi. Granted, this was when I have not actually seen the show and the fact that they for some reason told Malena and Agus to have chemistry during the Corazon performance and I didn't know about Gastina. Anyway, Delfi Gastón is a ship that you just always forget that Delfi was actually the og Gastina's love rival (Oh the times).

Why did Delfi ever even like Gastón? We may never know, but I think she never really liked him in that way. It was pretty surfaced level. He was the most popular guy at school and hot and Matteo's best friend and Matteo was Ambar's boyfriend and Delfi strived towards to being like Ambar in the start of S1. Fact is that her attraction for him was pretty surfaced level. And that is my point here. It was not real

I used to think Gastón had abandonment issues, but I don't really think that anymore. He is insecure, definitely, just look at S2, but nowadays I think more that he has imposter syndrome (Purely my hc here, but to me, it is mainly about the fact that he will inherit the million fortune of his parents that they build almost purely for the purpose that he will have it someday. This may seem nice, but a huge fortune comes with huge responsibility and can cause anxiety. Luna never dealt with this, so I will make someone be).

Anyways, moving on. Don't you think it is a bit odd that Mateo and Gastón don't really seem to have other friends at Blake outside of Ramiro sometimes third-wheeling them? This builds up to my point that how many people really act genuinely around them, as they are the most popular guys at the school? I always have though that NIna was Gastón first real relation ship and first time, but she was not his first kiss or first exploration to a relatioship just not a serious one.

How many girls have only been genuinely interested in knowing real him? Because again, he is popular, good looking, smart and has rich parents. (I am not saying rich family, because it is not the Perida or even the Vasquez family who are rich, it is just his parents. Again just my hc here.) Who wouldn't wanna be with him? It very often had been about the status. So he wants someone who is so said real, someone who is interested in him, as a person and would be her real self around him.

We see in S1b that when he is swarmed by girls during his "player" era, he absolutely hates it. His popularity was really surfaced level and I never really got the sense that he actually cared or enjoyed.

I am not trying to put Delfi down here, but she was pretty surfaced level person in start of S1, because she was under Ambar's influence. After she breaks free from her, she gets more depth and I really love her character development.

This is not true. Gastón never went out with Delfina Alzamendi. He went out with Delfi pretending to be Felicity. Delfi was not being herself with him, she was trying to be something she though he wanted. She was not being real. I genuinely think that if for example Delfi would have tried to tell her own opinion about the movie they went to see, since she is into graphic design and video editing, she probably would had to things to say, instead of trying to "sound like Felicity", the thing would have gone pretty well between them for a while, until they probably would have realized that they don't really work together, since Delfi belongs with Pedro and Gastón with Nina, which would led to a mutual break up.

I really don't like that Pedro told Gastón off about this, and I hope he apologized at some point. Lets be honest, he only did it since he liked Delfi. But Delfi catfished Gastón, and that is not something you should be flattered about.

The most real Delfi was with him was in that letter, which led him to forgive her. BUt they still didn't get back together since I do not fault Gastón not trusting her after that and he never was interested her in that way.

There is no Gastón slander in this house, he did nothing wrong. And I wanna note that he reacted almost the same way with Nina and the whole Oxford application fiasco. He only forgave her because because he absolutely loved her and because in the end she was only trying to help him, even if she was party motivated by her insecurities.

Why Gastón fell for Nina was not because she did not like fashion or other stereotypical girly things, because lets be real, she actually does. Have you seen her outfits in S3? And actually, even in S1 when Nina kind of revamps her look and wears more saturated stuff and does more with her hair, basically just break out her shell and is more confident in herself, that's when Gastón really takes notice of her. (If someone in this show doesn't care about fashion, it is Luna, who just wears the first thing she can find from her closet.)

He fell for her because they had things is common and they bonded over those and having a similar look of the world, but also because she was not afraid of being herself with him and was authentic and unapologetic about the things she liked and allowed him to be just himself as well and let so said walls down. She was being real with him.

He literally says this. That is what he means by this, not that she is not like others in the stereotypical way.

I gotta say abut this scene that it is super weird, because this is not a storyline that was followed through at all. I am sure that if there were any Gastón&Delfi shippers left in S2, they probably got so much hope from this, only to be let down. Since they had to bring all the Gastina love rivals back in S2 so they could be kept apart for so long, I guess this was Delfi's contribution. (Actually this storyline for Delfi would have had so much potential if Gastón and Nina were together and they would have mentored Delfi at photography together all Liv and Holden style)

Delfi's interest in "girly" or little more generic thing so to say was never portrayed as bad, not by Gastón or anyone else. It is just different and their point of views didn't match.

This was in no way, shape of form Delfi slander post. I love her and I love he and Pedro. This is just me looking everything from Gastón's point of view, because show doesn't dug into him at all, so someone has to. He is a pretty blank slate teaming with story potential for a writer like me.

#Soy Luna #Gastina #Gasfina

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lilxberry · 3 years

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NSFW Alphabet - Jughead Jones*

NSFW Alphabet Version

Fic Relating To Kink: COMING SOON

Warnings: NSFW obviously. Mentions of SMUT. Contains sexual gifs that may include nudity.

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A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

God, he’s so soft and sweet. He takes such good care of you, softly asking if you’re okay, if you need anything or just plainly whispering sweet words into your ear as you come down from both your highs.

B = Body part (their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Jughead likes his hands for many reasons. There’s surprisingly quite a difference in size compared to yours and they cover a large area of your skin when he kneads and squeezes and grips at your thighs when things heat up between you. Plus, he can certainly pleasure you well with them *wink wonk*

Now, he absolutely loves, LOVES, your thighs. It’s pretty obvious from the amount of touching. Jughead loves to tease you by subtly placing his hand a bit to high up on them, giving them a quick squeeze before massaging his thumb across it, sending tingles straight through your being and a heat rushing straight to your core.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

I mean, you’re both still in high school so you’re pretty careful. Some form of contraception is in play usually. It’s rare you take the risk of pulling out but, when you do, God he loves the sight of it covering your ass and the small of your back or covering your thighs and abdomen.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Jughead honestly can’t get enough of you sat in his lap facing him, running your hands through his hair, nuzzling into the crook of his neck, warming his cock as he writes.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

He’s experienced, but only in so many ways. He can definitely hit the right spot when it comes to missionary but, throw in a position that’s new for him and it becomes a very important learning curve in your relationship.

F = Favourite position (this goes without saying)

He kinda loves it when you’re on top, riding him at any pace that you set. When he’s pretty pissed or needs to release some pent-up energy/anger, he can go pretty primal and dominant, pounding into you vicariously but usually, you’re on top, whispering sweet words to each other.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

He’s pretty serious when it comes to your intimacy but, that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments where he won’t make you laugh a smidge, and vice versa.

H = Hair (how well-groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Jughead is more on the natural side, but only because there isn’t really any grooming nessicary. You both agree that you’re comfortable with how everything is maintained in both of your lower areas.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Jug is super romantic. I mean, he’s an author for God’s sake. Even if the pace or position isn’t exactly one that would “sweep you off your feet”, his words definitely will.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He’s human. He’s a warm-blooded male that has serious levels of testosterone. Of course, he masturbates. Granted, it practically never happens anymore, especially since he barely did so when single.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Jug enjoys marking you and being marked. Not to an extreme, of course. Light scratches, gentle biting, light spanking on your ass and the back of your thighs, nothing that leaves visual evidence for more than a few days.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

He’s usually over yours and desk and bed are usually the surfaces you find yourselves doing it on a lot. You’ve had the sneaky session at school, but nothing compares to the comfort and privacy at home.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Honestly, so many things could get this boy going when it comes to you. When you’re angry, when you’re making huge breaks in cases that you work on together, when you throw your leg over him when you’re cuddling and watching a movie, when you cross your leg over the other and show them off slightly. Anything you do could get his motor running.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Jughead absolutely hates the prospect of sharing, even just visually.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

You two actually don’t take part in oral as often as the usual expected when it comes to sexually active teens. You two are rather good at it but prefer to feel each other in other ways.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

It’s all dependant on mood, position and occasion, along with time. Usually, like mentioned before, when you’re on top, you usually set the pace, with the occasional assistance from him.

You tend to go slow and sensual, but if your limited with time or your in a particular mood, it can definitely be quickened.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Definitely not opposed it them, especially with everything going on in Riverdale. You never know when you can get interrupted. Snap thrusts of his cock and quickened circles around your clit and you’re all set for a quick session before you have to go meet the gang.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Risk taking isn’t a huge part within your sex lives as it is in your everyday lives. Jughead and you both agreed that less risk is definitely good.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t game to experiment. Maybe a new position you are yet to try, maybe something that usually isn’t found within the bedroom brought in.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

He can actually go for a good 3 rounds with enough time to cool off in-between. Obviously, if you haven’t participated in such activities in length of time, it’s usually one and both you and Jughead are done. Although, that singular one round can definitely be long.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

He doesn’t own any, and you only really have a single bullet vibrator. He usually isn’t around when it’s put to use but, it can definitely come into play when you guys do phone sex. Plus, he thinks he does a better job than a little toy. (Which he does.)

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

OH BOY DOES HE TEASE. He whispers absolute pure filth when in public while he smirks ever so smugly. His touch is like fire when he does this. Any little touch feels searing hot, and you feel weak at the knees. You undoubtedly become putty in his hands and it just becomes a game of how long you can hold out until you’re both alone.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Apart from the sweet talk while inside of you, Jughead is a grunter. His grunts are deep which only egg you on further.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He would love to be dominated fully. He loves his power over you in the bedroom, even when you’re on top, he’s still relatively in control. So, the thought of you taking charge, even tying his hands to the headboard of the bed all the while you control when he cums is something that really gets him going.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Jughead is pretty average but that doesn’t lower the quality of pleasure he gives you. It seems he’s just the perfect size for you, hitting all of the right spots.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Although he never masturbated a lot, his sex drive is definitely high. Sex is a very common occurrence within your relationship.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

If the day had been tiring, yeah, you’re both pretty prone to falling asleep quickly. The two of you do enjoy just softly talking between you both whilst cuddling when you can, though.

_______________

If you would like to be tagged in the up-coming fic related to this post, just let me know

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed

As always, constructive criticism and requests are welcomed and greatly appreciated :D

#jughead #jughead jones #character alphabet #alphabet #reader insert #riverdale #jughead x reader #jughead jones x reader #jughead alphabet #alphabet headcanon #jughead jones smut

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thessalian · 2 years

Text

Thess vs TLoVM Ep. 7

Yeah, I’m going through these fairly slowly but I am SAVOURING THEM and also I do want to play video games and I’m not distracting myself from this gloriousness with video games no thank you.

Anders already makes me want to punch him in the face. And this is ... okay, we’ve seen him at the end of the last episode and let’s face it, his design is kind of surfaced-blobfish looking so he was designed to look really punchable but the voice as well. Well done, Stephen Root.

(That reminds me - need to watch The Book of Boba Fett. Root was in that, apparently.)

Wait. I know that voice-- did they get the same voice actor to do Lady de Rolo and Lady Briarwood? *checks* They did. That’s ... thematically brilliant.

It doesn’t say who’s voicing Lord de Rolo but ... I’m pretty sure that’s Taliesin.

Yeah, I think the thing I’m loving best about this is the flashbacks. Anders is ... such a shithead.

The introduction of Orthax in this slow and steady drip-feed way is incredible and--

Oh FUCK OFF, Scanlan! ...Okay, the thing I like about this is that they really do have the characters down. I mean, I know everybody did the Scanlan Shorthalt Precious Cinnamon Roll Can Do No Wrong thing back in the day but Sam himself flagged up that part of his -2 Wisdom modifier was the fact that he had absolutely zero filter. He gets uncomfortable and breaks the mood the only way he knows how, and he probably knows on some level that it’s inappropriate (reasonably high INT, if I remember right) but he doesn’t care as long as the uncomfortable stops. He doesn’t like being alone with his own emotions or anyone else’s and Sam’s not saying it’s right or appropriate or a good thing to do; Scanlan just does it because it seems like a better idea than having to stew in emotions he doesn’t like. And since Travis and Sam co-wrote this one, it’s nice to see that his tendency to do that “jokes to clear the air” shit at the worst possible time and in the worst possible vein continues, because Sam intended it to be an in-depth character flaw, not just something funny to do during sessions. (So yes, thank you, Vex. Not the time. This is when I want Manners.)

Oh, poor Sun Tree! ...I’m not sure whether I want there to be the Matt Stoner Sun-Tree voice or not. On one level, I loved it. On another level, I’m not sure they could do it with the format. Sudden tonal shifts are not, as stated above, always the friend of a solid narrative.

Though that is a good question, Vax. And also Scanlan. And I bet Percy’s never been so grateful for a Keyleth-related problem in his life.

THANK YOU, ARCHIE.

SCANLAAAAAAAAAAN. Thank you, twins.

Okay, come on, guys, listen to Scanlan for once. Can you guys please listen to when he’s clearly serious? ...Then again, it’s pretty clear that they’re as worried about him not having back-up and no one’s getting that.

...HELLO MATT.

“Totally meant to do that.” Well, he is hopping walls like a cat. I’ve seen cats fall off shit and then look around like ‘I meant to do that’ all the time. Which I assume is the joke.

“Oh shit.” Literally, from the sounds of things... Now that kind of tonal shift works. At least in part because it eases in from the absurd into the terrifying by ... somehow combining both. Good job, Travis and Sam.

“Roll to see if you hit--”............ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!? D&D-ception! Also ... hi again, Matt. It really is just like watching a Pillars of Eternity Let’s Play. Matt is everywheeeeeeeere.

So let’s see ... very interesting take on Dimension Door, and Enlarge/Reduce. Emphasis on Reduce. Also I am crying laughing right now.

Oh, right, the Potion of Fire-Breathing!

Triceratops tiiiiiiiiiiiiime!

“Doors are such bullshit!” Every party in the world has said this at least once.

Poor worried Vex. I swear, Vox Machina was effectively the party of Complete Inability To Show Any Reasonable Emotion Without Somehow Being An Asshole About It. Ironically, I think the best one at that was Percy, who (while obviously having some Orthax-related issues) dropped all his defenses like hot rocks the moment Vex seemed even slightly upset.

...With very good reason, the worry for Scanlan. Though giving him the finger at that moment is impressive-- OH! Hello Scanlan’s Hand! Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. I seem to remember this fight being slightly less involving whaling on Scanlan. Then again, we do need the drama.

Seriously, all you’re going to do with arrows is piss Grog off- yeah, see, there you go.

And the crotch lightning saves the day. And yes, see, Scanlan? THAT is where you save the jokes for. I wonder if he just treats most of his life as a dress rehearsal for those triumphant moments where the one-liners are appropriate. I mean, I guess he needs to get his material from somewhere.

Oh. Shit. Yeah, I remember this one. They somehow made it more heartbreaking. I mean, I seem to recall that there was a little more discussion about maybe Cassandra not getting-- yeah, that.

Oooooooooooooooooh FUCK YOUR CLIFFHANGER. I mean, I know what happens but still FUCK IT UP THE ASS WITH A CACTUS SIDEWAYS.

So ... yeah. I guess video games are just going to have to wait. Then again, my Shenanigans Saturday’s cancelled tonight so I have time for video games later.

#tlovm spoilers #the legend of vox machina #Thess watches Critical Role

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cha-melodius · 2 years

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I've just had a random tmfu related thought:

What if the events in the film took place around 10 years earlier? I don't mean historical stuff, but more like: how would the interactions btwn the characters change? I imagine both Napoleon and Peril would be pretty inexperienced in the spy business and they'd be somehow more raw - like their demons would be closer to the surface - with the war being fresher in Napoleon's memory and Illya's psychotic epsiodes more out of control. I also imagine then being more reckless and naive (not yet worn down to be so cynical and distrustful by years of spy work). And Gaby would be less level-headed too. And Waverly could then lead and shape the team without having to counter so many of Oleg's and Sanders' evil influences (I really like the idea of Waverly being kind of a dad of the team).

So, well, what do you think? What would change if it all happened 10 yrs earlier?

Btw, your The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret is such a masterpiece (like, don't get me wrong, a your fics are amazing, but for some reason I like this one the most).

Ooh, what a fantastic AU idea! Honestly it feels like SO much happened to them in those ten years, they'd be very different people! This got crazy long, because it's so interesting and could go a lot of ways, so the majority of my thoughts on their individual characters are under the cut. The tl;dr is that I absolutely agree with you on them being more fresh and less jaded and experinced, not to mention with a lot fresher trauma that they haven't learned to bury so well yet.

I think we'd have all these young, hotheaded fools trying to make their way around each other and save the world, and tbh it sounds like kind of a mess, lol. I feel like initially they'd be even more distrustful of each other, because as much as Illya and Napoleon disdain each other at the beginning of the movie, I think there is a base of respect because let's face it, they're both very very skilled, and they've been briefed with enough of each others' track record to know that the other one is actually a formidable agent. Ten years earlier, neither of them would have that record, so they'd really think that the other was a joke. That said, less time with the KGB and CIA might mean that, when they do get a look at what the other can do, they're more willing to be impressed.

Then, you put them in these situations where they save each others' lives, and I imagine them forming even tighter bonds earlier because, as you say, they have this freshness and naïveté where something like that would mean so much to them, not to mention they have a lot less reason to be loyal to their respective agencies without the history. I LOVE the idea of Waverly seeing potential in them very early and poaching them to shape them into a team! We never got to see the UNCLE team as a real TEAM in canon, but I feel like the dynamic in Istanbul would be very different earlier in their lives. I mean, they wouldn't have the time to really develop that "I work better alone" attitude, or at least not to be so completely entrenched in it, so I think they'd come together faster once they got over their initial reservations.

I feel like I could go on forever about this but I will stop now, lol. As I said, my thoughts on where they'd each be individually are below the cut! Thank you so much for sending this ask in, I had such fun thinking about it. And thank you for your lovely comments on Lost Art! That was a difficult fic for me to write, actually, because the dynamic had to be different than what I'm so used to, so I'm so thrilled to hear how much you love it!

Ok so, on each of them:

IIRC ten years would put Napoleon right after he'd been "recruited" by the CIA, and oh man, I can just see him chafing under the new restrictions, constantly getting into SUCH trouble and testing the limits of Sanders' patience. He's not yet "the CIA's most effective agent," still more of an art thief than a spy, and most of the rest of the agents probably feel like he's more of a liability at this point. Maybe the mission to extract Gaby would be his first big test, and Sanders would have backup plans because he'd be expected to fail. I agree about the war being fresh in his mind, too; I kind of like the idea of after the war, he'd like to leave guns and killing behind, but then the CIA recruits him after he's arrested and he's forced back into it, and it's psychologically rough for him, especially at the beginning. So, for instance, during the extraction, Napoleon never takes a fatal shot at Illya because he still can't quite bring himself to shoot someone down like that again.

And oh, Illya... He's supposed to have been special forces before becoming the youngest KGB agent, so if we do go with him as being a KGB agent at this time, he'd also be so new at it. The KGB would recognize his (near-inhuman, lol) skills, but I think they'd see him as such a loose canon. Constantly sending him on crazy, impossible missions that should have killed him, but somehow he always survives. I've headcanoned in fics in the past that the KGB was responsible for teaching him self control, at the expense of his emotional health, so at the beginning of that time I agree he'd have an even shorter fuse, but also wear a lot more of his feelings on the surface. We get glimpses of Illya's emotional side in canon (I mean beyond his outbursts), and I think those would be more common. He hasn't learned to bury everything so completely, so maybe there's even more romantic/sexual tension between him and Napoleon, and Napoleon initially thinks he'll exploit it but he doesn't count on his own feelings for Illya getting in the way.

As for Gaby, she'd be so young! And I can imagine the trauma of losing her father would be so much fresher. I acutally feel like she'd be even hungrier to do something about it when Waverly comes calling, recruiting her as a sleeper agent, and possibly less able to keep her real role in the whole thing a secret from Napoleon and Illya. I can see her as less willing to be used as some kind of pawn by these two spies, who don't have much more experience than her, but ironically that might give her away faster.

#tmfu meta #headcanons and aus #tmfu #the man from u.n.c.l.e.#the man from uncle #napollya #(a tiny bit)#mostly just our spies as a team #napoleon solo #illya kuryakin #gaby teller #asks and answers #plot bunnies

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shoichee · 3 years

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ALSO CAN I ASK FOR SOME RANDOM GOM HCS U HAVE? like just random ones u have or if u want like some toxic hcs abt them :D

I’m assuming that I can include their negative traits of their personalities as well 👀 Also including Momoi in this… lots of analyzing for this hc, so I used my brain here pls appreciate AGAIN these are all headcanons/interpretations of possible toxic hcs about them and only a few are canon

[Headcanons]

Kuroko Tetsuya

Kuroko is the hardest person to find a “negative/toxic” trait in, and it doesn’t seem like he has any

kind, understanding, hardworking, and compassionate; he’s everything a good-natured protagonist is

but he’s only like this to people/hobbies he cares about/close with; anything else he’s quite apathetic and also very passive/neutral about

the biggest hint to this is when Akashi criticizes Kuroko for cherry-picking who the GoMs should “go all out against” and who to casually toy with

and Akashi is absolutely correct

most of the series is portrayed through Kuroko’s perspective, and Akashi is the first direct outside perspective who comments on his actions/attitude

it’s obviously not that Kuroko didn’t “notice”... he clearly sees and knows what these GoMs are doing; after all, he had a conversation with Aomine about how observant he is to everything around him

of course, if you were close to him, all your opinions and issues matter to him

it’s the fact that what’s not really important to him is suddenly now important just because someone he knows is involved

just an example: if someone was advocating climate change, he has no opinion on it until someone he knows cares about the issue

in other words, he has a subtle hypocritical view on things, especially when he interacts with others

another clear negative trait could be that he’s too idealistic or perhaps naive, seeing things in a clear black-or-white picture and not necessarily a gray area

WE know, as an audience, that the GoMs honestly needed therapy and a proper adult to guide their out-of-control talents

but Kuroko, in his eyes, had viewed them as “bad” and “evil” in their ways of basketball until they changed after their respective matches

he’s probably someone who doesn’t yield to other opinions once he forms his own, and this may make him unable to consider things in other people’s perspectives

which is again, ironic: someone who doesn’t have generally a strong stance but once they do, it’s very unyielding, which further proves Akashi’s comment about Kuroko’s tendency to nitpick which to care about

a final hc about a potential flaw he might have here in a different ask!

Kise Ryota

y’all… it’s as canon as day that he has a mean side

straight from the author himself, it’s confirmed that Kise is only kind to those who he respects, and to the rest, he’s cold-hearted

in the manga, it’s very clear that he’s super judgmental on every first impression on people he meets, boxing them into categories based on the way they look, act, and speak

only when they surpass his preset expectations (low or high depends on his preliminary judgments of them) is when he opens his mind to the rest of their personality

this is a very close-minded way of thinking, and I hope I don’t need to explain why LOL

this can be interpreted as him being two-faced by the majority of the people in his school

his way of speaking can definitely be very cruel and crass, and to sensitive people, his words can easily shatter hearts

Kise’s negative/toxic traits are pretty straightforward here, so let’s move on

Midorima Shintarou

his harsh words can be considered a “negative” part of his personality, but I think it’s a lot more than just that

it’s confirmed in the series that he’s a bystander and almost always minds his own business

on one hand, one can say he’s self-driven and that he constantly strives for self-improvement

on the other, it can be interpreted as him being very dangerously ambitious and selfish, in which most actions he takes are for the sole reason of self-improvement and not for altruistic reasons

for example, when he helped Kuroko and Kagami in the training camp, it was under the reasoning that them becoming stronger would be a good challenge for himself to test and learn

that’s not to say that he can’t have friends, but most friendships he’s built are with capable people who can potentially provide him with some new beneficial skill/goal to strive towards

after all, he’s only learned to trust Takao as a friend only after seeing him as someone capable

because he’s so focused on himself, he’s extremely likely to turn a blind eye to injustice, most also likely to use Oha Asa to justify their “misfortunes” as he continues on his day

he’s not cold-hearted, but altruism comes by Midorima a lot rarer than the average person

now, we know that his Oha Asa aspect is used to balance his serious side as the “comedic side” of him, but if we really think about it, his obsessions with the horoscopes could be a huge obstacle in the future, where he may refuse to listen/depend on others in favor of his own intuition and the stars; after all, no one knows everything, and depending on the stars as one’s next source of advice and guidance isn’t a sound decision to commit themselves to

he seems like the person who overthinks and jumps to conclusions when it comes to social situations, but instead of confronting the person, he turns to fate and fortune if Takao isn’t near to help

Aomine Daiki

I wouldn’t be surprised if Aomine had a skewed sense of beauty standards from all those magazines he consumed and from being around Momoi for the majority of his life

of course anyone can distinguish pieces of media from reality, but during the most impressionable years of life, without experiencing other types of people and physiques, he would have limited knowledge on what “beauty” is and whatnot

this probably would be more of a problem in his adolescence than adult

a very given negative trait is his short temper plus his tendency to turn to physical violence when someone nags him to a certain point, seen with how he’s treated Wakamatsu in the beginning (though this seems to almost disappear by the end of the series)

what I’ve noticed in every scene he’s in, is that everything seems to revolve around him and his hobbies of basketball and Japanese idols

what I mean is that everytime we see Aomine, it’s always Momoi approaching to Aomine or just him always being the center of attention; never once has he approached Momoi for anything and it’s always been the other way around

in other words, people have to cater to him in order to get along with him/be in good graces (additional example: Imayoshi letting him do as he pleases to get him to be cooperative and participate in the games)

we’ve actually never seen Momoi’s hobbies outside of being a manager for her basketball teams and just anything basketball-related

he can be quite apathetic, choosing to only pay attention and try in things he’s interested in… which is basketball and those magazines

he seems to mature in the Last Game though, so I’m not quite sure to what extent these headcanons would apply to older Aomine (these also don’t really apply to Puremine)

Momoi Satsuki

the author probably also included this type of anime trope as comedy, but belittling another female for her body is definitely a no-go in reality; I feel like this is something most people gloss over really lightly

her body comments on Riko are actually what made me skeptical of her character at first before the show really shows her entire personality

that being said, it seems that she always takes the opportunity to look down on other girls (especially to those she is a stranger to) as a sort of “competition” when there’s boys around

definitely at certain moments, she screams a “pick-me girl” type of person (real phenomenon, you can search this up!)

while Kuroko doesn’t seem to actively mind this, I think she also has no good sense of boundaries and what’s considered appropriate touch and consent; people can chalk this up to “oh it’s just infatuation,” but this definitely isn’t okay if we really think about this

her life also seems to revolve around either Aomine or Kuroko, and based from that, I’d feel like she’d have a difficult time forming her own identity/life separate from her “manager life,” especially once she graduates from Touou

can definitely be interpreted as too clingy at certain moments, while others may think it’s her way of showing that she cares

Murasakibara Atsushi

most people would chalk up Murasakibara as “lazy,” and on the surface level, it does appear to look that way…

I think his true negative trait is that he has a lack of intrinsic motivations to drive him to do things

it’s different from being lazy; someone can be lazy while still having a goal, and certainly someone can be lazy while they’re motivated by thoughts of “I want to learn more,” “I want to get stronger,” etc. (you guys, it’s me right now in college)

and he doesn’t have that

part of this was contributed to the fact that he’s already so gifted with genetics and thus, there’s never been a goal for him to have to work towards to when he’s already at the top

he doesn’t actively seek out, and while that may be a characteristic of sloth, it’s not exactly right either

he willingly does things if people around him give him the motivations/reasons to do so; a person of sloth wouldn’t do anything even with all the motivations and goals handed right to their face

snacks/food are examples of extrinsic motivations that fuel him to carry on daily life

Himuro is always the main motivator for Murasakibara to come out and watch matches, and he also does whatever Akashi orders in both Teiko and present days // a person who can give the giant the motivation to do tasks would get along with him the most

searching out for a challenge against his basketball skills is something that’s never crossed his mind

why? he grew to be like the way he is because of the lack of results from his “search” of a challenge throughout his games

again, it’s only when Murasakibara gets handed a silver-platter of a challenge, Jason Silver, that actively gets him pumped up and raring to go

as such, Murasakibara is equivalent to a rusty machine, extremely difficult to start up and find compatibility with, but very powerful and efficient once he finds that spark

Murasakibara finding any partner or friend in the future would be extremely difficult because he ticks a different tune from the rest

Akashi Seijuro

his entire Bokushi side was a giant-ass red flag for very obvious reasons LOL anyways, moving on…

it’s difficult to pinpoint a negative characteristic for Oreshi because he’s the pinnacle of a gentleman character… but that technically is also his negative trait

for him to maintain that perfect image for himself and others, he has always carried himself in such a way that doesn’t allow for errors or expressions of “weakness”

thus, bottling up his frustrations and emotions to the point of no return is something very familiar to Akashi, and I’d feel like Bokushi is the result of his overflowing emotions left unchecked in the first place

I also predict that if Akashi continues to carry himself without letting himself wind down and feel emotions on the spot rather than locking it up inside him, a day will come when he splits into two halves again with a “new” Bokushi to deal with his current life (and let the current Oreshi take a backseat in his psyche to take a break from the turmoil)

also will tend to overwork himself to manage people’s expectations as well as his own, and he’s not one to depend on people not because he sees them as inferior or incapable, but because he’s doing this out of habit from being in positions of authority and responsibility for much of his life

and so, he may tend to hide important things or just not speak about his problems in general to those close to him because he feels like he can do it all himself and spare everyone the work and stress associated with them (a leader mentality)

throughout the majority of his life being calm and calculated, his emotions would definitely escape from him in forms of uncontrollable lashes of anger… before he would realize what he’s done… that is, assuming that another Bokushi hasn’t form within his subconscious yet

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subwalls · 3 years

Text

Tales from the SMP Presents: The Pit

Another Tales, another Kingdom Hearts comparison post! “The Other Side” is a mix between the soundtrack The Other Promise and the cinematic “Another Side, Another Story” (both of which come from Kingdom Hearts, of course), which evokes a very specific KH character that... yeah. So let’s get into it.

Karl gets stabbed by the king’s new general and finds himself back in the Inbetween. A cool new logo pops up as we enter the Inbetween, which actually is a... very typical example of a Kingdom Hearts world logo / intro card / name card? I honestly don’t know what it’s called, it doesn’t have a name, it’s just a thing that happens every time the character enters a new world.

Castle Oblivion is just one (1) example, but if you just look up “Kingdom Hearts worlds” and scroll a bit, you’ll see what I’m talking about, haha. This doesn’t really change anything, it’s just another little wink and nod to the Kingdom Hearts series.

... Except, of course, the fact that there’s a title placard for this world implies the existence of other worlds. Which we eventually find out is, in fact, true. Fun! There’s a number of associations I could make based off the aesthetic of the logo (the castle reminds me of Radiant Garden, etc) but honestly they’re not worth much without more information.

So, the Inbetween is vividly aware of Karl’s straying from “the path”. It makes a huge attempt to still be pleasant and “nice” and whatever, but we can tell quite obviously that there’s an undercurrent of threat under all those pretty quartz blocks and smiles :]

Speaking of the :] smile, the reveal of Quackity’s previous lore stream actually doesn’t push me to think that it’s directly related to him in any way. It’s not impossible that c!Quackity achieved such heights as... becoming? The Inbetween? Because he’s got reason to be invested in Karl’s powers and keeping him in line. But it’s a reach or long-term thing at best, honestly, so I’m shelving the Quackity-smile association until further evidence appears.

(I could go bonkers and say that this is the culmination of c!Quackity’s ascension after ripping Information out of Dream or even XD, but that’s well into AU territory, so it’s all just shrug emojis for now.)

Which, of course, leads to the question of who that smile actually is associated with, and I think as clear an answer as we’re going to get is... The Inbetween itself. Clearly.

There’s a lot of meaning I could take from that; is it associated with Dream or XD then? Or maybe is it tapping into Karl’s memories of c!Dream doing the :) thing and it’s appropriating that for itself? Why? To intimidate Karl into obeying it?

Mayhaps. Mayhaps!

Anyway, Karl goes up to the tree, and as he approaches, the video feed distorts as the game abruptly switches to a higher-level shader like BSL or something.

Now, I haven’t confirmed it, but the way the audio shifts makes me think it suddenly started playing backwards, too. It’s just the way it sounds; it’s got that... sucking effect that’s pretty typical of musical tracks played backwards.

Karl swims down to the hidden room, which is very dark now. There is a book that tells him to go up the ladder for a surprise.

Also, by the way, I’m back on my wither rose pot association brainrot, because I can’t help but notice that there isn’t one here. There was one in the previous Inbetween segment, but it’s gone now. Now there’s a new book with the :] smiley, which of course should set the audience on edge, since we just saw the first book use it in a... mildly threatening manner.

We know that in Dream SMP it’s a pretty common thing to use redstone as blood. Other characters have used it in bits, some more seriously than others, and I think that’s what this room is trying to emulate.

If I had to guess, I’d... hm.

A part of me wants to say that the blood is probably from the different versions of Karl wandering around. Nobody’s going to notice if a few abruptly take a swerve to bleed themselves out in a room or something, right? But that carries a lot of implications, namely that of control so perfect it borders on possession. So either the Inbetween can control Karls, or it has some other agent capable of dragging something into this chamber to bleed it all over the room.

Neither of those options are particularly nice, I’ll admit!

There’s no Kingdom Hearts associations here, by the way. Due to being so closely tied with Disney, KH is deathly allergic to portraying blood in any way lmao. Not so many messages carved into the walls.

Or painted onto the walls with blood, if that’s what that is. Color correction gets a bit odd with shaders, so I’m not saying anything for certain; the closed books don’t look enchantment-purple, for example.

What does catch my eye are the torches, which will later be the flickering lights that guide Karl to the portal. The fact that they are here makes me think that this was definitely the scene of either a battle or some other conflict between the two sides to this story (haha, get it, Another Side, Another Story, because that’s a Thing in KH—), or at least proves that an influence from The Other Side was here at some point in time.

Karl quickly gets the fuck out of there, and when he swims back to the surface the shaders/music switch back to normal.

Oh, and for all you people who like to point fingers at anything vaguely false and scream “that’s gAsLiGhTiNg!!!1!!111″ about it, here’s an actual attempt at gaslighting. Note the language used here: “Your mind seems to be playing tricks on you :]”. It’s explicitly trying to convince him not to trust his own senses and mind. It’s saying, let me think for you. And that is a very dangerous thing.

Wither rose pot exists again, yay. Definitely a Inbetween voice, this book.

More wither rose book, this time in the, uh, grand entrance hall? The lobby? Yeah.

This book basically goes on a spiel about how the Inbetween is so great for Karl (a declaration, by the way, rather than a hope) and says that he is doubting himself or being less like himself, which is odd, because what he’s really doing is doubting the Inbetween and the path it has laid out for him. In a way, by questioning the Inbetween, Karl is being truer to himself than anything else.

The malicious way this place frames its words becomes more and more obvious with each passing page; it again reminds him that it’s a place to be “feel at ease”, which is super sketch that it has to tell him outright rather than actually being that place. It continues attempting to gaslight him, telling him that his imagination is getting away from him and that he can’t trust himself or anything else but this “path”.

I’ll get back to the “path” thing in a minute, but I really want to drive home that this is the truest instance of gaslighting we’ve ever had on the Dream SMP. Nothing has ever so clearly declared that it must be trusted over the victim’s own senses, practically infantilizing the victim’s concerns and trying to make them think that their worries are just flights of fancy. Please, please keep this in mind any time you want to accuse a character of gaslighting in the future; not all psychological abuse is a form of gaslighting. Sometimes it’s just... abuse. It’s not any more or less worse than gaslighting, it’s just different.

Anyway, about the “path” that the Inbetween is so obsessed with. No idea what the fuck that’s talking about.

In Kingdom Hearts, the only paths that are really of import are is a specific character’s “road to dawn” (redemption without fully yielding his edginess, essentially) or the “paths” that characters take to traverse between different worlds. I really don’t think the Inbetween has anything to do with either of them, but I’ll leave the options there if you want to peruse the possibilities.

What’s more likely, I think, is that this is a vaguely more subtle version of control/possession. The “path” is just “whatever the Inbetween wants you to do”.

Our next book is from the other side, and is plastered nonchalantly but boldly against the wall with no flower pot or anything.

Karl picks it up, puts it in his inventory (which probably indicates that he’s keeping this particular route close to his heart, rather than whatever the Inbetween is trying to make him do), and then the video stutters and he teleports back to the main entrance.

There’s a new book. It’s spooky as fuck, and hilariously hypocritical.

The tone shift is immediate, of course, aided by the abrupt change in background music since he got teleported back here. (I can’t quite nail it down; I assume it’s a slowed KH track like the others, but it doesn’t quite ring any bells for me.) The way the Inbetween speaks through these books has changed too, though; it addresses him by name without any attempt to cover up its intentions with flowery softness.

It does a cool fun thing where it says that it knows more than Karl, and knows what’s right, and then goes on to say that those visions shouldn’t dictate his opinion on the inbetween. (I’m keeping an eye on that lowercase, by the way. Not sure if it’s a typo or intentional, since it’s still one word, but.) As though he should trust the Inbetween’s opinions of itself rather than his own brain? A’ight. Sure, Jan.

Again it tries to tell him that it’s safe here. The lying is getting more transparent now.

He puts this book back, the previous book back, and runs after a double of himself until the shaders and music glitch again.

Fun thing about shaders is that they make dark areas... much, much darker. Especially since we saw that Karl’s got night vision (the effect, for cinematic purposes) on.

The music has a few notes that again sound as though they’re being played backwards.

The book on the tree in this courtyard does not come with its own little wither rose pot, and neither does it seem to come from the Inbetween, since it’s telling him some awful things about these other versions of himself.

It confirms a few things about the mystery other selves, namely that they’re definitely condemned to walk the castle forever, but it doesn’t really tell us why this happens or why the Inbetween (probably) wants this to happen. What’s the end goal?

We’re probably a bit early in the story to figure that out, but they’re questions worth keeping in mind as this storyline progresses.

Karl gets teleported back to the main lobby, which looks very dark and spooky, though in the transition we do see a glimpse of that portal. There are torches around the wither pot book pedestal, and the audio really kicks into high gear with the creepy notes and the visuals get stretched and glitch quite a bit as he opens the book.

Funnily enough, the audio kind of reminded me of some pokemon encounter music, but I think that’s just because I’ve got those notes wired into my brain from years of playing those games. Anyway! The book tells him this is not a warning, and that they’re gonna fucking come for him to make sure he sticks with their path.

“We”.

Who is “we”? Is the Inbetween a collective? Is the Inbetween just part of a different whole? Maybe it counts all the different Karls as a part of it.

Either way, it’s creepy and threatening. Karl starts running; the screen glitches and tells him to follow the torches, which at first I was kind of leery about trusting, but the next series of words helped clear up exactly what side those words are on.

Also, you’ll notice that some other text kinda skitters across the screen before the English, like it’s getting translated. I think it’s Galactic, which is something different from the thing that Ranboo uses for Ender? I think Ranboo uses the Alien language thing or something? I’m not 100% sure on that, feel free to correct me and I’ll fix this portion.

It certainly implies that the speaker isn’t communicating in the server equivalent of “common”, however. Not sure if they’re translating into English or if Karl inherently understands it and it’s translated into English for the audience’s convenience, but either way, the other speaker might be linked to something completely different.

Karl runs on with encouragement and creepy music until he finally arrives at the portal, which is not barred off like it was last time. Thanks, whoever’s responsible for that!

The music dies for this final book.

The Inbetween’s last-ditch attempt to make him stay. It calls him silly a couple of times, and smiles at the end with a :]

Problem is, we and Karl already know that staying with the Inbetween will keep him from his friends. And the voice tells him to leave for his friends.

Karl looks around at this place that calls itself his sanctuary, and makes his decision.

He arrives at The Other Side.

The music appears to be drawn from parts of either The Other Promise or Roxas’ Theme, both of which are heavily tied to the character known as Roxas. The version that Karl uses is slower and lower, the same as with the Dearly Beloved track he uses for his Inbetween segments.

Honestly, I’m not as certain on this as I could be, because I couldn’t find the exact variation on Youtube and there are parts that could just be Emotional rather than Roxas-related, I’m not sure. I’ll probably come back and fix this if it’s untrue.

EDIT: Yeah, uh, it’s Ven’s theme, not Roxas’, but the world itself is still heavily associated with Roxas in naming themes.

For now, I’m going off the assumption that the decision to make both the name and the theme of this world relevant to Roxas is purposeful, which means I’m... going to attempt to explain who Roxas is and what his story is.

Oh boy.

To grossly oversimplify the situation, Roxas is a “part” of Sora who develops his own sense of identity, is betrayed, gets coerced into murdering his best friend, gets kidnapped, gets memory wiped, and then—when he gets his memory back and realizes he super hates his captors—is convinced by those same captors to give up his existence because he “isn’t a real person” and if he lives then Sora will never wake up. So he “dies” and becomes a part of Sora again until later.

(Sora, by the way, is asleep due to the events in Castle Oblivion, which you might recognize as That Place I Keep Associating The Inbetween With.)

He’s also a fan favorite lmao. Take from that as you will, and, I don’t know, flip through his wiki page or something. Can’t guarantee it’s all understandable though.

My point to bringing Roxas up is that his arc... kind of parallels Karl’s. He did his job working for superiors he didn’t really understand in a white castle, with the higher-ups trying to control him, until he realized he was losing his friend/s to them. At that point, he defects. I think this is the point that Karl has reached, in his own storyline. He’s pulled away from the thing that’s made itself known to him, and now he’s wandering down something that hopefully isn’t as awful as the beast he’s just left behind.

Roxas also doesn’t get his happy ending for a long, long time.

Let’s hope Karl is different.

Off the top of my head, I can tell you that the mood this world creates is very reminiscent of some areas that the Kingdom Hearts games explore in 0.2 (yes, zero point two, that is the number of that game. This fucking series, man), specifically Castle Town, in which the player character has to smack a bunch of clock gears to make time go backwards in order to proceed, which is fun. But no exact inspirations come to mind the same way that Castle Oblivion did for the Inbetween.

Until we get a better look at the interiors, I’m going to gently claim that this build is more original and doesn’t take inspiration quite as directly from a Kingdom Hearts source, so there might not be an exact parallel. There isn’t a black castle in Kingdom Hearts that I can think of, honestly.

Also, I will say that I’m going to take this episode as confirmation that the wither roses are associated with the Inbetween and appear next to books that come from / are related to the Inbetween, especially since The Other Side associates itself with a completely different flower: the white tulip.

Anyway, The Other Side tells him he’s home, and that they’ll explore more soon.

This... eerily parallels the Inbetween, which told him that he’s safe, and has lots to explore.

I can’t say that I immediately trust The Other Side, but neither can I say that I inherently distrusted it the same way I did with the Inbetween. We’re going to have to wait and see how this place behaves in future episodes to get a good grasp of it. Who built these places? Are they alive, and writing the books, or is there a mastermind behind them? We still don’t have a lot of the answers, but that’s okay.

For now, I’m content to know that Karl is away from the more obvious perils of the Inbetween.

It could still be a trap, but for now, it’s a refuge.

#dream smp #tales from the smp #tftsmp #im exciteeddddd #general thoughts

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mirandalinotto · 3 years

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Why I hate the CAOS video essay that came out a week ago

Did anyone else get extremely angry at the way Friendly Space Ninja discussed all of the female characters in CAOS? like, don't get me wrong... I understand most of the points he's making, and agree with a lot of what he says in the video essay (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Frustrating Waste of Potential), but when he speaks about Zelda, Lilith, Prudence, and Rosalind, I don't know... i just get a bad vibe. It's like he's doing a "bad faith” analysis, and it bothers me, because CAOS has so many parts to validly criticize, and yet he missed the mark more often than he hit it, in my humble opinion.

He basically says the same thing over and over again: that the actors were good, but the characters were bad, because they were all boring, shallow, and one-note, or whatever... and it's like... dude? of all the things you could say (especially about Zelda and Lilith in particular), the characters being “boring" isn't really the biggest criticism one ought to have of this show...?!? and it isn't even accurate?

Like why aren't you criticizing the trauma porn? Why aren't you criticizing the butchering of Lilith's mythology? Why are you ignoring all of the character development that does happen (particularly with regard to Zelda, whom he actively seems to hate) in favor of insisting none of these characters have an arc? It’s not beneficial to anyone if you’re going to criticize a show’s characters by actively misrepresenting them!

Which brings me to my next point: one of the things that bothered me the most was just how surface-level his analysis was. You could tell he hadn’t watched the show in a while, and clearly wasn’t interested in celebrating any part of it—which is okay, if you just want to roast Roberto for an hour, be my guest—but why does it feel like this video essay was the YouTube video equivalent of writing a book report on a novel you only skimmed…? He made a lot of generalizations that made it seem like he only watched the first season, and then paid no attention to the rest.

For example, some of his arguments are just so random and insignificant? Like why does he make shallow observations the basis of whole arguments about characters, such as when he goes on about how Zelda says 'Praise Satan' too much and “it got old"...?!?! Like what kind of bullshit analysis is that...? How is that even close to being something worthy of talking about in a video essay that is an hour and twenty minutes long...? Why are you taking such a trivial aspect of her character and making it a talking point in a video that is already much longer than it needs to be?

And while I agree with what he said about Lilith's motivations being inconsistent/unclear at times, and that Zelda's character growth wasn't as linear or developed as it could be, it really feels like he didn't even try to understand these characters at all. I realize I'm biased, because all I do is try to understand them and explain their motivations... but still! If you're making a video about the wasted potential of CAOS, why do you immediately dismiss almost the entire female cast, pretty much out of hand, when they're the foundation of the show...? They ARE the potential?! The good parts about them ought to have been given some credit? Like why does he fail to acknowledge all of the trauma these female characters went through that very much informs their decisions, and instead makes it sound like nothing the characters do make sense? While I might not always agree with every choice these characters made, there usually is something driving them to do whatever it is they’re doing, and particularly in the case of Lilith and Zelda, it’s not that hard to understand why they make irrational decisions sometimes, when they’re literally surrounded by abusers and everything is constantly blowing up in their faces.

Also, something smaller that really pisses me off is that he includes Zelda sending Blackwood out of the room during the birth of the twins as an example of the show's misandry and "bad feminism," but that's literally not what that moment is about? If he stopped to think about it for a moment, the moment is perfectly logical. Zelda is a midwife, who was most likely trained in the 1800s, when men literally weren't meant to be around when the the birth happened, so how is she being a misandrist just by doing what she’s been taught, especially when they’re all in a crisis situation? Men not being allowed in the room is an established part of the history of women’s health/childbirth, and it isn’t exactly obscure knowledge! Men used to be forced/asked to sit in the waiting room during labor, and before that, when home births were the status quo, midwives definitely wouldn’t allow men in the room as a matter of course. In fact, it wasn't until the 1970s that men being in the delivery room became a more normalized practice. So, men being present/witnessing a birth is a far more "modern" thing than I think people realize, and the exclusion of them from the delivery room has absolutely NOTHING to do with women hating men...? like fuck off with that “misandry” argument, in this instance. do some research before you start reaching that far, so as to act like Zelda was being hateful for simply following “industry standards,” if you want to call it that. There are medical articles that still come out to this very day that argue that no one should be in the delivery room besides the person giving birth and the doctors and nurses, because the husband/partner often gets in the way and distracts the medical team at critical moments. (Also men tend to faint or get sick at the sight of the birth, which then forces the team to split their focus in order to see to the unconscious man on the floor.)

And don't get me started on the anti-Zelda rant he goes on towards the end!! While I agree very much that Zelda is a flawed character, he uses an example of her degrading Hilda that isn't even something she actually did?! It's from a dream sequence!?!?!? like dude, did you even watch these episodes/scenes before you talked about them?!? He uses the example of dream-Zelda criticizing Hilda's appearance as a reason why Zelda is such a bitch, and I'm like... seriously? that literally wasn't her? just because Zelda said it in Hilda's nightmare, doesn't mean Zelda said it in real life, and should be criticized for it...?!

But yes, Zelda is abusive to her sister, and classist, and rude, and many of the things that he says--but when he tries to argue that because she's a woman, nobody cares that she's like that, and it’s a problem, because that’s evidence of more misandry… that’s where he loses me. He sees it as yet another issue with Roberto's writing—that he gives qualities that would be condemned in a male character to a female character, and allows that woman to be one of the "good guys" ...but yet again, dude... you're completely missing the point?!? Women are allowed to be flawed, without you seeing it as some gross failure of feminism?

He also at one point claims that Zelda resents Ambrose, and hates having him around, when I would argue Zelda actually really values Ambrose and has a close relationship to him...? Like did we even watch the same show?

I didn't expect to get this heated about a video essay that made a lot of other points that I agreed with (mainly the dragging of Roberto parts). But in my opinion, this guy got really offended by Roberto's fake feminism (which is valid), but then proceeded to tear down all of the female characters for an hour and twenty minutes straight...?! All he did was talk about how they're all misandrists and shallow characters and therefore the show isn't worth watching? like okay... but here's the thing... plenty of women have made it through shows that have misogyny at their very core, and have still managed to find the good points...? Game of Thrones is like the most popular show of all time, even though there's misogyny in every aspect of it, for historical “realism" purposes (*rolls eyes*). Zelda and Lilith's defining qualities aren't solely related to hating men, so it really pisses me off that he made it seem like that's all that shapes them, and that every time they insult or manipulate a man, it’s completely unjustified.

idk. I feel like I just watched an 83-minute roast on a show I love despite it's flaws, and that roast wasn’t mostly focused on all of the biggest flaws that I would’ve brought up, but rather on how all of the female characters are terrible and their misandry makes the show unwatchable.

So let me get this straight: you're hating on the female characters... in order to show how much of a feminist YOU are, as opposed to Roberto...?

Wow. Much feminism. Very enlightened analysis.

#zelda spellman #lilith #caos #chilling adventures of sabrina netflix

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bananaofswifts · 3 years

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Taylor Swift appears to be waging war over the serial resale of her old master recordings on two fronts. She recently confirmed that she is already underway in the process of re-recording the six albums she made for the Big Machine label, in order to steer her fans (and sync licensing execs) toward the coming alternate versions she’ll control. But now that she’s followed the surprise release of “Folklore” with the very, very surprise release of “Evermore” less than five months later, the thought may occur: If she keeps up this pace, she may have more new albums out on the Republic label than she ever did on Big Machine in a quarter of the time. Flooding the zone to further crowd out the oldies is unlikely to be Swift’s real motivation for giving the world a full-blown “Folklore” sequel this instantaneously: As motivations for prolific activity go, relieving and sublimating quarantine pressure is probably even better than revenge. Anyway, this is not a gift horse to be looked in the mouth. “Evermore,” like its mid-pandemic predecessor, feels like something that’s been labored over — in the best possible way — for years, not something that was written and recorded beginning in August, with the bow said to be put on it only about a week ago. Albums don’t get graded on a curve for how hastily they came together, or shouldn’t be, but this one doesn’t need the handicap. It’d be a jewel even if it’d been in progress forevermore and a day.The closest analog for the relation the new album bears to its predecessor might be one that’d seem ancient to much of Swift’s audience: U2 following “Achtung Baby” with “Zooropa” while still touring behind the previous album. It’s hard to remember now that a whole year and a half separated those two related projects; In that very different era, it seemed like a ridiculously fast follow-up. But the real comparison lies in how U2, having been rewarded for making a pretty gutsy change of pace with “Achtung,” seemed to say: You’re okay with a little experimentation? Let’s see how you like it when we really boil things down to our least commercial impulses, then — while we’ve still got you in the mood.Swift isn’t going avant-garde with “Evermore.” If anything, she’s just stripping things down to even more of an acoustic core, so that the new album often sounds like the folk record that the title of the previous one promised — albeit with nearly subliminal layers of Mellotrons, flutes, French horns and cellos that are so well embedded beneath the profuse finger-picking, you probably won’t notice them till you scour the credits. But it’s taking the risk of “Folklore” one step further by not even offering such an obvious banger (irony intended) as “Cardigan.” Aaron Dessner of the National produced or co-produced about two-thirds of the last record, but he’s on 14 out of 15 tracks here (Jack Antonoff gets the remaining spot), and so the new album is even more all of a piece with his arpeggiated chamber-pop impulses, Warmth amid iciness is a recurring lyrical motif here, and kind of a musical one, too, as Swift’s still increasingly agile vocal acting breathes heat into arrangements that might otherwise seem pretty controlled. At one point Swift sings, “Hey, December, I’m feeling unmoored,” like a woman who might even know she’s going to put her album out a couple of weeks before Christmas. It’s a wintry record — suitable for double-cardigan wearing! — and if you’re among the 99% who have been feeling unmoored, too, then perhaps you are Ready For It. Swift said in announcing the album that she was moving further into fiction songwriting after finding out it was a good fit on much of “Folklore,” a probably inevitable move for someone who’s turning 31 in a few days and appears to have a fairly settled personal life. Which is not to say that there aren’t scores to settle, and a few intriguing tracks whose real-life associations will be speculated upon. But just as the “Betty”/”August” love triangle of mid-year established that modern pop’s most celebrated confessional writer can just make shit up, too, so, here, do we get the narrator of “Dorothea,” a honey in Tupelo who is telling a childhood friend who moved away and became famous that she’s always welcome back in her hometown. (Swift may be doing a bit of empathic wondering in a couple of tracks here how it feels to be at the other end of the telescope.) One time the album takes a turn away from rumination into a pure spirit of fun — while getting dark anyway — is “No Body, No Crime,” a spirited double-murder ballad that may have more than a little inspiration in “Goodbye, Earl.” Since Swift already used the Dixie Chicks for background vocals two albums ago, for this one she brings in two of the sisters from Haim, Danielle and Este, and even uses the latter’s name for one of the characters. Yes, the rock band Haim’s featured appearance is on the only really country-sounding song on the record… there’s one you didn’t see coming, in the 16 hours you had to wonder about it. Yet there are also a handful of songs that clearly represent a Swiftian state of mind. At least, it’s easy to suppose that the love songs that opens the album, “Willow,” is a cousin to the previous record’s “Invisible String” and “Peace,” even if it doesn’t offer quite as many clearly corroborating details about her current relationship as those did. On the sadder side, Swift is apparently determined to run through her entire family tree for heartrending material. On “Lover,” she sang for her stricken mother; on “Folklore,” for her grandfather in wartime. In that tradition the new album offers “Marjorie,” about the beloved grandmother she lost in 2003, when she was 13. (The lyric videos that are being offered online mostly offer static visual loops, but the one for “Marjorie” is an exception, reviving a wealth of stills and home-movie footage of Grandma, who was quite a looker in a miniskirt in her day.) Rue is not something Swift is afraid of here anymore than anywhere else, as she sings, “I should’ve asked you questions / I should’ve asked you how to be / Asked you to write it down for me / Should’ve kept every grocery store receipt / ‘Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me,” lines that will leave a dry eye only in houses that have never known death. The piece de resistance in its poignance is Swift actually resurrecting faint audio clips of Marjorie, who was an opera singer back in the day. It’s almost like ELO’s “Rockaria,” played for weeping instead of a laugh. Swift has not given up, thank God, on the medium that brought her to the dance — the breakup song — but most of them here have more to do with dimming memories and the search for forgiveness, however slowly and incompletely achieved, than feist. But doesn’t Swift know that we like her when she’s angry? She does, and so she delves deep into something like venom just once, but it’s a good one. The ire in “Closure,” a pulsating song about an unwelcome “we can still be friends, right?” letter from an ex, seems so fresh and close to the surface that it would be reasonable to speculate that it is not about a romantic relationship at all, but a professional one she has no intention of ever recalling in a sweet light. Or maybe she does harbor that a disdain for an actual former love with that machinelike a level of intensity. What “Evermore” is full of is narratives that, like the music that accompanies them, really come into focus on second or third listen, usually because of a detail or two that turns her sometimes impressionistic modes completely vivid. “Champagne Problems” is a superb example of her abilities as a storyteller who doesn’t always tell all: She’s playing the role of a woman who quickly ruins a relationship by balking at a marriage proposal the guy had assumed was an easy enough yes that he’d tipped off his nearby family. “Sometimes you just don’t know the answer ‘ Til someone’s on their knees and asks you / ‘She would’ve made such a lovely bride / What a shame she’s fucked in the head’ / They said / But you’ll find the real thing instead / She’ll patch up your tapestry that I shred.” (Swift has doubled the F-bomb quotient this time around, among other expletives, for anyone who may be wondering whether there’s rough wordplay amid Dessner’s delicacy — that would an effing yes.) “‘Tis the Damn Season,” representing a gentler expletive, gives us a character who is willing to settle, or at least share a Christmas-time bed with an ex back in the hometown, till something better comes along. The pleasures here are shared, though not many more fellow artists have broken into her quarantine bubble this time around. Besides Haim’s cameo, Marcus Mumford offers a lovely harmony vocal on “Cowboy Like Me,” which might count as the other country song on the album, and even throws in something Swift never much favored in her Nashville days, a bit of lap steel. Its tale of male and female grifters meeting and maybe — maybe — falling in love is really more determinedly Western than C&W, per se, though. The National itself, as a group, finally gets featured billing on “Coney Island,” with Matt Berninger taking a duet vocal on a track that recalls the previous album’s celebrated Bon Iver collaboration “Exile,” with ex-lovers taking quiet turns deciding who was to blame. (Swift saves the rare laugh line for herself: “We were like the mall before the internet / It was the one place to be.) Don’t worry, legions of new Bon Iver fans: Dessner has not kicked Justin Vernon out of his inner circle just to make room for Berninger. The Bon Iver frontman whose appearance on “Folklore” came as a bit of a shock to some of his fan base actually makes several appearances on this album, and the one that gets him elevated to featured status again, as a duet, the closing “Evermore,” is different from “Exile” in two key ways. Vernon gets to sing in his high register… and he gets the girl. As it turned out, the year 2020 did not involve any such waiting for Swift fans; it’s an embarrassment of stunning albums-ending-in-“ore” that she’s mined out of a locked-down muse.

#taylor swift #evermore #review

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nightswithkookmin · 3 years

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Was Jk shading Taehyung during his New Years wishes to him at GDA? Twitter people are reading a LOT into it, saying that Jk is still salty at Tae and vice versa. They seem pretty chill to me. Why do people always find reasons to believe there is Vminkook drama?Is there a reason to think they aren't repairing their freindship?

VMINKOOK...

First of all, why would JK shade Taehyung? What are they fighting about, I wonder. Has anyone known JK to be the passive aggressive king slash shade throwing one in that trio? Because, not me...

I don't see him as the, 'those two are hanging out now followed by a slight head tilt,' kind of person. The 'Jimin wants to come but JK is keeping him from coming,' the 'well, you ignore me anyway so I couldn't tell you were on a mission' kind.

Or even the, 'my friendship relationships are gold to me and it's important for me to nurture those connections' knowing damn well the elephant in the room has a possessive streak and he himself has been on record, allegedly, stating he has one same age friend and all his friends are hyungs- so what is JK to you then Jimin?

Then the whole, 'texting is not a great way to build connections and is a barrier to effective communication' -words spewed in full cognizance of the fact JK is a bad texter yet prefers texting to talking on phone anyway- that is what I call shade. Not sure what was in the water that day, but chilee Jimin was all over the place in that Be Behind video. Lmho.

I think everyone, including even the semi-rational Tuktukker, know damn well what JK meant by that statement and what had prompted it- but leave it to them to circumvent.

Ah, V hyung... we used to have a special bond. When we were trainees, we had such great chemistry. V used to be the easiest hyung to talk to, now it's awkward.

Where is the shade in this? I don't think at all that he is or was in anyway shading Tae or any one. To shade would imply he has stock. He don't.

I hate when people talk about Tae Kook as if there is something wrong with their bond. There isn't. It is what it is. It's just not what their shoppers make it out to be. They are looking for depth where there is none. The fact of the matter is Tae Kook lacks depth to their dynamics. We know it, JK knows it, BigHit knows it. No amount of bullying Jimin or Jokers will add that missing depth back to their relationship. Sorry.

'He is still salty,' honey he was never salty about anything to begin with. They tried it! Making it sound like JK wants Tae to change in order to relate with him again. He don't.

Why would JK be salty about Tae's growth? Why would he object to Tae's growth?

Because that's what it is. This whole Tae Kook tensions is not about them fighting, it's about them growing apart. Tae grew the fuck up and JK can't relate with him or treat him the way he used to when they were young.

And if these self absorbed, legally blind shoppers looked beyond Tae Kook for a second, they will know it's not just JK complaining about Tae changing and becoming different as he grew up.

Tae used to be the easiest hyung to talk to and bully because they were closer in age and Tae allowed for such familiarity between them. Similar to how, Jin and Jimin allows for a certain degree of familiarity and informality between them and Jk.

While Tae allowed and was open to this level of closeness and informality between them, JK apparently held on to the gates, only scraping the surface of it and inhibiting the depth that could have been to their dynamics.

Was Tae content with that dynamic? No. Did he communicate that to JK? May be he did but JK wouldn't let his guards down. Tae failed to breach JK's emotional boundaries and years later he would express this sentiment openly to JK in their conversation in Soop.

Whereas, JK admitted to Jimin's successful breach of his emotional walls when he recounted the story of their rainy day fight- let me not hear any one compare Jikook to any of JK's ship in BTS, I whoop your ass. D!

This is the intimacy that is missing in Tae Kook. When you are close to someone, you not only feel at ease with them enough to express your thoughts freely with them, you are comfortable enough with them to be yourself, be different, to antagonize them without the fear that your differences and outbursts will sever your bond or lead to irreparable damage to your bond.

Fact is, in as much as JK felt close to Tae in the early days, he harbored a fear that being fully himself enough to be 'opinionated' and fully honest in his self expressions towards him, would break their bond.

He clearly didn't trust their bond was strong enough to handle all of that. That's the intimacy you find in Jikook. The trust. They are both unapologetically themselves with eachother because they trust in their bond.

Which means they share a lot but are also very opinionated with eachother, clash and assert themselves with eachother. And I know the kumbaya fake woke Jokers hate to hear it, but Jikook are strong not because they don't fight but because their bond withstands the test of a fight as Tae explained in his conversation with JK in Soop.

He was able to get closer with Jimin and Jin by being openly assertive with them- going against Jimin in the dumpling incident and all the times they fought, directly confrontational with Jin over their dance choreo but with JK he had always been scared to open himself in that way with him for whatever reason- I won't bother speculating on. It's their ship, they should do the maths.

May be he learned his lesson. He's learned not to fear conflict, to be assertive without fearing he would be punished for it, to be less passive aggressive as he was before and express himself and his feelings more openly over the years.

But it took him closing himself off to get there. Always looking in photos as if Yeontan ate the last brisket. Exuding melancholic vibes.

Young Jk equally didn't have a positive view on conflict and conflict resolution and I think he knew his place as the youngest and did not want to be as opinionated or assertive against them and so, as he explained to Tae in Soop, he opted to keep a safe distance emotionally from everyone- not just Tae.

When JK talks about we used to have a special bond, all he means is they used to be mischievous, get in trouble together, be brats, chat shit under their breaths behind their hyungs- partners in crime and as I like to call them, be the evil power duo of BTS.

They literally shared one brain cell lol, and conspired a lot. Their bond was unique only in that Tae was a rebel at heart and a bit innocent or immature as RM and the others would say.

Ship wise, Tae used to be on his side. He was protective of him and and looked out for him when they were young- that's of course before he started passive aggressively exposing JK's relationship with Jimin on VLives, incessantly shipping Jimin with Suga, dragging JK's ass away from JM's car so he could ride with him and all of those harmless moments that to anyone with little understanding of Tae's character would assume Tae didn't support JK's relationship.

And even after Soop, he put JK on the spot when he tried eye fucking Jimin through the view finder during their dynamite MV- he knew what JK was going to do. He's seen him do that a countless times to Jimin- HE KNOWS.

There is a reason JK gave him that look in the Dynamite shoot interview when he thought Tae was intentionally trying to expose him holding hands with Jimin behind Suga.

As much as these little things may be irritating to Kook, I don't think Tae gotta kiss his ass too. Jk can be messy sometimes with his Jikook agenda.

Of course they dynamic would change if Tae changed too- which is what Jimin and everyone says of Taehyung. He is very reserved and mature now. He is not the same childish, immature, reckless teen JK or Tuktukkers used to know.

He grew faster than either JK or JM had hoped and they both miss that part of him. Tae said he wished he could get a time machine and show Army the 'Chimchar' he was back in the day. The only way Taekook can be real is if we all hop into a time machine and go back in time to change the trajectory of events.

Tuktukkers need to let go of their old ship, that ship is dead and embrace the new ship brewing in its stead.

Jimin have said occasionally, that side of Tae pops out but he is very different from who he used to be when they were young. Which explains these outbursts of moments and interactions reminiscent of their past bond but that's all that is.

Why do these people insist on infantilizing Tae and holding him to his past?

That comment at GDA wasn't shade. But it was an inside Joke I feel. Like I said, when JK talks about their past history and bond, to me it's reference to a time period where Tae was on his side and was mischievous. To me it's code for 'I miss when you were less uptight and strict.'

He brought up when Tae gave them leeway and was lenient with their schedule during the making of Be- a sentiment all the members expressed in the Be behind video when they praised Tae for giving them much room in their schedules.

It was the same thing he said during his speech to Tae at GDA after bringing up the whole past bond thingy. He wanted to express appreciation to Tae perhaps because the loose schedule Tae had created had given him much time to go home and give his man a blowjob or go house shopping with him- who knows.

The way he kept looking at Jimin while saying that... yea. I'm going with that. Lol.

That loose schedule definitely put Tae in JK and JM's good graces.

My take away from that moment though, is- JK's agenda to give Tuktukkers hernia🤣

Lord I'm dying. I laughed so hard my ribs hurt. Pray for me. Lmho.

Chilee JK.

Dude is on a mission to run the entire Taekook gay, Taekook married propaganda campaign into the ground. What guts me is, he knows what Tae Kook is. I bet he went online after that Tae Kook Vlive to watch Tae Kook compilations. He's been on a mission to obliterate that ship since. Lol.

I mean I won't put it past him. Probably looked up Yoonmin while he was at it and showed Jimin analysis videos of him moaning in Suga's bedroom🤣🤣🤣🤣

Would explain why he was laughing when he saw Yoonmin in the comments during the VLive and why Jimin looked like he wanted to eat us alive. Lmho.

Oh Tae touched my peepee? You bloody moaned in Suga's bedroom how about we call it even?

ROTFL.

I joke but I mean, this is the same dude who took an online personality test after Tae read his results to him in Soop- he definitely watched those Tae Kook compilation-Y'all laugh else I'll shoot you. Lmho. I can't be the only one who finds this funny!

He knows what shipping is, he knows how statements like that would be construed by the fans- and the fact Jimin had spent an entire interview and behind scenes openly disavowing his glorified friendship connections... I smell a renewal of commitment somewhere.

Don't mind me. I play too much sometimes.

There is nothing wrong with Tae Kook's friendship. If anything, it seems JK feels very appreciative of Tae in recent times which is usually a good sign between them because for Vminkook to thrive they all need to make space for eachother and for the pairings amongst them to thrive- Vmin, Taekook and Jikook.

I hope this helps?

Signed,

GOLDY

#jikook #jikooktheories #jikook analysis #jikook bts #jikook is real #goldy analysis #ask response #ask goldy #goldy blogs #goldy #nightswithkookmin

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terramythos · 3 years

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TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 15 of 26

Title: Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle #4) (1990)

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Third-Person, Female Protagonist

Rating: 8/10

Date Began: 6/24/2021

Date Finished: 6/30/2021

Decades after The Tombs of Atuan, Tenar decided to settle down and live an ordinary life on the shepherding Isle of Gont. Now a farmer’s widow, she adopts a disfigured and horrifically abused child, who she names Therru. When a giant dragon deposits a grief-stricken Ged at her doorstep, Tenar finds herself in a strange situation as she cares for her old friend and her adopted daughter. But threats from Therru’s past and a malevolent force on the island soon threaten Tenar’s small family.

Despair speaks evenly, in a quiet voice.

Content warnings and spoilers below the cut.

Content warnings for the book: Violence and death. Mentioned murder. Severe child abuse. Descriptions of traumatic injury and disfigurement. Mentions of r*pe, including of children. Trauma, sexism, and ableism are explored in depth.

Tehanu is a much different book than the trilogy that precedes it. Perhaps this is unsurprising, considering the 17-year gap between this book and The Farthest Shore. I’d describe the Earthsea series as “grounded fantasy”. While all of them take place in a magical world, the thesis of each book is universal; the fantasy always comes second. Tehanu takes this idea to an extreme. The story is about everyday life as a common woman in the Earthsea world, with fantasy barely factoring in. The pacing is intentionally slow and introspective, which is something I normally don’t like, but Le Guin is a consistent exception.

Key characters from the previous books make an appearance. Obviously Tenar is the biggest return, absent since The Tombs of Atuan. The Tenar in this book is older and much more mature, having decided to live a simple life in spite of her adventures and accomplishments. Ged returns, but he’s a shell of his former self, as he mourns the loss of his magic and the man he used to be. Even King Lebannen (formerly Arren, the main character of The Farthest Shore) makes a brief appearance, and is quite a palate cleanser after the horrible men throughout the rest of the book.

Probably my favorite aspect of the novel is the fact that these characters stand well on their own without magic to prop them up. Tenar explored the terrifying freedom she won in The Tombs of Atuan; got married, settled down, had kids — but still finds herself at a loss on what to do with her life after her husband dies. Ged is in a similar boat; he’s gone from an almost mythic character to an ordinary man, and like Tenar finds himself at a crossroads in life. Other characters embody this idea of transformation and uncertainty; Therru’s escaped her abusers and now has a loving mother, but what does the future hold for someone with her appearance? Stuff like that.

The idea of metamorphosis and new beginnings is well-trodden. But what makes Tehanu interesting is Le Guin primarily examines this with the middle-aged characters. Tenar and Ged are legendary figures in the world of Earthsea, but life has taken them to an uncertain future. The thrust of the novel lies in finding a purpose and becoming someone new. I also like that Tenar/Ged is endgame; I got Vibes from The Tombs of Atuan, but neither character was in a position where it would work. Seeing them form a romantic relationship much later in life is touching and cute. But it’s not the reason that either of them grow as people; finding one’s purpose is something one has to do on their own. Their relationship only develops once both parties have done so.

My main complaint about A Wizard of Earthsea, the first book, is the sexism inherent in the setting, which is never examined below the surface level. Perhaps Le Guin’s outlook changed, or perhaps the publishing environment did, because often Tehanu reads like a response to this criticism. The central theme of the book is misogyny, the patriarchy, and its debilitating effects on women. Le Guin examines everything from micro-aggressions (“common wisdom” that happens to paint women as inferior) to domestic issues (“women’s work” and how much that actually is) to outright sexual assault (both in threats and actual acts; it is heavily implied this is part of the abuse Therru endured). She even goes into how powerful women are only considered as such because a man gave them that power.

While I appreciate the fact she addresses these issues in such a frank, blatant way, at times reading Tehanu felt like reading a basic feminism primer. These subjects are all things I’m familiar with, and I feel like anyone who’s studied key feminist ideas would be aware of them also. Maybe 1990 was different? Le Guin doesn’t add any insights to the bleak reality of patriarchy and sexism, which is a little disappointing compared to previous books. That being said, this book is aimed at young adults despite its dark subject matter. Tehanu could be the first exposure to these ideas that many children receive; looking at it that way, it makes sense that the analysis comes off as basic.

I also found the book’s examination of gender to be very cishet-normative. That’s definitely not surprising, considering the book was published in 1990, but to a 2021 reader this hasn’t aged super well. There’s a lot of discussion about the relationships and differences between men and women--whether there are any or not, how magic differs between them, the ability to bear children, and so on. There’s a weird sexual component to this, like how wizards (who are exclusively men) have to remain celibate in order to… keep being wizards? But women who are witches don’t have to do that, and that’s an advantage women have? (There’s mentions of male witches too, iirc, but it’s not expanded upon— do they have to remain celibate? Who knows.). I found this whole bit pretty odd and unnecessary, although I realize a lot of my perspective on the matter comes from a modern view of sex and gender (and, y’know, being trans). Not all the gender takes in the book are bad, but they are limited.

I found Le Guin’s exploration of trauma and ableism through Therru to be more interesting. There’s a lot of examination about how society treats Therru, a survivor of unspeakable abuse. Her trauma is visible due to severe burns along part of her body, leaving her with a missing eye and disfigured hand. Tenar spends much of the novel wondering what future Therru has; no matter how capable she is and how much she acts like any other little girl, strangers gawk at her, or assume she “deserved” what happened to her. Therru becomes happier and more independent over the course of the novel, but relapses into a traumatized state when she encounters one of her abusers. As a survivor, it’s heartbreaking and distressingly realistic. As much as I like Tenar, I almost wish the novel was from Therru’s perspective (other than the brief jump at the end), but I realize it would spoil the ending.

I’m torn on the ending because, while I thought it was cool and had some interesting revelations, it’s a jarring tonal shift. As I mentioned, Tehanu is a slow novel with a heavy focus on everyday life, and the trials and tribulations both Tenar and Therru experience. There’s even a climactic event a few chapters before the end; the only thing left is a persistent loose thread from earlier in the novel. That subplot explodes to the forefront a bare chapter and a half before the end of the book, and a lot of action-y fantasy stuff happens. It doesn’t come out of nowhere; it’s set up throughout the novel, but it is sudden.

That being said, I do like that the subplot with dragons vs humans is hinted at as early as The Tombs of Atuan. When Tenar tells the legend about the origin of dragons early in the story, my mind immediately went to that one room from the Labyrinth with the sad winged humanoids painted on its walls. I’m curious if there are hints elsewhere in the series. I also figured out Therru’s true name and how she relates to that subplot based on context clues. While it’s not a shocking twist, it is a satisfying one. Though parts of it gave me a “magical destiny” vibe which is counter to much of the series so far; I do wonder how the last two books will address this. (Also… did Le Guin imply Kalessin is Segoy? AKA God? What did she mean by this. So Ged literally like… hitched a ride from God, who promptly yeeted out of the story until the end? That’s kind of funny. Maybe I misinterpreted something.)

I probably sound critical of this book, but I did genuinely enjoy it. It just didn’t speak to me the way the previous two did. The next book is a short story collection before the conclusion to the series, so we’ll see where it goes! Tehanu set some stuff up that I expect will be expanded upon in these volumes.

#8/10 #taylor reads #2021 reading challenge

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kimikaami · 4 years

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back with the hadestown au heyooooo

(can you tell where i lost steam? lol)

brief plot synopsis and some explanations for who’s who and why below

ok so plot first

short version: Hadestown is a musical retelling of the tragedy of orpheus and eurydice, but set in something closer to the great depression. Hades and Persephone also play pretty big roles. If this interests you at all, I’d reccomend listening to the original cast recording of Epic III, and the song Wait For Me (reprise) from the Broadway version. If you can, find a video recording of that one; I think the spectacle of it all is a big reason for why it’s a favorite.

Long version: Act I opens with Hermes, the narrator, introducing all the characters. He owns a... bar? restaurant? thingy? and Eurydice enters, taking a seat. Orpheus is immediately in love. He introduces himself, and Eurydice’s skeptical, but when Orpheus is able to make a plant grow just by singing, she’s won over. They sing a song together about planning for their wedding and promise to stay together forever uwu.

Persephone arrives on a train from the underground (underworld) for spring. There’s a big party, and Orpheus is hopeful for the future. You should know that it’s very hard to survive in this world during winter. It’s near impossible to find food.

so eventually Hades comes to get Persephone for winter and things get Bad. Instead of ya know, working, Orpheus becomes fixated on finishing his song to make spring come again, to the point of ignoring Eurydice, who is struggling. While Orpheus has part of his song to sustain him, Eurydice needs to actually eat and is barely holding on. After a fight with Persephone about how she hates seeing the underground so industrialized and unnatural, Hades appears and offers Eurydice a job working on his wall. Eurydice, desperate, accepts and gives her soul to Hades. He gives her the 2 drachma she needs to cross the river styx. The fates sing a song that boils down to them telling you to not be so judgey since you’ve never starved to death.

Act II starts with Orpheus asking Hermes about Eurydice, and when he tells him, Orpheus pledges to come for her. He follows the train tracks to Hadestown (the underground). Orpheus sings his way past the wall (i think he makes the stones cry or smth?) into Hadestown. He gets beat up a little but finds Eurydice, who isn’t doing great. She’s gradually been losing her sense of self as she works constantly for almost nothing (capitalism, everybody!) Hades tells Orpheus he can’t take Eurydice because he owns her soul. Orpheus almost loses hope, but. doesnt. He also starts a revolution with the people working on the wall.

Persephone manages to get Hades to give Orpheus a chance. Orpheus finally finishes his song as he’s singing it (Epic III) and it moves Hades. He and Persephone dance which is a Big moment. But now Hades has a problem. If he doesn’t let them go, the workers will revolt. If he does, he looks weak. So he gives them the test: they can leave together, but if orpheus looks back to see if eurydice is following, she gets taken back to hadestown.

They leave together (Wait for Me Reprise). The inevitable happens; Orpheus starts to doubt himself and looks back at the very last moment and Eurydice is taken back.

Hermes sings a song about how the story is a tragedy, but they sing it anyway in the hopes that it’ll turn out better next time. The play starts again, with Eurydice entering Hermes’ bar.

Character Notes I guess

Ahiru as Orpheus is the most obvious. She’s the protag, the one full of hope. Orpheus is described as the one who sees the world as it could be, and i think that’s rather fitting. Not much else to say here.

Fakir as Eurydice. The skeptical one, the one who sees the world as it is. Fakir’s a realist. There’s also a line about how Eurydice falls in spite of herself and ugh. My heart. It’s a puddle. I also just like the idea of Fakir being the one that needs saving this time around.

Rue as Hades. So Hades’ whole deal is that he still loves Persephone and he tries really hard to make their relationship work, but he goes about it in all the wrong ways. Persephone is the goddess of spring ffs, but he keeps her down in the stuffy underground with the neon lights and coal fumes and wall construction etc etc etc. And that’s what Rue spends much of her time doing, isnt it? Pretending that Mytho loves her when he simply doesn’t have the capacity for it (yet), trying desperately to make him love her, and going about it all wrong. It’s all very tragic and. very fitting.

Mytho as Persephone is probably the most awkward tbh. Persephone is full of life. On top she’s a party girl, and in the down below she’s bitter. Ofc Mytho is numb for much of the show but I think that sort of relates to Persephone using alcohol to numb things. I think they’re both really earnest and honest though, and Persephone is the one responsible for getting Orpheus and Eurydice a chance in the first place. Tbh that’s kind of the only rationale i have for him. If you’ve got something better I’d love to hear it, and I don’t mean that sarcastically.

A quick note about Hermes and The Fates. So Hermes is the narrator, which sounds perfect for Drossylmeyer on a surface level. The thing is, Hermes is like. A nice guy, and I like to think of him as a sort of surrogate father to Orpheus. I don’t wanna do that to poor Ahiru. I suppose you could bend the story a bit, but I don’t really wanna do that either. The other option would be Edel, but again, personality. Hermes is a really loud character with lots of personality. So no really great choices. As for the fates... well tbh it just feels icky to adapt their roles as POC with a lot of culture represented in the clothes they wear and the type of songs they sing for white characters. I suppose I could humanize some of the animal characters but that feels kind of cheap. I don’t know. If you’re more educated that me on this I’d love to hear it.

#princess tutu #fakiru #ruetho #hadestown #hadestown au #princess tutu au #my art #sorry for the MASSIVE read more oof

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