#some of them that i've read are banger and actually pretty in character

[verycharismaticdragon]

Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "verycharismaticdragon "?

I'm not the best at remembering things past the hyperfix, so half of this will be SV, but I'll start at prev fandoms for variety.

Artificial Nocturne (Motorcity) - I've read this ages ago but I remember it rearranging my brain chemistry. And making me realize I had a scar kink.

An Abomination, Grand Cleric Elthina's Murderer and the Herald of Andraste walk into a Bar (Dragon Age) - it's probably abandoned but it's so good. Anders and Varric in this are so *incoherent gesturing*

intra-personal negotiation (Venom) - I don't understand why I didn't bookmark a single Venom fic even though I distinctly remember like 5 straight bangers, but thankfully I'm following this author at least ✊

deathbed (Qi Ye) - that time I was whining there were no first life JBY/ZZS fics and then! Anyway it's understandably melancholy it's also very pretty and exactly right as it should be.

the good rain knows when to fall (TYK) - you should be reading Bichen's entire discography fic collection I just remembered this one first. This one is lighthearted old foxes clowning! The author's angst and cannibalism are also top-notch 👌

Ok now to SVSSS.

Joyed to be Forlorn - THE binghe fic for me. inspired me to start digging into Luo Binghe's character in a way that resulted in Transmigrator Time Traveler, hopefully thats recommendation enough

continued - possibly THE best fic in scum villain fandom. the format alone... oh just read it, you'll see what I mean.

A Child Once - again, i could rec Tossawary's entire discography, but this one is my personal favorite. (if your fav character is SQH though, the one you want is pride is not the word I'm looking for. aka THE sqh fic.)

sweet tongues, sharp teeth - unfinished but raw enough to lodge itself in my brain despite that.

Tale Within A Tale - cute as fuck. made me kick my legs and giggle many times. ...and because once I started pulling up SV fics it was difficult to stop...

side effects (rated E) - part 2 in particular didnt have to go so hard for a fic where the premise is 'bingqiu with tentacles'

don't underestimate me (rated E) - "all for the sake of preserving biodiversity!" god shen yuan SO would be in this situation.

The Best Luo Binghe (rated E) - binggeyuan. shen yuan SO would be in this situation, take 2.

put me in, coach (rated M) - bingqiushang. so fucking funny okay i love it so much

from your knees (rated E) - bingjiu. they're so rancid in this one its perfect 🖤

...Damn, this really puts the difference between my non-hyperfix and hyperfix memory into perspective, huh 😅 i actually had to trim the sv list a bit 😅😅😅

Anyway, yeah, my username actually just references an rp session we had with friends quite a few years back. Where at a certain point my character was referenced as "a VERY charismatic dragon" after managing to turn the antagonist by impressing them (thanks to some VERY lucky dice rolls). And I was dissatisfied with my old username at the time, and thought it sounded funny and snappy enough, so - stars aligned and all that. I'm happy with it still! Probably because dragons are always cool ✌️

#svsss #motorcity #dragon age #venom #qi ye #tian ya ke #<- for org purposes on my blog #😘 thanks for the ask!

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

#full liveblog #asks #act 5.2

[chaifootsteps]

Welp, Chai, I rewatched the entire Hazbin Hotel pilot on the night of the 18th. It's been well over a year since I even watched it. Now onto my thoughts...

The Good 😊

The Animation: I know a lot of us complained about Viv's style of animation. But compared to the current HH animation style, it's a lot more pleasing in my eyes. I especially love the smear frames in the pilot (often referred to as "cursed images") as they really make the animation very dynamic.

The Voice Acting: I still absolutely adored the voice acting in the Hazbin Hotel pilot. Jill, Monica, Michael, Edward, Mick, etc. really brought their A-Game and really brought these characters to life. Frankly, I should've been way more upset when they were replaced back in December 2021.

Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow: Man, I have forgotten how much of a banger this song is. I don't know how to describe the genre/genres of this song, but I view it as a strange yet effective mixture of a piano ballad, pop rock, and speed metal. I actually headbanged pretty hard during the song, something I can't say about the new Hazbin songs.

Vaggie: Still love that little grey moth sinner with an unfortunate name. I view her as the most rational (if not the only rational) character in HH. I still enjoy the scene where she explains to Angel Dust the legend of Alastor, very reminiscent of a Hey Arnold urban legend scene.

The One Scene between Angel Dust and Alastor: I don't know why, but the scene where Angel Dust offers a dick sucking to Alastor and then Alastor bluntly rejected him still makes me chuckle to this day. That's probably the only sex related joke I laughed at in my recent rewatch.

The Bad 😡

Seeing Red: This is a complaint nearly all of us had with the pilot: Too... much... RED! I don't know why didn't bother me years ago, yet it bothers me now. Granted, compared to the current series, the pilot has a little more variety of colors, even though it's still red dominated.

The Humor: Unfortunately, aside from the Angel/Alastor exchange, a lot of the jokes in HH fell flat with me during my recent rewatch. It just makes me wonder how I thought HH was funny back then. Maybe Viv's rose-tinted fog really clouded my judgement.

Vaggie's Treatment: One thing I still dislike about the pilot, even back when I was a fan, was how Vaggie was treated. Despite being the most/only rational character, Vaggie was treated quite poorly. From being ignored by Charlie, to being insulted by Angel, to being slapped in the ass by Alastor. *sigh* Why do cartoons have to torture characters with a hint of rationality?!

Too Many Characters, Not Enough Time: Not sure if this is nitpicky or not, but I feel the pilot "introduced" far too many characters in a 30-minute video. Yeah, I put quotes around "introduced" as many of them got only a few seconds of screen-time or were only there in portraits. Even "main" characters like Husk and Niffty got the short end of the stick in terms of screen-time. It also took me long to realize that Viv really favors her male characters over her female ones. Female led show, my ass!

The Ugly 🤢

The Wasted Potential: This is the only ugly thing, but the wasted potential of HH is so ugly that the Ugly Barnacle would die. Under Viv's rose-tinted fog, I foolishly grew emotionally attached and had high hopes for this show. Unfortunately, thanks to Vivienne Medrano's micro zepto-management, she pissed all the great potential away. *sigh* It could've been great... 😔

Well, that was a load-off. Now I feel like I've made some closure. 😇

-Metallica Anon 🤘

Thank you for reminding me just how Gerald Urban Tale-esque Vaggie's Alastor exposition was...between that and the constant little sound effects, the whole thing felt like a Nicktoon, and I know that's part of what I loved about it.

This was a bittersweet walk down memory lane just reading it, but I'm glad you got your closure, Metallica Anon. It really could have been so great.

#Anonymous #Metallica Anon #Hazbin Hotel critical #viv stuff #Hazbin Hotel #actual blog post

[starleska]

hi! im a really big fan of your fanfics (especially the wally ones) and i’m really curious to know what are songs that you associate with him?? please don’t be afraid to share!!! i really like talking and gushing over wally darling with a fellow wally simp lol

hey there anon!! 💖 aww my goodness you are so lovely, thank you!! it brings my heart so much joy that you like my writing...i can't believe the surge of wonderful feedback fired my way over this past week 🙈🙈 what a fun question!! there's a few songs i associate with Wally right now, and i'm sure more will pop up as we learn more about him;;; some are less overt, and more to do with Wally x Reader vibes - or, my terrible musical taste/hallucinating scenarios while listening to the same twenty songs 😂 fun simp challenge!! have a listen to a few of these with your eyes shut, thinking about Wally. you're guaranteed to have a good time 😉

Songs I Associate with Wally Darling:

Touch-Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon. no one could've seen this one coming 😂 no, as soon as i discovered Welcome Home i knew i'd finally found the right character to edit this song with. the conspiracy theory, cryptic vibes, slight desperation and of course retro-phone theming all work so well for Wally! 🥰

Out of My Mind by CG5. total coincidence that this banger dropped just as i learned about Welcome Home, and there's something cathartic and hypnotic about that repetitive chorus that fits with a lot of theories about Wally's struggles with Home...i had this one on repeat while writing The Nightmare Picnic 👀

An Unhealthy Obsession by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra. this one's for all the yandere!Wally fans out there - i think every person who's a fan of terrifying, obsessive characters loves this song 😉 this is the one had on repeat while writing those yandere!Wally headcanons - i actually included it to listen to whilst reading in the original post, but i ran out of space!! 🙈

INSANE by Black Gryphon & Baasik. i know, strike me down for including a song made specifically for another Tumblr Sexyman on this list!!! but come on - the static, the showmanship, the overt friendliness masking a smiling, curious sadism...don't pretend like you don't enjoy this take on Wally, i've seen the fanart 😂

LA Devotee by Panic! at the Disco. this one's jam-packed with fun occult imagery and all about fame and obsession, so it feels perfect for our children's puppet show ARG!! something about it just hits right with how the fandom perceives the darker side of Wally 😳 i'm listening to this a lot at the moment as i've got a Metalocalypse MEP part to this song in the works, but my thoughts can't help wandering to Mr. Darling;;

Super Psycho Love by Simon Curtis. lord help me, you can tell i was in the AMV-making community in the late 2000s/early 2010s 😂 this song's a staple for attentive, manipulative, obsessive characters...even if we end up being totally wrong, and Wally is a Darling in more than name, we'll always have fun with our unhealthily possessive fantasies 🥰

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. hey, i'm a basic bitch - i love listening to sugary-sweet, fluffworthy AMV music whilst writing my x Readers 🙈💖 a lot of the folks who request Wally often bear a little bit of their souls when asking - revealing insecurities about themselves, and wanting to be reassured he'd love them anyway. this is such a pretty, nostalgic song, and i think it captures the softness with which many of us would like to be treated by him ✨

Crush by Mandy Moore. similar to the last entry, yet leaning even more into that bubblegum romance vibe...i'm simply weak for blushy crush scenarios 🥴💖 i like this one a lot for x Readers, especially an embarrassed Reader absolutely overcome with how precious they find Wally 💖

Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng. one of my favourite songs of all time, and the perfect choice if you want your heart to ache 💔 i think this is a wonderful choice when thinking about a hurt Reader...someone who has fully given up on love, only to be confronted with Wally's relentless sunshine personality and falling head over heels 🥺 this song speaks to why i think many of us are infatuated with Wally...his charm coming from that childlike outlook, his tendency to love everything and everyone. lots of us could benefit from that kind of unconditional love, i think;;

#wally darling x reader #wally darling x you #wally darling #welcome home #welcome home arg #starleskasks

[shredsandpatches]

The Devil Has All the Best Tunes: Ranking the Mephistopheles Arias

Since getting myself properly acquainted with Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele, I've been thinking about how much the character of Mephistopheles brings out the best in opera composers, although that's only fitting, since he also did for Goethe. And the idea of this listicle suggested itself to me pretty quickly as something to think about while I was having a slow day at work on Friday. Thus! My completely idiosyncratic ranking of the eight arias sung by Mephistopheles over the three classic Faust operas:

La Damnation de Faust (1846), Hector Berlioz

Faust (1859, later revised), Charles Gounod

Mefistofele (1868/75), Arrigo Boito

All three operas are considered in their best-known forms—like, I know there's a recent recording of the 1859 version of Faust but I haven't heard it and it doesn't even have "Le veau d'or." I'm also not rating the specific performances I used for the audio/video illustrations—all of these are of course extremely well-represented in recordings and have many, many, many versions on Youtube (the playlist I made while prepping this post has like 56 and it's only a small fraction of them all). I just picked ones that a) I like and b) allowed me to use eight different singers for the eight arias.

Finally, in case you're wondering: all of these are actually fantastic. There's only one that I don't absolutely love and I still really like it. This is just a straight-up array of bangers from beginning to end.

Behind the cut: the bangers. Join us, won't you?

8. "Vous qui faites l'endormie" (Gounod) (Text/translation)

So, here's the one I just like instead of being generally feral about. If this is your last-place entry in a ranking of arias you're doing fine. And it's basically right from Goethe! But while the evil laughter is fun, the melody just doesn't stick with me, and while comparisons are odious (pfft, right, I love comparisons) I think Berlioz did a much better job with this text.

That said, one way to make me love it is to have Bryn Terfel sing it while pawing at a strung-out (in-universe!) Roberto Alagna. What can I say, I'm a slut for Faustopheles content. (And I do love me some Bryn Terfel)

7. "Une puce gentille" (Berlioz) (Text)

We now arrive, basically immediately, at the portion of the list where I unqualifiedly adore everything on it even without the benefit of particularly gay stagings. In general I feel that my rankings here don't quite reflect how much I love La Damnation de Faust (although longtime readers of this blog will have noticed), but I think the strength of the piece is not as much in the arias (although I love the arias) but in the duet and ensemble scenes. In any case this is a delightful number (again, directly from Goethe, also set to music by Beethoven and, later, Mussorgsky) which is also not even the strongest bass aria in the scene. I think we can all agree Brander comes out on top in the Auerbachs Keller bass throwdown, right?

As far as video choices go I always have mixed feelings at best about fully staged versions of La Damnation to begin with—performing it with onstage action belies the extent to which the most important action is psychological, and conversely there are some truly epic moments that are almost impossible to stage in a way that does justice to the music. That said: here's Ruggero Raimondi camping it up.

6. "Devant la maison" (Berlioz) (Text)

Up above I mentioned that Berlioz does a better job with Mephistopheles' serenade than Gounod does—this is just a fun, snarky little trifle with a mock hurdy-gurdy accompaniment* and a collective evil laugh for the chorus. What's not to love?

Berlioz wrote some alternative readings into the Damnation score so that the role of Mephistopheles could be played either by a true bass or a baritone. I prefer the former (as do I think most contemporary conductors, as I haven't seen many other recordings that cast a baritone**) but Jules Bastin's lighter timbre suits the intricacy of this melody and his suavity contrasts well with the rough edges of the chorus.

*The libretto specifies that the singer of Mephistopheles should pantomime playing one, although this seems not to have been followed by most performers. **There is one with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Mephistopheles and Placido Domingo as Faust and, bafflingly, it sucks. Go figure.

5. "Ave Signor" (Boito) (Text)

We aren't even quite into the top half of the list yet (I know! Like I said: THEY ARE ALL SO GOOD) and we're already getting to the real heavy hitters. This aria wins the special recognition for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Cuntiness. Like, sure, you're leading your best demonic life, why NOT have a casual chat with the old man (il vecchio, lol) upstairs, pout about how humans suck so much it's no fun to even tempt them these days, and then make a little bet about that weirdo Faust, all to a jaunty little flute accompaniment? Magnificent. *chef's kiss*

Erwin Schrott never fails to bring the sass and that suits this aria perfectly. The leather jacket is an excellent touch as well. I want one. (I actually own a giant leather jacket but the collar doesn't do that. I want one where the collar does that)

4. "Voici des roses" (Berlioz) (Text)

Okay, I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret which is that STRICTLY SPEAKING, from a musical standpoint, I probably should switch around this aria and the previous. But this one gets a generous helping of sentimental favorite points for two reasons:

a) I am, as discussed, a slut for Faustopheles content and this is the single most homoerotic Mephistopheles aria in the operatic Faust corpus. He calls Faust "beloved" (bien-aimé) and sings about how he's going to be covered with "crimson kisses" and it's amazing. And very, very gay.

b) I've been onstage while John Relyea sang this and I was part of the ensuing chorus, an extended, complex seduction/dream sequence which I am pretty sure took up about half the rehearsal period all on its own. When Mephistopheles sings his recitative at the very end of it ("c'est bien, c'est bien, jeunes esprits, je suis content de vous") it always made me so happy because yeah, we EARNED THAT. But the moment before the chorus section, hearing such a commanding singer perform such a beautiful and sexy aria and then coming into that and not breaking the mood—God, it was just pure fucking magic.

So here, of course, is John Relyea singing it. Not the production I was in, for the record. I probably don't need to clarify that I have never been in the chorus at the Met. (The video cuts off before the chorus anyway but does include "Une puce gentille" and the following recitatives, and I'm not sure YouTube lets you timestamp your links anymore so if you want to skip to "Voici des roses," start around 3:15. Or you could also listen to "Une puce gentille" again because John Relyea just crushes this role)

3. "Ecco il mondo" (Boito) (Text)

Of the three great Faust operas, Mefistofele has its finger most firmly on the pulse of the sheer chaos muppet energy exuded by its title character. This aria reprises some of the motifs introduced in "Ave, Signor" (the jaunty flute line contrasting with the grandiose intervals of the vocal line) and revolves around some really fun stagecraft. In performance, during this aria Mephistopheles displays and then smashes a model of the world—the original libretto calls for a glass globe, while the most iconic modern production uses an ordinary latex balloon. Sometimes you'll see grouchy opera purists grumble online about the latter, and they are silly: it's a perfect reflection of Mephistopheles' disdain for the "filthy and mad" (sozza e matta) human race—and his perhaps more complex feelings about one particular representative thereof. I haven't seen enough versions of this opera to cite any performances where the second half of the aria is addressed directly to Faust, but there's some pretty fabulous potential there.

Going old school for the recording here, with Cesare Siepi. Found this one in a blog post that was mostly devoted to pearl-clutching about the Carsen/Levine staging (in its most recent revival) and the sight of Christian Van Horn in tights: the reviewer found Van Horn to be a second-rate version of Siepi (on vocal grounds, not shirtlessness grounds). Harsh, man, and I'm not even that into Christian Van Horn, at least not in this role. But this is a great recording all on its own. I'm not sure why they put Emil Jannings on the cover though.

2. "Le veau d'or" (Gounod) (Text/translation)

What can I say? This one needs no introduction, really. It's one of the great operatic bangers of all time (and one of the most persistent earworms). It was in Hannibal (I think)! Its reputation precedes it and the only reason it's in second place here is because there's one more aria that's even more awesome.

I've always loved the way Rene Pape sings this—obviously you could eat the vocals with a spoon and his physicality lends a sort of Orson Welles-y* gangster energy to the role, but also there's something about his approach to it that gives you the sense that, as @skeleton-richard once put it, "he's been both the calf and the idiots in the mud." I also love that he gets to do a little dance in this version. LET MEPHISTOPHELES TWERK.

*And wouldn't late-period Welles have been PERFECT as Goethe!Mephistopheles? I weep for the lost opportunity.

1. "Son lo spirito che nega" (Boito) (Text)

And here we are. This aria is just an absolute masterpiece, the greatest of a truly impressive array of bangers. It just captures everything we love about the character of Mephistopheles: the chaos and terrifying cynicism, the subterranean low notes, the compelling derision and mockery. The whistling! How can you not love it? The whole thing just makes my toes curl. It really sums up why this opera should be better known and loved, because fuck. Brain chemistry forcibly altered.

AND SPEAKING OF TOE CURLING. For this bravura composition, a bravura performance by the great Samuel Ramey. He absolutely owns this role and that's perhaps nowhere most evident than right here. Even if he doesn't do his own whistling.

#opera #faust #gounod faust #mefistofele #la damnation de faust #mephistopheles #mephistopheles monday #this was a lot of fun to make #should i tag all the individual singers? #or does tumblr still cut you off after five tags? idk

[robin-the-robo]

Okay so @steriafluff asked me for Red Hood recommendations and I apparently have a lot of those, so...

Do keep in mind that these are very much My Opinions, but this is what I think is worth reading if you're getting into Jason Todd/Red Hood and don't wanna end up reading the... Really Weird Stuff.

So I think everyone should start by reading Batman 1940 from issue #408 to #429, which ends with Death in The Family, to see what Jason was like as a kid and as Robin (an absolute delight).

Then obviously you gotta read Batman: Under the Red Hood, (and deal with a 19 y/o being drawn like he's 40. Yeah.) but I would also recommend Red Hood: Lost Days, which basically covers what happens between the Lazarus Pit and Under the Red Hood.

Then we have... Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011). Look. I'll be honest. The """characterization""" for Starfire in that comic is painfully sexist. It has its moments and we somehow managed to pull a pretty cool friend group (and/or polycule if you wanna interpret it that way) out of it, but I would never blame you for skipping it. Red Hood/Arsenal, which covers the time after the original Outlaws broke up, is pretty decent tho.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth (2016), on the other hand, I think is cooler than people give it credit. I like that they're a play on the DC trinity (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) but as antiheroes. The plot goes in some weird directions from time to time, but the characters keep their personalities all the way through it and I think it's just really fun. Tbh the worst thing about it is that they ended it.

Now I'm gonna give you a few wildcard picks that you're either gonna love or hate, but I think there's something cool in each of them:

Batman: Urban Legends, from issue #1 to #6. Look, it's got Bruce and Jason struggling to cooperate, they're realistically tense but ultimately on the same side, I wrote a whole fanfic about how delightful Jason's interaction with a kid he saves in this comic is, so yeah.

Batman: Three Jokers. This one is quite dark and potentially triggering I think, so be careful. It also has a little bit of Barbara x Jason which No Thank You, but the art is GREAT and it has some banger moments in there. Read at your own peril.

Robins (2021). It's got ups and downs, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but if you want to see all five Robins interact it's a pretty interesting read.

Knight Terrors: Robin. Hey do you want Tim and Jason interacting and being brothers and actually talking through some of their personal issues while battling their own nightmares? If yes, then you'll enjoy this. A lil bit on the nose but good nonetheless.

And then finally we have Red Hood: The Hill, the new RH comic currently ongoing. We only have a couple of issues out yet so it's a bit early to judge its quality. Atm i agree with someone here on Tumblr who said that it feels like it's more about the new characters than about Jason himself, but maybe that'll change later on. We'll see.

So yeah these aren't all the comics I've read about him, but they are the ones that get his characterization right, or better than the rest at least. Hope this helps some new (or simply confused, which is very fair) fans out there.

#jason todd #red hood #batfam #batfamily #dc comics

[liesmyth]

Happy end of January! here are all the books I read this month

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot.

Exactly what it says on the tin! Very good pop history book, tremendously well researched; actually very funny. I HIGHKEY recommend the audiobook if you can get it. Favourite book of 2024 so far.

Benjamin January mysteries by Barbara Hambly. I've read three of them this month because they're excellent. (A Free Man of Color, Fever Season, Graveyard Dust.)

Historical fiction + murder mystery set in 1830s New Orleans, and I love the atmosphere as much as I do the characters. You know those books where the city is its own character? THAT. Excellent vibes, very thoughtfully researched, and the character dynamics are excellent. (CW for period typical racism all over the place as the main character is a dark-skinned Black man in 1830s New Orleans; no gratuitous edginess)

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

THIS BOOK HAS SPIDERS IN IT. Just putting it out there because I very much missed it, and the spiders are a big deal. Scific, space opera. 10/10 would rec unless you're violently arachnophobic, then proceed with caution.

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

Second book of the Indian Lake Witch trilogy. Unfortunately not as cool as the first but I'm hype for the third book coming out! If you like poetically described gore, and badass horror ladies, read the first book first. This one isn't quite on that level but there IS death and destruction <3

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

I can't believe I 1) finished a self-help book and 2) I'm really out here recommending it to people, but I really found it useful. Will wonders ever cease?

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica

Horror short stories collection. A couple were bangers, a few were absolute duds.

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Do yourself a favour and don't read this. Allegedly historical fiction; in practice, the "fiction" part is extremely dull and the book doesn't have anything going for it except the ripped-from-the-headline case of the Relf sister. The cover is pretty, I guess.

Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn

Tremendous read. Medical misogyny through the ages, with an eye to intersectionality; I have some nitpicks about the tone of the writing but I'm still going to recommend it to everyone. (link goes to my GR & we should be friends)

Vendetta ai Mondiali by Paolo Foschi

This is a prize for a few elects (Italian speakers). Italian sports-themed detective novel except the grizzly detective is gay... I feel like this was written for ME personally.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Unfortunately, I'm running out of new-to-me Discworld novels! This made me very happy but also very emo.

#book talk

[imminent-danger-came]

I love reading your tags- especially when theres just even MORE info dumping there.

The least favorite character ask made me giggle a bit, "This character that appeared for a single episode is actually pretty cool. And this character is really awesome in this particular context. But ALSO I really like this character with very little actual screentime."

You‘re absolutely right though! Characters whose only purpose is to fill a particular role are chosen really well too! Like the Host Girl; sure, she doesn’t really have a personality or anything, but she doesn’t NEED to have one. As you said, she‘s collateral damage. She gives us more insight to Wukong, she shows us just how ruthless he can be. He‘s willing to kill the epitome of innocence: A child. A defenseless little girl with a cutesy voice, who was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

(It‘s also worth a mention that, contrary to Wukong, she revealed a softer side of Macaque. Not to the extent the fandom built it up, but in an arguably more meaningful way. He‘s worried/feels bad for a total stranger. Even if it was only a concerned look, she once again gave us a deeper insight to a member of the main cast.)

And the characters with less focus either have really genuine interactions (Yellow Tusk with Azure) that just endear you to them, or they drop a banger line (like the Jade Emperor) before their purpose is fulfilled.

Nothing wrong with being a plot device if it‘s done well!

This wasn‘t really much of an ask rather than me rambling. Sorry.

I welcome rambles in my ask box! Half of you that show up in my ask box could just write your own analysis posts.

And you're also totally right! There isn't anything wrong with characters that are there just to function as plot devices. Sometimes a child is there just to be a child, and that's all they need to be. I think I feel this way about Megapolis (a name for the city that hasn't even been mentioned in show). Like it's a city filled with innocent people, it's MK & the Gang's home, and that's all it kinda needs to be tbh. LMK has to be extremely tight with what it chooses to focus on because of time constraints, and it does that well. When it comes down to it, focusing on the characters/plot is more important than focusing on the setting (which I think debatably wouldn't contribute much anyways—like we don't need more of a reason to care about the city, you know?).

I have this same opinion when it comes to the Demon Bull Family, which may be an unpopular take, but the truth is that a lot of their development happened off-screen. After ROTSQ and until we see them again in 3x06, it's clear that there have been positive changes between Red Son and his parents. I think I've seen some folk want Red Son to cut off his parents entirely, but that kinda goes against the core of his character. Part of Red Son's appeal for me is his complete devotion to his family despite their flaws (saving them in ROTSQ and EYD, attempting to save them in 4x09). Red Son and Princess Iron Fan only ever wanted world domination because that's what DBK wanted, and after that failed—they gave up. They hit the bricks. Red Son then started a food business with his dad (jealous of MK and Pigsy's noodle shop mayhaps?), and I think it's telling that DBK would even agree to do that to begin with. DBK and PIF's disregard of Red Son may not be acknowledged in the way people want, and I get that, but it's not that it didn't happen. I'd say there's another jump in their development between the end of 3x14 and the beginning of 4x09, where the fact that DBK calls out for Red Son as he gets taken away shows a closeness between them that we hadn't seen before. It's also clear that DBK has grown past the person who only wanted to create the world in his own image, chastising Azure Lion:

Demon Bull King: "How many times must you be struck down chasing this same foolish dream?"

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

-

(Plus "This pursuit of yours has warped your mind brother—it is the only reason I could imagine that you would have the nerve to assault my home and harm my family!" echoing PIF in 1x10 "Come to your senses, this power has poisoned your mind!"; Azure unreasonably considers DBK a traitor like DBK had unreasonably considered Red Son a traitor, etc.)

DBK, unlike plenty of other antagonists in LMK (Spider Queen, LBD, and Azure specifically), learned to stop and accept the world as it was. He failed as a conqueror, but he still had his family, and he could try and not fail as a father for his "half-baked son"—or that's how I interpret DBK anyhow.

((I also want to bring up the fact that DBK didn't dare use the Samadhi Fire ring he had to power himself up with Red Son's furnace in AHIB. Like, even the Mr. Bull King has some restraint—there are prices too great to pay for the world, hence why he gave up on world domination after 1x10, when he almost killed his wife and son.))

To me it makes the Demon Bull Family feel like characters that exist outside of MK & the Gang, and can grow/change even when they're not on screen with our main characters, and I think that's cool. We also legitimately didn't have time for anything else.

#So tldr on the way the DB family has been handled thus far: I get if people don't like it that's completely fair #but idk if it's objectively bad. #I know there's a Villad's interview out there where he says he thinks during s2 Red Son took a lot of time to himself #That he realized some thangs about how his parents had treated him you know #And I get if people are disappointed by that. Unfortunately they're minor characters at this point & we got a lot of other stuff to focus o #Me personally I like what we have #They are insane for paralleling the Demon Bull family's one scene in s4 with 1x10 #Like. Holy shit their writing is TIGHT #lmk #lego monkie kid #asks #lmk Red Son #lmk DBK #lmk PIF #lmk analysis #you know what I think I just realized I legitimately like DBK. Like a decent amount. #The way he looks away in shame from PIF in 3x06 before she explains the Samadhi fire's origins. Omg. Is that guilt??? #''So you can see it would be impossible for fools such as yourselves to control that power— #if even the spawn of the Demon Bull King himself could not.'' #OMG!!!!!!! #anyways

[katsu-curry835]

So you're thinking about reading A Song of Ice and Fire...

Now, it's come to my attention that there are some people out there who are contemplating reading George RR Martin's masterpiece of a series A Song of Ice and Fire, also known as the Game of Thrones books, but they haven't actually picked them up for various reasons. I'm here to convince you why you should read them, and why your concerns aren't justified (some of them are, we will get to that.)

This post is for people who have contemplated reading the books and need an extra push to actually going and buying them. This is your sign to start reading this series if you haven't already. You will not regret it, it's exquisitely written.

I've seen the show, I don't need to read the books.

Oh lord.

The show and the books do diverge quite extensively, especially as they both go on. Book 1 of ASoIaF and season 1 of GoT are pretty much scene for scene the same story, with, however, big differences in plot after that. Body counts are different, character motivations and arcs are different, and even certain major events have very noticeable changes from book to show. Needless to say you will not be getting the same experience by any means if you were to read the books.

But that's pretty obvious, right? Obviously you know the two are different; all adaptations are different. So what's better about the books?

Well, for starters, the books don't have a trash fire ending (yes I know what you're thinking, see concern 5.) The later seasons of GoT were terrible, it must be said. Yet there is not a single moment in the ASoIaF series that I would call bad, especially compared to the final two seasons of the show.

Secondly, the books and the show both have bombastic plots and intricate character arcs that are easy to get invested in. But the books have something the show doesn't: banger prose. I was one of the people who watched the show before reading the books and I was blown away by just how much better these characters that I already loved were because I got to see inside their heads with their internal monologues. This is a series that really lends itself to deep character introspection. And Martin is an excellent prose writer, make no mistake. This, I feel, is often left out when we're talking GoT. Yes, Martin's plots and characters are amazing. But the sheer quality of quotable lines from his work that aren't in the dialogue and absolute zingers from his internal monologues make this more than worth it.

The books are more than their own thing and are, in my opinion, the optimal way to experience the series. The show is easier to consume, but the books are more in depth. They stand apart from the show as the superior telling of the story, and it definitely helps that the people doing the writing of the show were incompetent. If it wasn't clear, David and Dan were not the geniuses behind seasons 1-4 of GoT, it was George RR Martin. The reason it was such good television, was because it was an adaptation of even better source material.

2. The books are really long and complicated, they feel like they'd be quite difficult to read.

There is some truth to this notion; this is not Baby's First Epic Fantasy Novel. This ain't a light read; it's pretty dense with information. That being said, I don't read to much fiction myself and I found it pretty easy to digest.

Here's the deal, if you go into this series intimidated by all the lore and the size of the books, you're almost setting yourself up for failure. My advice is to pretend that you don't know how 'complicated' it gets. Because being complicated is only a problem if you can't understand what's happening because of its complexity.

From my experience at school (this is relevant I swear), I have found that the best teachers are the people who able to explain complex concepts in a way that makes it seem obvious or simple. And I began to notice this when I started to recount what I had learned from my teachers to other people and came to the conclusion that I did not know how much I was learning. I knew more than I thought. Then I noticed a similar phenomenon when I started explaining stories I really enjoyed. I told the story to my friends, and I realized that there was way more that I needed to explain than I assumed. A good writer is a good teacher: they make the complicated seem simple, and make the long seem short. And George RR Martin is a fucking brilliant teacher.

You will fly through these books quicker than you expect, and you will pick up more information than you know you are picking up. The fact of the matter is, they're well written. If you pay attention, you won't be confused.

3. I've heard the series gets really violent and sexually explicit. There's a lot of guts and gore and scenes of assault and violence against women. How bad does it get?

Obviously I cannot tell you personally whether the series is too shocking or visceral for you, since I don't know your individual tastes. People's mileage will vary with this sort of thing. But there are two things I want to say about this.

Firstly, the show has given this series a bad rap in this regard. There are plenty of scenes in the show that have way more blood 'n' boobs than the books did in those equivalent moments. Scenes will fade to black or be referred to off screen in the books where the show takes great pains to show you everything. This is because of the marketing around the show at the time as some sort of 'this isn't you're typical fantasy for nerds, this has blood and tits. This is sexy fantasy, not like lord of the rings!!1!' The show runners relied on this sentiment to make you uncomfortable because that was part of the point. So they embellished. However, I don't want to convince you that this is a light read. There are descriptions of blood and there are some rape scenes from the perspective of the woman being raped, and that can get pretty harrowing.

But this brings me to my second point: books aren't a visual medium. Maybe this is personal thing, but reading a description of a murder, no matter how evocative and disgusting, will never be the same as someone being stabbed in front of you on your screen, it just won't. There are particularly bloody or uncomfortable scenes in the show (the Red Wedding, Oberyn Martell vs The Mountain, that Sansa scene with Ramsay and Theon) that I struggle to rewatch because every human has a tendency to get a little squeamish at moments like that. But reading them/their equivalents in the books doesn't feel as bad, because it's ink on a page, it's words. And as fans of the series will tell you, words are wind.

That being said, if you think a viscerally described sexual assault, rape or murder will be too much for you, or if you cannot handle depictions of those things in general, it's with great sadness that I should recommend you don't read these books. The violence and rape isn't gratuitous, but it does happen, and frankly these books should have a trigger warning in the front covers.

4. The series is problematic

Yeah, uh, a little bit.

No piece of media is ever going to be ideologically pure and it's unreasonable to expect that. As alluded to in the last section, there's some pretty heavy stuff in this series and the line between depiction and glorification/normalization is blurry here. But I'm going to stop you there because if we had that discussion we would be here all day. When people say 'this is problematic' what they usually mean is that the way something is done has some form of unintentional (or maybe even intentional) bigotry baked into it. And there is some of that here.

The way women's bodies are described can be a little weird. There are scenes where Martin will describe a female child as having 'small, tender breasts,' and it's like 'um... sir what is this?' Generally, though, that Martin describes the women in this is supposed to have a point. It could've been done less strangely, though.

Drogo's relationship to Daenerys is v e r y strange when you consider that Drogo is 30 something and Dany is 13 at the start of the series. Yet we as the audience appear to be asked to root for them. Very gross, George.

I'm sure I missed something, I'm not super deep into this discourse and this was just the stuff that I, someone who is not and has never been a woman, has noticed. But there is substance to this criticism, the weird misogyny in the way Martin writes women's bodies is non trivial.

BUT, I can excuse it because outside of this, ASoIaF has some of the most brilliantly written female characters in any media ever. Their motives are complex, they all embody different kinds of femininity and womanhood, and they're all strong, in their own way. Martin is excellent at writing characters regardless of gender, and this series has some excellent women in it.

5. But the series might never be finished!

This is the big one, really, and this is the concern, along with concern number 3, is the one I understand the most.

If you're unfamiliar, George RR Martin has gone on record saying that he plans to release seven books in his series, although if he thinks his characters outgrow that, he will change it to be more books. For now, though, he seems to be sticking to seven. He has released five novels so far... and the last one was released in 2011. Martin is 75 years old. At the pace he is currently writing, we probably will not get book 7 before he dies. And if we do get book 7, it likely won't be written entirely by him, and therefore will not feel like an appropriate conclusion to many.

This puts some people off and I completely understand why. All I can tell you is why I don't mind.

Currently, the five ASoIaF novels that were released are the best literature I have ever read hands down. The first three novels form a semi completed arc of their own, so some can view them as their own self contained story. For me personally, the 1,7 million total words Martin has already written are enough, because they fuck so hard.

If I didn't address a concern you have about reading these books, please just ask, I'd be more than happy to talk about it. Otherwise, thank you for reading!

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #reading #books #book recommendations #in this essay i will #yes i know these are already popular books #i just want someone to talk about them with #fantasy #game of thrones

[natashasbitxh]

I just watched the secret Hitler video and I didn't know Chanse and Shayne were a team as fascists. Another banger of a vid, just because they're so good to blend and just play the game properly. They know what they're doing. (Amazing by Arasha too).

But here's my thing, I watched the guess who from the Nintendo characters and that's another vid where you can see this two are to powerful to play games. They know, they really know.

Anyways what I'm trying to say is that I need a game where they have to be a team for real and destroy everyone else hahahah. I know you could say the new lovestruck has a similarity but they weren't working together, they were doing their own thing for a similar purpose (same as secret Hitler) so I found that really intriguing. I need them as a team for a escape room, I feel like they could really escape the room really fast. I'm kind of watching all this vids 'cause I don't remember watching them together that much, but my memory now is being like wow, there some powerful shit going on there.

Also in the love is blind game you can see they actually wanted to win, but they didn't sadly hahahaha. Another thing is that weirdly, Chanse wins a lot of games I didn't remember him winning, I would suggest to see Shayne reaction to those moments when Chance wins a game or the challenge pit hahaha, his face is so funny sometimes.

(I wish we see them more in games as a team or something, it's really my favorite thing, if you can recommend another game where they are kind of in the same team or against each other please share, 'cause I can't remember right now another one)

And also, weird that after that battle in the guess who Nintendo characters the other's guess who vids where they appear, they aren't playing against each other or in the same team, that actually annoyed me hahahaha

Sharee your thoughts!!! I'm always happy reading you talk about them and your insight.

omg such a good vid, those 3 r INSANE during that video. CHANSE TAKING THE BULLET?? ARASHA LYING ABT THE CARDS COURTNEY GAVE HER?? SHAYNE DISTRACTING WITH JOKES AND INDULGING IN DAMIEN'S THEORIES?? (and literally Shayne saying when he's a fascist he's quiet...before proceeding to be quiet most of the game😭)

oooo yeah they're fun in that vid too!

OOOO YES AN ESCAPE ROOM WOULD BE INSANE!! I'm just rlly curiously if they can INTENTIONALLY work together (and without having to hide it) 😭 because so far unintentionally? Pretty good

yeah,but if I remember correctly they were close to winning weren't they? But nobody was catching up with Amangela/ New York and Toilet Water Girl 😭

Yeah, Chanse is pretty good at games I've found! COME ON DOWN TO THE CATFISH CABIN

some videos that have teams like secret Hitler (not necessarily working together): "The Lies Get Deeper", "How Well Do You Know Christmas Movies" (that one is pretty recent so you might know it), "Think Faster Not Harder (Really Loud Librarians)" and a lot of the try not to win videos! Theres deffo more but that's all I'll say for now!

lolll yeah, but maybe we'll get a vid where they do sometime in the future!

ahhh, thank you! Always happy to read and reply!

#shaynse #nat talks #anon #shipping #rpf #smoshblr #smosh ships

[thebuttsmcgee]

Okay! I've missed out on talking about the past few episodes but the show quite literally finished today as far as we know so it's a good as time as any I suppose to talk!

So yep. Spoilers for The Ghost and Molly Mcgee's possible series finale below!

So! To start off, Jinx vs the human world!

It was alright! Had good moments, bit of a lacking song near the end but the VILLAIN SONG? pretty damn good! Rob Cantor knows how to make a villain song and make them GOOD good. The rest wasn't bad, I liked Molly gaining her power from any kinda positivity, which is boosted by good talk of her forever friend, the Chen family scenes (well, besides that kinda. strange. scene about Mrs Chen asking ollie about kids but disregarding that) were really good!

There had been some light speculation about Geoff being the one who spooked Ruben as a kid but it was mostly in humor, so that ending up being true was neat! Definitely funny but also neat. It was also nice to see more of the Chen family coming to terms with actual ghost stuff and Ruben learning to chill with the ghost hate.

Jinx was a fun villain! Her VA did an amazing job as always! She stole the show in nearly every scene she was in and it was cool to see a ghost actually try to go up against the human world, as the title would suggest. She did go out in a pretty cheesey way but eh I don't really think it was bad, the show's based on friendship anyway.

The overall plot wasn't bad, it took Molly outta the picture for most of it but ya know I guess I do get why. At least it was in an actually reasonable way, by the villain actually being competent. It was cool to see how Ghosts are kinda invincible, but especially with the Chairman's robe, the og Chairman was a good showcase of that terrifying power but was cut short, meanwhile Scratch wasn't really all that a good showcase cause it's just Scratch, who iiiiis lazy lol.

It all felt kinda. Safe. If that makes sense. Like there wasn't really a moment where I felt in suspense. It was still enjoyable mostly, but I didn't really feel myself getting too worried about what could happen.

So yea, like a 6 or 7 outta 10 from me 👍.

Now! For the finale!!! WOO

THAT WAS AN 8 OR 9 BABEY!

I'll be honest, a good amount of S2 hasn't been as good as S1 for me. When S2 is good, it's REALLY good like 100% Molly or All in the Mind or Faint of Art. It's just that S1 was just SO good, some of S2 falls flat to me.

That said, The End felt like a season 1 episode to me cause THAT was sooooo good.

I felt actual stuff with most of the scenes, I was actually getting worried while Moll called Adia, I did wanna shed a tear when the truth hit Scratch and they used the exact same line read in Episode 1 when Moll had called Scratch to come back when he ran away MAN IT WAS ALL SO GOOD.

And the songs. MAN. The first one was good, a banger but nothing too extravagant, even if it's about being extravagant. Scratch's song tho? THAT SONG? ABSOLUTELY LOVE. That fucking hit me so hard, I legitimately wanted to cry a bit cause the lyrics, the delivery, the instrumentals, it was all so damn good! And the ending credits song being something that calls back to the usual end credits' theme, man that was so fucking good.

Here comes the heavy truth!

So the most popular theory ended up being true. Scratch is indeed, the Wraith of Todd, the background character who had small resemblances to Scratch.

Honestly I'm not too sure how to feel about it. It wasn't exactly shoved in our faces and wasn't quite hinted at, all that much unless you reaaaally paid attention to certain things. It wasn't completely outta nowhere, but also it did feel a bit, ehhh. The execution of it all was just superb tho, the voice deliveries, the animation, all of it was so well done. So I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it right now, other than the fact they executed it really well.

The whole scene with Moll and Scratch talking about what could happen when Todd is alive again, man. That hit. It hit good. That actually made me feel more nervousness than most of the previous episodes. Man what can I say. They just nailed it.

And the ultimate ending, with Todd having the personality of Scratch and his little quirks, yet supposedly not retaining his memories from when he wasn't in his human body. I say supposedly, cause tbh? His callbacks felt a bit on the nose, almost exactly like how Scratch would be when he was messing with Molly. He is a trickster at heart after all.

Can't say for sure if he doesn't or does remember cause who knows! Maybe he doesn't, maybe he does. For now tho, it seems as tho he doesn't.

And tbh, I still enjoy it.

Is it bittersweet? Yes. Extremely melancholic? YES. But it's done so well. It didn't feel underwhelming, it felt sad yet done so in the right way.

Everyone trying their best to get him to remember got me ngl lol that was. That was sad man.

Also I saw the Bill and Bob's ok adventure book I see yall tgamm crew.

Todd leaves to see the world and see Adia. Leaving Brighton, and Scratch's new family behind. Again, really bittersweet but done right. Todd is happy to live, and so is everyone else for him.

What a good ending. Bittersweet to a T.

Yes. Yes indeed a 9 for me!

Now as most of us know S3 might not happen. Who knows due to what, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't cause of fan demand, cause I'm p sure there was a lotta that for this show. And this was a fairly good way to send off the show! It had a pretty good run and it was usually up there with BCG, TOH and amphibia when discussing disney channel shows thatve come these past years, and for good reason.

I'll be honest. I'm kinda already missing it. I remember fondly of watching it for the first time and the next episodes, especially when it had aired near my nephews birthday and I had been wrapping his presents. I still enjoy listening to the few podcast talks and whatnot the crew have done for the show. It feels so. Sad. To know we'll probably never get a continuation of anything from this show. Not even a book. But all good things as they say.

If they do continue it tho, I wonder how it'd go. Probably trying to convince Todd to remember who he is and was, his time as a Wraith and as a Mcgee.

But who knows! All I can say is, thank you The Ghost and Molly Mcgee. It's been great. Really. Thank you all.

Love yall ❤️✌️

#The Ghost and Molly Mcgee #The Ghost and Molly Mcgee spoilers #TGAMM #tgamm spoilers #man. end of an era guys. #well BCG is still going thankfully but yknow. man.

[noodyl-blasstal]

please... b f h u ? thank you 💕

Ooooh, thank you so much for these!

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience? In a shocking turn of events... yes! Generally, a lot of my fics have themes of misunderstandings around dating (e.g. Scamming Me; Scamming you; Moonlight to Sunrise; I PHDo). I have been on so many accidental dates because people just aren't explicitly clear about what they mean when they say stuff like "let's go for a drink" because how on earth is anyone supposed to actually know that's somehow "let's go and get a drink and talk about whether we should get married."

Conference Buddies bears a homage to some of the terrible packed lunches I've had (shout out to the place that decided to combine every single dietary requirement into one horrifying lunch.)

Astrology for Horse Jugglers was a mix of silly ideas and some of the times I've met people who yes anded their way into my heart. Once I was with someone who met an old friend of theirs who was also with someone else. During their conversation we constructed a story so beautiful, so elaborate, that my friend was convinced we also knew each other.

Ten Years Ago Today is about long-term grief and the way it can hit you. Old wounds can feel pretty fresh, even when you think they're healed over.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

So this is something I'm currently working on. I enjoy this so much because I think it sets up a lot of dynamic and it's fun to play with a one sided conversation like this.

“Mags! Hey! Quick question… cool, oh, yeah, another new puppy? That’s great, when do we get to meet th…” Taako’s going to kill her, he’s going to kill her dead and no jury could convict. He settles for nudging her gently with his elbow instead because he’d miss her eventually. “... sorry Mags, actually, I have to be quick, you know how <i>some people</i> can be… Yes, I will, Magnus says hi.” Taako’s going to eat them both. “Uh huh, look, it’s about the library books, was there one which they didn’t take? … Oh, uh huh, you, you told him he must have made a mistake and that he needed to take it? … and… uh huh… uh huh…  then refused to take it back… uh huh… and after that you just left… even when he shouted at you to come back? … uh huh… Magnus! ….uh huh, yeah, gods… fine. Gotta go, love you bye.” Lup hangs up the phone and looks solemnly at Taako. “So, I have some news.”

H: How would you describe your style? I'm not sure I have a good answer for this. "Silly" is probably my overwhelming descriptor. The stories are usually daft and I usually pour a little bit too much of my heart into them.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. Ooooh, okay. So. This is tricky because there's so many great people!

@ceilingfan5 of course, I ploughed through your Ao3 back cataogue when I started reading TAZ and it was banger after banger. I love your brain noodles, love the way you embody the characters, and the way your wording is so creative and fun. Your style's just super engaging and lovely and your stories are delightful.

@holdmecloser-gandydancer also has so many great fics. I think about Say it with Flours, The Only One On Your A.M. Radio, A Baggage Claim Candlenights, Rode Hard And Put Away Wet, and some of the works in progress so often.

@mmmarty (spot the theme here) also has so many wonderful fics. Have I seen pacific rim? No. Did I love No Such Thing As Cold (Only The Absence of Heat)? Absolutely. I also think of Magic Club and By The Book often.

But that's not counting @barry-j-blupjeans (endless amazing one shots), @liltaz-asatreat (so many thoughtful, emotionally impactful fics), @taakosleftshoe (aquarium AU!), @jerreeeeeee (incredible world building), Tanacetum (my phone broke mid of faeries and fungus and I was so upset and tracked it down so fast to zoom through the rest), and of course Weevilo707 (also endless great fics).

There's definitely lots of other people I've forgotten too, but I've got a brain like a sieve.

#Sorry I wrote you an essay but thank you so much for your ask!

[kingflups]

For the writer's ask game:

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

I'm 11. I'm chronically on DeviantArt and incredibly obsessed with transformers animated. Someone made a Warrior cats au and it blew my little mind. I didn't know people could do that??? I got crazy into crossovers after that, I'm pretty sure my first fic was a pokemon/transformers au. I can't be 100% sure, I purged most of the fics off my DA in early high school and my parents old computer is *super* toast, so most of my og fics are lost to time

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

7. Like a solid 7. No. No that's a lie. Like a 6. It's fine. I enjoy it but trying to get into the mood to edit is a lot harder than getting into the mood to write. Once I hit a stride it fucking rocks tho

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

I read The Snack Exchange Market is Crashing by JeromeSankara recently and it made me cry in real life. Very good, I really liked it. Banger, very Leon Kennedy heavy, absolutely wonderful.

Speaking of fics that made me cry like a little bitch, Hold on Till May by acethedisgrace ruined my whole day! In a good way, I'm still haunted by this fic. It's so sad! It's so heartbreaking and so good and everything was so close to working out.... this ones for the tragedy enjoyers. Very good, I'm not usually a fan of major character death but this was so fucking good.

If you like monster au's like I do, Simulation Swarm by Alviva (AlvivaChaser) and Mouth of the Devil by SealedSalt are both absolutely wonderful. I personally adore fics where losing your humanity becomes a *physical* problem as well as a mental one, fucking!!! It's fun, I adore it, these are both great <33

If you like the show supernatural and enjoy weird stuff with time!!!! GO READ there's no cell service in the afterlife by screamsintothesun!!! It's so fucking good!!!!!

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

THIRD LOCATION. You have to get a third location. This was actually given to me as mental health advice but it works for me. The thinking is everyone should have *at least* three locations in their lives; While I was in college it was my apartment, the library, work and a friends place. When I moved after that, I struggled between my apartment and just having work (I didn't know anyone in the area at the time). My "third location" is a coffee shop I go to usually every Monday to write. I've been meaning to check out the library but I have to drive and the last time I visited one in this city I wasn't impressed.

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Copy/pasted bits of the fic followed by comments or key smashes!! That shits rocks. GOD. Or when somebody threatens you because you made them emotional somehow?? Hell yeah. Hell yeah!! *Any* comments really though, they're all great. I eat any attention up

@hamartia-grander Thank you so much for the ask!!!! This was so fun!!! <333

#murphy speaks #ask game

[12am-motivation]

HIHI Mo!! It’s so nice talking to you again 😊😊 Even though I don’t keep up to date with any big lore or plot from Enstars or Obey Me I still casually stay in the loop so feel free to let me know about anything big 😉 like I saw there were new Enstars characters?? after HOW LONG?? I was so shook

(Also the Triworlds song is such a classy banger they have been COOKING)

Heya, Avery! Thank you so much for the ask! Nice to see you too~ ^^

Now that you ask me about recent Enstars and Obey Me developments, I have... much to say about them so I'll put them under the cut; brainrot time!!

I have a massive, MASSIVE Enstars brainrot to the point that I even made a sideblog to dump my RyuseiP stuff because I don't wanna overshadow my Obey Me stuff here lol

In case you missed it, there are new albums per unit with new songs and solos

And YEAHHH HappyEle really went and had us adopt 5 new kids just recently and they're adorable! I found myself immediately attached to Yume (the purple-haired one) when he was first introduced in the 9th anniv livestream because we share a birthday, not to mention he also plays piano and does cosplay??

It made me a little giddy about it like did they put my OC on Enstars or something /j what are the odds I suddenly have a buncha things in common with an Enstars character— (Plus coser representation!!)

I haven't read much but based on a few simple translations, the new main story arc involves certain ES idols auditioning for a worldwide(?) dream unit in a show called "4piece" and we even have a new producer!

I think what's interesting about this arc is that it would focus more on the idols' individual strengths outside of their respective units

Also, I think Chiaki's also part of the audition based on how he appeared on the PV they showed in the 9th anniv livestream so I'm looking forward to it~

I'm not sure if you've seen this one too but JPstars' April fools gag this year was so WILDDD they even have a full song for it

They basically collaborated with Yagami Chitose, who is an actual shoujo mangaka artist, for the story and illustrations in the MV

The story itself involves a ton of shoujo manga tropes (including Hajime / the MC somehow bumping into 4 people at once) and it was a fun read lol

You can even change the characters while the text and their voices change accordingly so imagine the opportunities for both yumes and shippers 👀

Unfortunately for Obey Me Nightbringer, I've yet to catch up to the Main Story again because of the card grinding ;w;

But aside from Anniversary and All the Feels, they've been cooking with cards too! It takes a toll on players' funds because you need card dupes for them but the new Premium Picture feature looks so divine?? Don't even get me started on the shower pics—

Even though I was a bit iffy about the sudden story reboot in the new game, I still appreciate some of the details they changed, including MC living with Solomon at Cocytus Hall instead of them staying with the brothers (since it makes a bit more sense that they'd be closer to Sol as a fellow human), and Satan's more evident wrath compared to the OG game

We even get to enjoy random domestic moments with Sol like this one~ Since we pretty much live together with him, we sound like a married couple (though a lot of those moments involve banning him from the kitchen)

sorry for the really long answer— here's a niki beena

#so yeah the brainrot is as strong as ever #a lot of stuff happened since the !! climax events #anzu's working independently from p-association now to work in trickstudio alongside trickstar! :> #9th anniv also has a lot in store for us including 'ultimate' songs #they already teased one for pretty 5 #and the season 2 unit songs are about to be adapted into MVs i'm so excited for heart heat beat #ask #avery 🎵 #hbu? what have you been into these days #who's your fave lnd character so far :0

[thefirstknife]

BEL?!???

NIGHTMARES? HAUNTING?? ROOT?!!

HHELLO NEZAREC?!?? HI HELLO HI?!?!

My best friend?? my pal, my homeboy, my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good time boy, my nightmare manipulatior?!?!!

HELLO?!?!

(low key sad hes not a fair weather ally but a raid boss but hey! who knows? maybe he'll have dialogue and this is just him having a grand time and seeing if we're up to snuff? coping so hard please 🥺)

Just now saw that you also sent me this, oops. Actually a good opportunity because I re-read my other reply to an ask and thought I sounded way too convinced about stuff we know nothing about. Things are rarely super clear to the point where we can be confident about new expansion story and raid.

The point about the nightmares not being exclusively his still stands (that we know of!), but as I mentioned back then, we still don't know if the nightmares are inherently tied to Pyramids originally or if the Pyramids are making them by using a resource they acquired from someone or somewhere. That's one of the things I hope we'll find out! Because it is absolutely possible that Nezarec did originate the nightmares and then distributed the source for that power to other Pyramid ships.

Looking back at the previous ask and all of this and the insisting on the "nightmare" and "dreams" stuff (which can be seen in the soundtrack names), it might be possible that they're attempting to consolidate certain aspects of the Darkness lore. It's definitely easier to tie a few things together and give us a banger raid than to leave it open. Cleaning up loose ends and all.

NO clue how this could possibly tie into what appears to be a beam of Light and plants overtaking a Pyramid and why the nightmares would be related and why Nezarec would be there and in what form. Like, there's definitely a ton of absolutely WILD shit going down in Lightfall and predicting anything is basically impossible so pretty much any theory might be right.

For all we know, he could even be in the form of an ally due to the Light beam perhaps? What got me re-thinking things is something I've noticed in the video Bungie posted about their process of making the soundtrack no less. So, in the vidoc (0:50-0:55) I saw this bit and noticed the statue with a scythe in the right side of the screen.

It intriguied me immediately because of the scythe, but you can't see much of it so there's no point thinking about it. But in the music video today? Immediately caught my attention because they showed more of it (at 4:50):

That's a whole ass creature. It looks less like a statue also. It looks kinda like a Tormentor? But not really: it has a head. At first I didn't want to bother with it more because there's literally no way to know, but then later all this stuff with the raid was revealed and it got me thinking now. Especially with your ask!

This is also presumably the Pyramid that gets hit by the beam, since we later see the cutscene with the Witness going through plants and there's a long corridor in the background which looks like this one. We have no clue what the beam actually does, but from looking at the raid image, it very clearly is in some way overtaking the Pyramid. Which is also the vibe I'm getting from the scene itself, as the plants are bursting in:

Anyway, I am losing my mind now with overthinking every single piece of footage. I would still love something new and wild in the raid, but honestly with how this stuff is set up, even Nezarec would be new and wild. Because like, how. Is this why the Witness wanted his body parts? But then again, it didn't get them because we stole them. But then again, they're on the HELM and we're heading into battle with it, unless we secured them somewhere before.

This raid image is absolutely wild to me. Nezarec could very well be a boss or a character. At least parts of him. Don't get super excited (I'm trying to keep not too excited), but at this point I simply have no clue. Well done Bungie, you have bamboozled me. For all we know, maybe the Traveler is a raid boss at this point (that's a joke. I hope).

I'll always mention something that I never see Nezarec fans mentioning and I talked about it in this post which is also your ask and also about Nezarec (😂). That he was known to the Hive, or at least to Sylok, as Nastareth, and worshipped through pain. Just for good measure.

Anyway, be prepared to be surprised as I have genuinely no idea what might be going on here or in Lightfall in general. We're truly in the wildest territory now. Forfeiting any predictions and theories and any strong opinions about what the raid will be about. It could genuinely be anything.

#destiny 2 #destiny 2 spoilers #lightfall #lightfall spoilers #the root of nightmares raid #nezarec #ask #lore vibing #long post #the raid title reveal threw me in for a loop #like first reaction was just 'something new and light' but then the longer i sat there thinking.... hm #i am absolutely losing it #sleep deprived high speed blorbo rotation category 5 event #i definitely still think that nightmare = nezarec connection is tenuous at best. at least until we know if he originated them... #... and then gave that power to other pyramids and the witness' forces #that would pretty much be the only explanation i could think of that would tie him to nightmares AND be a pyramid power #sort of makes sense? rhulk made his upended and the worm factory and then worms were distributed to the hive from there #anyway. i am (as the kids would say) discombobulated

[anonyhex]

ooh, what’s The Charlatan’s Song?

So this is less exciting than most of my WIPs I think! (Although the title is a banger hahaha) It's a Wyll/Tav story.

So my Tav (Pimpernel) is based on a half-baked idea I've had for a D&D character I've never gotten to play. In the game I made her a halfling with the charlatan background, and she's a bard that claims to be a heroic figure from a minor noble house that was disowned after a torid love affair with a woman from a much more well-established house that was about to enter an arranged marriage. She dueled her love's fiancé and won (earning a scar on her cheek in the process) but was disowned because of the negative attention it brought her own house, and she now travels throughout the land saving people from their issues and then earning money through telling her tale in taverns.

It's all a lie, as the charlatan background indicates. Her family are farmers or ranchers and are quite poor. The scar on her cheek is from a simple work accident (one idea I had was it's an injury from a boar's tusk while she was hunting or protecting her family's livestock). Her parents were killed while on the road traveling to sell their wares and she's either the oldest or second oldest of a ton of kids, many of whom aren't adults yet, and since she was dissatisfied living out in the boonies she used it as an excuse to leave and finally live out an adventure like the books she loves. Another adult sibling of hers is now the parent figure for the rest of her siblings, and she sends a lot of the money she earns as a bard back to them. Oh, and originally I planned on her having the gambler background (which isn't an option in BG3)...because the other way she earns money is by cheating in games of chance and generally being a card shark. The real reason she moves around a lot isn't because she's always on the hunt for people to protect, it's because if she sticks around too long in one place she risks getting caught. She's seen a bit of combat because she lives on the road, but not NEARLY to the extent she claims to, she's low level.

So imagine my shock when I realize Wyll is ACTUALLY the person she claims to be--a true hero, who actually is the disowned child of a noble house. Didn't know his background at all until I started playing the game and was blown away by the coincidence once I got to Waukeen's Rest.

I originally intended to romance Astarion but fumbled that BADLY (she might be lying about being a hero but she still WANTS to be one, so of course she was constantly helping others and I did not read him well at all until I got to the scene with the blood merchant so he's constantly irritated with her despite constantly getting inspiration from her because they're both charlatans lol). And once Wyll started talking about enjoying to dance...I mean, she's a BARD HALFLING, of course she's going to bug him to dance with her, so it was pretty natural to fall into Wyll's romance instead. (This is also more or less how I started getting into Wyllstarion, since they were the characters I was interacting with the most.)

The thing is...obviously the game isn't set up to give me a chance to actually play out this whole elaborate backstory with Pimpernel pretending to be the type of person Wyll actually is, only to have to admit it later to him that she's been lying about who she is. It makes sense that I can't, how in the world would a game be able to account for that? The only way I could think of would be if they did something like what Bioware did with the backstories for Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and Larian obviously wanted more open-ended characters for the players.

I really wished there was some way I could express what was going on with Pimpernel in the game, but I couldn't do it particularly well, so...I started trying to write it, and that's what A Charlatan's Song is.

“Oh Wyll, I never said she was a princess!” Pimpernel responded, in a tone that implied she very much was one. “Alas, it was quite a scandal. She loved me, but…well, if we had run off together, it would have damaged not only her reputation, but her family’s. So in the end, she refused me. And my family was quite mortified, and I’m one child of many, so it was easy to just…send me on my way, rather than keep me around as the family embarrassment.” 

“I’m sorry. That must have been difficult.”

“Oh, no no, I’m well suited for a life on the road. I’ve found I fit in much better in a tavern than I do in a ballroom, as much as I enjoyed my life there.” She shrugged. “And well…now you know.”

Behind her there was a slow, mocking clap. Pimpernel turned to look over her shoulder at Astarion, who was looking at her with a fang-baring grin. “Bravo! Quite deftly told, as you expect from a bard. It almost sounds like something out of a romance novel!”

Pimpernel swallowed and did her best to maintain her composure. “It does, doesn’t it? But it’s all true, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, of course, of course.”

[...]

Now he was digging into the chinks of her armor. She had something to lose, and he had been revealed and stayed safe. He had a natural royal flush, and she’d already played all her best cards.

She could only hope he’d decide to keep her secrets, for now.

So the PROBLEM IS as interesting as it would be to actually get to play this out in game...I dunno how to make her actually interesting as a character on the page without just huuuuge amount of exposition dump (I deleted a lot from this post!!) and internal monologues, and especially since I'm pretty settled in the no-Tav discord I'm just not all that interested in writing about my OC over the established characters in the game. I also don't have a good ending (my constant problem lol), especially since I still need to actually beat the game, so...ehhh...this one will probably stay abandoned at this point. Ah, well.

#baldur's gate 3 #fanfic ramblings #answered #odessa-castle