#thinking about how famous she is and how some if it is detrimental to her romantic and platonic relationships and i just.. i can't imagine

[onawishingstar]

thinking about that one interview with lorde where taylor wasn't mentioned by name (but it was implied that it was about her) and she described having high profile friendships like this:

“It’s like having a friend with very specific allergies,” she told the publication in jest. “There are certain places you can’t go together. Certain things you can’t do. There are these different sets of considerations within the friendship. It’s like having a friend with an autoimmune disease.”

and i wonder how taylor feels in her friendships when people are following her and acting as if she's a zoo animal in a cage

#thinking about how famous she is and how some if it is detrimental to her romantic and platonic relationships and i just.. i can't imagine #how she feels bc she has nothing to feel bad about or sorry for when it's the paps and fans who are out of line and not respecting her #privacy and personal space like these people don't understand how harmful it is to have her location be outed when we know that there are #people are there who have threatened / have tried to harm her and her close family and friends #not to mention that she literally has spoken about wanting to hide away / be private with her life since so many people are like the ones #in the tiktoks and videos we've seen today #sorry for the rant it's just wild to me how people don't respect boundaries... no matter who they are

[thoughtspresso]

Aqua plans to die.

And his death will be necessary to take Kamiki down.

While the full details of Aqua’s revenge plan isn’t entirely clear to all of us yet, his intention to place himself in danger as he tries to take Kamiki down is a very clear, and very crucial part of the plot that he anticipates.

Before we can dive into how Aqua is going to achieve his revenge, we need to back up a little bit and understand who he is as a person, how he makes decisions, and what he personally wants.

What is Aqua’s Goal?

From a top-level view, Aqua has a singular emotional goal:

Aqua wishes to take responsibility for the deaths of his mothers.

Aqua/Gorou absolutely believes that after two lives of the same thing, that he was the common denominator. He was the fault his mothers both died, because he was useless and helpless. Had he never been conceived, and more crucially, if his mothers did not have to lie about his existence, they would have both stayed alive. If Gorou’s mom didn’t have to conceal the pregnancy from her parents, or did not have one at all, she would have lived a long life. He believes that perhaps his second chance at life was to save Ai, but he was paralyzed and helpless during her murder. He blames himself for Ai’s death too.

This is a driving force in Aqua’s character, and informs all of his decision making, even to the detriment of his own plans most times. It leads us to his supplementary goal:

Aqua wants to keep the people he loves safe.

Whether it was shielding Ruby from entertainment or making sure she’s in a safe agency with good group members, or Akane not going too far in enacting his revenge plot for him, or Kana from steering clear of a career-ending love scandal, Aqua’s key traumas has led him to feel compelled to take action and do whatever it takes to save people if he had the power to do so.

Here is a breakdown of Aqua’s plans, and some key questions we have to ask about each one.

1. Why make a movie called The 15-Year Lie? And what is “Ai’s true wish”?

I have reason to believe that Ai’s DVD for Aqua would have either been a message about wishing to be loved truly and be hated with full honesty for the person she really was, that she wanted her actual self to be revealed to people. In line with that, I think Aqua’s DVD included Gotanda’s original documentary for the B-Komachi dome event. Which is why Gotanda tried to defend Aqua's decision to reveal her secret in chapter 112, and why in chapter 108 Gotanda says about the script that “this is finally my time to fulfill that promise.”

2. What does he mean by “using Arima Kana”?

There were theories circulating that the person who texted Frill Shiranui could have been Aqua, trying to get her to encourage Ruby to play the role of Ai in the film. However, that couldn’t be any farther from the truth. As we know, Aqua was saying that Gotanda should “grow up” and understand that the most important thing for a movie is to succeed commercially first before we talk about artistic value. 

If Aqua had full control over the situation, he would have just straight up casted Akane. After all, that was what he initially proposed, and even contacted her for it despite saying he’ll never have anything to do with her again. What he needed, more than anything, was for the film to succeed commercially. And with the headlining actress no longer (a) the most famous celebrity of their generation, or (b) the heralded genius of their generation, Aqua has no other options.

Except: Arima Kana.

I think the aspect of him using her or manipulating her is mainly to encourage her publicity activities. He’ll be encouraging her to do well in her work to garner more star power for the movie to really be a success, and for her to help his sister be the perfect lead for the show. He’s also going to bank on the idea that Kana will do things for him because she has a crush on him, which he only realized in Chapter 102 after Mem-cho points it out, that he can pursuade Kana to get out of the way of his revenge plot if necessary to keep her safe or place her in the spotlight to attract people’s attention for the movie.

While unlikely, he might even encourage her to stay on a little longer until Ruby gets to the Dome performance.

Or, and maybe this is my shipping delulu talking, but it can also be that he’ll try to just be around her frequently to garner media attention about their relationship. In this way, keeping her close without actually dating her could serve a dual purpose: get people talking about them and the movie, but also make sure that Kana stays safe and nobody makes a rumor of pairing her up with anybody else.

Lastly, also not super likely but another option could be to convince her to headline the show, and play Ai in Ruby’s stead.

3. Why does Kaburagi say that the film is bordering on illegal?

This is a truly crucial piece to unveiling Aqua’s plot. We know Kaburagi likes producing shows that include good-looking young people, and that seems to be his main strategy for raking in young audiences and cashing out.

So why would he have hesitated, even for a second, on a plan to cast the top talent of this young generation, on the biggest news Japan has been talking about, handed to him by a first-hand source--the son of Ai himself?

On all accounts, this would have been the perfect formula for a smash success. So why would Kaburagi say things like, “do you have enough evidence”, when everybody already knew about the University student stalker that murdered her? What was so controversial?

Unless, when they said Aqua will play the culprit, they didn’t mean the Ryosuke.

They meant he was playing Hikaru Kamiki.

Here’s what we know about the film, and what I think Aqua is trying to do:

1. Portray Kamiki in the worst possible way and destroy his reputation.

The 15-Year Lie will be a biopic about Ai’s life from when she was starting out as an idol.  Ai will be portrayed as a poor girl abandoned by her parents, searching for the true meaning of love. We know that this framing will be part of Ai’s characterization because of the scenes where Ruby struggled the most:

In the search for love, they will show her falling for a young man and talented actor at Theatre Lalalai--that being Hikaru Kamiki. Once he gets Ai pregnant, he abandons her, and she runs off to the countryside to hide from the press. When Ai asked him to come visit her, Kamiki, in wanting to protect his career, attempted to send out a stalker. A few years later, seeing his kids wotagei on social media, he manages to find them again and kill Ai.

It is a complete and utter character assasination of Hikaru Kamiki, and while revealing Ai as a flawed person, draws for the sympathy of the viewers to love Ai for who she truly is. Which is exactly why Gotanda keeps insisting for Ruby to play the role, even when Aqua and Kaburagi have sensible recommendations for Akane and Frill.

At that moment, when Ai dies, Aqua will reveal his face, and openly declare that it was his father who orchestrated it all. Then he might even portray his father murdering Ryosuke himself, instead of the suicide that was reported in the media.

2. Aqua will use himself to bait his father out, and force Kamiki’s hand to kill Aqua.

The main reason why Aqua finds it necessary for the film to be a commercial success is because he needs the general public to be one hundred percent in agreement that Hikaru Kamiki is an evil man that deserves to be jailed. (Whether or not he reveals his name in the film, which he could but doesn’t need to.) This public lynching is his first control.

But here’s the thing: Kamiki didn’t directly murder Himekawa Airi and Hoshino Ai himself. At this point in time, Aqua is not aware of Katayose Yura’s murder either. And there is no evidence that connects Uehara Seijirou and Ryosuke’s suicides as murders by Kamiki’s hands.

And on top of all that, when these things happened, Kamiki was fully a minor.

Akane’s fears and interpretation was that Aqua would murder his own father because it’s the only form of revenge he could enact himself. 

But she’s wrong, there’s one more thing Aqua could do: make Kamiki commit murder again. If he kills Aqua, there will now be a murder that the public agrees without a doubt was done by Kamiki himself.

He can go to jail once and for all, or he can also get stabbed by an angry fan--Aqua doesn’t care. All he cares about is that it’s a sure win, and it’s over forever. He launches his sister’s career into the spotlight, he keeps everybody safe, and he atones for the death of his mothers with his own life.

In summary: Aqua plans to get killed by his father, so that an actual murder has occurred for which he could be jailed or publicly ostracized or even killed.

And here’s why I think Aqua will fail:

Aqua’s assumptions about his father are incorrect.

He believes that Kamiki’s reason for killing Ai was because her pregnancy would ruin his reputation and career as a rising actor. That’s why Aqua tries to hit him there. And he believes defaming him might provoke him to get killed.

But I don’t think Kamiki cared about his reputation at all anymore. He left his career as an actor behind after Kindaichi kicked him out of Lalalai, and went on to graduate from Faculty of Science. He never went back in front of the spotlight, instead opening a talent agency around the exact time he believed his kids might be joining the industry.

I have reason to believe that Kamiki thinks murdering Airi and Ai was to protect his children or some other great act of justice against his rapist(s). And that even killing Katayose Yura was done because he didn’t want a liar like her to take the spotlight that was supposedly for his daughter Ruby.

I don’t think Kamiki will harm Aqua.

But I do think he will come forward and expose himself and his twisted justification, and he might even openly give interviews to the media.

Instead, I do believe Kamiki might pay attention to Kana’s honest acting--something he’s never seen before in a person, and try to get close to her somehow. And if Kamiki’s name is not revealed, and if the theories are true that Frill works for Kamiki’s agency, he might recruit Kana to join him.

All this is to say, get Kana out of this manga. Somebody, please save her.

#oshi no ko #oshi no ko spoilers #onk spoilers #onk fantheories #oshi no ko fan theories #Hoshino Aqua #Aqua Hoshino #Arima Kana #Kurokawa Akane #Hoshino Ruby #ruby hoshino #Hikaru Kamiki #Character Analysis #If you're reading these tags please know that Aqua is like Edward Cullen planning to walk in front of the Volturi in broad daylight #And Arima Kana is Bella driving a yellow sports car in full speed trying to not get him murdered #But seriously he blames himself so much we should get Robert P to play him in the live action good god #The Chuunibyou is strong with this one #These are the gambles #I am allowed to be incorrect

[leportraitducadavre]

Ah alright I totally forgot about that Ashura/Indra thing. But let's imagine the whole Hagorome topic never happend, many people didn't liked it at all and I must admit I'm one of them. What and how would the Uzumakis be? I find it sad that Kishimoto never gave an insight to the main characters history and clan. Sure naruto is half Uzumaki but it's still important especially when it was such a famous clan. We don't know much about them so we can only assume.

They have vortex symbol on their back, what if that says something about an old technique even their own people forgot.. also some kind of Dojutsu. Maybe their ancestors had it but it's deep down in them and they don't know how to gain that power. But I don't know what ability it would be.

I disagree. He explored them as much as he needed as they weren't detrimental to Naruto's development.

This is what we know about them and their techniques:

They're distant relatives of the Senju and descendants of Ashura.

They possessed a powerful life force (which allowed Kushina to survive the extraction of Kurama, albeit she'd die regardless because of it) and were known as the "Village of Longevity".

They have great chakra levels. Karin's quantity of chakra allows her to heal those who bite her, including herself -it's unknown if such a condition came naturally or not, but it's likely (since she also has to bite herself in order to heal and it's not something she can do unconsciously like Hashirama), that it was the result of Orochimaru's experimentation with her. In the same manner, Nagato's chakra pool allowed him to use Madara's Rinnegan without dying.

They excelled in Fuinjutsu and were targeted because of it. Mito became the first Jinchuuriki (Juinjutsu) and Minato's seals were taught to him by Kushina (albeit his signature technique was Tobirama's).

Some of its members (like Karin and Mito) developed or had an affinity for the "Eye of the Kagura", which is the ultimate sensing technique that allows them to sense different presences through long distances, being capable of sensing even the smallest hints of chakra. Regardless, most, if not all, of its members were sensors.

They have vortex symbol on their back, what if that says something about an old technique even their own people forgot.. also some kind of Dojutsu.

No. It's not a vortex, it's a whirlpool, and it has to do with their village, which was an island called "Land of Whirlpools".

They were incredibly strong and complicated to defeat, there's a theory that states that it was Mist who destroyed them during the Second War by kidnapping one of its members and rudimentarily sealing a jinchuuriki inside them, when they inevitably lost control of the tailed beast, it killed most of them and destroyed the city (the exact same plan was later on tried with Rin, which failed as she killed herself through Kakashi's chidori).

I think they had a lot going on for them, there's no need to give them a doujutsu -their sealing techniques allowed them to seal human beings, create jinchuurikis, and pretty much anything they wanted.

I would like to read a story based on them if it was written by Kishimoto, but I don't think they needed more techniques than they had.

#uzumaki #karin uzumaki #mito uzumaki #kushina uzumaki #uzumaki clan

[kervl-klear]

Just curious related to the recent posted questions…Baegcha, question 1

1. What do they think about their home nation? How likely is it for their country to betray them?

The warm sunlight peak through the curtains in contrast to the cold weather, the weather that Beagcha is familiar with and he doesn’t particularly like or hate it.

Baegcha came back to his home country today for the summer celebration. Unfortunately he’s not here to celebrate, he heard about mass kidnapping and so decided to investigate as he suspected it connection with the trafficking happening in West coast.

He goes outside hoping to grab something to eat and may be he’ll get some information if he talk to some food stand. During his time away from home, he does miss his home country food.

Cloud field is a country located on flat fields and so it is very good for agriculture, although vegetables and fruits are limited to the one that can grow in cold weather. They are cheap and fresh and Beagcha appreciate that.

Beagcha order his favorite spiced chickpea salad from one of the food stand, the cook prepared the salad as she was told and the salad is served in a paper bag.

Baegcha took it and hand some cash to the cook in which he received a puzzled look from her.

Then Baegcha remembered, in Cloud field, cash is rare. People usually pay using internet banking and so most food stand doesn’t have a change.

Back when he was part of secret service, Baegcha was against putting the finances system of the entire nation in the electronic form. True internet banking is safe in a way but you can’t rely purely on it, and you need a back up system. Unfortunately, being a nation that is famous for the most stable bank and safest financial system in this world, they are very confident in the way they handle everything related to finance.

Guess that’s where Baegcha got his overconfidence attitude from as well.

Since FININT in Cloudfield is insanely good, making any tab into its system even with fake accounts is definitely detrimental. But it is very unlikely that anybody here will have a change for him to exchange to unless he goes all the way to the money exchange boot at the airport or any of the bank in which the security level are horrifying. And considering the FININT part, having any of C2ISTAR pay for him would be like throwing them into an incinerator and unfortunately, Orenji only use cash.

Baegcha sigh, he only has one choice. There is only one person with authorized account and credit so good and clean that no one would care about any of her transactions. Asking for the cook to wait, he start dialing his phone.

Baegcha: “……..mom, can you pay for my salad?”

He can hear the cook snickers, although in a friendly way. It still embarrassing that Baegcha, a 39 year old grown man with a job has to ask his mom to pay for his 15 cents salad.

After the payment is done. Baegcha go as far away from the food stall as possible before start eating his salad.

Just like the day he left, Cloud field is chill. Unlike Northland, there is no military propaganda. Which make sense since Cloud field deviate from military industry and is more focus on finance and cybersecurity, most nations also don’t dare mess with Cloud field since they know that if Cloud field stop providing them the access to electronic financial networks in their country then they are screw.

Well…until any of other nations successfully develop a network that rival Cloud field that is.

C2ISTAR had always been bothered by the fact that Beagcha would left such a peaceful nation.

He didn’t hate it here and considering the situation. Cloud field doesn’t have any motives to betray him.

Cloud field just disappointed him, thing was horrible, he was at his low being constantly harm by his superior at work and….they made fun of him.

Throwing away the empty paper bag, Baegcha resume his investigation.

………………………………………………

Thank you for the ask! ✨

#my art #c2istar #baegcha #my oc

[the-rockstar-lestat]

How is the aspect of gender dysphoria handled in your kind ? I can imagine it must be miserable at times if hormone replacement therapy treatment dosent work ?

Fascinating question! Off the top of my head I don't believe I know any vampires who have attempted a medical transition, weather before or after their turning. So I will answer this question as best I can by telling you about my mother, Gabrielle.

What, did you think Gabrielle's cross dressing was merely for convenience? It may have started that way, but it didn't take long for my mother to begin preferring men's clothes to women's clothes, and it didn't take long after that for her to realize that it wasn't because men had more freedom, SHE simply felt more free in them.

This was around the time my mother abandoned my company, and society completely, to live in the forests or whatever it was she did for two hundred years. She tells me she reentered the human world around the time I left it, the 1920s, and with it came a new gender expression. (Before that, she says, they didn't really DO genders in the gobi desert. )

Gabrielle was a very early adapter of trousers on women, inspired by the likes of Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn. But she still identified as a woman. By the 1950s, she tells me she had found the lesbian scene, and that glorious word butch and for a long time, that was her identity. ("oh Lestat, you don't know how many beautiful women I ate back then," "....in what sense of the word --never mind, Mother, I don't want to know.")

Anyway, I believe that is what she was identifying as when I met her again, a butch woman. She had short hair for a while, cutting it off every night to better fit in with her subculture, but she, like myself, is a child of the 18th century, and didn't find her long hair a detriment to masculinity, despite her famous attempt to cut it. For a long time she wore it in a braid, along with simple, masculine clothes, mainly athletic wear, to suit her athletic lifestyle, although she occasionally donned female clothes, often simply to show off that she COULD. Sometimes a feminine touch was added, a pearl necklace, a high heel. But these were objects of our time as well, and not necessarily out of the bounds of masculinity. I don't believe she was ever truly comfortable presenting femme since the night I brought her into the blood. This was how I knew my Gabrielle.

Recently, however , led by the newest thought from the queer community, Gabrielle has begun rethinking her gender. She heard the term non-binary, and I don't think I've ever seen her REACT to something as much. There was something between man and woman, male and female? Something that didn't require her to confirm to either her assigned gender or the one she still had some resentment towards?

Since that revelation Gabrielle has talked a lot to me about her gender. Dysphoria was a term she used for the feeling when she was alive of "this isn't right" and may have been one of the (many) reasons she was such a cold person in life. Something was bothering her deep in her soul she didn't have a word for. Since she was able to present more masculinly she's been a much happier, much warmer person, she talks much more and is able to connect to people more than she ever could. (though she's still vice president of the introverted vampire society, second only to my Louis.) Gabrielle feels most at home in the queer community, and it's one of the few, though growing number of things we share. We invariably wish each other happy pride month.

As for how she dealt with it, her changes were minimal. She changed the clothes she wore, and occasionally her haircut. Gabrielle has yet to ask anyone to call her by a different name or pronoun, and she certainly doesn't mind when I call her Maman, though I most often call her by her name these days. Of course if she were ever to change her mind about this, we would all certainly oblige.

I don't believe she has any desire for surgery or hormones. If she had, I would have to ask Fareed if such a thing were possible. Our flesh is very difficult to pierce, but he has invented specialized needles before, I don't see why he couldn't invent a specialized scalpel. Our healing process is almost instantaneous, so the removal of flesh for what is commonly known as top surgery ,while painful, would probably be relatively simple to do and heal from. The adding or changing of it I imagine would be more difficult . Our bodies default to homeostasis (look at that beautiful science word I know!) as Louis once told you. I can see us rejecting any surgery or implants. Although it may be worth noting we can reattach our own amputated flesh. I've seen it happen and it's not a pretty process. I'm not sure what that signifies but perhaps....something.

I imagine , though, if a human was taking hormones before they were turned their body would maintain THAT amount of change, unable to be affected further or to revert. Like all vampires, they would be frozen as they were the night they were changed.

Anyway, that is in the realm of science poetry, but I can ask Fareed more about it if you like. It simply hasn't been tried. But I would be excited to watch it happen! I don't personally know any vampires who desire this, but it's a matter of time before we meet one, isn't it? And I have plenty of time.

@askblog-with-the-vampire will you ask Fareed if you see him?

#after fur and feather #science poetry #the modern world is truly amazing #tiger maman #gabrielle de lioncourt

[morrigan-sims]

72, 55, and 12 for Morana and Rook!

Hi Mango!!! Thank you for asking about my beloved babies!

12. How well would your oc handle being placed in a leadership position?

Rook would be... okay with it?? I mean, he was named first mate of the Tide Breaker, and held that position for a few months before he was sold. He used to have dreams of being a captain someday, but after being held on the Sea Snake for 2 years, his only dream was to escape. And now that he's with the Vanguard (our party), he just sees himself as one of them. I think he could be a good leader if he had some more experience, but as it stands, he lacks the wisdom -- and to some degree the self-confidence -- to be a good captain. He needs some time to mature and grow into himself a little bit. After all he's been through, he has complicated feelings about himself. But I think as long as he keeps listening to Warren (our gunslinger who Rook has gotten very attached to), he'll be fine. If/when we finish the campaign, I'd love to imagine a future where he is a famous captain. Morana would be a terrible leader. She has no social skills, and straight up doesn't like most people. Her tough, prickly exterior would end up being more of a detriment than a help to her in such a situation. She's very much a loner, or at the very least used to being alone. It'll be interesting to see how she gets along with the party because of this.

55. How sensitive to loud sound is your oc? Do they prefer constant high background noise, low background noise, or complete silence?

For Rook, it depends on the noise. He's fine with gunfire and canons, for example, but tends to jump a bit when people start yelling. He doesn't like silence, though. It's too empty, and reminds him of all the time he spent in his cell aboard the Sea Snake. He prefers it when there's at least a little bit going on. His favorite background noise is the sound of the waves. Morana hates loud noises. She likes calm and quiet. Her old mentor wasn't a good man, but at least his laboratory was quiet most of the time. Having spent a fair bit of her time alone, she's very comfortable in silence. The emptiness doesn't feel scary or overwhelming, like it does for Rook, but rather it feels welcoming and safe.

72. What is your oc’s ideal environment like? Urban or natural? Fancy or rustic? What’s the weather like?

Rook's ideal environment is at sea. He loves everything about it, from the open sky to the sound of waves. He doesn't even mind the storms, unless they're damaging his ship. He's never really felt comfortable in urban settings. They're fine, but they feel too confined, too limited. There's too many things too close together for his liking. Morana likes the countryside, far from the bustle of cities. Cities are too noisy, too chaotic. Not controlled enough. She's lived almost all of her life in a frozen northern territory with very few people. She was kicked out of the only major city in the country at a young age, so cities always feel a little hostile to her. And like I mentioned before, she likes her peace and quiet and control. There's too many variables in a city. (yes, people count as variables.)

#mangosimoothie #ask Morrigan #oc asks #oc: Rook #oc: Morana #thank you for asking about my babies!!

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

Hey I have a question that is maybe not a 100% related to Evan but more about celebrities in general. I've been wondering for a while why is it that when certain celebrities are dating, that big news outlets make these posts that celebrity A is "reportedly dating" celebrity B. Does it mean that the celebrity or their reps talk to these news pages? Or how do they find out? My Twitter is currently filled with Ariana Grande and her new lover. I don't even care about Ariana but somehow Twitter seems to think she is so relevant as to put her on my tl 🙄 First they say that they are reportedly dating, a few hours later the same news sites say they reportedly started dating after each had broken up with their SOs. And i'm here like who even cares!! The fact that I know these informations even annoys me lol Are celebrities really that narcissistic and feel like the world should know whom they are dating? and then they act all annoyed and secretive when fans are actually curious about their dating life and get asked about it in interviews 🙄 Super annoying once you see through this shit. My oponion is, If a celebrity really wants to keep a relationship hidden, they are able to. But I feel like most celebrities are enjoying that part to live out that narcissism. What do you think of all this?

i definitely get why you would wonder, and to answer your question - yes, many times celebrities do leak their own personal details like that for various reasons. other times, it may genuinely be attributed to someone close to the celebrity having loose lips, or even just ''fake news'' for lack of a better word lol in ariana's case, if she and this new guy are indeed dating, her PR people may be trying to get ahead of a story that could be detrimental to her ''image''.. she is still married, though allegedly separated, and a bombshell may be in the works about her and this new guy she's seeing as it pertains to cheating. i think it's a costar of hers? the situation with ariana and her husband seems/seemed somewhat fluid - one rumor is that they separated, got back together briefly, then separated again but there's been no formal announcement i'm aware of and they are not legally separated.. so if she has been dating, it would be easy for it to appear she's been unfaithful.

kylie jenner, one of the most famous women in the world managed to hide the entirety of her first pregnancy. yes, there were some slip-ups and chatter about it but the mere fact that most people did not know just goes to show even an uber famous person can hide ANYTHING if they truly want to. many just don't want to.

[tibby]

i do think taylor’s relationship with her fans is detrimental to her career in some ways, and i think she’s semi aware of it but also doesn’t really know how to stop it. when you’ve been famous for half your life, and your entire brand is built on honesty and relatability, and you treat your fans like your friends, and they hero worship you in return...it’s rough to break out of that. taylor has always been good to her fans so now they refuse to hear any criticism about her, whether it’s justified or not (and unfortunately, the misogyny she has experienced over the course of her career means fans resort to that whenever people have valid complaints or genuinely constructive criticism). and then of course Taylor Swift: The Brand is seen as The Real Taylor Swift, and untangling herself from all of that isn’t something she wants to confront. because what if the loyalty her fanbase has ceases to exist if they actually get to know the real taylor? can she even tell the difference between legitimate criticism and mindless hate anymore, or has surrounding herself with love and yes men completely ruined that for her? and it’s understandable, given the things she’s been through personally and professionally, for her to want to just surround herself with frequent collaborators who don’t push her creatively and fans that love her blindly. understandable, but detrimental all the same.

after all, a gilded cage is still a cage.

#this makes NO sense. im just saying words.

[ghcstvalleychief]

Okay, okay I have an ask! So just two minutes ago I came across another ask on this other person's blog about the [ REDACTED] actor ( you know who) involved in the KP series. And they were like: no one can know for sure if the apology he has given is genuine or something to save his face and popularity and his career. And if indeed the post made by him was forced by BOC studio officials, then that's them enabling his actions. And yet people are paying them money for the KP series. So my question is, is it hypocritical of us to feel this way?

Also the blogger said that bl as a genre has always been tilted towards misogyny, transmisogyny, fetishization of the lgbtq, colourism and a lot of things. And yet countless series are being made because people consume the shit even knowing what goes on. What is your opinion?

He Who Shall Not Be Named mentioned some things in his official statement that no one had even found yet. He mentioned his past racism? That was the wildest thing to me because no one had even found anything in regards to this past racism yet, but that meant that he knew there was possibly some screenshots out there of him being racist as fuck. I think that's the thing that bothered me about all of this. The things that were found was pretty bad already, but you're telling me there are worse things out there that you posted and you're trying to get in front of it before anyone actually succeeds in locating it? That is troubling and unsettling.

This is really fucking long, so you know the drill.

BOC knew about it and there were some implications that they were preparing for this, which isn't good. That's scary to think this company knew of this person's offensive past and their only thought was to brace for it instead of simply getting rid of him altogether. Granted, I know none of these companies actually give a fuck but even the most greedy of companies know how to pretend like they care about their bottom line and would have gotten rid of him because they wouldn't have wanted the liability of keeping him. Because this is a liability. Especially since he hasn't proven himself to be profitable outside of a show that got famous due to other actors. Like, this company is taking a huge risk because there's no guarantee that he's even going to turn a profit for them in the long run but they're willing to sacrifice their integrity by continuing to allow him to be associated with their company.

It's not hypocritical because he is not the company. Even though the company is making a huge mistake by maintaining that business relationship, he is not the company. He is not the show either, despite what some delusional fans may believe. Think about this - are you willing to punish Mile or Apo for the actions of their stupid ass coworker? Are you willing to stop supporting the company to spite that asshole if you knew it would hurt Mile, Apo, or whatever other cast member you support? Because that's what would happen here. By 'hurt,' I mean in terms of their careers. Lack of support can be detrimental to an individual's career. If we stop supporting the series and the company, it would definitely hurt the careers of the actors we support. So, that's the dilemma here. I can definitely understand the inner conflict but that's another angle to this whole mess.

As for the last part of your question, they're not wrong. I can absolutely agree with that sentiment because the genre as a whole is weird to me. As much as we enjoyed KP, why so little female characters? We had Yok, but we barely had her because she wasn't around that much. Besides her, why weren't there more women in the main cast? I don't have a long history with this genre. I really just dipped my toe into it, but I've definitely seen all of those troubling things from the little bit that I have seen. Even with the way the main couples of these shows tend to be characterized. For example, there are a lot of main couples where there's an obvious lens of heteronormativity and traditional gender roles being applied to said couple even though they're clearly both men. Kinn and Porsche didn't fall into this trap, fortunately, but that's not the norm for this genre. With Kinn and Porsche, there's not a huge height difference. In terms of physical strength and body type, they're fairly equal. One isn't more delicate than the other. They're both equal. You're not going to look at the two of them and immediately decide who's the dominant and who's the submissive.

Even though I like the seme/uke thing sometimes, that type of dynamic has a tendency to veer towards the heteronormative angle we don't want. Why is the more aggressive character so much more taller and stronger than their love interest? Why is the shorter character more delicate, docile, and submissive? Why? It's misogynistic because the shorter/submissive character is always coded as female. For example, Until We Meet Again. Pharm is the shorter character who happens to be more docile and delicate, right? Pharm doesn't enjoy when his partner touches him in a sexual way. When his partner attempts to initiate sex, Pharm freezes up and cringes through it. Media has a long and varied history of depicting women as non-sexual beings. Women are seen as characters who either have to be convinced to have sex or to be outright forced into it. Society is very much the same in this way, as well. Women aren't supposed to enjoy or desire sex. Hence why the submissive character in these dynamics always appear to be coded as female.

I've mentioned the possible fetishization within the genre in the past, but I've never really delved too deep into it. It's interesting to see how TPTB that are responsible for this media feels about the LGBT+ community, specifically gay men. Are you making a mockery of gay men? Are you simply using gay men for clout and money because you know it's a profitable avenue? They don't care about gay men in real life, but they would gladly incite the lust of straight women by ensuring that two beautiful (mostly straight) men engage in fictional sex with each other. I'm also going to say something controversial, but what if the reason some fans are okay with knowing all of this is because they harbor those same offensive thoughts and beliefs? Going back to the asshole I was talking about earlier in this post, do you know how much support That Asshole has gotten since we found out what he'd said? He's gotten a LOT of support from fans and they are very vocal about their support of him even though we know he likes to make fun of rape victims. What does that tell you about the people who would willingly support someone who thinks rape is something to make fun of? People willingly consume media that promotes all of these harmful ideals because that's how they truly feel. Are some of these people too naïve and immature to realize what's happening? Possibly. But some of these people know exactly what's going on, and they're okay with it because that's how they truly feel on the inside. We're all conditioned by the society in which we live in, and we don't live in a society that's open and accepting of anything that's different.

Despite all of this fuckery, that's not the reason I dislike the genre though. Believe me you, all of this is bad enough. I dislike the genre because it's just not good. Quality writing doesn't live here, and that's the unfortunate part. Aside from the lack of quality writing and acting, you have all of these issues on top of it? No thanks! I could stomach all of this if the material was so much better but it's not. It's crap. You can hire all of these attractive actors to round out the cast but the writing is still shit. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a fucking pig.

#anonymous #answered asks #The Idiot Debacle #rape mention tw #fandom critique #fandom shenanigans #fandom culture #he who shall not be named #long post #hella long post

[aischunomelody]

i wrote an essay on donald glover's first episode of GILGA Radio a day after it was on instagram

[[MORE]]

Even though I think of Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, as his past of being a self-centered dork-ass Asian fetishist weirdo that still peeks out every so often, he's a man of many talents. Not only a musician, he’s an actor, a farmer, and the proprietor of an upscale boba shop. Last night, April 14th was the start of a new rollout of new songs off Atavista, a fully realized version of his previous album, 3.15.20. Unorthodox as he is, he's done this rollout through a radio show he holds on his Instagram every Sunday night at 11, and I caught the first show last night since I was up already. It was an experience that felt like I was there for both his previous eras at the same time, to the point that I downloaded the entire show to archive it for myself.

It was nice chopping it up with an old friend of mine from school among other Childish Gambino fans archiving what he was playing, and to no surprise Glover played three new songs; one wholly new to the point where it doesn't even have a title yet and the two others were new versions of songs off of his previous album. One song, Little Foot Big Foot, featured Young Nudy who did a stellar job adding an edge to an already funky song, and the other, Human Sacrifice, was at the tail end of the show, the most anticipated track by far since it's a song that was first teased in a Google Pixel ad *6 years ago.* I personally could not shut up about it, since I've heard leaks of it and it's been my favorite song he's ever done.

Other than the music he was playing during this radio show, he had fake ads for fast food, upcoming projects, and spoofs of celebrity businesses. Celebrities like Eric Andre, Tyler the Creator, and Quinta Brunson were shouting out the radio station and calling in requests, and to top it all off, Glover was interviewed by the station host Simone Beats, an enigma on her own. I say this not only because I’m not sure she actually exists, but she used an as-yet-unknown country song as her theme, playing everything on the show from Doja Cat, Radiohead, and 2 Chainz, to some incredible artists I'd never heard of like Fousheé, Lola Young, and Tom Misch.

In the interview the host had with Glover, he talked about how Childish Gambino was a project that evolved over time because he was having fun with it, how 3.15.20 was initially rushed out because of Covid but it's been finished now as Atavista, and how beef can be detrimental to the culture rather than just talking to each other. There was also discussions about Gilga, which is not just a farm where he grows literal fruit but a place to organically grow taste in all sorts of media, as well as his next projects; a film and accompanying soundtrack called Bando Stone & the New World that will be his last Childish Gambino project, a cartoon called “Country Mouse, City Mouse” about anthropomorphic mice that started as an ad for his New Balance collab, and an anime that is yet to be seen with Zack Fox, famous for gatekeeping wings on Instagram, his music- both solo and collabs like "Jesus is the One" (I Got Depression)- and his reoccurring role as Tariq on Abbott Elementary.

This sort of rollout isn't unusual for Glover; he had written a screenplay and made a short film when he released his sophomore album "Because the Internet", had crafted a mobile VR experience called PHAROS for "Awaken My Love!", and for "3.15.20", set up an interactive website with art depicting chaos in the streets as well as a loop of the songs on the album. His collabs on different projects, ranging from artists like Chance the Rapper, Azealia Banks, 21 Savage, Jhene Aiko, Jaden Smith, and Ariana Grande show the versatility of his sound over time. As it is, anyone whose major influences are LCD Soundsystem, Wu-Tang, Funkadelic and Rage Against the Machine are bound to have a sound unlike you’ve ever heard. With Gilga, he’s taken a step further and become an active tastemaker by creating what he wants to see with other people like him.

It’s a lot better than the Donald Glover/Childish Gambino I knew of in the early 2010s, where his stuff was rife with jokes about rape, murder, and so much Asian fetishization to the point that he roleplayed as an Asian woman to hype up one of his releases. As a matter of fact, he also did a lot of weird gatekeeping about “fake gamer girls” and being a “nice guy” that it was just as much a part of his persona as his music was. He wasn't the only one, as other artists like Tyler the Creator had a similar footprint online and in their artistry. At the same time, the Internet in that age was starting to let go of the try-hard, edgelord early 2000s. With the advent of social justice in the mainstream, people started to realize making light of awful situations is uninspired and ultimately blasé. As soon as AML came out, he stopped being as weird and moved on.

A part of me wants to say that his self-centered past shines through this rollout but I truly believe that it's just a part of who he is; he rightfully hypes himself up because, in his words from the interview, "I'm the Willy Wonka of this shit." Childish Gambino, born of a Wu-Tang Name Generator and an almost 20-year career of different sounds, feelings, and moods, is weird as hell, and he's proud of it. We’ve seen it with Glover acting in Community, Atlanta, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, his roles in Star Wars and Marvel, and his multiple comedy specials. More of the weirder parts of himself have toned down over time to be more refined, as it was for artists like Tyler the Creator following him. Both have had their fair share of problematic things they’ve said, and while there's no excuse for some of what was said, it seems like they've chilled out on the worse parts. It only felt right that the two of them performed together at the first weekend of this year’s Coachella. I hope that with the next show on Sunday we get even more weird but cool shit from this man. Simply put, his work speaks for itself and shows who he is- for better or worse.

A Hippocratic aphorism goes, “Art is long, life is short.” A career in multiple disciplines can be representative of who a person is, and the evolution they go through. A release as layered as this shows so much of who Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, and the people he’s inspired and worked with, is.

#donald glover #childish gambino #gilga radio #coachella

[breesays]

How beautiful I can’t breathe

A good neighbor anecdote: Friday at 3:30PM, our garage gate was broken. It's a big hulking thing, and no amount of feeble human force was going to get it out of its half up/half down position. They said a tech was coming between 4 and 6pm, but I had to get Desmond by 5pm. My car could not clear it. One of the neighbors came out with her keys and said "take my car" - a mini. So we put the carseat in there and that's how I was on time to pick up my child. Team work makes the dream work.

A joke from Desmond: "Mama, what is Dada making?"

[I think he means breakfast] "Nothing right now, Dada went to work."

"No mama, what is Dada making?”

"What do you mean? He's not here."

"Dada is making MONEY, Mama" [smirk]

Does anyone have any podcast recommendations? I don't do true crime. I like interview series with a philosophical leaning - The One You Feed and Ten Percent Happier are my favorites right now. Also listen to Ladygang and Ask Iliza and Hear in LA. Some Stuff You Should Know and Sounds Fake But Okay. Recently went through some podcast backlogs and ended up hearing a lot from Johann Hari, Oliver Burkeman and Lenore Skenazy. OK, I'll read 4000 Weeks even though finite time makes me panicky and tbh so does that new picture of SPACE. What a beautiful, wondrous image that reminds me of my utter insignificance. 

Loved Matt Haig's "How To Stop Time" very very much. Mostly because I want to live forever but I've never thought about the problems it could cause. The only problem I had with it is the "famous" people the protagonist interacted with - did he always have a sense of their historical importance? No one thinks about the history they're making while they're living it. But maybe people who are hundreds of years old DO.

A quote I saved in 2005"..women are more complicated when it comes to their affections: They rarely love simply for what it is-- but for what it might be, and more importantly, how it might affect them. This is why a woman will endure a great deal of abuse in love-- as long as she believes there is something to be gained. But when a woman sees that a man can no longer help her, when his actions become detrimental to her lifestyle, she can fall out of love as suddenly and as firmly as an apple falling from a tree. There is no putting the apple back on the tree, just as there is no going back in love. Her heart closes against the man as resolutely as if he had never existed."

#books #podcasts #breesays #quotes

[primrose-path-of-dalliance]

psa: trent ikithon is not as competent and powerful as he makes himself seem.

(cw: discussion of abuse)

.

.

i'm not sure how to get into this in a way that's natural, so i hope you don't mind if i go for the straightforward route.

trent ikithon is an abuser. that means his tactics all center around—and rely upon—making vulnerable people believe that he has far more power than he actually does. and when it comes to our pov, the m9's pov, ikithon is trying his damnedest to accomplish the same.

now, i don't know everything that's in matt mercer's head when he has played or characterized trent ikithon. i'm sure there's some depth to his motivations and intelligence, and i don't doubt that ikithon ideologically believes in strengthening the empire. but this is not relevant to the abuse tactics i want to discuss.

because the reality is this: abusers do what they do because they enjoy victimizing and controlling the vulnerable.

that's why you get abusers like archivist zeenoth who are attracted to positions of authority. those positions facilitate structural imbalances of power between them and their potential victims. trent ikithon, too, is doing the same thing—as an archmage of the cerberus assembly, he is exploiting the authority of his position to gain victims for abusing. he is not doing what he does because he's a brilliant mastermind focused on a goal. if he was, he wouldn't abuse his students.

think about it in terms of effectiveness. no matter what people like ikithon try to assert, his volstrucker are not in any way stronger or more capable from his 'tutelage'. caduceus clay roasted the man in his own dining room for this lie. what the volstrucker are are an organization of ruthless, skilled spies built from deeply abused and damaged people. they aren't healthy; they aren't stable. caleb widogast spent eleven years in a sanatorium because he was one of many recruits who broke under the abuse (see EGtW), and then five years as a solitary, paranoia-ridden mess in a filthy coat. he spent months trying not to self-sabotage his growing friendships and had a panic attack as soon as he left ophelia mardun's mansion in shadycreek (e27, 2:55:21). he has ptsd from using fire magic to burn people to death—considering his statement on executing traitors to the empire as a trainee (e18, 2:48:12), it was probably an everyday part of the job.

even the minority of volstrucker that do get through the training stage aren’t functioning well. only a few episodes ago, we watched astrid finish a conversation with caleb and then duck into an alleyway so she could curl up and have a five-minute breakdown before putting the composed mask back on (e126, 1:50:47). abuse makes being alive harder; good luck being a sustainable espionage program at that point.

so that's one lie. how about another?

at the dinner in ikithon's tower, ikithon implied that he has guided every step of caleb's path to recovery and ever-growing power. that caleb's plans to murder ikithon are exactly what he wants; that he even arranged his escape from the vergessen sanatorium (e110, 2:52:58).

i think enough people have recognized that ikithon's first claim is utter bullshit, considering that caleb and the m9 had just arrived from a random island on which they hosted a cult gathering festooned with phalluses. but the implication that he arranged for caleb's escape from the sanatorium was just that: an implication. he never says outright that he did so. he only couched what he knew in gaslighting platitudes and handed over the holy symbol of the cleric that healed him. you won't sense a lie that hasn't been spoken. he let caleb and the m9 make their assumptions, and the assumption worked in his favor.

let's consider the actual circumstances of caleb's escape (e18, beginning 2:51:54). a fellow inmate of the sanatorium who was a cleric suddenly grabbed him and healed him of his madness before returning to her own ravings. caleb then pretended he was still insane for two weeks before killing a guard, stealing the amulet that kept him hidden, and fleeing. how would any of these events work in trent ikithon's favor? the number of absurd assumptions here are off the charts.

first, you would have to believe that a cleric could permanently heal a man who'd been insane and probably experimented on for eleven years.

second, you would have to assume that this man would still be competent enough to pass general scrutiny and break out.

third, you would have to believe that he'd totally survive on his own without any resources whatsoever,

after eleven years of being institutionalized,

while first beginning deep in the pearlbow wilderness—

all without raising the suspicion of this apparently still hypercompetent ex-patient that his escape was too easy.

and fourth, you would have to believe that this man would actually accomplish something in your interests instead of, say, dying or remaining a vagrant beggar forever.

if this was all on purpose, then trent ikithon is really an idiot.

another truth: caleb was not special. both liam and caleb have said so (talks for e88, beginning 28:00; & e110, 29:06), with the examples of other volstrucker supporting this. all of them are talented mages and good at spycraft! they have to be to graduate in the first place! ikithon's assertions that caleb was extra special (e110, 2:52:11)? also a lie—specifically, a great tactic for convincing a victim of abuse not to think about it further. of course they're being hurt again. of course they're being targeted again. not to mention how abusers selectively compliment in order to confuse the people they’re hurting (relevant here: e88, 3:28:25). caleb having an unhealthy amount of hubris and thus open to being diagnosed with protagonist disease doesn’t help.

ikithon would have easily deduced the details of what happened and obtained the holy symbol after an investigation of the break-out. not too hard to piece things together if you simply ask about unusual events prior to the escape and learn that he'd had an altercation with another patient two weeks ago—and oh yes, that patient used to be a blasphemous cleric.

caleb widogast basically reappeared next door healthier, much more powerful, and more capable than ever. ikithon doesn’t have control over caleb’s entire past and future—but he wants him to believe he does. it’s a gaslighting attempt to make caleb question his own accomplishments and attribute them to ikithon so that ikithon can regain some control over his ex-student.

another truth: trent ikithon is already on thin fucking ice. no one in the cerberus assembly likes each other, of course, but a consistent point was made again and again that everyone deeply dislikes ikithon. he's stayed because he made himself useful, but he could and would get taken care of should he be a detriment instead (see e88, 3:19:27; & e97, 3:19:32).

any sort of thorough investigation into the volstrucker and the vergessen sanatorium would reveal exactly how fragile all of his agents are and how frequently he fails in conditioning his recruits. ikithon gets the pick of the crop when it comes to nationalistic, talented students that enter the soltryce academy. to find out that he drives a significant number of them insane? well, that's a pure waste of unrealized potential. and for what—a program of spies who are paranoid enough and opportunistic enough to turn on each other if prodded the right way?

and now... trent ikithon, as part of the traitorous beacon research, has been under heavy investigation from two fronts: the augen trust and the cobalt soul (e125, 2:31:10). and he has been getting very nervous recently (e125, 2:41:42).

the final truth i want to point out: trent ikithon is just as control-obsessed as any other abuser. we got the most obvious example of this yet from e128—his pursuit of the m9 to nicodranas and tidepeak tower. think about the circumstances again.

he was apparently so curious and so annoyed by caleb rebuffing all of his attempts at ‘conversation’ that he made his excuses before teleporting directly to nicodranas,

through a circle implied to be arranged diplomatically between the empire and the clovis concord,

with a plan to break into the lavish chateau, one of the most high-profile locations of the city, to potentially kidnap or kill everyone,

including the famous and beloved ruby of the sea.

he then chased the m9 and their families to the equally high-profile tidepeak tower on the open quay, all of which is owned by yussa errenis, an archmage himself who’s learned far more about local politics than he ever wanted to know,

intimidated his “man”servant,

and broke in.

and they did all of this possibly with some very confused members of the zhelezo following right behind them.

other people have gone through the potential political consequences of this more thoroughly than me, so suffice to say that trent ikithon has gotten himself into some deep shit. you can’t negotiate or magic yourself out of being witnessed by hundreds of people breaking into the tower of an archmage who is infamous among the locals for being a bitchy recluse.

if he was smart, and clever, and a brilliant mastermind, he wouldn’t have done any of that. what he could have done: continue to handle caleb from an ominous distance through spells like sending. allege to the cerberus assembly and king dwendal that the break-in was an underhanded cobalt soul mission because of beauregard’s association with the m9. or just straight-up say that the m9 broke into his facilities because they have a vendetta against him and have them at least investigated the next time the empire can hold onto them for a second.

but he didn’t do any of those much more clever possibilities. he acted impulsively and rashly and may well be on the way to a lot of trouble now. all because ikithon just could not handle caleb being saucy.

with all this in mind, i want to go back to one last detail: astrid and eadwulf. because these two would suffer terrible consequences if they ran away—allegedly.

because i want to ask... what exactly could ikithon do to them?

they’ve already killed their own parents. so far, we’ve had no sign either that they have anyone else important to them in his reach besides each other. they have nothing tying themselves to him besides years of abuse and the crimes they’ve committed as volstrucker. they might want some power of their own, sure, perhaps they want to kill him while they’re still close. but we certainly know that eadwulf and astrid are not invested in the volstruckers as it stands. they doubt ikithon. and they already have their own amulets.

so what else could make them so terrified by the idea of leaving with the m9 except the way that trent ikithon has abused them and convinced them that he’s powerful enough and capable enough to catch up to them?

don’t be fooled. he hosted the most embarrassing excuse for a dining-with-the-enemy scene (seriously, i hope someone reading this cringed the entire time as well from all the long pauses and terrible topic transitions) and then teleported away to flee caduceus clay’s scalding tea. no retort, no blackmail. he acted recklessly in nicodranas and appropriately pushed two of his own volstrucker to betray him, losing his one opportunity to capture the m9′s family there. and now ikithon is between a rock and a hard place in terms of political standing, with a spy network he has openly encouraged to turn against him.

there is no terror waiting in the wings anymore, no more strings he can pull. just an abuser playing up his own grandeur. at this point, the only thing he hasn’t reached his limit in yet is his high-level spell slots.

#cr #critical role #cr meta #trent ikithon #caleb widogast #astrid #eadwulf #abuse #gaslighting mention #prim post #prim says some things #long post #he's a horrible and despicable person who's #used his power to commit massive harm don't get me wrong #but don't fall for overestimating him- he wants you to

[your-ace-cousin-clover]

Different, But Same

[Part 1 of my Tomgreg Analysis Series]

TL;DR - Shiv and Greg tend to mirror each other a long in the sequence of the story especially in regards to Tom. This is interesting as Shiv is Tom's romantic partner which the same relationship is echoed very strongly with Tom and Greg.

One of my most interesting observations in regards to the whole Tom/Shiv and Tom/Greg situation is how Greg and Shiv's narrative arc seem similar in regards to their relationship with Tom. However, because of certain reasons, the relationship that Tom has with Greg is more stronger despite the same narrative followed for Shiv as well.

Also disclaimer : THIS IS TINHATTERY! THIS IS ME THEORISING! YOU CAN ALWAYS DISAGREE / AGREE WITH ME.

I'm just having some fun here.

1. Initial Circumstances of meeting Tom

In S01E01, we see the circumstances in which Tom and Greg meet each other for the first time. Yes, with the volatile reaction that Tom has of "would you kiss me if I asked you? if I told you to?" (That is a whole another topic that I'll later delve into about shame and queerness in Succession) However, but the time Greg dejectedly stands at the door Logan's hospital cabin with uncertainty about his job at Waystar, S01E02, Tom makes an important offer to Greg. He offers to "look after" Greg in his time of need and help him.

Interestingly, later in the series, in an offhand comment, Shiv mentions how she herself was not in a good state of mind or in a stable position of life when she met Tom. [I don't recall the exact episode where this conversation takes place - but I'm pretty sure this happens]

Regardless, in different times of the show, Shiv depends on Tom to help her through stressful circumstances.

Tom is a dependable person for both Shiv and Greg through his emotional support as well as professional support for these people.

2. RECNY BALL Incident

In S01E04, the notable RECNY Ball takes place which is overshadowed by the fact that Tom receives papers about the Cruises Scandal from Bill. There are two people that Tom informs about the papers : his assistant, Greg Hirsch and his wife to be, Siobhan Roy.

This is one of the multiple instances where Greg and Shiv are placed in the same context for Tom.

When Gerri confronts Tom about the holding a press conference. However, (this is the point where the Tomgreg subtext becomes stronger) when Greg defends himself, Tom seems to believe him which ends up casting strong suspicion on Shiv. This is interesting as this takes place, weeks? days? after having met Greg for the first time and despite, fact that Tom is going to be married to Shiv, he doesn't trust her.

Greg's subordinate status to Tom and his disconnect from the Roys (the situation happens to be opposite for Shiv) is what makes Tom believe him in the first place. Tom has never felt secure in his relationship with Shiv because of his perceived inferior status. However, in regards to Greg, he's in a more balanced position (even superior to Greg) which is why he feels strongly about protecting Greg as well as is comfortable in his relation (though he expresses jealousy? at Greg's closeness with Kendall professionally later on).

He assigns the job of burning the papers to Greg which brings the both closer as they have a secret between them. (Even Shiv doesn't know about the papers until their wedding) Greg and Tom can trust each other to some extend because of the Cruises burning incident because if one of them reveals it then the other goes down. (This analysis does not currently take into account Greg revealing the papers at the press conference - by that point he's reached a position where he can reach out for things other than what Tom can offer him)

3. They both betray Tom as well as Logan

Shiv joins Nate professionally which leads her to not only later cheat on Tom despite their ongoing engagement, but it also brings her into conflict with Logan Roy as she decides to align herself with Senator Gil Eavis who is extremely anti-Logan. Her alliance with Nate causes strong jealousy for Tom wherein he asks Shiv about Nate (which also later is apparent with how Tom humiliates him later with the wine).

In a similar vein, Greg encourages Kendall during the night of Shiv's wedding with "things have to change here". And later on, not only aligns himself such strongly with Kendall that prompts Tom to ask him about it during Hungary and says "a girl can start to wonder."

Both of these alliances are detrimental to Logan as they challenge his place in the throne. However, Shiv's alliance with Eavis collapses easily due to difference in views. It would be interesting if the Kenstar Gregco alliance lasts longer due to the consequences that might result if they try to break apart as well as the blood bond which makes the link more stronger.

4. They both negotiate with Gerri using the Cruises Papers

Tracking on the fact that Shiv and Greg are the ones that mainly know about the papers. They leverage this information in a way that benefits them or creates additional favours for them.

This is initially seen when Greg rats out Tom's plan to do a new conference exposing Cruises to Gerri which is how she shuts him down quickly. This gives Greg a favourable opinion from Gerri, a proximity to the power of Waystar and benefits him even though it screws Tom over.

In a similar vein, Shiv does the same thing when she negotiates with Gerri, Logan's spokesperson, during her wedding night to stop the attacks on Eavis. She uses it to benefit the person she is working for.

This is a very small similarity, but is also another way they both mirror each other in the arc of the story.

5. A sense of moral superiority

Again minor point, but interestingly, both Shiv and Greg have a sense of moral superiority over not being as involved in the business and their sense of doing the right thing.

(This may later diminish as both get more and more stuck with the core of the business, but this is at like early S2)

Greg brings it up first when Tom brings him to ATN with his whole speech on "principles". Tom admonishes Greg with "of course, we're trying to do the right thing. We all are, so don't go talking about principles."

A similar thing repeats when Shiv admonishes Tom about Logan's decision to purchase Pierce. She makes a point about how terrible ATN is the fact that she needs to get proper news from a "respectable" source.

Both of them throw Tom's involvement with ATN as well as Waystar by a way of sticking to principles while being incredibly hypocritical themselves.

6. "Open Marriage"

This is self-explanatory for the most part, but at the same time, it's one of the biggest points for this mirror as well as for Tomgreg.

As mentioned before Tom feels a sense of inferiority with Shiv, which is why he is the more meeker one in the relationship. Which makes him accept the "open marriage" idea with Shiv even though he is essentially being cheated on the entire time.

However, in regards to Greg, the same inferiority does not appear. And by the time, the famous "I will not let go of what is mine" scene, Tom and Greg are friends to a bit. They go out for the ortolan scene (which has a separate analysis about physical hunger and queerness as well later - food metaphors are strong in Succession), Greg tells Tom about Shiv's cheating and Tom has brought Greg into ATN.

[These small things cement the relationship between them and show that Tom and Greg enjoy themselves outside the confines of Waystar which Tom and Shiv struggle with as seen in the case of their honeymoon]

However, Greg's use of "open marriage" causes Tom to not only express his anger, but provides a space to express the anger. He publicly declares how upset he feels that Greg wants to leave and interestingly, uses relationship specific terms like "break up" to talk about Greg's proposal. He repeatedly asserts that Greg is "his" and this brings in a context of jealousy with Kendall when Tom questions about Greg spending more time with Kendall later on in Hungary.

7. They both ask favours from Tom which put him in trouble with Logan

In the Hungary episode, both Shiv and Greg ask Tom do certain favours (In case of Shiv, it is for Tom to ask Logan about the Pierce deal and convey everybody's dissatisfaction. And in case of Greg, it is to hide that fact that he met with Pantsil from Logan).

Now, Tom has been clearly established as a strong sycophant in regards to whoever is at the helm of Waystar (conveying Kendall about Ewan coming to the board meeting as well as cheering on Logan when he announces Pierce) so the only way he would take a risk for a person is if he's close to them. This makes sense in case of Shiv as she is his literal wife, however, this comparison is interesting when we think about Greg in this context. Tom goes lengths to protect Greg to the point he is humiliated by the employees and his in-laws only which is huge as throughout the entire series Tom has simply been trying to fit in with the Roys to the point, he wants to change his last name after marriage.

8. Both are put in position where they are can be the successor of the company and in turn, can become Tom's boss

This happens mostly at the end of S2, but, the entire time Shiv is championed as the Successor by Logan Roy himself which makes Tom assume that he will later on succeed her. However, this is turned to the head when Shiv proclaims that she does want to run the company. In doing so, she will become Tom's boss which is disappointing to Tom because, it will only emphasis on his sense of inferiority as well as the fact that he cannot take care of her (because as established before he is the person that cares for people, especially ones that he loves).

A same dynamic emerges as Greg aligns himself with Kendall. This exponentially increases his chances of being the Successor (especially if Kendall drops out somehow either due to drugs or any other circs) which would also untie the two Roys. This would similar draw the same conflict Tom faces with Shiv as the successor.

Therefore, in bringing Shiv and Greg together again and again, I feel like it enhances the romantic subtext between Tom and Greg (as it literally swaps out the man's wife for his lanky assistant) as well as brings out a stronger comparison as Tom and Greg have done things to each other as well as for each other which ties them together more closely than Tom and Shiv.

Just imho.

Tag List ❤️-

{Let me know if you wanna be added or removed}

@feuillytheflorist @finitevariety @dr-pamela-isley

@dawsonandpaceyareinlove @nickwilding @foreverjustvibing @houseocats

#Tomgreg #Tomshiv #meta #Succession #Succession HBO #Tom x Greg #Greg x Tom #Sorry I coudn't stop mys #Greg Hirsch #Tom Wambsgans #Siobhan Roy #Cousin Greg

[chibirisa20]

i don't play ultra sun or moon. that's bad?

USUM is kinda in a weird place. USUM is an ‘alternate universe’ version of SM.

USUM is good for its post-game content, but in terms of the overall story, it’s a mess.

You see the whole narrative in SM had been about the Aether family and how Lusamine’s obsession with Ultra Beast(mainly Nihilego) following her husband’s disappearance tore apart the relationship she had with her children. Lusamine was made be very clearly be a troubled woman whose mind was slowly being overtaken by Nihilego’s basic instincts via its neurotoxin making her completely obsessed and losing her original goals as the president of the Aether Foundation(protect pokemon) and Mohn’s husband(find him). This obsession affected their kids greatly with Gladion running away with the very creation meant to fight UBs(Type:Null later to be Silvally). And Lillie being left behind was subjected to her mother’s obsession being forced to dress similarly to the Nihilego as if she were only a substitute and is implied she might have been verbally abusive calling her ugly if Lillie defied her which is what made Lillie design so significant in the first.

Ultra change this hazardously where they instead made Lusamine HATE UBs, and had full control of her actions while Nihilego took a back seat in favor of Necrozma taking front stage. Of course, Nihilego being shoved aside also came at the detriment of Lillie’s and Gladion’s own development in favor of the Ultra Recon which didn’t even get an ounce of their own development or exploration beyond just a single area that you fight ultra Necrozma in and show up every now and then.

Supposedly the “improvement” to the story was to show a Lusamine that truly regretted her actions because some people didn’t like the fact that her story ended with her being brought to Kanto to be fully treated for the neurotoxin still in her system. But arguably the “apology” just doesn’t work all too well then you consider literally everything else in USUM and was made to be more of a bandaid over a large gash. With SM Lusamine her actions weren’t excused not especially by her own kids which was beautifully demonstrated by Lillie’s famous “I hate you Mother!” speech. Meanwhile, USUM just straight up replaces this with an off-screen ass-kicking and apparently an off-screen talk between Lillie and Lusamine which just takes away all that tension, and the pay is just hand-waved away cause the writers were so caught up with their Necrozma plot they practically forgot that the Aether family story needed to be wrapped up since they weren't using Nihilego as the main drive like in the original plot.

While we could have benefited from seeing Lusamine after her treatment, I just don’t agree with the idea that she’s was somehow put off the hook for being sick.

Though I think what makes it worst(imo) is the fact that they kept Lillie's Nihilego dress in USUM. That dress was incredibly significant to the overall story that SM wanted to tell with Lillie learning to stand up for herself and Lusamine's debilitating obsession with Nihilego but in USUM, Lusamine absolutely hates UBs with a passion. It just leaves A LOT of bad implications and quite honestly I feel like Lillie would have far less of a reason to forgive her mother in USUM than in SM.

TL;DR USUM is good for post-game content but in terms of story, it completely butchered what was an already compelling story about a family being torn apart then brought back together and paints a really questionable picture of Lusamine as a mother who pushed her only remaining family away in favor of revenge instead actually putting work into looking for Mohn which was her original goal prior to her neurotoxin infection. I don't know if my thoughts were made clear enough through this post cause I tend to ramble with long extensive thoughts like this.

#anon ask #long post #aether president lusamine #trainer lillie #trainer gladion #pokemon usum #big ass rambling by yours truly

[itsclydebitches]

Reading what you said re: it's not wrong to change a plan, as long as you properly adapt to it and build off cause and effect in a natural meaningful way

The classic MKEK fall-back of "this was planned from the beginning" always feels bad to me, not only because of the ready rebuttal of "if it was, then why was it set up so badly," but also because limiting yourself to a pre-determined plan from the start is actually incredibly stifling as a creative, and ultimately detrimental to your story.

You mention How I Met Your Mother as a good example of how "sticking to the plan" can be bad; so I just want to mention a show that thrived on "let the chips fall where they may," The Office. The actresses who played Pam and Angela have a podcast where they delve into each episode, talking about the behind the scenes aspects, trivia, writing choices, plot points, etc. and one thing that really stuck with me about it is that they didn't plan the ending. Even the famous romance between Pam and Jim was never 'end game' to the writers; they wanted to let the story and characters develop naturally and see where things went, and it felt more real because of it. There are scenes in the early seasons that exist solely because "that was back when they weren't sure if they would redeem Roy and have us get back together or not," or "that was back when they thought maybe Angela and Roy might get together," or "that was when they were thinking that Jim might move on once and for all and be with Karen," and that sort of thing. Pam and Jim is heralded as one of the most well-written romances in television, and it was not planned from the beginning. Another example of a great ship that wasn't end-game from the start is in Parks and Recreation between Leslie and Ben. This absolutely could not have been planned from the start, because Ben wasn't even introduced as a character until the finale of season 2.

I think you're right that a show should be allowed to develop naturally and change their minds about what they do, and I agree 100% that one of the problems with RWBY is that sometimes they'll let the story grow, but then they invariably erase that growth so that they can force in some long-outdated plan that no longer works for the story.

"It was planned from the beginning" is a terrible excuse to ruin your own story and characters, especially if your story is one in which the best parts happened because you went off-script.

All of this. There’s a lot of talk in writing circles about the planning camp vs. let the chips fall camp, but in reality any long-running story is going to need both. One of the challenges is that this combination looks very different depending on the type of story and the type of author(s) involved. There’s perhaps more wiggle room for letting the chips fall in a semi-realistic, character driven comedy series than, say, in a plot-driven action series. “I don’t know yet what sort of relationship these characters will have in three seasons time” is very different from “I don’t know what the situation with the Relics is going to look like in three seasons time.” Whether Pam and Jim get together or not, you still have a good story about their relationship, whatever that may look like. If the Relics are, say, dropped from the show completely, or retconned, or brought together and the characters have to go stupid to not do anything with them because the writers didn’t plan ahead... that’s more of a problem. So it’s this balance between what you’ve thought ahead to and what you need to accommodate. “It was planned from the beginning” can be a horrible way to treat your story if you’re introducing new elements (How I Met Your Mother), but it can also be a fantastic way to treat your story if you’re following that original path (The Good Place). Unplanned elements can be an excellent addition if the author is willing to run with them (Sasha and Tim in The Magnus Archives), or a terrible hinderance if the author is not (Maria and Pietro). Any author needs to be willing to put in that work of figuring out what elements need to be planned, when they can allow the writing to be organic, and once that organic approach reveals something, ensuring that it comes to mean something. 

RWBY feels like it’s failing on both fronts right now. The story as a whole doesn’t feel like it’s appropriately sketched out, like we’re just meandering through new plot points until it’s eventually cancelled, not navigating a broad - but still reliable - structure. We tossed out the school structure post-Volume 3, tossed out the Final Boss Salem structure with her arrival in Volume 7, and now (presumably) have tossed out the Relic structure in Volume 9, falling into a void instead of heading to Vacuo. Yet at the same time, each now plot point that’s introduced has just as much chance of getting tossed aside too. It’s not replacing A plot point with B plot point, it’s replacing it with C, then D, then E F G, sometimes within the same volume. We’ve often said that RWBY has too many cool ideas and that’s a huge part of the problem. 

Salem is here! But Ironwood is the enemy! The gorillas are back! But they don’t do anything! Ozpin is back too and Oscar is upset about it! But torture is the actual problem! Team JYR are here to save him! But that doesn’t matter! Emerald and Hazel are bad guys! But now they’re not! Redemption is compelling! But now he’s dead and she’s a fixture of the group already! Ren is upset about their choices! But now he’s got a semblance upgrade! Nora cares about the people! But now she cares about Amity! Yang fights with Ruby! But now she’s upset about Blake! Penny is framed! But now she’s the Maiden! But now she’s hacked! But now she’s human! But now she’s dead! 

There. is. so. much. going. on. A desire to let the chips fall where they may still requires restraint on the author’s part and a willingness to follow each thread once it reveals itself (unless we’re talking about a story deliberately meant to be meandering, episodic, etc.) As said, there’s nothing wrong with a lack of planning... but that sort of work does require an experienced, talented team to manage. And there is something wrong with making the story so organic that you’re coming up with new ideas every few episodes, not bothering to keep track of what came before this because it will be replaced in another few episodes too. Meanwhile, claiming that it was all “planned from the beginning” in a misguided attempt to make the whole project seem better than it actually is. At this point, RWBY is a revolving door of disjointed, unexplored ideas, held together by confident writers and a fandom inclined to carefully select the parts that do work, ignore/headcanon the rest, and claim that these pieces amount to the whole, planned, ingenious story. 

#rwde #rwby #mymetas #plushchrome1212

[sanstropfremir]

would love to hear ur thoughts re. these street woman fighter's performances and who you would personally vote as the "better dance crew" in how they interpreted each other choreos and the song.

this was for their first elimination round (ep4) and it was interesting to hear from the judges + why they gave the points they did. (i'm not entirely sure if you're watching the show's episodes. they are roughly 2 hours long. so if you would like more context, pls let me know! i wrote brief comments underneath each one as well as the winners [spoilers ahead!]. assuming you are not: for this mission, each crew is paired with another crew and they have to choreograph one of the soloist songs. songs were "split" into two parts: part one [would be one song] and part two [another song]; one crew would choreograph one part and follow the other's crew choreograph for the other part.)

1. boa - eat you up (want choreo) + better (ygx choreo). dance crews: ygx vs want

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCfK_qWAhM0&ab_channel=MnetTV

winner: ygx. boa gave 151 pts to ygx and 49 pts to want (the biggest gap in points between crews), sharing that although want choreographed eat you up, ygx was more cohesive (pointing to how want wore hats and it was messy). additionally, ygx had better stage presence and was able to capture the camera more. also, because ygx is the only crew to have a b-girl and use it in their routine, the judges applauded want for doing the best they can.

2. cl - doctor pepper (wayb) + hello bitches (prowdmon). dance crews: prowdmon vs wayb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEEpZ9SrvaE&ab_channel=MnetTV

winner: prowdmon. judges shared that doctor pepper's routine is a trademark of wayb and that they should have been the standout. however, they felt like prowdmon did it better.

3. hyuna - crazy (4minute) (coca n butter) + i'm not cool (hook) + lip and hip (hook). dance crews: hook vs coca n butter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ikpPKEA30&ab_channel=MnetTV

winner: hook. the two dance crews are VERY different in terms of style. coca n butter is described to be more hip-hop while hook is definitely more reflective of the current/newer trends. (when hook was first introduced in the show, they were known as the crew who was famous only for tiktok dances.) the judges shared that hook was more fun and interesting, given their stylistic choice of wearing the pink wigs. whereas it seemed for coca n butter, they felt like something was lacking (they showed something but it didn't feel they did.)

4. jessi - what type of xx (lachica) + nununa (holybang) + gucci (holybang). dance crews: holybang vs lachica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtZzI11oyqc&ab_channel=MnetTV

winner: lachica. (this was the only battle where both crews came in v close pts. whereas for the other crews, there were huge point-gaps.) judges had a hard time choosing, sharing that for lachica they were more detail-oriented while holybang had better teamwork.

-

imo, i agree with the judges' choices. though i would have to say i think wayb did their routine (doctor pepper) better than prowdmon. they stood out to me then, but when it came to the second part (hello bitches), prowdmon was better. i loved lachica's performance - it was v clean + reminded me of something a kpop group would do (which like, the crew largely works with kpop acts like chungha, boa's better, etc. so it makes sense).

-

this was LONG. thank u if u do read it and post! i miss the kingdom "era" when u would post weekly reviews. the two are v different but this new mnet competition show is the only one i'm invested in. i'm not sure if it's big internationally? i know it is v popular in korea right now. while i've only seen i-fans talk about the show as it relates to chaeyeon (want) because she's an idol. - swf (streetwomanfighter) anon :]

omg this is so long and well organized, forget me writing reviews anon you should do it!! i'm not currently watching the full episodes but i've been catching the few clips that pop up in my youtube recommended occasionally, so i definitely don't have all the context but i'll take a crack at it!

ok so my assumption/from what i can tell, they have a bit of leeway to alter the competing group's choreo as needed to better suit numbers and formations. i also went and found the individual versions of these because why did they make them so small on the split screen, don't they know i'm old and wear glasses. also: MNET FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY STOP MOVING THE FUCKING CAMERA. WE DO NOT NEED SCROLLING VERTICAL BOOM SHOTS OF THIS. just keep the same lens at eye level it's really not that hard. this is like, one of the worst possible ways to shoot dance it is SO annoying. ok i'm done bitching about that let's go.

1. boa - ygx vs want i agree with the big point gap on this one, and i think want made a couple of choices that were not cohesive enough, and obviously they also got set up to fail by ygx. actually i think both groups made choices that were not particularly good, but ygx had more of the skills to back up what they were doing than want did. breaking is very difficult and requires a lot of upper body strength and a higher centre of gravity, which are two physical traits that are less common in women. personally i wouldn't have tried to break to better because although boa songs do have more of a beat than other idol music, it's still not at all the right type of music for breaking. it's gotta be fast, breakers rely on speed, because it's all about momentum; they're literally throwing themselves around the stage. here's the final from battle pro 2019 for example. the music is basically beats only; heavily lyric based music, like idol music, is bad for battling in general because there isn't a lot of consistency. i have more to say about this but i'm getting off track. basically by choosing to handicap the other team (because they don't have a bgirl at all) they shot their own bgirl in the foot because the song is too slow to properly show off her skills. i applaud want for making bold choices, like the hatwork and attempting the breaking, but ultimately when combined with their styling the performance looks disjointed. also they have some formation cohesion issues that make it look a bit like they'e struggling to keep up, even with their own choreo.

2. cl - prowdmon vs wayb i agree with the judges, i think prowdmon bodied the wayb choreo. i actually thought that was their choreo at first. they have the best presence that i've seen of all the groups and the performative "hard bitch" attitude fit in with their genre setting. wayb had several mistakes and synchronization issues that in my opinion made them look sloppy in comparision to prowdmon, who were sharper and had two more people to put into formations. 3. hyuna - hook vs coca n butter ok personally i don't like either of these choreos, but i'm agreeing with the judges here, i think hook's was the mildly more engaging. i can tell that they're very young and do mostly short form tiktok content because i see a lot of eye catching moves, but i don't see a lot of strong connective tissue between those moves. they have good ideas but they also really struggle with putting people into formation and balancing it out well. it doesn't help that they're a seven member crew going up against a four member one, so they have three extra people to figure out what to do with. there's a lot of empty space where there are members waiting in position for a group formation. it also doesn't help at all that they (mnet) appear to just be rawdogging the songs together without any kind of mixing, which is a huge detriment to groups that have to choreograph for two in their section. i'm not cool and lip and hip have two totally different feels and kudos to hook for at least trying to get them to at least visually be cohesive when mnet is go girl giving us nothing sonically. coca n butter has much more of an old school hip hop style, so putting these two up against each other was (probably a random lot draw) an interesting choice. personally i would have been more interested to see hook against want with the boa tracks and ygx against coca n butter with the hyuna tracks. however, i think the reason why coca n butter's stage felt like it was lacking is because they tried to emulate hyuna, without having the stage presence or the weirdness of hyuna. it feels like they're trying too hard and there isn't really any personal character in the piece, versus with hook, who embodied hyuna's weirdness a little more authentically and took a completely different direction. 4. jessi - lachica vs holybang lachica took this one easily, although their formations were a bit wonky for nununana, they covered it fairly well and i think they managed the best transition between songs (between nununana and gucci). they were sharper with good stage pictures and had a good gimmick with the double fringe on the gloves and hats. holy bang had some issues fitting their extra person into the what type of x choreo, but they did well with their own choreo. however, like with coca n butter and hook, because lachica took a new visual spin, this felt too derivative of jessi, so it wasn't that interesting for me to watch. i do think they are one of the groups on the stronger end of skills and presence. --- as far as visually what performances i liked the best, since would this even be a writeup by me if i didn't talk about design, here's a quick breakdown:

prowdmon - got some rudimentary setpieces, got a theme, got some fun variations on a uniform look; excellent for what i assume was limited budget capacity and also it's a dance crew show.

lachica - great continuity of effect in costuming with the fringe, and using the gloves as a mouth/lip effect was one of the most interesting choices of these routines.

hook - the pink wigs and the black latex on the checkered floor was a nice gimmick that was a bit of a nod to hyuna's weird without being too derivative. i'm not expecting a whole lot because these are dance crews but i think this was a decent amount of styling effort.

want - they made a bold choice with the hats and even though it didn't quite pay off for them i still respect it.

coca n butter/ygx/holybang/wayb - ygx and wayb did basic hip hop type styling and while it's absolutely fine, it's just boring. holybang went for a directly inspired jessi look, and although yes bodysuits, overall it wasn't that interesting either. coca n butter get props for doing a costume change and actually incorporating that into the choreo but it feels too much like it's trying to be hyuna weird with the caution tape strapped over their tits and asses.

---

as a final note/question to you, my lovely invested swf anon, what's the format of the show? are there stages like this every episode to review? if these were from the fourth one only, is there anything worth me reviewing in the first three? i'm not particularly interested in the aggressive competitive nature of the show and editing so i don't particularly want to watch the full two hour episodes, but if you think it's worthwhile for me to review stuff then i will. otherwise if there's a set structure (like with kingdom) i can seek out the stages specifically and review them if i know what i'm looking for.

#street woman fighter #swf #swf reviews #i dont really know what the international reception is. the very few people ive seen talking about it on twt #have been insane kpoppies disrespecting boa. so not the best ifan showing so far #am i back in my review era already???? we shall see #(while i still have like EIGHT different asks left. if you wonder why im taking so long to get to some of them. that is why) #(OH plus the first half of the stylings post. and the fabled fave choreos post. so many things in my drafts rn) #(but also please dont stop sending me questions it makes me very happy. the gerbil in my brain is just slow) #dear anon who just asked me about red lights and kink. mwah you are welcome to slide into my dms anytime you like #wait by putting kink in the tags did i just invite a bunch of pornbots onto this #whatever lmao #might need to start a new organizational tag for this because it's only kpop adjacent. thoughts for later #text #answers #ngl these group names are gonna drive me insane. why are all dance crew names so fucking weird