#very apropos imo

[fancyfade]

This bit is interesting (and very apropos IMO)

Teen Titans #92

And like! They both do give the other one plenty of reason for him to think "oh (tim/damian) thinks he's better than me and that I don't belong!" Fandom is pretty aware of what Damian does that expresses this, but often ignores what Tim does that expresses it. I like that Teen Titans shows them in pretty equal light here.

#dc comics #fade reads dc comics #damian wayne #tim drake #batfam #2009 era batfam stuff #teen titans 2003 #red robin #robin

[queen-simia]

apropos of nothing, I just feel like sharing my most favorite Quentin Blake illustration of all time:

that goddamn gormless face has lived in my mind ever since I first read Matilda some 30-odd years ago, and it makes me smile every time my memory randomly barfs it back up

that is the very essence of :3

also knowing that that plate Trunchbull's holding just shatters harmlessly on Bruce's head because he's so full of cake he's essentially "a sack of wet cement" adds to my glee

the ideal state of being, imo

#personal blog #quentin blake #matilda #illustration

[incomingalbatross]

“It is simple enough as you explain it,” I said, smiling. “You remind me of Edgar Allen Poe’s Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories.” Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. “No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin,” he observed. “Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends’ thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour’s silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine.” “Have you read Gaboriau’s works?” I asked. “Does Lecoq come up to your idea of a detective?” Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. “Lecoq was a miserable bungler,” he said, in an angry voice; “he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I could have done it in twenty-four hours. Lecoq took six months or so. It might be made a text-book for detectives to teach them what to avoid.” I felt rather indignant at having two characters whom I had admired treated in this cavalier style. I walked over to the window, and stood looking out into the busy street. “This fellow may be very clever,” I said to myself, “but he is certainly very conceited.”

I can't speak to Lecoq's representation but the Dupin stuff is now very funny to me because

A) Holmes is right to be insulted (imo) but not necessarily for the reasons he thinks he is B) I think it's really funny that the next time Dupin comes up it's years later and it's specifically because Holmes is showing off that he can ALSO do the "showy and superficial" trick C) Watson already likes detective stories! Love that for him. And it's okay, buddy, Holmes IS cooler than them, you just don't know it yet D) Holmes is criticizing Dupin and Watson is offended BUT, when you look at the stories, Holmes is clearly pushing for Watson to write in a style closer to Poe's (Just The Facts, no human interest or atmospheric color) and Watson is absolutely, positively not doing that

#sherlock holmes

[burningvelvet]

this is a long analysis on titanic (1997), re: my last reblog on titanic’s depiction of rose coming into her own sexuality, being sexually dominant, & actively pursuing jack romantically, + LGBT themes, feminism, & the cal/jack/rose triangle as a freudian representation.

—this is one of the great and unique things about this film and also i’d like to point out that although we see jack liking rose first, rose is the one who actively pursues him every step of the way which is almost never seen in films. the roles are almost always reversed. she’s the one who lies to protect him, she’s the one goes to see jack again on the deck under the guise of thanking him, she’s the one who snatches his art book and asks about the nudes, she’s the one who asks to be drawn and specifically drawn nude, she saves him with an axe, she’s the one who initiates sex, etc.

i despise it when people talk about titanic like it’s the most boring cishet movie of all time when it’s one of THEE most progressive/subversive imo (in terms of popular mass media). jack is one of the only major male romantic figures i’ve ever come across who never says anything sexist even in jest, who never dominates their scenes together whether emotionally/romantically/sexually, and who genuinely helps the female protagonist become a better person rather than vice versa. i can’t even think of comparable male characters, so yes in a way he is the perfect example of a manic pixie dream boy. i would go as far as to call their dynamic a subtle gender role reversal and i don’t know why this isn’t talked about more.

there’s also been a lot of queer interpretations and analysis on titanic which i think is apropos. jack and rose have been seen by some as being butch-coded/lesbian-coded ever since the movie came out, and you can also make a case for rose representing (metaphorically or literally) the experiences of gender-envy or being GNC, especially in the scene where jack nonjudgementally teaches rose to “ride like a man, and spit like a man” — and she says “why can’t i be like you, jack?” — etc. — jack actively encourages her to go against the gender norms and i don’t think it’d be a reach to say that he would be supportive if she was LGBTQ+ and vice versa & that they’re both clearly allies regardless of interpretation. Take for example Rose’s line to Kack: “I know what you must be thinking— poor little rich girl, what does she know about misery?” & Jack’s response: “No, no, that’s not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was, what could’ve happened to this girl to make her feel she had no way out?” — As Rose says, Jack “sees” people, and validates/recognizes them in a way that is similar to the queer theories on queer kinship, allyship, & solidarity. Rose and Jack find each other and feel kinship for each other through their mutual progressive/bohemian values in a way that is commonly experienced by LGBT people finding other LGBT people, which is heightened by Rose/Jack’s mutual attraction & their blooming relationship being socially frowned upon (due to classism + Rose’s engagement).

I also think it’s important to point out that sexuality is a core theme of the movie in general, & this is esp important considering it takes place in 1912. From Rose’s Piccaso painting of the prostitutes, to Rose’s comment at the table about Freud re: male overcompensation, to Cal slut-shaming Rose, to the nude French prostitutes, to Rose saying she’d rather be Jack’s whore than Cal’s wife. The theme of being a “ruined woman” is rampant. Many of Cal/Rose’s scenes are laced with subtle sexual implications with him wanting Rose to be sexually submissive/passive/exclusive/available (“do not deny me”) and her clearly not being interested in that role (Cal asks her why she didn’t come to his rooms late at night when he asked her to, and he’s always the one initiating contact, & she clearly hates him). It is also very clear that Rose sees her wifely duties as performative, and to some extent her gender itself is performative (see: the scene where she watches in anxious disgust as she sees a little girl being taught how to act like a lady through table etiquette, and Rose immediately runs off to Jack). I also think it’s ironically symbolic that Cal gives her his mens coat toward the end, and we see pictures of young her wearing pants and riding horses “like a man” as her and Jack fantasized, etc.

I also think it’s intentional that Jack is slightly tomboyish/androgynous looking, younger, and open-minded, whereas Cal is older, dominant, and represents a sort of Byronic “tall, dark hair, handsome, rich” version of masculine appeal. There’s also the split in politics, class, etc. — they represent opposite ends of male sex appeal while both being attractive. The love story wouldn’t be effective if Cal was unattractive bc his sex appeal is necessary to the narrative. Jack and Cal’s contrasting versions of sex appeal are what make this love triangle so effective yet conflicting (aside from their differences in personality and Cal being abusive/Jack being supportive) because the contrast between Jack/Cal highlights and brings out Rose’s sexuality and her transgressive sexual desires. She refuses to be sexually passive for Cal. In nearly all of their scenes together, Rose and Cal are constantly competing for sexual dominance through their dynamic—whereas with Jack, Rose doesn’t have to compete for dominance bc Jack accepts her for the way she is and actively lets her take the reigns and sexually guide him, and Jack feels comfortable in the role he plays. During the drawing scene and in the car scene, he’s presented as being shy and nervous but is still clearly enthralled by her, whereas Rose is suddenly the comfortable/confident/more knowledgeable one, even making jokes when Jack reacts to seeing her disrobe. Typically in cishet romances, the roles would be reversed, which is what Cal desires—that’s Cal’s tragedy, that in the end when he searches for Rose during the sinking and then later on the Carpathia, he’s mourning a fantasy of who Rose was, & tried molding her into a submissive version of herself & destroying her dominant/masculine side.

For these reasons, I believe Jack also represents a part of Rose’s subconscious mind, and that the lines “he exists now only in my memory,” “it was the ship of dreams, and it was, it really was,” are symbolic of this. I see their relationship as being more importantly a deep bond of friendship and a connection between two kindred spirits than being solely romantic. To use a Freudian model, Jack helps bring out Rose’s “id” whereas Cal tries to supress it and bring out Rose’s “superego,” and Rose ends the film by forming a healthy “ego”—this is what makes the Cal/Jack/Rose love triangle so riveting and effective, because it represents this clash of values and this tug-of-war thru this Freudian Trio.

I’m considering turning all this into an actual academic essay atp lmao

#analysis #film analysis #titanic #titanic 1997 #film criticism #media analysis #rambling #my thoughts #writing #opinion #lgbt #feminism #academia #thoughts

[carnivorousyandeere]

Okay, but how would Erik react to Darling having (a bit) of a cussing problem? Like darling’s vocabulary is just the cuss word song- (sorry idk what I’m talking about)

Hehehe it’s all good Moodie~! Good morning by the way~! 💞

Erik is one of those people who tries to cuss as little as possible (really only using damn and hell, even those sparingly) and would definitely chastise a Darling who “cussed too much.” It’s very frustrating to them; they “know you’re smart, why must you insist on limiting your vocabulary like that?” 🙄

Would he threaten to wash out your mouth with soap? Probably at least once. 😬

(IMO this is definitely one of his more annoying traits. Like idk what to tell ya Erik, sometimes the most apropos word for a sentence just happens to be “douchewad.” 💀)

#Moodie✨ #havenmoodz #moot moot 💕 #my thoughts #yandere #yandere oc #yandere imagines #yandere scenarios #yandere x darling #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere cw #oc Erik

[pluralthey]

apropos of the comic where jessie shapeshifts into shiloh, i have some questions about her shapeshifting abilities:

if jessie shapeshifts into someone (say... shiloh, lmao) does she automatically inherit the colours of that person, or would there be a jessie-coloured shiloh running around?

similarly, when jessie-shapeshifted-as-shiloh speaks, does she have shiloh's voice or jessie's voice? (or maybe a Mysterious Third Voice?)

for both of the above, is colour/voice-mimicking something jessie has to put effort into or does it just happen automatically as an effect of the shapeshifting?

first question: she would be jessie-colored. i don't think she comes out of the package with the ability to change her color, since the shapeshifting is more based on the rubber man principle where she reshapes her already extant form instead of completely replacing it with something else. she hasn't felt the need to pose as someone else or to hide, so she probably hasn't felt the need to change her color, imo. i actually went back after the comic was drawn and tried to draw her little markings in to make it more obvious she still had her own fur colors, but they are tiny lines.

second question: in my head she sounds like jessie impersonating shiloh, if that makes sense. i imagine jessie post-deification to have a low demonic growling voice that speaks in unison with her regular voice. it's very quiet when she's being normal, but the growling gradually overtakes her regular voice when she's angry (regardless of whether she's yelling or not; she can be the icy stone-faced kind of angry and it still sounds demonic). that's not voluntary or intentional, so i think it would be present in that comic, making it sound like shiloh and a demon talking in unison.

third question: i think the voice mimicking would require mental effort like the shapeshifting does. i think it's like stretching any muscle to her, but if she stops, it probably just like sags under gravity and slowly returns to its initial shape like slime in a container. for the colors, i think it would be something she can turn on and forget about, if she gave herself the ability.

thank you for these questions. feeling like a dog with a kong ball of frozen peanut butter rn

#not art #ask #asks #i'm imagining a more animal tasmanian devil type growl than a pitched down cartoon demon growl

[untitledgoosegay]

imo that "alpha male ~dominance~" schtick people get up to is more apropos than we usually acknowledge, but for very different reasons than the people who get into it claim

the original research that led to the "alpha wolf" terminology was done on captive wolves -- unrelated adults placed in an unnaturally small enclosure, which we now know is nothing like the social structures wolves form in the wild. in the wild, wolf packs are extended families. there's little in the way of strict ""dominance""; a pack's "leaders" are more often simply the parents and grandparents of the rest of the pack. violence is rare, and older/more authoritative wolves will intervene to prevent it when it does occur. a wolf that routinely attacks others isn't "assertive" or "dominant," it's "liable to get kicked out of the pack if it keeps that shit up." this is quite similar to the way humans and other primates organize ourselves, left to our own devices! we too like to structure our societies around kinship units, and group together in extended families, where respect is based on age, accomplishment, and networks of gratitude rather than a hierarchy of violence.

however

we have increasingly manufactured environments for ourselves in which unrelated individuals of similar age are crammed together in close quarters, without social guidance, with only the minimum supervision required to prevent outright murder

most notably schools and prisons

#bird original

[leondrat29]

[txt; kaia] you're not being a very good influence on me here, lion. Ps my phone autocorrected your name, felt apropos 😂

[Txt]: they are. We vacationed together quite a bit growing up. you mean that explains moms slap shot skills? what can I say, she really is a thing of legend, lol. in a way, yes. but probably not for the reasons you think. I'm playing it safe, or trying to? what would you do if it was the other way around? besides as someone who's gone out with you, I know you can't have a hard time trying to get a date, im just saying🙃

[text]: 🤷🏻‍♂️ i never claimed to be a good influence. ha, shame i'm not french.

[text]: so you know him pretty well too? nice, he was a fun guy to watch play. yes, lol, i can't say i expected to see, "supermodel cindy crawford snipes a goal from center ice," as a nhl headline, but it happened. and was impressive, yeah. ok? i do realize that. you're trying to be the bigger person here, which says a lot imo. idk? i think it'd depend on how much i liked the girl and if i thought it was worth it, despite all the bs. but i'd likely do the same, or try to. i get it, just don't like it. 😂 i wasn't really looking to date tbh, you were...unexpected.

@kgerbertt

#✶ — › do you even have $100 you fucking rookie? — ⌜ texts ⌟ #✶ — › w — › kaia gerber

[kpopsongrecs]

Underrated BOPS from Female Artists:

One of the more "happy" sounding solo songs from CL, I find it very apropos that the song title is "Lifted". I honestly live for this track. Baddest Female, Hello Bitches, and 멘붕 are songs that have more of the type of sound CL is known for in her solo work. But iconic and empowering as those songs are, I find that this lighter and poppier sound from CL makes for such a nice switch-up. And what it doesn't have in depth of lyrics (haha) it well makes up for in its catchy and addictive quality.

I never listened to Jo Yuri before this mini album, and the whole album is actually pretty great, including the title track Taxi. But by far, Lemon Black Tea is the best song (IMO) on Love All. It's a type of arrangement you don't encounter often in kpop with it's groovier tempo, and funky and oh so wonderful bass line. Jo Yuri's light and airy vocals float right on top perfectly. Lemon Black Tea sounds like how the drink it's named after tastes. Lightly sweet and citrus-y, with a subtle deeper undertone.

Taste of Love is hardly one of TWICE's more notable releases considering their absolutely massive (and popular) discography, but I will always have a soft spot for it given that it came out just as I got back into kpop. From the whole mini album, Baby Blue Love is the standout song for me and still is one of my personal favorite TWICE B-sides overall. It's got that very girly, catchy, and quintessentially pop sound that TWICE is most known for, and perfectly suited for the summer-theme of Taste of Love.

Heavy moment of silence for Fifty Fifty and their very regrettable downfall as a group. Cupid will never lose its status as legendary song within kpop, but some of Fifty Fifty's other great songs are all the more likely to not be highlighted post their troubles. And Lovin' Me deserves that spotlight. It's a great number with rich full-bodied harmonies that remind me of Imogen Heap, and a driving beat. I even love the corny Britney Spears Oops I Did It Again-style spoken interlude that somehow feels like only Fifty Fifty can pull off successfully.

#kpop #kpop gg #kpop girl group #kpopidol #kpop songs #kpop icons #kpop song recommendations #song recs #song recommendations #playlist #music rec #korean music #fifty fifty #twice #jo yuri #cl #2ne1 #2ne1 cl #Spotify

[the-empress-7]

IMO a Royal Windsor Horse Show or a special coronation installment of the Chelsea Flower Show would have been better for Charles. Or heck, even an Edinburgh Military Tattoo-like thing at Windsor. Highlight all of the charities and patronages instead of going for a Live Nation dupe. Or stack the set list with performers and artists exclusively from The Prince's Trust. Just something that would make it exclusively about Charles instead of copying what worked for his mother.

This coronation concert coming hot on the heels after the wildly successful and incredibly star-studded Platinum Jubilee Concert feels a lot like...well, being forced to clear your plate because of starving children in Africa.

A military tattoo would have been very apropos.

If mummy got Paddington, then I must get cartoon character too!

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

Weighing in on the Russell/Russoff question

A treatise on family and inheritance

First off, show canon gives us very little backstory for Jack. It’s not even confirmed that he inherited his curse! (I’m writing with the assumption that he did inherit it, because I think it makes the most sense: it creates a parallel between him and Elsa, both having inheritances from their families). Therefore, I think it makes a boatload of sense to pick and choose from the comics to create a scaffolding to build headcanons off of. It gives us something to work with, instead of trying to create backstory from whole cloth!

What we do know, in show canon, about Jack’s family:

He honors them in a very conspicuous way with the paint he wears on his face. (I would love to know whether painting those designs to honor ancestors has roots in any specific cultural tradition, and if so, which one(s), or whether it was invented for the show! Is it something Jack wears all the time, or only for specific ceremonial reasons (such as hunting)? Whatever the case, it seems intended to evoke imagery of las calaveras, rather than anything specific to Transylvanian culture (I could be wrong; I am neither Mexican nor Transylvanian, but Giacchino would ideally want his imagery to be understood by as wide an audience as possible, and this includes being aware of what cultural assumptions audience members are likely to make when presented with specific designs.)

And: “All families have something in common. They follow us. For good, for bad. They stay, like they become an atmosphere. And sometimes, we think that by doing something very specific, we can change everything, and not be like them.”

As I see it, there’s three possible ways to cut this cake:

It is possible Jack is honoring non-werewolf ancestors, and talking about non-werewolf reasons for family to hang over you like an atmosphere, and then, incidentally and apropos of nothing, he just so happens to be a werewolf. This does not make as good storytelling, imo.

Or Jack is honoring his non-werewolf ancestors, and then talking about a completely separate (werewolf) side of his family in the crypt, unconnected to the aforementioned ancestors. This, too, lacks continuity.

Or - and I think this one makes the most sense, narratively speaking - when Jack is talking about ancestors, and talking about family following him, he is talking about his family on his father’s side, about lycanthropy being passed down to him. This scenario creates more of a parallel between Elsa and Jack; both have complicated inheritances.

So let’s assume the third scenario. If Jack is honoring his paternal ancestors with his face markings, then, again, there are three scenarios (All scenarios assume the face painting comes from a Mexican or Latin American cultural tradition, based on design):

Jack is honoring his paternal ancestors in the tradition of his mother’s people. Sure, this could happen, but it’s a bit of a weird choice for the writers to make.

Jack is honoring all his ancestors, paternal included, in the cultural tradition he grew up with. (This is also a strong contender and why I don’t discount Gregory Russoff as far-fetched for show backstory. I could totally see it playing out this way!)

Jack is honoring his father’s ancestors in the tradition of his father’s people. This is, personally, my preferred scenario. It’s a little bit tighter, story-wise. It’s the reason I have “Él Vive En Ti” in my Jack Russell spotify playlist. Say what you will about direct-to-home-video Disney sequels, but Lion King 2 gives us both English and Spanish covers of the Broadway show’s ‘He Lives in You,’ this time with male lead vocals, and they are so pretty. Give me chills.

What I like about emphasizing that Jack connects to his paternal family specifically, is that I really like diving into the complicated ways Jack thinks about and relates to his dad. Borrowing from the comics to build backstory, his father died when he was quite young, too young to remember him. Also from the comics, he does not have a great relationship with his step-father: he did not like Philip Russell, and did not like the way Philip treated his mom, even before he thought he was responsible for her death. (Deviating from comics, here: I’d like to see Philip as his step-father or his uncle, but not both. That’s too Hamlet for my tastes, lol; “A little more than kin and less than kind.” Don’t put Jack’s mom in Queen Gertrude’s shoes!)

So you have this kid, whose father is dead and who doesn’t like his step-father. This kid is going to fucking adore his late dad. He’s going to idolize him, and fantasize about how much better his life would be if his dad were still around. Suppose one of the only things he has of his father’s is a copy of La Llamada del Salvaje, allegedly his father’s favorite book (there’s even an inscription on the inside cover, ‘to my son, Jack’). He’d read that over and over as a kid, he’d adore it, he’d wonder if his dad named him after Jack London. 

And then he turns 18. And the curse takes effect. And ever since he has not been able to get through that book. The few times he’s picked it up since becoming a werewolf, he’s had to put it down. It’s too sentimental, it’s overly romanticized, it was obviously written by a normal human who was not a werewolf himself. Jack struggles with the question of what, if anything, did his father mean by gifting him that book, what takeaway was he supposed to get from it…?

…yeah, kinda got off on a tangent there. Basically, I think there’s a lot to explore in the Jack-and-his-late-father dynamic, and therefore I headcanon that all the talk of family and ancestors that Jack expresses in the show are in service to this narrative. Therefore, I probably won’t be using the Russoff name in my fics unless I have a compelling reason to include it (rather than defaulting to using it unless I have a reason not to). But, as I said at the beginning (and also briefly in the middle), I think using the Russoff backstory makes a lot of sense to build headcanons with, so this whole essay is not intended as a criticism of that position at all! It is equally valid! This is just my two cents, make of it what you will

#werewolf by night #wwbn meta #jack russell #wwbn #mcu #marvel #headcanon #listen i have very fond memories of my dad reading me 'call of the wild' as a bedtime story #i swear i'm not dunking on it #jack's a literal werewolf he's got a unique perspective on the text

[jovenshires]

Apropos of nothing I really like your fics they give very warm very cozy vibes and just generally sweet.

Unrelated, I was wondering if you have any Smosh ships you can't get behind? Like is there a dynamic you really don't feel (generally or in the romantic sense) etc

awww ty!! that is exactly the kind of vibe i wanna give off so i appreciate it <3333

ykw idk if there's anything specifically im like. No for. like there's a couple that im just Not as into but i keep coming up with like the most random combinations that i don't think are gonna be unpopular opinions in any way. i'll put a couple under the cut. they're mostly just things im not warmed up to Yet but still have time to get there? but i will say i really enjoy the entire cast and there are no dynamics i can think of off the top of my head that im uncomfortable with / against in any way. some of these are just. Meh to me.

now, dynamics i Like as friendships but just don't like romantically is a whole other ask. i could get into that if we want (ive got a lot of fast and hard opinions KLNDKLNFLNF) but for rn below the cut are some dynamics that just Don't excite me as much in general:

anthony & the newer cast - now don't get me wrong. there are exceptions to the rule (he had immediate chemistry with both jackie and angela imo) and im not like. a hard Never on this. but most of it hasn't clicked for me yet. i'll warm up i think i'll get there

olivia & noah - i love ALL the og smosh gang but this, for some reason, just never grew on me as much as literally every other dynamic. idk they're fine i guess but i don't feel any kind of strong way

damien & arasha - maybe it's because most of the new cast is in sword af and arasha isn't. maybe it's because i haven't watched legacy. idk. this is just giving nothing.

noah & amanda - i saw these two on a dynamics tier list and i was confused. i don't think i remember them specifically interacting ever. is this just me are they secretly bffs and i'm just blanking

tommy & ian - once again this is like looking at two names just next to each other.

once again all of these are just fine just like. nothing to me. i am looking but not perceiving.

#shipping #ask #asks #anon #anonymous #i am always open to these though its just rn im like. this means nothing. #anyway lmk if you want me go into my notps bc that is a different discussion i feel like #i still Enjoy those dynamics just in a different way ya know

[dumpster-fire-deluxe]

Good time of day to you, most preeminent rubbish receptacle! I hope this obnoxiously long (1) book rec finds you well, I took my (prescribed) adderall today if it's any consolation lmao

As a fellow palpatine enjoyer, I was wondering if you have read "Lords of the Sith" by Paul S. Kemp? Kemp commits one cardinal sin, in that he uh, he makes Darth Vader run lol, like a lot. He uses the word "sprint" often. But other than THAT, it's stupid good. It's about the early days of the empire and the subjugation of Ryloth.

Both plots are given a similar amount of time and meet together at the end so idfk which is the A plot and which is the B plot, but let's call ryloth's rebellion the B plot, since our sith friends arent in this one til the end.

The A plot? Darth Vader and the Emperor crash land on ryloth (a la RoTS, palpatine even makes a fucking joke about the similarity) in ryloths single jungle, its equatorial (think the amazon for climate, but spread over the entirety of south america for size) with just 2 of palpatines red guards, and all the radios on the whole planet, including imperial transmissions, all of it, are down.

So they're just, stuck there, no help, traipzing through a huge ass old growth forest trying to find "out" with stampede amounts of large bug-like feral carnivorous animals and a small rebellion trying to personally hunt them down (the bug monsters are included in the "personally hunting them down" bit, btw lol)

You get so much insight into how palpatine works, thru his actions, thru how the red guards react to finding out palpatine has the force, what they think of him in general and also through Vader's perspective (pov character), and theres parts throughout where it's clear Vaders being a bit of an unreliable narrator (lol @ him being a reliable narrator) which is always fun, and palpatine's teaching vader darkside lessons and philosophy on their trek, including some excellent zingers and one liners which are v in-character actually, and hes actually participating in the action and violence too, no one but vader and his personal redguard are there so he can use the force willy nilly without having to keep up the weak old man persona and dude goes ABSOLUTELY ham. That robe of his generates ungodly amounts of static electricity, just shocking.

And the A plot, that's Cham Syndulla and his freedom fighters (the characters from the TCW ryloth episodes) and there's twilek/ryl political stuff on the ground and senate levels and theres guerilla warfare and secret missions and theres even spycraft! Really good spycraft!

It's set riiiiight after RoTS, so this is like, the FIRST act of resistance against the Empire. Actually wait, maybe that's why vader keeps running. He hasn't learned he doesn't need to yet, slow learner and all that. I'll downgrade that to a venial sin. But it still displeases me.

It's ~350 pages (8"×4" book, avg paperback size if that helps anyone), but both times I've read it, I finished in under 3 hours, cause its that captivating. It also reads a bit different each time, I noticed new stuff that enhanced the story on ea read, so if you(or followers) have read it already but it was over a year ago, it's def worth it to read again imo.

*****

Medium CW for fatphobia; one of the lady moffs gets compared to a Hutt (only in a few chapters, but its constant in those chapters) and her appearance is spoken about by her direct underling (a pov character) in very, uh, conducive to fascism way. which, apropos ig lol. Hes pretty much the only one doing it tho, like palpatine and vader absolutely have the opportunity to jump in on the fat bashing but neither do.

No wait, palpatine makes fun of orn free taa's appearance, but to my mind it's a 50/50 on whether he was mocking him for being fat or if he was doing a "Jesus this guy sweats a LOT when he's around us, eh vader? Embarrassing for him, huh? Probably thinks he's gonna die. Go ahead and toss him into the bulkhead on your way out I need to make a point later" and the second is more, uh, in character for him, so.

The fact that you're into palpatine of all ppl indicates to me there's probably not a lot of cw's that you'd need, but just incase I wanted to give it cause it's like, very realistic (it's the most realistic part of the damn book, it's star wars lol) and there isn't any warning in the text that its coming. At all. Belkor (pov character) complains about mosquitoes and then goes on a spiel in his head about how fat and gross and gluttonous and lazy his moff is out of fuckin nooooowhere just cause shes in the room now, it's our literal introduction to her character. And I KNOW I have friends that'd be at minimum bothered by that for sure, so, its getting mentioned.

Also by nature of the story being set on ryloth, there's slavery, there's forced sex work, there's a vigilante ex sex worker that murders imperial johns sometimes, for fun. Theres on page drug use, cause its ryloth, the planet where they mine the drugs. But like, nothing about spice remind me of any singular drugs IVE taken (unless you've somehow got access to opium concentrate to mix with some cocaine and a micro dose of lsd lmfao) so i doubt anyones gonna be jonesing for the shit han solo's smuggling if you feel me.

The fatphobia IS jarring though if you're not expecting it, i think Kemp got free reign to be an asshole about her cause shes an imp. He doesnt do it to the other imperials, but i dont think there are other female presenting imperials for him to rub his 2015-era internalized mysogyny all over either.

So, okay, 1 venial sin, 1 cardinal sin that wasnt considered a sin by publishers when the book was written, and probably wouldnt have a hard time going to print today. But (spoilers: but not really, this tells you nothing i could mean anything by this) she gets hers. Also she's a lesbian.

(And no they don't burry their 1 gay if any of your followers want to know before diving in, but also shes not in a relationship it isnt a gay story there's no romance shes just a random fictional facist who likes bush, and its v likely that someone figured they could squeeze a queer in there for brownie points if she was in the bg and a bad guy. She's still a v compelling character tho, and one of the few characters who expirience growth and betters themselves, and good lord the tragic backstory.) Either way id probably hang and that means i say shes cool.

Got it in paperback off thriftbooks for smth like $3, if you/anyone don't have access to a library!

Adderall made me aggressive so you're doing much better on it than I did 😂

and palpatine's teaching vader darkside lessons and philosophy on their trek, including some excellent zingers and one liners which are v in-character actually, and hes actually participating in the action and violence too, no one but vader and his personal redguard are there so he can use the force willy nilly without having to keep up the weak old man persona and dude goes ABSOLUTELY ham

Okay I'm sold I'm gonna read it lmao

The fact that you're into palpatine of all ppl indicates to me there's probably not a lot of cw's that you'd need

Idk why but I laughed so hard at this. "If you're into THAT then you must not be shocked easily". Like, it's so true, I'm known for being stoic or apathetic (I'm the one people confess or vent horrific things to because they know I stay cool as a cucumber). Guess the Palpa-porn was on-brand all along 😂

Thanks for the recommendation! I'd heard of a "Vader-Palpy buddy road trip on Ryloth" book, but I hadn't read it yet. I found the audiobook so this is going to be fun 🎉

#book rec #lords of the sith

[yeetlegay]

Let's say, if i wanted to draw you a pic of Porsche with a neck and shoulder tattoo, what do you think his tattoos would be?

ANON CASUALLY MAKING ALL MY DREAMS COME TRUE 🥹😭

Oh man I’m so bad at tattoo ideas tbh. I’ve always liked the idea of Porsche getting a tattoo related to the ep 6 arc in some way. My first thought for that would be some kind of tree line up the back of his arm, his back shoulder, ending at his neck, so it looks like a mountain forest. That’s a pretty big tattoo though, so idk if it would be too much with the phoenix on the other side.

Alternatively, something ocean-related feels pretty apropos. It would be nice for Porsche to have a tattoo that’s just for him, not his mom or Kinn or anyone else. Something delicate, like a seashell or a turtle or my personal favorite, a mermaid 😂 just something that reflects his dreams of that bar on the beach and the freedom he traded to be with Kinn, which is very bittersweet but still nice imo

#kinnporsche #yeetle asks #why don’t queue stay

[joziokowalski]

some 1am thoughts apropos of nothing

word vomit time because i'm Contemplating The State Of Society once again and specifically thinking about the notion that "no one would ever want to be part of a marginalized community because that would mean being ostracized and stigmatized and bullied etc". and to me it seems like people who say so don't have much of a psychological intuition? because it's true that one probably doesn't have much of an incentive to latch onto marginalized identities if they're doing well socially in the first place. but if you're already an outcast, what do you have to lose. if you're white and straight and what have you and nevertheless you still have no friends and feel miserable and your peers seem to universally dislike you, most likely you're going to be racking your brains for an explanation as to why that's happening to you. and you sure are going to envy those who may also be pariahs but at least they've got their own little group to welcome and support each other and to stand together against the big cruel world, unlike your lonely ass. so if you can find Something about yourself that would give you a way of attaching yourself to some marginalized group or other, why wouldn't you do so. plus, on top of a ready-made community that would very likely give you a ready-made sense of purpose and direction. you get to pin your personal distress on the variety of injustices that ail society and fashion yourself a brave warrior who fights to bring about a better world. what's not to love? and none of that is especially morally reprehensible imo, like that's just how our needy little social brains work. i also don't mean to say that people are lying or pretending when they do this, and neither am i saying that middle class able bodied straight white cis neurotipicals are Oppressed or have it harder than everyone else. it's just that there absolutely are lots of incentives for certain kinds of people to want to belong to a disadvantaged group, because that would mean they would at least belong to a group. and it seems a bit short sighted to not recognize this

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Apropos of nothing, here are my thoughts on some albums I've heard recently:

I listened to Chaeyeon's new EP and gave her first one a listen again, and her music is pretty pleasant to listen to. It's not that unique, and her vocals are only passable (she's not versatile, her tone isn't unique, she's not a skilled singer, and her voice lacks emotion) but the songs are easy listens and she does a good job with what she has. Danny and Same But Different were pretty nice and Hush Rush is pretty nice too. I don't remember Over The Moon that well, but I disliked I Don't Want to Know (that style of song is cliché and doesn't fit her imo), and I think her debut album was better. Still, I'd have to listen to Over The Moon Again. (Edit: Still prefer the debut album but I Don't Want to Know isn't that bad and Line by Line is really nice. Don't Be a Jerk is pretty and Like a Star too.) I also prefer Hush Rush over Knock. Knock actually sounds like something Eunbi would release, but, truth be told, female artists from small labels generally have a similar sound.

I've listened to Aespa's latest EP a few times and I really like Welcome To My World. It's catchy and Ningning's vocals are really good. I think that song should've been the tt even if it's a bit slow; it's still more GP friendly. But apparently Spicy is doing well? It's more upbeat and conventional than their usual tts and I liked the MV (didn't make me feel claustrophobic and I thought the visuals were referencing movies like High School Musical). I can't remember the tt right now because I keep thinking of Salty & Sweet. These two songs are a bit similar to me and reminded me of Salt-N-Pepa's Push It at first. Spicy doesn't scream tt to me, but it's not bad. The lyrics are awful though. I don't know if I like Spicy better than their other tts yet. Thirsty is my least favorite song and reminded me of Taemin's Thirsty. I'm Unhappy is nice and addictive and 'Til We Meet Again is pretty nice too. Overall, it's a solid EP, nothing too great, very Aespa, but Salty & Sweet and Thirsty need some work.

IVE don't miss with their tts. I wasn't expecting Wave to sound like that, but I really like it. It's like a cooler, less conventional, and more kitsch Kitsch, but it's a bit repetitive. The chorus is the weakest part of the song and it's repeated too many times. And the post-chorus is magical and is only repeated twice. I don't know why they didn't do more with that sound or why they didn't give Liz that part both times and instead had Gaeul sing it the second time. I also don't know why they didn't give Liz some of the bridge too. She's the best at softer, angelic vocals. They've been giving Gauel more singing lines, which is cool, but I wonder if that's because they want Rei and Leeseo to have all the rap and talk-singing verses, which are often the killing parts. They've been pushing Leeseo a lot. It's not bad, but although I get that Yujin has the catchiest vocals, and Wonyoung and Leeseo have catchy vocals too, and that Liz's vocals don't always fit, neither do Rei's. Popularity is very much influencing the line distribution.

Oh, and the Wave MV was pretty low budget but the tennis court scenes are fun and creative, and the dance seemed cool, especially in the chorus.

#ive #liz #aespa #lee chaeyeon #text