mistolras

[mistolras]

I have no idea if this post will reach the intended audience, but I've recently been playing Pokémon Shield and realised Hop is kind of similar to Lance from Voltron Legendary Defender. And I would literally take a bullet for either of them so there is definitely a character archetype that I'm into lmao

Essentially, they both have this goofy, upbeat exterior that hides a lot of sadness and insecurity. When we first meet them, there doesn't seem to be much under the surface beneath their jolly personality, but this is gradually unravelled to reveal that they're compensating heavily.

We get little hints about it at first, with Lance saying in season 2 'what if I'm just a fifth wheel?' and Hop hyping up his brother Leon at the start of the game, seeming enthusiastic and supportive of him but also revealing that he wants to be just as successful. This gradually gets darker, as Lance considers actually leaving the team and Hop becomes increasingly downtrodden and desperate after each loss.

They both feel overshadowed by someone else. Hop literally grew up in Leon's shadow, surrounded by memorabilia of his success in their house. After becoming the Red Paladin, Lance feels outshone by Allura's achievements with Blue, and, when Shiro comes back, feels that Keith is more worthy of Red. They're both constantly trying to fill someone else's shoes and never quite feeling good enough.

Despite this, they remain good-hearted. lance would've loved to become Black Paladin, but supports and uplifts Keith as the leader. Hop's dream is to become Champion, but he still congratulates the player every time they win, even when you take away his chance to fight Leon.

The final and most depressing reason they're similar is the treatment they receive from their franchises. Wasted potential doesn't even begin to cover it 😭 Lance just becomes a simp for Allura and then ends up being a farmer. Hop gets a pretty good character arc in the game, but he gets paid dust in the anime. Leon acts like a mentor and older brother figure to Ash while Hop barely features. They even make a storyline about that kid in the hospital (I forgot his name) who admires Leon, when Leon's own brother is literally right there. When the kid is brought to Leon's match against Raihan and it shows Ash and co in the crowd and then Hop sat at home watching- why hasn't Leon brought him to see it??

Why must I keep loving these pure hearted characters whose potential just gets completely wasted 😭

[mistolras]

disclaimer: everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but that doesnt give you the right to be an asshole<3 <tldr at the bottom, sorry i ended up ranting>

when will people realize that appearances dont fucking matter in castings like this💀

“he wouldve made a better jason” “she wouldve made a better hazel”

girl bye. what they look like is INFINITELY less valuable than their ability to bring a character to life. which would your rather want, completely honestly? a character to look exactly like how you imagined them but with shitty acting ability, or the best actor suited for the role that looks different from your own personal view of the character? thats what i thought. this is NOT a cosplay nor a fancast where only looks and nothing else matters, this is real life television and all about acting capability, chemistry between actors, line delivery, lit every other thing than looks.

lets start with our percy. walker scobell’s trademark character so far is ryan reynolds’ younger self. in the movie (the adam project), he had completely blonde hair and brown eyes. this is the absolute opposite of percy jackson. however, his character, his acting made him a sarcastic little 12 year old with witty lines and natural charisma. now, does that description sound more like percy or jason to you? i personally could never ever imagine jason’s character better fitting as a role than percy for walker, not because of his physical appearance, but because of his sassy style of acting that he has mastered and proven to the world !!

now our annabeth. oh boy. this casting really showed me how many racist people there are in the fandom. i’ll admit ive seen some valid takes that made me think a little, but at the end of the day, this is a major and mainstream adaptation that millions of kids will watch and grow up with. the fact that so many little poc kids will get to see a strong and capable and intelligent and beloved female lead that looks like them?? compared to the thousands of other female leads that are white?? that is so so special and something i wish i had as an east asian kid :/

also, id like to add for the annabeth point that this isnt some woke diversity stunt. the casting director and THE AUTHOR WHO CREATED ANNABETH HIMSELF WHO WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO SEE HIS BOOKS ADAPTED TO THE BEST THEY CAN BE, chose leah for the role. this was because she out of all the other girls who auditioned did the best in bringing annabeth’s character and personality to life. her line delivery, her chemistry with the other cast, whatever it may have been, she was the best at it. how are we seriously questioning their choice when we havent even seen her audition tapes?)!? like we literally have not seen the most crucial part of casting an actor: HER FUCKING ACTING💀 and you’re actually going to say that she isnt a good choice?? bro at least see how she does in the role first before having such a strong opinion. she was chosen by rick for a reason.

also also, theres no way you guys were this mad about black grover in the movies. tf is that about? grover is described (+ his original character art depicts him) as white with freckles, and i think a ginger if im not mistaken? yeah anyways NOT black. but you guys were cool w it! some of you even changed your personal depiction of grover as black. but why cant you do that for annabeth now? hm? why cant you accept her? im not asking for you to completely change your perception of annabeth to leah, because even i most likely wont. annabeth will always be white and blonde in my head + when i write/make content, but that doesnt mean i dont accept leah as annabeth. leah is annabeth. just a different version of her. you say “spiderman” and i picture tom while you picture tobey and another pictures andrew. that doesnt mean tobey and/or andrew arent still spiderman. it really shouldnt take you more than 2 braincells to understand that..

also also also, if i see one more person say “but we already have representation in rick’s books!” it is on sight. yeah and we already have white people in oh, every other y/a series ever. why should there be a limit to how many poc people there are??? life isnt like that. its not all default white and then the token black and token asian and token hispanic or whatever. we all just exist. plus, ricks earlier books arent even that inclusive. name 5 characters in the og 5 pjo books that are canon poc and have an important role to the story. i personally can only think of charles beckendorf and thats it BYE. its in rick’s later books where he starts being more diverse (they arent even great portrayals, but thats a whole separate rant). rick himself has changed in the decades it has been since he wrote tlt and im sure there are countless things he’d want to go back and change for the better, and this show is his chance to!!! pls why cant we just appreciate that.

side note: “but the overcoming dumb blonde stereotype trope🥺” stfu. if some other media pulled that shit in 2022, twitter would be cancelling in 0.2 seconds and we all know it. its not some groundbreaking trope and honestly ive always treated it as a joke but apparently some people were actually really moved by it or smth from all the comments im seeing?? idk what to tell you but blonde white girls arent oppressed because of their hair color😭 how about we make the “annabeth feels like shes seen as inferior because of her hair color” subplot not actually make me want to laugh and change it to “annabeth feels like shes seen as inferior because of her skin color”? now this is actually an issue in real life and gives her character more depth than some silly blonde girl stereotype that died out in 2012.

ps all the hazel comments im seeing is truly telling me some people genuinely dont have the capacity to think for more than 5 seconds.. like girl hoo wont be adapted for like MINIMUM 6-7 years from now, if it even gets picked up at all. by that time leah would be like almost 20-ish? and hazel is like 13 during hoo?? remember how rick has his entire thing with hating when actors who are in their 20s are cast to play characters originally much much younger than them???? yeah ☺️

tldr: let the pocs live in peace, talent>>>>>physical appearance of actor, dont say an actor isnt fit for a role without seeing their fucking acting, spiderverse analogy, let rick do what he wants w his own book adaptation, blonde white girls aren’t oppressed, use your brain PLEASE, dont be racist to children<3

[mistolras]

The thing about shy being a spectrum is so true, plus, according to Jacob Brent Misto is essentially a teenager, which explains why in 1998 he mostly acts shy when he's trying to impress the older cats, but also has outbursts of more kitten like behaviour (e.g pulling on Bustopher's tail, being the first to run up to Grizabella). But so much of cats is down to the actor and director's choice, so you can't really say for sure that Misto is or isn't shy- I made the post because I saw someone saying that it's wrong to portray Misto as shy in fanfic. Their reason was that his confidence in his magical abilities means that he isn't shy, but as you pointed out, being confident at performing doesn't mean you can't be shy in other ways.

unpopular (I think?) opinion: shy Misto is a valid interpretation of his character. A lot of people argue that the line 'you would think there was nobody shyer' directly indicates that Misto is in fact NOT shy and that the movie took this line too literally in its characterisation of Misto. However, while this is true, I think that the line doesn't necessarily mean the exact opposite, aka 'Misto isn't shy at all'. Because if you look at it alongside the preceding line- 'his manner is vague and aloof, and you would think there was nobody shyer'- to me that implies that Misto IS somewhat shy, but just not to the extent that people may think. But of course it depends on the production and the individual actor :D

[mistolras]

unpopular (I think?) opinion: shy Misto is a valid interpretation of his character. A lot of people argue that the line 'you would think there was nobody shyer' directly indicates that Misto is in fact NOT shy and that the movie took this line too literally in its characterisation of Misto. However, while this is true, I think that the line doesn't necessarily mean the exact opposite, aka 'Misto isn't shy at all'. Because if you look at it alongside the preceding line- 'his manner is vague and aloof, and you would think there was nobody shyer'- to me that implies that Misto IS somewhat shy, but just not to the extent that people may think. But of course it depends on the production and the individual actor :D

[mistolras]

I just love how prior to Tugger singing about Misto, their only verbal interaction was 'terrible bore'

All those cats fawning over him and Tugger was really like 'yep I want the one who called me a bore, please and thank you'

[mistolras]

Rum Tum Tugger: Every now and then I like to do as I’m told, just to confuse people.

[mistolras]

Saw a youtube comment saying that Michael Gruber's eyes should be considered a character in their own right and honestly that's so true

[mistolras]

so I know loads of stuff in the musical is up for interpretation but nevertheless I have a question

I noticed in the 1998 video, Elaine Paige appears in Jellicle Songs/Naming of Cats. So I was wondering...a) is she supposed to be young Grizabella, or is she a different character altogether? And if she is young Grizabella, does that mean then when she appears later and the younger cats keep trying to interact with her, does that mean they know who she is but just don't understand why the older cats dislike her?

[mistolras]

Call me a simp or whatever but this has proper finished me off. Watching cats behind the scenes footage and LOOK AT JACOB/MISTO'S SMILE. bye gonna be crying for the next 10 years

[mistolras]

okay but like I love the fact that Tugger is the one who sings the Mistoffelees song. It's just so random because he is a rebellious cat who loves the spotlight and isn't really seen showing overt respect to anyone other than old Deuteronomy, yet he's the one to be like 'yo check out this little magical cat, he's so cool'. Plus, the fact that the other cats legit don't know what to do and he has to tell them to ask Misto means that they must have some sort of relationship that meant Tugger knew about his magic before anyone else. Obv Misto does lil bits of magic throughout the show but like, Tugger must have been the only one who knew the full extent of his powers. Tuggoffelees is canon thanks for listening

[mistolras]

Explaining Cats

There are so many things about Cats that are basically impossible to explain with a straight face. Like, just identifying characters can be like:

That’s Mistoffelees. He has a song, so I don’t really need to explain him, but you should know that if someone mentions a character called Quaxo, they probably mean him. Maybe. There are Mistos that aren’t Quaxo and Quaxos that aren’t Misto, but most of the are both. 

That’s Asparagus. No, not Gus. Yeah, Gus is short for Asparagus, but this Asparagus probably isn’t that Asparagus. To avoid confusion, some people call him Peter.

The :D cat is probably called George. He might be named Admetus, but that might’ve just been an error on the old website. A lot of people think he’s a dog.

Carbuckety and Pouncival are the same, except when they’re not. Bill Bailey and Tumblebrutus are the same, except when they’re not. Jemima and Sillabub are the same, except when they’re not. Admetus and Plato are the same, except when they’re not or one of them is actually George. 

Pouncival is also George sometimes. George was Jonathan this one time, and I think he was Bill Bailey at least once. This character design is named Admetus, Bill Bailey, Jonathan, Pouncival, and/or George.

And almost none of these characters will ever be directly referred to by their names!

Also, these are the kittens. No, they’re not children, at least not usually, but they are baby. There is a difference between being a child and being baby. Misto is baby but he’s not even a kitten. Well, he’s adultish. Kittens are sort of adults too, but they’re like baby adults. Misto is a baby adult but not a kitten. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are also not kittens, probably, but they’re kind of baby sometimes.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are assumed to be twins, but no one really knows and they might actually be fucking.

The girl kittens are Jemima/Sillabub, Victoria, Electra, and Etcetera. No really, that’s her name.

Outside of naming characters, there’s always:

The Jellicles are Jellicles because that’s what they call themselves. Jellicle means Jellicle which means Jellicle.

Yes, everyone is really horny, and yes, it’s supposed to be that way. 

“Buried nine wives” is an old-fashioned way of saying ���outlived”, because the song lyrics are poems written in the 30s. The word “gay” is used to mean “cheery” instead of “gay” at some point. Also, racism.

So, a bunch of people are onstage, pretending to be cats. But, those cats are pretending to be pirates, and those cat pirates are singing a ballad about a parrot in a bar for long enough for it to basically be it’s own number. Also, racism.

And, the answer to everything:

We don’t know exactly why this is happening but here’s like 12 different headcanons and 2 contradictory answers from two different actors in two different productions 30 years apart.

[mistolras]

Dealing With Executive Dysfunction - A Masterpost

The “getting it done in an unconventional way” method.

The “it’s not cheating to do it the easy way” method.

The “fuck what you’re supposed to do” method.

The “get stuff done while you wait” method.

The “you don’t have to do everything at once” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be permanent to be helpful” method.

The “break the task into smaller steps” method.

The “treat yourself like a pet” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be all or nothing” method.

The “put on a persona” method.

The “act like you’re filming a tutorial” method.

The “you don’t have to do it perfectly” method.

The “wait for a trigger” method.

The “do it for your future self” method.

The “might as well” method.

The “when self discipline doesn’t cut it” method.

The “taking care of yourself to take care of your pet” method.

The “make it easy” method.

The “junebugging” method.

The “just show up” method.

The “accept when you need help” method.

The “make it into a game” method.

The “everything worth doing is worth doing poorly” method.

The “trick yourself” method.

The “break it into even smaller steps” method.

The “let go of should” method.

The “your body is an animal you have to take care of” method.

The “fork theory” method.

The “effectivity over aesthetics” method.

[mistolras]

Pre-play Hamlet and Horatio

[mistolras]

contrary to popular belief, reading shakespeare does NOT make you smarter. it actually rots your braincells so all you can think about is fictional people who make extremely questionable decisions, half of whom are gay, and half of whom are just Like That

[mistolras]

Random Person: Hey, are you taken?

Madison: Yes, bitch, for GRANTED.

[mistolras]

Since it’s Lafayette’s birthday…

[mistolras]

Dyonisus: I'm inventing a new drinking game. It's called: every time I'm upset, I take a drink.

Hermes: That game exists; it's called alcoholism.