omegamoo

[omegamoo]

Why are bad things happening to mutuals. Nothing bad should ever happen to mutuals. Stop. #ilovemymutuals

[omegamoo]

i measure the coolness of life series kills on whether they get grian to scream so loud his mic peaks or not

[omegamoo]

grian: if i put Two boogeyman raffles in one episode surely at least One of them will be me the ever unlucky scott smajor:

[omegamoo]

bluntly if the only time you ever mention asexuality is to praise asexuals who are kinky or laud “asexual perverts” or go on about how “asexuals write the best smut” or otherwise only treat asexuals who perform a certain amount of sex as worthwhile or valid then I do not trust you

[omegamoo]

Inspired by the post below from twitter!

I played around with the watchers design for a while and I'm heavily leaning into them being as far from humanoid as possible but I'd already taken the reference photos by the time I thought about that and it seemed like a waste to completely change the idea. Also it was supposed to be just a silly comic not a full illustration so we're keeping them humanoid for now lmao

[omegamoo]

due to inflation the answer to life the universe and everything is now 48

[omegamoo]

hellooooo obsessed with your villys analysis especially around gem. i wish i had better words but truly i feel like from the life series members to the fandom everyone infantilizes her despite her consistently letting everyone know that she's actively manipulating them. and her behavior towards pearl is INSANE godddd i hope theyre all talking about this behind the scenes but the transcript from pearl's livestream makes me feel like actually theyre not talking about it. which would somehow be even crazier than them collectively developing a narrative. idk. idk. i know gem's finger is so tightly pressed against the pulse of the fandom that theres no way she isn't doing all of this on purpose. gnawing at the bars of my enclosure

This has been the most difficult season yet for understanding Gem. She's been generally more elusive with the audience since SL, but the real mystery is how she's refused to concede her plans to any other player within episodes. Ren contesting her loyalty was interesting bc NOBODY knows her genuine motivations. SL she wanted power, WL she was always proclaiming her loyalty w/Joel and 'disdain' for Pearl, but PL Gem's only given tactical reasons for her allies and enemies — when she's being serious at all. Grian doesn't bother asking, having provided the team for her and driven by tactical-sounding emotion himself, while Pearl hasn't yet dared to challenge the uneasy peace. Honestly Etho's the closest to calling Gem on it, yet doesn't have Cleo's resilience to fight through her propaganda. It's calls into question if Gem even has a deeper narrative beyond "enable Villys into comedically loud Villainy" and " codependence with Grian / quietly terrorize Pearl."

But every other Gem series has been complex: character-wise and to the audience. Regardless of whatever she's doing w/Pearl (and we know it's something from "you're not worried about teaming with me?") the direct acknowledgement and subversion of villainy, and by extension the infantilization/way other players treat her, can only be intentional.

Gem proclaiming her villainy from the rooftops is reactionary and downright rebellious. Especially after Scar famously embraced "villain arc" in SL: the idea already has connotation with the fandom. Pearl, Martyn, and other CC's have described the toll villain arcs take on one's psyche, especially from fandom backlash. And between players, everyone seeks the moral high ground to tell a heroic tale. Because incompetence is often equated to moral righteousness and safety (Jimmy, Skizz,) competence is evil and dangerous (Scott, Gem.) In contrast to all of this: the Villys are meant to be endearing, sympathetic, and approachable in their shenanigans. Seen not as insurmountable threats or vindictive, scheming traitors violating the social contract — two roles Gem is often ascribed. They mock the concept of a singular server-hated antagonist: especially in forcing other teams to blatantly wrong them back instead of fully playing the victim. Through Villy's, Gem is confronting the popular narrative head-on.

Gem doing this, language and all, after my own analysis "Traffic!Gem plays a Villain role in other CC's stories (only bested by subverting it)" haunts me.

As for individual action, intent behind decisions gets a whole lot messier. Gem calling out her manipulation has a whole slew of reasons: building connections with others despite victimizing them, contributing to defusing her untouchable reputation, pandering to the audience (at least, the sapphic and analysis parts). Believing she can't be exceptional: others must not be trying or the task itself is flawed. This directly ties into how she treats Pearl and denying clear communication. At risk of pulling back the illusion: GriGemPearl absolutely discuss their narrative(s) off camera, most notably in the post-recording group call. If anything, Pearl's stream musings convince me they alluded (if not outright stated) that Pearl's the one who has to push the story forward right now. Yet there is a separation: Pearl openly happy and proud of her longest-known besties on a team, while Gem has "ominous scheming voice" in almost every interaction. Don't get me started on Villys+Skizz P.E.A.K. and GriGem pedestal-ing Pearl. There's fascinating messiness in three people who have spent 1000s of hours together, idolizing and considering each other their closest friends even among MCYT, now misunderstanding each other on purpose. That alone is enough for me to trust there's something larger at play.

Thanks for the ask! I dream of Gem candidly explaining herself in a few months, even as I delight in spending hours writing speculation. It's what she would want.

[omegamoo]

it's really really hard to get tricked into dehumanising people if u already have a sense of kinship with them so if u live in the imperial core u have a responsibility to follow at least a few anime dorks from iran or yemen or one of the other designated Scary Countries, i'm 100% serious

[omegamoo]

[omegamoo]

English has different words for mouse and rat but in Chinese they're both the same creature (laoshu) so I asked my mom well how do you differentiate between mice and rats. She, clearly having never felt the need to do so, was like uhh big laoshu and little laoshu I guess. Then I went online to see how the difference between (the English words) "mouse" and "rat" was being explained to CN->EN learners and there are numerous articles delving deep into the analysis. Bigger vs smaller, indoors vs outdoors, cute and favorable connotations vs evil and ugly, tail length, fear factor, emphasis on the fact that you cannot call it a "computer rat." Much thought is being expended on this little mystery of the English language

[omegamoo]

[omegamoo]

my craziest take is you can be cis in a trans way if you feel like it. Like its literally no big deal. if you wanna be completely cisgender but still feel as if you're alienated from your agab then you can be cis in a trans way

[omegamoo]

Can we pls talk abt how “Golden” and “This is What it Sounds Like” are contrasted in terms of vocals and how it underscores some of the themes?

So, “Golden” is supposed to be the song to seal the Honmoon. It is objectively a very VERY difficult song to sing and sing well- the chorus has an A5 that is BELTED (for reference, that is just a half step below the high note at the end of “Think of Me” from Phantom, and THAT one is sung in head voice). Like, the first time (and also every subsequent time lol) I heard it, I was like that is INSANE.

It takes an INCREDIBLE feat of vocal control and prowess to belt those notes that high (and that quickly), and do so REPEATEDLY. I cannot overemphasize how difficult it is to sing it how it is sung. “Golden” is very difficult, very showy, very much what is expected of the group to produce (and they do! And do it well!).

But the song that ACTUALLY seals the Honmoon is “What it Sounds Like”, which is a lot lower and in a more comfortable range to sing. That scene is them with all of their trappings essentially gone, just the core of themselves and their friendship, and that is reflected in the ease and flow of that song. It starts off acapella, with a focus on harmonies, before building to encompass the crowd (and the crowd does vocalize part of “Golden” at some points, intertwining it with “What it Sounds Like” and bringing it all full circle).

They didn’t need to hide who they were behind ornate, elaborate songs that require almost superhuman control and technique to sing. They just needed each other- the affirmation of their love and their acceptance of themselves and each other, in all their facets.

Tl;dr: Something something “Faults and fears must never be seen” (reflected in the near superhuman technique and control needed for “Golden”) vs “when darkness finally meets the light” (having their perceived faults and fears seen and loved and accepted (reflected in the relative ease and flow of “What it Sounds Like”)).

[omegamoo]

Pro tip! If someone ever says they would fuck their own clone, you can make the conversation different by saying you'd also fuck their clone.

[omegamoo]

The lawn demon to confuse the masses

[omegamoo]

The lawn demon to confuse the masses

[omegamoo]

The lawn demon to confuse the masses