#<- too much a fan of cannibalism as a love metaphor

[xuxudio]

Please, won't you tear me open wide?

[oceanwithouthermoon]

tired of being called boring cuz i hate toxic ships </33 im sorry i get triggered easily by stuff like that brah, the most toxic my ships r allowed to get before i get triggered is a lil possessiveness and a hint of unhealthy codependency 🤭 beyond that, i literally get sick to my stomach lmao..

do what u want but anyone whose never been abused before does NOT get the right to call ME boring for not liking abusive ships..

[sepublic]

Another thing I’ve noticed about Wittebane fans is that they would really rather speculate on an unseen dynamic and how codependent it was, or on Belos having religious trauma or being a socially awkward child (despite this conflicting with him being a confident, silver-tongued politician) over like. Discussing Belos’ character as he actually is onscreen.

And onscreen Belos is about Christian colonialism, he IS the religious trauma. He’s the white saviorism, the racism, the genocide, the arrogant delusions of Puritans. These are actually onscreen, and darker and deeper than like, the Wittebanes being Cain and Abel or Saturn devouring his son because what are you actually discussing here that’s topical?

But fans don’t want to talk about that, they don’t want to talk about what makes Belos his own character and what makes his writing work. They want to make Belos and Caleb into a racist, less interesting version of the Nocedas, Clawthorne sisters, Collector, etc. And when Belos doesn’t measure up to these standards because he’s a square peg being put through a round hole, fans get angry at the writers. It’s alienating to those who want to discuss Belos, the actual Belos.

And I think it boils down to fans being discomforted by topics such as colonialism and genocide, and facing just how intertwined Belos is with depicting it on a large and personal scale; He isn’t even a metaphor at this rate, but a literal example of a Christian white man from a 1600s American colony. These subjects are not something fans can romanticize, so they focus on the dynamic with his brother, on being codependent or tortured or suffering from religious trauma, etc.

It’s very faux-deep, it’s pretentious in a Dark Academia way, Cannibalism as a metaphor for love. It reminds me of fans who claim to love Dark Fics and can handle dark topics, but then implode when you ask them to discuss critical race theory. They think they’re being subversive and even punk but it’s just white guys in the end. It thinks itself deeper just for being ‘darker’ but it’s not even that dark compared to other things, it’s just edgy. King and Steve’s conversation as a stand-in for Dana’s ruminations on God are genuinely deeper than every Cain-Abel Wittebane fic.

There’s a Vtuber who just did an Owl House marathon and while she didn’t pick up on a lot, the discussion on Belos by fans who are explaining it to her is so refreshing, because there’s no mention of Caleb! There’s no mention of Belos being repressed or feeling abandoned. It’s all about how he actually is onscreen and is presented and what he does onscreen. It’s about the delusions and evil of those who practice Puritan ideology. And the actions that have far more impact than killing his brother.

And it makes me think, this is another reason why we don’t see Caleb; Because the writers knew fans would use him as a distraction from the actual things they’re discussing and satirizing through Belos. They would use him as a distraction from the true motives, the banality of evil, as Belos does; And Belos himself doesn’t even do it that much, he’s upfront about how he thinks witches are inherently evil and need to be killed in the name of God so even he is avoiding factoring Caleb into the discussion! Alas, the writers underestimate just how far fandom will go when they get even a scent of a possible white guy.

Can we talk about the Wittebanes as they actually are instead of retreading other characters’ old ground? The tragedy of the Wittebanes isn’t about some lonely orphan just wanting to be accepted by his community, being unable to handle the thought of his brother leaving, and not knowing any better because that’s just how things were back then; It’s about seeing your kid brother embrace the alt-right pipeline because white supremacy makes him feel special, and no matter how many years you spend trying to change his mind, he eventually, finally turns on you too.

[kerubimcrepin]

Dofus: The Production - what is left of the old movie

Originally, the movie was supposed to tie in with the game and the Welsh & Shedar series, and be a trilogy.

As we had already explored on this blog, this did not happen for a variety of reasons.

Welsh and Shedar got cannibalized by other projects due to its cancellation, and the script of the movie "Dofus Book 1: Joris Jurgen" had to be completely rewritten from its old plot;

In that movie, Joris was likely supposed to be a street urchin, who survived together with Lilotte, who was a rogue, and the trailer we have for the older version of the movie reflects that:

As we can also see from the trailer, and the poster featured earlier, proto-Kerubim is also a part of the movie, and Khan was not yet meant to be a boufbowler.

(And considering the posters, the cat that inspired Kerubim's design was also a part of the movie. I wonder if it's related to Welsh's cat from Welsh and Shedar? But maybe I'm just crazy.)

Subsequently, the movie came out at a much later date than planned originally.

(two images included because, bizarrely, there are two versions - one with Joris's tail censored, and the other with his tail uncensored. This proves that already at this point they had a draconic backstory in mind for him, though we do know that at the time of Wakfu season 1 (and, likely, the cancelled DS game, as was noted in my post about it) it was not the case.)

Also, interestingly, it is the only art of this time to include the tail. A possible error on Xa's part, or something that was considered very briefly?

In the end, Kerubim (as well as Simone) swallowed up not just the design of Welsh's cat, clothes, and Ecaflip friend;

He also got the role Julith was supposed to have, both metaphorically, and also literally.

Or not entirely — considering the fact that Joris was supposed to spend time with him anyway, since we have art of Joris on his mount from that old draft.

It's quite interesting, to think of all that could have been different in the 2009-2012 version of the movie!

But even during the making of the second draft of the movie, a lot of things have changed. From the first idea of Joris winning Kerubim back at a pachinko machine, to the concept art of Joris's non-possessed appearance.

The movie was being actively rewritten at the time of the making of Aux Tresors, so some of the early drafts were already tied in with its canon — taking place in Astrub, to be specific — but not with its ending, because the show was still ongoing.

At one point there was supposed to be a whole cast of Huppermage characters, and judging from the fact one of them is mentioned in the following text, they did play some sort of role in the plot:

It is likely that from this early draft it was decided that Joris would be a boufbowl fan, which was then worked in as a plot point in Aux Tresors.

(Stélina may be a proto-version of Bakara.)

It also seems that at this stage, it would be likely that Lilotte was reworked to be the Princess of Bonta, before eventually becoming the Ouginak we know and love.

After this Ankama once again returned to the concept of Lilotte as an orphan, though — even when the movie was still set in Astrub!

And it seems that the draft involved travel between Astrub and Bonta, judging from the usage of a Zaap to attack Luis.

And even at this point they have come up with the tragically cut "Joris and Khan go to adult industry workers and Joris (10yo boy) engages in depressed underaged drinking" scene.

(I'll never forgive Ankama for cutting this. I still argue that it's in character for Khan, our detested/beloved turbovirgin, to do this — as long as he doesn't get together with any of the women due to thinking himself "too good" for them.)

Also, at some point the gods were supposed to play a role. And personally, I am glad it was cut — it feels a bit too grand for the first movie in what was supposed to be a series.

I don't have any grand statement, or conclusion, but it is interesting to see all the ways the movie has changed.

[necrotic-nephilim]

back on my bullshit. jaycasstalia (all combinations), cassrose × cheshire, deaddove jaydonna, jaytemis × rose, cass × artemis (that one wfa panel), koricass, jaykori dead dove, jay × jessica cruz

hello welcome back i adore the bullshit. i have to admit that i dislike JayKori and tbh i don't like or know Kori well enough to enjoy any ship with her she just. exists outside of my periphery and isn't the sort of character i'd enjoy. so those i fear i am unable to give thoughts there BUT THE OTHERS-

JayCassTalia is !!! so good? i really like Talia and i've been getting more and more into the al Ghuls so i find that fascinating. i think the respect Talia would have for Cass could almost border on a motherly jealousy, wishing *she* had honed her child into such a perfect weapon. i think CassTalia could be such a fun sort of mother/daughter incest ship of Talia promising to take better care of Cass. and then Jason in the mix is so fun bc Talia rlly shaped Jason for who he is today and i do think she loved him. maybe she loved what she saw of Bruce in him or maybe she loved how he existed outside of Bruce. both work so well. Talia being into both of them and them both falling for the attention of an older woman? yes i love it (also i will one up you with this- JayCassTaliaNyssa. fuck with Talia and Nyssa's complex over each other)

CassRoseChesire is so good from the thought of traumatized daddy issues and all of them being raised to be weapons, not ppl. the solidarity in that combined with feeling like being the only ppl who understand what that's like? it's so good. and it also has such fun conflicts in where they all fall on moral issues. very much a "you don't have to be human around me so stop pretending" sort of throuple and man, the potential in that complex in general. i feel like they'd get cannibalism as a metaphor for love shit.

dead dove JayDonna is VERY interesting, oh my god i never would've considered dead doving Donna. i haven't read a *ton* of comics with Donna but something about Jason expecting her to be a safe person on the Titans he can go to during his very brief period on the Titans and it turns out she's not and she takes complete advantage of him is *so* fun. i like if she's maybe projecting a want for Dick onto Jason too, but she sees Jason as a Robin that she can mold into a better partner than Dick is so this is the even better choice. she gets a blank slate she can make whatever she wants and it's so easy to make him obsessed with her if you lean into the "Jason is a Wonder Woman fan" sort of thing, with her telling all sorts of stories about Diana and promising she'll introduce them someday just to keep Jason coming back around to her.

Jaytemis and Rose truly is a ship that is just "Jason Todd deserves to be torn to shreds by strong woman" and ykw, i support that agenda. i do not think he'd be able to walk half the time but i think he'd enjoy it. i personally enjoy 90s Artemis the most and i think that version of Artemis before DC softened her for Jason could be SO fun oh my god. she would not put up with his shit and would drag him around like a leashed dog. and Rose is a great third for them bc she's also absolutely unhinged and fucked up enough to want Jason on a leash. tbh i see this almost very dark in a controlling with, but that's the fun of it for me. <3

i've not read enough of WFA to know what you're referencing BUT i think CassArtemis could be fun. (tho i hate that one Outlaws comic where Artemis oneshots Cass and calls her a child bc wdym Artemis can oneshot Cass but anyway-) typically i like Artemis and Helena as far as shipping her with a Batfam woman, but there's fun in letting a strong woman look down at Cass and just decide to chuck Cass over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. i think she'd enjoy just how strong of a fighter Cass is. freak4freak but it's sapphic and they're arguing most of the time.

Jason/Jessica is SUPER interesting. i don't know if Jason and Jessica have a ton of interactions in canon? i've not read much of Rebirth BUT i will always love sticking Jason with a Lantern. JayKyle is my personal fave but i'd love to see Jason helping Jessica out of her shell and getting her to be more confident after her trauma. they cope with trauma in very different ways so i find the idea of putting them together sort of fun to see where they'd clash and align. would he scare her? yes but that's the fun of it. fear kink core.

also, i offer you some of my Jason and Cass rarepairs bc i think you would Get It anon:

JasonOnyx (i just wish we got more out of their interaction in UTRH and Onyx should hunt Jason down for revenge and they fuck nasty about it idk)

JasonBette (Bette's whole obsession over Dick when he was Robin, but she's obsessed with Jaybin instead and it carries over when he becomes Red Hood and Jason cannot get rid of her)

CassBarda (all i got out of the current BoP run is "mmm. sapphic size kink.")

[yanderefarm]

You know whats the actual best thing? Cannibalism as a metaphor for love. When love is so burning and deep that you absolutely have to sink your teeth into them. You may potentially have noticed by my asks but I often have some kinda violent thoughts fueled entirely by adoration. I actually have occasionally realized I actually had a crush on someone cuz I felt the need to brutally murder them(usually biting their throat out or wanting to dig my hands into their organs, sometimes both). I just have big feelings and I need to express them by biting those I love. So thank you for the bits of cannibalistic content, I would love more.

-🪼

i feel like this is gonna come as a surprise but im actually not that into cannibalism. and i don't have the autism that makes me bite people.

graphic blood and gore are actually really triggering for me. despite my love of horror and freak shit. if you notice i try so hard not to use the word blood in my writing it's because just the word is a massive horrible turn off at the best of times. so I'll write the cleanest gore you can imagine. (i wouldn't write this stuff if it was triggering for me to do so. my brain doesn't make sense. dw about it im taking care of myself.)

so you can imagine being a sensitive lil baby with a horror addiction it's really hard for me to enjoy some content. cannibalism is one of those. i used to like it more as a teenager on antidepressants that made me completely numb to most things. I've always kind of been a fan of art depicting humans the same way meat in a butcher shop or a grocery store would be. i love that concept.

so like a little while ago i played the demo of this game called frost bite. its about a hot butcher who eats people and oh man. it reignited the tiny flame of love i have for treating humans like meat casually. i mean im on the side of vampires treating humans like cattle. im weirdly down for this whole premise.

so for me i don't really see the cannibalism as love. probably because whenever cannibalism is love its much too messy for me to handle. i do however think there's some romance in eating your partner's body in a casual way. treating your own partner like they're meat.

the romance of your partner watching you cut a steak made of their body and then enjoy it, savor the flavor. or like the op of that gambling anime. thats the real good horny shit.

name something hornier than this. u can't.

anyway that's all to say i will continue to provide the cleanest cannibalism and gore dw. nom nom

[duskmachine]

There's this popular... "analysis" of cannibalism in media as a metaphor for love. I'm not a big fan of this analysis, I think it's a bit shallow and a bit shit. I think there's way better ways to interpret it. Plus, what even is love?

Not in a theoretical sense. To do a proper analysis we must define things. We have cannibalism down— it's the act of a person eating another person. But love? Love is more of a concept than it is an act or thing. Your argument can't just be: "Cannibalism is love because if a person wants to eat another person it means individual A dedicates themself to the other, and individual B wants A to be part of them forever."

Because you haven't defined love! You didn't even get past that part! We cannot understand what this argument means if you haven't explained any of the concepts!

It's such a shallow analysis too! The act of consumption is a complicated one. There is the role of the consumed and the consumer. Each of these roles are laden with their own interesting symbolism. Why does a person feel the need to consume another? What does that hunger say about them? What does that hunger say about the world?

And what about the person being consumed? Humans eat food. Food typically being not people. To be consumed— you're already tittering of the edge of being "non-human". In fact, I'd argue that you'd already be in the role of the "other", the "non-human".

See how much more interesting that is? I know I said cannibalism has already been defined, but let's think a little harder. Is cannibalism the act of consuming another, or is it simply the desire to? To expand on this, let's return to the roles of the consumed and the consumer. If the consumed is understood as a food and not as a human, can cannibalism even be applied to this context?

There are many things I can say, but this would turn into an overly lengthy post that I simply don't want to type out on Tumblr. In all, when doing an analysis be sure to break every part of the media you're consuming down. Think about why this metaphor works, why it doesn't, and why the creators chose this metaphor. Why fiction?

That's what it comes down to: Why use fiction to describe a real concept? Keep reading, keep watching. Have fun thinking about the world of fiction and stay resilient. Pay attention to your media. You can't consume in a meaningless way. You are what you eat, don't devalue yourself.

[agaricus-bitorquis]

Opinion on cannibalism as a metaphor for love?

I think that it's actually very devastating. To love someone so much to the point where you want to consume them and to become one yet to do so means they are no longer with you? What a concept. LOVE the mutual desire for cannibalism too.

It's so insanely Toxic and usually in media, very Tender and Romantic.

So yeah, big fan of cannibalism as a metaphor for love, especially because I'm a big fan of Food as a metaphor for sex

[imminent-danger-came]

Love something enough to kill it/let it kill you or love too much to ever let go (death won't do us part)?

For some reason i haven't seen much of the former lately (unless canibalism as a metaphor for love counts)

Firstly, of course cannibalism as a metaphor for love counts, and secondly, GOSH WHAT A HARD QUESTION.

I think...I'd have to save "Love something enough to kill it/let it kill you", just because I am a huge rayllum fan (a ship between Callum and Rayla in The Dragon Prince). In that show you had Callum ask Rayla to kill him if the main antagonist were to posses him again, and it's definitely because he'd want her to be the last thing he saw. It's like, he'd rather die than be used to hurt the people he cares about. He'd rather his death be an act of love, in a way.

But "love too much to ever let go" is also so good. You can feel the claw marks being left in everything this person touches. Not to mention The Dragon Prince again, but Claudia is a character who certainly makes me think of this. She killed others and harmed herself to bring her father back from the dead...which is very "death won't do us part" for a familial bond. Being unable to let go is always something interesting to explore, you know. Love as a corrupting force rather than a cleansing one

[lightningfilledsaber]

i have a quastion. what is dungeon meshi like i’ve considered watching the anime since it looks amusing…. i trust you as an authority on this hence why i’m in your asks :3c

Dungeon Meshi is so good!!!

So Ryoko Kui (the author of the manga) is a super super great artist and writer in general, and her knowledge of intimate and expansive worldbuilding, including the cultures of different fantasy races is VERY apparent in dunmesh without being super in your face. It strikes a perfect balance between showing and implying and telling; giving you information when you need it but not holding your hand throughout the process. Ecology and biology of creatures and the places (mostly dungeons but yk) is SUPER important and expanded upon in the story. It scratches my Creature autism SOOO well. And all of the characters are VERY distinct and fun AND THE DESIGNS FUCK SOOO HARD. Dungeon Meshi has become one of my favorite series of all time, because it's so. so fucking profound. There are a LOT of funny moments and gags but there's an equal amount of genuinely serious and emotional moments. The character dynamics. GOD. Cannot recommend it enough.

Also. Dungeon Meshi is super fucking horny. LMAO. Not in a "fanservice-y" way (in fact, there is only ONE character that ever gets upskirt/panty shots and it is Senshi, the bearded dwarf man. He's my fave btw <3). But dunmeshi uses consumption (and to a lesser/technical extent cannibalism as well) as a... metaphor for love and obsession, and frequently eroticizes it. I hesitate to say metaphor because it's honestly VERY obvious lmao. Especially with how genuinely autistic Laios is about monsters and eating them. Then there's also transformation and change that's also VERY eroticized. A lot of the focus of Dungeon Meshi is desire. How people experience it, and just how far people will go for it. Which, again, is super eroticized a LOT. All done in a tasteful(? not sure if this is the right word but yk) way and not in a surface level "LOOK, SEX!!!!!!!!!" way. Not that there's anything inherently WRONG with being horny and not being like profound about it but I'm just trying to make a point lol

Now to specifically talk about the anime since that's what you mentioned wanting to watch (though I REALLY reccommend the manga, it is fucking GORGEOUS and there are so many hilarious panels that haven't been brought over to the anime, despite how well it's been doing with that so far. It just happens with turning a manga into an anime yk?)! It's doing a really good job so far!! The only issues I have are relatively nitpicky (I've gone into detail abt it if you wanna see here) and more of an issue with modern anime overall so! They're doing a really great job of translating over from the page to the screen and the voice acting work (both the original japanese and english dub) is really fucking good. And I don't typically like modern english dubs. The layout of the episodes is really nice so far too, centering around the "dish/es of the day" without feeling too constrictively like your typical "monster of the week" type episodes. It helps that Dungeon Meshi as a media itself strikes a really good balance between that and its storytelling. Though again. Laios is genuinely SO fucking autistic about monsters and eating them lmao and the series focuses on him/his party so! There's so much good in depth discussion about monsters, both their biology (especially in relation to their taste hehe) as well as their natures, and ecology!

I'm also really a fan of netflix releasing the episodes weekly instead of dropping them all at once. It's refreshing coming from netflix specifically considering their... track record.

But anyway yeah! TYSM Marty for coming to me about this and letting me go on an autistic talk about it!! I only apologize for not being more specific, but a lot of my dunmesh posting (reblogs anyway since I'm pretty sure the posts I've MADE about it have been relatively vague??) is already pretty spoilery and I'm a firm believer in a first watch/read being as spoiler free as possible!! It makes subsequent rewatches/rereads all the more fun to me personally <3 Though that's obviously up to you lol

[ohmeadows]

heyy meadows! as someone who's been super duper inspired by your excellent writing and is looking at trying her hand at fanfics: is a character going out of character from their personality in the medium the fanfic is derived from all that bad? i've seen so many fanfics where the authors go 'sorry, this might be ooc', but isn't that alright? the fanfiction author is the one breathing more life into these characters and bringing them into different situations, so shouldn't the character's actions straying from the og medium be ok? this is because i'm seeing a lot of posts recently saying stuff about how the character's actions in a fanfic should closely follow their canon behaviour? i don't think i'm being very coherent aaaa ;-; but essentially, how much ooc is too much? thank you sooooo much ;)

so first of all, there's always one person (or more) out there who is going to be a fan of the ooc way someone writes a character. and that is fine!!! that's fun!!! i don't think people should apologize for writing ooc, it's like, whatever, i'll judge it as a reader, but i'm not going to flame anyone for it. some depictions i find ooc others don't, and vice versa.

to address your question more directly -- arguably, a lot of my fics can be categorized as ooc if we're going to adhere that strictly to canon. but fanworks is just for us to have fun. even if i don't think a high school au is interesting at all, that's me, others will enjoy it, thrill in it. i also think if you build up circumstances enough you can make the reader see why the character would act different in different situations, even ones far away from canon. to me, i'm willing to go on the journey if it begins in something i can recognize from canon, not that it has to be a scene or setting directly lifted from it, just a mood or thought that ties back to what i've seen there. it's why the ruanliu fic begins with jingliu losing her mind and jing yuan having to defeat her: it grounds her in what we know from her in canon. from that point to now it's been a journey but i've slowly added and peeled to get there. taking the latest scenes out of context would very quickly make them seem intensely ooc instead of, idk, connected.

basically. you're fine. i think ooc isn't a hard and fast rule and it shifts from who is reading what they can stomach. write with faith in yourself and believe in the story you're wanting to tell before bending it to a reader's gaze. i see a lot of posts on tiktok that "cannibalism as a metaphor for love is OVER AND RUINED" and "ugh sometimes a pomegranate is just that!!!" etc. i shrugged and went on with writing what i wanted. it's fine to disagree and do your thing because someone out there will go so coco for it they will love it beyond your wildest dreams.

[otsukare-katsukare]

can't remember if ive ever made this point or if it stayed in the drafts every time but i think it's interesting how cannibal centric the tumblr aesthetic idea of cannibalism is. as in when it's broken down there are a few consistent qualities, 1. cannibalism happening to a dead body (like, always. usually one that's been prepared like food) 2. cannibalism as emotive act, whether that's consuming love, or violence to oneself through debasing one's own species/blood (cannibalism and incest as synchronous). think yellowjackets, right? and look, im a fan of all that, how could i not be. but i really tend to come at this theme from the perspective of the victim, the prey rather than the pred, as it were. so the emotions associated align more with fear, existential horror, submission - there's love there too sometimes, but a very very wrong kind of love expression. for me it sits somewhere closer to the other popular gorey erotic trope on here, blood drinking, which is a lot more mutually emotive and sensual in its evocation than cannibalism i think. it's always about the feeling of the bite and the very sex-adjacent orality and intimacy of it. whereas cannibalism talk here gets pretty emphatically metaphorical and abstract quite quickly.

the cannibalism that drives me crazy shares a lot of that visceral sensuality of blood drinking, but with this extra dehumanising sting that infects the whole encounter, which is the notion of appetite - sexual or otherwise - eclipsing human connection. what it feels like to be meat instead of a person, essentially. it's a weird contradictory premise where you simultaneously matter very much as an individual by being the object of such consuming desire, but also not at all because all you are good for is consumption. it's a final degradation of the body that's basically the ultimate violation. even when it's two people and they're in love, these again very sex-adjacent linguistic turns about, say, being called delicious, hit in a different and primally terrifying way when those expressions aren't about sex, but literally about eating you. and that's the thing for me, cannibalism is great as a metaphor but it's also got this fantastic bluntness and viscerality as a process on its own, and the emotion that fuels all my interest in it for me is not desire, but fear. the flesh entity in TMA gets it.

and for obvious reasons i can understand why that particular line of thought re: cannibalism isn't so popular, hell the vore community at large is not a fan of it either. but man i wish it was a little more explored outside of my repeated cannibalism/carnivorous furry AU fic, i can't keep writing my own content

[tangerinedream22]

Tae-man's GUILTY: A True-man Show?

Guilty was a challenge. In every sense. This CB left me with a lot of lasting impressions and mixed feelings.

Above all, after watching the MV for the first time, a feeling of...despair??? But also liberation? I think I can already say that GUILTY is one of my best songs of 2023. Not just because I like Taemin so much. A song has to 'hit' me emotionally if I think it's really good and GUILTY did this.

I saw and read some song interpretations and there was a lot of interpretation put into the song, but I think the best always comes from the artist themselves.

"Everyone is guilty, whether it's a little or a lot, but it's truer to show it rather than hide it," he adds. "[The single] 'Guilty' is about a selfish love that hurts the other person. It doesn't come from my experience, but I used it as a way to define what love is and express it on stage."

It doesn't come from his experience, Taemin said. With this sentence, all speculation should be superfluous as to how much of Taemin's drama is in this drama like song, MV and the teasers. This still leaves me with doubts even though it shouldn't be :)

It's about sacrifice, making sacrifices, sacrificing yourself out of love for someone or for something you love.

''But there is always a sacrifice, and forcing someone to sacrifice is also love." Admitting the side of love, the side that no one wants or expects, is a wisdom he has acquired over time. "There are a lot of things I get from being a singer, but at the same time there are a lot of things I have to give up and those are the ones I emphasized in this single."

But maybe it's also because someone, for example a very young person whose great passion is music and dance, is made a victim of all this. From the entertainment industry, the artist agency, PR people, the press, the public, the fans, the antis, etc.

Feminization, sexualization of very young (way too young) KPop idols? I remember the jaket shoot for 'Sherlock' and the photos for Sherlock and Guilty have a lot of similarities. The colors, the lasciviousness, Taemin looks like a teenager again in GUILTY, even the grapes and a flowery sofa. I remember him saying back then that he wanted to look like a man, but his body ended up looking like a child's. Yes it really did and I think it was intentional. And I think that's the real problem with these photos. Other than that, I thought the Sherlock photos were just awful. Who was behind this concept??? I think it was no coincidence that this concept was revisited for GUILTY.

I don't want to unnecessarily interpret anything into this song, I sometimes thought to myself that all these metaphors and symbols (he really is a true INFP :)) that he uses here speak their own language.

And at the same time I'm thinking of songs like 'Internet War' (listen to the lyrics, this performance (in the end it was nothing than a rehearsed, predetermined performance, they did their duties) in connection with the lyrics drew attention to a lot of things.

And I think of 'Narcistic Cannibal' as well. The lyrics are quite interesting. But it doesn't have to mean anything for him personally. But I think there are often things in life that haunt you and take up a lot of precious and sweet time. Whatever it is.

Sometimes people say things through metaphors, symbols, song lyrics, hints ( i do that a lot, too) that you can't or want speak freely about, aren't allowed to speak about.

I'm still left with a feeling of despair. And a lot of question marks :) But I think for Taemin, GUILTY was really a kind of liberation and releave. And only he knows if so and for what.

[lizzxrd]

So I came up with this little silly idea at work to briefly distract myself from The Horrors (mental illness)...

and it wasn't supposed to be anything more than that but I just keep rotating it in my mind now..

Like I just keep thinking abt the canon blade eaters and Silva (my oc, who'd probably be a bit of a special case bc he got a full core crystal that was modified to replace his heart)

I think Torna wouldn't rlly have any moral qualms abt letting Mik occasionally munch on some people and they'd probably even let him sap some energy from their core crystal collection so he wouldn't die. Mik probably wouldn't exactly love it but he's like kind of "whatever" about it. He's working towards destroying the world anyway. Doesn't really matter when these people die.

Zeke would probably despise Amalthus for having him turned into a blade eater and he'd probably despise himself for what he has to do to survive to an extent too. He'd still be happy about him and Pandoria being able to continue to live alongside each other but ough the misery. That one scene where Zeke talks to Amalthus in Indol would hit so different too. Him telling Amalthus he thinks those who kill others are weak and then the realization slowly kicking in. He'd probably be awful at coping with it. Zeke is such a silly goose in canon xbc2 so it feels weird imagining him in any even remotely angsty situations but Idk I kinda vibe with this. Also I'm not a huge fan of PanZeke as a ship usually. They just have such oomftacular bestie vibes to me but I think I like it in this context. PanZeke angsty hurt/comfort. Pandoria comforting messed up vampire-ish Zeke, reassuring him he's not an awful person and also being his source of ether. And also she feels kind of guilty because it's a part of her core that turned Zeke into this so he also comforts her, reassuring her it's not her fault at all and he always makes sure to be extra kind to her bc of how much she does for him and how unbelievably much he cares abt her. [Explodes]

Rex would not be affected. He's not really a Blade Eater in the way the others are. Aegis cores are weird and special. And he's technically kind of dead already so even if they weren't he probably would be unaffected. U cannot convince me that Jin's attack somehow left him barely alive. He's basically a walking corpse and only tethered to the world through that part of Pythra's core and the conduit.

Amalthus would have absolutely 0 issues with being a fucked up vampire/cannibal Blade Eater. Both in terms of morals and getting ether and blood/flesh for sustenance. Tbh he'd probably get a kick out of doing fucked up vampire things even. Indol has a massive amount of core crystals he can sap energy from and nobody will truly notice/care if occasionally a few of the refugees go missing. (And even if people care, they wouldn't really be able to do anything about it. Enough people in positions of power in Indol and in Indol's military force have a cult-like devotion to Amalthus and revere him as some kind of deity. Trying to pose a genuine threat to him would be akin to commiting suicide.)

And last but not least I get to be cringe abt my oc. :3 Normal Blade Eater Amalthus and Silva are, like, two awful guys who hate but tolerate each other because of Circumstances. Silva is such a repressed but very desperate loser type of gay guy that he occasionally has Thoughts but he'd rather die a thousand deaths than actually admit anything to Amalthus or even himself; he just represses it further.

In Blade Eater vampirism AU they are awful guys who hate each other who are soo codependent and toxic. Cannibalism as a metaphor for love, enemies AND lovers, they're tearing each other apart (literally), neither of them has a normal understanding and concept of love, etc. Do u understand.. (I am,, so very Normal about them).

Silva's core was specifically modified to function as his heart since his original one was more than just a little faulty. The technology used to achieve this and research regarding it was lost like almost everything about Judicium upon the devastating attacks on Temperantia during the Aegis war. But anyway despite being a very early Blade Eater experiment - from far before Indol started dabbling in making Blade Eaters - he turned out surprisingly well. The physical link between his organic cells and his core are strong and deteriorate at a much slower rate; the only thing that got really messed up by this was his mind. He's still a fucked up vampire like the other Blade Eaters. He just needs to consume ether and blood/flesh far less frequently. He also has some of the regenerative abilities of blades. He's able to recover faster from wounds than non-blades but not quite as fast as blades and he still grows scar tissue on wounds that are severe enough.

Having a singular guy who's a source of both ether and organic material for sustenance and can regenerate is very convenient for Amalthus and far less suspicious that what he was doing before! Especially because Silva cannot exactly do anything about it. He stumbled his way into becoming Amalthus's blade and acting against him would be awfully unwise (AND being an important asset to Amalthus also grants him easy access to ether and blood when he does need it). Also while Silva is stuck in this situation Amalthus does let him get away with a lot more things than he really should (including but not limited to: verbal and physical threats and letting him bite him as well)

:33 giggling, squealing, kicking my feet, etc. They're so bad for each other but they deserve each other so very much. I love thinking abt them. They're my horrid old men babygirls ❤️

[mostlyvoid-partiallyflowers]

Hello! For your book ask game: 6, 16, and 17?

Hi!! Thank you for the ask <3

6. What's the best book you've read this year?

It’s absolutely Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White! It’s just such an incredible story about queerness and class and leftism and Appalachia. It’s one of several Appalachian horror books that I’ve read in the last year or two and I’ve loved all of them but this one was especially fantastic.

16. What's a theme/motif you love to read?

I love it when a character that’s typically seen as irredeemable is shown love and shown to be forgivable. This is why drarry really appealed to me as a teenager and why I loved Zuko so much in atla. It’s why I love aftg and Captive Prince. It’s just a theme that makes me feel really seen because if these characters that others see as unforgivable can be forgiven and the portrayed as lovable then maybe I too can forgive myself for my faults and also be loved despite them.

Also I’m a big fan of cannibalism as sex/religion/capitalism (it’s a great metaphor for devotion or love or the dehumanization experienced under capitalist society)

17. What's the weirdest book you've ever read?

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer. It’s a steampunk gilded age-esque take on The Tempest by Shakespeare and it’s probably the first time I ever read something that could be considered body horror and now that’s one of my favorite concepts in media. It’s a book that has some of the oddest side plots and some of the descriptions are so beautiful while also being viscerally disgusting. I highly recommend it (side note: it’s out of print now which is majorly sad😭)

[banditomojado]

Roberto's Spooky Season Binge 2024: Bones and All

I'm back and boy am I pumped about this one! HORROR ROMANCE! Ahh!!! Yes, I'm a sucker for all things bloody and romantic, so when I stumbled upon Bones and All I was very excited. Cannibalism and angsty young romance? Any lover of the macabre would tell you they go together like peanut butter and jelly, and this is simply one of the latest in a long line of stories that plays with these themes. My spoiler thoughts and review below!

Okay so I have to make one thing clear before we move forward. I'm VERY partial to the themes and narratives in this movie. This is the kind of fucked up tragic romance that I fell in love with in high school, and even now at 30 years old I can't get enough of them. That should give you somewhat of an idea of what kind of vibe this movie is going for. It's VERY emo, idealistic, raw, and disturbing in the ways Stephanie Meyer could only hope to aspire to when she wrote Twilight. So if that's not your cup of tea, this movie will likely not change your tune on YA horror romance. But for fans of the genre, rejoice! This is a superb addition to the canon!

The film is beautifully shot, capturing the sprawling country roads in a dreamy haze throughout this road trip flick. The cinematography works along with the subtle writing and delicate performance to give an almost poetic feel to the whole film. And my god, the performances. Taylor Russell is SCARY good in this as Maren, so good in fact that she even manages to outshine her always magnetic co star Timothy Chamalet, who himself puts on a fantastic performance as Lee, her love interest. Their chemistry is key to this films success. Without the deep connection and genuine love, the story becomes too grotesque to stomach. Make no mistake about it, this is a disturbing movie, but it seldom feels that way due to its sweet protagonists and their growing love for one another in their desperate search for meaning.

Maren is a cannibal who is abandoned by her father shortly after her 18th birthday. The viewers introduction to her, um, condition is shocking, but before we're given much time to react, Maren is almost immediately left alone to fend for herself. All she has is some petty cash, her birth certificate, and a tape recorded by her dad telling her the truth about her condition. Themes of self hate and a desperate search for meaning are nothing new to the YA romance genre, and the correlations between cannibalism and youthful strife draw themselves. The metaphors at work here are nothing new, but where this film succeeds is in its self identity, it's core relationship. And that's where Lee comes in

It's easy to understand why Maren and Lee are almost immediately drawn to one another. Their both sad, loner drifters who hate themselves because of their cannibalism and ,like, they're both attractive kids. So duh. But the film also makes it easy to root for them. Their conversations are crooked and awkward, but also dreamy and dripping with longing. Again, one must highlight the insane chemistry between the two actors. Seeing Lee break down shaking in tears after admitting to eating his father while Maren takes his sobbing face and kisses him deeply until he stopped shaking was intense and beautiful. And don't get me started on my favorite quote of the whole movie:

For me, the climax of the film was Maren finally meeting her mother. I'll be brief on this because I don't want to spoil much, but holy shit that was INTENSE. Seeing what became of her mother, who is also a cannibal, was GUT-WRENCHING and also easily the scariest scene in the whole movie, at least to me. This was Maren's last hope of trying to find answers from those who were supposed to love and care for her, and what she found was horror and a life not worth living. But instead of having this kill the hope inside of her, it only strengthens her relationship with Lee, who she soon comes to realize is the only person in her life who has ever treated her like a person and not a monster.

And now for my least favorite part of the film, Sully, the creepy old stalker cannibal who attempts to befriend Maren early on. Obviously insidious, but confusingly jolly, it's hard to get a good read on old Sully when we're first introduced to him. As a viewer, your immediately suspicious of an old white man trying to lure an 18 year old girl into a house, but I don't know, maybe something about the performance makes it hard to see what the film is trying to go for with his character. He is terrifying, though, and him calling Maren a cunt towards the end I guess firmly cements this confused looking old cannibal as a vile creep. Perhaps he's better fleshed out in the novel this film is based on, but unfortunately I feel like his character distracts from the otherwise great drama. Having him be the reason this tale becomes a tragedy is somewhat underwhelming, but it ultimately serves it's purpose. Of course Maren and Lee couldn't live happily ever after, so having Lee be fatally wounded during Sully's attack on Meran seemed like a logical catalyst for the tragedy of this tragic love story. And I guess I shouldn't be too upset, because holy shit what a way to end it. "I want you to eat me Maren. Bones and all." THIS IS CINEMA.

Final Rating: 9.3

This kind of horror romance is definitely an acquired taste and some may find it cheesy. But for me, this movie hit on nearly every level. Beautiful mixed with grotesque visuals, great writing, and picture perfect performances solidify this movie for me as a can't miss and is a perfect choice for a spooky date night!