#(i love the parallels between him and the phantom. i love that in a lot of ways botw link IS a phantom of the past. a vestige.)

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Wednesday Season 2 and The Phantom of the Opera - A practical guide for those that don't know about that story and an analysis of possible connections

SPOILER WARNING FOR WEDNESDAY (TRAILERS) AND POTO (BOOK AND MUSICAL).

As a fan of both Wednesday and The Phantom of the Opera, seeing the two of them together in the most recent trailer for season 2 was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.

Even though we can't be sure there will be parallels between the two stories, I've decided to write this (mostly self-indulgent) post. If y'all like it, I might go on with my analysis here. Let me know.

Let's start, for all the fans of the show and the Addams Family that don't know about POTO, with answering a simple question: who and what is The Phantom of the Opera?

Originally a book written by French author Gaston Leroux between 1909 and 1910, The Phantom of the Opera became a classic of gothic literature. In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart and Richard Stillgoe inaugurated a musical of the same name, which received a movie adaptation in 2004.

Synopsis of the book:

On an evening of 1880, the Paris Opera House is called to face a series of mysterious and ominous events: the death of one of its workers, Joseph Buquet, and the sudden illness suffered by lead soprano Carlotta. The two events lead to the debut of a younger singer, Christine Daaé, who stuns everyone with her performance. In the audience, the Viscount Raoul de Chagny recognises in Christine his lost childhood friend and immediately falls for her beauty and grace. Going after her, he finds out that Christine has been talking to her mysterious tutor, whom she calls "Angel of Music". Little do they know that the angel in an actual man and also the infamous Phantom of the Opera, who has been haunting the theatre and running it with an iron fist. At least, until Christine is brought by him in his lair, where she's kept for days and where she learns of his love for her, a dark obsession that triggers a chain of events that leads Christine in Raoul's arms and to the Opera Ghost's own death.

The musical follows a very similar path, with a few differences:

- In the play (as can be seen clearly in the 2004 movie), Christine has known the Angel ever since she was a child. In the book, however, they've known each other for way less;

- The Phantom appears to be younger than his novel counterpart, but that, of course, depends mostly on the performer's own age;

- In the musical, Christine appears to be more clearly attracted to the Phantom (in the sequel, Love Never Dies, the two have a child together), whether in the book she's way more confused in what she feels for him;

- The ending differs greatly between the two: in the book, Christine agrees to marry the Phantom and kisses him on the forehead, which leads to him having a breakdown and letting her go away with Raoul. The Phantom dies after crying his heart out about it to an old friend and Christine buries him; in the musical, Christine kisses him on the mouth, triggering the same events that culminate with her freedom, but he lives and simply runs away.

In all of this, then, why was this masterpiece chosen to be part of, at least, Wednesday's trailer?

To answer this question, we need to talk about the Phantom. Who is he?

Erik (his real name) is, in a lot of ways, in his appearance alone worthy of the Nevermore Academy: in the book, he's described as a walking skeleton, with eyes that glow yellow in the dark. He wears formal suits, with a black cloak and a hat... but his defining characteristic is the white mask he uses to disguise his face.

But Erik, in my opinion, is also THE outcast: born with a deformed face, not even his "poor, unhappy mother" could bear to look at him and gave him his first mask. In the novel, he decides to run away and join the circus, while in the movie it's shown that his first murder was in self-defence against his torturer, the man who ran the circus and made a spectacle out of him, beating him and taking his mask off for an audience. In any case, that's only the beginning of the atrocities he commits: he builds torture chambers for the Shah in Persia, he kills for him and then flees to Paris, where he takes over, with threats and violence, the Opera House, where he becomes the elusive Phantom.

Monster or man?

Erik is not straight-up evil. He is not a monster nor a freak, as everyone has always considered him. He's not even a demon. He is a human being that has only known misery and hatred throughout his life, becoming the natural consequence of society disdain and mockery towards people who are not perfectly conforming to its idea of beauty.

But Erik is much more than the darkness he hands over: he's a genius. He's a composer, a musician, a singer, an architect, an illusionist and a ventriloquist. He doesn't want to conquer the world: he wants to live a normal life (as he himself states), with a wife with whom he can have walks and whom he can spoil. He is merciless until he learns what mercy is.

Christine kisses him, something not even his own mother could do, and he learns from her lesson, letting her go.

Long story short, Erik is THE outcast, because he's the perfect example of what being mocked, mistreated and ostracised does to a human being: for something he didn't choose (just like the kids at Nevermore didn't get to choose to have powers), he is destined to pay a price entirely consisting of his soul. And his talents, something that, in another life, might have made a hero out of him, became the means by which he terrorised: his ability as an architect led him to build torture chambers, his skill as a magician made him even more elusive and dangerous and his beautiful voice was used by him to control people like puppets.

He wasn't born cruel. He was made cruel.

"He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar." - Gaston Leroux

Thank you for your attention. If you've come this far, let me know what you think. In the next post, I might go through Wednesday trailers and highlight the references to POTO.

[windsofcourage]

||. 2am link thoughts bc there's something in the idea of a hero whose duty goes unfulfilled . the restlessness of that . the way it sits there , hot and heavy as an undeniable burden . it's how link kept himself silent because he didn't want to burden anyone else with the idea of a hero who had troubles of his own . it's how he bottled it all up and dealt with it all alone and kept his chin held high and let things pass through or around him because faltering isn't an option . it's about how that wasn't enough .

it's about how he's never really lost a battle in all of his incarnations ( save a singular branch of OoT anyways and even then //gestures at training TP!link. ) . it's about how the most ancient parts of link simply can't comprehend that . refuses to accept it . WILL NOT . it's about how he has to anyways . it's about losing . it's about the vengeance of it , at a point . the storming the front gates of the castle because SCREW YOU . it's about the ghosts he constantly interacts with in the king , the champions , the gravesites , the malice , the eventual poes and gloom .

it's about how he fell to the guardians anyways by no fault of his own , or really ANYONE'S fault besides calamity ganon himself , but how link won't ever really see it that way . maybe he will logically . but emotionally ? that's a harder sell .

it's about how they were blindsided and he wasn't ready . it's about the 100 years lost . it's about all of the lives lost . it's about the time zelda spends bridling the calamity in the castle by herself when link knows damn well he's been quite literally born to be at her side during this exact battle . it's about how it goes past that , though . it's personal . that's his best friend and confidante . that's his princess too . it's about how he's lost too much and he's most certainly not losing her . not again . not ever . certainly not after losing everybody else too .

it's about fear holding back instinct and stifling courage when that fear is left unreleased and yet , despite that , fear is exactly the fire to light beneath one's feet to be courageous enough to not repeat the past . it's about how courage isn't being fearless it's about what you do to rise about the fear . it's about how link is oh-so human . he's a teenage boy . it's about the terror and grief and guilt . it's about the courage and love and ( eventual ) acceptance .

[aureutr]

What’s your biggest grievance with the way people write luke skywalker? (As someone who loves dinluke but has never seen the movies lolll)

Writing him the way Disney does, basically. Or making him mean. Or holding him to a weirdly higher standard than they do other characters and then shitting on him for it.

Canon Luke Skywalker can be impulsive and quick to anger (and sort of whiny in the first movie, but he's supposed to be, he's young), but the core of him is that he is a kind man. Almost gentle, for an action movie hero. He's not traditionally masculine and this has always bothered some people. Even at the time of the original trilogy's release, Han was far more popular.

Disney stripped a lot of that away. Luke would not try to kill his nephew "because he was scared of what he would become." He would not have ran away from everything and everyone he loves. He would not have abandoned the galaxy for personal reasons. This is supposed to be the same man who turned himself over to the Empire because he felt the tiniest spark of good in his fascist father, who had 23 years of experience committing horrific violence on the galaxy and thought he could save him?

I'm not buying it

Even Mark Hamill has come out saying that the Luke he had to act in the sequels isn't even vaguely the same character. Luke's choice to choose forgiveness and kindness in the face of despair and rage and hate is the core of him.

Essentially, he doesn't have to be your favorite character, and you don't even have to like him that much, but if you hate Luke Skywalker the way Disney seems to, then you don't understand Star Wars.

(not you you, anon, but I hope y'know what I mean)

Now, I actually do enjoy alternate character interpretations and I don't really mind people pulling characters to an extreme of their personality. But you can tell when someone didn't do the "reading" beforehand. You gotta know canon to break canon in a satisfying way

Addendum: I hope you pick the movies up, anon! They're great. There's an alternate watching order called Machete Order that really makes the parallels between the originals and the prequels shine through:

A New Hope -> Empire Strikes Back -> Attack of the Clones -> Revenge of the Sith -> Return of the Jedi

You can put Phantom Menace in there before AotC, but the "official" Machete Order omits it because the guy who thought it up didn't like it. It's a polarizing movie for anyone who's old enough to have seen it in theaters. Your call, honestly.

What this does is make the finer details of Luke's refusal to turn and give in to his rage really obvious because you watch it on the tail of seeing Anakin completely crumble. And when Vader is watching Luke spurn the Emperor, you know the specific events he's remembering and some of the more specific feelings he's feeling.

Watching the OT by itself or with all the prequels before/after is just as valid, but if you're watching for a Luke Skywalker character study, then Machete Order is worth a consideration

[thedollopheadofcamelot]

Danny Phantom Irondad AU!!!

Where Peter is basically like Danny

He accidentally turns on the ghost portal and sorta dies and becomes half ghost half human and decides to use his powers for good

His parents are ghost researchers and scientists, way too obsessed with their work

Maybe they hunt Peter down and attack him too like Jack and Maddie with Danny Phantom, unaware that he’s their son

And the only ones who know that Peter’s a superhero/half ghost kid protecting the town are his best friends Ned and MJ who go to his school

Also Dash and Flash lollll (I think about this a lot haha) (this had to have been on purpose like come on) (but anyway Flash is basically like Dash in the AU but like not as terrible as Dash maybe)

MJ = Sam basically eidbdkdndbekdjdkd (I’m sorry I love them both so much gosh dang)

Ned = Tucker (tech guy and Peter’s guy in the chair)

Oh and Mr. Harrington = Mr. Lancer maybe

And Tony’s like basically a good Vlad or something??? Idk man

(Or maybe Norman Osborn = Vlad’s role (and he does experiments on himself for faster results, experiments based on Peter’s parent’s research, and becomes a halfa)) (Harry could potentially exist in the AU then or his life could parallel Peter’s in that he could get impacted by his father’s research and turn half ghost too or idk but anyway (too many possibilities haha))

Like maybe Tony’s like this rich inventor guy like in canon

But he hates Peter’s parents and the way they have no regard for how their experiments impact everyone around them

And maybe he helps Peter get out of his crazy family situation and helps him when he’s hurt/in trouble and mentors him

But like the parallels between Danny and Peter always drive me insane

I love Peter and Danny so much you don’t understand

[welcome-to-headcanons]

YAYYYYYY NEW BLOG TO BECOME THE CHARACTER ANON TO

hello i am sock anon and here are some of my headcanons

sock has a tooth gap and little fangs, jonathan has braces, and meph has big fangs (kind of like one person drew in the discord server)

Jonathan would listen to MSI RELIGIOUSLY. also sock knows all tha words to material girl by madonna.

jonathan's father is dead. he was a pretty chill fella, he cared a lot for Jonathan but he died of a heart attack when Jon was like 6 or 7. he went to heaven c:

dadstopheles, one day sock called him dad by accident and he never ever ever recovered. he had to take 10 minutes away from work directly afterwards.

sock's love languages are gift giving and physical affection, neither of which he can do reliably for Jonathan. (if you were wondering, Jon's is quality time and words of affection)

jojo died because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. sock had killed a neighbor's pet, and she happened to be there when the neighbor opened fire in anger. the neighbor is in prison, and sock never forgave himself.

sock's movie tastes are either wreck it ralph or terrifier 3. no in between.

sock grew up in texas, not in the buttfuck of texas but in one of those more accepting nicer towns. obviously this show takes place in a fictional world, because if this were real he would have been dead way earlier for the crime of wearing a skirt.

Jonathan's diet consists of sandwiches and Lay's classic chips, as well as various sodas. And whatever his mom cooks, of course.

sock really loved his parents. he cried for 20 long minutes when he woke up.

Sock's nails are painted always. He usually chooses pastel rainbows. Jonathan's nails are black and he gets called slurs for it in school.

Jonathan is more likely to give the silent treatment.

Mephistopheles will often let Sock hang out in his office while he does work since Sock doesn't really disturb him much. One time Sock fell asleep there.

Providence is slightly irritated that everyone calls her a man all the time. Only slightly. She's more irritated at the way people use her to defend misogyny and such.

Lill would listen to Cool Kids by Echosmith SO MUCH.

Mephistopheles had wings a long time ago. He gets phantom pains often.

I'm a subscriber to the Jojo-Jonathan parallel theory.

sock partially regrets killing himself.

sock often asks mephistopheles what his life would have been like if he kept living. mephistopheles doesn't have an answer for him.

thats all i got!! :D like and subscribe, also guys please make more dadstopheles content im starving STARVING

- sock anon 🔪

Ahhh so many amazing hcs

[p5-apotelesma]

Opinions on Maruki? (I like him very very much, fav video game villain ever)

i like him!!!! i like him a ton. also one of my favorite antagonists of all time... if joker has a helper complex then maruki is the one with the Actual Martyr complex and im constantly eating up and parallels between the two of them. and what marukis actions and his goals give us. comparing them to those of the phantom thieves. If Im Making Any Sense. The Parallels (tm) (i am tired)

the phantom thieves not trusting adults to Change and Be Better People of their own free will. and their major targets are in positions of power so. of course the fuckers arent gonna. and the Gang is out to change society for the better (even if their methods are. Ethically Questionable)

and Maruki is the same in his methods, by all technicalities. not believing people are Strong Enough to Overcome their own pain. (That they shouldnt even have to. because HE CANT) so hes just gonna grant people's wishes. even if those wishes KEEP PEOPLE FROM GROWING.

like. man. i remember specifically like. playing through third sem for the first time and listening to npcs and one concerned girl was asking another if she got back together with her boyfriend. "what if he hurts you again?" she asks. and the other girl responds "what are you talking about? he'd never hurt me. we're happy together"

like. what the fresh fuck. hell world. hell world. hell wo

augh. aaauuhhghghhh theres a lot more i can say about him. i love his character i love his motives i love his tragedy i love him hes so fucking (clenches my fists and flails around) but because hes not a Major Blorbo of mine its a case of harder thinking in order to gather and organizing my thoughts.,.,

ill prolly talk more about him sometime in the future :)

[carrotsnake]

Zelda and the Tale of Melusine

I'll be looking at the parallels between Zelda's arc and some Medieval tropes of female metamorphosis, using Melusine: Or the Noble History of Lusignan as an example. Specificially a translated copy of Jean d'Arras's version, since that's the most well known one.

To start, a run down of Melusine:

She's a half human, half fairy woman cursed by her mother for imprisoning her mortal father in a mountain. The curse dictates every Saturday she turns into a serpent from the naval down. She must marry a human man for a long time to slowly undo the curse and become fully human, but he must never see her monstrous form beforehand.

If he does, she'll lose her humanity forever and transform into a dragon.

She meets a knight in the woods, he suspects her otherworldly knowledge comes from "some phantasm or diabolical power", to which she goes don't worry about it kitten. But he likes her so he's like ok! ^_^ yay!

She keeps giving him cool fairy advice, and with it his life magically becomes a whole lot better - he gains wealth, power, and not just him but other people listen to her advice: crops flourish, castles are built. The kingdom is thriving! They love her just as much as he does, so it's no surprise they get married. But there's just one condition, she hides in the bathhouse every Saturday, and he's never to visit or peep at her.

He breaks his promise and discovers her secret. She says he's cursed both of them, and now he's lost her forever: "Be sure that as long as you live I shall always find pleasure in seeing you; but [...] never again shall you see me in female form."

The next passage is as follows:

'Melusine, uttering a very doleful cry and then a heavy sigh, leapt from the window into the void, and as she swept across the orchards she metamorphosed into a massive dragon some fifteen feet in length. [...] In her dragon form she circled the fortress three times, and each time she flew past the window she uttered such an excruciating, desolate cry that everyone wept for pity, knowing that she was leaving under constraint and against her will. Then she disappeared in the direction of Lusignan, letting out such rueful shrieking and strident cries that wherever she passed it seemed as if lightning and thunder were about to split the sky.'

He never sees her again after that. But phantoms of her start appearing in the castle, secretly visiting her children at night and generally just spooking people by standing there menacingly. And that's how the myth is born.

I've already drawn connections through the images above, but what's the point of this?

Like lots of other fans I was irked by the whole 'zelda jesus' thing in totk, yeah it is a little odd that everyone follows her advice without question, and it's never wrong.

I'm curious, if the team was drawing from Western myths, that this was supposed to echo the fae. Especially since most of the quests keep you on your toes on whether this was the real Zelda giving advice, or a fake - a phantom(!) - deliberately sabotaging them. It mirrors how opinions on Melusine were split between a benevolent fae or a demon. Splitting them into two entities though, I can see how that would defang it.

The og text wasn't exactly that nuanced either. I remember my prof joking the message amounted to "always listen to your weird snake wife!" Maybe we SHOULD listen to our weird snake wives.

It's interesting Melusine only interacts with children after the curse - botw+totk imply only young children who are pure of heart can see dragons.

I recommend reading the whole thing if you can find it! Then you can look for more parallels, and read riveting pieces of dialogue such as this:

[phantomrens]

now that i am getting near the end of maruki’s palace and therefore my first playthrough of persona 5 royal i wanted to make a bit of a longer post gathering my thoughts, more specifically about the phantom thieves vs maruki because i think there’s an interesting parallel between them that has honestly made it one of my favourite parts of the game.

first off, i think the phantom thieves resonate a lot because at the end of the day they are just teenagers who have experienced some sort of trauma or abuse.

ryuji’s father was an abusive alcoholic and he lost out on his dream because of kamoshida.

ann’s parents were constantly moving around and she was groomed by one of her own teachers, as well as her watching her best friend try to kill herself because of it.

yusuke was used for years by his own parental figure to make art he could steal for money and is now left on his own with no experience.

makoto’s father died and she is left with her sister and an immense pressure to succeed in their footsteps.

futaba watched her own mother die and it effected her so badly she convinced herself it was her own fault for YEARS and locked herself away.

haru was also groomed by her own father into an arranged marriage she wanted no part of.

akechi (including him simply for the sake of talking about maruki later on) had a deadbeat dad who he wanted approval from and was passed between fosters for years.

sumi watched her own sister die and it traumatised her so badly that she pretended to be her so kasumi wouldn’t be dead.

morgana is a bit of a weird one because he couldn’t remember where he came from and thought he was human for so long only to find out he was created for the purpose of helping the phantom thieves, but he accepts his fate.

and ren obviously was a victim of false accusations of assault that landed him in shibuya with a criminal record.

obviously some of those are more extreme than others but they all share one thing: having an adult who has hurt or abused them in some way, or put pressure on them to succeed. this is what drives them to start/join the phantom thieves because they don’t want other people to suffer the same way they have and it’s a way to get back at their own trauma. they don’t want to change what happened to them, they want to make sure it doesn’t happen again and i think that is the fundamental difference between the phantom thieves and maruki. it’s a way of healing their own trauma for them.

maruki on the other hand wants to create a reality where abuse and trauma never happened and it just doesn’t exist. which on the surface level seems like a good idea, but digging deeper you realise there are so many issues with that, morally and ethically. yes i often wish i wasn’t traumatised and my friends weren’t hurting and want to take away their pain. but for better or for worse that trauma has shaped us and we wouldn’t be the same people without it. learning to cope and learning to heal is an important part of life and having a world where nothing ever goes wrong is so one dimensional and lifeless and strips people away of their individuality.

ren sees all his friends living in this reality and on the surface level it seems like they are happy and it’s what they truly wanted and wished for, but it almost seems too perfect and the happiness is fake.

ryuji is part of the track team again and is working towards his scholarship.

ann is spending time with shiho and is happy with her best friend.

yusuke is still with madarame and he is thriving with his art.

makoto’s father is alive and she is living as a family with him and sae.

futaba’s mother is alive and her, wakaba and sojiro are living as a family.

haru’s father is alive and is actually treating her with love and respect.

morgana is human because he thinks that that is what he was supposed to be.

they all snap out of it and realise that this reality is fake and not what they really wanted because it undoes so much of what has gotten them to that point together. maruki altering reality in such a way that people who were dead are now alive in his reality does such a disservice to the work that the phantom thieves in these situations had done to get over the trauma of their deaths themselves (especially in futaba’s case) and being able to grow and move on after mourning these deaths.

and to an extent i understand what maruki is trying to do. creating an ideal reality where no person suffers seems like a good idea. but as soon as ren enters that reality everything feels off. his friends are not themselves and everything is too ideal. taking away all the bad things in the world does more harm than good and creates a world that is devoid of any depth. i don’t want to hurt, and i don’t want my friends to hurt, but the journey to healing from your struggles on your own is much more satisfying than having someone completely strip away the opportunity to do that. everyone has their own traumas and struggles and should be able to take their own power back, not have someone take away that opportunity entirely. altering reality in such a way is not stripping people of their trauma, its fundamentally changing them as a person instead. maruki does this and thinks its healing his own trauma, but the difference is he is hurting people in the process (maybe without him even realising) rather than making sure abusers don’t abuse again.

sorry this post was incredibly long but i do think the addition of maruki’s palace in royal is such a clever way to put into perspective what the phantom thieves are doing themselves because it makes you question for a moment if what they are doing is really justified, but when you look at maruki and what he is doing you realise the phantom thieves are in it for the right reasons.

[mathildepadme]

what’s your favorite star wars novel?

hey bestie keaton thee star wars understander :) thank you for asking. I gotta say I don’t have one thee favorite but I’m going to mention some of my favs

1-darth plagueis novel

I LOVE looking into palpatine’s fucked up little brain and psycho analyzing him and this book gives me so many opportunities for that. you can clearly see the parallels between palpatine and anakin and how anakin’s pretty much his mini me in a very fucked up sense. also we get to learn about darth plagueis which was what originally got me into this.

2- the phantom menace novelization

Now I’m aware that this sounds silly since this is by no means the best star wars book ever or something like that but this book is my Bible when it comes qui-gon and obi wan. this is my source material for a lot of their analysis and you know how much I love their dynamic so this one is crucial for me.

3- the return of the jedi novelization

this one is a classic and also a luke and vader bible to me and I always love more context about the movies.

4- from a certain point of view

I love the stories in this and this is thee obi wan shame self exile bible for me

[picturejasper20]

Danny Phantom needed better arcs (or why The Ghost and Molly Mcgee did it better)

I have been reading some old posts from Monotype on phantom, mainly those that talk about continuity and how Danny Phantom should have had better written arcs, with having plot threads and characters arcs being left open and often with no proper closure. In these posts Danny Phantom gets compared to series like Steven Universe and Gravity Falls in terms of how these shows use pacing and development to tell their stories.

So i was thinking since i usually talk about parallels between Danny Phantom and The Ghost and Molly Mcgee, why not compare the two? And you would think ¨why are you comparing an action superhero show to a more comedy slice of life show?¨ And let me tell you, considering what The Ghost and Molly Mcgee was able to pull off, i think it is more than fair to do this comparison.

I assume that most of my followers know what Danny Phantom is so i won't dive into what the series is about. In The Ghost and Molly Mcgee's case, for those who don't know, it is a series about Molly McGee and her family moving to an old house where a ghost named Scratch lives is in. Molly and Scratch become best friends over the course of the series, something that brings them issues along the way. While the series is more comedy slice of life, it has arcs that get explored through the show and there is a constant change in the characters and the world itself.

Having explained that, lets move to the comparison between these shows: I think it would be good to start with Danny Phantom trio development (Danny, Sam, Tucker) vs The Ghost and Molly Mcgee ¨Comet trio¨ (Molly, Scratch and Libby) development in the first season of each show.

So Danny as main character gets plenty of episodes about him. Some good examples of these are "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale", "What You Want", "Bitter Reunions", "My Brother's Keeper" and "Teacher of the Year". He gets an overall arc in the firsy season and the series as a whole. We can agree that in that way he is a well developed character.

But what about Sam and Tucker? Sam has "Parental Bonding", "Control Freaks" and maybe "Fanning the Flames". Tucker has "What You Want" and some in "Teacher of the Year" They also have some B plots that explore their characters in some episodes too...

However, they don't really feel that well developed? They don't even seem like to have a proper arc in contrast to Danny this season. Just some good scenes here and there.

In contrast The Ghost and Molly Mcgee has the three characters from the Comet Trio developing and changing through the season. -Molly has different episodes about learning to respect other people's boundaries better ("Mazel Tov, Libby!", "Ready, Set, Snow!") or how being positive all the time isn't always a good thing ( "All Systems No") -Libby has a whole arc about learning to overcome some of her anxieties and insecurities until she grows to be more confident of herself ( "Mazel Tov, Libby!" and "Talent Show") and she has episodes that explore other sides of her character. ( "Monumental Disaster", "Festival of Lights") -And Scratch- i could write a lot about him but he has some character growth every other episode and the changes he goes through Season 1 alone are very noticeable. He is a characters who just develops a lot in the series.

Overall, i think it is fair to say that the Comet Trio from The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is more developed and has better arcs when compared to the Phantom trio from Danny Phantom

Another example of this is how Valerie Gray and Ollie Chen character arcs get handled in both respective series. Both start as semi antagonists that are ghosthunters who fall in love with the main teenager character and hate ghosts but gradually change their views about it through the show.

The main difference is how Ollie Chen has more of a complete character arc while Valerie Gray doesn't.

Valerie was going through some good development around Season 1 and Season 2 with her motivations being explored and her relationship with Danny changing over time. She gets some good episodes on Season 1 and a few in the first half of Season 2. The problem is that after the "Flirting with Disaster" the show seemed to forget about Valerie for around half of its run until the penultimate episode of the series "D-Stabilized". And even then she never gets a proper conclusion to her learning about Danny being Phantom nor able to regret her past actions from previous episodes. She doesn't get to have speaking lines in the series finale ¨Phantom Planet¨ neither.

Comparing Valerie to Ollie Chen, it doesn't take too long for Ollie to learn that Molly has been hiding she has a ghost (Scratch) as her best friend. He learns about this near the end of the episode ¨I Wanna Dance with Some-Ollie¨.

This leaves him emotionally crushed and that gets explored in later episodes with him learning that all ghosts aren't evil and he changes his views about them. ("Frightmares on Main Street", "The Unhaunting of Brighton Video") He later has episodes that he confronts his family about these views they have too like "Welcome to NecroComic-Con".

I do have my issues with Ollie as character but one thing i can give him is that he has a completed character arc by the end of Season 2. He learns to overcome his hatred of ghosts and reflect on his past actions, trying to be better over time.

I think one factor is that The Ghost and Molly Mcgee had less issues with changing the status quo than Danny Phantom did. What happens in one episode can have an impact on later episodes and the characters change in these. This is because these shows came during different times but also that Tgamm had its characters arcs and development better planned from the start. Danny Phantom episodes were just written as the production went along and a lot of times the team didn't have a clear plan in mind of where things should go.

That doesn't mean that The Ghost and Molly Mcgee isn't without its flaws. Season 2 is kind of a mess in how it handles its arcs and some things should have been better paced. In spite of that, i think the series in a lot of ways did a better job at using continuity and arcs than what Danny Phantom did. There are more examples i could cite but these ones are the closest that come to mind to do this comparison.

[silkopera]

••HXH 405 Commentary••

This is a very rough and short commentary because I mainly just want to get my feeling and thoughts out because wow this chapter was something. The situation with the Phantom Troupe and Hisoka is finally picking up and getting the ball rolling. I'm eager but also terrified as to what will happen in future chapters.

To start off, Hisoka's in the casino just chilling and playing cards. wow😭. This man is not afraid that the troupe is out for blood. His vest + dress shirt combo+ bolo-tie is very snazzy though. Reminds me of Lestat from interview with the vampire 1994.

Bonolevnov?? I did not expect him to be the star of this chapter but he is living up to his name! I am quite concerned for him though as he's weak to Hisoka's bungee gum and that's literally all Hisoka uses but he's also tailing Hisoka ALONE dressed as HISOKA? The rate of him dying is exponential I fear unless the troupe has another plan or he has an ace up his sleeve.

CHROLLO !! He has finally returned. Very happy to see him again but also my heart does feel for him. He looks so tired. We know how much he cares about his friends and seeing him slowly crumble and succumb to his feelings that he's tried to keep hidden all these years? If we see him break down and bawl, I fear I will cry myself.

This was the most memorable panel from the chapter for me. Chrollo really did love Pakunoda who was 09. Whether as a sibling, friend, partner or something more, he really does love her and miss her. Now that I think about it, he was close and comfortable with all the girls like Sheila, Sarasa and Pakunoda and they often protected him from his bullies aka Phinks, Feitan and Uvo. Then Sheila and Sarasa were gone and Paku was the only one he had. They were together for so long and they had such a sentimental connection even before all that dubbing business so this makes Paku's death hurt even more.

This also basically confirms that the phantom troupe will disband and they are finally realizing that if they continue to go on like this , more of their beloved friends will die. Karma and catastrophe are finally catching up to them for their misdeeds. However the Troupe does look out for Chrollo like how Gon and Killua looked out for Kurapika. I enjoy seeing the parallels between Kurapika and Chrollo along with their friends. They're both so similar but destined for tragedy with the path they chose.

It's satisfying to know what Sarasa's murderer and torturer got what he earned (by the troupe's hand I assume). Ironically he was the chairman of a foundation to help children?? What a joke. The way she ,a small girl, spent her final moments in agony , all alone, surrounded by horrible people, ultimately to end up in a trash bag. She deserved and got the justice she needed. I hope we get to unravel more of the story behind everything soon.

A little extra but Feitan's concerned face and eyebrows actually has me cracking up because we know nothing phases the man🤣.

Finishing this off, there was a LOT more to this chapter but I needed to get my feelings off my chest for these specific parts. Reading and analyzing this manga is a CHORE but Togashi is so good at what he does and It's amazing he can come up with such complex storytelling and make it interesting to read at the same time. Forever grateful for his work and excited to see what lies ahead for 406.

-silkopera.

[glorious-sunset]

LBFAD Reflections – Index

Like many LBFAD (Love between Fairy and Devil) viewers, I was amazed by the complexity of the plot, just begging for a rewatch! As I began slowly rewatching it, many new things became clear, such as, what were characters actually thinking, now that we knew their backstory? Often their thoughts didn’t match their words. What was happening between scenes, since the fast pace meant that a lot was happening off-screen? Some of the smallest actions and plot developments now had so much deep meaning! And many parallels became clear between events of different episodes and different character arcs.

Rewatching LBFAD, I had so many mental notes in my head on all of these, that I thought I should put them into words. Indulging my love of writing, I wrote my reflections and insights on each episode into a story format and found my favourite set of screenshots from each episode to complement them. I also described my insights on the series overall in separate articles. These may be interesting to others wanting to reminisce on the multidimensional characters and engaging plotlines of this most inspiring series!

This post is a table of contents to each of my LBFAD articles and episode reflections. None of them are spoiler-free. My reflections on ep. 3 onwards are story-like, while eps 1 and 2 are more scene-setting. The links to each post are on their titles.

Location Names in LBFAD – Meaning and Significance

For English viewers, some of the location names in LBFAD are given in Mandarin. However, the meanings of these names have deep significance that are lost in translation! Here are my translations and interpretations of these meanings.

Character Names in LBFAD – Meaning and Significance

What’s in a name? For the characters of LBFAD, a whole lot of hidden meanings! These are not apparent to English viewers. Here are my translations and interpretations of these meanings.

How Immortals age in cdramas - clues from LBFAD

How does ageing work for these lucky immortals in terms of human appearance? LBFAD gives us a few clues about this mysterious process!

LBFAD Artwork Hidden Meanings - Opening Artwork | Closing Artwork Part 1 | Part 2

The created artworks used for LBFAD are unique and have many hidden layers of meaning! Here are my interpretations of these stunning works of art.

Episode 1

Changheng’s destiny leaf has unexpectedly changed – but the destinies of high gods are supposed to be very stable! His destiny changed because of DFQC's actions. In the last episode of the series DFQC changes XLH’s destiny as well. This is great foreshadowing! And it highlights DFQC’s unique tendency to break nature’s laws time and time again!

Episode 2

“Don’t forget, your body is in benzuo’s (this seat of power’s) hands now”.

XLH, mocking his self-address, angrily retorts that “ben gu niang (this girl) is going to make you bald now!” The moment she angrily starts tugging at her hair is when he first notices the effect of the one-heart curse she cast on him, which causes him phantom physical pain even when body-swapped!

Episode 3

How could such a weak and pathetic creature, who can’t even protect herself, have cursed him, the most powerful being in the three realms?! No wonder he would “very very very very much like to kill” her. The fact that he can’t is tremendously frustrating and he is boiling inside.

Episode 4

XLH has now upgraded her nickname for him from the insulting “little celestial criminal” to “Big Qiang” (Da Qiang), the transition from little to big reflecting the growth of her regard for him. She affectionately calls him Da Qiang from now on. His nickname for her, “Xiao Hua Yao”, little flower demon, is his appraising way of calling her a wicked little flower, or a flower with thorns.

Episode 5

DFQC has many enemies who scheme behind his back and want to kill him, is aware of Shiyuntian’s unflattering propaganda around him, and never gave these insults a second thought. But when XLH says that “even the air becomes clearer” without him around, it is like a sharp stab to his gut. When even the thoughts of the mightiest kings don’t bother him, why should the words of an inconsequential little flower?!

Episode 6

Yunzhong carefully eavesdrops on their every exchange. He is not unsympathetic to Changheng’s plight. As a member of the ruling family, Yunzhong himself had to sacrifice the love of his life to fulfil his responsibilities. That is why he allowed CH to keep the handkerchief of his love as a memento, on the strict understanding that his duties must always come first.

Episode 7

As they sit down to tea together in their usual idyllic alcove, XLH reminisces about the joyful memories they have created together over the past ten days or so. Just yesterday, during one of their regular teatime chats, she had happily recounted to him how she had seen snow fall in Haishi for the first time recently. To her delight, he had created snow around Arbiter Hall for her, and a little campfire to warm themselves by as they watched the falling snowdrifts together.

Episode 8

DFQC roughly brushes a tear from XLH’s cheek and we see that the greenhouse flowers are in bloom! They are linked to XLH’s mood, so despite Changheng smashing her dreams, DFQC’s efforts to comfort her have had a far greater impact, and she is now happy.

LBFAD is the most inspiring series I have ever watched and here is why…

…Aesthetically, I found the beautiful 4K production quality as enjoyable as high-budget productions such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. …Every single character of note in the series goes through profound character growth, the only exception being the abstract ultimate villain Taisui….

All of my LBFAD articles can also be viewed with the tag #lbfad reflections (hyperlinked).

More LBFAD articles and episode reviews to follow!

[nitrateglow]

Spooky Season 2024: 6-11

Targets (dir. Peter Bogdanovich, 1968)

Targets follows two parallel stories that eventually intertwine. The first involves elderly horror star Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff), disillusioned with his professsion and the real-world violence around him, and intent on retiring from film. The second involves Bobby (Tim O'Kelly), a disturbed young man obsessed with guns who goes on a murder spree. Both points converge at the drive-in premiere of Orlock's newest film.

Targets caught me offguard. The violence in the story involves a mass shooter and so it has a lot of real-world parallels. The killings are presented in a matter of fact way, without spectacle or blood geysers. It makes all of it feel more real and upsetting, especially since we've seen our share of Bobby-like killers over the decades.

My youngest sister watched this one with me and kept calling Karloff's character "Babygirl" and that isn't wrong. Though crabby and cynical, Byron is really charming and likeable. The arc he undergoes is really powerful, particularly as it pertains to his relationship with his secretary Jenny (Nancy Hsueh).

Though the tensions of the late '60s are a major part of Targets, it also deals with the gulf between the old school horror movies represented by Orlock and the more violent fare of the dawning New Hollywood era. I feel like there are just so many layers here. I really need to rewatch it. It's a fascinating movie and I would highly recommend it.

The Phantom of the Opera (dir. Dwight H. Little, 1989)

Modern singer Christine Day (Jill Schoelen) is sent back in time to a previous life as an aspiring opera singer in 1880s London. Her mentor is Erik Destler (Robert Englund), a disfigured composer who made a deal with the devil that left him immortal and embittered. He also has a habit of skinning people and then stitching the flesh on his ugly ass face. The opera management wants to build up another diva's career at the expense of Christine's. Erik doesn't like this. People start getting killed.

The 1989 The Phantom of the Opera is such a mixed bag, but I enjoy it anyway. The script is a mess. It frames the story with this weird time travel/reincarnation/isekai plot that doesn't add up to anything. It introduces interesting concepts-- like the relationship between Christine and Erik reflecting Erik's own deal with the devil-- without fleshing them out. Also-- and if Letterboxd is anything to go by, I'm in the minority-- I'm not crazy about Jill Schoelen's Christine, though I think that's more due to the way Christine is written than how she plays the role.

But then you have the glorious production design, stagebound but dripping in gothic candlelight and late Victorian grime. Best of all, you get Robert Englund's Erik Destler, one of the best onscreen Phantoms of all time.

I love how Englund's Erik is both an excitable schoolboy, almost squealing with delight while Christine kills it at Faust, and a violent, vengeful monster who doesn't take his will being defied lightly. I like the skin-grafting angle for the mask and that Erik ventures out into the London underworld at night. These are all fresh elements and I wish they could have been combined with a tighter, more focused script.

Still, this is a fun movie.

Murders in the Zoo (dir. A. Edward Sutherland, 1933)

A zoologist (Lionel Atwill) is pathologically jealous of his younger wife (Kathleen Burke), and so starts killing any perceived rival to his possession of her. Very pre-code violence ensues.

I'm going to be blunt: this movie did not live up to the hype. A lot of pre-code fans vouch for it as the nastiest horror film of the era. That is likely true. The first thing we see is a man getting his mouth sewed shut, a bit of nastiness that would shock in a recent film, let alone one from 1933. There are some gruesome killings throughout.

Too bad the story is sluggish and dull. There's a lot of corny comic relief that stops the action dead. The direction is flat. It's definitely not a movie I can see myself revisiting. There's barely anything there to sustain interest beyond the occasional creative murder-- no atmosphere, no anything.

Other than the murders, the only thing that stood out to me was Kathleen Burke as the tragic wife of the crazy zoologist. Burke is best remembered as Lota the Panther Woman in Island of Lost Souls. Her career fizzled out quickly, which is a shame because she has great presence and no shortage of talent.

The Black Room (dir. Roy William Neill, 1935)

In a Tyrolean town, an ancient prophecy swears that the ruling house will be destroyed when twins are born and the younger brother kills the older. So when the baron is presented with twin sons, he does everything he can to prevent the prophecy, such as sealing up the Black Room where the murder is supposed to occur. The boys grow up different as can be: the older brother Gregor (Boris Karloff) is cruel and sensual, abusing the locals and his own power, while the younger Anton (also Karloff) is gentle and kind. Despite his twin's sweet nature, Gregor is still concerned for his life and his continued domination of the town. He hatches a devious plan to cheat fate, but can he?

For some reason, I thought I had seen this movie long ago, but apparently not. What a delightful gothic story this is! It's filled with all the old school tropes played straight: an ancient prophecy, a lecherous nobleman preying on innocent maidens, a torture chamber filed with corpses, a dark and gloomy castle. There is a subtle sense of grim humor throughout, but it never descends into parody when it easily could have.

If you've ever doubted Karloff's capabilities as an actor, this movie should remedy that opinion. He plays two distinct characters, and at one point, gives a performance within a performance. All three performances feature their own unique body language, line delivery, and business. It's astonishing throughout.

Equally impressive is the direction from Roy William Neill. Best known for helming the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies, his direction here is so dynamic and impressive, not in the least stagey or inert.

One last thing: for a post-Production Code movie, it has a surprising amount of violence and sexuality. Gregor is clearly using the local women for his sexual gratification before murdering them, and his interest in Marian Marsh's lovely aristocratic girl is 100% carnal. There's a pit full of corpses and we get to look into it rather than have its presence alluded to offscreen. It's all nasty stuff. It really feels like the filmmakers got away with a lot, even if it seems tame by modern standards!

The Bells (dir. James Young, 1926)

Innkeeper Mathias (Lionel Barrymore) hopes to become burgomaster of his village. He hopes endless credit and free drinks will sway the populace to support him, but this comes close to killing his business and destroying his family. Desperate, he murders a wealthy guest, destroys the body, and uses his pilfered gold to pay off all debts and influence his way to power. However, both the crushing guilt and a mesmerist (Boris Karloff) with mind-reading powers threaten to expose him.

This is one of those movies that has a great premise, but the execution is very underwhelming. The filmmakers waste a lot of time on the romantic antics of Mathias' pretty daughter and goofy comedy. It's like they were timid about leaning more into the gothic, distressing elements of this dark story and it makes the film drag.

Still, Barrymore is good, especially once he commits the murder and starts going all Telltale Heart. But the best thing in the movie is definitely Boris Karloff. He had been in movies since 1919 and it wouldn't be until Frankenstein in 1931 that he became a star. But it's safe to say, The Bells gives Karloff his first standout role.

Karloff's character doesn't show up a lot, but he is the biggest threat to Mathias' power. Though his Caligari cosplay is hilarious (for real, the filmmakers didn't even TRY to hide the Caligari influence), he has this creepy shit-eating grin that really leaves an impression.

Is Karloff enough to make this worth watching? Eh, I don't think so. There are far better silent thrillers you could be watching.

The Sorcerers (dir. Michael Reeves, 1967)

Elderly Professor Montserratt (Boris Karloff) and his wife Estelle (Catherine Lacey) use a mind control procedure on young stud Mike Roscoe (Ian Ogilvy). Able to experience everything he feels and to control his behavior if they wish, the two vicariously experience the thrills of Swinging London through their test subject. However, Estelle gets drunk on power and starts using Mike to engage in multiple crimes, including murder.

This movie was hyped to me, so maybe it's partially my fault I was so disappointed by the end result. With the exception of Estelle, the story lacks compelling characters. There's no sense of pathos to Mike's victimization and downfall because he's bland as hell and passive, a deadly combination if you want me to give a damn about your narrative.

Everything about this movie feels drab, both the visuals and the filmmaking itself. Big setpieces like the hypnotism scene or the telepathic motorcycle ride are supposed to be kinetic and exciting, but they just feel like the product of an enthusiastic amateur. I've seen low budget movies that have real personality and verve despite their lack of resources (see Blast of Silence), but The Sorcerers just feels cheap and uninspired in every way. I struggled to finish it even though it wasn't even an hour and a half long.

It's a shame because I like the central premise: two elderly people use this device to vicariously experience the fast life of swinging London. But it's done so poorly. It's hard to believe director Michael Reeves' next film would be the masterful Witchfinder General.

[vilonnie]

YAYYYY KONOE BOSS BATTLE COMPLETE party popper emoji

that was so fun!! the first phase was immensely funny though because the second time I hit him with that ray gun as soon as he started to stand up I hit him with the joker concentrate + freidyne combo. and then he started to stand up and I proc'd both joker and noirs pre charged showtimes in a row. and then he started to stand up and I hit him with an all out attack. and then he started to stand up and sophie and skulls showtimes both pinged in a row. and then he died. literally said out loud "get back down. fuck you" like three times it was so delightful I did not even care there was a second phase. no notes

I LOVE THE SECOND PHASE OF THIS BATTLE <33333 the bitch is so fast it's a lot different to all of the previous fights. except notably akane's cognitive joker fight which is very interesting for narrative reasons. but we'll get into that. anyway it was so fun not having the time to think and basically just spamming every button that appears on screen what a beautiful beautiful dance of baton passing every half a second <3

the building similarities between the monarchs and the thieves in this game are so important to me! one of my favorite things about the writing in the original p5 was how it chose to develop its themes through specifically posing a different challenge to your convictions with every arc, and I felt that strikers did something similar with the angles it introduced per monarch. ryuji and crow are obvious points of comparison (and yusuke and haru are too, though this is never mentioned because they are habitually underacknowledged by fans </3 rip), but I'm actually most invested in konoe's parallels with ren – I like the discussions around this which I have seen because konoe reminds me of the yaldabaoth bad ending, and I love the yaldabaoth bad ending. konoe is someone who believes his absolute interference is necessary to society, as ren does at his worst. but he also believes this primarily as a coping mechanism to keep him from feeling as helpless and *voiceless* as he did in the past, which is a key part or ren's motivations in order for this bad end to occur

and if ren was ever at risk of becoming konoe, then the phantom thieves were also at risk of becoming the same as the strikers monarchs. konoe specifically says he was exploiting them because they were powerless and traumatized, and without support to push them in a better direction, they became trapped, like desperate animals lashing out in a cave. there is not a single phantom thief whose arc in the original game does not involve battling against their own feelings of helplessness, and resolving to grow and change beyond the compliance that they look back on with shame. I think the inclusion of strikers and its monarchs is a helpful reminder that there are no natural "heroes" and "criminals" – there are only people who are imprisoned, and people who are free

that last part is taken from sophie's words distinguishing between what the phantom thieves actually do and who konoe is comparing them to, and I loved how clearly this defines the nature of the thieves' "justice." ultimately, the difference between joker and konoe is that joker believes in the people he is purportedly saving. the thieves don't exist to make decisions for the masses, but to inspire them to have courage, and to resist apathy in whatever form of rebellion is available to them – in ann's words, to be a light in the dark. power is meant to be given back to the people, not hoarded over their heads. on the other hand, konoe perceives himself as entirely alone and exceptional among everyone in the world, and trusts nobody's will but his own. what distortion are you removing from the hearts of those you change? are you not just warping their vision unnaturally? when the phantom thieves change the hearts of the monarchs, they are only removing konoe's influence and offering them a hand. that's the difference.

I loved yusukes little speech about how much he values the smaller decisions he gets to make in mundane everyday life. yusuke gets all the best little speeches in this game and that's because he is honestly top video game characters of all time. and of course I'm being lighthearted about it, but genuinely there is an obvious reason why yusuke of all characters needs to be the one speaking up here, because he knows precisely what it is like to grow up as a child with no agency in an abusive household, and therefore he can speak to what konoe has gone through – but also, to what he is putting others through in the present day. of course yusuke would value human choice that is at odds with power and capital. of course the question of autonomy would be important to him. he is yusuke kitagawa, after all

it is so obvious that wolf and shadow konoes designs were created to play off each other and it fucks. yeah it's really awesome sorry

[charmwasjess]

Yooooo! What if George had the plans for the Prequels down back in the 90s and Joruus C'Baoth was secretly a Count Dooku clone?

GEODE MY MAN! What's up??! I love this ask so much because it made me do the thing I like best: run down a rabbit hole that ends with me dragging out Lord of Misrule and re-reading Christopher Lee’s delightful, if vaguely bemused chapter on filming AotC.

So, Dooku’s origins: while I think Lucas had profound, interesting thoughts on Dooku’s character outside of his obvious tropism, I always thought he created the character predominantly FOR Christopher Lee and classic film villain homage. You know: Count Dooku/Count Dracula, the cape, the tastiness of having Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing in his original trilogy and needing a fitting cultural icon from that same golden generation for his new one... 

But in the memoir, Christopher Lee’s own account of getting the role kind of contradicts that? His agent - unsolicited by Lucas - suggested a meeting with the Star Wars casting director might be a good career move. Christopher Lee, agent, and casting person all had a very nice lunch and didn’t talk about Star Wars or Dooku at all. (AotC was already entirely scripted at this point.) That was it. A couple weeks later, Christopher Lee got a call saying he was Dooku, if he wanted to be. 

This is very, very funny to me because it implies that Christopher Lee’s Dooku audition was “having a nice lunch” and he nailed it so hard he got the job with absolutely no other follow up. It also seems to imply that Dooku was already written well before any association with Christopher Lee and any references were belatedly tacked on.

—This rambling is all probably missing the INTERESTING point you’re actually making: that Joruus C'Baoth predates Dooku’s invention and that he and Dooku share significant parallels. Star Wars is all too happy to cannibalize EU storylines, reiterate, and repeat. I’m sorry to say that I don’t know Joruus C'Baoth well enough to talk very articulately on the minute differences, aside from the wiki-level obvious similarities of them both being disillusioned white haired older human Jedi of similar generations and interests, who both were personal friends of Palpatine prior to their fall. Sidious seems to have been very interested in the flower of that Jedi generation and badly wanted one. Dooku’s Jedi friendgroup and peers seemed very attractive to him as a potential influences/points of attack in both Legends and Canon - Joruus C'Baoth, Dooku, Jocasta, Sifo-Dyas, and now even Rael all seemed to have some levels of exposure to him and potential influence, unwitting or not.

Is Joruus C'Baoth a proto-Dooku? To return to meta for a minute, this is something that came up a lot in the fandom between Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones because when Dooku was premiered ahead of Attack of the Clones, everyone was pretty pissed off about the character, for a number of reasons including

Great, after all the athletic glamor of the duel of the fates we’re going back to old man battles??!

Asajj Ventress’s concept art was floating around and people theorized the new Sith/villain would be a badass woman

We all thought Yoda was Qui-Gon’s Master for some reason that I can’t remember and we were mad about it being this new guy with a stupid name

But most importantly, because the central narrative thing in Dooku’s story is a Jedi who is corrupted and becomes a Sith, and we’re already doing that with Anakin. And, apparently, Joruus C'Baoth.

I'm not sure that accurately answers your question, but I sure did blow off an hour of boring work on it, so truly, thank you, friend. :D <3

[sscarletvenus]

Lookism JJK au, your thoughts?

HIIII VENVEN😁😁😁

also very disorganized and brief brainrot-esque parallels and thoughts about lookism x jjjk ahead (JUST FOR FUN. these are pixels and it's not that serious 😭) :

. yamazaki, kageroi, cheonliang are like the great clans. the provinces in south korea from where the four crews, allied, ansan public, etc. belong are like the various jujutsu tech schools.

. charles choi is a sorcerer who lives long enough to become a corrupt exploitative higher up.

. the workers orchestrate the culling games.

. gapryong as toji, geniuses, he who must not be named type character, dead in the first act, haunting the fuck out of the narrative, changing the trajectory of people's lives, phantom of the past and apparition of the future.

. gapryong also as toji because he is a broke deadbeat who is despised by his children!

. daniel park as yuuji itadori. little miss sunshine in a world full of horrors. being hunted for sport by those in power. the final piece in dismantling a corrupt system. emo boys estranged from their families are in love with them and would die for them. all they have ever loved keeps turning into stone. important familial ties that are the crux of their stories.

. jay as megumi fushiguro. deep suicidal ideation, has never won an idgaf war in the face of love, daddy ruined their life, sister genuinely cares but is ultimately powerless in reversing their fates, dripped TF out, actually very powerful, hated by their respective creators

. gun as gojo satoru. like the balance in the yakuza shifted after his birth. the power gun inherits is a burden to him but he also loves being the sole one to possess it.

. he and the world around him are separated by an impermeable barrier, the boundary between the weak and the strong. he enjoys enacting violence upon his enemies just for the thrill of fighting, just for the sake of knowing he is the strongest, and also since it is the only time he realises he exists as a real person. the strong existing on the pinnacle of a lonely mountain (throughout heaven and earth, i alone am the honored one)

. he has great, unparalleled power, but can hardly connect with others. he isn't treated as a teenager when he's young, and he's hardly seen as a mortal. he is treated with derision and resentment by almost everyone.

. gun as gojo also because of. eye horror. seeks a warrior's death as freedom and release from their solitude.

. jinyoung would probably be like choso. clear thinker who isn't very emotional until it involves their family. values family and brotherhood a lot. capable of cruelty and profound vengefulness, but also monstrous indifference towards what isn't important to them. is a parental figure toward a younger child whom they care a lot about.

. goo and kinji hakari. a very self-absorbed individual who doesn't confirm to societal morals and traditions. doesn't perceive isolation that comes from being powerful. doesn't suffer from loneliness. has a strong mindset and clear goals. living their best life. very questionable allies.

. also would love to parallel gun and goo with hakari and sukuna, respectively. hakari spares his opponents while sukuna destroys them. gun nurtures talents while goo uproots them.

. gitae is also like sukuna, if you think about it. selfish, cold-hearted, immoral, and exceptionally sadistic. has committed parricide. wants an younger relative dead. eyes with such lunacy, you will only see them in eastern european snuff films.

. james lee and kenjaku, because identity theft is a competition and they are winning. impossible to tell their real age. act as a perfect foil to the main character and their ideals. slay, but traumatizing.

. GETO AND JAKE. HEAR ME OUT. pleasepleaseplease. firstly because MOTHER. secondly, there is a certain darkness and fluidity about the way they're written.

. family-oriented and self-sacrificial. empathetic and charming. entire friend group in love with them. graceful and gentle. REEK OF YIN SYMBOLISM. unhealthy coping mechanisms to their respective situations, and have a tendency to isolate themselves. very insane psychotic mentally disturbed but those details are somehow ALWAYS overlooked and oversimplified. very gnc coded. a reason behind their downfall and unravelling is the existence of a very powerful man, and their damning association with said man. did i mention being irrevocably in love with their best friend?

. jake's big deal and suguru's cult.... hmmm... i feel like the possibility of all those possibilities being possible is just another possibility that can possibly happen!!! influential girlbosses that people folk to!

. samuel is so naoya-esque. obsessed with powerful men who don't know don't gaf about him. my fav delulu.

. mary as yuki!!!!! perhaps stronger than the one considered to be the strongest...

. ELI AS YUUTA-[i get dragged from the podium and thrown in quicksand]

. jichang being very very nanami coded not only because of the aesthetic but also because the impact of their death on the main character...

. VASCO AND TODO. literally the realest people around the main character (not elaborating further)

. vin and maki. their metamorphosis from a bug being trampled upon to venomous insects, catalyzed by the injustice and abuse suffered by the people closest to them, horrible family, physical appearance portrayed as an element of monstrosity,

. LMFAO JAY BEING INUMAKI TYPE OF CURSE USER IS A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY TOO

. johan and kashimo because of the nuclear hazard levels of crumpled receipt wet sock energy

. the shaman(shinmyung cheon) as naobita zenin. the REAL naoya would definitely be taejin!

. so that makes samuel higuruma. impeccable dilf divorced dad of three vibes radiated by these two.

. LUA IS SO VERY NOBARA CODED. YOU WON’T GET IT BUT I DO.

. jiho's presence in this au would be like riko's or junpei's. definitely not comparing him to riko. NEVER. just the way his existence wreaks irreversible damage to the main characters. also the transformation into a monster bit for junpei??? THAT'S juvie jiho. jake takes his darkness as a catalyst for hate and revenge. he toys with jiho and feeds his hatred... he doesn't complete his metamorphosis quite because jiho is weak, and that's his tragedy!!!

. this is so badly written im ctfu but if you read up to this point thank you!!!! much appreciated