#(i'm not very good with subliminal messages you see...)

[hermajestyimher]

Hello <3

I am currently 20, in the process of enhancing every aspect of my life so I would really appreciate if you could generously list your resources for self-improvement in general.

And one more question, how to make people take me more seriously? I am quite the youngest member in my family and everyone have always been so over-protective of me that they always see me as this little girl even though I am almost a grown woman lol.

Thanks!

Thanks for your question. I commend you for wanting to invest in yourself and self-improvement.

The resources I use to shape my mindset toward success are a mixture of books, podcasts, subliminals, and direct revelation from God. I'll break these parts down for you:

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Books:

There are a lot of books out that deal with the topic of self-improvement and you are almost guaranteed to find some that will be able to help you in whichever area of your life you wish to get better at. The key, when it comes to these books, is that you have to find ones that you know you can action realistically in your life. Theory can be energizing and inspirational, but it is ultimately futile if you are unable to put the gained knowledge into reality.

You must seek books that are practical in their way of describing how to succeed in whatever subject they touch upon and focus exclusively on that specific book so that you may action its commands and see real results in your life.

I'll give you 5 books that I've used throughout the year that have helped me mold my character in meaningful and practical ways:

She Comes First, by Brian Nox.

Can't Hurt Me, by David Goggins.

The Alter Ego Effect, by Todd Herman.

Stop People Pleasing, by Patrick King.

Fabulosity, by Kimora Lee Simmons.

Podcasts:

Podcasts are a good way of keeping your mind "fed" constantly with content and knowledge from others. I use them not just for knowledge, but also for entertainment. I enjoy podcasts that deal with politics, human psychology and behavior, societal phenomena, travel and culture, business, success life stories, and even some niche topics of interest.

Whatever podcasts you choose to listen to will be a very personal choice. My rule of thumb is to not waste time listening to someone just because they seem authoritative in the field of self-improvement if the messages they are putting forward do not resonate with you. It's ok to be picky with this type of content.

Subliminals:

This is something that I've never touched upon before directly on my blog, but it is something that I've been digging into a lot lately and I've found has been positively impacting my life.

Subliminals are audio messages that we play in the background while we do other activities. The concept behind them is that our subconscious mind can pick up and internalize the messages being played and therefore can help in reprogramming our own internal self-concept and beliefs. It can help you manifest things because you genuinely believe that they are possible for you, rather than pretending.

Subliminals are extremely powerful because if utilized correctly they can help you shape your entire personality and perception of yourself towards one that is more self-loving, positive, and confident. It can help us erase the damage of harmful things we've internalized throughout the years and replace them with thoughts that are working in our favor.

If you or anyone else from the blog would like for me to dive deeper into this subject and share some of the subliminal that have helped me (including my own creations), please let me know!

God:

This part is simply all about having communion with God. I've found out that in the periods that I'm away from him and that I do not take our relationship seriously, I become an easier target for spiritual attacks and also less in tune with my spiritual gifts. It's hard to hear from him when my spiritual life is filled with so much baggage that does not come from him. And whether you are aware of it, everything around us is spiritual in one way or another: the music that we listen to, the people we spend time with, the places we live, the content we consume, the things we allow others to speak into our lives, etc.

It's important that I read my Bible, pray, and worship without ceasing. God purifies our spirits and removes bondages this way. He gives us a renewed mind full of discernment and peace. We can hear from him more clearly and be led through a path of prosperity.

This is something that I need to get back on with him, as I have fallen off throughout the years. But understanding that you do not have to make life alone and that investing in your spiritual life can only tenfold your riches in the physical realm is crucial for us to live a life of purpose and success.

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I hope this list was helpful, and if you or other people would like to delve deeper into any of these or other subjects, please let me know.

[nitrateglow]

Spooky Season 2024: 12-22

Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (dir. Richard Friedman, 1989)

The opening of the new mall is hampered by one thing: a Phantom hiding in the air vents, and committing robbery and murder. It turns out this Phantom is really a teenager named Eric (Derek Rydall) disfigured in a fire set by the mall's developers to clear out any remaining houses impeding their dreams of commercial development. Now, Eric plans on having his revenge and watching over his girlfriend Melody (Kari Whitman), now an employee of the mall. But what will he make of her burgeoning romance with a journalist?

Talk about pure '80s cheese. This film feels like it was made to capitalize on the slasher cycle and the popularity of the Andrew Lloyd Weber Phantom of the Opera megamusical. It's not a particularly good movie, but it is dumb fun. I love how this Phantom makes free use of the goods available in the stores and how he spams his spin kick attack like he's in a video game.

Also, Pauly Shore is in this. He has a great scene talking about subliminal messaging in department stores, but is otherwise the usual Pauly Shore.

Hangover Square (dir. John Brahm, 1945)

Musician George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar) is disturbed by long sessions in which he blacks out. He fears he may be committing murder, but is reassured by the police when he goes to them that isn't likely. Detective Dr. Allen Middleton (George Saunders) advises the overworked George take a break from composing. George does so by going to a pub where he meets the lovely Netta Longdon (Linda Darnell), a music hall entertainer who dreams of fame. George and Netta enter into a toxic relationship in which she uses him to advance her career while seeing other men on the side. When George discovers her treachery, his blackouts return-- this time in a far more violent form.

I'm starting to become fascinated by John Brahm, a director best remembered for his moody, macabre dramas in the 1940s. Hangover Square was his second and final collaboration with the talented but doomed Laird Cregar, who died two months before the film was released. It's as much a noir as a horror picture, drenched in that chiaroscuro lighting and urban dread so common to the classic cycle.

Cregar is astonishing in the lead role. Though handsome, he was a bigger man, so Hollywood refused to allow him to transition into leading man parts. He is marvelous here, passionate and sensitive, yet also sinister once his jealous rage takes over. I've seen Cregar in multiple films and he was truly fantastic, able to be comic as well as dramatic. Hollywood didn't deserve him.

Lastly, Linda Darnell's character sings this really catchy song when Cregar first sees her. I saw this film weeks ago but it is STILL STUCK IN MY HEAD.

The Sealed Room (dir. DW Griffith, 1909)

In some nondescript time period (everyone's dressed like it's either the early 18th century or the middle ages), a king (Arthur V. Johnson) learns his mistress (Marion Leonard) is smooching with a musician (Henry B. Walthall). Jealous to the point of rage, he has the couple sealed in a small room where they suffocate to death.

The Sealed Room is a gem from the nickelodeon era, though I admit my liking for it comes from how extra all the performances are, even by the standards of the early silent period.

It also has one of my favorite instances of what I like to call "silent film logic"-- that is, scenes featuring action that would be very loud in real life, but in a silent film, you may not think about it as much. Here, the king has the lovers walled up alive in a small room, where they lounge unaware. And yet, there's workers slapping up a brick wall not ten feet away from them! It's very amusing.

Frankenhooker (dir. Frank Henenlotter, 1990)

When his girlfriend Elizabeth (Patty Mullen) gets hacked to death by an automatic lawnmower he built, medical student Jeffrey (James Lorinz) decides to resurrect her by killing sex workers for their shapely body parts then sewing Elizabeth's severed head on top. He does this by having his victims smoke explosive crack.

No, I'm not making this up.

I first heard about Frankenhooker from James Rolfe of Angry Video Game Nerd fame. It sounded so insane that I knew I had to watch it. It's-- well, it's definitely a bizarre movie with lots of crude humor and pitch black jokes.

Would you believe me if I said it was kind of an unsung feminist work? I definitely did not expect THAT angle coming in, but that messaging is definitely there. Jeffrey is a villain-protagonist through and through, even before he starts committing murder. We learn he was already demanding Elizabeth modify her appearance to suit his tastes before she got killed. He views women as more a collection of body parts than proper people. However, his misogyny does catch up with him in the end and his fate at the resurrected Elizabeth's hands is the very definition of irony. I don't want to spoil it.

It's definitely not for everyone, but if you have a sick sense of humor and some friends that share that humor, you'll have a good time.

Friday the 13th: Part 2 (dir. Steve Miner, 1981)

A summer camp close to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is about to open. Little do the young, horny counselors know, Jason (Warrington Gillette and Steve Daskewicz)-- the boy that allegedly drowned long ago-- is still alive and he's mad his mama got decapitated in the previous film. Lots of people die.

I confess I have a hard time getting into these Friday the 13th films. I've read it took a few entries for the series to find its footing as gloriously dumb schlock, but the first one and this sequel were mostly boring for me. About all I liked was the last twenty minutes, when the heroine's background in child psychology comes into play. Otherwise, this gets a big meh from me. Not horrible, but nothing I can imagine I'll ever rewatch.

Corridor of Mirrors (dir. Terence Young, 1948)

A party girl (Edana Romney) becomes involved with a Renaissance era-obessed artist (Eric Portman). Their fetishistic relationship leads to heartbreak and murder.

Already discussed this one is great detail at my Wordpress blog. It's a great romantic thriller in the vein of Vertigo and Rebecca.

The Old Dark House (dir. James Whale, 1932)

During a thunderstorm, a group of unwary British travelers are marooned at the crumbling mansion of the Femm family, a collection of eccentrics who may be insane. Everything goes wrong: the hulking butler gets drunk and preys on the women visitors, the area may flood, the lights go out, and there may be a homicidal maniac imprisoned in one of the rooms upstairs. Will anyone survive the night?

I have raved about this film for a long time now. It's truly a favorite of mine in general, not just for the Halloween season. Both witty and chilling, it's an atmospheric masterpiece. The damp and mold are palpable.

What fascinates me most is the Femm family itself and the gaps in their backstory. This is one movie where I feel like there's a Tolstoyan novel's worth of drama with the Femms. It's hinted that the 102-year-old patriarch of the house (played in drag by actress Elspeth Dudgeon) used to host orgies there. The death of the seductive sister Rebecca at the age of 21 may or may not have been due to inter-family foul play. Morgan the butler has a close, even weirdly tender relationship with the homicidally insane brother Saul, suggesting a myriad of possible connections between them. It's very interesting-- I like that the movie doesn't fill in all the blanks.

A Game of Death (dir. Robert Wise, 1945)

Don Rainsford (John Loder), big game hunter extraordinaire, finds himself shipwrecked on a mysterious island. The owner is Erich Kriegler (Edgar Barrier), an urbane German who also enjoys hunting, though with a slight difference-- he likes hunting humans. Teaming up with other shipwreck survivors Ellen (Audrey Long) and Robert (Russell Wade), Don tries finding a way to escape before they become Kriegler's next wall trophies.

This movie is a pallid, watered down, shot-for-shot remake of The Most Dangerous Game, one of the crown jewels of 1930s horror, so of course, I am not fond of it. And yet, I rewatch it every few years, so it must have something going for it. So instead of tearing into it as I normally do, I'll list a few things I think are actually good about it:

I like that the main character initially tries tricking Kriegler into thinking he will hunt people with him. Very pro-active.

I think Kriegler is a good villain. Not as memorably deranged and campy as Leslie Banks' Zaroff in the original film, but chilling in a more low-key way. His "the strong deserve to prey upon the weak" philosophy fits in nicely with Nazi ideologies-- no doubt what this wartime horror flick intended.

Um... I think Audrey Long is really pretty. I like her flow-y outfits.

... Yeah, that's it.

The Most Dangerous Game (dir. Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, 1932)

All-American big game hunter Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) is shipwrecked on the unlisted island of Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), a Russian aristocrat and master sportsman who claims he now hunts "the most dangerous game" of all. Being a himbo, it takes Bob a while before he realizes that game is human beings. Unwilling to hunt alongside Zaroff when given the offer, Rainsford and fellow prisoner Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) wage a game with Zaroff: let loose into the island's thick jungle, if they survive the night without Zaroff or the terrain killing them, they'll go free. If not, Rainsford dies and Eve will become a rather different kind of quarry for the evil count.

Now, here's my favorite "hunter hunts people" movie! While "The Most Dangerous Game" has been adapted and ripped off multiple times for a century, the original is still hard to beat. The castle set drips with gothic grandeur. The jungle soundstage is thick and suffocating, and once the chase intensifies, it becomes like something out of a nightmare.

I actually think the climactic hunt is among the greatest sequences in all cinema. The editing is so dynamic and the images are brilliant. And when you consider this is still an early talkie, when films were still trying to rediscover their footing after silent cinema came to an end, it becomes even more remarkable.

Going on Letterboxd, I was shocked to find a lot of people on there have mixed to negative opinions about this movie, largely because they think it's too over the top and that it's messaging is too on the nose.

I mean-- yes, these things are true, but I don't see them as flaws. It probably helps that I love camp and melodrama, and am not ashamed to admit it. And regardless of the fervent camp on display, I still think the trophy room scene is creepy and the chase is super intense. I have probably seen this movie close to a hundred times and yet, the chase still has me shouting at the TV, willing the characters to run faster. That's damn fine filmmaking.

The Haunting (dir. Robert Wise, 1963)

A researcher of the paranormal brings a motley crew of ordinary people into the allegedly haunted Hill House. Both potential ghosts and the neuroses of the visitors bring on sinister events and ultimately tragedy.

I love this movie more and more. I already wrote a bit about my reaction this time around, though since then, I started rereading the source novel, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Obviously, the book delves more deeply into Eleanor's psyche, but the film does a fantastic job of this as well. Given film is a visual medium, it can be a challenge to depict a character's interior state without delving into expressionism and this film does that well.

The Phantom of the Opera (dir. Terence Fisher, 1962)

Aspiring songstress Christine Charles (Heather Sears) and producer Harry Hunter (Edward de Souza) are drawn into a mystery at the London Opera House. A phantom is sabotaging any attempt to produce Joan of Arc: A Tragedy, a show allegedly written by the cold, snobby, rapey Lord Ambrose (Michael Gough). After some investigating, it turns out the Phantom (Herbert Lom) was once the meek-mannered Professor Petrie, whose music was stolen by Ambrose. Now, he wants only to see his opera done justice and only Christine's voice can make that happen.

I am very fond of this version of The Phantom of the Opera even though I think it has a myriad of dramatic flaws. Let's get the flaws out the way first. I think the film is a bit repetitive in retelling us Petrie's story over and over, at first through onscreen description and then through filmed depiction. I also think the ending is anti-climactic, like the writers didn't want to go the usual route of making the Phantom a homicidal maniac but they weren't sure how to make a properly dramatic finish without that characterization.

That out the way, this is a unique, even refreshing retelling in many ways. The Phantom/Christine relationship is no longer one of unrequited love-- in fact, Petrie seems wholly uninterested in romance or sex at all. He views Christine and himself as victims of the truly despicable Lord Ambrose: Petrie had his music stolen and Christine was sexually harrassed. Therefore, it is up to the two of them to wrest the opera back from Amrbose's influence and make it the production Petrie wanted. Petrie is one hard taskmaster. He is relentless in training Christine and at one point throws filthy sewer-water in her face when she faints.

But the Phantom is hardly an out and out villain here. He doesn't even kill people-- he has a convenient hunchbacked assistant to do that. No, the real baddie is Ambrose, among the nastiest villains in the Hammer canon. Ambrose never even kills anyone, yet he makes the blood boil with his wanton cruelty. Michael Gough (who I always remember best as Alfred in the Tim Burton Batman movies, as well as Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) is so good at being bad.

This version of POTO also has my favorite version of the Phantom's compositions. Usually, he writes a "burning" piece called Don Juan Triumphant, fitting his romantic obsession with Christine. Here, Petrie writes an opera about Joan of Arc, a virginal saint persecuted by powerful men-- a fitting subject for Petrie given his own persecution by an aristocrat. Joan's aria "I Hear Your Voice" is gorgeous and always brings me to tears, it's that beautiful.

Not a perfect film, but still a very good one.

[mysteryanimator]

Animatic Breakdown/storyboard rambles

You can watch it here :D

I know it is super silly but I really like geeking out about media analysis and it's a good wind-down for me since this did somewhat take some creative juice. Also, it acts to look over and kinda reflect over on how to improve stuff!

The breakdown will be slightly of order so I can be more concise with drawing toward specific parallels because there's a bit!

Right off the bat, I had initially planned about 20 seconds for this animatic. It did jump to 2 minutes due to an additional story I thought would strengthen it- but this meant what I wanted to show all had to count. So with that in mind:

This framing was really important for me to hammer into your face. To point out, every time this framing occurs, Mizrak is boxed and trapped in by some external force- until that last frame with his boots, to which his body has control of the frame. I might've gone overboard though I'm not entirely sure HAHAHA.

Even the cameos I wanted to make sure had some intentionality because these people were nice enough to give in ref pics and were interested in it!

You might be wondering "what on earth wdym intentionality with cameos?" Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, aka frequency bias/frequency illusion was something I really really wanted to play around with super briefly. Which funnily enough, the people who happened to ask, were able to fall into the concept I wanted to play with.

Mizrak's hair is curly. Mizrak's hair is also cropped- by this point I had to bring in an oc to vaguely resemble Olrox to continue that subliminal messaging that Mizrak is genuinely plagued by the thoughts of him and Olrox. While verbally or even mentally, he never acknowledges it- his thoughts are omnipresent. No one is a replica of Mizrak and Olrox, they just make your head turn, and make you think.

Which also, you could argue then that MONK BLUE falls into the frequency illusion because he does end up accidentally adopting the features of Olrox when simplified. I noticed that from the very start and I almost took him out because of the similarities before deciding to just keep him LOL. I still think it's really funny this ONE BACKGROUND CHARACTER has screen time just because he stood next to him and I decided he was going to be the one most suspicious of Mizrak.

(Briefly, I'll mention, MONK RED, is an old OC, he is the head guard in some fantasy world I made up and that's the only reason he's here HAHAH)

This is where I introduce the held shot, and it happens in other shots so bear with me here and it'll make sense, hopefully! So these shots hold for an awkwardly long time. While music does mask how long it is, Mizrak is just standing there. Thinking. Even when he's the main focus he's still. We know he's thinking but he's choosing not to verbalise a single thought- and when he does, we know there's so much more to it than what he says.

This shot was very intentional because this is the last time you will see Mizrak's face unobscured for this animatic. This is one of the reasons why this animatic jumped from 20 seconds to 2 minutes. I wanted the lack of his face (especially his eyes) to leave an impact.

Also, its a hint to "we as an audience will be blocked from seeing Mizrak's personal thoughts, and if we ever do get a glimpse we will be forcibly be shut out as soon as possible"

SO, eyes are an important thing I decided to run with here! Close-ups of Mizrak's eyes are only shown twice. Once near the beginning and secondly near the end. Even then it's a side profile under different lighting condition and different expressions.

Which you might be asking "why is the only frame of Olrox below Mizrak???" In a close up of Mizrak's face, the most detailed thing in it is his eyes, therefore naturally we draw our focus towards it. He's already looking down, which means our eyes will follow to where Mizrak is looking at. This meant putting Olrox where our eyes would naturally land. Olrox looking back up would allow for the eye to go back to the original spot so when I abruptly cut to Mizrak's mouth, it's not too much of a headache.

... I hope that made sense, if not, here's it in gif format!

Like that :D

Also since it is just an extreme close-up, it allows for an open interpretation of this glimpse of Olrox. What is happening here ??? I don't know you tell me :)))) Why is Olrox looking up like that :))))) Sometimes if you leave it to the imagination, the audience is just forced to wonder what happened. I'm not letting you into their most vulnerable deepest moment lol, that's all I'm giving you. Though also I wanted the audience to feel like they were shunted out because it gives the sense of "WE WERE GOING TO GET MORE BUT THESE MONKS DECIDED WALK IN"

SO Mizrak's mouth is important because he barely says a thing.

Also I like to find different ways to portray interactions, specifically reactions to dialogue- so for here I wanted Mizrak's restraint to be a huge focus. Silence and stillness in video and audio formats are very powerful in storytelling. Also also if I were to animate this, I won't though, I am absolutely finding a way to avoid animating little sections so more important sections get prioritized, say if I were to animate a action fight scene LOL. Therefore I personally lean heavily into composition and framing to do my storytelling rather than the choreography of moves. (However that is not to say framing and choreography cannot be mixed, they are an ungodly combo when mixed, I'm not very strong in mixing those yet)

This top down shottttt. I do this a lot in my boards LMAO, it personally conveys a lot for me and it feels like we're an audience perched up in a corner just watching something unfold. Like unseen observers. It also in turn just ends up making the characters in a weaker vulnerable situation. Especially here. I wanted Mizrak to feel absolutely corned, backed into a wall. Not only by characters but by the building too.

Though I'm like 100% sure there are different ways I can iterate on this top-down view I need to find a new dynamic angle to latch onto HAHAHA.

Which to note MONK RED always has his arms crossed, he's not prepared to attack, while MONK BLUE is always resting his hand on the sword from the get-go. Hopefully, this establishes what their dynamic is towards Mizrak from the start without knowing who they are beforehand.

Also yes the shadows are fangs and very subtly a tongue that was super intentional to make fun of the line MONK RED says. It made me lean heavily more into having shadows matter more. So yes, characters are backlit very intentionally. Faces being half shrouded in shadow? Also very intentional.

Yes, it was intentional that a shot of Mizrak's mouth goes to a shot where the shadow makes a mouth shape.

I knew I had to have this shot here, just to make Mizrak's silence so much more obvious to the point it's borderline violent. I think this framing is really cool and it does have the sword show up to continue giving the sense of being prepared to stab someone in the back. Also, this is a slightly high angle. If there was a camera here, it would be slightly tilted up, making the threat more imposing.

So this is the second reason to why my original storyboard jumped from 20 seconds to 2 minutes- I wanted to subvert the original the border frame I was going for because by this point I think subconsciously you can feel it already. I wanted Mizrak's answer to be really odd and let that weight carry on far longer than it should to make the audience go "...huh what was that answer???" and start questioning Mizrak too (hopefully). I wanted him to go around the question, both in a verbal manner and physically having him walk around the characters instead of through them.

The rest of the boards that follow after have all the characters off to the side because something is off. Therefore I wanted the balance of the scenes that follow to be off-center. Even if visually they are balanced for a second, it doesn't last long at all. I wanted people to hopefully feel the shift from the pre-inquiry about why Mizrak was late and post-inquiry.

I think I could've been a lot stronger with the 'off' sense, but also I didn't want to push it too far because I didn't want alarm bells- I just wanted to plant seeds of doubt to fester.

Originally this board was going to be super comedic- but I went with a different route, but it still kinda smuggled itself into a few places!

I wanted the swords to be fully shown, it was really important to me it was in the shot. Yes, that includes Mizrak's dagger. I wanted to just hang over the sense of danger, the ability to just start attacking each other once again, but instead, they're stalking each other like prey.

SIDE TANGENT- all the monks have their swords on the left while Mizrak has his kilij (specific sword he has) on the right. He stands out massively design-wise from all the other monks so I wanted to hopefully have that be really prominent here too, since right now, he's the odd one out in this interaction.

So here, the camera is dragging off the characters, which I hoped to allude that MONK BLUE is not listening at all despite looking at him. We as the audience are the camera, so by forcibly dragging the camera off MONK RED, I am trying to drag the attention off him so we get into the mindset of MONK BLUE.

Also this line, I wanted to jab at Mizrak and I wanted from the get-go to make everyone uneasy. Also also just from ten billion watches of Nocturne, I noticed that Mizrak has a lot of 'guard dog' allusions, so I wanted to throw that here. Especially since the rest of the panels have just been of Mizrak's jaw.

I wanted to experiment with something slightly comedic and I also wanted the feeling of being unwilling dragged back into a conversation we shouldn't be having. I played around with it being a shoe shot, a sword shot because I wasn't to particularly fond of doing ANOTHER face shot- but I wanted to save those other shots for later, also I think it kind of played into it having cut to MONK RED and just having MONK BLUE not following at ALL.

Despite being chewed out by his fellow monk, he still holds a massive presence on the screen in a literal sense, unwavering. Mizrak is just STANDING there until he inveitentivately cracks and says something. He's holding himself back, which I was trying to hark on his behaviors from episode 04 with Olrox.

Ok yipee this frame- so every single time this pole pillar frame thing occurs- its always outside of Mizrak's control. He is now in control of it, to a point where even the camera follows his walk. Also audio-wise it connects back to the beginning with the bell :D because this frame motif was there from the very start.

Also not at me finding myself drawing shoes so much more often now, free me HAHAHA

Oh my god, it's the sword again. Except this time I make it really obvious to pair it with the dialogue. Like I wanted to whack you with that pairing and be very explicit in the message I wanted to portray. Also in the back of my mind, this was a "this foreshadows episode 08" HAHAHAH

Fun fact, this was timed to Granite from Sleep Token originally, then I played around with Playing with God, which my opinion made it more intensive. I ended up with Classical Dragon from Marcin and Tim Henson but I'm not too fond of that either BUT i do not want to have this infest my mind because there's something else I want to go board for fun.

Ok now done HAHAH, hope you enjoyed this longgggg breakdown- this was honestly me trying to get more comfortable with Storyboard pro and also the idea of the monks being suspicious of Mizrak kept lingering in my mind. I look back on these boards and i know i could improve on these a lotttttttttttt BUT hey I'm now a lot more intentional with my choices than say a few months ago AND I have a lot more variety in shots and angles yipee :D

[verosvault]

🚨SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 7🚨

Dimension20 "Fantasy High Junior Year"

Episode 7 "Stress Tested"

Timestamp: 00:20:30

Video Length: 4min. & 37sec.

The Salsa Jump (‣Pt. 1 | Pt. 2)

Murph: "Does anyone have like a detect magic or something? Make sure this food isn't like charming people or something."

Siobhan: "Ooo, good idea. Yeah, I'll cast Detect Magic as a ritual."

Riz: "People are after us, everyone!"

Kristen: "You're so smart."

Emily: "I think it's a really good thing that you're thinking."

Ally: "Am I still in like a kinda cowboy suit? I'm still in the Wranglers and the dress shirt?" 😂😂💀💀

XD BRENNAN'S FACE! 😂🤣💀

Brennan: "You must simply tell me what you are wearing."

Ally: "Am I?"

Brennan: "How would I know?! I've never had control over that before!" 😂🤣💀

Murph: "Brennan has never said 'Wranglers' on this show!" 😭😭✋✋

Fig: "I'm just saying, Kristen, if you took that cowboy hat-

Siobhan to Ally: "Since when were you wearing Wranglers?"

Ally: "This happened last episode!

Murph: "It did last episode." 😂😂💀💀

Ally: "This happened last episode!"

Fig: "If you took that cowboy hat, filled it up with salsa, let people dip."

Riz: "Let's do that."

Kristen loves the idea and agrees to do it! 😂🤣💀

Kristen: "All right. All right, guys. All right, pour the salsa in. I'm ready."

Murph: "Wait, let's first Detect Magic."

Ally: "Oh, right, right, right."

Murph: "Let's not get charmed. Let's find out if Gorgug is charmed"

Kristen: "Oh, wait, Gorgug. You might be charmed. Let's find out. Can we do this?"

Siobhan: "Yeah."

Ally: "Okay, we go outside to all the food and we each grab a different thing and can we cast?"

Brennan: "Yeah, and you cast Detect Magic on everything."

Siobhan: "Yeah."

Brennan: "You detect faint magic coming from gear that Kipperlilly and Mary Ann have, similar to what you guys have. You detect magic within the food trucks. That seems all very minor artificer stuff, that's like magical chafing dishes or some like Prestidigitations that are effectively like seasonings and stuff like that. Looking at the food, I don't think you see anything, but I think if you are doing Detect Magic, I'm gonna say give me an investigation with advantage from your Detect Magic."

Adaine gets a 14! 😁

Brennan: "I think you're looking very close at the food, and you just noticed that all of the trucks have the same graphic design on it, even though they're all different businesses, for the wax paper in the little baskets or whatever's in the tinfoil. And as you're looking at it, it looks like a company. And on a 14, I think you see the word, sort of over and over, the logo of whatever the wax paper is. It just says, 'Okay,' with a little green check mark in the 'O.'

Siobhan: "Okay, so that's maybe...the K stands for Copperkettle?"

Brennan: "I think on that, on a 14, as you Siobhan say that, you see that the O and K of Okay, and the faded green check mark in the O, it's a bubble next to the letter K. So there's some kind of subliminal-"

Emily: "Oh, like vote, like choose on the ballot."

Brennan: "Mm-hmm."

Emily: "Okay. That's fine."

Ally: "It's fine."

Emily: "It's just subliminal messaging."

Kristen: "Would you guys back me up if I go say hi to her and try to like, kinda-"

Fig: "Yeah, totally."

Adaine: "Yeah, shake her hand."

Kristen: "Yeah. Rough her up a little."

Ally: "Can I go up and get some enchiladas, and then go say hi to her?"

Brennan: "Yeah, absolutely."

Kristen: "Can you guys fill my hat with salsa?"

Lou: "Are we sure we wanna run that bit?"

Gorgug: *pouring salsa onto Kristen's hat* 😭✋

Ally: "We don't have to."

Kristen: "Okay. Okay."

Siobhan: "Salsa is such a wet food to eat."

Fig: "Oh, no, it's dripping."

Kristen: "It's so heavy. It's so heavy."

Riz: "That is so thick."

Oh gosh! 😭✋

Kristen: "Can you hand me..."

Fabian: "You're so muscular now."

Kristen: "Can you hand me the enchiladas?"

Fig: "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Kristen: "Do I look good?"

Riz: "You look really good."

Adaine: "You look really cool."

Gorgug: "The last one's mild."

Kristen: "Would you hold a big bowl of chips so she can dip it in? I think that would be a power move if she'll do it."

Fig: "I'll tilt it toward her."

Ally: "We walk up to her."

Kristen: "Hey... Girlie."

Brennan: "She has the bullhorn up and she says,"

Kipperlilly: "Hi, Kristen. How are you?"

Kristen: "Hey, I'm doing great. This is awesome."

Kipperlilly: "You're covered in salsa."

Kristen: "No, no, no."

Riz: "The hat's covered in salsa."

Kristen: "It's a bowl. It's like kind of a dip."

Emily: "I dip one to give her the idea of how it works."

Kristen: "So that's how it works, milady." *tilts salsa hat towards Kipperlilly*

the awesome caption and sound effects team: (salsa sloshing)

Adaine: "Wow, so random. So cool, Kristen."

Kristen: "Thank you."

Adaine: "You got my vote for sure."

Kristen: "This is awesome. How'd you put all this on?"

Kipperlilly: "Oh, this? This is nothing. This is just, like, I don't know, it's like a fun little thing. I mean, I heard that you guys had an amazing party on Saturday."

Kristen: "I thought I saw you there."

Kipperlilly: "You did? I wasn't able to make it. I was studying."

Kristen: "Oh, dang."

Emily: "Insight! Insight!"

Adaine: "How come you were studying? You don't have anything to study."

Emily: "Come on!"

Adaine: "You already passed this whole year."

Fig gets a 21 insight on Kipperlilly!

Brennan: "I'm not even gonna say that you think she's telling the truth. I think what you see is a ****ing polished steel orb of a personality."

Emily: "Okay."

Siobhan: "Terrifying."

Kipperlilly: "Yeah, home studying. You know, I'm sure you know how it is." *looks at Riz*

Riz: *nods* 💀

Murph's face during the head nod! 😂🤣💀 He thinks Kipperlilly is SO SUS (CAUSE SHE IS)! 😂🤣😭💀✋

[halevren]

FHJY Spoilers || my live thoughts as I watch episode 7

this may take me longer than usual because I have hurt my hand so it's wrapped up rn and it makes it hard to type 🫡

TTTTAKING OVER TEENAGE REBELLION

I miss ayda aguefort i hope she shows up in this episode.

pitch perfect 2 mention! I used to be so into music related movies

So much happened last episode, this recap is so long

I am not a fan of Grix.

AGENT CLARK...

Two Kristen's again

OH NO

ADAINE COMING IN WITH THE SAVE

"Pretty fun to commit fraud"

"That was sophomore year, I'm cool now"

Body rolling I love body rolling it's so fun to just vibe

Mandatory drug test????

Bard class cool as hell

GRIX NETTED DURDEN?

Rip Gorgug he fell on the stairs

"Did she cast a spell on you " "I mean, in a sense..."

Littledoggy Girlcollar

they should investigate definitely

"If we all do drugs, they can't expell all of us."

Riz trying so hard to keep Fig from being expelles

shrimp burrito

Gorgug not being a fan of Mary Ann is very interesting to me and very reasonable.

"I think it's a really good thing you're thinking."

kipperlitty is subliminally messaging people with the food?!?!?!?!?

I can't wait to see the fan art that comes out of this episode

"Hey.... Girlie"

THE SILENCE

"Did you hear? She passed." KRISTEN EHEHEJWKEHBEE

OHHH KIPPERLILLY. THAT WAS SHADY. YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SAY IT SO LOUD. I ABSOLUTELY KNOW YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE

KRISTEN KRISTEN KIRSTEN KRISTEN KRISTEN

"Hey do we need to lock it in" yeah probably

Max Durden is probably my second favorite npc

"Everyone has to have a least favorite friend, it's fine" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fabian running a study hall is so cool

This downtime sounds fun

SPECIAL THING IS GOING TO HAPPEN IF GORGUG GETS NAT 20????????

Riz "The Ball" Gukgak

SERVER AT BASRAR'S!!!!!!

Aewlyn mention 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

SHE GOT THE JOB

"Nice new shirt, did you buy it underground?"

The stress tokens are actually making me real life stressed

GORGUG NAT 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SECOND GORGUG NAT 20!!!!!!!!

"It might be more stable than mine"

i miss Cassandra I hope she's okay

The shrimp jump. WAS a miracle

let's go Cassandra!

Fig paladin of Cassandra??????????????

Oh my god is Fig Multiclassing

oh my god wait craig he's still around

"it's like animal piss but in a good way"

"Kristen, your adult man is being weird"

"You'd be a nasty as paladin?"

"I don't want to harsh your vibe"

"Everyone has to lick me"

oh no he's a noodler

DETECTIVE BABY

gorgug has tunnel vision

Gorgug is literally so stressed

"I SUCK, YOU RULE"

the rage!

Fabian is such a loser when it comes to talking with girls

This is so painful, Fabian needs something. I don't know what but God he need something

THIRTY TWO????

Fabian stress token

Walking store Adaine

ya hoo

av class 🔥🔥🔥

i need art of fishing club Riz just goin' fishing

NAT ONE THAT BECOMES A 10

Gorgug & Riz joint birthday party!!!!

17 having a ice cream party sounds absolutely lit

SELF INSERT PC CLARK

Gorbag and Roz!!!

goodbye lucilla she's gone to the skies

"I think you're being weird here"

oh my god fig

Fig is having a strange day

"Why can't I tell him he's weird"

A YOGURT YEAR

"Haha! Counterspell! ♪"

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

oh my god Brennan said teenage rebellion.... just like... just like the song teenage rebellion... T-T-T-TAKING OVER TEENAGE REBELLION IT'S OUT TIME IT'S OUR YEAR—

"Can I take a stress for Kristen"

Riz is the only character allowed to take a stress for another person

popular kid Kristen!!!!

"Anyone who think he's cool" me too I fall in love with everyone who thinks I'm cool

alter emo hauntings a kid's dreams

"Not All Who Wanda Are Lost" single released on all listening platforms. 1 mil listens in a week

oh no...... this is going to be awful and awkward.

ohhhhhh....... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... Fabian.......... This is painful........

Ivy is catching these hands, leave my girl Mazey alone

"You missed your shot, playboy" no he has a call with his bank

Riz is at his conspiracy board

Something does feel off about grix

Everyone has a stress token

"Go roll me a corrupted bardic"

Even I'm grieving Lucy, she sounds lovely...

oh there's something deep going on with lucy

"It's the boss, baby"

Murph has figured it OUT

The epic music

This stress system is making me STRESSED

I relate to the stress causing antisocial things

LYDIA!!!!!!!!!

ohhhhhh goodness.....

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

a list of things from my season 2 rewatch, in no particular order:

there's a mundane practicality to Nate that's kind of embarrassingly relatable. "I was going to buy a suit but it was really expensive so I borrowed one from my dad" in season 1; "he's going to use a lot of water" about Dani's breakdown in the showers in 2x01. This is... basically exactly how I would respond to both these situations

Very funny that the man Roy describes as "settling for fine" is almost exclusively shown telling stories about almost beating up elderly celebrities

"Do you believe the return of Jamie Tartt will impact that so called 'vibe'" I don't have a point I just love this line.

love everyone supporting Sam in the Dubai Air protest but I feel like researching the sponsorships is probably supposed to be someone's job? That being said they were already the sponsor in season 1 and Rupert probably wouldn't care that their parent company was polluting Nigeria, and I can see how re-doing all the due diligence on the established sponsorships wouldn't be high up in the line of priorities

start of some tonal problems — trying to reintegrate Jamie into the team by shouting and flipping tables comes off a bit weird as a comedy beat when the previous episode has Jamie openly discussing his abusive father

kind of hilarious that the kebab guy thinks Ted is Roy's dad when he's like. maybe 8 years older

the end of 2x05 is very clearly a reference to something (presumably a romcom) and I believe the fact that I don't know what it is makes it much funnier. I do feel kind of bad that Roy has to spend the entire match in a suit when it appears to be quite cold outside, though

"maybe there's a good reason she hasn't replied. maybe she got hit by a bus." (Isaac) "or a train?" (Dani) they are so good at comforting

I tend to need a fair bit of personal space myself so I absolutely understand where Keeley is coming from in 2x07, and the way Roy responds to learning that she feels smothered ("I feel like a fucking idiot," "you've been making out like I'm following you around like some creepy shadow" (paraphrased)) is obviously a product of his own insecurities and he doesn't initially seem to understand that alone time is a legitimate need that doesn't inherently reflect poorly on him,  but ultimately I think the problem itself is more a result of Keeley's difficulty expressing her own needs than of Roy failing to intuit them

The first time I heard Jamie say his thing about giving Richard space I thought he was trying to subliminal message Roy. He definitely wasn't but I was very impressed for a second there

The hug. The HUUUUUG. I am having a feeling

my controversial favourite episode is Beard After Hours — it feels like an episode of a different show, but TL is a bit of an outlier in terms of my tastes and 2x09 is closer to the norm. That being said I didn't start watching until after all of season 2 had come out and might feel differently if I'd been watching the episodes as they came out

the bit where they're singing at the funeral makes me want to crawl out of my skin with vicarious embarrassment. I have never managed to listen to this entire bit with the sound up.

Is sparkling water actually much more common in the UK than in the US? I'm Canadian and it's generally not the default kind of water to offer people, but it's also not as much of a novel concept as it seems to be to Ted.

[baileys-3]

Then today there is the last or penultimate sneak peak. I'm not quite sure if I'll post another one tomorrow.

And then there won't be any need for sneak peaks anymore, because on December 1st I'll post the first chapter on AO3.

Current status of the story: At the end of chapter 20… and yes it happened. The 100,000 word limit has been exceeded. It's now 102,000 words. And no end in sight.

______

By the way, you can already subscribe to the story on AO3. Then you won't miss anything. You can find the link below:

______

Then enjoy the sneak peak. It's from Chapter 15. Tim is a good uncle :) And buys a round of ice cream after Tylers baseball game.

______

"So, he's single now, is he? Sorry, that sounds really strange. I'm just asking. He makes a nice impression, even if he doesn't talk much. And he's obviously good with kids."

Genny must laugh. "Yes, Tim's not exactly the chatty type. But he has a good heart, even if he sometimes comes across as a bit harsh. And I don't know if he's single. He hasn't mentioned anything to me, but there are signs that he's dating someone."

Lisa leans slightly forwards towards the table and rests her head on her arm, which she has propped up on the table.

"Now I'm curious."

"He always has this smile on his face. And when he writes messages, he's always grinning to himself."

"Not much evidence, is it?"

"That's right. Maybe I just want it so much. He deserves it." Genny leans forwards a little and speaks a little more quietly. "To be honest, I have someone in mind, too. And I would so like the two of them to be together." Then she pauses briefly. "Sorry, that was nothing against you."

Lisa laughs. "No, no, it's fine. It was more a question of interest. But go on. I'm always open to love stories."

"A work colleague of his, or rather he's her superior. Tim is a sergeant with the LAPD."

Lisa whistles briefly in admiration.

"I've seen the two of them together. She even helped renovate our father's house." Genny raises her hand. "It's a long story. But back then he was still with his girlfriend and yet it wasn't his girlfriend who helped, but his colleague. And I swear to you, they were flirting the whole time. Not overt flirting, more like subliminal flirting. It's hard to describe. But Tim always says she's just a friend."

And then she moves even closer to Lisa, as if she's afraid Tim will come round the corner and hear her. And she whispers. "But that's no way to look at a friend.” When Genny says the word friend, she raises her hands and indicates goose feet. “I think they're really into each other and don't realize it. But as far as I know, she has a boyfriend. So, I'm probably wrong and just imagining things. It's more likely that my wish is the father of the thought."

She wants to add something else, but then sees Tim coming out of the café with the boys in tow. Blake and Tyler run towards the table. Tyler almost rolls over. "Can Blake come with us? Please?"

Genny looks at Lisa. “If you don't mind."

"Sure, very gladly," says Lisa.

The two older boys jump up and cheer. Genny looks at Tim, who is standing behind the boys.

"Do you want to come too Tim? The offer from last time with the pizzas still stands."

Tyler turns to Tim.

"Oh yes, Uncle Tim. And then you could show Blake some of your baseball tricks."

Tim runs his fingers through Tyler's hair and tousles it. "Sorry, Ty. I've got plans tonight. But we'll get round to it eventually."

Tyler looks briefly disappointed, but when Tim adds a "I promise", he smiles again.

Genny glances at Lisa and sees her raise her eyebrows and grin furtively. Perhaps she's not entirely wrong with her assumption.

[sparkles-oflight]

Okay, I'm sorry for going on a rant, but I'm going to talk why the line "Are you straight, Are you LGBTQ or none of the above?" Is actually important.

First of all, let me clarify something: YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE SSOL! You are free to enjoy whatever you like (maybe I wasn't clear enough, because sometimes I can sound very pushy and rude and I'm sorry for that), it's just that it shocked me to see a lot of people who don't like while I thought the opposite was going to happen 😶

The line, from what have seen, has either being called cringe, or cool, or lazy or too direct to the point (or even too political). Now, I'm not going to say "it's 2023, everything is political" because that notion is simply stupid. Everything has been "political" since long ago (I really hate to call human right causes "political", but alas) - a good example of a song that did the same as Joker Out YEARS AGO is "Born this way" by our queen Lady Gaga 👑.

I actually want to talk about queer culture and even the social context.

The first one is the one we all know about: Queer people have for centuries had to hide their feelings and identities through metaphors, rhymes, and tragedy in the media they produced for their own safety. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it! I LOVE SUBLIMINAL QUEER MESSAGES AND CHARACTERS WHOSE LABELS ARE UNKNOWN! But, if cishet people are allowed to express themselves explicitly, why shouldn't the queer or ally people do the same?

Now comes the second part: social context. Joker Out comes from a Balkan country. Now, I'm not a Balkan person, but there are some reasons the internet meme about my country being the long lost sibling of the Balkans 💀. Portugal is one of THE SAFEST countries for queer people!! On paper.... We are called slurs, we are made fun of, we are hurt on the streets, we are told to "suck it up" because not only is our country still heavily religious (specially the north, where I come from) but also misogynistic and young to the concept of democracy and freedom (we were in a dictatorship until 1974 and then we had to deal with colonial wars until the early 2000s). I literally told my bestie yesterday (before the song came out) that it would be easier to just say "I'm a lesbian" to my parents than bisexual and NB because they don't believe in those concepts. If we are one of the safest countries on the whole fucking world, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE what happens to queer people on the Balkans - with all of their diversity and wars.

Sometimes, having a big celebrity just saying the worlds LGBTQ is already such a revolutionary thing as much as you all say "it's cringe, it's lazy, it's political...", to us...it means the whole world.

Now, I don't know JO members sexualities, neither do I care or should care, but knowing that they are - at least - allies, makes my fucking heart melt, even if we aren't from the same country.

And I like silly funny songs too XD I'm biased yes yes

Edit: I forgot to add this: FEEL FREE TO ADD TO THE DISCUSSION ANY TIME

[papermint-airplane]

I don't know how to do these

Fishfinger:

👻

👊

🕷️

🍼 (chance of lil fishfingers?)

🐀 (thoughts on rats)

🙉

You're so crazy for requesting the dog 😭😭😭😭😭 It's ok, I still love you.

Let's develop a pupper character!

👻 GHOST - do they believe in ghosts? what are their "ghostly experiences", if any?

As a dog, Fishy can see ghosts better than humans can. He believes in them, even when they don't believe in themselves. He is always rooting for them to succeed in lif--uh...unlife?

👊 PUNCH - are they quick to violence?

Fishfinger is a pretty laid back dog. Well...temperament-wise, I guess. He's really hyperactive and just wants to play with everyone. I can't see him ever biting someone or growling at someone. I mean, he growls at the TV all the time but that doesn't really count, right? I mean what's he gonna do realistically? You can't square up with a TV, you little dumbass. 😭

🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

Yeeeeaaaaah it's the TV. 🙄 Every time his human turns it on to watch her stories, he freaks out. Nothing else does it, just the TV. I think he's a technophobe. Or maybe he can hear the subliminal messages we can't hear! 😲 Nah, he's probably just a weird dog.

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

At the moment, Fishfinger is enjoying the single life but he's not ruling puppies out just yet. He just needs to meet the right bitch. What? Why are you looking at me like that? That's the word for female dogs, I'm not being vulgar. Fishy doesn't get bitches right now. Maybe later. Insert no bitches meme.

🐀 (thoughts on rats)

Fishy hasn't met any rats in his travels yet but I feel almost certain he'll try to make friends with them. If it's capable of playing, he will play with it, so I think he'd get along with a little rat very well.

🙉 HEAR-NO-EVIL - what is the worse thing your oc could hear from someone?

"Bad boy!" 😭 He would never, ever, ever hear that from anyone though, because Fishfinger is a good boy! The goodest boy! The very best boy that ever boyed!

And he loves you. 🥰

[karlie-what-you-want]

Hey, friend. It's been a rough news cycle. And the dichotomy between the stunting and real world news is ROUGH. So, I think we all kinda need a break. To keep on soemwhat of a theme with your blog, here's my question for you: do you have things in your life (job, passions, things you watch or listen to) that make you think of Taylor/her work or that are made more fun because your brain somehow links them to Taylor? Like, for example, I'm a big fashion history nerd, and I've got a close relative who's a movie historian PHD super smart lady. And it's always so fun for me to spot nods to old fashion styles, currants and characters in her work. There's a lot of subliminal messaging there, and a lot of it is political and cultural and it's COOL. It's the same as when people share *their* specialty, like Dickinson scholars, and highlight for me the things in Taylor's culture that I would have missed if not for them. So these things are what makes life extra fun, and make me very grateful for this community and its willingness to share random, very specific, nerdy knowledge about all the things. So, to you, and to everyone on these blogs: Thank you. You guys are awesome. And I'm glad you're here.

Thank you so much for this! You’re very kind.

It’s true, it’s been rough not just for our community, but for the world at large. I’ll admit, I’m grateful for a pleasant message like this to offer some distraction and positivity (even if I feel a bit guilty saying that).

I love your question, though! Taylor is such a big part of my life that she really does bleed over into my other interests. Being a huge fan for over half my life will do that, I guess! Your example was such a good one. I frequently see things that remind me of her work as well, and it always feels very exciting and familiar. Perhaps the loveliest part of it is knowing that Taylor is likely just as big of a nerd about these things as we are, researching obsessively just for the fun of it. So in that sense, it’s like we’re getting to know Taylor a bit more every time we discover one of her obsessions. And through her, it’s easy to connect with others who share those obsessions.

I’m rambling a bit, aren’t I?

I may be reframing the question a bit, but here’s my answer: I tend to do a lot of writing. Fiction mostly, novels and things of the like. A few years ago, I had written what is still my favorite of all my works—a sweet, very gay love story with angst and elements of nature and escapism. Shortly thereafter, Taylor dropped Folklore, and with it, the Lakes. I was astounded as I listened to the song, because it encompassed so much of what I had previously plotted and written in my story.

It reminded me of back in the olden days of Debut, Fearless, Speak Now, when I felt like Taylor had read my diary and wrote a song specifically for me. Except in this case, it was more “Did Taylor Swift read my manuscript?!���

Always makes me smile. The Lakes ended up being one of my all-time favorite Taylor songs.

[balladetto]

i have, admittedly, a limited sample size so i'm probably only half-right when i say i think most people who've been playing eow are at the stage where this won't be a spoiler, but! this post is going to be Important because it discusses aegis' mutism extensively! particularly in regards to what the game does with it in the ending

i want to first touch on how i interpret aegis' nonspeaking status as a combination of being literally unable to because of null and the guilt of turning out 'okay' compared to the rest of the kids ( not how i would put it, but it is how he would put it ) who also escaped stymieing his desire to; in the sense that he doesn't feel deserving of speaking again when the others' recoveries have stalled for so long now

i do think he does, as speculated ingame, believe that getting rid of the rifts might do something significant for him ( not the same as believing he'll be able to speak again ) and the others and wants to make that happen, though not because it would 'fix' them or "return them [to] normal"

rather, it would be like returning things that were unfairly taken. he feels stolen from and unwittingly projects that onto the others — subliminally revenge-coded* motivation, essentially! but he'd call it dealing justice if you asked him

*in saying this, please note that his kindness is still very much present and exists on the same level as all of this as something that drives him to do what he does

anyway. in defeating null, it is heavily implied through a silent ( we're not aware of what the characters say but they are shown to be speaking ) ending cutscene that aegis completely regains his ability to speak. just like that. which. kind of grates me, honestly!

it's not an easy solution narratively speaking, because aegis has been fighting for years and you have to go through the entire game for it, but it feels like such a cop-out? i can see the reasoning behind this decision ( a character losing something 'fundamental' and having it returned to them at the end of their journey is a nice sentiment on its own ig ) and should not have expected any other level of nuance from nintendo for this particular game anyway, it just...sort of sends an insidious message? like, this is what all recovery looks ( or should look ) like at best and you need to be 'fixed' in order to live a meaningfully happy life at worst

i understand the disabled ( and those adjacent ) experience is not linear or universal, so a link who wants and regains his speech may be as valid as a link who has totally adjusted to and made peace with its loss. but it doesn't feel like the game's decision was written with this in mind, so i don't feel comfortable in supporting it by adopting it into aegis' canon

the process being described as "return[ing] to normal" is. oof

like. beyond link suddenly being able to speak again, those who were also stolen away in their youth are implied to go through the same jump of a 'recovery' of their awareness, spirit/will, etc. in the wake of null being gone

obv, these are not conceptually bad things. but happiness only ever being shown as the state of being 'whole' is not a good look for a thematic idea

as such, my eow link will continue to be nonspeaking in his postgame verse! while i will welcome any other opinions about the game's decision on this post ( so long as it's kept chill, which i trust it will be ), my own decision for this divergence is final <3

[myfairkatiecat]

Hi! Dropping this here because I do not have the mental power to make a coherent post:

I may not have a lot of experience with most musicals other than just hearing some of the songs, but "The Pitiful Children" from Be More Chill and "Suddenly Seymour" (but, like, and evil version) from Little Shop of Horrors are very definitely Curtain songs. (Also maybe "Good For You" from DEH)

The energy of "I Don't Need Your Love" from SIX makes me think of Nicholas and Nathaniel, but of course the original lyrics wouldn't work.

"Come Alive" from The Greatest Showman sounds like something that Nicholas/the adults would sing when trying to get people to listen to them about the Emergency, and then also to the kids in the second half. It would be interesting to have Curtain sing "Macavity the Mystery Cat" from Cats as The Sender specifically, before we know who he is.

Curtain would sing "Never Enough" when he was alone in his office, I think, and also I really want him to sing ALL of "Agony" from Into the Woods by himself. He'd so definitely do that.

I really think it'd be hysterical to have Garrison and Curtain sing "A Lovely Night" from La La Land when they're working together. But. Like. Genuinely deadpan. No sarcasm. (Also maybe "It Takes Two" from Into the Woods as he's trying to convince her to put aside her morals and trust him?)

THE EXECUTIVES/MESSENGERS SING "The Jets Song" FROM WEST SIDE STORY

On another DEH note, maybe Reynie sings "If I Could Tell Her" to SQ about his dad.

"A Very Nice Prince" from ItW definitely makes me think of Sticky as he's trying to sort out what to do about Curtain making him a Messenger.

Curtain might sing "Johnny Can't Decide" from Tick, Tick... Boom! when he's still deliberating on whether or not to reform himself and join his brother.

"Santa Fe" from Newsies, of course, is something tiny Nathaniel and Nicholas would sing at the orphanage!

Okay! I know that ended up being about more than just Curtain, so I'm sorry, but I got super excited that I was able to put my sporadic knowledge to use! I hope this was at least somewhat helpful and not totally incoherent, since I am very tired as I write this up. Good luck, and I'm excited to see what you do!

Sophie YOU ARE A GENIUS.

The Pitiful Children DEFINITELY works. And I bet I can make an evil version of Suddenly Seymour as well! Also Good for You from DEH would be an AMAZING Curtain song for when Nicholas gets adopted? “So you got what you always wanted / so you got your dream come true / good for you / got a taste of a life so perfect / so you did what you had to do / good for you” asdfjgksldh

You have suddenly made me want to rewrite all the lyrics to I don’t need your love from six to make it about the Benedict twins—

Come Alive is SUCH a perfect song for trying to wake up the others from the emergency. Maybe I should just made all of TMBS into a musical or something 😂😂

Curtain singing macavity the mystery cat ahflfhakahfjsl

Never enough and Agony are Curtain’s perfect little theater kid solos. I love this idea more than I can phrase.

A Lovely Night, no sarcasm, would be absolutely HYSTERICAL. Especially since Garrison may in fact be a theater kid for my purposes as well… it takes two would also be fantastic.

THE JETS SONG. SOPHIE I LOVE YOU.

Reynie singing SQ “if I could tell her” about his dad 😭 “yes your dad loves you here are a hundred things I’ve noticed make you special” hmmm with some of these ideas I could turn ALL OF TMBS just into an unironic musical

A very nice prince—I would never have thought of that, but you’re totally right!

Curtain Can’t Decide would be an excellent song for him reforming himself AND fits neatly into the idea that Curtain is simply a theater kid.

SANTA FE WHILE THEYRE AT THE ORPHANAGE ASDFGHJKL

Ok Sophie so

Yes some of these were not Curtain

BUT WHAT IF

He uses the whisperer and accidentally gives everyone musical subliminal messages

And then suddenly LIVE is a complete musical for a day

That would be hysterical

I’d just need to get the society in front of a TV like once in order to get the messages into their head, that might be the hardest part, but then it’s all easy bc curtain would SO do that, even on accident.

THANK YOU SOPHIE!!!

[eyesoverinfinity]

Illuminati/super secret society Au

This is an Au where the Survivors works for the Illuminati! Or at least a super secret and shady society. I'll call them the s.s.s.s for now. (stands for super secret shadow society) The AU logo is also their logo:

They are the usual shadow organisation working to control the world in secret. Roles and backstory are under the cut.

(No I'm not mourning the fact Inside Job was cancelled, what are you talking about.)

A long time ago, two eldritch beings who wanted to rule the earth as gods. They looked at the world and saw it's dependency on a few powerful people and took them over. They were successful for 2 thousand years until their cult was found, overthrown and their power source, their worshipers, where slaughtered.

As this was in the mists of and maybe the lost cause of the Bronze age collapse, it was lost to history.

But the humans were too late, for these creatures had created something that they could not destroy, something that was reborn into the future, something that was destined to take over this world and unite it under its absolute rule.

They made Kethontia (k-eth-on-tie-a), their son. Now know today as Keith.

But enough backstory, here's our main cast (spoiler: they are a lot more corrupt then in cannon):

Ellis: He grew up with Keith before they knew he was god-like being, once they found out the prophecy he was happy to help his bud with world domination. He was the one who suggested a secret organisation instead of destroying a majority of humanity. He is Keith's right hand man and second in command.

Nick: He was a con-artist with nothing to lose, on account that Keith found him bleeding out from multiple bullet wounds in a back ally. He was given a second chance at life in this new job. He is half spy half lab rat. He goes onto missions and sometimes goes with powers that Keith gives him, and then they get to see if mortals (aka Nick) can actually handle them. He dies a lot, but Keith bring him back.

Coach: Coach was having a rough time when Keith found him. His injured leg had developed arthritis, the school he was working at was closing down in favour of a new private school none of the current students would be able to get into and on top of that he was having a crisis of faith. Keith stepped in to fill that void. Keith restabilized the school and fixed Coach's leg entirely, in return Coach became the main recruiter for the S.S.S.S. Although Coach refuses to put anyone under 20 on his list.

Rochelle: Ellis realised very quickly that if Keith wanted to control the world, He'd need a contact to control the media. He found Rochelle being mistreated in her workplace despite her clear skill and decided that she would be perfect. Keith contacted her and offered to make her the head of the news, but she only accepted when Keith pulled the 'I'm a god' card and proves it. Even then she joins more out of the fear that she'll be brainwashed or killed if she doesn't agree. She starts out unsure about the S.S.S.S but she gets used to it. (and the power gets to her head.)

Zoey: Zoey was failing college when she met Keith, the problem was that she wasn't really trying at making an actually good movie. (Her parents divorcing wasn't helping with concentration either.) Instead she was having a go at subliminal messaging so she could graduate, Keith would of been a idiot to pass this up. She was put in charge of producing subliminal messages and movies to go with it. Ironically, her movies are now really good even without subliminal messaging. Her parents don't know anything about the S.S.S.S and are happy for their daughter.

Louis: Louis was chosen for two reasons, one, he was incredibly skilled, two, he had a bone to pick with his boss. Who, very clearly, was not given Louis a promotion because the boss was a racist pig. His story is very similar to Rochelle's after that. He becomes the head of the biggest electronics manufactures in the northern hemisphere.

Bill: Bill's job fell into his lap by accident. Keith had recently found that he could use his incomprehensible power to brainwash people, so he saw Bill's skill and tried to convert him, but Bill was mysteriously immune (far too stubborn to fall)to his control. Embarrassed, He begged Bill to join his cause (and preferably never talk about this again). Bill accepted the first term, but talks about the story every chance he gets. He's a combat trainer and receptionist.

Francis: Keith met Francis at a bar while he was drunk (He's a god-like being, but he still has a human body,) and spilled the beans on the secret society. Francis, who was also drunk said he wanted to join in. They accidently made the first magickly binding deal since the bronze age and Francis is now the head of the criminal underworld of America. Like Bill, he also brags about it any chance he gets.

(Thank you to @punkasshunter for helping me develop this au. your help is deeply appreciated)

[tarotwithavi]

Hello to my favourite reader. I hope i didn't burden you too much with my bulk orders :)

Okay so first I'll go with the subliminal. When i listened to the subliminal for the first time i got tingling sensation all over my body. And when i affirmed and focused on my eyes they were BURNING. It was very powerful. I still can't listen to it whole day. I guess changing my eye colour would take some time but i noticed my hair are becoming more softer and fuller than before. It's definately powerful and affective.

Starshine reading was very resonating. It's like someone who notice me everyday is telling me stuffs about myself that i didn't notice 🥹. The humble, grounded and taking both genders perspective is something I've learned after being through some painful lessons. It's wonderful how pain transform us into a better person. How we learn so much after losing things and people that are dearest to us. I love my independence and love to share. I also love to make people safe and remind them to chase their dreams. It was a wonderful reading. I guess my negative self talk make me lose sight of who i am but thanks to you i can see myself clearly now.

My moon reading was ✨ interesting ✨. I mean yeah i get ruthless when i actually get angry. Though it takes alot for me to get that angry (or i guess when my ego gets bruised). But yes i do become intimidating when I'm angry. My fs would teach me to be more selfish and cunning and to be honest I can't wait to be like that 😩. I'm tired of being such a pure and selfless person that it's draining me at this point. The letter from ny fs was hilarious, hopeful, sweet and a tiny bit sad ( because we haven't met each other yet it feels like we won't be able to stay away from each other once we do which is kinda good but yet it's sad for me cause I'm such an emotional crybaby) ahem so my fs is very bratty and he's such a tease which is similar to how you said we'll be pulling each other's leg in the previous fs reading. Sometimes i think it's all in my head or like I'm just ignoring my pain through these readings but then you reveal such sweet and tender moments that I can't help but be hopeful for my future and i can do anything i want. So thank you alot for giving me this strength. Thank you for making me hopeful again.

Raven was the reading i was looking forward to the most because i didn't know my psychic abilities until you said so. My dreams are usually intense, vivid and weird but they also come true in 3d to some certain aspects. Like when i look into hindsight some incidents were very similar to my dreams. My dreams also carry crazy but true messages that's why I don't ignore them. Astral travelling is something I'm very interested in. But i do need practice. Healing other people's inner child is something i take pride in doing so. I feel very good after giving people emotional advice. And I'd love to be a guiding light to other people.

Mystical reading was truly mystical. I can't believe i was a female knight like omg i was so cool! And a little secret i wanna share with you is that whenever i was in emotional turmoil i used to daydream myself as a female knight saving a world that was falling apart. I used to daydream like this as a coping mechanism but girl i never imagined that i was an actual FEMALE KNIGHT MYSELF IN MY PAST LIFE 😭. The place i was born in was and is know for romance and people are obsessed going there is pretty much screaming france to me. Everything else was also very interesting. You also told me that my past life reading and saint joan of arc are very similar. I read the whole article after your reading and your testimony that you yourself read the article after doing my reading. There are way too many similarities to even deny anything you've told me in my reading. My honest reaction was crying after reading that article. Like I don't know why but i was crying. Like oh she did so much for the country and at the end she got executed by the enemy and the people she trusted did nothing to help her. It was sad. And I don't know but even if i was such a great and famous person i didn't live a life that could be called happy? Or great? But to be honest everything you said was right there in the article. Like i could see visions by archangel micheal's and people used to call me demonic and my past life's timeline was around 11th to 14th century. These all things are there in history of joan de arc. She died at the age of 19 and I'm reading this at 19. Coincidence, I THINK NOT. To be honest I'm trying my best to deny this but i cannot. It's all so true and factual and the history itself is the evidence that I can't deny this. My past life was pretty much predetermined but I'm grateful that now I'm born in an era where i can do whatever i want and be whoever i choose to become. It was great to know about my heroic past life. Pretty much still can't believe it but I'm trying to 🥹. And thanks to you that i can get to know about past life because without you i wouldn't have even known jeon de arc.

Sending you a warm hug and blessings for the wonderful service you provide with so much care and enthusiasm. I never regret buying any thing from you. I hope you're having a good rest after doing so many readings. Take care as always. Bye

Thank you so much for this detailed feedback. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. You know it's strange because after I finished your reading. I only looked up "female knight" on Google and the article about Saint Joan of Arc came up. Coincidence? I think not.

I already told ya my subliminals are really powerful haha 😆

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

[oraclekleo]

Hello Kleo!

Feedback

Yes, you are very very right on those! Recently I have been listening to subliminals! Though I still have to read on them and see about them but one night (just before my prelims started) a night before exam subliminal suddenly came istg I wasn't searching anything, it came on my feed, I have never searched subliminal btw, so maybe the manifesting you mentioned is also related to this?

Yupp, I am, I am very much content and happy with my life!

Ikr? I have so so many ideas and I would need to organise them first! 🥹

About intuition, you are damnnn correct!! You know, my intuition is not something which used to come out AT ALL if not for my cards but recently I have been feeling like you know they are here without the cards, and it's awesome maybe I am getting a lil better with this? Also, I recieved similar message in a very recent reading so yup!

Thank you very much 🥺🫶🏻 I am much excited for the things coming up and looking forward to them!

Hello!

I'm so grateful for your feedback! 💖

Whatever happens this randomly might be a little push towards your goals. I had similar experiences with random suggestions in the past and usually turned out to be pretty good for me. 😁

I believe that intuition is in a way a muscle like any other. In the beginning it might feel stiff and you keep stretching and aching the other day and then at one point you realise it's actually pretty fit and allowing you to push your limits with much decreased efforts. 😂 As soon as stretching and exercising your intuition becomes a daily habbit, something you do without pushing yourself to it, it will start to feel effortless and natural. The best comparison is sports but because I'm not really a sporty person, I'll use cooking. When you start to learn your way around kitchen, you are likely to take ages and you have to follow recipes and you might feel stressed about every meal, whether it will work out and you meticulously watch the clock so you don't overcook or burn things, etc. But with practice you will soon reach the stage where you don't need recipes, you pretty much experiement with ingredients combinations and invent your own meals, you don't need specific tools because you know how to replace them with other ones, you don't need stopwatch because you just KNOW when the meal is done. 😂 Same works for intuition. 😉

Happy for you reaching this level when you just FEEL it. 👍👍👍

Thank you again for your beautiful feedback and I wish you all the best in your future journey. ✨✨✨

[starlightshadowsworld]

Danganronpa 3 Despair arc episode 7

Thonks

Oh so we're just gonna jump immediately into last time, which was Junko running into Ryota.

And interrogating him now.

Never thought I'd here Junko Enoshima utter the word weeb and yet here we are.

Rude, animators deserve more recognition and stuff.

The irony of an anime character going on a rant about how important anime is.

To another anime character who doesn't like anime.

The fourth wall is taking some hits this episode.

Wasn't expecting him to than show her his project.

And than for to cry.

I love how they had to include a *This is her personal opinion* note as Junko wacks down a bunch of manga with a bat.

Mukuro crying face was legitimately terrifying tho.

Oh no, don't tell Junko how to influence anyone's brains with subliminal messaging.

... Or with anything.

I thought this was just a bit but nope... This is bad... Oh no.

I'm gonna be saying that a lot aren't I.

This is what I get for wondering what Ryota was doing during all of this, because while apart of the 77th class, he's not apart of the killing game or the Remnants.

But he's part of the Future Foundation.

I am concerned about the casual conversation about using media to brainwash people and than Ryota ends it with making the world a better place.

And her smile, oh he is so gonna be a tool for destruction.

Aaannnd Gundam is doing poses with a bear.

Love to see it.

Nagito's still suspended... And was in a plane crash and ended up a deserted island.

Typical Nagito things.

.... Didn't need to see him showering in a waterfall...

And of course straight after that is Teruteru putting a banana through a donut.

I gotta hand it to these guys they really embodied high schoolers.

Gundam saying silence you perverts as a bear chomps on their hands, the best response.

And Ryota's been missing for a week.

I'm sure Junko had nothing to do with that.

Ugh Juzo's here.

Just when I had my hopes up I wouldn't have to deal with him for a while.

But fine, what you gotta say.

... Oh 20 staff members have gone missing... Nevermind that is important.

Juzo, you are the dangerous people. Maybe not specifically these dangerous people, but you do be dangerous.

.... Chisa why would you wanna lay your life down for Munakata?

Literally.... Why?

"Don't let emotions infer with the job you're here to do."

Those are bold words for you of all people to utter, Mr I damn near beat Hajime into a coma.

Get off you're high horse.

Ryota I get what you mean by the new equipment is great but you're always alone, how are you more alone here?

What cos Twogami ain't here to make sure your still alive?

Rude.

Mukuro casually kidnapping Mikan.

Typical day for both of them.

Given how Mikan... Talks about Junko... I am not looking forward to this.

Junko's analyse face is disturbing.

So she was able to, on the second watch figure out how the brainwashing works... Wow.

No yeah, ultimate analyst makes sense.

Oh look it's Izuru.

And she asked him out.

I don't ship it.

OH! I should've seen that coming but nope.

Just bodies hitting the ground, and the bloods pink again.

I guess that would be her version of a date, and Junko's the one doing the killing.

Which is somehow more terrifying

She's usually the woman in the chair, but seeing Junko be the one actively killing and torturing people is creepy.

I dunno if I've mentioned it before but I like Izuru's voice because it very much sounds like if someone had their soul drained out.

And it sounds similar to Hajime's but also not.

... Oh... Oh no...

There's kids in the classroom....and she wants to show Izuru despair on a bigger scale.

The student council too... Not just some random students.

Wait.

I had heard there were other killing games, or at the very least the 78th class wasn't the first.

So this is the first killing game... Ohh that is good.

Man the guy telling everyone to calm sounds so much like Ishimaru in both the sound of his voice and his words.

This is so much scarier than any killing game shown in the games... Holyshit Mukuro just shot a student and went you don't fall in line and do the same you'll end up like her.

No crazy executions.

No class trial.

No Monokuma.

This is terrifying.

Well at least we still have the motive videos.

Mukuro singing while this goes on is just yeah sure.

And it just keeps going... Fuck.

Also it can't be a coincidence that some of these kids loosely resemble the 78th class

I love that the chainsaw says Jason Freddy.

And the fact the last one manager to graze Izuru's cheek.

Typical hopes peak wanting to cover it up, even though Jin does want to say something.

Huh I wonder if that guy stuck with Kirigiri in the present because her father asked him to keep an eye on her if something happened to him.

Junko exposing the whole Kamakura project and the student council massacre.

And using Izuru as the scapegoat.

Clever.

So now the reserve course is coming for the main school.

"Where did you go Hinata?"

Oh erm... You don't wanna know Chiaki.

Trust me on that.