#And there are a ton of posts here already that include him acting in that manner

[14dayswithyou]

Please give Ren a kiss for me! 🩷

How would Ren/REDACTED react to MC falling in love with someone else and chosing to date them?

Would he get jealous but eventually accept it and let us go or would he ruin MC's relationship with that person or even kill them?

If you could go into detail about Ren's reaction and what he would do, that would be nice 👉🏻👈🏻 (No pressure ofc)

(Please remember to take breaks, eat well and hydrate!🫶🏻)

✦゜ANSWERED: Since Ren is a yandere, I think his reactions would be what most people expect ;v; He would definitely get envious over the fact that someone managed to capture Angel's attention before him, and I'm sure he'd purposefully find a way to remove their partner and get Angel to prioritise him instead.

He'd certainly get jealous as well since that person is still currently in a relationship with Angel (as opposed to them breaking up and leaving Ren with a chance), but I don't really want to go into detail about this as it's bound to happen in the game at some point and I wouldn't want to spoil anything ^^;

But you can always reference the current behaviour he displays in the demo (or some of the other posts on this blog)!!

[traldemic6]

Reddit post found in the wild:

"AITA for confronting my son's (16M) football coach for literally fattening him up?"

Post below:

"For some background, my son is 16 and has always been pretty athletic. He plays football and swims competitively, and he’s been doing both for years.

This past offseason, his coach told him he needed to gain weight—a lot of weight—like 40 pounds. The idea was to get him up to 200 pounds for this season. Now, my son, being the rule-follower and total team player that he is (plus, he can eat like no one else), didn’t question it and just went for it. The problem is, I had no idea this was happening, and it wasn’t until recently that I realized just how extreme the coach’s advice actually was.

Apparently, the coach gave him a whole list of “rules” to follow to pack on the weight quickly. We're talking calorie goals every day, specific fast food orders to hit those numbers (hello, McDonald's), drinking more soda (which we don't usually keep much of in the house), and even ordering supplements online. Now it makes sense why boxes of Boost started showing up on our doorstep out of nowhere! And to top it all off, the coach told him to cut back on cardio—including swimming, which is something he’s always loved.

I didn’t really put all the pieces together until later, but now, looking back at this summer, it’s so obvious. He wasn't running as much, and his swimming practically stopped, which was strange for him. And the food… it went from the usual healthy stuff to fast food galore. But honestly, I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just thought it was him being a lazy teenager.

Fast forward to now, and I can definitely see the difference. He’s already put on 35 pounds, and it shows. I hate to say this, but his stomach is starting to look like his dad’s. And he’s never had a weight problem before! He’s always been fit and active, so this feels like wrong. And I can’t help but worry this is setting him up for bigger problems later on.

I asked him what was going on, and to his credit, he was pretty upfront about it. He explained the coach’s plan, and he doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here feeling so guilty for not catching on sooner, and also furious at his coach for encouraging this. Both my son and my husband acted like I was overreacting. Apparently, my husband knew about it all along and was quietly supporting it! They both say I don’t “get it” because I’m more into swimming than football.

I requested a meeting with his head coach one-on-one, but husband and son both say I'm majorly overreacting, don't understand how football works these days, and that intervening made me a "Karen." But I’m worried about his health in the long run. AITAH for contacting his coach?

TL;DR: My son’s coach is pushing him to gain a ton of weight, and I’m not sure if I'm the asshole for requesting to meet with his coach about it"

[fandom-puzzle-peaces]

Just a Thought About Cale Part 2

It hath been requested, so here is a sort of continuation from my last post. Today I am gonna talk more about what I believe Cale embodies:

HOPE & LOVE

In my first post I already talked about hope a bit, and ya’ll can read that if you want my full take on this, but I will continue where I left off. Last time, I mentioned that something was missing when I listed out what it is exactly that Cale hopes to have in his “slacker life.” Said list is:

A nice house

A peaceful place to have said house in

A ton of money

After looking at this you may be wondering what is missing, since it looks like everything Cale has stated time again to want is already there. However, we all know how unreliable of a narrator he is and that he never actually fully says what he wants unless it’s money. What is missing is his hope of having a family living there with him in that nice peaceful house.

It’s so obvious that he misses having others around him, regardless of how many times he denies it. He’s just scared of losing them again, and for a time I do genuinely believe he had given up on that hope of having loved ones. But over the course of his new life as Cale Henituse you can slowly but surely see that hope being rekindled. It also helps when he learns that the “curse” that was accidentally placed on him due to white star shenanigans is now gone.

So now he actually has a chance to be able to keep his new family around, and you better believe he will do anything in his power to do so. We have already seen plenty of his self-sacrificial stunts to know this fact already. Cale’s list of hopes, of course, has continued to grow from just those beginning 3 that encompass his “slacker life,” and most likely will as time goes on to most likely include the simpler pleasures of life he can indulge in with his family.

A true family man I would say!

Now, regardless of how many hopes he has (or how small they may seem), Cale is someone who is full of hope and in turn fills others with it as well. So where does Love fit into our beloved idiot you may ask? Look at all of the people he has surrounded himself with and how he interacts with them. He may say he's "trashy" and a "bad person," but we all know he isn't with how he acts. Cale is highly perceptive of his family’s condition, their wants and needs. He goes out of his way, all the time, to make them happy:

He gives the children sweets and cuddles all the time

He gave Raon his name

He gives Rosalyn whatever she needs for her research and is helping her become the Magic Tower Master

He visits Alberu all the time and just hangs out, which must be such a relief to shed the royal persona (even if Cale does steal his cookies)

He lets Ron mess with him even though he hates it and helps him take back his ancestral home

Always eats everything Beacrox gives him and compliments it (probably also gives him new kitchen tools and ingredients to mess with as well)

He gave Eruhaben a reason to live longer and extended the dragon’s lifespan—and went through one hell of trial to do it—so he could do so (said reason being to live with them for as long as possible)

He gave Mary the world to experience and explore to her heart's content

Took in Lock and his siblings and just lets them be kids, albeit very violent ones

He got Choi Han a new sword (which he treasures), as well as a new home and family (which he treasures even more)

That's not even counting all he does for the others and his allies. But most of all, Cale protects them:

He never puts the kids in a situation where they can be hurt

Even when one of them was in harm’s way (Raon), he bodily shielded them not once but twice

He carried Rosalyn (with his weak noodle arms) when she couldn't stand out of harm’s way

He keeps Alberu's heritage a secret and helps him politically

He literally blew up an island for Ron

I don't think he's had a big moment for Beacrox yet, but he has saved him from the fate of living in a world without his father

Has shielded Eruhaben before from the White Star

Like the kids, Mary is almost always out of harm's way and he also protects her politically

Has shielded Lock during the Battle at the Gorge of Death

He protected Choi Han from completely losing it, as the biggest danger to Choi Han is Choi Han himself

Cale loves his newfound family so much he speedran the war with White Star in UNDER A YEAR!! And that's just for his family! You cannot tell me he hasn't also fallen in love with his new (well what was supposed to be his really) home world. He is literally tracking down and annihilating the Hunters who are in other worlds because they keep going after his in part 2. Don't tell me that isn't love! It also doesn't help that, no matter how much he denies it, Cale gets attached fairly easily. He wants people around him to love who love him in return.

GIVE THIS MAN SOME HUGS!

Anyways, I think I have rambled long enough. Hope ya’ll enjoyed this!

Brief interest check: how would ya’ll feel if I posted some creative prompts for writing, drawing, etc.? Lemme know however you want.

@elaemae hope you liked it!

[plum-pitt]

X-Men Origins Rewrite

Ok I guess this is a follow up to this post i made not too long ago abt rewriting this shit, the brainworms rlly got to me here so you’re getting a follow up sooner than expected lol

Before I actually do any rewriting though I wanted to lay out the big changes I’d be making and why, mainly for myself as a guide and to organize my thoughts both about the original film’s issues and how these changes could potentially solve them, but also to allow anyone else with some ideas for possible changes to add their own thoughts or suggestions by engaging with the post.

As for what kind of final product you could possibly expect these ideas to result in, i haven’t quite decided if I want to just do an in depth outline for the story with my proposed changes or do like a full length fic novelization. It’ll probably depend on how motivated I still feel about the exercise by the time I’m finished and happy with the cleaned up outline, but I digress. Lets just go ahead and get into the changes I want to make:

Proposed Changes:

First off, I’m removing Blob and Gambit from this cut. I like both of the characters and think it’s cool they tried to include them but the cast is crammed enough as it is and those two serve very little narrative purpose that can’t be shifted to others just as easily.

Second, I’m adding Silverfox to Team X and letting that serve as the meeting point for her and Logan, it gives the audience more time to get to know her and come to care for her and Logan’s relationship, while also harkening back to the comics where she was also a part of the weapon x program. Also I know this isn’t a real film but let it be known that if it were i’d actually hire a Native American actress to portray her, i’m still shitty they whitewashed her.

Third, I’m removing the third act “Silverfox wasn’t really dead” twist. I really shouldn’t have to explain why, that shit was dumb and completely unnecessary, not to mention introducing a shit ton of plot holes with that whack ass mutant ability they pull from thin air. In my version she’s human(as far as we know) and when she dies she dies for real, full stop.

Fourth, we are GETTING a biblically accurate Deadpool. They did my bro dirty and I refuse to compromise on this. His role will be larger to compensate for his big ass personality and the fact that i’m affectively letting him take up Gambit’s role from the original in addition to what he already had. Also I just think he bounces off of Logan really well and could serve as a really interesting parallel with having such similar trauma and very different ways of responding to it and seeing the world. Like just imagine D&W if they accidentally traumabonded over their similar origin stories.

Fifth, I’m making Victor our stand in for the films Weapon XI! He doesnt get adamantium or new powers like Wade, only the dehumanizing psychological torture present in the original Weapon X comic. I think it works great for his spiraling arc, gives me a chance to squeeze a faithful weapon X adaptation in here without upending the entire film’s structure, and helps to better position his character on a trajectory towards his more feral appearance in X1 where he doesn’t seem to fully recognize Logan.

Sixth, I’d like to include Dr. Cornelius as the head scientist in Weapon X. My current concept is that he’s in charge of all the unethical mutant capturing and experimenting, working under Stryker’s supervision but still an outsider to the government, being sent in by Stryker’s most significant source of funding for his program in Nathaniel Essex. I know this has zero basis in canon I just think it sounds cool and makes sense for Sinister to have hands in a program aiming to create perfect mutant soldiers, as someone using mutants DNA to create a genetically perfect race of superhumans and become the ultimate life form. (Sinister would not play a large role, more of a looming presence pulling strings and fucking people over)

To get more overarching here, I wanted to hone in on the dynamics and themes present in the original that i thought had the most potential for further development. Victor’s spiral to madness and eventual complete loss of self under Stryker, Logan learning to let go of Victor’s influence and the violence that he let define his life only for both to drag him back after Silverfox’s demise. Really digging into that nature vs nurture shit, and adding more mutant politics (and their accompanying metaphors for the struggles of marginalized people) cuz honestly i feel like it’s absence in the original is very noticeable, and ties in really well with Logan’s arc of self acceptance and learning to see himself as more than the violent nature of his mutation.

Stuff I Still Want Changed:

Ok so here’s where I’m throwing my hat out for suggestions, because there are still a couple minor things present in the movie that i’m just not a fan of or don’t really know what to do with. The difference is, with these I can’t really think of tweaks that could fix/improve them. So if yall have any ideas on what I can do about these, or maybe some completely unrelated changes that you just think could improve the rewrite, please let me know.

One, not really sure what to do with Zero, he’s around for a lot of the movie but didn’t really stand out much to me. I just don’t know a lot about the character or what his deal is in the comics to find something cool to do with him. I’m going back and forth on if his role is ultimately necessary?? Does Stryker really need another henchman? Or should I use the space he occupies to hone in more on Victor and Logan’s rivalry? Idk i’m still on the fence so tell me what yall think.

Two, god I just fucking hate those memory wiping adamantium bullets. It’s such a stupid plot device that makes no sense conceptually and was clearly just thrown in as an afterthought at the last second like the writers forgot they needed to erase his memory by the end. That’s not to mention the fact that the bullets’ function was retconned later in Logan. Genuinely though I cannot find another way to go about fucking up Logan’s head without basically upending the structure of this movie in its entirety so any ideas on how to solve this dilemma are appreciated.

[bluegiragi]

I really enjoyed your response and explaining your thought process for the monster!au, but I am curious as to why you didn’t lean as much into the cultural aspects for characters like Soap and König? There are a ton of cool Austrian and Scottish mythological creatures! Did you already have these particular monsters in mind for them or was it more of nothing you found really fit their personalities or something else?

For Soap, I went into the Monster AU knowing I wanted him as a werewolf (it just seemed so perfect in my head) and I actually did research Austrian culture with König! The only reason I didn't include him in the collective explanation post is because he wasn't brought up as a problem by the initial blog but I can explain it here :)

KONIG - PERCHTEN

He's a percht/perchten in the Monster AU, which are the beings that make up an entourage around Perchta, a goddess in Upper German and Austrian culture. Perchta is an 'upholder of taboos' and a particularly intense one, as she'll apparently slit your belly if she finds you've behaved inappropriately in the period of time between Christmas and Epiphany. People sometimes draw comparisons between her and Krampus, although there's differing opinions on whether the comparison is valid or not.

Perchten can come in two forms, one of which is 'bright' and beautiful, and the other that is masked, horned, fanged and have horse tails. The mask thing is probably the biggest part of why I chose this for Konig.

I also do want to highlight the 'mutant' part of this profile for Konig, since I think it's clear that I've taken a lot of liberties with the depiction of a perchten.

I don't really have much by way to say here other than...I kinda like the idea of a feral Konig, and I wanted to be able to play with that idea without acting like it was 100% accurate to the folklore.

[iridescentoracle]

okay so. potentially controversial opinion i guess but apollo justice (the game, though actually also the character) was kind of a mess. i wanted to like it, there was a ton of potential, but the execution just did not work for me at all. but it’s been haunting me for weeks and (unlike dual destinies, which also didn’t really work for me but i cannot for the life of me figure out why) i know exactly what i didn’t like about apollo justice and how i would fix it if capcom decided to remake AA4–AA6 and inexplicably put me in charge. fair warning this is at least 80% complaining by volume about what they didn’t do/what they did do that i hated though.

like, okay, here’s the thing. it’s a new story. phoenix has had his arc, we’re moving on to a new main character, he isn’t the protagonist anymore. it makes sense to move him into a mentor/boss role while our new protagonist takes over as the plucky young newbie who doesn’t really know what he’s doing. the problem is that everything about how the game does that kind of sucks.

like. AJ phoenix gets totally shafted for the sake of not letting him be a good mentor, so that apollo has to figure things out on his own, but apollo isn’t really treated right by the narrative either, because the plot is so much about phoenix that apollo is like. weirdly peripheral to the whole thing even though he’s nominally the protagonist. like it’s super obvious that the whole reason phoenix isn’t an attorney anymore and is all ✨ mysterious✨ and ✨secretive✨ is literally just so that apollo doesn’t actually like. have a good mentor who can teach him things? like the entire plot/backstory is just a post-hoc excuse bc the starting point of the game was clearly someone going “well we’re not allowed to not have phoenix in the game, but we can’t let him be someone apollo can actually rely on, so we have to find some excuse to make him weird and mysterious and uncommunicative and also not a lawyer just for good measure bc otherwise he wouldn’t leave a kid hanging like that” and everything else was built up to justify that.

but as if it’s not bad enough that it all requires shattering phoenix’s perfectly good reasonably-happy-ending from the previous game, by extension everyone else gets screwed over too?? like, maya was very explicitly traumatized by the kurain channeling legacy to the point of briefly not wanting to identify herself as a spirit medium. pearl was sheltered from some of the worst of it but was aware of enough to blame herself for bad things happening to the point of trying to run away. the credits definitely made it seem like they both bounced right back after all but frankly i was not convinced they weren’t going to both collapse as soon as the figurative camera looked away again and the most plausible short-term outcome to me was that they would wind up both moving in with phoenix for a while in the near future like maya all but said she wanted to do!! she called herself “the assistant manager at Wright & Co. Law Offices” and said she “[didn’t] want any more to do with [the Fey clan],” that is IN the TEXT i am not reading too much into things here those are her words! i’m fine with her potentially changing her mind again and resuming her training again and moving back to kurain after all when she’s had some time to recover from everything but like. when she’s had some time. she deserved more than two months and i hate so much that she didn’t get it.

on the flip side, again, i get the choice to deliberately not-include edgeworth in this one but i swear to god it should have taken him and phoenix like. maybe four months to finish getting their act together and that’s being generous and counting the month it takes him to wrap things up in europe and move back to japanifornia. i’m pretty sure edgeworth figured out how he felt when he got the phone call from larry about the bridge if he hadn’t already by then and i think phoenix simultaneously realized and refused to realize how he felt during the year he thought edgeworth is dead, bc neither of them can just be normal about feeling things ever, so give them a second for phoenix to stop repressing shit and also mention that he’s absolutely not going to get back together with iris when she gets out of jail and they Will sort themselves out and they Will kiss and i give it like a year tops before they get married. they have a courthouse wedding obviously and get the judge to officiate. 50/50 chance they wind up proposing in the middle of a trial and get married during the next recess.

and in canon there’s not time for all that to have happened bc the next game requires phoenix to have promptly turned into an arrogant asshole and then gotten royally fucked over by the universe and become a totally different person (again, at that, because he’s already a completely different person in the flashback to his last case, why does he act like the paynes that whole time i hate it), but like. this is what i’m saying. phoenix getting screwed over by the universe/writing also screws all his friends over too.

so i just. this game does such a disservice to phoenix’s entire character, and all of his friends, and also the entire first three games and anyone who loved them. it’s not all bad and the person phoenix has been turned into—“has been turned into,” not “has turned into,” because the hand of the writers is so visible, i can’t engage with this game on a fully watsonian level for the life of me because phoenix’s hoodie might as well say DOYLE CHOSE TO DO THIS TO ME. this is a fictional character being written by real people and the real people wrote him in a manner entirely incompatible with his original characterization and i cannot get past it—is fascinating but it isn’t phoenix. i love the plot but i hate the execution. i like the ingredients but the recipe sucks.

but it could have been so good. and at this point i’ve mostly worked out how.

you have the exact same scenario with the gramarye trial, is the thing, up through the point where phoenix wins the poker game and shadi enigmar/zak gramarye asks him to be his lawyer, and phoenix accepts—and then phoenix, like, gets a phone call from maya or pearl bc it turns out one of them just got hurt, or they’ve both come down with some kind of stomach bug or food poisoning or something, some temporary emergency that’s just severe enough that they need more help/care for a day or two than phoenix could give while also handling a case, but that won’t actually last all that long.

so he turns down the case apologetically bc oh my god i’m so sorry actually, family emergency, i gotta go right now, best of luck, and shadi/zak moves on to defense attorney number three: a different, brand new character, another rising star defense attorney around the same point in their career as phoenix, and that’s who winds up using the forged diary page and getting disbarred and turning into the bitter jaded inscrutable asshole mentor who years later will manipulate apollo into exposing his own boss as a murderer, and then technically hire apollo but not actually, like, teach him anything or help out in any meaningful way, etc.

but meanwhile, three facts about this series of events:

8yo trucy is still the unwitting catalyst for the lawyer defending her father using forged evidence that destroys his career, and her father still vanishes and leaves her behind

within a couple days, pearl and maya are basically fine

phoenix wright’s best friend was once a kid barely older than trucy is now who suddenly found himself with no family, and as a result was taken in by someone who had a deep and abiding grudge against both him and his father because of what they did, through no real fault of their own, to him/his career.

and since phoenix did meet shadi/zak and turned his case down, he has every reason to be curious about how the trial went, and to pick up either from the general news coverage (which, considering what a big deal phoenix’s disbarment in canon was, i assume there is A Lot Of,) or to realize bc his personal curiosity/almost-connection means he actively looks into things, that there is a kid who has been left behind and who currently has no one to take care of her. and you cannot tell me that phoenix would look at this kid whose best-case scenario is currently getting swept into the foster care system bc god forbid she actually winds up getting taken in by the only adult even vaguely associated with her at this point, bc phoenix has seen that story before, and not decide on the spot to adopt her himself

and so just like that, we have

phoenix accidentally escaping the whole gramarye trial entirely unscathed

but still adopting trucy

pearl and maya still living with phoenix a couple months post-T&T instead of immediately getting packed off back to kurain

no changes that actually significantly impact apollo for most of the game bc all that’s really different for him is the name of his inscrutable jerk mentor and the fact that he’s gotta wind up meeting/being-befriended-by trucy a little differently

so by the time the actual present-day plot of the game kicks off, phoenix and company are still out there doing their thing with phoenix getting to be his best self and living his best life. he still gets his adorable adopted daughter who he loves dearly. we still don’t actually see maya or edgeworth or pearl in this version of the game but there’s allusions to them all being very present in his-and-trucy’s lives—trucy brings us over to their apartment at some point and we see a stack of steel samurai dvds in the corner and a laundry basket with unidentifiable clothes in suspiciously familiar shades of purple/pink/magenta, details like that. we only see phoenix himself for like, maybe five minutes total over the course of the first three and a half cases and it’s a little tantalizing but he gets to be the one who bursts into the courthouse with the decisive evidence that lets our protagonist win the last case.

and meanwhile, apollo’s current boss is shady and inscrutable and used to be a lawyer and can even be involved in some ✨ secret mission ✨ that he won’t talk about that turns out to be the jurist system, so we can hypothetically keep whatever the intended message of that whole thing was (which, argh, what do you DO with the jurist system. what is the intended message. i get that it’s satire of a then-contemporary development in japan’s legal system but i can’t figure out for the life of me what the satire is actually meant to say), and then at the end of the game Apollo’s Shitty Mentor is proven to have been innocent and will be allowed to take the bar again if he wants to but he’s not entirely sure bc at this point it’s been so long that he might just prefer to move on entirely now that his actual disbarment/disgrace isn’t hanging over his head bc he honestly did used to be a pretty stand-up guy but the last seven years have been rough and he doesn’t really like the person he’s turned into and maybe it would be healthier to treat this as a fresh start and try something entirely new so he’s going to take some time away from the whole legal system first to clear his head before he figures out whether or not he actually wants to dive back in.

and apollo’s like “well that’s totally understandable and sounds great for you but goddammit do i really have to go back to the endless nightmare that is job applications, i hate this actually” and phoenix (who is also in the defense lobby where this whole conversation is taking place) is like “why don’t you come work for me?”

you could even have it end on a joke where apollo is shocked about the offer bc he applied to work for phoenix six months ago and phoenix is like ???? i never saw that?? and it turns out apollo applied via email but phoenix still sucks at computers and only checks his work email like once a year.

seriously though i do not understand what we’re supposed to think about the jurist system. is it supposed to be that fucked up? i’m not actually sure how we’re supposed to feel abt that tbh but it sounds like maybe it’s not supposed to seem like an actually better alternative? like it felt to me like it was being framed as a triumph for our belovèd hero, isn’t this great that he was able to arrange things so everything would turn out all right after all etc, but it was so obviously fucked up and unethical—like, oh, yeah, having one guy in charge of assigning the defense attorney, the judge, and the jury sounds totally fine and like it’s actually going to be more reliably ethical than the system that’s already in place, for sure, not to mention the possibility that edgeworth was pulling strings to help phoenix make it happen and be involved, because nepotism and people in law enforcement/the justice system pulling strings to put people they like in positions of authority that they probably shouldn’t have specifically so that they can do things like “rig a jury,” on purpose, is fine bc i like these guys who are doing/benefiting from the nepotism so therefore it’s not wildly unethical and an obviously terrible idea, oh my god—that it feels like it has to be on purpose?

and like in practice it just… the jurist system as it’s actually implemented is worse actually. it’s genuinely worse and less ethical than the established system where the judge was about to let kristoph gavin off scot-free for the crimes he wasn’t already convicted of.

that said it’s like. very funny on a conceptual level. yet another thing that makes sense if the games are set in japan bc sure of course fictional kinda goofy japan has a more ridiculous version of the thing that’s being implemented in real-life japan right now, but when localized the implications are buck-fucking-wild

because. okay. japanifornia exclusively has bench trials or whatever they’re called for some reason. i have questions about why that’s legal given the existence of the sixth amendment but sure fine the japanifornian legal system is deeply fucked up in many new and interesting ways and that is clearly just one of them. but you’re telling me that the entire concept of trial by jury is strange and new to a lawyer? like. did the entire country just. ditch the sixth amendment before apollo was born? why is this a brand new concept instead of, you know, how things work in every other state. i have so many questions that do not need answers. thank god these games are old enough to have gotten localized it’s so much funnier this way.

ANYWAY. SO. yeah. make apollo’s inscrutable asshole so-called mentor someone other than phoenix wright, have way less of phoenix in the game actually bc he’s off living his best life and having a thriving career with very little reason to think about how kristoph gavin exists, and meanwhile write apollo with All That Backstory in mind from the start though 95% of the actual info should still be saved for game 6, we’re just trying to write apollo so he’s not completely flat and frankly pretty forgettable at times and also including foreshadowing so the khura’in thing isn’t a very obvious retcon when we get there, and turn klavier into an actual person, and that’s like. 95% of my frustrations with the game fixed right there (the other 5% is “i still can’t tell what we’re actually supposed to think/feel about the jurist system” but like. i can’t tell what we’re supposed to think/feel so i don’t know how to fix it).

well okay also the like, pacing and focus would need to be fixed so apollo’s incrutable jerk mentor isn’t the protagonist for half the last case to the point i forgot apollo existed, etc, but like. that’s the next level down of problems you know?

AND bonus points: splitting “phoenix” and “apollo’s inscrutable jerk mentor” into two separate characters automatically fixes yet another of the worst He Would Not Fucking Do Thats of the game, i.e. phoenix just. not telling trucy and apollo that they’re siblings and their mom is alive. bc apollo’s shitty mentor is the one who actually interacts with lamiroir offscreen, this phoenix never does, so apollo’s mentor is the one who has the opportunity to figure out who she is and that trucy and apollo are half-siblings, and they’re not his kids, apollo doesn’t even work for him anymore by the end of the game so what does he care whether she tells them, and meanwhile phoenix isn’t inexplicably hiding that information because he also doesn’t know. still relies on her continuing to hide her face professionally in the meantime (instead of being deeply stupid about the fact that she is super famous, twice, and if she goes around being Very Famous And Popular Singer Lamiroir someone will notice that she is very much also Very Famous And Popular Believed-Dead Magician Thalassa Gramarye and between the existence of the news and the existence of the internet her kids will inevitably find out, jesus CHRIST parts of this game are so badly written), but that’s a given

i have a whole bunch of other thoughts—mostly about klavier gavin bc he should be such a good character but he just doesn’t work, but also i think the structure of the last case would have to be pretty significantly modified to fix the pacing/structural/focus issues where our nominal protagonist is basically irrelevant for the bulk of the case, even while the plot would remain basically the same, but i haven’t figured out how the structure would be different bc that requires figuring out how to handle the whole jurist system thing—but that’s like. the coherent parts/the bulk of it, you know?

i think (really this is just a detail, not a major plot point, but it would have a pretty major impact thematically so it feels bigger than it is? so) the other main thing i would change—and this part isn’t actually real criticism bc it’s not, like, bad that they didn’t do this, and if they were going to make any changes there are a lot of things that should be higher on the list, but listen. zak and valant should’ve been brothers.

because like, first of all, the extra complexity of the relationship if they’re not just two random guys who met bc they were functionally coworkers/fellow students, and instead you have these two brothers with the same mentor and who are both in love with the same woman, and they both know that one of them is better at magic and their mentor’s favorite, and he’s also the one who the woman they’re both in love with loves back and has a kid with, etc? a favorite/least favorite child dynamic occurring spontaneously, presumably in adulthood, in their professional lives? like. it makes everything about their relationship with each other, and with magnifi, and zak’s relationship with thalassa, and valant’s relationship with trucy, way more complex and interesting without actually having to change anything else.

but then secondly, on top of all that, suddenly this is a game about siblings. zak & valant, apollo & trucy, and kristoph & klavier. suddenly you have these three different sibling relationships that are all very different but two of them actually get to be siblings but are super fucked up, and the last pair meet entirely by chance without any idea who the other person is or should be to them but wind up with the healthiest happiest relationship of the three? like, the tragedy of it, that apollo and trucy were separated by fate and literally no one knew they both existed except their own mother, who thought apollo was dead before trucy was ever born, and if not for whatever series of coincidences resulted in apollo happening to work for the man who ruined trucy’s father’s life and getting roped into that whole mess they might never have met at all, and as it was they lost however many years they could’ve had each other, etc etc, and yet despite it all they’re the ones who actually manage to be happy and, like, unconditionally positive presences in each other’s lives, while valant spends however long resenting zak for being magnifi-and-thalassa’s favorite and more talented and all that which presumably put a strain on their relationship bc being resented that deeply by someone that close to you for things that you don’t even actually control can’t feel good, and kristoph and klavier… [gestures vaguely] idk whatever they would feel about each other if the writers remembered klavier was supposed to be a person. and aside from the klavier bits all of that is in the game already, implicitly or explicitly, just waiting for someone to rewrite like three lines of dialogue so zak and valant aren’t Just Some Guys to each other.

anyway a lot of the other thoughts i have are like. details. it probably never gets established explicitly but phoenix probably never gets to know kristoph gavin that well, and conversely kristoph doesn’t care about phoenix bc he might not even know he would’ve been passed over for phoenix before the other guy. ema is friendlier bc even though she is still upset about being a detective and does still think klavier’s annoying, she doesn’t actively resent him for getting phoenix disbarred. also she’s already good friends with trucy. the biggest plot-difference that isn’t just a natural result of phoenix not getting disbarred is that i think phoenix has to be the one who gets hit by the car in 4-2 instead of that happening to apollo’s jerk mentor bc no other human being on the planet could get thrown thirty feet by a car and hit a telephone pole with his head and still only wind up with a sprained ankle out of the deal.

[tigreblvnc]

BLUE LOCK MATCHUP — @modern-day-corpse-bride

Your match is...

— Charles Chevalier

✦ How happy I am to finally be able to match this little French imp with someone.

✦ Actually, Charles came to mind very clearly when I read your bio, mainly because I think you two share a few similarities.

✦ And you both give off a similar energy.

✦ 'I’m a veryyy talkative person' There's something special about Charles—he can be very talkative, and I can totally see him chatting with someone on the field in a random way while the match is still going on...

✦ ...and also, there are chapters where we almost forget about him?

✦ Especially because when the match loses its excitement, Charles stops investing in it. We see this when he literally asks Julian if he can leave the game because it's getting boring.

✦ 'A lot of people think I’m mean but I'm not!!!' Clearly, with Charles, there's an insolence that reflects his young age and the fact that he's so good on the field that there's not much that unsettles him. He easily teases people and likes to do the opposite of what he's told. In jargon, we call that a troll.

✦ 'I’m really big on complimenting and boosting other people’s confidence' I like to think that you met during one of his training sessions at the stadium. You found something a bit funny and unusual about him, and your eyes followed his run on the field. At first, he might not have noticed you, but eventually, he realized that someone was regularly commenting on his crazy passes and turned towards you.

✦ He froze for ten seconds before signaling you with both arms raised as if you were someone he had known for ten years.

✦ I think that normally, encouragements leave him quite indifferent, but coming from someone he doesn't know at all, it might amuse him and even make him laugh a bit.

✦ At the end of his session, he turns to you and, quite unexpectedly, throws the ball at you from a distance. Just to see how you’ll handle it.

✦ Maybe you dodge the ball, maybe not, but either way, it makes him smile. He strides over to ask, "T'es qui ? Tu fais quoi là ?" – 'Who are you? What are you doing here?'

✦ You’re not sure if he’s really listening even though he’s the one who asked the questions, but he’s smiling at you widely, with his shark-like tooth showing.

✦ 'I think that the notion that I’m “mean” comes from the fact that I’m very honest.' Well, you see, I think this amuses him because he likes controversial opinions and people who aren’t afraid to say what they think. Charles finds conventional and controlled people boring. You can see it on the field—he prefers to get along with Shidou, someone more original and aligned with his philosophy of play, rather than Rin, who is very structured and strategic.

✦ 'My main love languages are physical touch and gift giving' I can’t see Charles being into giving long speeches or spending time listening to others; I think his love languages would be more like yours, maybe with acts of service included. I imagine he’s the type to rush and jump on the people he likes, climbing on them without shame (like he does with Shidou when they score together).

✦ The cool kid you never get bored with. He prefers outdoor activities over indoor ones, and he takes you to see the cool spots in Paris. The amusement park is his favorite place.

✦ A bit uncontrollable, he’s all over the place and wants to try everything with you. He pulls you by the sleeve: "Allez ! Ça a l'air trop bien !!!" – 'Come on! This looks awesome!!!'

✦ He enjoys teaching you curse words in French.

✦ Buys you ridiculous trinkets from attraction stands.

✦ Tons of selfies that he posts on Instagram, tagging you every time, even though it’s his face in 80% of the photo.

✦ Emoji abuser. His messages are unreadable, and he sends forty of them in a row.

✦ Sends voice messages too, many of which cut off prematurely (the worst kind). He records them again right after but never finishes them; he’s already moved on to something else.

✦ 'I like to collect vintage items like dolls or photos which kind of creeps a lot of people out, and I also like to hand-build with clay from time to time.' Honestly, that intrigues him. He finds it weird and judges it out loud, but it doesn’t scare him.

✦ He tries to make a clay sculpture of you and totally messes it up.

✦ He gives it to you on some random day with no particular significance.

✦ The sculpture’s aesthetic is questionable, and you can barely recognize yourself...

✦ ...But you keep it anyway, because a gift from Charles is worth gold.

A word about your match: You’re kind of the partner-in-crime duo that everyone dreads, that people secretly like a little, but that no one will admit to liking.

© TIGREBLVNC 2024 | AUGUST '24 MATCHUPS EDITION.

[carmenized-onions]

hi. tried to reblog and leave a bunch of tags but made a mistake and tumblr wouldn't let me edit the post SO i took a screenshot because I WILL NOT REWRITE ALL OF THAT BECAUSE IT WAS ALREADY TERRIBLE TO TRY AND GO BACK TO MY NOTES TO INCLUDE THEM INTO THE TAGS BECAUSE THE APP WOULD ERASE EVERYTHING so here you have a long ass pic with a ton of tags. love u u fucking mastermind 💋

I DID IN FACT GET THIS ASK FIRST OF ALL, IF YOU SENT ANOTHER ONE OTHER THAN THE DID YOU GET THAT ONE, then I am missing one, but I got this one!

I'm so glad you think it could standalone and make sense because I went into posting this like "so many people are not gonna be able to keep up with the tense changing and the time skipping, i'm being incoherent" thank you all for proving me wrong. My writing profs taught me to believe everyone does not have reading comprehension. Perhaps we should be giving more credit to readers, me thinks.

Man, I wish Carmen in The Bear canon aligned with CK not particularly because I wish he was better but because watching S3 I was like oh,,,, did I get all that wrong? Because to me, yeah does Carmen run away from things? 1 fucking million percent. At the same time, however, Carmen is an artist and I think like,,,, he's taught, yknow? He takes direction and critique, is always how I took him-- And so like, he just compartmentalizes criticism of his character the same way he would his craft; and he fucking likes making shit better, so he transfers it to life.

I considered massively pivoting from this choice for him to accept that he needs to be better, and instead like, Bojacks it, basically, but like, I'd already done this in CK canon:

Did I emulate my own previous scene to call back to the beginning of their relationship in chapter 13? Yeah 100% I did but back on topic--

I'd already decided that this was how Carmen went about things, and to be fair, I think honestly if everyone had just let each other finish sentences in S3EP01, that entire season I think would've gone an entirely different route, but c'est la vie, that's the tragic comedy of it all.

NOW ONTO MIKEY! I think some have said they prefer this Jimmy negotiation to canon-- And to be fair, though the sobriety aspect may not have been a part of it, Mikey did say he wanted to franchise with Carmen, and that's what the money was for. Or at least that's what Carmen affirms:

god fucking jesus christ he was so much more charming in S2 what the FUCK moving ON

But anyways, I think the 10k/week thing honestly is something Uncle would do, and I guess this is me staking my bet on it. I'd like to believe Mikey was climbing his way out-- Or maybe that's more tragic? I dunno. Regardless, I adore him, so, yknow. he's the guy!

50 PLUS YEARS FOR CARMEN? YOU THINK THIS GUY COULD LIVE TO 80? BABY LOOK UP POPCORN LUNG THIS MAN WAS GETTING ULCERS AT 21 WE'RE LUCKY IF WE GET TO 60

regardless, thank you for enjoying i'm so glad that my interpretation of Mikey was enjoyed. I tried to be as like,,, accurate as possible to what I feel he'd act like out of the small scenes we've seen of him, but I also absolutely had to pull from my own oldest brother. so. i don't have issues idk what all of you are talking about.

also, I will put this in a master post of like, bits I was doing, later, because there's a fucking lot, but this is the last post I'm making before bed and I wanna get yelled at about this in my inbox in the morning nothing makes me happier:

Chapter 1! Tony Terry Tommy!

Chapter 13! Two Steps Back.

I know I'm a bitch, aren't I? I'm sure rereaders noticed this but I wanted the whole class to know.

While I'm at it, Chapter 12! Hit em with it!

YEAH BABY SHE'D BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT THE WHOOOOLLLEEE TIMMEEEEE YEEEEAAAHHHHHHHH I'm fucked up for this one. I had the Cold thing planned since chapter 1 I'm so SICK with it. Yell at me in my inbox I do love to make everyone mad ngl call me Carmen cause I'm a fucking shit starter baby

thank you for your thoughts and thank you for giving me a place to yap for WAY too fucking long GOOD NIGHT OR GOOD MORNING PENDING WHERE YOU ARE!!

[timetobeaghost]

i’m seeing so little nuance when it comes to this whole noah schnapp thing. i know everyone gets mad when you say you are in the middle but i just genuinely don’t understand what’s going on. i’m opposed to any and all violence and disgusted by the acts committed by israel and hamas. i know i’m not fully aware but it’s genuinely so confusing idk how people expect everyone to know.

i think what noah did is gross still. it’s not just because of his views, but the fact he was making a joke about it when it’s a horrific and serious tragedy. but people see it so black and white? if you read noah’s posts it’s clear he is opposed to violence in general, and to me the whole ‘zionism is sexy’ thing is an example of him being misinformed and incredibly insensitive.

but then people are calling him murderous and claiming he and others support actual genocide? they say ‘oh he’s old enough to understand’ but genuinely i think he just doesn’t understand the full extent of the situation, like many others. to imply that someone like noah genuinely wants tons of people to die is just a bit absurd to me. i’m no mind reader but to me he just seems to not understand the situation, and is just defending what he thinks is right because of his religion and probably family. i don’t think he supports genocide, i don’t think he understands that what he is supporting is genocide and is misinformed that it’s some kind of just response.

Not going crazy and being hesitent is a good first response. As is admitting when you don't know everything. You are not motivated by hate, that is obvious and great! But

Noah did not make any insensitive jokes. At all. He did literally nothing. Being in the same room as a "Zionism is sexy" sticker is not an action to take nor a joke to make. Him and people like Brett Gelman and other visible jews being attacked is pure antisemitism, which is a ridiculously widespread sentiment, as I was forced to discover.

Zionism is genuinely sexy. I mean it is completely inoffensive. What is evil is trying to frame zionism as an evil conspiracy. It's s Jew hating conspiracy theory. Zionism means support of Israel's existence.

No one should eDUcaTe theMseLvEs by consuming and parroting jew hating conspiracy theories. It is quite easy to do so these days, but it is not right. Noah already understands the situation better.

Israel was attacked and is the victim first. It deserves solidarity.

Israel destroying Hamas is a just response. And frankly their duty. As the terrorists attacked their citizens and haven't stopped and promised to do it again and again. Promised genocide.

Israel is not committing a genocide. It is winning a war of self defence, thank god.

War sucks, though. The reality of it is always horrible to behold.

Hamas is doing their absolute worst as always and absolute best to get as many Palestinians killed as possible, including straight up shooting them themselves if they are "stealing" "their" food or trying to get to safety thereby not working as human shields. They are fucking evil, the scum of the earth.

There is no question who a well-meaning person should support here.

PS: Netanjahu is not a great guy, but Israel is a great country and in the right here. Let Bibi win the war, then I hope for a new Israeli government and lasting peace!

[chaosfish2775]

Okay, long post so I’ll get through the important stuff here:

I live in a house with two of my friends, my dad, and my dad’s girlfriend. My friends and I own 3 cats between us, my dad and his girlfriend own a dog. The house is owned by my dad’s uncle. My friends moved in here about half a year ago, and their intentions have always been to move out as soon as financially possible. About a month ago, my dad’s uncle approached my friends and told them that they have to move out. He gave them a move-out date of October 31st, but didn’t give any eviction notice. About a week ago, they had a conversation, and told him that they wouldn’t be able to move out for another 2 weeks after October 31st, he accepted this reality, he did not give any eviction notice. This week, he started being a bully, and pressuring them to move out, he also acted as though their last conversation didn’t happen. He approached them again on the 31st, with a piece of paper. It was not an eviction notice, it was a signed transcription of their previous conversation, 2 days prior. He has still yet to give an eviction notice.

My friends have a GoFundMe, I highly recommend that anyone who has an extra bit of cash, and wants to help out some people in need, donates. They have 3 children who live with their grandparents right now, and they desperately want to reunite, get back on their feet, and get out of this horrible house.

https://gofund.me/69d7591b

Now for my stuff! TW, mentions of abuse, sexual assault/rape

I am 18 years old, and I’ve lived about 16 and a half of those years with my dad. He is a liar, a narcissist, an egomaniac, a sociopath, and a fucking pedophile. That’s not exaggeration, by the way, especially not the sociopath one. I have lived in fear of him for over a decade, and that fear is finally almost gone.

Two days ago, my dad called me and told me that I was being kicked out, and he expected me to be gone by the end of the night. His reasoning was that I have been telling people that he’s a pedophile. In effect, he was kicking me out for telling the truth. I know he’s a pedophile, my sisters have told me that he’s done shit to them, my mom (they’re divorced, if you couldn’t tell) confirmed that he’s a pedophile. Even worse for him, my friend has seen text messages from him with her own eyes. Text messages that, if brought up as evidence in the court of law, would be enough for a jury to declare him guilty of several sexual crimes, including multiple counts of statutory rape.

Now, he can’t kick me out, because I’m an adult. I know this, in fact, I went to the police to confirm that was the case. His uncle has to evict me, and that’s a long and expensive process. (By the way, my dad already knew that I was going to be moving out with my friends, so this was pointless anyways!) I am still living in the house, and my plans have not changed. But Jesus has this been stressful! And that’s been the general pattern for my entire life, stressing about what my dad might do. It has not been fun, and I’m excited to finally be done with his shit soon.

This part of the post really doesn’t add much, I just wanted to rant. I hate this man, he does nothing but lie and cheat. He only cares about himself. If you aren’t useful to him in some way, he doesn’t care about you. The only time he’s done anything with me other than auto work, general maintenance, or during driving lessons earlier this year, was when his girlfriend was in a mental hospital after she assaulted one of my friends and told the police that she wanted to murder both of them. She constantly lies to him about me, and he believes her every time.

He rarely feeds me, only if it’s convenient for him. He tells me he’s broke, then buys frozen pizzas, a shit ton of snacks, and a bunch of other shit he doesn’t need. I asked him for gas money to go to a job interview, and he told me that it was too far away. It was like, 20 miles, and it was the only opportunity I had gotten in weeks. He had me sleeping in the basement, which only ended recently. Trust me, that basement was never habitable. Before I lived here, I was living with my mom. I had been for over a year, and that was after 6 months of torture living with just my dad and his girlfriend. He convinced me to come back by telling me he owned a house, and promised to pay for me to get a drivers license, and to pay for me to get a car. He did neither, and as previously stated, he doesn’t own the house. These promises were made on the idea that he would be getting a promotion at work, which didn’t end up happening.

So to be clear, he contacted my mom, to get into contact with me, after we hadn’t spoken in over a year, when the last few weeks of contact were full of screaming, fighting, and him insinuating that I’d murder his unborn child. He gave me promises based on a promotion he didn’t have yet, without telling me that was the situation, and then never delivered on any of them. What a fucking dick.

Also, I got a cat recently. She was a stray, and still kinda is, but she’s coming with me when I leave. I made a Facebook post, and he left a comment telling me that I didn’t ask him if I could keep her, and that I had to bathe her. Like, bro, that’s not your choice, and she’s a stray cat, the fuck did you think I was gonna do?? Of fucking course I’m going to bathe her! What an asshole.

[guckies]

about people being upset about how Bad gives a ton of stuff and never gives anything in return, it’s definitely something you’d only really pick up on and be upset about if you watched his pov a lot. Yeah people are being kind of dramatic about it, but a lot of people in the server (in rp of course) seem to only seem to think of him as the guy who gives them things or the guy that was awful in purgatory (when in reality he genuinely wasnt much worse than a lot of other players)

I think it’s similar to how foolish fans constantly talk about how people (again only in rp) call him a bad father, when in reality it really doesn’t happen that often, and as far as I know it’s always just been jokes. Like of course fans are gonna be dramatic about the things their fav streamer goes through, even if those things aren’t super evident to someone who doesn’t watch them often.

it’s really just a difference in perspective, but if people talking about how they’re happy Bad isn’t giving things away for free as much anymore is bothering you that much, you can always block them

I genuinely don’t mean to come across as aggressive or hating on you or anything, I just saw your post about it earlier and wanted to talk about my perspective 👍

It wasn’t that they were upset, rather they were using it as justification for Bad to have a villain arc (which imo is lazy and there are way better reasons or ways for Bad to have a villain arc).

As well this “struggle” is not exclusive to Bad. Like during the cookie quests arc, Morning crew were the ones that put most of the extra items or mobs there for everyone. Especially Phil who had a lot of ingredients and stuff they needed that he did gave even on days he didn't stream. But there are so many instances in which people give for free and don't recieve acknowledgement.

I totally get being happy that Bad isn’t giving everything away for free, been the same with the ccs I watch too. But calling Bad the only good guy for doing that and saying he needs a villain arc over something so stupid that no one asked him to is questionable. Especially when it was/is not exclusive to him and their are so many cooler ways for him to have that villain arc.

But also I'm not saying y'all shouldn't be happy about Bad not giving stuff because I also am happy he's not giving stuff away for free(personally love watching the struggle people go through looking for things). Rather just not give him this massive praise for it when it is universal experience they all face. Cause my increased annoyance is with some fans more specifically ghosties who act as if their cc is the only one that experiences these "problems" or just don't watch anyother pov so instead amplify the "problems" that don't exist or affect everyone.

And I get what you’re trying to say with fans being dramatic because some of them really are. However, it’s definitely not similar to Foolish getting called a bad father at all. Since doozers had to make a whole thread that we still refer to now to infrom people that have never watched Foolish & Leo clips ever and just hate Foolish and believe that Foolish is a bad parent over the jokes Bad or Fit have made. (Which we are so sick of because how is it 9 months in and we’re still discussing Foolish’s parenting which has been nothing but good)

Also not going to talk about purgatory because to me he was a bad guy and should have faced lore consequences for some of the stuff he did but that is neither here nor there so ✋🫥🤚

But yeah I already do block people for things I just don't agree with but also I like talking about things that include criticism so if people don't agree with me then I encourage them to block me too. Also thanks for being nice about it, cause this isn't really the biggest deal for me but I do like the discussion of these things sometimes :]

[buffyfan145]

Fellowship of Fans delivered today with them saying they had their biggest spoiler scoop so far this year for season 2 of "Rings of Power" and why they saved it for a Christmas gift!!! 😀 I'm a little late posting it since I was at my family's Christmas Eve dinner but I'm excited for this!!!

April 2024 Update: This spoiler has now been confirmed false and part of a plan from Amazon to catch a leaker from the crew.

They finally revealed the new actor playing the "original version" of Sauron (possibly Mairon) and it's Gavi Singh Chera!!! 😀 He was announced earlier this year as part of the recurring actors they added to the show and there had been speculation for a while that he was another form of Sauron and likely the Adar knew. I can actually see it too, especially if you see clips of his other acting roles. I'm guessing he and Charlie Vickers have worked together too so we the audience will be able to tell it's him, plus thanks to Charlie's interviews we know the audience will know everything Sauron is up to in season 2.

Again Charlie's not going anywhere and he's still a series regular. We've also had a ton of spoilers about Halbrand and what he's doing in season 2. This is for the flashbacks and shapeshifting that will be happening especially with Sauron going back to Eregion as he can't go back as Halbrand so it's the Annatar storyline. That being said though FOF posted other scoops today that they're not sure which form is working with Celebrimbor and it's led to some speculating including me that maybe Annatar (or whatever name they use as FOF still doesn't know if they have the rights) switches back to Halbrand in front of Celebrimbor and that they work on the rings together.

They also said almost all the rings will be made this season. They're not sure which form distributes them but leaning towards Halbrand as they already got spoilers Halbrand is the one that recruits the men and dwarves so it would make sense that form gives them out. Still no word about the One Ring so not sure if that will happen in the season finale or if they'll save it for season 3.

So it's already getting a bit confusing for some fans online as we had to explain again about the shapeshifting and that Charlie's still there so to make things earlier I'll be saying when talking about them as Charlie's Halbrand and Gavi's Annatar, but they are both Sauron. LOL

Also, being a Haladriel shipper, that fits here too as FOF confirmed Gavi and Morfydd didn't have a chemistry test like Morfydd and Charlie did. So even though Gavi's Annatar has scenes with Galadriel I doubt I'll be shipping them but we'll see. So Haladriel for me is Charlie's Halbrand form and who I'm referring to for now. Also same with my fics as I always wrote Mairon looking like Halbrand. Again this could change if it turns out this form also has something with Galadriel too. LOL

[krispyweiss]

Sound Bites Presents: The Best of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2023

Editor’s Note: the 2023 edition of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass ended one week ago today. Having returned to backward Oiho after a glorious three days in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the blog recounts his favorite sets of the festival. Read Sound Bites’ full coverage here, here and here; and see more photos here, here and here.

Rickie Lee Jones - Horseshoe Hill stage, Sept. 29; Banjo stage, Sept. 30: Given 45 minutes for her festival-opening reading from “Last Chance Texaco” and another hour for music the following day, when she played the titular song from her 2021 memoir, Jones got more stage time than any other performer. And she put it to good use. After sound-checking with a snippet of “The Horses,” a high-spirited Jones read excerpts about her time as a 14-year-old hitchhiker in California and how her admiration of the hippie ideal eventually turned into contempt. She closed the session by playing a solo-acoustic version of “The Moon is Made of Gold,” a song written by her father.

The following afternoon, Jones and her band played to a ginormous crowd - “I haven’t seen so many people in front of me for so long,” she said, clearly enjoying the moment. Crooning at the mic on “One More for the Road;” playing guitar on a New Orleanian rearrangement of “Danny’s All Star Joint;” sitting at the piano for “We Belong Together;” and playing banjo on an untitled work-in-progress she had unveiled two nights earlier on guitar at the benefit for Camp Winnarainbow, Jones was effervescent and as appreciative of her audience as they were of her. Sound Bites obviously doesn’t know Jones, yet it made him so happy to see her so happy over the three days of performances he and Mrs. Sound Bites witnessed. Rickie Lee, gold.

Tommy Emmanuel - Arrow stage, Oct. 1 - Allotted a criminally stingy 50 minutes, Emmanuel was the only solo-acoustic act to make an audience stop talking and simply gasp at what they were hearing and seeing. That’s because he is a band unto himself and he introduced his phantom accompanists while playing bassline, percussion, rhythm and lead simultaneously on his acoustic guitar. “Sixteen Tons” and “Nine-Pound Hammer” found Emmanuel singing; “Imagine” was instrumental save for the audience and the guitarist’s famous, inhuman “Beatles Medley” closed the set, which should’ve run an hour.

Eilen Jewell - Rooster stage, Oct. 1 - Playing songs from her pre- and post-pandemic albums, Gypsy and Get Behind the Wheel, respectively, Jewell was positively enthralling during her 45-minute midday set, which wrapped with a near carbon-copy of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Green River,” allowing secret-sauce guitarist Jerry Miller to shine.

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram - Towers of Gold stage, Sept. 29 - At 24, Ingram sounds like he’s been playing guitar for 50 years already. This up-and-coming bluesman is going to be a huge star and he spent his 50 minutes demonstrating why he may very well be thought of in 2073 in the same way Buddy Guy is today.

The Travelin’ McCourys - Banjo stage, Oct. 1 - With Punch Brother Noam Pikelny filling in for Rob McCoury on banjo, the sons of Del played some of the least-Hardly Strictly music of the entire festival, as a large swath of the audience bounced along in unison while the band smoked a bluegrass “Scarlet Begonias” in the park the Grateful Dead filled with music so many times in the days of yore. “Seems appropriate,” Ronnie McCoury said.

Doc Watson Tribute - Horseshoe Hill stage, Oct. 1 - Joined at various points by Andrew Marlin, Valerie June and Jon Langford, Mitch Greenhill, Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman offered an intimate set that included “Summertime,” “Handsome Molly” and “Tom Dooley” among others. It all ended with the life-affirming experience of a couple of hundred people singing “Keep on the Sunny Side” under a canopy of trees in a light afternoon fog.

Bettye LaVette - Rooster stage, Sept. 30 - At 77, LaVette remains a powerful performer, stalking the stage and employing her raspy voice to great effect. Bob Dylan may have written “Things Have Changed,” but LaVette owns it.

Irma Thomas - Rooster stage, Sept. 30 - Thomas, 82, played HSB’s most-rambunctious set, closing Saturday with a barnburner that reached its apex with “I Done Got Over It” -> “Iko Iko” -> “Hey Pocky Way” -> “I Done Got Over It.”

Honorable mention: The McCrary Sisters - Rooster stage, Sept. 30 - Rather than a full performance, which they merited, the McCrarys played a handful of five- to 15-minute spots that included uplifting renditions of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” and “Amazing Grace.”

10/8/23

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

The Little Things I Love About ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

Just like the one I did for PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, and just like the one I did for STRANGE WORLD, here's a little list of particular little details I loved in a detail-packed... Like, literally jampacked movie... SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE:

So far, I have only seen this movie once all the way through in theaters, caught multiple sections over and over at my movie theater job, and again in full on Blu-ray once. I've watched and rewatched sections since, always finding cool stuff. I may revisit the post and update it, too, like I did w/ the previous ones.

Also, MASSIVE SPOILERS ahead... Just in case you still haven't seen this months-old movie...

Much like the first SPIDER-VERSE... Tons of stuff to catch in the glitching opening logos. Logo/design p0rn aaaaall around.

There's already a lot to love in the opening Medieval Vulture attack set-piece, but my favorite detail? As an Italian-American? "Ciao, ragazza!" Complete with the parchment paper script "Bye, girl!" accompanying it. Any elementary school-age kid watching this now knows a little Italian, that's cool!

Lyla's first scene in the movie. Whichever version, too, whether it's the fist-bump or the selfie... I love how she just glitches and zips in and out, while Miguel keeps asking her in vain to call for back-up. Just an out-of-nowhere display of what kind of quirky relationship these two have...

Many have written about the scenes of Gwen and her father, Captain George Stacy, and how they hit very close to home. In that, they perfectly mirror some folks' experiences with coming out. Myself included, whether it's Miles or Gwen... It's even more effective with Gwen, because there are a lot of not-so-subtle hints that she could be a trans girl. (i.e. the dad having a trans flag on his uniform, Gwen having a "protect trans kid" flag, her room turning into trans flag pastel colors when she reconnects with her father at the end of the movie, etc.) I feel it's twice as hard-hitting in the opening action sequence because Captain Stacy has no idea the white-and-pink Spider-Woman is his daughter, loathes Spider-Woman for not-unfounded reasons (he's rightfully upset that Peter Parker is dead) but is taking it way too far (revenge territory), and he's also a cop. Here's this girl trying to reason with a hardened gun-wielding tough guy, who even fires the gun, prompting Gwen to remove the mask... And all the little complexities in the animated acting on George's face, the shock of his daughter being Spider-Woman, mixed with his grief over Parker's death and his sheer anger... It's maybe a minute or two, but goddamn did these animators go off. That's what anchors these movies amidst all the nerd/reference-stuff, spectacle, and dynamic changing art styles.

And to elaborate on this... This is basically a movie about a queer kid running off, without a home, while another one tries to find their people and be with them... Not prepared for the gatekeeping that's ahead... and some of us queers either experience something like those specific things or have a feeling of not belonging. (I also really dig how Jessica Drew is almost like a surrogate mother for Gwen, a parent of sorts who takes her in after showing her father who she is. Almost, as her protectiveness soon starts to wear off and gives way to sarcastic coldness after Gwen pays Miles a visit.) And the little nuances of both of their struggles trying to make it in this truly "elite" Spider-Society. It works perfectly through either Miles' lens or Gwen's.

Lots of graphic design and logos in that short convenience store scene, too. Lots for someone like me to look for.

The Spot seems to have linework going on inside him, of his anatomy and structure... Not dissimilar to the Xerography process used by Disney for animated productions from 1960 to 1985, and how the process overriding the clean-up animation process meant that you saw lots of rough linework, sketches, and planning inside of the characters. Like the rawness of the drawings preserved in the finished films. That technique is often paid homage to in other animated works, such as Tomm Moore's Irish triptych films that he did for Cartoon Saloon.

Much was written about, especially because one of the trailers showed this gag, Rio Morales snapping her finger upon hearing that Miles got a lower grade in Spanish class. A little after that, while Jeff is speaking, the look on her face. How utterly INSULTED she is- Again, just, ooh, great animated acting all around.

"Maybe get off the kid's a-

The first universe Spot visits, love that it's very 2D-looking and very, *very* comic book, a hint of pulp and Art Deco and '60s modern rolled into one... before giving us Venomverse (oh I'm sorry, SUMC) and LEGO.

Much of the Morales' rooftop party scene is just jam-packed to the moon and back with all these little writing nuances, tying in all this stuff about being a teen who is hiding something, reasoning with one's well-meaning but very controlling parents, all the humor and drama that stems from that. All that awkwardness, the embarrassment, how the guests play off of all of that, etc.

Miles pursuing The Spot whilst trying to talk to him... I mean, the entire Mumbattan sequence alone mops the floor w/ maybe 95% of superhero movies made in the last 5 years, but... This scene in particular, where the two are flying through a bunch of intricately-designed and planned buildings full of people with all these swooping camera angles- GO HARD they did.

Hobie's universe particularly referencing the ransom note letterforms that made up the cover of the iconic Sex Pistols album NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS. They leaned *hard* on early punk from the '70s, more so than any other era, and that's so damn cool.

The subtle animated acting from Gwen during Miguel's warning to Miles about disrupting canon. All the inner-conflict over believing in it or not. And even before that, too, particularly in the aftermath of the Mumbattan Alchemax building collapsing onto the bridge.

And during that whole scene, as the different Spiders start to surround Miles, I like how Hobie is more turned to the side than facing Miles directly, unlike the other Spiders. That's just seconds before it's made clear that Hobie is on Miles' side.

The super-widescreen, Panavision-esque aspect ratio change when - during the whole Spider Society chase - Miles lands on Widow and is confronted by Web-Slinger. Really channeling the spaghetti Westerns, even if that bit has been done before, its use here - very clever.

"SNITCH!"

Miles' smirk when he begins to use his electric charge power to knock Miguel off of him, right before he's about to tell him - and by extension everyone who ever doubted him or told him he can't do what's right or what he desires - off.

The "Go Home Machine" literally being an elaborate spider, itself, inside a nest. Everything, right down to the machinery, all spider-themed. Simply going ALL OUT. Also that scanner that Miguel angrily rips out of the console... What a hilariously excessive work of art that thing is, and we only really see it for like 5 seconds.

Like I said, will likely add more, and this probably read more like yet another review of this film that I really, really love. I apologize for that, lol.

[arlecchno]

lmao the blonde parts are supposed to be teal but i havent had a chance to redye them in foreverr … also yes ! my xiao jacket ! its not the only one out there though LOL

the wall youre seeing is actually my best friend roofs long lost sibling , wall /j

BEFORE 6 !? i could never i always go to bed at like 12am …. im so sleep deprived on school days lol

ME AND THAT FRIEND DID SO MANY SILLY THINGS IN OUR MATH/STEM CLASS LMAO we used to play genshin wish sim (im very young T_T) and say weird things to summon characters (i told the computer id help make kaeya dilucs brother again to get diluc , and BOTH OF THEM CAME HOME IN THE SAME PULL) tbh ive always complained ab stairs so ,,, i cant even take the stairs in my building anymore bc i live on the 9th floor itd take way too long 😭

we have a lot of the same top 5s , kaeya , diluc , and scara share #1 because … yes . my favorite gal is fischl i love her sm -

i have 11 5*s (not including aloy) , and im currently pulling for sir acting grand scribe himself ! im at around late 30 pity , if he does / doesnt come home i will make self ship art because i dont think he would like that >:)

GOOD TO KNOW ITS GOING WELL im actually making notes for a fic i wanna write on call w my previously mentioned friend roof LOL ive had the idea ever since the nilotpala cup event , i really wanted to make like an actual fic based off of it bc that girl from the yae publishing house was supposed to or wtv HAHAH but im procrastinating on a title so im just . UGH - yk ?

i did have a good day both the day you replied and today ! i am injured but its not bad (only hurts when i move certain ways) , i went on a field trip for school today and got to go in a ✨stream✨ and pick up a little crawfish >:D i hope youre doing good as well !! its so nice talking to you lmao youre so cool

i might start sending doodles every ask , so heres a sketch of my genshin oc !!

my “question” issss guess what region theyre from ! or who they live with LOL the hint is that there are already playables from their region , and there are technically two regions theyre from ?? you can guess just one though ill give you the answer next ask :P

- jellyfish

i think it's because i'm already used to waking up early... even tho i'm a very sleep deprived student that sleeps at 12-1 and wakes up at 5 😔 i'm fairly a light sleeper so no matter what time i sleep, whenever my alarm goes off i'm always up by the second 🥲

and LMAOO i've played a ton of those wish sims to prevent myself from rolling whenever i'm saving up for a character, it works wonders

i didn't really expect you to like fischl!!! i like using her in events where we have her as a trial character lol using oz in her burst and flying around is so silly but i always have fun with it!

seems like we're both on the run for alhaitham :D currently have 72 pity and he still has yet to arrive... i do not have a guarantee whatsoever so the next time i pull i'm gonna be praying for him to come home 😔 i've already explored most of the new area for him

and that fic idea sounds interesting! i briefly forgot about that event so when you mentioned it i'm suddenly reminded of how fun playing with the fungi was!! hope you'll find many inspiration for your supposed title, and who knows, next thing you know you're hitting the post button for your fic 🤭

hope you're healing well from your injury also!! have lots of rest and don't overexert yourself too much, resting is very important hehe

it's nice to know that you went on a field trip :O i haven't been to one in a while so hearing it from you reminded me how fun it always is to go on one and escape school (tbf i think we can agree at least half of the students that volunteer on field trips only do it to skip classes LMAO #guilty)

i think if i had to guess, it's a mix between mondstadt and sumeru, maybe? i'm either really wrong or really right since my basic skills of knowledge on each regions' outfits are very minimal 😵‍💫

a question for you; how was your week? tell me all about it!! hehe i honestly like hearing people talk about their day and week because it's undeniably so interesting to know what others have been up to and how different some people's lives can be from ours! hope i'm not rambling too much... i just really like listening to people talk and talk about their life

[tillychmo]

Thank you, OP!

I’m getting increasingly bothered by the way in which people seem to be OK with actively hating him – esp. considering that the other hundreds of signers on that letter are *not* met with the same vitriol.

I wish that people had better knowledge of how these petition-letters come about in the business, because a lot of people seem to have massively misunderstood how these things work.

For instance – there’s a very real possibility that Taika never actually *read* that letter himself, but rather had the general meaning relayed to him by someone else (like an assistant) before putting his name on it – and for that matter Taika may not have been the one to ‘actively sign’ the letter either.

These things are passed around within the social circles of the business – meaning that if someone within your circle knows about it, then you’ll probably hear about it too. BUT if they’re existing outside of your circle, you may not even hear about them before they’re public.

(In that regard, if your circle only heard about the “Save the hostages”-letter and not the “Ceasefire”-letter that followed a few weeks later, then you wouldn’t have been able to sign that as well, because you literally didn’t know it existed, before it was already published without your name on it.)

The chance that Taika never saw that letter, but was just relayed the content by an assistant – and then told the assistant that it was ok to put his name on it – is huge. The man has a BONKERS schedule. He is producing, directing, writing, and acting in things all at the same time — and yet people seem to expect him to also be flawless? That’s some bananas-high expectations to have for anyone – but especially someone you don’t know. None of us knows what’s going on in each other’s lives.

Some people are acting as though he provided the Israeli army with weapons, ffs.

He signed a f*ckin’ letter.

Along with hundreds of others BTW. Hundreds of others who are in no way being met with the kind of vitriol that he is – do you see Helen Mirren, Jon Hamm, Jason Segel, Will Farrell, or Kristin Chenoweth (to name a FEW others from that list) being met with the same kind of vitriol?

The list of names on that letter is SO long that Taika’s name doesn’t even appear on the first page – and yet, the brown indigenous man (who at the time of the letter being published already had to deal with a ton of hatred on the back of ‘Love & Thunder’) is the one person people seem to hone in on.

And people need to take a seriously hard look inwardly and ask themselves why they seem to be so much more willing to sh*t on one of the only indigenous people on that list, more than any other name on there. Because it sure smells like racism (with a dash of antisemitism) …

And HEY. Let me be quite clear:

You’re absolutely allowed to not like Taika Waititi. You do not have to like everybody.

But there’s a massive difference between disliking someone and then the outright vitriol and hatred that Taika is being met with whenever he dares to breathe a single word online (including a post made for his wife’s birthday) – which is probably why he has decided (or his publicist has ordered him) to steer clear of SoMe the past few months.

Dislike Taika as much as you want – but stop being bullies. The sheer level of hatred towards him has *massively* surpassed any ’crime’ here.

I keep seeing posts on social media thanking the OFMD cast and crew for their work and not mentioning Taika, and it's driving me to distraction because Taika is absolutely fundamental to the existence of this show.

There's a huge chance the show wouldn't have been picked up at all if Taika hadn't attached his name to it. And he didn't just attach his name and walk away - he played a key role in developing the show. David has said that he was looking at the history with Taika and they both went 'omg Stede and Blackbeard were fucking' and decided to centre the show around that. Taika pushed for Rhys to play Stede. Taika saw Nathan's comedy on instagram and went 'yep that's Lucius'. Taika was desperate to play Ed, and fought to play him. Taika has spoken about how much he loves playing Ed, how it made him fall in love with acting again, to the point where he wears some of Ed's jewellery and has gotten some of Ed's tattoos actually inked on him. He poured everything he has as an actor into Ed (some of the stuff he had to perform, particularly at the beginning of S2, is difficult) and the show simply wouldn't work without it. Taika directed the pilot. He loved the show enough to juggle filming S1 with post-production on Thor: Love and Thunder. When the show's budget was slashed by 40%, and could no longer afford to film in LA, Taika would have been key to moving production to New Zealand - and if that hadn't happened, S2 wouldn't have happened. When a director went off sick with Covid during S2, Taika jumped in to direct half an episode and then didn't take a director's credit on it.

You do not have to like Taika. You do not have to agree with everything he does/says. But what we are not going to do is erase the absolutely key fundamental role that Taika has played in OFMD. This show simply would not exist, probably not in any form, but certainly not in the form we see and love, if not for Taika's continuing and multi-level contribution.