#I don't find others; even people I really like; extend that courtesy

[elexuscal]

Welcome to the Murderbot Diaries Fandom!

Hello, hello! Our favorite anxious half robot, half-human security construct has made it to streaming, introducing it to a whole new audience! While that leaves the temptation to put on our helmets and hide in the corner, I'm putting my best foot forward to mimic Dr. Mensah and welcome you all to our hab!

My intention with this post is to give a little bit of a guide to newcomers to get them situated, and generally just say hi.

What's Murderbot?

Murderbot is the titular character of The Murderbot Diaries, a book series by Martha Wells. Book 1, All Systems Red, is currently being adapted by a new streaming series on Apple TV. The (two) series follow a rogue ‘SecurityUnit’ as it befriends humans and robots alike, steals its freedom, and does what it can against the hyper-capitalist companies that rule much of the galaxy.

Spoilers Abound!

As far as we can tell, the (presumed first) season of the Murderbot show will cover only book 1 of what is currently a six-book series (with two additional short stories, and two more entries planned).

As such, there will be spoilers lurking in the tags! This includes future events, reveals, and characters.

If you're new and don't want to be spoiled, stick to the tags #Murderbot Show and #Murderbot TV. It's also a courtesy of fans of the book series to keep TV show discussion in that tag as opposed to the book tags #Murderbot Diaries and #TMBD. (Though I'm going to be honest, there's like a bazillion tags at this point so this might be a losing battle. Oh well, we try!)

Sharing Spaces

The fundamental themes are Murderbot are about the power of kindness and compassion, and the importance of respecting those different from you. Those are ideals I hope we can continue to foster as our little fandom grows.

What does that mean?

Primarily, it means recognizing that there are going to be different perspectives, and that's okay! Some people are really excited by an adaptation of the books they love; some are skeptical. Plus, of course a whole bunch of folks who have only just been introduced to MB via TV! All are valid! Let's not be rude to those who disagree with our own perspective.

It also means respecting different interpretations of the character and stories. We don't know how much the story of books and show are going to diverge; certainly, even faithful adaptations need to make changes to take advantage of a new medium. And indeed, even when you're reading the same text, people can come away with very different perspectives. We need to make room for all those perspectives to hang out together.

Identity and Representation

The Murderbot of the books is nonbinary, using it/its pronouns. There’s heavy emphasis in the text that Murderbot is wholly uninterested in both sex and romance, and it is therefore very commonly interpreted as asexual and aromantic, not to mention touch-averse and neurodivergent. As such, you'll find many folks from these communities within the fandom. Please try to be kind and respectful of these groups!

As always, the fandom principles of 'Ship and Let Ship' and 'Your Kink Is Not My Kink (And That's Okay)' applies. That said, it's a two way street, and there are ways to approach shipping that recognises why many other fans won't share your interests. Write shippy fic, draw shippy art, just tag appropriately and be respectful of ace and aro-spec identities as you do.

Respecting representation also extends to visual depictions of the characters! With a new show out, it of course follows that many people will be making fanart reflecting its cast! However, the books themselves are often very scant on physical descriptions, reflecting Murderbot's often laconic style. This leaves a bit of a blank canvas for fanart. While we're definitely going to be seeing a lot of fanart representing Skarsgard's Murderbot (as well as the rest of the show's cast), you’re also going to be seeing pieces  taking inspiration from other places, such the official book cover art by Tommy Arnold,  the voice actor of the audiobooks, Kevin R. Free, and artists’ own imagination! This means other interpretations of the characters in terms of racial background, build, and gender presentation. That's awesome! Let's keep enthusiasm for all ways of depicting this awesome universe going!

Fandom Is Fun

Above all, fandom is a place of joy, connection, and creativity. Be kind to others; block those who are bringing you down; share and emphasize the things you love!

If this is your first time finding Murderbot; welcome! I think you've got a real treat ahead of you. I'm glad you're here. 👋

[lambouillet]

LAST UPDATED ON: APRIL/30/2025

─⪼ Hi I'm FIORE !

they/them ☦ young adult ☦ artist, worldbuilder and maybe game concept artist : ^ )

🖍️ Art Gallery ─ ✏️ Doodles — 🪦Masterpost(wip)

LAMBS OF GOD ( Au/Pseudo fan game/World-building )

NEVER WONDER ( Slumbering titans and the land of dreams )

LOGLOG ( Dev log for the fan game part of Lambs of God, also on Bsky and on the Cotl Discord )

📭Asks are always welcomed! I like to take my time crafting a response though so I may not respond as quick as others. Ranges from a few days to a few months ..

I have a terrible terrible habit of rewriting my posts very often also so please don't mind if some things sound a little off ! Its a disease

⚠️ DISCLAIMERS/BYF: I have a spiritual, folk catholic, faith healer background as my mother was a practitioner and involved me in her beliefs, as a result what I make is going to be derivative of those experiences and the experiences of others in my community. I will appear standoffish or cold as a result of this, sorries 💔 I'll have to keep an arms length to most of you for my own sanity.

TWS: Unfortunately I can't realistically tag all of my posts with trigger warnings everytime, but the ones that you'll have to look out for and that'll appear often (but aren't necessarily explicit) are: Gore, Religious imagery, Religious abuse, Decapitation, Child Death, Child abuse, Animal death, Suicide, Dead bodies, Body horror, implied SA, Pregnancy horror(implied), Self harm, Watching people sleep, and Nudity.

Do note some of these will be treated as regular jokes and jests characters would make to make fun of themselves and their own predicaments, but know that doesn't take away any of the severity, there's alot of cruelty that doesn't seem apparent on first viewing but it will always be there for you to find, view responsibly and stay safe!

Pr0sh1p/T3rfs DNI. And anyone neutral. I think you are all annoying

Extra FAQ under the read more ↓ Current PFP: Shepherd Karakal

FAQ:

Asks & dms

📫 ASKBOX

As mentioned above, all is welcomed, I'd however appreciate if you extend some of your courtesy to me and do not send me anything that's along the lines of being sexually charged. Suggestive jokes are fine, calling them attractive is alright! I am an adult but that doesn't warrant that I'll be over the moon with inappropriate asks. Rule of thumb is if you'd feel uncomfortable sending it to a stranger or a teenager, think twice before sending it in.

Don't send me personal discourse. If you have a problem with another user that I wouldn't know personally it should be dealt with privately. In no way am I ever going to be in a position where I can give you a resolute answer for this. Remember, I am just a random guy, on the web!

Related but slightly unrelated, I will block people freely, whether you've done the above or not, that's just how I like to curate what I see and I do it very often. It's not personal! Please don't take it as such.

Otherwise, everything else is free reign (unless I say so) go nuts, Insane even.

📨DMS

Anyone can dm! ask box rules still apply. Can't guarantee that I'll reply back if the conversation starts with just a "Hi" or "How are you" . I'd really only prefer you message me if there's something to tell or I've done something to elicit you to do so.

General

💬Do you like Narilamb?

No I want to drop hot boiling oil on Narinder

💬Where does your username come from?

Its Rambouillet with "Lamb" instead of Ram : ^ )

💬 what's your lamb's name/pronouns/gender/etc?

They / them nonbinary androgynous, because I like to keep them as ungendered as they are in the game, thats just how I prefer them!

As for a name, they don't really have one! Nor do they deserve one, they don't deserve anything.

Endearingly though, I tend to use Lambie as a little nickname and I DO like the name Lambert, because it makes me giggle, but I will only use both for personal and organisation reasons, not because its their name. In universe they're "The Lamb" and nothing else, theres no name beyond the title.

ART RELATED

🎁Can I make Fanart/Fanfics of your au/ocs?

Of course! Absolutely! You don't even need to ask! Only thing I'll ask of you though is for you to tag me in them so I can see them... These will always guarantee a smile on my face.

🎭can I use your art as a pfp/post it to Pinterest?

I'd rather you not use my art for anything unless you've had my permission or its art I made for you! Definitely don't post it around other places without my knowledge. I don't have any other active socials besides here and Bluesky under Lambouillet

🎨🖌️Program and brushes

I use Clip studio paint for most of my art, Aseprite every once in a while and Spine2d for my sprites!

I change what I use sporadically so I can't give you a proper answer on EVERY brush I use but here are my frequent ones:

Shockgrunge Marker and Pencil

Kasuy MK sploon

Tacodemuerte Mrsplotchy

Scribbly Dark

Jarijari

Bathylychnops Brushes

Intoxicate set

🚩 Where'd you get the borders from?

I made them! Part1 Part2

useful visualiser for anyones whos read this far ♥️ muah

One last thing:

I know I mentioned that I had experiences that are very specific to me and don't get me wrong it impacted my life to a level thats obviously more severe than normal. But, I don't know everything, I am not the arbiter of the experience of every practitioner, religious group or religious organisation. Abusive or not, this is an experience that isn't one size fits all. it varies and can be influenced from culture to culture, folklore and upbringing. There are some things that I will just NOT know and it's not my place to say whats true and what's false when it comes to religions and places that aren't mine. It would be better if you sought to find somebody who is from the place you're curious about to ask ontop of doing your own readings. Always be sure to approach with a level of sensitivity and tact. Don't try to treat these people as wells of information you can dry up, its ghoulish.

Extra tags directory for my convenience:

#🗃️ - Archive

#🖼️ - Favourites

#📖 - Comics

#relinquary

#prattles

#manuscripts

[withleeknow]

six minutes.

pairing: seungmin x reader genre/warnings: friends to ??, fluff; a couple of swear words here and there bc who am i if i don't swear, mentions of hurling but it doesn't actually happen, not really unedited lol word count: 0.8k note: HELLO FELLOW WIFEU (you know who you are), number 13 was "things you said at the kitchen table" lol. anywhomst people, my first seungmin piece!!

as always, i’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you may have, and please drop a like and/or reblog if you enjoy reading ♡

navigation › masterlist › ko-fi

when blinding sunlight playfully slips through the curtains, you wake up with an ache inside your head, then instant confusion as you take in your surroundings.

this isn't your bedroom.

the clothes you're wearing aren't the ones you put on before you went out last night.

there's someone on the other side of the bedroom door, and the rummaging of cabinets, the clanging of pots and pans.

you sit up fully, clutching the duvet cover close to your chest, evidently disoriented. there's not much for you to go on - the room is clean, tidy, barely any decorations except for what seems to be a few baseball mementos displayed neatly on the credenza sitting opposite from the bed, surrounded by empty cream-colored walls.

a dumb, possibly-still-drunken thought pops up.

oh my god, i've been kidnapped.

you blink, feeling fatigue in every limb, slightly alarmed but not scared even though you probably should be. (you've been told that your survival instincts aren't very sharp.) the brain fog must also be a contributing factor, but even in spite of the thought of being kidnapped, you don't register any sense of imminent danger. just a growing perplexity because not everything has clicked into place yet.

your eyes notice a framed photo on the bedside table when the light catches on the glass. upon closer examination, you gasp sharply, because why the fuck is there a photo of your dog in this strange bedroom?!

oh wait.

okay.

thank fuck. you've been here before.

it's just kim seungmin's bedroom that you're in, and it's just kim seungmin's favorite baseball t-shirt that you're wearing.

after a moment of sitting by yourself in total dumbfounded silence, you venture out of the bedroom on unsteady legs - not even the good kind of wobbly legs that you wished you'd experienced as a result of a freaky night tangled up in the sheets - to find your friend in the kitchen with his back turned to you, hunched over something you can't see on the counter next to the sink.

you take a seat at the kitchen island, making sure to scrape the chair across the floor loudly to alert him of your presence. he turns around at the sound, a bit startled - cute - then throws a smile your way when he realizes who the intruder is.

"morning, sunshine," he chuckles upon seeing the disgruntled look on your face, courtesy of your stubborn headache. "sleep well?"

"i don't even remember what happened," you grumble, bypassing his question entirely. "why am i here? why didn't you take me home?"

"you wouldn't let me. you made me take you back to my place, then you practically demanded to sleep in my bed too," he tells you, filling a glass with water and handing it to you before turning back again to continue working on whatever task he was occupied with before you interrupted him. "thank god you didn't hurl."

you scoff, but you take a grateful sip of the water anyway. "you would've made me sleep on the couch?"

"yes." zero hesitation. motherfucker.

"and they say chivalry is dead."

"you'd be dead too if you had puked on my bed."

"i almost did. i woke up thinking i was kidnapped."

seungmin laughs, extending a hand to his right to grab a container of salt. you recognize it because it's part of the spice container set that you got him as a housewarming gift when he first moved into this apartment.

"would a kidnapper let you wear his favorite shirt and drool on his pillows?" he asks.

"i was practically blacked out. you could've thrown me a potato sack and i wouldn't have noticed."

"yeah, well, you wanted the shirt, so..."

for some reason, it makes you warm all over. though you still feel icky as hell from the night out, the soft material of his tee covering your body becomes more welcoming, makes you want to wrap yourself in the fabric even more.

you clear your throat, trying to dissolve the lump that forms in your throat upon hearing his words. the mischievous sun makes an appearance again, tiptoeing from the bedroom window to the kitchen window, sneaking through the cracks to saturate seungmin in a generous dose of golden light.

he turns around to face you once again, before you can think of anything else to say. he places a plate in front of you, and the sight leaves you a little taken aback. soft boiled eggs, already peeled and halved, sprinkled with your favorite sea salt.

"i don't think a kidnapper would get up early and google how to soft boil eggs either," he says with a casual shrug, but there's a hint of a smile there, tugging at his the corner of his lips.

"you had to google how to boil eggs?"

"soft boil eggs," he tuts, mildly offended that you'd think he's that incompetent in the kitchen. "because you like them."

he lets the smile take over completely now, the very second you feel heat rush to your cheeks.

"google said it takes six minutes, by the way."

permanent taglist: @onlyycb97wife @starsandrqindrops @borahae-reads @abbiestearsricochet @cutiespaghetti @anthropologykpopmultistan @moonlinos

all rights reserved © withleeknow. reposting, translating and/or modifying is not permitted by any means. [posted 21.12.2023]

[helsex]

You might have noticed things have been kind of strange here on my blog for a hot minute, and not just because of the whole housing insecurity and unemployed thing. I have been behaving erratically, making posts and getting asks that don’t make a whole lot of sense without context.

Until now I have been fairly civil about it (key word fairly), keeping things vague and nameless, blocking and moving on. Not sending anon hate, not stalking blogs. I won’t pretend I haven’t gotten angry and made my strong opinions clear, but I have kept it in my dms and on MY blog with over fifty people in this section of the community blocked. However that courtesy has not been extended to me and I am tired of rolling over and taking it. 

This post is about the harassment I have received alone. I will not cover the other actions of this user nor the contents of his blog because, though there are reasonable criticisms to be made, that would overall weaken the point of this post. It’s not about what he does generally but how in this situation I have been targeted.

The main players in this are myself, and ‘Wizard’ - aka wildestwizard, wildwizardcreations, wildwizardest (most recent), and soberhorn/addictedantler (his main). I am on the adult side of the fandom and have an alternate blog for it. It all started with this post there:

I’ll admit I do think his behavior is gross! And I say as much here. But this was a post on my blog. Stating my boundaries. I’m within my rights to not like him and not want him or his people around me. I’ve had him blocked since I knew he existed and you know what? Despite clearly outright saying on my pinned post I don't like people who interact with and make the content he makes, he has followed me TWICE on that sideblog. Even after being blocked. Because his blog keeps getting rightfully terminated for breaking tumblr ToS. I refer to these kind of posts I make as ‘semi-private’ crit because they are untagged on my very small blog where I have a ton of people blocked, very few people would ever see them and if my detractors see them it’s because they chose to block evade and search out my blog.

After making this post I did get backlash and a few genuine questions from some anons, some I tried to answer in good faith but most I blocked. Some time later, maybe a few days or a week, I posted about the discord server I made. I mentioned that I was trying to cultivate a safe space because wow! Guess what! A lot of people do not feel safe or comfortable around people like Wizard.

This got me more anon hate, I kept blocking anons but more continued to pop up. Not long after it was brought to my attention he had been vague posting about me on his blog, calling me an awful person for stating my boundaries and specifically mentioning my server by name, getting offended I made it but didn’t want to let in certain people. Establishing that he was seeing my posts despite being blocked and giving his followers a direct way to find me.

Some time later Wizard got terminated yet again.This is when things really ramped up, I started getting the feeling my blogs were being watched. I got exponentially more anon hate, not just on my sideblog this time but on my fandom main. Any post I made, even completely unrelated, would within MINUTES get several anons. I blocked them but more kept coming in.

It was much of the same until two of my friends (autistic-evil-xisuma and madscience) were also sent anons. One expressly misgendering me with she/her pronouns, both of them warning my friends against associating with me.

This was around the same time it was coming to the end of the month. I am unemployed currently and couldn’t pay rent for June so I was posting preparing for the worst, expecting that this would be the end. In response i got sent suicide bait twice. (of course obviously I am still here, thanks to the help of the community)

A common theme in all the anons I’ve received is “you are not getting harassed, you are the one harassing" explicitly and implicitly calling me crazy. Deciding that my vague and semi-private posts constitute harassment. I don’t send anons. I don’t have that energy and quite frankly I don’t even want to be looking at the blogs of these people. Whether coordinated and intentional or not this has been genuine gaslightling and its effect on me has been bad. That's a big part of why I am posting this. I want to lay everything out, make it clear I HAVE been getting harassed. This is utterly disgusting behavior, calling anyone crazy or the like perpetuates harmful language LET ALONE a mentally ill person who does in fact experience psychosis. It’s something I know I would never fucking say to even my worst enemy. But considering this is the guy who unironically put ‘freaktard’ in his bio I’m not even surprised by the ableism/sanism in this community anymore.

Unfortunately Wizard did make a new blog. He continued to play victim, call me a moral crusader and claim he doesn’t condone harassment

I don’t know if he’s posted about me more than a couple times publicly because I don’t go looking at his blog. But it’s very obvious there’s at least talk going on in some discord server, though it’s not something I can explicitly prove. In addition, he hasn’t made any post saying to stop harassing me or that he doesn’t approve of the harassment and suicide bait. All the anons I get simply ignore or justify it. Even if he’s not directly telling people to go after me in a server or sending asks himself, he sure isn’t telling them to stop, and if he didn’t condone the harassment he would say something.

The last straw was when I got my zip code in my inbox. My fucking zip code. Obviously I'm not gonna show it here but Moony can back me up.

But of course these people are the ones who are ‘anti-harassment’ and ‘don’t like don’t look’. Sure.

I think what’s most concerning is the vast amount of people, including hugely popular artists willing to rally around him. Defend him, harass for him, praise him. Him the guy who got banned from Scar and Impulse’s channels due to his actions. The guy who got banned from r/hermitcraft. The guy who made a hermit rape tier list which included statuatory rape. The self proclaimed “captain shota” who gets incredibly defensive and reactionary when people call him gross. 

I said I wouldn’t go into his other behavior here because it’s not the point and I’m sticking to that, if you’re an adult you're free to go digging around in his archives and blog (though much has been lost due to how many times he’s been terminated), but proceed with caution. If you’re a minor do not fucking do that. Don’t send harassment or give him attention via filling out that form. I’m making this post for me so I can feel less crazy. I plan to do my very best to drop all this now, and carry on with my life, but I do expect retaliation.

Maybe you can excuse the things he has posted and said, the dehumanization of a disabled man on the basis of him being popular - because it’s all ‘just fiction’. But now a real life person is getting actually harassed, are you going to excuse that away too? Am I just a delusional insane freak? He’s an asshole and a shitty person no matter how you cut it.

I’m limited on how many images I can put in a post but here’s a few anons as proof:

One of the first anons I got, in response to me making a server and posts on my own blog, accusing me of shit I simply don't do (I don't do callouts I don't do anon hate). Ironically going out of their way to send anon hate instead of following "dont like don't interact"

This is one of the most egregious examples of someone genuinely with their chest calling me crazy and a maniac. Fucking disgusting!

sent to madscience and autistic-evil-xisuma respectively

this ask specifically was sent the day wiz was terminated in response to a post i had made about my JOB HUNT.

that's all the images i can fit but yeah. yeah. I've blocked dozens of anons atp and it never helps, either it's one dedicated person or a group making alts JUST to send anon hate.

Thanks for reading

[thegogoat202]

My stance regarding the Jutty Taylor drama that's been going around for 6 months and even contemporarily.

So, apparently shit went down ~6 months ago and still continues to escalate as of now.

Let me preface this post by saying that I know many people have covered this content in the past. However, I feel the need to back many others up on the situation and get my thoughts out while I'm at it.

(This tangent is the courtesy of a Red Bull I found in my fridge. Additionally, all things discussed in this post are not ever meant to be personal attacks towards either Jutty or the mentioned accuser and are not to be treated as such.)

For the sake of those who do not wish to see this, here's a 'read more' tab so the content doesn't take up your entire screen. I don't know about you, but I personally hate when that happens, so here.

I'm going to assume that most chronic Tumblr or Reddit dwellers have gotten a clear image of what has been going on.

For those who somehow don't know, here's a short summary. Justin/Jutty Taylor A.K.A. 'Swiss' ghoul had been accused of inappropriately touching a fifteen-year-old girl (the accuser) in the past six months or so. Is there evidence that he actually did? That question still remains a mystery until something solid and tangible comes up.

As of late, despite his past apology and reasonable defense, Swiss has announced his breakup in totality with the band Ghost due to 'personal reasons.' (I am, however, going to note that there has also additionally been a text going around that implies he told a minor to use fake identification in order to see a (18+) concert for his own band. I am aware of this, and it was rather immoral on his behalf, but also a little irrelevant to what I'm about to say.)

What I've been seeing in response to the allegations involving a case that hasn't been 100% proven yet is beyond me. Threats of violence, online harassment, racist remarks, and even flat-out death threats have been passed around like a Sister of Sin in a 'Monstrance Clock' scenario.

I can't believe this has to even be brought up, but the things mentioned above are completely unacceptable and should never, ever be used especially in a moral dilemma like this. I know you're angry, but you guys have to understand that this is why people from so many fandoms can't have nice things. Because of these loud minorities that force the inconceivable to happen and ruin the fun for everybody. I feel like I'm reliving being a Sleep Token fan.

If Jutty does somehow turn out to be found guilty of touching the accuser in a way he shouldn't have, then with all hypothetical disrespect, fuck him and everything he did. But as of now, I'm really disappointed with how a select number of 'fans' have been treating him.

I'm usually somewhat reasonable in believing the victim, but as far as we know currently, it's just a he-said-she-said case... Which is unfortunately how many SA ordeals end up unless someone brings the law enforcements into the picture and they find something.

Jutty is innocent until proven guilty, as a lot of things in law go. On a separate note, though, if for some reason he is found red-handed with evidence, haze him all you want but these things I've been seeing online especially on X (cough cough racist quips cough cough) are still not permissible. Racist comments extend not only to Jutty, but to his entire race of people as well.

Before you spew things out of your ass in general, think about how your words can affect who you're targeting. People as young as elementary children end their lives in terrible ways because of poorly chosen words by poorly educated people.

At the bottom line, Swiss is nothing but a hired musician. He wasn't intended to be permanent and neither were the others. I would go as far as to say that Ghost itself neither wins nor loses anything when somebody leaves, because they have new ghouls on hire every so often. They're replaceable, but then again, I inevitably understand the bond the fans of Swiss have made with him. I am personally distraught by his disappearance as well.

We ultimately shouldn't let this case destroy the way our community perceives Ghost. Whether we like it or not, Swiss is gone, but this doesn't mean that we need to let it ruin our fun.

Thank you for scrolling through my rant, and as always, have a nice day and stay safe.

[slavhew]

murdoc for character opinions

god. murdoc. im admittedly not deep in enough to hard assess my opinions from 2018 vs now, but let's give a quick run through.

i love murdoc. but he's also hard to talk about. so i think its best to jump forward to what i find most compelling about him: it's someone's capacity to grow and change even relatively late in life.

He has a start in life that, speeding over all of THAT, leaves him a very vapid, self centered and cruel person by the time the band becomes a thing. Bit by bit, tooth by pulled tooth, he learns to see things differently.

And this is where that "canon isn't real if i dont look at it"- the continued existence of gorillaz's storyline depends on there being an antagonist, and that is historically Murdoc's role. So a lot of that development will get retconned, glossed over, etc. I don't really blame JH for that anymore, that's just how these things often go with properties that have this kind of extended shelf life.

Murdoc is a person that distills all his hurt into anger, excuses his loneliness as being "by choice" and buries trauma under ego, posturing and hypersexual behavior. But as it is when you form bonds with people, tentative as they might be, they change you. Phase 3 is the climax of this, and phase 6 was both the """final""" relapse of his bad tendencies (post TNN cough) and the end of his arc with The Lost Chord.

THAT ALL BEING SAID, he's silly to me. I count all the material of him being Oddly Polite or giggly as canon whether it's Phil Cornwell breaking character or not.

Murdoc has two faces: one for the paps, and another for the fans. One crude and attention seeking, and a softer more relaxed one for when he ACTUALLY gets to discuss his interests and the music he makes. He plays the media like a fiddle, since having eyes on him is an old skill he's long since mastered.

My possible divergences from fanon at large? I haven't been in touch lately, but I remember some interpretations being popular that I disagree with, so I'll just state my takes:

He's not iredeemable or stupid or remorseless, he grows to care about his bandmates very early on but is VERY slow on the uptake of identifying that affection, and he's much smarter than he lets on. Also no beef to people who ship 2doc but man it is just not my cup of tea. They're coworkers slash fffrriiienndsss?? who needle each other constantly.

AS FOR HEADCANONS: very simple.

A lot of his stunts in the public eye are coordinated- when he said he refuses to get on the stage on other people's terms, this includes the paps. If he's going to be hated, he might as well do that with intention and style

That being said, it's also a self-made excuse to be a debaucherous asshole as well as how he justifies the overindulgence to himself.

Selling his soul had progressive effects on his appearance

green skin, pointy ears, pointier teeth. he used to wear a red contact. he doesn't have to anymore!

the red eyes would be bilateral but in phase 5 the eye injury resulted in anisocoria- bowie-esque. He isn't sure if this is another manifestation of his deal for musical success, or karma.

because of his reduced vision and MULTIPLE stints in prison he is jumpier than ever

he has an unibrow! the fringe hides it because it grows back too fast, and murdoc is vain.

he used to have a fuller face, but as of phase 2 the stardom (drugs, poor self-care) started affecting his appearance. Phase 3 was even more brutal in terms of this. by the time phase 4 rolled around and he got clean, the buccal fat was gone for good, courtesy of plain aging!

short, skinny and not in the healthy way. again, phase 1-2 sees him develop a beer gut under xylophone ribs, phase 3 he's at his worst health-wise. Phase 4 and 6 see him put some real padding on, finally. (5 is a step back due to incarceration)

phase 5 issss fiiiineee... but i prefer respect-false-iconz (aka ezracaution)'s canon divergent exploration of it, The Code

lastly: projection? brother that's the bisexuality, shortness, edginess for show and anger issues. that's just text.

[kaiserscomms]

Hi there! I was wondering if you have any tips or advice for aspiring graphic designers (in the rp sense)? Or even tutorials, sites for resources that you might be willing to reccomend?

Hello Anon!

Thank you so much for the kind message and question, didn't think i would become a 'reference' or 'guideline' for anyone in rp graphic or graphic design in general! however ever since you asked about tips - advice & free sources, i will extend you the courtesy of such!!

TIPS &. ADVICES FOR ROLEPLAY GRAPHICS!!

ALWAYS KNOW YOUR STYLE &. BE INSPIRED BY OTHER WORKS!! i know it may sound bullshit or something, but trust me: you need to know THE STYLE YOU RECOGNISE AS YOURSELF,

the style you want to try to recreate / homage / inspired of &. the style you see that's circulating around the community!! my initial experience when i first got into 'editing' was almost 10 years ago, like when i was in highschool, i was in twitter rp &. was fascinated by tumblr rp & the usage of image around!! from there i started to see the trends on editing that were circulating around &. try to recreate it!! i was just a kid per se, and honestly, to be creative is to see thus i believe it is fine to be inspired because from there you buILD YOUR OWN STYLE!! Because you learn, and you keep having ideas, it's like a principle i believe to be graphic designer or even an artist, there's always a glimpse of something/someone in your artwork but in the end it is yours to have it.

ALWAYS UNDERSTAND THE PLATFORM. when i was in twitter roleplay, there's a phenomenon where writers want to have such an aesthetically pleasing account and follows the trends that were happening in tumblr &. applies it to twitter. like the colouring, the graphic style or even the layout; but unfortunately this created a perception that tumblr rp was 'superior' in terms of graphic editing for characters &. they keep trying to 'recreate' &. 'recreate' to fulfill such aesthetic pleasing that can only be reached if you're in tumblr. for example, i find it bizarre if you're writing in twitter but has a blockquote icon or apply PSD/filter to a meme just to have this aesthetic pleasing desire. YES IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE GRAPHICS FOR YOUR ' ROLEPLAY IDENTITY ' FOR CHARACTERS YOU PLAY, but that doesn't necessarily force you to be do everything for aestheticism. understand your platform, understand its benefits / capabilities & inabilities so you can utilize it for your roleplay - writing THAN your imagery.

UNDERSTAND YOUR CHARACTER, LIKE REALLY; i find it so so necessarily that you need to understand your character through imagery. it doesn't necessarily about how they look, but rather the vibe - the images that remind you of your character. sometimes people are obsessed to have a faceclaim / bodyclaim etc that fits into the character thus they can have it in the graphics, but i believe the vibe - the images that remind you of the character is the one that should be used in roleplay graphics. it's like an abstract of a research, and your roleplay writing is the content of the research; if you don't give tidbits of the whole thing, you can't deliver the whole thing. this goes to the colour you associate to the character as well because colour can help you to give concrete base of your character instead of having paralysis on options that are being presented. same goes to the fonts; yes it can look good but does it really represent your character?

HAVE FUN EXPERIMENTING. hey. this is serious advice. i wouldnt be here if i didnt try and try experimenting with styles / fonts / colouring etcs. but in the end you will always have one particular thing that will stuck with you and you will eventually know, the experimenting works!! textures - overlays - different fonts - insipred by movies / book covers / milk covers etc; it can be source of experiment to apply to your graphics in roleplay and everyone will think: this is neat!!

lil side note, but it's my personal bias tbfh: don't make your graphics too dark / desaturated. people can't see it. accessibility should be main priority when it comes to writing. how do i feel about people that use small icons or too saturated colour? point two again: understand your platform. if it can be applied fabulously i agree but it shouldn't be like hindering your writing.

FREE RESOURCES :

ive been using these websites as my resources heh

PHOTOPEA : if you dont have photoshop, use photopea; the basic principle from photoshop applies to photopea. however one downside about photopea is that psd from photoshop can be different when it is applied to photopea, same goes to the other way around so it has benefits - disadvantage but hey, use it when you dont have photoshop fr

HERITAGE LIBRARY : free vintage illustrations, like really, png - vectors, very hopeful

PUBLIC WORK : same like heritage library however it's like pinterest but public domain which you can absolutely use!!

COSMOS : an alternative for pinterest. pinterest has everything to be honest but AI starts to appear and it makes me :/ sometimes which i found about this alternative FOR CREATIVE ONLY so yup it's pure inspiration all around.

FREE FACES : modern fonts are stored here, but then again i still use google fonts...

i'll try to remember where did i get my photoshop brushes but brushes can really help you fr. trust me. you dont need to overlay and such what matters is you can use brushes..

i'll keep this list update for further references honestly!!

SO ANON!! ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION &. HOPEFULLY THIS ANSWER IT even though it's almost gibberish / tmi / oversharing but yes i was in mindset where aestheticism should be everything, whilst it is, but don't make aestheticism become sole purpose of your roleplay whilst roleplay is about writing, playing the characters <3

[purplemonkeypuppet]

ok here's my thoughts on elsbeth s2e18: hey what the FUCK

that's a joke i do have other thoughts but i'm putting them below the fold (i'm aware the common terminology is "under the cut" but i was the editor in chief of my high school newspaper so here we are) because @church-of-lilith was very kind and did not spoil the episode for me and i wish to extend that same courtesy to anyone else who may be in the tag. for this episode specifically. usually my philosophy is that my posts are very clearly going to contain spoilers and if you read them anyways and get spoiled that's on you but this one...

the guy who played young judge guy absolutely knocked it out of the park. like at the end of the scene when he said "andy" i didn't even make the andy mertens connection it was just the way he said it that made me go OH SHIT EVIL JUDGE GUY cause he nailed the affect

i know his name is milton crawford but i like to not refer to him as just crawford out of respect for brandon crawford

of course rivers was the one who originally took care of the mertens case. of course

look i love elsbeth but i really don't understand why she always goes to the suspects and like points out why they're suspicious like you'd think it would be better to not let them know you're onto them. and it doesn't usually get her any new information. but maybe it's for the audience's sake so we know what she's thinking

she's not great at being subtle anyways but she could very easily not do that

also judge guy would've never found out they were at that club if they hadn't been TALKING ABOUT IT IN THE OPEN like they HAD ALREADY DECIDED WAS A BAD IDEA

oh and speaking of logically weird things about the episode why was it so important to find concrete evidence he killed that girl? like they had the voicemails on delia's phone where he was trying to tip off the government. shouldn't that have been enough to prove a motive?

claudia! hell yeah!!! (i really thought she was gonna poison him. not lethally but like drug him. and i was absolutely baffled as to why)

i don't remember when in the episode this was but rivers saying elsbeth looked like the morton salt girl was a little funny to me. like i'd take that as a compliment

makes me wanna cosplay the morton salt girl

uh is elsbeth still at risk of losing her job? and are a bunch of the cops still gonna get fired? they kinda didn't come back to all that...

also elsbeth and wagner friendship moments!!! i love their friendship it's so nice

by the way though WHERE IS LIEUTENANT CONNOR GIVE ME MY BOY

anyways i think that's everything else i wanted to say now i can address the FUCKING ENDING

WHAT KIND OF ACE ATTORNEY 3-4 BULLSHIT IS THIS

i knew something was off when elsbeth went up to him and started just furiously threatening him without moving anything forward but i was not expecting that good lord jesus christ

it makes so much sense though. i know i was talking about teddy but this is like possibly even better. like this is THE bad ending

always finding the answer and figuring out how to prove it is the core of elsbeth's identity both narratively and diegetically. and what better way is there to destroy someone like that?

and character-wise it makes perfect sense for delia to do it like in retrospect it seems obvious

also i don't know if i've ever seen any piece of media make a more compelling argument against killing people who do bad things

like we were promised the ultimate battle of wits and it's super disappointing to not get that and so it really hammers in the idea that this isn't justice

you see him get shot and immediately you're like no!!! it's not satisfying at all

no matter what you do you cannot just kill someone. that doesn't make anything better

i'm not saying that's like the point they were trying to make by killing him off though i just think it's a fascinating side effect

rivers saying like "at least he got what he deserved" was a good character moment. like it's a very stupid very rivers thing to say but it also felt very human to me. he's struggling to process this just as much as anyone else. how dare you make me care about rivers

aside from wanting elsbeth to take a vacation to scotland and have a whiskey with her hot musician firefighter boyfriend, my mom also thinks teddy is obnoxious and immature

i get what she means but also i think he was kinda just saying what elsbeth was thinking. maybe not literally but it's like. earlier she was so happy about how she'd been an inspiration and role model for him and now he's representing her feelings of failure yknow

he's the devil on her shoulder sometimes. he amplifies all her biggest insecurities and doubts

and of course when wagner says all that about trying he's really saying it to elsbeth. but she can't agree yet

WHERE THE FUCK IS CONNOR I WANT HIS TAKE ON ALL THIS

sorry

i am shocked though. like this really throws a wrench in my theory about the murderers from previous cases being connected to judge man. what are they even gonna do for the last two episodes of the season?

i know a bunch of the murderers are gonna come back but i really thought that was about judge man. and maybe it is but like. what are they planning??? where do we go from here?????

anyways my mom is so right elsbeth should go to scotland and get laid

even if you want her to end up with kaya (or someone else like donnelly) you have to agree that right now angus would be way better for her cause he has nothing to do with any of this he's just vibing in scotland

i mean i don't think that's what's gonna happen in the show. but it is what she deserves

bruh

i was not ready for that what the fuck

[satyricplotter]

AND ANOTHER THING dick is so fun bc i can pit him against different types of characters and he always has an interesting dynamic with them. so i love birdwatcher types with him and i also love when he finds himself falling for someone who is quite experienced and very comfortable with both relationships and casual sex. i have to laugh imagining his knuckles turning white he's gripping the table so hard when one of your roster is chatting you up. but you're friends.

and moreover after some growing pains in your early friendship you more or less don't talk about that stuff with each other. like once it's serious with one of dick's partners, you always know them in some way and have met several times and have at least a casual acquaintanceship of some sort with them. but you've either not extended that same courtesy to dick or just simply never had a relationship so serious and long-term you felt like moving them from the Person I Fuck In My Free Time category to Person I Introduce To My Best Friend category.

and like. dick has not been pining for you for years. you're friends. close friends! dear friends! but while you may have loved him early on (who can exist in his vicinity without loving him at least a little bit), dick was just not in a place to entertain that at all. and you don't need to be told twice, so you back off the first time he picks you up by the scruff and sets you firmly in the Friends box. so for years he's had no opinion about your nameless faceless hoard of lovers aside from slingshotting condoms at you from across the room when you're leaving for a date.

only to wake up years into your friendship and stare in horror at the ceiling bc he was going to ask you to get breakfast with him and then remembered you're spending the weekend with someone who recently got promoted from fwb to relationship. and the ache in his chest when he thinks about you waking up next to someone else and meandering down to the shitty hotel breakfast.

need him seething with jealousy. also need him to try and be messy about it. it's not like you're invested in this guy, right? he can definitely seduce you away. (your cheating-with-dick thoughts live in my brain forever) but the instant you realize what he's trying to do you're just furious. grab him by the wrist and pull him into the bathroom to hiss that he does not get to do that. he doesn't get to come blow up your life just because he's bored and possessive and you're an easy outlet. and dick of course tries the but i love you tact but you scoff! you roll your eyes! sure, dick. and how long have you been in love with me? twenty minutes? couple hours? oh, a full week. bravo. try again when you've had to watch me get engaged three times and hold my hand through every single breakup.

bc you've not exactly been holding a torch for him this whole time but you've also. yeah. the love was there. it was on the back burner. you didn't look at it too closely bc your friendship was way more precious and beloved. but you've spent years watching him fall in and out of love with other people while your heart aches, just a little bit. and then he has the gall to wake up one day and decide he loves you back! i don't care that he's the best guy on the planet he simply has to suffer a little bit. it's only fair.

and even if the current partner doesn't work out i think it's fun if neither of you make a move right away. almost playing chicken with each other. or maybe you're almost daring him to prove you right, that he's just bored and horny and. i mean, you're there and you're already friends so you're objectively an easy direction for his affections to fall. offering to have sex with him if he wants to get it out of his system.

oh, i know, he really is so much fun. very versatile. i myself enjoy giving him very emotionally complicated relationships and torturing him because he's cute in distress, but he really can do it all. i really like the story you've built up here, and while usually i think he'd be pretty chill about, you know, another adult living their usual sex life, i gotta tell you. the idea of you having a roster while the man's got a crush on you just made the evilest grin spread on my face. i really do love him, i swear.

i love when he does stuff that comes bite him in the ass later, but he doesn't really have any idea it will because he can't predict how he'll feel in the future. like, the way he moves is very logical and reasonable and in tune with his feelings at the moment. i think dick's great at drawing boundaries when he wants to, and when he puts you in the Friend box, it's with such finality that you're like oooooh, okay, gotchu. this is a Never To Be Touched Upon topic. which it is, at the moment. i am also very sympathetic for him when dealing with unwanted sexual and romantic attention, because it happens to him often and it's not his fault that he's handsome and charming and a flirt. maybe the last one is a little his fault, but you know. people have designs upon him and they can never be normal about it. so when you're like cool, i get it and are very nonchalant about it (because rejection is a big part of the experience, so you're used to it), he sighs in relief.

frankly, i'm game for you and him being normal about each other's fucks and then more guarded about your serious relationships. i like the idea of you or him tossing each other condoms and being like wrap it up, i've got my hands full with just one of you running around. it's pretty normal for a friendship between two people of that sort to share those details. and i think it makes a very clean distinction between when it's just a fling and when it's actually growing into something serious. i have to believe you've fucked before, tho. like i simply don't think in periods of like... relative emotional stability that he wouldn't get his hands on you (or frankly, emotional instability would also be hot. somehow i don't think he would unless he'd be lashing out by doing so, in which case it'd be on you to say no. i think... if he had romantic expectations off you that were feasible for once and he felt like he wasn't over his last ex, he would not do it either. but. i don't think he'd explain that lol)

god, but the fury when he tries to steal you away! i'd be furious myself. i think it's not just the fact that he wants to implode your life, it's also that he's completely disregarding your own decisions about your life (which is so hypocritical of him considering this is the first thing he blows up at whenever someone tries to do it to him, and so it's always been something to take care not to do) AND also being cowardly about it. but i love you, he says, and so what? does he think you don't love him back? does he think that you were sitting there, waiting around on him, ready to put everything on pause the second he looked back at you? oh, miss me with the bullshit. what really stings is not all the years that this has been brewing between you, but the fact that he did not respect your friendship enough to offer you the same regard you've offered him.

i think this is a pretty big fight and he runs out with his tail between his legs and you're like well, i've gone and done it once you cool off. because everything you said is true, but he's also never really that vulnerable with anyone, so to call him a coward... but you're still mad. and he did wrong. and he knows it, too, which is why he takes so long to come back. and so now you're both in this tense impasse that has everyone around you walking on eggshells and hoping the joker bombs the city so they have something else to talk about.

[sweetestpopcorn]

How would you rank Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s children in terms of greatness/potential? For me, Baelon was best out their children with Saera being second. I also think Viserra was a waisted potential. I think she could have done interesting stuff had she lived. Do you think perhaps maybe Baelon should’ve married her after Alyssa’s death? Obviously, no one could replace Alyssa in his heart.

Hi there :)

I have already kind of answered this regarding my thoughts about Saera and Viserra and none of it is good. I will just link them here and here . Legit they are just portrayed as mean girls with no real depth to them, though of the two, Saera is much, much worse. Viserra I can at least sympathise with since her parents seem to not give half a f_ck about her and did not even extend to her the same courtesy they did her siblings of having a say about her marriage (more here), but that's about it. I don't find anything else likeable about her she's just... empty.

I will go from least favourite to favourite.

Saera and Viserra go right to the bottom of my list. Followed very closely by Vaegon by obvious reasons. Like Vaegon, it literally costs you 0 golden dragons to not be so unlikable.

Then I would say Daenerys, she has a lot of sweet moments but dies young so I don't really know how she would have turned out. Besides, I know it's petty of me, but I don't like other characters having Dany's name. I do like Daenerys, Naerys's daughter but... yeah no more. You don't need more Daenerys, we have our Mother of Dragons. Yes, I know I am petty.

Then Gael because... poor baby 🥺 seriously what was George thinking writing a character who is Alysanne's comfort, with some degree of cognitive disability be r...... by some random singer, give birth, lose her baby, and kill herself?! Like enough's enough. It's literally just to add tragedy to her story and honestly Turtle man it's getting f:cking OLD. I swear this man gets his rocks off by adding tragedy and terrible abuse to female characters. This when he can bother to make them more than a walking womb.

Then I would say Aemon. Maybe he would be higher but at times I just feel he's too perfect if that's a thing. There’s just nothing wrong with him like 😂 he literally does nothing wrong.

Daella comes next because I find her funny. She's such a drama queen 24/7 making everyone around her want to protect her XD even Alyssa. I kind of got the vibes at times from her that she kind of knew what she was doing to get attention. Like the fact that she and Alyssa are Rhaenyra's grandmothers just makes so much sense no matter how you look at it. In a way Rhaenyra seems kind of a mixture of both? With tons of stubborn and style added. Another moment that really endeared me to Daella was her very tragic death, and how despite all her suffering she still wanted to be given Aemma and to feed her. Prime mom material right there -> like you can tell both from her and Alyssa that Rhaenyra got some top notch mom genes.

Then Alyssa of course, because she was THE queen. Literally she was just a better behaved version of her son and I'm here for it! I love how despite the fact that she was clearly a tomboy she still wanted to marry Baelon and give him an army of kids X'D because these two things are not mutually exclusive and liking or enjoying traditional boy things does not have to say anything about your sexuality or your desire to be a mother - just like being very feminine and liking traditionally feminine activities does not have to say anything about your sexuality or desire to parent. These are rules a society that does not understand nuance and in a sense is deeply sexist and stereotypical likes to put in place and that I find deeply harmful to people. But Alyssa is the BOMB, so funny, so bold, the way she embarrassed Vaegon who was a little sh:t *chef's kiss*

Then there's the best man ever -> Baelon Targaryen

Had his own cool nickname, The Spring Prince, funny, charming, sexy, single dad who never once forgot about his lady with the mismatched eyes, entered a tourney under the name of the Silver Fool... I don't feel like a need to say more, and in an era where all men were literally so problematic, Baelon was IT.

Baelon is what this fandom thinks Corlys is. Sorry not sorry.

And that's it :D

Also no, and more important that should Baelon remarry, the question is did he want to remarry? And the answer is no, and any Baelon fan would respect the Spring Prince and his undying love for his lady with the mismatched eyes <3

[novelmonger]

I've recently come across some posts in the chrumblr world expressing viewpoints that I find...disturbing. I'm vagueposting about it partly because I don't know these people personally, and also because I think it has a wider application than this one instance.

While reading posts about people from a certain faith background, I came across multiple instances of people saying (literally) "I hate them" and (paraphrase) "They're all liars."

This kind of talk needs to stop immediately.

Just imagine for a second that the conversation was about people from a certain country or ethnic background, rather than a religion. I hope we would all recognize it and denounce it for the gross racism it would be.

How can you think it's okay to talk about anyone like that? How is that pleasing to God, or helpful to anyone?

Even if their religion is false, they're still human beings. Even if their doctrines are heretical and blasphemous, they are still made in God's image. Even if it's true that it's a cult in every sense of the word, the people involved in it are still worthy of respect, love, and understanding. (And whether they're following a cult leader or a demon or just a really charismatic speaker who pretends to know the truth, they are being deceived. They're not inherently, irredeemably evil!)

Besides, as Christians, when we see people who are mired in a world of false teachings, following a false god, held captive by leaders' manipulative tactics and a works-based salvation...shouldn't that move us to compassion? Rather than saying things like "I hate them" and dismissing them as though they're hopeless causes or worthy of ridicule, shouldn't we be reaching out to them with the truth that will set them free? At the very least, shouldn't we be praying for God to extend mercy to them, rather than tearing them down?

But for the grace of God, we Christians are no better off than these people following a false religion. If the Holy Spirit hadn't worked in our hearts, we would be just as lost as they are, and we weren't saved because we were somehow better, more righteous, more truthful, less prone to being deceived. We have no high ground from which to look down on them.

So yes, point out the problematic aspects of their teachings and history. Make it clear that we do not worship the same God, no matter what they may claim to the contrary. But don't hate them. Don't laugh at them behind their backs. What kind of witness to the truth will that make you? Rather than convincing them of the true gospel, all it will do is confirm their suspicions of how horrible non-believers are, and leave them thinking, "If that's what Christianity is like, I don't want anything to do with it!"

... to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:2-7

[luminouslumity]

So I've been wondering whether or not to write up a post on myth retellings, but with Cinzia's new video and these other two that I found recently, honestly, these people describe my feelings perfectly! That's not to say I don't like retellings at all, but even with the ones I do like, I feel like a lot of them fail at what they set out to do, especially in terms of characterization.

Actually, you know what? Incoming rant below! And obviously, more power to you if you like these retellings. Again, I don't hate all of them (for example, Ariadne by Jennifer Saint and The Private Life of Helen of Troy by John Erskine are actually two of my favorites, and I found Katherine McDonald's Fairies of the Underworld series to be really fun), I just have a lot of thoughts I've been feeling the need to let out.

This is what I like to call Hades Syndrome and Demeter Syndrome, where you have a mythological character who more or less gets the overcorrection treatment. So basically Adaptational Heroism and Adaptational Villainy respectively, but for mythology specifically.

I feel like you see this a lot with Helen, with her portrayal in The Penelopiad being the most egregious example that comes to mind in terms of a negative portrayal. But on the flip side, you have Daughters of Sparta, which does give a positive look on Helen, but at the expense of making nearly everyone else around her into a terrible person. The author of the latter does the same thing in The Shadow of Perseus, in which almost literally everyone else is an overall good person except for Perseus! I talk a little bit more about both books here.

And if I had a nickel for every time I've seen a terrible portrayal of Thetis, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Speaking of, The Song of Achilles really does do a disservice to The Iliad in general—especially where Patroclus is concerned—and I'm saying this as someone who liked it!

And then, of course, you have the big ones: Hades and Demeter. Of course, my little term for this trope comes from them, as Hades has been portrayed as more of a hero in recent years and Demeter the villain... and honestly, it's gotten kinda exhausting at this point. As a sort of simplification of everything I'm about to say, I'm not expecting something like Hercules or Hadestown to be mythologically or culturally accurate and of course you can enjoy whatever you want, but if you're going to portray Hades as something other than Greek Satan, then it'd be nice to see that same courtesy be extended to Demeter as well. The only recent retelling I've seen this done with is Winter Harvest, and even then, it falls into the same trope of completely villainizing certain gods right from the start.

Now, even though I'm speaking more so narratively, I also think it's important to keep in mind the culture of the time, because at the end of the day (besides providing an explanation for the changing of the seasons, of course), this is still a story about a mother trying to find her daughter after she'd been wed without her knowledge, in a time when women were treated as little more than property. The fact that Demeter tried to defy this says alot!

However, I do think there's something to be said over portraying her—or any character, really—in the exact opposite direction, considering, well...

But golden-haired (xanthe) Demeter sat there [in her new-built temple in Eleusis] apart from all the blessed gods and stayed, wasting with yearning for her deep-bosomed daughter. Then she caused a most dreadful and cruel year for mankind over the all-nourishing earth: the ground would not make the seed sprout, for rich-crowned (eustephanos) Demeter kept it hid. In the fields the oxen drew many a curved plough in vain, and much white barley was cast upon the land without avail. So she would have destroyed the whole race of man with cruel famine and have robbed them who dwell on Olympos of their glorious right of gifts and sacrifices, had not Zeus perceived and marked this in his heart.—Homeric Hymn to Demeter (trans. Evelyn-White)

And if you want to get into the Romans (though their versions of course came much later), we also have these two incidents:

"When Zeus commanded Plouton (Pluton) [Haides] to send Kore (Core) [Persephone] back up [to her mother Demeter], Plouton gave her a pomegranate seed to eat, as assurance that she would not remain long with her mother. With no foreknowledge of the outcome of her act, she consumed it. Askalaphos (Ascalaphus), the son of Akheron (Acheron) and Gorgyra, bore witness against her, in punishment for which Demeter pinned him down with a heavy rock in Haides' realm."

[...]

"But he [Herakles while in Hades] did roll the stone off Askalaphos (Ascalaphus). . . As for Askalaphos, Demeter turned him into a horned owl."—Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca (trans. Aldrich)

"The Sirenes, daughters of the River Achelous and the Muse Melpomene, wandering away after the rape of Proserpina [Persephone], came to the land of Apollo, and there were made flying creatures by the will of Ceres [Demeter] because they had not brought help to her daughter. It was predicted that they would live only until someone who heard their singing would pass by."—Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae (trans. Grant)

Then there's Hades, who I'm super glad is no longer being seen as pure evil in recent years, but then again...

Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious fruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth made to grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a snare for the bloom-like girl—a marvellous, radiant flower. It was a thing of awe whether for deathless gods or mortal men to see: from its root grew a hundred blooms and is smelled most sweetly, so that all wide heaven above and the whole earth and the sea's salt swell laughed for joy. And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy; but the wide-pathed earth yawned there in the plain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her—the Son of Cronos, He who has many names.

He caught her up reluctant on his golden car and bare her away lamenting. Then she cried out shrilly with her voice, calling upon her father, the Son of Cronos, who is most high and excellent. But no one, either of the deathless gods or of mortal men, heard her voice, nor yet the olive-trees bearing rich fruit: only tender-hearted Hecate, bright-coiffed, the daughter of Persaeus, heard the girl from her cave, and the lord Helios, Hyperion's bright son, as she cried to her father, the Son of Cronos. But he was sitting aloof, apart from the gods, in his temple where many pray, and receiving sweet offerings from mortal men. So he, that Son of Cronos, of many names, who is Ruler of Many and Host of Many, was bearing her away by leave of Zeus on his immortal chariot—his own brother's child and all unwilling.

And so long as she, the goddess, yet beheld earth and starry heaven and the strong-flowing sea where fishes shoal, and the rays of the sun, and still hoped to see her dear mother and the tribes of the eternal gods, so long hope calmed her great heart for all her trouble (lacuna)... and the heights of the mountains and the depths of the sea rang with her immortal voice: and her queenly mother heard her.—Homeric Hymn to Demeter (trans. Evelyn-White)

On through deep lakes he [Hades] drove . . . past Bacchiadae [Syracuse], where settlers once from Corinthus' isthmus built between two harbours their great battlements. A bay confined by narrow points of land lies between [the twin springs] Arethusa of Pisa (Pisaea) and Cyane. And there lived Cyane, the most renowned of all the Nymphae Sicelidae (Sicilian Nymphs), who gave her pool its name. Out of her waters' midst she rose waist-high and recognised the goddess.

‘Stop, stop!’ she cried, ‘You cannot take this girl to wife against Queen Ceres' [Demeter's] will! She ought to have been wooed, not whirled away. I too, if humble things may be compared with great, was loved; Anapis married me; but I was wooed and won, not, like this girl, frightened and forced.’

She held out her arms outstretched to bar his way. But Saturnius [Haides] restrained his wrath no longer. Urging on his steeds, his terrible steeds, and brandishing aloft his royal sceptre in his strong right arm, he hurled it to the bottom of the pool. The smitten earth opened a way to Tartara (Hell) and down the deep abyss the chariot plunged. But Cyane, heartbroken at the rape of Proserpine and at her pool's outrage, in silence carried in her heart a wound beyond consoling, and in endless tears she wasted away. Into the pool—her pool and she but now its deity—she spread dissolved. You might have seen her limbs soften, her bones begin to bend, her nails losing their hardness. All the slenderest parts, her wave-blue hair, her finger, legs and feet were liquid first; the change is slight and short from delicate limbs to chilly water. Next her shoulders, back and sides and breast dissolved in slender rivulets and disappeared, and last, in place of warm and living blood, water flows in along her wasted veins and nothing now that you could grasp remains.

Ceres [Demeter] meanwhile in terror sought her child vainly in every land . . . She turned again to Sicania (Sicily) and there, in wanderings that led her everywhere, she too reached Cyane; who would have told all, had she not been changed. She longed to tell but had no mouth, no tongue, nor any means of speaking. Even so she gave a clue, clear beyond doubt, and floating on her pool she showed the well-known sash which Persephone had chanced to drop there in the sacred spring. How well the goddess knew it! Then at last she seemed to understand her child was stolen, and tore her ruffed hair and beat her breast . . . Then that fair Nymphe [Arethusa] . . . rose from her pool and brushed back from he brow her dripping hair [and told her that Haides' was responsible for the abduction of Persephone]."—Ovid, Metamorphoses (trans. Melville)

RIP, Cyane!

And then of course, there's Persephone.

Dreaded Persephone!

Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Spring!

Let's take a look back at the seed incident, shall we?

When he said this, wise Persephone was filled with joy and hastily sprang up for gladness. But he on his part secretly gave her sweet pomegranate seed to eat, taking care for himself that she might not remain continually with grave, dark-robed Demeter. Then Aidoneus the Ruler of Many openly got ready his deathless horses beneath the golden chariot. And she mounted on the chariot, and the strong Slayer of Argos took reins and whip in his dear hands and drove forth from the hall, the horses speeding readily. Swiftly they traversed their long course, and neither the sea nor river-waters nor grassy glens nor mountain-peaks checked the career of the immortal horses, but they clave the deep air above them as they went. And Hermes brought them to the place where rich-crowned Demeter was staying and checked them before her fragrant temple.

And when Demeter saw them, she rushed forth as does a Maenad down some thick-wooded mountain, while Persephone on the other side, when she saw her mother's sweet eyes, left the chariot and horses, and leaped down to run to her, and falling upon her neck, embraced her. But while Demeter was still holding her dear child in her arms, her heart suddenly misgave her for some snare, so that she feared greatly and ceased fondling her daughter and asked of her at once: "My child, tell me, surely you have not tasted any food while you were below? Speak out and hide nothing, but let us both know. For if you have not, you shall come back from loathly Hades and live with me and your father, the dark-clouded Son of Cronos and be honoured by all the deathless gods; but if you have tasted food, you must go back again beneath the secret places of the earth, there to dwell a third part of the seasons every year: yet for the two parts you shall be with me and the other deathless gods. But when the earth shall bloom with the fragrant flowers of spring in every kind, then from the realm of darkness and gloom thou shalt come up once more to be a wonder for gods and mortal men. And now tell me how he rapt you away to the realm of darkness and gloom, and by what trick did the strong Host of Many beguile you?"

Then beautiful Persephone answered her thus: "Mother, I will tell you all without error. When luck-bringing Hermes came, swift messenger from my father the Son of Cronos and the other Sons of Heaven, bidding me come back from Erebus that you might see me with your eyes and so cease from your anger and fearful wrath against the gods, I sprang up at once for joy; but he secretly put in my mouth sweet food, a pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will. Also I will tell how he rapt me away by the deep plan of my father the Son of Cronos and carried me off beneath the depths of the earth, and will relate the whole matter as you ask. All we were playing in a lovely meadow, Leucippe and Phaeno and Electra and Ianthe, Melita also and Iache with Rhodea and Callirhoe and Melobosis and Tyche and Ocyrhoe, fair as a flower, Chryseis, Ianeira, Acaste and Admete and Rhodope and Pluto and charming Calypso; Styx too was there and Urania and lovely Galaxaura with Pallas [Athena] who rouses battles and Artemis delighting in arrows: we were playing and gathering sweet flowers in our hands, soft crocuses mingled with irises and hyacinths, and rose-blooms and lilies, marvellous to see, and the narcissus which the wide earth caused to grow yellow as a crocus. That I plucked in my joy; but the earth parted beneath, and there the strong lord, the Host of Many, sprang forth and in his golden chariot he bore me away, all unwilling, beneath the earth: then I cried with a shrill cry. All this is true, sore though it grieves me to tell the tale."—Homeric Hymn to Demeter (trans. Evelyn-White)

That said, the two did seem to have a pretty peaceful marriage; in the hymn itself, Hades essentially says that she'll rule alongside him:

And Aidoneus, ruler over the dead, smiled grimly and obeyed the behest of Zeus the king. For he straightway urged wise Persephone, saying : "Go now, Persephoneia, to your dark-robed mother, go, and feel kindly in your heart towards me: be not so exceedingly cast down; for I shall be no unfitting husband for you among the deathless dods, that am own brother to father Zeus. And while you are here, you shall rule all that lives and moves and shall have the greatest rights among the deathless gods: those who defraud you and do not appease your power with offerings, reverently performing rites and paying fit gifts, shall be punished for evermore."—Homeric Hymn to Demeter (trans. Evelyn-White)

We also have sources that suggest Persephone actually preferred living in the Underworld to the mortal realm and that she had an estranged relationship with her mother, so this common trope actually does have credence in the ancient world, but again, it's important to note that these are much later compared to the original hymn.

First, Virgil:

“Tartarus hopes not for you [Caesar in the guise of Hades] as king, and may such monstrous lust of empire never seize you, though Greece is enchanted by the Elysian fields, and Proserpine reclaimed cares not to follow her mother.”—Virgil, Georgics (trans. Fairclough)

Then Lucan (twice):

"I invoke the Furies, the horror of Hell, the punishments of the guilty, and Chaos, eager to blend countless worlds in ruins; I cry to the Ruler of the world below, who suffers age-long pain because gods are so slow to die; to Styx, and Elysium where no Thessalian witch may enter; to Persephone who shuns her mother in heaven, and to her, the third incarnation of our patron, Hecate, who permits the dead and me to converse together without speech."

[...]

"I shall tell the world the nature of that food which confines Proserpina beneath the huge weight of earth, the bond of love that unites her to the gloomy king of night, and the defilement she suffered, such that her mother would not call her back."—Lucan, Pharsalia (tran. J.D. Duff)

Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead also gives a brief scene in which Hades allows a fallen soldier to see his loved one again only after Persephone convinces him to:

PERSEPHONE: Husband, doctor that disease yourself: tell Hermes, as soon as Protesilaus reaches the light, to touch him with his wand, and make him young and fair as when he left the bridal chamber.

PLUTO: Well, I cannot refuse a lady. Hermes, take him up and turn him into a bridegroom. But mind, you sir, a strictly temporary one.—Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead (tran. H. W. and F. G. Fowler

And returning to Ovid's Metamorphosis:

The new-wed bride [Eurydike (Eurydice) wife of Orpheus]... fell dying when a serpent struck her heel. And when at last the bard Rhodopeius [Orpheus] had mourned his fill in the wide world above, he dared descend through Taenaria's dark gate to Styx to make trial of the Umbrae (Shades); and through the thronging wraiths and grave-spent ghosts he came to pale Persephone and him, Dominus Umbrarum (Lord of the Shades) [Haides], who rules the unlovely realm, and as he struck his lyre's sad chords he said : "Ye deities who rule the world below, whither we mortal creatures all return, if simple truth, direct and genuine, may by your leave be told... for my dear wife's sake, in whom a trodden viper poured his venom and stole her budding years. My heart has sought strength to endure; the attempt I'll not deny; but love has won, a god whose fame is fair in the world above; but here I doubt, though here too, I surmise; and if that ancient tale of ravishment is true, you too were joined in love. Now by these regions filled with fear, by this huge Chaos, these vast silent realms, reweave, I implore, the fate unwound too fast of my Eurydice. To you are owed ourselves and all creation; a brief while we linger; then we hasten, late or soon to one abode; here on road leads us all; here in the end is home; over humankind your kingdom keeps the longest sovereignty. She too, when ripening years reach their due term, shall own your rule. The favour that I ask is but to enjoy her love; and, if fate will not reprieve her, my resolve is clear not to return: may two deaths give you cheer."—Ovid, Metamorphoses (trans. Melville)

And sure, there was Minthe and Adonis, but neither incident seemed to have had much of an affect on the relationship anyway, and with Minthe specifically, either she was a concubine and got turned into mint by Persephone (Strabo) or she's actually a former lover of Hades and gets turned by Demeter herself only after the nymph boasts about being better than her daughter (Oppian).

And before anyone says it, no, there's no such myth that we know of regarding Persephone going down to the Underworld willingly and/or ruling it on her own. There are certainly other female death deities that fit this description somewhat (Hel of Norse mythology, for example, has no consort), but not Persephone specifically. In fact, that seems to come directly from a book by Charlene Spretnak, which featured stories she wrote for her young daughter.

The closest I can find was this, regarding the Pelinna tablets:

However, Persephone is not merely the consort to the king of the underworld. Rather she appears as the supreme power in the realm of the dead, the figure to whom the deceased must appeal to complete successfully the journey to the underworld. Her husband, Hades, is not even mentioned in the Pelinna tablets, while the Thurii tablets contain only a passing reference to Eukles, who seems to be the equivalent of Hades, the consort of Persephone in the underworld, the male ruler of the dead. Eukles, however, seems to play no important role in the deceased's journey, he is merely saluted, along with Eubouleus and all the other gods to whom the deceased must give honor.—Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Myths of the Underworld Journey

This isn't to diminish Persephone as a powerful goddess, btw, but that's the thing... she already is. A nature goddess who gets raptured away, but quickly grows to become a ruler who is not only on equal footing to her husband, but more feared than him? That sounds pretty powerful to me. And that's to say nothing on her mother, how gray-cloaked Demeter almost literally upended Heaven and Earth in order to get her daughter back and won.

[chevelleneech]

I know every member of BTS is a severe victim to this, but Jungkook has genuinely had the worst of it. To be shipped with every single female living female that a random can think of for 12 years straight is genuinely evil. People can literally say whatever random shit about them and so many idiots believe it inside and outside of korea. Literally every single girl group (and i mean EVERY SINGLE GIRL GROUP THAT HAS DEBUTED IN THE LAST 20 YEARS, any semi famous actress they have been "shipped with". I'm including delusional clout chasers too. That honestly is more dangerous to me than any m/m shipping will ever be. Songsong couple was bullied into getting married by Korea and got divorced a few years later because they hated each other. Kdrama and kpop m/f shippers are some of the most insane shippers I've ever seen. I've been here 9 years and I just don't understand why people do this to male and female Korean celebrities (idols specifically). I know blinks are by far the worst of this m/f shipping shit and I will never understand why they can do that while calling every male and female Korean idol every slur in the book. Blinks and the fads that they stan are the biggest clout chasers I've ever seen. You would think 12 years later these freaks would stop but they haven't.

I can’t really comment on the specific people you named, because I don’t know them, and I can’t stand Blinks so I’ll bypass them too.

However, I would t say this is surprising to me, because no matter what people think about Larry shippers, Harry Styles was also shipped with every woman he so much as breathed near. I can’t find it now, but there was even a magazine article with a full two page spread listing all the women he supposedly dated, including Rihanna of all people. Mind you, he was maybe 19 at the time it released, and a good chunk of the women listed were random celebs, one was a woman on a corner he was papped standing next to waiting to cross the street, and others were women in their 30’s and 40’s who claimed he ruined their marriages.

I think JK is unfortunately just the latest victim of sorts, for fan girls to fixate on, viewing him as nothing more than a walking erection looking for a feminine hole. Not to be too crude, but that’s basically all it boils down to. Yes, he very well could be straight and in talking out of my ass, but he could also just be queer and single. No on likes that scenario though, because it’s not dramatic enough.

Het pairings are the bread and butter of damn near every industry, so I get why people gravitate toward them. Especially when it comes to hot male musicians. We’ve been systemically trained to fan out over the opposite sex, and while it’s obviously changed a lot over the years, the entertainment industry is the same everywhere and has been for at least a century now.

Nothing will change unless someone changes it, but until then people have to chill. They can ship whomever they want, but the same courtesy must be extended to others within reason.

[psychotrenny]

Like to be serious here for a moment, I don't think any sort of individualist psychoanalysis is good or useful. I was making a point about how stupid and arbitrary it all is. That's not to say one's sexual proclivities are above any sort of question or criticism, or that they're some innate aspect unaffected by greater social context, but if you're going to analyse this stuff it has to be on a useful basis. Like it's one thing to talk about how sexuality is affected by various social structures and economic forces, but it's pretty stupid to try and find neat personal explanations for every deviation from sexual normalcy.

And that's the main problem; this sort of critique is mainly reserved for deviations from normality. While some people have apparently encountered my hypothetical "no-kink explanations" being forwarded unironically, that sort of behaviour is fringe obnoxiousness at worst. Ignorant and bad-faith questioning of why people have this or that kink is much more pervasive and impactful because it has the structural weight of hegemonic values behind it.

So much of the whole "do you really have x kink or are you just compensating for y personal misfortune" is predicated on the idea that if you have sexual interests outside what's considered "normal" then there must be something wrong with you as a person. These statements are rarely motivated by a genuine interest in the nuances of human sexuality, especially when the person making it doesn't even share the kink in question and just wants to make a mean-spirited joke. This sort of rhetoric mainly just asserts that non-normative sexuality is not something worth taking seriously and treating with any respect. Because if there are genuine and worthwhile forms of sexuality outside the norm, that threatens the very basis of there even being "normal sexuality" and on both a personal level and a structural one* many people aren't willing to even entertain such an idea

So yes, I do think both "normal" sex and "kinky" sex should be examined and questioned in similar ways. If you don't want your own sexuality being criticised in an invasive and disrespectful way, then extend that courtesy to other people. No matter how "weird" you think they are, there's a good chance they think the same of you

*so much of what we consider "normal sexuality" is heavily tied to the broader structures of "normal society" i.e. Patriarchy, Capitalism etc.

Enough psychoanalysing why people have kinks. We need to psycholanalyse why they don't. Like you don't enjoy getting tied up? Clearly your tumultuous upbringing has given you a patholgical need to be in control at all times. Don't like fauxcest? That's because your petite-bourgeois class background means you view the nuclear family as a pure and sacred institution, automatically reviling anything that undermines or subverts this. Not into piss? That's easy; you're scared of the piss gnomes

[argen-lobo-ridder]

Eggplant, Robin Egg Blue, Granny Smith Apple, Dandelion!

Thanks for the ask!

Eggplant: Love one another for the other's sake has become sort of a wish of mine for those on Tumblr myself included to consider when interacting with those on here that we don't get along with.

I've been on here for a long time at this point and often enough at least I've seen many occasions of Anon hate (sometimes with some of the most disgusting things said to the person), badmouthing for ultimately trivial reasons of another user and people in general getting into arguments in bad faith about something that clearly both sides are passionate about, but seem to feel the need to make the other side out to be the enemy and as such unable to have civil discussions with.

It's incredibly disheartening seeing that at times that with how the Internet has changed so much since I was a child and saw it's advent, we've devolved often into dehumanizing the person on the other side that we fight with. We have become very prone especially on here, to forgetting that unless it's a bot there is a person on the other side of the snide comments, put downs and threats we make.

Full disclaimer I admit I'm not immune to making rants and other snarky comments myself at times. There are controversial topics in particular I too have strong beliefs about that I will reblog when I know it's necessary. This is just as much something I need to work on.

I just want us to think once in a while and consider that we can say the things that need to be said, while also remembering on the other side of the arguments we're fighting, we're dealing with other human beings. We can try to be better in how we conduct ourselves for the sake of the other.

And my avatar's just Lucina from FE Awakening because I think she's cool and I don't know where to find any other different images I can use 😅. Good thing I still like her!

Robin egg blue: oh knowing me I'd probably be a porcupine with how prickly I can be, a bear with how big I am and how much I sleep or some kind of annoying bird that bothers people on a regular basis 😂.

Granny Smith Apple: Um personally Star Wars in particular comes to mind. If my Moots and others want to blog about that's fine by me. But after finding out about the actions of certain big people in the franchise even if I know I gotta separate the characters from their actors it just left a bad taste in my mouth and I can't really see myself wanting to after that. It's not a big loss to me personally it wasn't a childhood passion of mine or anything.

Dandelion: Offhand cause it happened today, people who don't make sure the toilet is flushed in public bathrooms before they leave it 😡. It's one thing if you expected an automatic one to catch it I work with those, but why can't you extend the common courtesy with a manual one and flush it for the person after you that's disgusting not to?!

[llycaons]

1x02

part 2

lwj saving wwx here isn't even because he's in love with him. he doesn't know this is wwx. he might be since he's a dcer, but all lwj knows is this is a relatively powerless outcast about to be murdered by a 13 year old egged on by a clan leader. good for you, lwj!

oh ugh I am not posting his face thom ot sucks.

I like how his guqin is all wrapped up tho. rather endearing. you only saw that in the early cql flashback episodes

jc is kind of a harsh asshole to his subordinates huh. and lwj is kond of rude to wwx. barely even looks at him

I really love bracelet zidian, but it's a ring in the novel too

oh shit, lwj is speaking to them! he gives them details about the hand and asks them to alert the others if he sees it

and there's that nod I remember. lwj respectfully sees wwx-as-mxy off. I always liked that, in the book. he's a mentally ill illegitimate child with no skills or ties to any big sect. lwj has no social obligation to extend him any courtesy. but he does anyway, because class and ability don't matter in his estimation of people the way they do for most cultivators

here's a flashback bit

well now we know where jl gets his improbably long hair

omg the in-universe cornetto ads have begun. this one at least came after a brief pause that indicated it's not within the exact canon we just saw, but later ads will not bother to make that distinction

okay welll now they're fighting the guanyin statue. yawn

actually the fight scene does look a lot more dynamic and exciting with the fires everywhere than it did in the drama. anination, man

jl flashing baxk to jc telling him to catch something good or not bother coming back before doing something really dangerous...they really do make it so clear how damaging jc's parenting style is don't they. fear of his disappointment and disapproval pushes jl to take reckless and unnecessary risks, and him only 13 years old here! and ik why the uncle-nephew dynamic is popular but the woobification of jc esp wrt how he treats jl is so infuriating. he's really not a good parental figure 😭 like he is actively encouraging jl to put himself in harm's way for jc's approval. he literally wpuld have died here if wwx hadn't intervened. what the fuck.

there he is 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😍😍😍😍😍😍

ngl I find the donghua version of the song wangxian unremarkable. it's played awkwardly here, rushed and off-tune, which makes sense for the context but misses out on giving us that powerful romantic swell. and also, the song itself doesn't seem to have a cohesive melody? ik we only heard part of it but it doesn't sound like a full song...maybe I'm biased bc cql played wuji already by the timr this had happened in ep2 I was primed for it. but it just doesn't sound very good to me :/

1. wow he does look mad as fuck 2. MUPPET LWJ

do all these characters wear lip gloss damn

JUST EATING LIKE NOTHINGS WRONG LMAO

closeups of lips makes me extremely uncomfortable so I hope you all appreciate how important that shot up there was. the way they animate lips is weird as hell

it's kind of sad that that 'mxy is too gross and creepy and gay and crazy for noted charming heterosexual wwx to want his body' is a genuine argument made here. and this one which IS funny:

the beastiality jokes...okay 😑

I'm not really into the 'haha I'm going to flirt with lwj in a deliberate attempt to gross him out so I can leave but then he takes it in stride etc etc' bc I truly do not see the appeal in it or any of the subsequent boundary-crossing shenanigans we're about to get into and also I am way too tired to devote any bandwidth to it so. I've already give my thoughts on it I think it's stupid and I feel nothing the end

the ed os pretty