#I am so biased because I think top is bad. in general.

[pyr0cue]

Wait do people actually think the top cover of cancer is good…

[seilon]

kinda wild how you can have almost every aspect of your life deeply intertwined with someone else for years and then have all of that thrown in your face when that person decides none of it meant anything and, in fact, was toxic and purge-worthy

[valyrfia]

f1 drivers as tracks from the tortured poets department: a very abridged and very biased list.

DISCLAIMER: this is all for fun and should be taken very lightheartedly. Not all drivers were included, but I am open to suggestions as well as constructive criticism.

Without further ado:

CHARLES LECLERC - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart

Absolutely suicidal lyrics that should be mildly concerning but all in all very upbeat and makes you want to run around doing side quests. Such as write an album, or open an ice cream shop. I'm thinking this is specifically 2022 Charles when he trusted no one at Ferrari, or mid-2023 when everyone was calling him washed and calling for his teammate to be n1 driver, and then he proceeded to put it on pole in a tractor multiple times and still hasn't finished outside the top 5 since. Either way, I am looking forward how this song will hit when Charles gets his eventual championship.

MAX VERSTAPPEN - Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

This one is for Mad Max, who was thrust onto the world stage as an untested young prodigy at seventeen, who was called too young and immature and proceeded to win a GP upon debut in a top team, who was called Crashtappen from 2015-2019 and labelled as overly aggressive to his detriment, who was painted as a villain by every media outlet and documentary and DTS episode, who said "fuck the haters" and won championships anyway, who broke records, and made his own national anthem the expected song for every podium. A driver who is fast approaching greatest of all time status, for his win streaks alone. A driver that most others now just shrug about, because there's no shame in not choosing to fight the inevitable.

LEWIS HAMILTON - So Long, London

Ah, the heart-wrenching track of letting go of your long-term British relationship that doesn't serve you anymore. So many lyrics from here I could apply to the rumoured break down of amicable relations between Lewis and Mercedes, the team he won six championships with. From "My spine split from carrying us up the hill" to "I didn't opt in to be your odd man out. I founded the club she's heard great things about" to "you say I abandoned the ship But I was going down with it. My white-knuckle dying grip. Holding tight to your quiet resentment". Honestly, I could copy and paste all the lyrics here and they would apply to Lewis' Merc swan song. Taylor wrote "you swore that you loved me but where were the clues, I died on the altar waiting for the proof." about Abu Dhabi 2021.

CARLOS SAINZ - The Prophecy

Carlos has been delivering some of the best drives of his career this season, but it doesn't matter because he's not the chosen one, he's not il predestinato, he's not the son of Maranello. No matter what he does, he would never have kept that Ferrari seat over the mythos of Charles Leclerc. "Let it once be me. Who do I have to speak to, to redo the prophecy?"

LANDO NORRIS - Guilty as Sin?

Specifically given for half-flirting with Red Bull for most of last season, only to shake himself out of it and re-sign with McLaren, but I have one eye on him, not entirely sure he's given up on the Red Bull daydream, and Red Bull have been open about wanting to get him, if they can. It's all on Lando to stay faithful.

OSCAR PIASTRI - Fresh Out the Slammer

Piastrigate continues to inspire and compel an entire generation of F1 fans, and as such should form the basis of Oscar's song selection. What was the promises that Alpine made him, if not "Gray and blue and fights and tunnels Handcuffed to the spell I was under For just one hour of sunshine"

FERNANDO ALONSO - Florida!!!

Florida!!! is a big and powerful song about being a Shakespearean villain with a History and questionable morals and motives. Who is that if not Fernando Alonso? "Tell me I'm despicable, say it's unforgivable." "Is that a bad thing to say in a song?"

LANCE STROLL - But Daddy I Love Him

Yeah this one is self-indulgent and too good to resist. He's singing it about Fernando btw. Next.

DANIEL RICCIARDO - Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus

Someone is getting that Red Bull seat next year, and every name is on the list except Daniel Ricciardo. "As the decade played us for fools, you saw my bones out with somebody new." Who knows what would have happened if Daniel hadn't left Red Bull, all those years ago? "Just say you loved me the way you were" Oof. We could spend years living in the What Ifs of it all.

[supermaks]

gentlequeers a short look into Johnny Herbert lmfao

This herb mf fascinastes me because he’s clearly besotted wid Verstappen on some old school level due to his driving and his general verstappen-ness but he can’t fucking get over that giant fucking chip on his shoulder that max 1) owes him nothing 2) isn’t British 3) prolly not particularly fond of him either.

Like every Max fan who heard about FIA giving max community service for swearing collectively turned to a camera like in fleabag to be like 😐 ‘Herbert was in that room’ it wasn’t even a meme it was just like. Of course he was .

And even in the statements he’s putting out defending that insane fucking decision hes still doing the usual Herbert ‘hot and cold’ shit wid Max like this is FROM his justification on the extreme nature of the punishment:

“That (swearing?) showed Max's rebellious streak. I love that side of him, it is what makes Max, his honest and outspoken character.”

This shit sends me out the stratosphere bro like he’s a FAN he a fan he fan he’s just fucking so British he can’t fucking function wid an shooter like Max that won’t ever put the Union Jack around his shoulders and tap dance for his side of the pond.

Same in Austria. Just an example . U go to Austria (hold my hand. Baby we must) where he was 1 of the stewards responsible for Max’s 10 second penalty in that contact against lando ((while coincidentally haha, not penalizing lando for going over track limits like 49 times before they had contact, then when he finally did he considered that time served post race and Lando never dealt wid those consequences during the race. Just wanted to . Say that 🫶🏽.)) but yeah this is was a penalty that was applied immediately without doubt and where the burden of responsibility regarding the crash was placed 100% on Max. About this decision Herbert said, freely, sober i assume, I swear I’m not making this up,

“That intimidation is something that Lewis [Hamilton], Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna have always done. When you come up against Max as he is driving today, there’s a point if you’re Lando that you have to say: ‘I am here. I am at your side. You are trying to squeeze me off the circuit. And I am not going to move.’

“Lando did the right thing. He did not move. He did not have to. Some people said he could have moved. But that is not how you beat Max or how you win the Grand Prix.”

So while the burden of contact falls 100% on Max and he MUST be punished for racing hard, Lando is doing the ‘right thing’ racing him hard to the point of contact and nearly taking them both out, because it means there was a chance of beating Max. Do you see how brazenly fucking biased that is? How one drivers hard racing must be stopped but another’s is to be celebrated and encouraged? I’ve talked Austria and the literal unhinged witch hunt that followed not just from fans but mclarens top bitches and the media in general at length before. And how it got so fucking bad drivers old, retired and very much active had to come out the woodwork like ayo y’all being weird now fr lmfao WTF is going on ((It was beautiful tho.))

I think Johnny .. like Nando once put it, kinda, paraphrasing 😭 became a cop because he cud not win a title. He was a good driver too, he won races, he’s one of the few loud voices in that room that has the credibility to back up his stewarding calls. But that doesn’t mean he’s objective, or even normal, when it comes to Max. In a sport that employs Ted kravitz and is proud of it Herbert might be the most deranged fucking person under contract rn. And as a max fan yk I have to respect the nerve . The commitment . But I’ll never respect the man, as f1 fan, not even as a max fan. And I think part of what’s pushed his decisions towards the extreme this past few years is that he knows that too. He knows , like the aftermath of Austria showed, like the whole circus in Singapore put on BLAST and made a fucking mockery of not just his lilly ass but the whole FIA, that Max doesn’t need or care for his approval. Max has his flowers. Herb just a cop wid a laminated card . And good for him yk. Keep fighting the good fight brother . Maybe you’ll get him one day

[mdzs-fanon-exposed]

Introductory post: Please read! :)

hi everyone! welcome to my very own MDZS-specific iteration of the unparalleled @svsss-fanon-exposed and @tgcf-fanon-exposed. this blog is designed to find the differences between canon and fanon in the Mo Dao Zu Shi/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation fandom.

this blog is ENGLISH NOVEL CANON ONLY. although i may occasionally cite the drama or the donghua as the potential source for any misconceptions, the canons of these adaptations differ too much from the novel canon for my purposes (plus i haven't finished either one. whoops).

how this whole thing works:

send me an ask! is this thing you thought was canon actually fanon? is that fanon idea supported in the books? where? why? how?

i'll answer the ask with a rating, using SVFE's helpful rating system (explained below), and then go into detail. generally a post will include textual evidence supporting my rating, and possibly an analysis of what this means/where an idea came from.

i'll do my best not to introduce my own personal opinions or biases into the posts. if you have any textual evidence that you think disproves or otherwise contradicts one of my posts, i'm always happy to be corrected! HOWEVER. please do not argue with me or anyone else unnecessarily; this blog is not supposed to be a site for or source of discourse. i will block anyone who is repeatedly coming at me with bad faith. i'm doing this project for fun, and i want to keep it that way for everyone :)

posts will probably be sporadic so i don't burn myself out and lose interest. however, i want to try and answer as many questions as i can! submissions will open and close based on demand so i can stay on top of things.

some important things to keep in mind:

i'm not here to dunk on anyone's headcanons, and i am fully supportive of everyone's creative choices in the fandom!! (in fact i have many headcanons myself.) DO NOT harass anyone for their interpretations of the series. my purpose here is just to clarify whether certain ideas are textually supported, NOT to give an opinion on them.

i'm doing this blog for fun, so i'll be treating it as a casual project. i will only be using the official english translation of the novels, with the supplementary exception of the exiled rebels fanlation. i don't speak any chinese, so i will not be using the untranslated raws or any non-english fandom sources in my posts. although i'll be doing research as needed, i also will not be evaluating any headcanons purely based on chinese cultural norms, due to my unfamiliarity with them. if you are more familiar with any of these sources and have more information to add to a post, please let me know!

another thing to keep in mind: the official translation of the novels is not considered fully accurate to the original chinese. i am not immune to making mistakes, either. please take my posts with a grain of salt.

BECAUSE this is a casual project from someone whose only credentials are being completely obsessed with mo dao zu shi and knowing how to write an essay, anyone is welcome to make a blog that does this but. better. let me know if you start one and i'll point people your way lol.

finally: i will NOT be entertaining any character bashing in or on my blog. again, this is not a personal opinion-based blog, i'm looking at textual support, so honestly i don't think this disclaimer is necessary. but. just in case.

💥💥the rating system:💥💥

CANON: what it says on the tin! this fact is supported by the text. if you're trying to be as canon-compliant as possible, this rating is for you.

RUMOR: this fact is an in-text rumor. although this idea is mentioned in the novel, it's still not explicitly confirmed as canon. the characters themselves don't know if it's true or not!

FANON – SUPPORTED: not directly stated in canon, but it's a very likely interpretation, taking into account factors like cultural norms and occam's razor! this rating might be retroactively added to a post previously rated FANON – NEUTRAL, based on crowdsourced information about the raws or chinese culture.

FANON – NEUTRAL: it's not canon, but it's not NOT canon. the text neither confirms nor denies this interpretation, so it's up to you whether you want to consider it true to canon or not. the world is your oyster.

FANON – UNSUPPORTED: not directly stated in canon, but it's a very unlikely interpretation, taking into account factors like cultural norms and occam's razor. this rating might be retroactively added to a post previously rated FANON – NEUTRAL, based on crowdsourced information about the raws or chinese culture.

FANON – CONFLICTING: this idea directly contradicts something stated in the text. if you want to stay as canon-compliant as possible, this rating is not for you.

[gali-la]

FIC REC FIFTEENTH

I've been so busy lately I've been neglecting the good fics of AO3. In the spirit of getting back into it, I'm gonna make a list (or recommendation list) of the fics I read and like over the course of the month!

Disclaimer—these are not One Piece specific, despite the majority of this blog being so. 'Tis whatever strikes my fancy

(tagging the authors whose blogs i know/can find because i need you all to know i love you sm. feel free to yell at me)

SFW FICS

Bad Hair Day by Aerle [2.9k, One Piece]

Ratings: General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Thatch/Izou Additional Tags: Hairdresser au Summary: When Thatch is about to close his hair salon early because of the heat, a last minute and rather desperate customer shows up. Notes: Absolutely adorable fic!! from a favor for a near-stranger to sweet small talk and conniving matchmaker friends... this one has so much packed into a cute little one shot. Absolutely recommend!!

go ahead and bite off more than you can chew by gendervapor ( @gendervapor14 ) [1.1k, One Piece]

Ratings: Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Charlotte Katakuri/Donquixote Rosinante Additional Tags: Romance, first kiss, insecurity, domestic fluff, established relationshipSummary: "You—you hardly know what I am, what I look like. And you think I’m planning to wed you? I couldn’t." Notes: Sweetest thing on the planet written by the sweetest person on the planet (ya im a little biased. fite me). The delicious insecurity and subsequent reassurance all topped of with a first kiss!! this fic will forever have my heart and soul <3

OP Rare Pair Week Day 5 - Season by ArgelTal ( @chaoticargeltal ) [1.3k, One Piece]

Ratings: General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Akainu | Sakazuki/Ryokugyu | Aramaki Additional Tags: Admirals polycule, cute, fluff, domestic fluff, fluff and humor, one-sided crush, pre-relationship Summary: Day 5 of the One Piece Rare Pair Week, prompt: Season. Aramaki hates winter. The cold is terrible on his plant body and the sun is too weak. But then he finds a new sun in Sakazuki. Notes: Absolutely adorbsss I love the dynamic between all the admirals. I'm normally not a marines fan, but this fic could just about make me one XD

Those freckles are misleading by Lerya ( @lerya-fanfic ) [1.4k, One Piece]

Ratings: Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Marco/Ace Additional Tags: miscommunication, mutual pining, modern au Summary: Marco couldn't deal with this, he had only just started teaching history at Grand Line University, there was no way he was putting all of that on the line because he student was flirting with him. He's less than stellar sex life can't be the reason why he'd dare to do this. The 'student' in question is hot though, but still not worth his job. Notes: A lot of this fic was me just laughing at Marco, poor guy. Thank god Izou comes to the rescue—I'm pretty sure Marco wasn't gonna survive much longer. Ends with a sweet date and a night spent together!! Absolutely worth reading

challenge by starbitz ( @j1rouz ) [1.3k, One Piece]

Ratings: General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Zoro/Luffy Additional Tags: feelings realization, first kiss, roronoa zoro and vinsmoke sanji bickering, roronoa zoro-centric, slice of life, fluff, canon compliant Summary: "You don’t have a romantic bone in your big, dumb body,” Sanji quips, giving Zoro a hearty shove. Notes: One of my favorite zolu dynamics—captain and his first mate being silly and dumb together. This fic totally captures that in the best was possible <3 beginning to show up sanji and ending so sweetly

for what it's worth by de_winter [6.8k, One Piece]

Ratings: Teen and up audiences, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Thatch/Izou Additional Tags: modern au, getting together, friends to lovers, mutual pining, cabin fic, first kiss, Summary: A year since they’d seen each other in person, and Izou had once again forgotten how good Thatch looked. An impossible feat, now that he once again laid eyes on those shoulders. With each passing year, Thatch seemed to look better and better, and his sweaters seemed to be getting smaller and smaller at the same rate. Notes: One of my fav Thatch/Izou fics. the way theyre both so in love with each other... GOD its fucking delicious

Observe When I Am Dead by Augment [8.3k, One Piece]

Ratings: Mature, creator chose not to use archive warnings Relationship(s): Zoro/Luffy Additional Tags: angst, thriller bark fallout Summary: Kuma offers Zoro a slightly different deal. Notes: god the PAIN with this one. absolutely recommended read 10/10 zoro's devotion and silence—god it hurts and tastes so GOOD

pay you in love without returns by wishbone [3k, House M.D.]

Ratings: Teen and up audiences, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Greg House/James Wilson Additional Tags: gift giving, friends to lovers, lack of communication, joke proposal is treated seriously, marriage proposal, relationship advice, wedding rings, angst with a happy ending Summary: When Wilson tells House how much he spent on the Hammond organ he gifts him, House makes a mistake that will reveal their feelings for each other. Notes: Poor wilson—though to be fair, they're both idiots in this one, and i wouldn't have it any other way. if you want some feels and some happy endings with a dose of oh god that hurt you're dumbasses, this is the fic for you!

honest with you by astrange_one [8.8k, My Hero Academia]

Ratings: Teen and up audiences, Creator chose not to use archive warnings Relationship(s): Yamada Hizashi/Aizawa Shouta Additional Tags: fluff and angst, hurt/comfort, mutual pining Summary: Hizashi doesn't want to be a burden to anyone, but he forgets that things are different now compared to back when he was in foster care. Because if there's one thing he's perfected over the years, it's keeping his problems to himself. He's used to it, after all. It's just that Shota doesn't like it when he does that. Notes: this is angsty as HELL. Total Mic whump (yum) with a happy ending. delicious

Eye of the Beholder by Heronfem [6.8k, My Hero Academia]

Ratings: mature, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Sero Hanta/Todoroki Shouto Additional Tags: Falling in love, idiots in love, didn't know they were dating, oblivious, humor, romance, first kiss Summary: “I’m just saying,” Mina says, propping her chin in her hand and pouting, “it’s unfair. It’s totally unfair. We were all fools and our punishment is too extreme to be borne. The gods are making us pay.” Bakugou cracks an eye open from where he’s sprawled out with his head in Kirishima’s lap. It’s a nice day, closing in on the end of summer during their third year of school, and the heat is fully upon them. “What the fuck are you talking about?” “That,” she huffs, and points. “Oh,” Bakugou says wryly. “That.” --- Or, Sero gets hot over summer break and Todoroki gets his man (though not without a few bumps along the way) Notes: the obliviousness is STRONG with this one. Paired with Todoroki's not-quite-perfect understanding of social cues, this is *chefs kiss*

Shovel Talk by nirejseki [1.7k, The Flash]

Ratings: not rated, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Additional Tags: canon divergence Summary: Barry warned him that people might try to give Len the shovel talk, now that Barry had decided to bring his and Len's year-old relationship into the light. Len never said he was going to be nice about letting them. Notes: Len is a little shit and I love him for it. he also doesn't take shit from anyone. it's fantastic.

Everybody else is second best by barrylen [3.8k, The Flash]

Ratings: teen and up audiences, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Additional Tags: fix-it, light angst, fluff Summary: Barry couldn't stop sneaking glances at Leo and Ray. Leo had a plan, of course. Notes: I'm a sucker for fix-its. thats it. i cant stand the fact that they killed len off and every fix there is ill swallow it whole

Mr. Blue Sky by BeauregardsTaxicab ( @beauregardstaxicab ) [269k, The Flash]

Ratings: Teen and up audiences, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Additional Tags: canon divergence, humor, friendship, angst with a happy ending Summary: Shortly after Barry is struck by lightning, Iris discovers that not only does he have a secret boyfriend, but that boyfriend is Leonard Snart, a notorious thief. She learns to trust him, however, as they both begin looking into Dr. Wells for Barry's sake. Over the nine months that Barry's asleep, their team grows and they discover more frightening details about the man who was currently keeping Barry alive. Together, they have to figure out the whole truth and make a plan to keep Barry safe before Dr. Wells catches onto them, or there will be no stopping him... Notes: I read this entire thing in a week. maybe less. (and finished it this morning!!) i am INSANE over the coldflash dynamic in this one. It's so good, so sweet, they're so in love and i want to cry. the plot is FANTASTIC i was hanging on every word. I can't explain how much i loved this—every single twist, every single moment of agony and happiness, there was no tearing me away from this. It is worth every single one of the 21 chapters and the 268,722 words within them. 1000/10. im never recovering. i need to leave five hundred comments once i regain brain function

NSFW FICS

Mantra by goldsaffron [4.9k, One Piece]

Ratings: Explicit, Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings Relationship(s): Silvers Rayleigh/Gol D. Roger Additional Tags: observation haki, kenbunshoku, pre-canon, getting together, sharing a bed, strangers to lovers, domestic bliss Summary: Rayleigh and Roger meet, and Rayleigh promptly develops telepathy. At least, that's what it seems like, because Rayleigh swears he can sense Roger's emotions. Affection, jealousy, desire--but is Rayleigh just imagining it? There's no way Roger wants him like that... right? Alternatively, how Roger and Rayleigh discovered kenbunshoku haki and fell in love along the way Notes: the TENSION between these two. goldsaffron is one of my favorite Roger/Ray authors, and this one SHOWS IT. the build up and series of events to lead up to the final wall breaking down and both of them giving in... absolutely love this fic. i think ive read it like, three times in the past couple of days

you heat me like a filament by priestkink [6k, Spider-man: Spider-Verse]

Ratings: explicit, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Miguel O'Hara/Peter B. Parker Additional Tags: Body worship, body image, blow jobs, intercrural sex, fantasizing, established relationship Summary: Peter thinks Miguel is unfairly, distractingly hot. Miguel shows Peter that he is, too. Notes: Body appreciation but in the "I'm so obsessed with you how DARE you think you're anything but perfect and exactly what i want" my favorite vintage. regular revisit

shallow then halo by xarvel [1.9k, Spider-man: Spider-Verse]

Ratings: explicit, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Miguel O'Hara/Peter B. Parker Additional Tags: Trans Miguel O'Hara, Trans Peter Parker, established relationship, use of AFAB terms Summary: Peter trembles above him, both hands on Miguel’s chest as he moves, and if Miguel could drown in this, he would. “There you are,” he murmurs, and Peter huffs out a laugh, turning to kiss the inside of Miguel’s wrist. Notes: toe-curling smut with a smattering of sweet dirty talk. nothing better than fucking three orgasms out of yours boyfriend and then losing your own mind (with love)

just for show by arxaris ( @arxaris ) [1k, My Hero Academia]

Ratings: explicit, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Sero Hanta/Todoroki Shouto Additional Tags: PWP, fake/pretend relationship, getting together Summary: “Shouto,” he gasped, vaguely wondering when they had switched to using given names all the time, instead of just in public. “Wh-what are we - oh, fuck - what are we doing?” “Fucking,” Todoroki panted. “Specifically, I’m riding you.” Sero huffed a laugh that turned into a moan. “Not what I-I meant, baby,” he replied, and suddenly he was distracted again, trying and failing to remember when exactly pet names had been brought into private, too. Just like this, it had sort of just happened. Notes: TASTY AS HELL. i love seroroki pissing off endeavor, and I love them getting together over it even more

We Keep Rockin' by orphan_account [1.7k, The Flash]

Ratings: explicit, no archive warnings apply Relationship(s): Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Additional Tags: jealous len, possessive len Summary: They'd been in this situation before, Barry pressed against the nearest surface, Cold fucking into him with a rhythm that was anything but gentle. Yet despite the rough and hot and heavy movements of their typical exchanges, Barry couldn't help but feel like there was an underlying rage to Snart’s thrusts tonight. Notes: the possessiveness, the jealousy—perfect and delicious. I love this fic so much.

if you made it to here, thanks for sticking around!! go give love to all of these wonderful authors, and I will see you on the next fifteenth o7

[shapeofallcosmos]

time to get stupid about the king again

seeing this guy on my friend's brother's ps2 right before i moved out of my hometown at age 9 was insane, like it caused such a delayed reaction that took ten years to finally kick in. i'm desensitized now, but this changed 9 year old me in a way that i can only articulate now or something. not my favorite design, but its so classic. so original. so tastefully off putting to normal people. so...katamari. In my humble opinion, his tight clothing exudes subtle yet awesome confidance. no fear, nothing to hide, he wants all of it shown off. it's really cool. And his HEAD. I want a pillow with that pattern. Purple is by far my favorite color (and i think it's his too?) and its so soothing to look at. staring at him on my tv with my already fuzzy eyesight makes it downright hypnotic.

He's stupid, your honor. EDIT:Forgot to mention they took away his chest hair. Let the man be hairy. ok ok, on to we love. (reroll version)

oh yeah baby. oh YEAH. this is the stuff of dreams. so casual. so laid back. so lovely. he's comfy. at least physically. that stupid throne we only see again in touch my katamari. what's that lever for? sorry. tangent. the blue. the flowiness of it. his neck ruff not being sharp but instead soft and gentle. A more gentle King. I love it a lot. I actually bought some pants i saw in a thrift store because it reminded me of this king. It's such a good design. oh my god i love this king. He just looks so gentle. Like he's 20% more father now. Not "king", but "father. I don't know how to describe it. I want this fit so bad. The head is also soothing to look at too! Very nice, yet again a lot more gentle feeling, especially on the eyes. I'm probably just biased because this was the first game i started with. oh well. great design 10/10 i just wish they'd slow down on using it so much in other games (reused in forever as a model, and in touch as a model. im VERY pissed about how it was used in touch.)

ew

this was funny though. though it's kind of terrifying having him smiling when he's that close to you and when you're that small. please dont eat me.

i deeply enjoy when they are shown happy together. this design kind of smells. i actually think it's worse than touch.

I. LOVE. THIS. FIT. It's SO stupid. the stupidest fit he'll ever have. I just need to see how he even walks in it.

as i have said before, this design looks very much like my bed i used to sleep in at my grandma's house. I wanna lay on him and fall asleep. Looks so comfy. i also generally love beautiful katamari and i love how he's written as sort of like a father-friend, at least in how he talks. It reminds me of how my mom talks to me. I know, that's bias, but whatever. Beautiful King is a good dad friend to me. I love him.

man. man why'd they ruin you. i weep for this design. it's over the top in a way i dont really think fits him but it's still super pretty. I'm so mad they wrote him like that in forver. sometimes its funny but most of the time its just upsetting. he's mean yeah, but not THAT mean. (Some dialogue from RoboKing implies that when the King is off doing his own thing and that thing doesn't wind up going how he wanted it to, he'd come back and take his anger out on Robo. We never see it and again, it's just text and Robo could be lying for pity points but JESUS CHRIST. It upsets me so much! How could they do that to King?!

why. why would they do this. I cant enjoy Forever's design when it's attached to that kind of writing. all i can think of is how much of a jerk he is. i hate it. it's so pretty. im mad. on to touch...

I hate you and everything you stand for. And I am also sorry for what they did to you. You didn't deserve this. Or maybe you did.

[dephirium]

Dephi's predictions.

Hello. A bunch of people a lot smarter than me have already analyzed aspects of the prologue but I am bored and I want to get my thoughts out. General who I think survives or kills, ideas of what is going to happen, questions set up, directions of character arcs — That kind of stuff. It is just word vomit.

This is going to age like milk fast, I bet (I wrote this after the prologue was released). Also warning I have bad memory so correct me if I got a fact wrong or something, I rewatched the prologue sleep deprived so I am bound to make mistakes.

Spoilers for the prologue and stuff. Duh...

Also beware swearing, unfunny humor and the obligatory ''I am not above biases and personal taste'' warning.

Holy shit this took a while to make.

Miscellaneous hopes / guesses

(Considering the game's heavy ties with religion, here's a small blurb on that) I am not into religion and I have enough religious trauma as is but I think it would be very cool if there was a trial that paralleled the Ark of Noe situation; Someone saving only themselves, who god has deemed worthy, and leaving the sinners to drown is kind of similar to the death game premise. Also a case paralleling the Adam & Eve situation would be a neat but obvious pick considering the game's emphasis on it in their symbolism and themes. Just. The murders having some kind of tie-in with religion itself would be so interesting even if only on subtext.

Wonder why they didn't try to break the windows in the whole ‘Panicking bcs the gas’ bit (I mean yes it is necessary for the narrative for the characters to be put unconscious but it seems weird that nobody even attempted it or addressed it after-the-fact, nonetheless. Specially considering that they specifically addressed how helmet-wearing Jett was knocked out). Though Damon was very quick to fall, so maybe they did try it after he was knocked unconscious. Ah also it is very unlikely they were out for more than a day or two (because there are actually a lot of semantics involved in taking care of someone who is unconscious / unresponsive — and none of them are pretty y'all). Or maybe they did. Who knows with Danganronpa logic /shrug

Also the train was mentioned to be worse for wear than expected. Chekov's gun tells me it wasn't the actual train for Eden's Academy and they just yoinked the cast before the real one could arrive. As to the people Grace saw, it is likely that they were the mastermind group (The paintings depict many animals which could mean a group instead of a individual / the deadass confirmation we get with the tree of ignorance folk), hence why the knocking agent was planted beforehand.

What if Eden's garden is literally just a facade for talent yoinkers to kidnap and make ppl kill each other and who survives gets roped into the group lol. /hj

THE FUCK IS THE LIQUID ON THE BASEMENT??? It is not water, as it appears to be non-conductive, is way too much to seem like oil... Just. That whole sequence in the boiler room was so fucking weird, man. Is it water but doesn't touch any electrical wiring (Despite, I believe, the cables being mentioned as exposed)? is it NOT water? WHY IS THIS RELEVANT. IS THE DEATH GAME BEING HOSTED CLOSE TO WATER?

How fucking long did Damon and Eva take to get to the kitchen lol? Because they saw Akire on the floor (That was Akire, right? I remember the shoes looking like formal-wear...) and bee-lined to the kitchen afterward. Even supposing that canonically Damon checked every basement door to spite Eva (which isn't very long because Damon kind of gets bored after a bit of checking each room / is actually very on character so probably he did thinking about it), that leaves like... 10 minutes, tops. It just reads as weird in my opinion. Wonder if that is going to be mentioned later on.

I saw the walkthrough because my laptop had a aneurysm trying to load the game, but like. The tree of ignorance room has these... Egyptian hieroglyphs (?) Looking things that make me think that that's what going to open after each chapter / death. They look like mall stores what the fuck is this place (also it appears to have a second floor for what I remember ?)

Mara and Cara are very similar names. Wonder if they are related or something (they also both share a motif of guns) lol.

It is very likely that this isn't the first killing game, as per Cara's situation. However, it is very likely that it was a student council situation (meaning a "no trial just kill each other'' kind of deal), which would explain why Cara had a gun (because so far we haven't seen anywhere on the killing game ground that has access to fire weapons) and how the fuck the killer got away with such a simple killing plan.

Also considering the fact that all the cast calls Cara's murderer a man (idk why if gender neutral pronouns exist but ok) and that Tozu exists, it could be likely that he was Cara's murderer, and he won his killing game. or something. This also could explain why Tozu wanted them to solve how the culprit did it and not who the culprit is — He probably already knows who it was.

Considering what I said about Mara and Cara being similar, it kind of fits. That or he's related to a character of the cast. Maybe Wolfgang, considering his sheep-adjacent mask. Or both idk

It is very unlikely there's a mastermind amongst the students (kind of duh considering Tozu's whole ordeal, but still). However that doesn't remove the possibility of a traitor.

Speaking of, the death game grounds seem... Small? Like sure there's the living quarters, the "outside" and the tree of ignorance and they are somewhat big in their own right, but it just feels. Small in the context of official Danganronpa games. It is likely a engine limitation / self-imposed limitation for the devs sanity, probably, because doing a bigger environment would be more troublesome, but nonetheless I'm excited to see how they utilize the space. Maybe the areas that will open up in the tree of ignorance will help freshen things up.

GUESSES I HAVE FOR KILLING THINGS:

The locks in the living grounds are likely to become relevant in a trial (Probably the first), likely locking the cast out while the murderer is still inside? For what I remember the people who woke up on the tree of ignorance are not aware of the locks existence (Living quarters / outsiders are, however - Toshiko used them after all) and that could be weaponizable information in the trial.

I am super sure a death happens in the outside's fancy marble thingy and it will be beautiful and tragic.

Damon Maitsu

The vent connecting the boiler room to the kitchen is SO fucking obviously to be used as a killer's escape route I almost expect it to not be used just to spite us.

Start of prologue: Togami kinnie?

End of prologue: DAMON STOP UNLEASHING YOUR INNER TOGAMI GODDAMMIT

I have seen people speculating that Damon is going to die and there's going to be a Kaede / Shuichi protag switch, but honestly? I don't really see that happening considering the prologue already set up a very interesting character arc for him. BUT, I do see likely that there's a Komaeda chapter 4 situation where there's a POV switch for a bit with either Eva or Akire, most likely Eva because of her status as co-protag and/or sidekick.

Nonetheless, it is obvious that Damon is going to go through a character arc so he stops being such an ass to people. I love the guy but yes he needs to be knocked down that unhealthy mindset of his.

Because of his isolation from his peers it is likely that his motives to kill, if there are any, are family driven (It is also likely the fuck has heavy family issues because he kins togami too hard and that asshole didn't have a good relationship with his parents neither) the killing motives are likely to give us the context as to what nurtured this fuck’s god/inferiority complexes. Also because of this he would have the "protag doesn't have that big an incentive to kill" motive detachment like mister I Pissed The Bed Makoto Naegi.

Also people who are unable to see a nuanced / different take on the protagonist like Damon or Teruko on Despair Time without calling them names or misreading their characters pisses me off SO much, specially with Damon (Teruko is a different can of worms I am not opening today tyvm) because I am able to sympathize with him as someone ND who at some point decided to isolate from others and put this front of being a purely logical zero puny emotions individual because logic was just easier than facing complicated emotions I wasn't taught how to express and / or would be berated for. He's a interesting character a great deviation of the goody-two-shoes protagonist trope. I can't wait to see what they do with him and see him suffer and earn friendships with the cast.

Eva Tsukasa

I could go into detail but I am not that eloquent and other people have talked about it better. Here is a blurb-analysis of Damon in general and here is a analysis of him through the neurodivergent lens. Any opinion I have about the bastard is vocalized better by those two ngl (Eternity's Damon fics are also very good!) . I'll probably do my own separate blog about him if I have the energy, but I feel like I would just repeat points made better by other people.

Start of prologue: Pls don't be Kirigiri

End of prologue: PLS DON'T BE KOKICHI

Eva had a rough beginning because the first impression she gave was Kirigiri kinnie vibes and fun fact i fucking hated kirigiri on dr1 so i wasn't liking where this was going. That changed around 5 dialogues in with her saying she bridal carried Damon, which made me less prone to hate her on pure instinct. She's interesting! I like her a lot. I like the way that she and Damon share their pessimistic pragmatism and are the only two to shut down the whole buddy-buddy prospect; They both are very similar in a lot of ways, almost like character foils (but not quite — That's Akire) in a certain way. I cannot wait to see what they do with her talent, one of the most interesting ones I have seen in any fangan (though I do find it kinda dumb and a bit on the nose in a light hearted way).

Now onto the biased opinions — I think they shoot her shot way too early. While, yes, I found it very interesting that they didn't beat around the bush and didn't do the "ult ???" thing (I kinda find that troupe obnoxious at this point), I do view the fact that Eva's ultimate was revealed this early a very odd writing choice (and the reveal a bit clunky in personal writing taste). A good way to create intrigue and tension since the prologue to get the audience hooked, but I do wonder how do they plan to utilize her and this early reveal. In fact, if anything, this early reveal and her Eve motif - who doomed both her and Adam out of heaven's gates, and is literally implied to be bad since her conception out of Adam's left rib - make me wonder if she's being set up in a Rantaro fashion, and she'll be the reason the game starts (probably victim). I kinda hope not. She's an interesting character even if I believe that the most relevant part of her narrative was given far too early (although I do want to know how tf is Liar an ultimate talent).

Diana Venicia

Start of prologue: animal crossing character core

End of prologue: ... Are you a traitor lol?

She's a sweetheart and I don't trust it. With her sweet persona and her chameleon theming, she just screams killer red flags to me. I am unsure when exactly would she crack, but I think it would be kind of early on, like chapter 1-3 type of early. I think bears mention that everyone and their mom has called out the fact that Kara's dummy is way too realistic and her talent would enable to pull out that feat.

I don't see her being a particularly important blackened on the grand scheme of the narrative (unless she's in kahoots and she's like a traitor or whatever) but it would serve to show everyone the severity of the environment and how even the nicest person can crack against it.

The idea of yassifying a corpse to hide/obfuscate details of the cause of death or whatever is literally so so cool and I want it to happen so bad. But her and Kai's possible blackened situations (spoiler I do view both as killers as it makes the most thematic sense) seem a little too similar so probably if one is a killer the other will not.

Toshiko Kayura

Start of prologue: Hiyoko looking ass

End of prologue: Is your mouth fucked girlie

SIMILARLY, I don't trust the child. I am not sure why. She's good tho! I find her interesting enough for the setting and the prologue has set up enough with her character that I look forward whatever they want to do with her (and her formal way of speech is charming haha). I just hope it isn't a generic ''oh the kid is actually insane lol'' kind of deal as I am honestly tired of the Monaka twist, but I do see her being traitor adjacent at the very least. I don't see her killing (or, well, I hope™ she doesn't kill) but I can see her as a victim, probably in around chapters 3-4. I think the cast would try to be careful with her because she is the youngest of the group and that ends up being, partially, one of the reasons of her death. Everyone will be horrified if she does die.

Drawing it in the sand that her parents hated each other or something (or divorced), one had a meltdown and hurt her for whatever reason, hence why she uses her fan on her mouth. It'll probably become relevant later in her respective trial. Also this is the reason why she's a matchmaker.

Something something the bible story of Abraham being told by god to kill his child Isaac to prove his faith something

Cassy + Wenona

Start of prologue: Communism? / YOU'RE SO PRETTY

End of prologue: Oh so MrBeast then / Step on me!

Putting these two together because 1) I don't have much to say about them and 2) they are probably being used as character foils of one another so because of that my thoughts about them are interconnected. Here's my opinions of them:

Cassidy is... Okay. I like her well enough, she had her witty lines (the ace attorney reference was fun), and she feels cohesive enough for the setting and the other characters to not feel entirely out of place. Nonetheless, she is somewhat... irrelevant? Like, all her cards were played on the prologue itself, and there's no real way I can see her character becoming more relevant on the future or have any interesting development; She is a fun character, but not one I find interesting or relevant for the narrative. More like needing to fill lines because people need to die, probably. Her theming with spiders and that one sprite can prove me wrong, tho. Not saying she will kill, but that probably there's something else I am missing? (Addendum: this has taken me so long to write I had time to sit on my thoughts on Cassidy and I realized I kinda don't like how offhandedly mean she is lol. You know. Calling Damon bargain bin lawyer like that isn't an insult to his entire line of work and personhood and disguising it as a joke and all lmao. Wonder if this will be called out further down the line? Could be an interesting point of development for a otherwise stagnant character)

Wenona is interesting! Her design caught my eye since the train fuckery, and it made me deeply interested in her (also I like women so I am biased probably lol) and what her talent would be. While I kind of don't see how her appearance would convey the “ult entrepreneur” title all too well, I do forgive it because otherwise it is so fucking interesting and I am absolutely obsessed (and it's not fault of the writing and probably just personal taste of mine). Her possible character arc is a lot more obvious than Cassidy's, and ironically mirror Damon's "stop treating people like shit" own (Damon asking what is her deal when they are both assholes about talent and worth is very funny). I hope we get more information about her job and how she got where she is now are revealed because I am genuinely interested in her character trajectory and the parallels to the protagonist. Or maybe she stays in girlboss mode idk I wouldn't mind either way she can step on me regardless

I guess that in around chapter 2-3 Cassidy and Wenona are going to start to clash badly because of their different economic ideals (they probably clash on chapt 1 too but it is after a murder that things get worse as everyone becomes paranoid as hell). My guess is that they either end up killing each other or someone else uses the animosity to frame the kill on one of them.

I see Wenona having more chances of survival because so far Cassidy is kind of a (relatively) flat comedic character and doesn't have that many notes of character development / interesting said pieces. But I wouldn't be against her surviving to be honest. She's fun.

Grace Maddison

Start of prologue: SOYBEAN

End of prologue: You're literally a pacing risk huh

She's... a mixed bag. For one part, I like the fact that she raised a valid point in the trial despite the fact that she has been considered nothing more than the hotheaded, "stupid" vulgar one of the group. It gives her a decent amount of depth so far and makes me interested to see more of her. In the other... She's like disguised-Mukuro in dr1 for me, ngl. She's interesting, I can admit that, but definitely not a character I get too excited about (she's a bit annoying to me). Except I worry about how are they going to deal with her on trials, considering the fact that they had to literally knock her out on the mock trial so it could progress in a decent pacing (Which I kinda called out when I first saw her in the kitchen, but I thought she would've been a mukuro situation, details). Or maybe she dies first, which would be a shame ngl.

Wolfgang Akire

As she stands she seems to me like a pacing-risk character and it makes me worry about how they are going to use her going forward, although the fact that she was literally almost killed will probably chill her the fuck out while on trial. I just hope the writers manage to balance the fact that she's vulgar but not stupid as fuck. Oh and her and Akire's dynamic is very funny I love that

Trailer: Oh you get pegged™

Start of prologue: [Lost my shit laughing when I found he was called Wolfgang lol]

End of prologue: Unhinged bitch!! /pos

I like the parallelism of him and Damon! The attorney and the prosecutor, emotions and logic, the leader of the group (seemingly) and the social pariah. Akire is a character that works because in any other Danganronpa setting, he would be the protagonist. But the thing is this: He is not, here. This allows us to see raw sides of him that otherwise we wouldn't have — or that, in turn, we would have context for.

The mock trial meltdown works because we, as an audience, are seeing him through another person's (probably biased) perspective. The lack of interpersonal context of his thoughts or actions makes the slip of his calm demeanor to yelling—begging, almost—for reasoning of the killer's actions all the more jarring.

Anyhow thesis out of the way here are more thoughts:

This set up could not be achieved without Akire being the role he is, an antagonist for the mere factor that his entire existence is an antithesis of Damon's persona. But unlike the debater, who hides the fact that he cares and craves human connection, the lawyer hides a far uglier underside that he doesn't expose unless he is in familiar territory — His area of expertise, in fact — The courtroom. Quite literally, his territory, his area of expertise, his playground; He is confident in his abilities until he is quite literally denied the closure he craves for a killer's despicable actions against a ultimate.

In more ways than one, he, like Damon, probably has a god complex because of his title / the ultimates. He just demonstrates it... Subtly. He is the textbook example of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Akire ends up killing I am like 70% sure of this. He's too unhinged, and we never had a rival who did commit a murder themselves on DR so it would be interesting? (Kokichi doesn't count). Also the "28 STAB WOUNDS" man committing a murder himself would be a interesting prospect, with the wolf in sheep's clothing themes he has going on; Specially considering that he is most likely going to become one of the surrogate leaders of the class.

Calling him out as the killer would probably generate a Mikan-esque situation (Not like Kai's levels of bad but more born out of respect and lie-ridden logic than pity/empathy hard emotion bait) of nobody believing Damon and it sounds fun. It would be an interesting prospect considering Damon's possible "getting people to trust me after isolating myself and overcome my own biases" character arc. What better way to make a climax for such than to go against the leader of the group and getting people to trust you despite the odds?

Oh also it is very likely a relative of his (probably his dad) killed a important woman in his life (probably his mom. Or like, someone else killed her and was never caught or something idk pick your poison mom dead either way) and that's why he became a lawyer / has such strong sense of justice and the reason why he had that more-or-less breakdown on the mock trial.

Some other stuff I won't go into detail

This is the dump of other things I wanted to mention but I am too low energy to dwell onto and I don't want to procrastinate on this draft more than I already have (ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE I STARTED THIS)

Anyhow:

I view that Kai would also be a killer, using his charisma in the same way Diana would (in a very Mikan way, as he's used to playing his audience like a fiddle and fishing out emotional responses) but in a more hardcore manner. That and the fact that Kai has latched to Damon from the first second of the prologue, it's probably setting up the fact that Damon will need to bring down Kai for the sake of the truth - and probably the first example of hesitance as Damon will probably grow to be "friends" with the guy, having to fight puny emotions he never had before (not particularly romantic, but like. Damon purposefully isolated from peers, so having friends would be odd to him, especially since I think that Kai is getting close to him for self interest). I deem this happening very late, and probably a chapter before Akire kills, as it would be a decent pacing from progression of severity ("friend" social person using the group -> the literal leader of the class)

Jett and Mark are also being set up as foils to each other (or at least the closest thing to that. A really pronounced character dynamic I guess), and the fact that just like Toshiko's mouth Jett off the suit is not shown in the prologue nor any outside material makes it obvious that it'll be a plot point later down the line (if I recall the most popular theory - or maybe mentioned in the prologue, I don't remember - is that he got burned to hell in a car accident mid race?), which makes me think that Jett is not going to be a survivor for the same manner - specially since those two are in the path of having a character arc together and the tragedy of demise needs to be written. Mark is maaaybe going to survive in his stead. Similar to Cassy, Jett reads to me as a comedy character mostly so he's more expendable in that regard. Without mentioning the fact that Mark had the bitchface(tm) look in the train scene, which implies that something is going on with the guy (either referent to the train/the kidnap group, or Mark knows Damon from somewhere. It'd be funny if they were classmates or someshit and Mark couldn't stand Damon's ass back then please p:eg team it would be so funny)

Jean has so many death flags (WHY ARE YOU SWEARING TO PROTECT THE GROUP YOU ARE THE BIG CHARACTER IN A FANGAN YOU'RE NOT SAFE) and I am literally so fucking sad because I actually really like the guy. Like, I don't have any relevant notes of how he's written or implied of him or anything (although I have personal thoughts of his backstory which I included in the fic I made of Damon and the guy), he's a decent character. I just wanted to scream about the fact that I am 80% sure he doesn't survive and I will forever cry about it. Same with Ingrid.

Ulysses is being set up as relevant as a notekeeper (which is really cool!!!! I haven't seen that in a fangan before I don't think), but I sadly do think that anything relevant from his notes might be discovered post-mortem, either relevant to the killing game as a whole or the case that might have him as a victim. My dude is literally falling asleep standing I am deadass so worried for his safety.

I don't have anything remarkable to say about desmond or swan girl (I forgot her name sorry) besides the fact that swan girl is being kinda set up as the "oh the cinnamon roll killed someone", and "the shy girl is actually very dangerous" which I am not particularly mad about even if I deem a bit cliché at this point. I hope Desmond doesn't die tho he is cool.

That's everything. Sorry for taking forever on this shit I am not the greatest writing consistently

[lggy]

I just wanted to tell you, coming from a past total Jason hater who has now accepted that they were wrong on things, that your takes about him and Jess have helped me get out of whatever parasocial disillusioned mess I was in. I just felt like you deserved to know that you weren’t shouting into the void.

THANK YOU

i'm trying to undo some of the damage caused by parasocial rumors n hater stuff.. i feel like i probably come off as a dickrider and it doesnt help that im the wiki guy on top of that and people probably perceive me as not being critical enough, but i think it's way better to approach things (especially accusations against irl people) with all the facts laid out and with critical thinking (bad-faith interpretations are not critical thinking) and also empathy/believing people's first hand experiences.

i'm mostly advocating for stopping the spread of misinformation and rumors.. but i am biased bc i love aphmau.

it's just really hard for me to hate on jess like some people here do after watching that livestream where she breaks down after talking abt the level of harassment/threats/(now as we learned, stalkers) she got during mcd s2. idk i feel bad for her people are so mean to her :(

a lot of people jump on hate trains bc they dont want to be labelled problematic hence all the ppl who tag their aphmau posts as like "jess defenders dni" "jesson supporters dni" "i dont support aphmau" and it becomes one big spiral of rumors and accusations and becomes a toxic cesspool then wonder why jess ghosted all social medias. it takes effort to get all the information and a lot of ppl dont want to do that, so thats why i'm doing it.

idk i just go about the internet as if the creators can see what i say and draw. some ppl straihgt up want to bar the creators from their own fandoms which is fucked up in my opinion. some of you people are proud of bullying the employees which is extremely gross and cringey too. thats just my opinion though

There really are issues with the workplace, a few current/former employees speak up about it. These are issues brought up in just the past few weeks:

( sebastian's og tweet was last year but he retweeted in the beginning of june for some unknown reason but i won't speculate on that though)

last one is just in general that pulls in over the past couple years^ i don't have any sources for the employee who allegedly had ptsd after working at blujay/catface because i haven't looked that deeply into that in particular and dont know where to look for it

i don't really know what to say about the workplace things.. they hired new HR recently so i guess they're working on it.

I can interview a few current employees to learn more but all i know rn is people in the voice and art department

i had more but its 1 am i have work tomorrow oops gn thank you for hearing me out

[laurenkmyers]

you’re so sweet. thank you so much!! i’ve watched love in the air. i know boss but i didn’t know his partners name. i’ve also watched:

dead friend forever (it was so fun; tan was right and he should’ve been able to kill all of em. except my sweet sunshine bby white who didn’t deserve anything bad to happen to him ever)

two worlds (loved it)

cutie pie 1&2 (eh),

naughty babe (loved but i think i love the pairing),

not me (chefs kiss),

kinnporsche (the volume in which i screamed cousin fuckers and then sung sweet home alabama, 10/10 would recommend to a friend),

the sign (so ridiculous but like in a great fun way; i like police procedurals and i like fantasy)

only friends (i wish i had a toxic dramatic friend group :/),

between us (that jaw thing mr blond did was oddly attractive; can’t wait to see the pair in the vampire show!),

last twilight (my heart ached and baked and was made into a cake. that means i loved it),

kiseki: dear to me (ai di owns my heart forever; i like his big puppy chen yi too. i couldn’t get into the main pairing tbh),

together with me 1&2 (it was okay)

love in translation (cuuute)

do you have any more recs???

First of all can, this list is immaculate (bar cutie pie, did not vibe with that one bit)

Secondly, I see you with your insane taste in ships. Maxnat from Two Worlds/Naughty Babe? This is top tier shit. I found Naughty Babe awful and mostly unwatchable (I'm not domundi's- the company who produced naughty babe and cutie pie- biggest fan) but MAXNAT??? That pairing have me wrapped round their fingers. Especially Max. Goddamn.

Thirdly, did you like love in the air? Thoughts on the second half of the show in particular? Because the other main couple (fort and peat) are my precious fucking baby angels and I would die for them. And if you liked them then my first recommedation is the currently airing Love Sea the series, because they're tearing me limb from limb. Every week they do something that thrills, excites, and terrifies me all in equal standing.

In terms of other recs, I can definitely give you a few I enjoyed, because your list is very good already and I'm seeing that we have quite similar taste.

I want to throw the show Manner of Death at you. You've seen Together With Me, and if you liked our boys Max and Tul and managed to wade your way through that show plus it's sequel, based on their chemistry alone, then Manner Of Death will be refeshing change for you. Because their chemistry is even better and the story line actually has a very clever and exciting narrative. Plus, its a lot more mature than your average highschool drama bl.

Tale of 1000 Stars is another show I really enjoyed. Its bl pairing is Earth and Mix, they have fantastic chemistry and the show has a really interesting plot that kept me hooked. It's a bit more typical thai bl in certain aspects, and the intimate nc scenes are next to none, but their relationship is one I was hooked on and I enjoyed the story a lot.

I have also enjoyed: 4 Minutes is only one episode in, but I can already tell it's going to be a favourite, which says a lot. But I am also very biased towards the lead male, Bible Wichapas aka Vegas from Kinnporsche. Man Suang is a movie, not series, but its on Netflix and its Mileapo from Kinnporsche. It's historical, gritty, heart-hitting, and just generally very fucking well produced. Moonlight Chicken (the side couple had me hooked immediately) Ingredients (cute af mini series with a Jeff Satur-Kim from KP) My Stand-In (I endjoyed it for what it was, it was a bit ridiculous) Vice-Versa (If you liked JimmySea you'll probably enjoy this) Bad Buddy (Great chemistry between the main characters) And a Taiwanese bl I liked was: History 3: Trapped.

(Your kinnporsche review is EVERYTHING. No notes.

The Mr Blonde jaw thing had me chuckling. I too, very much enjoyed the jaw thing. Hope the vampire show is directed well. Bounprem deserve it.

Tan absolutely should have slain them all. Apart from bb White. Agreed. Wholeheartedly.

Ai Di x Chen Yi were the only reason I was watching that show. For real.

Last Twilight was fantastic. I just didn't vibe with the ending. If it had ended on that rock cliff? Perfection. Stunning. Show-stopping.)

I hope you enjoy some of these! Sorry this got SO LONG.

[centrally-unplanned]

Sarah Z released a new video on Buffy Season 6 - looks like she isn't the only one doing a recent Buffy binge, great minds Sarah! Given her long track record as a Buffy lover I give her props for finally going all in and making a project of it. As is going to be a surprise to no one, I am pretty middling on this video - lets go to the random thoughts:

--- My first comment on this was going be a bit of a question mark around its title, "In Defense of Buffy's Most Hated Season". Season 6? Most hated? Sure you not thinking of Season 4? Or Season 1? Season 6 is very consistently ranked as a higher Season by most - no Season 5 or 3, sure, but normally top 3 or 4. Its a bit of a "cultural baggage" idea - because of, hm, reasons, it was an extremely controversial season back in the day. But removed from its airing that drama faded away, and particularly given that season 6's musical episode is one of the most lasting legacies of the show, now it stands on its merits and is generally liked. Sarah even almost accidentally cops to that with one of her example reddit posts, from a Season 6 hater but who frames that as a hot take:

However, looks like we agree, because Sarah changed the name of the video! Now its called "You Should Watch Buffy Season 6". I respect and empathize, honestly, realizing the cultural consensus has changed can take some time.

--- For a movie review about defending Season 6, it actually spends half of its analytical run-time criticizing it. And I was not swayed by these - which I am sad about, I have my critiques of the season too. Just trying to explain why the following thoughts are about criticisms, given the title.

--- Does anyone out there interpret Riley's departure in Season 5, and one-episode return in Season 6, as Buffy "losing a good man, and being shown the life she could have had married to him if she didn't screw up"? Because that is what Sarah thinks, and that to me is a buck wild take. Riley is not a subtle character, its pretty much a defining trait of his. Pretty sure his departure in Season 5 is him leaving a bad relationship, that is bad for him and Buffy, and Buffy realizing too late that she was letting pride and self-involvement get in the way of fixing it. Not that it necessarily could be fixed, or should be, just that that was the source. And in season 6 - this to me can't be any clearer - Riley's point in returning is to highlight that he, who was in an awful place in Season 5, got better. He got over it. He's strong even when he doesn't look it. And Buffy is too. She will get over it. Its why she breaks up with Spike at the end of the episode - Buffy realizes she is still strong, she can be way she 'used' to be. It does not forgive Riley's mistakes, or is even about any of that? This is a very weird take. Honestly I want to know if others have this take, tell me if you do.

--- This very weird take by the way comes from the "misogyny" moments that the video constantly alludes to, which tie back into Joss Whedon's behavior, which I want to flag here. I'll admit that from what I have seen of the evidence, while Joss does come off like a huge asshole on set, I actually haven't seen much of a case for a lot more than that. Some people see him as this like uber-predator and I don't know where that is coming from. So I might be biased a bit here, lacking that heft of conviction.

But I still think this is generally correct - someone's personal behavior is an extremely imperfect reflection of their writing chops. Some of the most insightful prose of all time was writing for crass monetization; serial abusers have written, in spades, the most complex and well-realized victim protagonists. Writing is a skill, not a morality trait. Personal action impacts writing, sure, but not in ways that *align* with morality. The fact that Joss Whedon was an asshole on set does not mean the writing on Buffy reflects misogynist abuse. Xander isn't a misogynist - when he is mad at Anya for sleeping with Spike he is portrayed by the narrative as a clear asshole. Riley isn't portrayed as a perfect boyfriend, dude fucking pays vampires to bite him! This all in your head! You don't have to like prove Joss Whedon is a bad dude through textual analysis. His work can still be #girlboss feminism, there is no contradiction there.

--- This will be brief, but I feel like we are past the weird 2010's hiccup of thinking "fridging" is a problem, right? This is about Tara's death, ofc. Stories aren't real life, in stories some characters are way more important than others. Side characters exist, very often, to further the arcs of those main characters. One of them dying as part of a main character's arc is completely normal. Its weird I feel I have to explain this; I don't really, right? Tara is not killed off on a whim; she dies because Willow has a season-long arc of tipping over the edge on magic power, its a lot about her relationship with Tara, and her death pushes her over the brink. I'll admit I find Dark!Willow's execution to be a bit weak, but that's its own problem; the motive is solid. This is how stories work.

--- Additionally, I think there is a big, but a bit unnoticed, shift in what "works" in media around character deaths. When Joss Whedon killed Tara in Buffy - and more notably killed Wash in Serenity - he was doing a deliberate "no one is safe" thing. It became a meme, actually!

Meme-ing about Joss Whedon man, right there in the garbage dumb of the past alongside Harry Potter memes shitting on Twilight thinking its the better franchise; life comes at you fast. But anyway this was a "big thing" to happen - audiences were shocked by it! It had dramatic impact.

Then Game of Thrones happened and this got turned up to 11, and the general plot twist even more of a meme. But meanwhile, TV changed in the background; entire seasons were getting dumped at once on streaming, everything was becoming "high context" with actors live tweeting their own set experiences, fandoms got more involved and contextual, "water-cooler" shows everyone was talking about faded due to audience separation, all sorts of shit. Which meant that the "kill a main character" thing stopped being powerful - it was overplayed, spoilers were more common, it didn't "air" as a standalone episode everyone talked about. The reason to kill off a character to raise the stakes faded away.

Which means when people go back and say things like "oh I loved Tara why kill her", its...well for one Amber Benson wanted to leave the show. But additionally you can't see the power it had in 2002. TV was different then, it wanted different things.

--- To give something positive, while I think Spike's attempted rape of Buffy is a strong writing choice - very in character for Spike, and its fine that it is primarily about his arc and not Buffy's because its a story, that is how these things work - I do agree that Buffy's response to the event is just not explored enough. It comes up multiple times of course, even in Season 7, but it also gets swamped by plot events in Season 6 with Willow, its not given room to breathe.

This imo relates to the fact that the pacing of the event is a bit wonky - Spike & Buffy had been on the outs for many episodes at that point, there wasn't this strong inciting incident for it. If it had happened much closer to their breakup, in a more focused arc, it would have had more narrative impact and allowed time for both of them to respond to it. I get that they had a lot of plot balls to juggle at that point, but still, missed opportunity I think.

Okay I had more thoughts but I am tired, I think that covers my most interesting complaints/observations anyway.

[not-poignant]

1 & 13 for palmarosa! I'm so hooked on it and it's lovely to immerse myself in such a crunchy, well-written dynamic :3

Oooo less go, Palmarosa time :D (I'm so glad you're enjoying it!!)

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

So, I looked for Astarion fics early on and saw a lot of Astarion/Halsin, Astarion/player and general pairings I wasn't super interested in, or scenarios I wasn't very interested in. I tried a few, didn't bookmark any, and was like 'hmmm, I expected some more angsty fics for Astarion.' At the time - which to be fair was quite some time ago and the fandom has grown since - everything biased towards very fluffy, or very dark, but where Astarion had the power and was the top, and it was just not quite what I was looking for.

I knew I wanted to do something with Astarion, but I didn't ship him with anyone. I don't ship him with Gale, I didn't want to write an Astarion/player fic, I don't ship him with Halsin, etc. (I am playing an Astarion/Gale run now, but mostly because I enjoy their bitchiness and not because I truly ship them). But when we started spending more time with Raphael I started thinking 'hmmMMMM WHAT IF....'

I looked for fics, there was like 3 at the time (literally, mine is the fourth in the rarepair on AO3), and it was like 'well.... ehhh.... we'll see.' At this point I knew what Astarion's endings were - good and bad, according to Larian - and I didn't like either of them. I was kind of salty in advance that some companions get very clear cut happy endings, and others get sort of...shafted either way. And around that time I was like well... if we take Astarion's 'good' ending (according to Larian) and then actually give him the things I wanted him to have at the end (sans my player character, because I don't like player/X fics), then I could do something with that.

I knew I was shipping him with Raphael, but I actually spent a fairly long time thinking about how to solve the sunlight issue, and what Raphael would want in exchange for that, and how much that would actually matter to him, and why he would offer something like that, and what that would mean for a run where he was killed. I made a lot of thorny choices early on, like killing off Hope (she survives in my run) so Raphael could return to the House of Hope, etc.

But yeah! Basically a very classic 'once more fandom wasn't delivering a weird specific niche thing I wanted in any pairing, so I found a weird rarepair that almost no one was writing, and decided to do what I wanted in that little corner' scenario + 'I love BG3 as a game but fuck what they did with Astarion's character right at the end, I'm going to make a third ending just for me.'

...I'm both really stubborn and pretty weird actually when it comes to writing fanfiction *hangs head*

I'm just kind of obsessed with Astarion, he's a very specific kind of character 'type' for me (he gives me Felix Harrowgate from Doctrine of Labyrinths vibes and frankly I wrote a similar-ish fic about him too at least in spirit). Raphael I find fascinating. Because we get so much less information about him, I can put more of my own needs for the fanfiction into him, and develop his back story in a more robust manner in a way that suits the pairing. Him being a cambion, being able to add monster fucker elements, being really certain mentally that he's like... that he doesn't have a very 'classically' human way of thinking, makes him extremely interesting to me as a love interest to write!

(Not gonna lie, part of me actively resents how fluffy fandom is getting, and I wanted to put more rape and dubcon into AO3 overall for Astarion in particular. Like, I want more angst and hurt/comfort etc. I get that his back story is tragic, but I also wanted to push that in a different direction, and I really love writing a character that's been through so much awfulness they become almost expectant of it? That's also a Felix Harrowgate vibe. It's fun kind of...guiding those characters specifically to a better place internally, and not just externally).

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

The Palmarosa playlist! I put it on every time I write for this story. Some songs I listen to more than others, Trench and Menace generally accompany me during the more sexual scenes for example. And I have put on the instrumentals for I Want To Live from the official BG3 soundtrack (by Borislav Slavov) on repeat for sections as well. I still am expanding the Palmarosa soundtrack but I have enough kind of music to also be comfortable writing the story as well. :D

--

From this fanfiction meme!

[beauty-and-passion]

Sanremo 2024: the songs made me do it

aka: Don’t tell me this will become a new format

There is a sad truth I have to share with you all: I don’t watch Sanremo. I know it’s unhinged and funny and every year there is a new debate about something stupid and a lot of homoerotic tension everywhere. But I don’t have the strength to stay awake until 3am, waiting for all songs and listening to covers and watching 200 interludes until morning. I am getting old, I can’t stay awake that long anymore XD

But my father and my brother both watch Sanremo and, since this year has been particularly appreciated and followed by a ton of people, they decided I had to listen to some of the songs.

So I listened to some of them, especially the top 5. And wow, they are better than I thought. It’s been quite some time since I followed some Italian music and it looks like a lot of things improved in the meantime.

Hence why I decided to give a try to all the 30 songs of this year’s competition. It was worth it: there are definitely some interesting ones. And a few artists made me re-evaluate my opinion about “veteran” singers too.

But while I was listening to all of this, I was also thinking: man, it’s a shame the rest of the world will never know about them. Some are forgettable, fine, but some are good. They deserve a chance to be heard and appreciated.

And this is when a dangerous idea popped into my mind: what if, instead of listening to all of these songs by myself, I share my opinion about them in a post? It would be a bit like my yearly “first impression post” about the Eurovision songs, only applied to Sanremo’s songs.

And hey, maybe this will become a new format. A sort of anticipation of every year’s Eurovision. After all, Sanremo came before Eurovision, so it would make sense, in a way, to talk about Sanremo first.

But that’s up to you. If you think it would be fun, if you’re interested in listening to more Italian songs, or even if you just want to read more of me rambling about stuff, let me know and I will gladly provide it.

______________________________

The overall impression

It’s quite positive. Sure, it could be because I’m Italian and I’m biased, but I swear I’m doing my best to be as objective as possible.

Also, an overall positive impression doesn’t mean all songs are bangers. They are just generally “good”. You can listen to them once or twice, but they’re not a new, groundbreaking experience: they are just okay. And you will read these words again regarding a lot of the songs on this list.

Speaking of the songs themselves, HERE you can find the full playlist.

Please notice that the order of the songs is the same as the final chart. So, since I do not want to spoil you the winner immediately, I will go in reverse order, starting from the last song up to the first. Don’t worry, there is some interesting stuff in the middle, we won’t get bored ;)

As always, this is my opinion, yadda yadda. If you disagree, good for you. We’re just talking about songs after all.

______________________________

Fred De Palma - IL CIELO NON CI VUOLE

I have no idea who this guy is and the song is acceptable: nothing too groundbreaking, nothing too bad. It’s just a typical dance song.

However, I would still keep an eye on him, because there’s this long tradition of singers who got last place, but ended up having incredibly long careers and becoming way more famous than the winners.

So who knows? Maybe Fred De Palma will be the next on the list.

Vote: maybe he will improve and become famous

__________

sangiovanni - finiscimi

Another very normal, very typical dance song. I listened to it twice, but I don’t remember a single thing. Next.

Vote: forgettable

__________

bnkr44 - GOVERNO PUNK

That’s a nice song. Again: nothing too special, but at least I remember the chorus.

Also, there are a lot of other songs that got a higher rank and bored me way faster than this one.

Vote: +1 for the chorus

__________

LA SAD - AUTODISTRUTTIVO

And suddenly, I’m a teen again. The rhythm, the lyrics, the punk, they all speak of the 2000s.

My inner teenager is singing along and loves all of this.

Vote: these guys have been inspired by Blink-182. Now I understand why they remind me so much of my adolescence.

__________

Maninni - SPETTACOLARE

Another typical love song. And it came before La Sad.

Now I’m the sad one.

Vote: even more forgettable

__________

Renga Nek - Pazzo di te

Small premise: Renga and Nek have both been around for a very long time and, as far as I know, they never made a collab together.

But while I’ve never been particularly interested in Renga’s music, Nek has a special place in my heart. Why? Because he’s my favorite Italian singer. I listened to his songs when I was a child first, then during my adolescence. After almost 20 years, I still love them and I still remember the lyrics. So I was waiting for another great song to add to my playlist.

But this song is nothing. It’s not interesting, it’s not new, it’s not a bop. It’s just a generic song about love.

What a huge disappointment, coming from two artists like them. They’ve been around for a lot of time, they should know it’s time to change. But nope, it’s as if they’re still stuck in the past, thinking that playing a song identical to what they made before will surely be appreciated.

But it’s not. The music scene changed, I changed. And this stuff is old.

Considering that we will see older artists with much more interesting songs, these two really have no excuse for this. It is just plain laziness.

Vote: listen to Le cose da difendere, instead. Or Contromano. Or L’inquietudine. They’re much better than this.

__________

CLARA - DIAMANTI GREZZI

This girl won Sanremo Giovani (the edition for younger singers) and I can understand why: she has a lot of voice and she’s a nice singer. The lyric isn’t the most original thing ever, but I like it and I think a lot of younger people can relate to it. It’s very nice and it doesn’t deserve such a low rank.

Vote: “kissing with the tongue/ is so scary”? Uuuh… I suppose young people relate to that? :/

__________

Rose Villain - CLICK BOOM!

This song is just… meh. Despite having two different rhythms, I don’t feel engaged by either of them.

Vote: and the lyrics aren’t great either

__________

BigMama - La rabbia non ti basta

1) The style, the eyes, the nails. This gal is a queen, she slays hard and I approve.

2) The song is about violence, dreams, protecting your inner child, yourself or even your past self from a past of abuse. It’s powerful and I approve.

3) The rhythm might not be the most groundbreaking thing ever, but it goes well with the song and I approve.

4) She’s great and I want to hear more songs from her.

Vote: Approved

__________

Ricchi E Poveri - Ma non tutta la vita

Ricchi e Poveri have been going around since 1967. My mother listened to them. They started as a quartet, then became two, then one of them died and now, these are the last two members left, both in their 70s.

And despite that, these two are amazing.

Their voices are still great, their song is a bop, their energy is incredible. They are much, much better than a lot of these younger singers and I would’ve never imagined that goddamn Ricchi e Poveri would sing one of my favorite songs of this year.

Sure, the ghost of Raffaella Carrà possessed this song, considering the rhythm reminds me of her famous songs, but you know what? It works well. It’s good.

And the lyrics are good too. Even if this is a romantic song, it’s also a song about wanting your own freedom: but instead of stating it loudly, it softly hints at it (“You know I’ll wait for you / but not for all of my life”). It’s nice, it’s cute, I love it.

They do not deserve this position in the final chart, so I blame people thinking they were too old to participate. I thought the same and I repent.

Vote: I wish to have at least 10% of their energy

__________

Dargen D'Amico - Onda Alta

If you don’t think this song is perfect dancing material, you’re lying.

But also consider: the lyric is about immigrants, so this song isn’t just a bop, but it’s meaningful too.

Vote: good job, my boy

__________

Negramaro - Ricominciamo tutto

Honestly, never really cared about Negramaro’s songs and this one adds to the pile.

Vote: try again next time

__________

SANTI FRANCESI - l'amore in bocca

These guys and Negramaro have a higher rank than Ricchi e Poveri. The disrespect. The ignominy.

Vote: this song is a bit better than Negramaro’s song, fine, but it’s also… just okay.

__________

Mr.Rain - DUE ALTALENE

Is… he singing with Autotune? I’m not really a fan of it because I want to hear what you can do, not what the software can do to make you sound better.

But okay, maybe it’s part of how he wanted this song, I can accept it. But still, not a fan of the song: too boring.

Vote: Next

__________

The Kolors - UN RAGAZZO UNA RAGAZZA

The music video screams ‘80s, the song screams ‘80s as well. And, like every 80s song, the chorus is extremely catchy: so catchy that, after the second listening, I was still singing it.

Curse you, catchy rhythm and catchy song that will definitely become a summer hit.

Vote: “a boy meets a girl / lips on the lips / who guess what will happen”. Jeez, wow, a real mystery.

__________

Fiorella Mannoia - Mariposa

She’s another of those veteran singers (69 years old). And, once again, she slays harder than a lot of the younger artists.

I listened to this song once and fell in love immediately. The lyrics are beautiful: HERE you can read the English translation and I highly suggest it, because the song is full of beautiful images and harmonies.

But that’s not just the lyrics, it’s how she sings it. And she sings it with passion and pride. It wouldn’t be as effective, sung by a younger, softer voice: this songs needs a powerful, deep voice and Fiorella is perfect for it.

Vote: it deserves everything.

__________

Emma - APNEA

Look me in the eye, then explain how this comes before Fiorella Mannoia.

You can listen to this song on every radio everywhere: it’s not original, not funny and the lyrics are meh.

Also, couldn’t she find a way to fit the word “apnea” better? To me, it looks like she suddenly remembered and put it at the end of the verse (“you take my breath away/apnea”). I don’t know, it gives me the idea she hasn’t thought too much about it.

Vote: I couldn’t listen to this song more than twice - and the second time I was fed up already

__________

Diodato - Ti muovi

Apologies to all of his fans, but I never loved Diodato’s songs. Even when I won, I asked myself why: what do people find in this guy? Why do they love his songs so much?

Personally, I find this extremely boring.

Vote: this came before Fiorella Mannoia. The utter disrespect.

__________

Il Tre - FRAGILI

This song is La Sad without the punk. And I’ve always preferred the punk over this stuff.

Vote: punk > this

__________

Gazzelle - Tutto Qui

This song was so utterly boring, I barely managed to do a full listening.

Vote: how did these people get such high places in the final rank?!

__________

ALFA - Vai!

I don’t know who this guy is, but I LOVE his song. Good vibes, a carefree rhythm and a great message about living your life to the fullest. It makes me want to go out and explore new things. I want it as the theme song for every summer and every time I visit a new place.

Give this boy a chance, you might find your next happy song.

Vote: thank you for the happy vibes

__________

Alessandra Amoroso - Fino a qui

And here it is: the only song of the entire list that was so devastatingly boring, I didn’t even manage to finish one full listening.

Vote: Sorry Alessandra, but this is really bad. It doesn’t deserve the top 10.

__________

Il Volo - Capolavoro

Guys, your voices are still good, but this song is very VERY boring. And the lyrics are boring too.

Also, what the fuck does it even mean “you fall from the sky like a masterpiece”?! Every time I listen to it, I keep imagining paintings falling from the sky and I’m too perplexed and conflicted and also frustrated because this song is booooring.

Vote: you fall from the sky like a huge question mark

__________

Loredana Bertè - Pazza

Loredana is another veteran. She’s 73 and yet, look at her: way younger than the youngest singers. She has an attitude, she’s sassy, she’s confident. We all stan her.

Also, her song is about loving yourself and learning how to love yourself. And I’m pretty sure that this song, sung by a different voice, wouldn’t be so powerful. It needs such a powerful, “scratchy” voice.

Despite that, Loredana only got 7th place. And that’s a problem, because she said she wanted to win, to go to Eurovision and “mess with my ex-husband and the Swedish king”.

So, since this is an extremely valid reason and we all approve of it, I highly suggest the winner take Loredana and bring her to Sweden. She deserves to go around and wreak havoc. I want to see the poor Swedes dealing with her. I want to see her ex-husband quiver in fear. I want to see the Swedish king ask: “who are you and how did you enter my place?”. I want Loredana to take control of Sweden with her sassiness.

Vote: San Marino, you know what you have to do.

__________

Mahmood - TUTA GOLD

This is the reason I wanted to write this post.

Mahmood won two times already and both times he made good songs. He clearly proved he’s a good singer and I’m glad he gets the recognition he deserves.

When I listened to this song for the first time, it gave me chills. It’s interesting, it’s captivating. It’s full of images associated with his life in the suburbs and things he’s probably the only one to understand.

I think he came 6th, only because he won two times already and winning a third time would’ve been too much. But he still deserves all the recognition, so please listen to his song. It’ll be worth it.

Vote: in my final rank, he’s definitely top 3

__________

Irama - Tu no

I have another secret to share: I don’t like Irama’s songs. I know people like him, but I really cannot understand why. He has an interesting voice, sure. And fine, despite being a hugely boring romantic ballad, at least he sings it with passion.

But it’s a lament. Fine, the chorus is okay, but it became okay only after four listenings.

Vote: my brother loves this song and he’s a ballad lover. So I suppose people who love ballads love Irama? That’s how he got 5th place?

__________

Ghali - CASA MIA

A song about equality and against all wars. And not only the lyrics are very clear about it (“with imaginary lines, you bomb a hospital/for a piece of land or for a piece of bread”), but Ghali himself was very clear too, since he said “stop the genocide” right after his performance.

Somehow, a debate started over this. And hear this: it started because the Israeli ambassador got offended and said something like “he shouldn’t use the stage to say this”.

Yes, this is the stupidest thing you will read today and I can’t believe I just wrote it.

But hey, Ghali probably thought it was stupid too, since his reply was something like: “I’m sorry he got offended, what offended him, anyway? That I used my stage to give a message of peace? What should’ve used the stage for instead?” which proves:

he’s an absolute king

he’s much more mature than the supposed adults involved who are way older than him

Now, I know nothing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and I don’t want to express any opinion about who is “right” or “wrong” here. But if you get offended over something like “stop the genocide”, then you have something to hide. It’s not rocket science, it’s evident.

And considering we can all see how heavy and uncontrollable the Israeli bombardment is, what do they think we should say? That it’s fine, keep going?

Even war has its rules. And bombing everything, especially civilians, isn’t part of them. It doesn’t matter how “right” you are or how wronged you feel: once you hit your enemy like this, you are automatically wrong. It’s as if the Allies exterminated all Germans during WW2: it never happened, because even something awful like war has a limit and a decency.

And if you don’t feel like people should express their opinion about war, then think twice: despite our issues, we still have freedom of speech in Italy. So if an artist wants to express an anti-war idea, they’re free to do it whatever and whenever they want. End of the discussion.

Vote: I bet you all forgot the manatee-looking alien. Yes, there was a manatee-looking alien.

__________

Annalisa - Sinceramente

This song came before Mahmood.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good song. You can dance to it, I danced to it too. It’s catchy, I’m sure it will be a huge hit and I love it. And she’s great too.

But it came before Mahmood.

Vote: can we switch? Mahmood 3rd place and this 6th? Or 5th and move Irama down?

__________

Geolier - I P’ ME, TU P’ TE

You have no idea how curious I was to hear this song.

All I knew about this guy, was that he got 60% from the televoting. More than half of Italy voted for him. Why? Who is he? What kind of song did he ever sing? I needed to listen to it!

And now I did. And, well, it became clear why it got so much attention.

Geolier sings by using the Neapolitan dialect. Except for three lines in the chorus in Italian, the rest of the song is in Neapolitan.

And this is incredibly interesting because the Neapolitan dialect is probably the most well-known dialect here in Italy. I think everyone knows or, at least, understands a bit of it. But even if I can understand it and even if I listened to this song a lot of times already, I still don’t get all the words. And I doubt others fully understand it (except for, well, Neapolitans). It’s a bit of a linguistic challenge, it’s fun.

And yes, I know this song would’ve never been Eurovision material, but imagine. Just imagine this song, on the international stage. The sheer confusion of the rest of the world. I mean, my father thought he was singing “in some weird English dialect from some island” and he spent 50 years in Italy. Just imagine a completely clueless person who knows nothing about Italian dialects.

And this is why you should listen to it and see what you can understand. Come on, give it a try! And even if you don’t understand a thing, at least you will hear a song about a breakup, the end of an abusive relationship and the need to take different ways. Which is still related to the love theme, but at least it talks about a different aspect of it.

Vote: absolutely deserved 2nd place. Maybe even the 1st place, just to witness Europe’s confusion while listening to it.

__________

Angelina Mango - La noia

When I did my first listening to the top 5 songs, my brother made me listen to them in random order. So I listened to Geolier first, then this one.

Geolier is clearly very southern: I mean, he sings in a southern dialect. But then I listened to this woman and not only she has a southern Italian accent, but she also uses a very clear southern rhythm for the song.

So can we consider this year’s Sanremo a victory for south Italy? Definitely. The rhythm is immaculate and yes, I know there are a lot of nice songs from north Italy too, but the south always had that magical, dance-y rhythm and I’m glad it was so well appreciated.

The lyric are very interesting too, because it’s a celebration of boredom. Boredom is essential for growth, it’s part of us and we need to embrace it, because it helps us - and that’s not what she says, but what biology says. We need moments of boredom: to recharge ourselves, to relax, to let new projects and ideas stem from it. We need boredom, just like we need to keep ourselves active.

It’s nice to see a song with a very different theme, with a rhythm that is both new and old, with a great lyric and a good singer. I’m very glad she won: people have great taste and that’s always nice to see that.

Vote: my father (aka the Eurovision prophet) already said she might win Eurovision. Italy’s new victory in less than 30 years? I’m all for it.

[langernameohnebedeutung]

Hi, I recently got into izombie (probably from you putting it on my dash) and figure you’re the right person for this question. While I love majority of the show, somewhere in the S3-4 range, it didn’t seem as good - not sure if the plots were weaker but the brain-effect on Liv seemed way stronger than before in a way that was less enjoyable to watch (and based on some fourth wall jokes, I’m guessing the network was neglecting them in S4?). On the other hand, I love both “good guy angsts about learning to bend morals without going too far” characters and “unrepentantly fun bad guys” so having both Major and Blaine(&company) in one show is amazing. I’ve finished S4 and it ended in a solid enough way to be a finale and I’ve heard that the end of S5 was bad so my question for you is… Is season five worth watching?

Heyo! :>

I love hearing that people watch izombie!! (especially if I play a role in that).

Hmm...my nuanced, honest opinion?

The issue of the brains becoming really dominant is a common criticism of season 4/the later episodes, so you're definitely not alone with that feeling (personally, I mostly dislike it in the way that we don't see how things actually affect Liv as our main-character for a lot of the times. But overall, I do like season 4 as the one where they were the most silly with their premise and had a little fun and we get some new dynamics, new characters, the whole Filmore Graves situation, Liv's whole Renegade gig, Ravi's part-time zombie thing, Blaine and Don E doing their silly little basement antics and also sad things like the Isobel arc - I won't lie, I had a good time with season 4 and it's definitely one I like to rewatch for the stand-alone episodes. I don't often rewatch a lot of season 5, it has to be said. But I generally tend to avoid finales. I am biased against final seasons).

And yeah, they had issues with the budget and management though I never really looked into the details. This is also something that can be felt in season 5 and the finale.

Season 3 has (I think?) a bit of a reputation as the weakest season of the show because it's kinda disrupted plotwise and some of the characterisation issues - so yeah, a lot of people share the sentiment.

When it comes to season 5: WELL. yeah. It's definitely not in the race for "best finale of all times". It's not going out with a bang, I'm honest (a lot of which is due to the budget issue, to be fair). BUT I also didn't hate it. There are some fun episodes, some answers to questions, some stuff is resolved.

If you want my honest opinion: If season 4 was a total drag for you to get through, season 5 (at least the first half) has a very similar tone. I don't think it's as over the top with the brains as they were e.g. with "Blue Bloody" (Liv on snobby old lady brain). But if you really don't want to relive that, I would also recommend you stop at the season 4 finale. With the season 4 finale, you're ending on a high note with all the characters being happy and successful and basically running Seattle.

If you want to know how the show really ends without investing a lot of time in season 5, I would recommend you watch "The Scratchmaker" (and perhaps "Death Moves Pretty Fast") and the finale and you will get the gist of it. On the other hand, another strategy might be to ignore the show-finale/over-arching plot and let the s4 finale be a spiritual finale for the show itself. That way, you can still enjoy some of the good season 5 episodes that are fun on their own, like the noir episode, the dancing episode etc. Those are pretty fun. I think most of the reason people say season 5 is bad is because of the finale and the plotlines that lead to it, not so much the per-week stuff.

Though, I admit I didn't hate season 5 It's by no means a work of art but honestly, izombie is not a show that I love particularly much for quality - I don't think it's some forgotten magnum opus - I mostly really love the characters and the ideas and dynamics. And I also still enjoyed those things in season 5.

As I said, first half of the season is close to season 4 in tone and style - then it reaches kind of a tipping point where you can tell it's taking the big steps towards the finish line. I think that's my biggest actual issue with that season. Because towards the end, they kind of rush it and introduce a lot of stuff in a really quick time. It's like - you should be resolving stuff now, not create more plotlines. I feel like the final 2 episodes should at least have been 3 but you can tell that this was also a budget issue.

Some of the strong points are that we get some resolution to older arcs, especially where Liv is concerned (I don't want to spoil). Peyton gets a bit more to do than in season 4 which I also liked though there are..................some more instances of a certain pattern of tropes I noticed they do with her character that once again happened in season 5. (Maybe I'll make a post about that one day but I don't want to be negative)

I think if you enjoyed Major and the whole Filmore Graves ethical quagmire in season 4, you will also enjoy him in season 5 because a lot is happening there. I do miss Chase a lot though. Don E gets a lot more character development and higher stakes in season 5 and we (and Blaine) get to meet his mother and learn more about him, which made me really happy. I really had a good time with Don E in that season. We even get a pre-Boat Party flashback with him and Blaine and Scott E.

As far as Blaine is concerned, a lot of people say that season 5 is his darkest, most evil season. It's a lot less "silly antics" compared to season 4 and a lot more "dude is really fucking losing it" and this is where a lot of fans say he really lost a lot of the compassion bonus he had with them. Though, personally I think it's all pretty on-brand and in character and there is a lot of call-back to his season 1 stuff. Also, having him narrate an episode was fun.

There are some new villains too, one character you already know from s4 becomes the main-baddie. And though while they don't replace Chase or Rita or Vaughn for me I did enjoy that character getting to go nuts a little.

[spot-the-antisemitism]

Ok so there's no need to respond to this if you don't want to, I just wanna say something here. I'm a jewish lesbian who's been following your blog for a while now, and the comments that you made/reblogged about Good Luck, Babe! really rubbed me the wrong way. I hate that I'm having to defend Chappell right now because her political comments and overall behavior lately have been awful and I never even enjoyed her music in the first place, but calling the song rapey and biphobic is such an unbelievably unfair reading of it that I don't even really know what to say. It's just a plain old bitter ex, "you'll regret leaving me" song, which is a very common style of breakup song that straight men and women have been making for years (just off the top of my head I can think of Gives You Hell, Rumour Has It, I Bet You Think About Me, You're Gonna Miss Me, and I'm Not Mad) and yet I've never seen them get this sort of criticism, which is good because it's completely unwarranted. There’s nothing rapey about saying "someday you'll realize leaving me was a mistake", and it doesn't become biphobic just because the person Chappell's ex would be leaving her for is a man. "The song is about deciding your ex can't really be bi" not a word about the ex's sexuality is said anywhere in the song, and this really just comes across as giving everything she says the least charitable interpretation possible. And the nail in the coffin is you calling the song "lesbian entitlement" like how can you write that and not instantly see how lesbophobic it is? I think just in general if you ever find yourself complaining about "[marginalized group] entitlement", it might be time for some self reflection.

I'm sorry if this is coming off more aggressive than I intend it to be, and I hope you won’t take this as an attack, but instead as a chance to think a bit about any subconscious biases you might hold against lesbians. Again I follow and enjoy your blog, which is why seeing these comments made me so disappointed

dear anon,

I see with your reading but I don’t agree with it

i am entitled to my bad reading of the song because duck that song, you are entitled to your reading of that song

if the reading is about comp het, and Roan confirms it is and the ex being bi is a lespebephobic reading then she’s asssuming her ex can’t be bi

that’s entitlement , it’s not for her to decide her ex’s sexuality

i hear bisexual entitlement all the time, I mean that the narrator feels entitled that ger ex fuck only women should have phrased better

you had me until you accusses me of hating lesbians to prove I’m horrible evil and should be canceled. That’s the aggression.

But like totally understand your different reading of the song

yours,

Cecil

[mountain-lion-gremlin]

I know I've been hella active today, but here's something to think about:

I have struggled for years to find other physical shifters, and I either find a p-shifter who just randomly mentions to me while we are talking that they are a p-shifter, or I meet people who are "supposedly" p-shifters, but have never said it.

I've noticed this trend, especially with really p-shifters. We are very quiet. We arent going to walk around screaming at the top of our lungs and crying out that we can teach p-shifting most of the time, because one, it's super stressful to many, and two, being a physical shifting flocks SO MANY beginners who just want to skip everything else and want to know how to p-shift, NOW.

I would say it's a red flag to see anyone talking about how they can teach others to p-shift. Definently ask questions, but dont invalidate. I teach when people ask, but talk about only my experiences, and others. It's important to remember, specifically for me, I am talking out of experience only, so I can be biased, wrong, and everyone should always take my advice with a grain of salt. Because I dont know better, and I'm just a random person on the internet.

And I guess I dont really get why people think that p-shifters are so bad, because we are still beings with a consciousness and feelings too. Most of the time, p-shifters who are genuinely diabolical or terrible people are just bad people.

I will say though, I've attempted p-shifting a few times, but I have yet to fully mental shift and physically shift, so I dont have much advice on p-shifting in general.

All in all, I'm just trying to say that p-shifters are just trying to exist, and I'm not going to yell loud and proud about it because I dont want to be blocked by others just because of the stereotype type attached to the p-shifter label. It's basically a death sentence to have the p-shifter label attached to your account, because of how horrible people have been under that title in the past. Using it as a 'shield' of sorts to get away with terrible acts. The label I use does not express the views I hold, nor my actions, and I hate that it's like this out in the wild, wild west of the internet.

That's all, I did say that this post was something to think about. Apparently I've been super naive to literally everything, being so sheltered on Amino. Man that place is dusty, theres so much going on here.

And I'm not here to cause issues or make a debate, just here to talk about this stuff! This blog is about shapeshifting and such, so I'm here to educate (if requested), share my identity and my experiences, and take a break from posting on my Amino. These are just lower-quality posts for my amino, and I just don't feel like it atm.

Feel free to ask questions anytime in my inbox, and thank you for reading <3