#I could go into detail on specific scenes

[skarsjoy]

new interview from Vanity Fair at Cannes:

Alexander Skarsgård Is the Dom, Harry Melling the Sub, and Pillion Their Kinky, Sweet Love Story

The two stars and their director, Harry Lighton, learned many lessons making a movie set in a vivid queer subculture: “It emerges that you can’t just chuck a load of dicks on screen.”

By David Canfield, May 17, 2025

Alex quotes:

Alexander Skarsgård: When I got a little brief from my agents about the project, biker and sub-dom, it just sounded quite intriguing to me…and from our first conversations, he just felt a lot of confidence in me and his vision for the project. I definitely wanted to put on the leather gear and jump into the trenches with it.

In the film, most of the members of the biker gang in the movie are basically playing themselves—they are members of GBMCC. I’m forever grateful and indebted to them for their generosity and support and patience. They told us about their lifestyle, and how they socialize and about these gatherings, when they go out riding together, down to details in terms of the outfits, and the dynamics between the subs and the doms and what that would look like. I credit everything to those guys.

For the actors, what was your comfort level filming the sex scenes going in?

Skarsgård: You can’t just apply the kind of the sub-dom structure to every relationship. I talked to some people who are in sub-dom relationships, and certain aspects of Colin and Ray’s relationship rang very true to them. And others, they’re like, “Well, I know people who have that kind of relationship…” It was just important for us to figure out what worked for us, in between Harry and myself.

I knew that it was going to be graphic, and Harry was very clear on his vision for it—when and how nudity was going to be depicted. I felt that it really served the story, and it made sense to me. I was very, very comfortable with all that. We had a really terrific intimacy coordinator named Robbie [Taylor Hunt] who was there with us the whole way.

Melling: Alex is just the most generous, dreamy scene partner, so what could have been quite a daunting experience couldn’t have been more different, really. When you sort out the choreography of it, which is often the most difficult part—you sort out what everyone’s doing, where their hands are going—and then once action is called, you’re in the world of Colin and Ray.

Skarsgård: I fell in love with Harry from the first second I saw him. He’s just the sweetest, nicest, loveliest human being. I felt comfortable going as far as we needed to go in these situations with him. I also discovered a lot of things about Colin and Ray’s relationship that I didn’t anticipate discovering when we first started working on it. There were these tender, beautiful moments that just happened organically, and some moments that were weird and some moments that were funny. But he was incredibly game, very brave in just throwing himself out there.

Skarsgård: There are orgy scenes in the film, and with a combination of actors and non-actors with different levels of experience in that field, it was great to have Robbie there to kind of help and guide the team.

Skarsgård: The way it’s set up in the script, the audience knows as little about Ray as Colin does, and we kind of maintain that kind of level of mystery around the character. In terms of the specifics of the sub-dom relationship, he’s very clear and very upfront with Colin about what he wants, and that also creates an interesting trajectory for their relationship as the story and the love relationship evolve.

[karmicrespite]

Reminded of a post going around praising the following dialogue choice from Disco Elysium as I think it's relevant:

Harry is *aware* of the options he doesn't pick. Every dialogue option you see is something that at least formed in his mind. Unlike other games where said options are seen as "other options" or different outcomes, this line acknowledges that he at least not only is self aware enough to say "That's not fascist, it's ultraliberal", he's self aware enough to go "No no, I had a different line I could have said that IS fascist".

This is especially noteworthy when you consider the following two details: players can have drastically different playthrough paths (such as the political quests, where you can either be extremely communist or go full fascist)- but also that you're ALWAYS playing Harry.

The starkest examples of this are actually the situations where you fail specific rolls (such as how you could be playing the nicest guy with 1 in strength but failing to catch keys will cause Harry to angrily swear and scare a guy), and any scene involving [REDACTED], where you the player lose control of him and literally can't stop him from sinking deeper into the hole he's digging. Most notably "The Final Dream", though the scene that haunted me was actually the payphone check (if you know you know).

been thinkin a lot about a neat little trick Disco Elysium and Pathologic pull with dialog options, where instead of presenting you with two to four responses from distinct characters (Paragon Shepard vs Renegade Shepard, for example) and ask you which one you'd like to be, these games offer you a set of immediate reactions from a single character and ask which one you blurt out. Artemy Burakh's first reaction to things annoying him is to swear or insult the person he's talking to, and his second thought is to cool off and be reasonable. when playing him, you're not changing who he is as a person, but you get to decide which impulse he listens to. Harry DuBois is a sharp detective, but is also stuffed to bursting with flights of fancy and self-destructive impulses, and you can try to remain on task or say something stupid that he immediately regrets.

one of the clever advantages of this is that it makes the character come through much more sharply, even when you've been given a lot of control mechanically. Harry is an incredible example of this, as you get to decide the kind of person he becomes much more than the protagonists of Pathologic. however, nothing at all you can do in the game stops Harry from being himself, you can steer him in a dozen different directions but they all feel true to who he is. moreover, the choices you don't pick still work to characterize these protagonists! Burakh having so many sharp responses tells you a lot about him even if you never pick them, and Harry has to reckon with his fascist leanings even when you go full commie.

this also makes breaking with your typical pattern feel much more natural. playing through Pathologic 2, i roleplayed Artemy as collected but very, very tired, and only occasionally prone to fits of anger. but when those fits came out, they felt earned in a character sense. i'd spent the last week holding my tongue around this guy, and now finally one more indignity has been dropped into my lap and i've just about had enough! once i've calmed down, i'll see how unproductive this all is, but in the moment it doesn't feel like i'm jumping the track from Good Artemy to Mean Artemy, it feels like Tired Artemy has finally reached his limits.

i dont really have a wider point to all this than "isnt it cool what game systems can do narratively?" i keep thinking back to an old FoldingIdeas line about how video games are extremely textually dense because "the text" contains everything you can do and every way the game can respond to it. that's fuckin sick! anyway later

[intuitive-revelations]

Semi-live/retrospective analysis of The Interstellar Song Contest!

And here's my usual commentary for episode 6! Featuring a long final discussion by a very split me, who wants to rave about bits they loved in this episode, but needs to confront some very concerning (or at least bungled) messaging.

As I'm not sure what will go on with the airing with Eurovision and the football, I'm just going to go ahead and post this one before the live airing, since I've seen plenty of other people already posting anyway. Spoilers below the read more.

Before we get started, some acknowledgement that I seem to have been partially spoiled regarding some reveals this episode. I'll hold my tongue for now, as I want to see how it comes together, but we'll see...

I love the absurdity of being cryogenically suspended just to keep hosting for centuries.

Ok, 2925 And it's the 803rd song content - assuming this grew out of an Earth thing (and follows Earth years) that would give us a potentially starting date of 2122?

As someone who's never watched Eurovision in my life, despite how much everyone ends up talking about it, I'm not sure what to make of the premise of this episode. Neat idea I think.

Oh yeah! Juno Dawson's writing!

WTF, that's Trenzalore! Literally stock footage from Time of the Doctor. Wasn't expecting to see it here (especially as I didn't think it would have been settled until circa. the 51st century).

A nice couple of easter eggs at the bottom, with the Zygon New Colony and Alpha Centauri. Trion too!

Also look at that resolution: 11920x6705.

Ok, Mrs Flood's here straight away.

Oh, good point regarding Earth from Belinda! This would seemingly imply Earth is fine, though absolutely it may not be a human derived thing. Trenzalore being a human colony (plus potentially the Zygon colony, if they're from Earth's refugee population) could be points towards Earth's state too?

Ah, the Doctor's joy at seeing Belinda enjoying herself.

So the vindicators are important to Flood. We'll see how accurate my prediction is I guess? "Link" seems to imply otherwise.

Does Freddi Fox's audio seem slightly off in this scene? Might just be my bluetooth headphone delay, but the lip sync seems weird. It's like he's barely annunciating?

"Hellians" huh? Could have done a bit more with this design, but whatever.

This is an insane number of people to kill off! wtf?!

"Not again" lol. I also see they're using the same freezing over in the vacuum visuals from Oxygen, which always seemed to be possibly inspired by GOTG.

Never mind, not dead I guess. Also mavity again! Interesting - as if Earth is gone then there's no real need to use that word again, since people presumably aren't actually speaking English here? I guess it can still be translated relative to Belinda I guess.

I wonder if Mrs Flood got sucked out too?

A DELTA WAVE?! (Remember the Doctor's plan in Parting of the Ways?)

Interesting detail on the betting. I guess that's more due to the broadcast than FTL communication specifically, but interesting thought.

Dugga fricking Doo

So much for Belinda enjoying herself...

"And I never got to tell him?" ??? I can't imagine Belinda has anything specific she knows she wants to tell the Doctor, so is this more of a subconscious thing, where she really is hiding another identity chameleon arch style? (Again, may have been partially spoiled here, but let's see.)

SUSAN SUSAN SUSAN, LOML!!!! HOLY SHIT!

I was spoiled on some sort of tease relating to her, but I wasn't expecting to actually see Carole Ann Ford today?!

This could link to the above, but I think it's a red herring. a) that's a sudden 'reveal', b) Bel still referred to the Doctor as her 'friend', and c) it's pretty notable we've got Carole Ann Ford here specifically.

(Also wow, she looks great here!)

Weird that this moment specifically reached the Doctor, is Susan telepathically reaching out to him right this moment, and that's what woke him?

Obviously the Doctor surviving in space is nothing new, but the frost melting is a bit interesting. I guess it was more just water settling on him, but makes me wonder if his body was also going to a sort of 'rest state', and the shock was enough to get his body temperature shooting up to keep him awake? We know Time Lords can survive a wide range of temperatures after all (oddly, despite being not that warm-blooded).

Also curious if there's actually oxygen here? The Doctor making sounds etc. would imply as such, as would everyone not really being dead, so maybe it's just a) low pressure, and b) cold?

Ooh, Gary's another nurse!

Ey, respiratory bypass system mention.

"Camp" lol.

"Mavitic suspension" oh come on... I'm trusting the low pressure idea.

"she/her" Yay, if a surprising courtesy to provide in talking to a terrorist in this situation.

Oh wow, and here we get to see the delta wave in action!

Pretty concerning that so many TVs (or future equivalent) are capable of broadcasting a delta wave?

Ok, so we're clearly getting a prejudice (and maybe Palestine?) thing with the Hellians. Kinda tired of stories where the oppressed go beyond being "well-intentioned extremists".

Also Cora is 100% a Hellian right? Horns hidden in her hair?

Graham Norton!

Oh so the song contest does originate from Earth? Interesting...

Definitely teasing the Susan connection, but I'm still sceptical.

"Revenge against the corporation" Hm?

Damn, and he we get the rageful side of the Doctor. The "ice" line reminds of that one: "there's a sliver of ice in his heart" from Series 7.

"That's not him" And Bel notices.

Oh, so horns are less hidden and instead cut. At least Cora is a lot more sympathetic. Also obvious real world parallels with her hiding this side of her.

And there's the corporation again. So they're responsible for Hellia. Is it a thing where the Hellians went into debt, and had to sell everything off?

"Your planet was invaded for honey?" Damn, I noticed the ad earlier, of course it comes back.

It may not be that absurd, but the sonic being able to be used so broadly and destructively against robots always feels a bit much, since it kinda implies most robots shouldn't be a threat. I get there's probably difficult levels of complexity to this based on the tech, but still.

Also the gun here, that tends to be particularly egregious. Again, I can excuse it for the sake of a story, but tend to prefer being a bit more restrained with these things.

Damn, rare we see the Doctor get to the point of actually trying to hurt someone for glee. Pretty ironic after what he just said about revenge. Also surprisingly fitting this comes with visions of Susan, given One's early attitude.

From reactions I'm seeing, I'm clearly not alone in finding this rough. Especially with no-one, not even Belinda, calling the Doctor out harder. I thought this would be the thing that pushed her back away from starting to enjoy travelling and become determined to leave, so I wasn't expecting her to coddle him so much.

Hard light holograms as a tractor beam is actually pretty clever.

"I'll do anything for you" lol

Did anyone find Mrs Flood among the rescued people, or has she been fine this whole time?

I wonder if they did any conlanging for this song, or if it's just syllables.

The intercuts of visuals of Hellia, a planet we don't even know, are honestly a great addition.

Side note - I think that alien behind the Doctor is an old prosthetic? I think i recognise it from Rings of Akhaten, plus some other Moffat era episodes.

Hmm... so in regard to real world parallels, what's the message here? As I said, it's always a bit uncomfortable when a member of an oppressed group acts as an extreme terrorist in a story, especially villainised as much as Kid here. On the other hand, in every other way, there's clearly a message here simultaneously celebrating the union of Eurovision and the like, while also seemingly condemning its failure on a political / world events front? Still pretty incoherent though. I'll go into a lot more detail later.

"I don't think I've ever told you, you're wonderful." Oh, is that it?

Ah, and of course this comes back to Gallifrey for the Doctor. Was thinking it, especially with his reaction to Cora's song. It's also clearly foreshadowing, given Susan's appearances (and, that thing I've been spoiled on).

Uh oh, Graham Norton here. It's going to be revealed this didn't come "from" Earth, but is more of a tribute to it, isn't it?

"Poor old Earth died many years ago." YEP!

"It is said the planet disintegrated, into rock and dust and ashes. All of the memories here were sieved from the rubble of a civilisation that died in a single second. Cause: Unknown." IT'S GOING TO BE THE VINDICTOR, I'M SO CERTAIN OF THIS. Did I actually get this right as far back as the first episode, that the TARDIS trying to get home is ripping Earth apart?

OMG, is him going there now going to be what causes it?!

CLOISTER BELL CLOISTER BELL

Jesus, that's a hard cut.

Ah, there's Flood. Here we go.

YEP IT'S THE RANI! Also bigeneration, which I also expected.

Hm... I was sceptical of Flood being the Rani, and in a weird way I still kind of am. Her new regeneration definitely has the right vibes at least, which is good! On the other hand, Flood herself doesn't really feel like the same character. Sure Time Lords can be eccentric and vary in personality wildly, but it's weird for an incarnation of the Rani to be so glib. At least the new one feels a lot more in character, which helps sell it.

Also interesting how oddly submissive and apologetic Flood is to her other incarnation, during and after the bigeneration? "Oh I'm ever so sorry ma'am." "Unfortunately, yes." Feels like there might be something else going on here.

Maybe there's something in-particular with the Flood incarnation, to try and induce the bigeneration, like taking cues from the Doctor after his bigeneration? Clearly the new Rani views her with some disdain, like she's a variation from the norm.

I'm sure other people are saying this, but it's so funny that after so many years theorising about Susan and/or the Rani returning, we now get both in one episode!

Overall Thoughts

Oh boy. I'm in two (or more) minds about this episode. To the point I think I need to properly segment this discussion.

Let's Talk Politics...

First off: the messaging of this story is kinda disasterous. I was going to be more forgiving and put it more aside, but seeing some other people's discussions does want me to emphasise the issues here, especially after not talking that much about it above. Plus it is leaving a worse and worse taste in my mouth the more I think about it.

In particular, the Hellians continues a bad trend (see things like The Zygon Inversion) of villainising portrayals of abused peoples while trying to provide real world commentary. While the trope has a long history and can definitely be interesting in cases, it is at it's worst here, putting the "extreme" in "well-intentioned extremist".

The Hellian's exact history is clearly a bit of a mix, between the capitalistic colonisation and enslavement of their world, and the way Cora has to hide her true self. This could be an allegory for a number of things (the latter partially making me compare it to a queer/trans metaphor) but obviously it's impossible to watch without thinking of Palestine. This villainous portrayal seems especially blind, considering the episode directly discusses how they've been targetted by propaganda, regarding ideas of things like cannibalism and witchcraft (they're literally called HELLIANS and are still getting demonised!). Meanwhile the status quo of the Intergalactic Song Contest is largely upheld, with the exception of allowing Cora to sing about her people. There's clearly some element of critique there, which is appreciated, but it is not enough. Note there's never any discussion of the Song Contest itself doing anything wrong, but rather just a general vibe of intolerance which Cora stands up against, and some offscreen "corporation" which doesn't even get its own name (other than the honey ad - which tbf I did appreciate as showing the price of such things and how petty it can be). There's half-hearted attempts of attacking the exploitation of colonised peoples for luxuries and the white/pink-washing of those crimes through media like Eurovision, which would be a good starting point, but the episode never commits.

Similarly, Dark!Doctor moments are hardly new, but this wasn't a good one. It's clearly meant to be a Witch's Familar / Face the Raven kind of thing, with him believing Belinda might be gone, and also being furious at someone's intent to commit genocide many times over. As he acknowledges, it's also his own trauma regarding Gallifrey coming out (he did NOT finish therapy). But it's rare we get to see him actually be physically violent in such a way, which makes it really stand out. It's only worse when you mix in the above politics. I compare it to The Zygon Inversion, but that's honestly doing that episode a disservice, as for all the Doctor's fury he still forgives Bonnie and the Zygons. I think something like this could have been saved if it were for two things (not necessarily both, but at least one of them):

All those people actually do die. While it doesn't change Kid's intentions, nor the plan to kill trillions with the delta wave, it does provide genuine, lethal stakes for the Doctor to become angry about, plus avoids the whiplash with the "happy-go-lucky" ending we get, of everyone in suspension being awoken.

Belinda is furious with the Doctor. Her reaction was not enough, which is kinda shocking, given the series has done so well with her realistic reactions previously. This should have been the breaking point that reminds her that, no, she was right: he is dangerous. I can sort of excuse her being relieved he's alive and understanding his trauma, if we take her to still be angry below the surface, but we needed much more.

One of the few possible saving graces of this, is that Wynn at least, despite being part of the plan is still treated sympathetically by the narrative, which is better than if it was just Cora, since it at least doesn't condemn all outrage and lets us see Kid as a particularly extreme terrorist / "psychopath" (again, not exactly a great trope to use). That is really picking at scraps though, and shows just how much the episode bungled this. There's clearly an intent to look at ideas of demonisation (again, just think about their names!), propaganda, whitewashing etc., which might be why I want to be generous to the writing, but it honestly falls flat because of Kid and his plan.

I'm pretty keen to know at this point how much of this came from Juno Dawson, from RTD, or from executive meddling. That might sound like a weak excuse, but given we are talking about Israel/Palestine and Eurovision, I really wouldn't be surprised if there was some interference from either the BBC or Disney. It would make some sense of some of the mixed messaging - but at the same time, the blame may very well be wholely on RTD and Juno and I don't want defend them if it's the case.

I don't know, I can technically make excuses all day and justify things in my head so I can better enjoy the rest of the episode, but I know that's not helpful. Ultimately I'm just disappointed the episode didn't do better.

As for how I'd haved tried and fixed it? Well, assuming we really do want to do "Die Hard at Space Eurovision", as in the original pitch, and for better-or-worse we really want a well-intentioned villain that has a point that can be applied to real-world issues, this could have been a hostage situation (rather than, you know, attempted mega-genocide). Maybe even have the hostage takers intentionally make sure the audience are alive and suspended, as they didn't want to actually hurt them all, but needed them out of their way so they can make their threat. It's still an antagonistic role, but one which is much more defendable and potentially justified, plus would allow a deep psychological / moral element, without racing to stop a countdown that will literally kill trillions. It also would allow them to actually, y'know, make demands which we can hear about and discuss, plus we could meet their enemy. It could even have had Bel and the Doctor on seperate sides of the hostage situation, which would've been a great way to use them both. Obvious potential risk would be it being considered a bit too close to real life, with regards to the hostages held by Hamas and Israel, but I'm sure you could make it work, framed more as a bank robbery style hostage situation. Even if this was impossible, this is just what I came up with off the top of my head in 10 minutes. I'm sure something better could be developed.

You Spend Decades Waiting for a Time Lady, then Two (Three) Come at Once!

Ok, now I've gotten that off my shoulders, time to go back to my usual optimistic self...

HOLY SHIT SUSAN AND THE RANI. Originally I wanted to make this section purely about them, before I decided I really had to discuss the politics of the episode in depth.

As mentioned, I had heard two spoilers: 1. that Flood would end up being the Rani bigenerated, and 2. that Susan may be back sometime this season, and there may be a hint at her this episode.

I certainly wasn't expecting Carole Ann Ford herself to show up this episode, which I'm so, so, so glad for. Even though it is surprising that Susan wouldn't have regenerated by now, given the Time War and everything, it always would have been disappointing if she came back with another face. So I'm so happy we got to see her. There's obviously meant to be a tease that she's regenerated into Belinda, but I strongly doubt that. Indeed I hope this is a sign she's alive and well telepathically communicating with the Doctor, and we'll see her in person.

I'm so curious where we'll find her though. Obviously she can't be on 22nd/23rd century Earth right now, unless she'll be found there once the timeline is restored. We saw her in the TARDIS, but I assume she isn't literally travelling in one (after all, if she was she'd probably be seen in another console room). It depends where she says the Doctor needs to "go back" too? It could be future Earth, or even modern day Earth (even another trap to get him back to Earth right now?). Honestly, I even think it might be Gallifrey itself? After all, that's where the Doctor always said he and Susan originally wanted to go back to, "some day". This feels particularly logical with the Rani's presence here too.

SPEAKING OF WHICH. OMG we've actually got the Rani on-screen. Even having heard about the leaks I was sceptical until I got spoiled about this episode specifically. Part of me was wondering if it would be a fake leak, akin to the filmed line with Missy where she calls herself the Rani.

I'm actually kind of relieved by the depiction thus far. I was pretty concerned at the idea of Mrs Flood being the Rani, as her personality largely doesn't seem to line up. She seems malicious and entitled, sure, but seemingly lacked any of the seriousness and scientific thinking of the Rani we know. Bigenerating now, however, into an incarnation that immediately takes on those traits makes it a lot more pallatable. Archie Panjabi is an amazing choice, and is immediately recognisable as the character.

Some immediately big questions we need to have answered:

Where has she been this whole time? No seriously, we've got to have some update on what happened to her during the Time War, right? If I had to guess, maybe she survived most of the war and was on Gallifrey on the final day, but immediately went renogade as soon as Gallifrey returned, a la the Master? We also know Flood was "hiding away", but for how long? Was a chameleon arch involved?

Why is Mrs Flood so different? Sure Time Lord regenerations vary greatly, but Mrs Flood is barely recognisable as the Rani, before and after the bigeneration. At most, we could say some of her companion outfit pastiches are references to the Rani dressing as Mel in Time and the Rani, but that's pretty much it. I guess her wanted to 'overthrow God' could be seen as a science / anti-myth motif too?

Building on the above, why the sudden dynamic and shift after the bigeneration? It could again just be Time Lord quirkiness, but it does feel as if something's off about Flood. Like she's an experiment, or an intentional diversion from the norm. Not only does the new Rani immediately dismiss her, barely admitting she's even "a Rani" (even calling her Mrs. Flood as they leave), but she is immediately subserviant herself.

Again possibly linked to the above, why another bigeneration? While it could be something to do with the current state of the universe (remember RTD suggested bigeneration might even have been retroactive for all the Doctor's incarnations?), it seems more likely it would be part of some sort of experiment, maybe based on the Doctor. This could also be linked to Flood's oddness, potentially.

And finally, of course, what is her plan and motive here? (A bit more on this below.)

I kind of love that the person we've seen repeatedly breaking the fourth wall turned out to just be another Time Lord, rather than making it purely a god and Doctor thing. I'm also keen to see how she'll interact with everything/everyone else. Does she know about the Timeless Child (if so, she could potentially be a pretty strong parallel to Tecteun, and may want to experiment on the Doctor)? Does she know what the Master did? What's her reaction to the current state of the universe, with its decaying rationality and growth in magic? As a scientist, is she trying to reverse this?

Hopefully, we might get some more Academy era stuff, when she and the Doctor finally interact, this time not purely about the Master? (Imagine if we got an Ushas or Deca namedrop!)

...or maybe do make it about the Master, and let her be exasperated with them on-screen all over again. Bring him back too, so we can really get the full Mark of the Rani experience!

Everything Else

Anyway, for all the messy analogies, the episode as a whole was fairly fun. I enjoyed the setting and the side characters. Kind of a shame we didn't get more focus on the music? A lot of continuity references this episode too, between the familar planets (seriously, Trenzalore?! I can't believe they just straight up through that archive footage in there) and the delta wave.

Interesting to note, with all the Doctor / Master parallels this season, Kid kind of fits into that too? He literally lacks a real name, and is acting to revenge exploitation and the destruction of his homeworld. Mix in the Doctor's rage for Gallifrey's destruction being triggered, and we can see both of them: the Master, destroying the Time Lords in light of learning about the exploitation of the Timeless Child, and the Doctor showing that same rage for his destroyed world that Kid has himself.

Graham Norton of all people being used to deliver the wham line that Earth really is gone in this time was such a choice, which I can't help but respect. As mentioned above, I remain locked in on my "the TARDIS ripped Earth apart" theory, but this still leaves a number of questions. Why was the TARDIS unable to reach Earth in the first place? How is this part of the Rani's plan? Is it just revenge, or something more?

Logicially, if she's getting involved, it could very much be something "Time Lord-y" which fits well with my theory she's targetting the Web of Time. But why would she want to tear it down? To build something better? Or is she just experimenting with reality in general - possibly via the Doctor, seeing just how much she can use him to reshape history? The latter maybe supported by her biregeneration, if it suggests she's deliberately experimenting with him specifically, probably specifically because of his connection with the Timeless Child.

[whisperingmidnights]

are you ever going to finish heart of velaris or chasing starlight or anything else you've been working on? you talk a lot about it but they've been unfinished for years

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've asked this in good faith and that you're not just looking to start a fight. Let's have a conversation about my writing. I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation, but I'll give you one anyway. Beyond the obvious harassment I've received over it in the last year, here's what's going on behind the scenes that you don't see.

CS got a major overhaul between last year and this year. I worked pretty diligently on edits for that one to make it a more cohesive reading experience. My voice has changed a lot over the last three years I've been writing it, and I thought it deserved a little extra work to be the best version of itself I could manage. I am actively working on the next chapter, it's about a quarter of the way finished. HoV JUST GOT AN UPDATE. That one has ALWAYS taken a long time to update because it has more detailed worldbuilding, and there is a lot to balance. The next chapter of Starcrossed is approaching the halfway mark. WSBM hasn't had an update in a few years because the next two parts are so fucking dark and they put me in a really bad spot if I work on them too much, so I limit my time with that one for my own mental health. Everything else gets an update when I feel like updating it.

I have been slammed at work. I will not get into the specifics of my job to protect my own identity, but life is not kind to those working in academia in my country right now. We are doing our best to remain optimistic, but shit is pretty fucking grim. And it is just going to get worse. This is my place to not have to be so serious OR to deal with serious subject matter in a way that allows me to process it. This blog, my writing, and my life are things I am happy to share with all of you, but they are for me first and foremost. That is it. You can be mad about that if you want to, but I'm done putting other people's wants and needs before mine.

The last bit is a little more serious and a little sad. We have a lot of new friends here, so I don't expect everyone to be aware that I live with a degenerative, incurable autoimmune disease. It is pretty bleak when you sit down and think about it for five minutes, so I just don't. Not if I can avoid it. But the shift in the weather as we get into summer has thrown me into a pretty bad flare. Some days, I can't even get out of bed to go to work. It affects all of my joints and anywhere on my body there is soft tissue...which is pretty much everywhere. It is a bad time. I do not tell you this so you can feel bad for me, throwing a pity party for one doesn't interest me, but I do want you to understand what I'm up against.

So I'm asking you to give me some grace. I'm doing a lot of background writing to try and build up a back catalog for a posting schedule, so SOMETHING can be coming out on a semi-regular basis. I am not a fast writer anymore, I am doing my best. It's all going to take some time. This is why I've done more bingo challenges this year, because it allows me to interact with you guys and give you something to read/me something to work on and look forward to.

I am doing my best. All I ask is that you give me patience and grace because life is so hard right now.

[soft-persephone]

Triple Frontier

Rewatch and Review

I did a deep dive in the making of this movie and it adds to the experience.

They worked will a real team of navy seals to really make the team feel more authentic outside of their preexisting relationships with one another. The guns they used were real and everything. They truly learned not only physical, but also the mental aspects of being a team of people in the military who operates at such a high level.

They all had a separate member of the team to go one on one with as well. It’s truly fascinating.

The director is JC Chandor, and he’s also directed and written A Most Violent Year.

I’m finding that his movies are mainly character driven. It’s more about complex characters in different situations or how they navigate a specific environment. There is a “story/plot”. The premise of the story can be interesting, but the complex nature of the characters is what really sells the movie.

This specific movie is about the special forces and how they navigate life once they “retire”. Which is the most obvious part, but it’s also about a group of guys who did it together and have a reunion.

I think what makes this movie special is how they all interact and how different and similar they are. It can be argued that Santiago starts the movie hungry for more. He just wants more. Out of his life, out of his job. He wants something to show for all the things he’s lost and missed out on while “fighting for his country”. He not only wants it for himself, but also for the people he served with.

They’ve all moved on with their lives. In whatever way that means. Santi wants so much more for them. Doing whatever he can to convince them to join him, isn’t selfishness, but a love to him. A vow to his loyalty and how much he cares about them.

They don’t see it that way, but he’s fine with that. Because he sees the end result.

He pushed and he pushed hard. It might not have been completely right. But it’s not completely wrong either.

You could also argue that Tom is the one that made the wrong move in every turn. One look at the money changed him completely. He went from ambivalent at best to, beyond all in. He was gone. It’s in the way he stopes following their plan. How he says they got time when the didn’t. How he put them in a situation to kill people they didn’t anticipate killing.

You see this change between both Tom and Santiago. They both start the film at completely different ends of a spectrum and swap places by the end.

As they keep going, Santiago , and the rest of them for that matter, care less and less about the money with them. They give up more and more as things get complicated. However, Tom argues more and more. Every time he opens his mouth, it’s about how much money they are leaving behind. It’s in that tension of his greed and the goal of getting home that gets Tom killed.

By that point, Toms loss is when there’s a change in everyone. It’s where now they have to get at least some of this money for Toms family. However, even that gets complicated. Lorea’s men have caught up with them, and are blocking their escape.

There’s a beautiful moment when Will calms Santi down when they have to figure out how to confront the rest of Lorrea’s men and how they are all teenagers. Santiago says they have to kill them all because he can’t grasp doing this all for nothing. He doesn’t want to go home, tell Tom’s family he’s dead, and have nothing to show for it.

He says “I thought we could do this.” And in that specific moment you can see how upset he is that every thing is falling apart. How he accepts that very fact in this moment that they failed and need to focus on getting Tom home. He’s made a complete assessment change on everything. The money and what he thought he wanted.

It’s an amazing arc for both of them. (Not Tom dying. But the processes of greed to his ultimate downfall, and Santi’s deliverance of sorts to accepting the simpler things of life. That he can’t beat the system even if he tries really hard. He just has to take the short end of the stick that has inevitably been offered to him, and find a way to be content with it.

I will never be able to shut up about this movie! Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

[bnhaobservation]

Sorry for the late reply, somehow I didn't get notification you answered...

The way I see it the events you mentioned ARE incredibly significant and have a significant effect on the outcome of the story, they're important in the story, they have a purpose to their presence, they have consequences and that we would have a different story if such events had never happened and that they had or could have a large impact on society. They aren't a small detail that could be omitted.

The problem is they are relevant for the characters, to explain why they'll do what they'll do or why they did what they did, not to criticize society.

Specifically Chap. 301-302 are a flashback to explain why Touya is doing what he's doing. If Enji (and the Todorokis) hadn't done what he did, Touya would have never become Dabi and would have never harmed society in the way he did: murdering people, supporting the league in various situations, letting a Nomu loose in Kyushu, raising societal distrust on the Heroes, trying to nuke Japan.

And what Enji did is bad in the eyes of society not because Enji abused his family, this in Japan is viewed as a Todoroki family private business, but because Enji wasn't capable to look after his son so that said son went and abused society. Enji, as the family head, had the responsibility to raise children who wouldn't harm society and he didn't, what Touya does is the result of Enji's parenting and Touya does his very best to link his own destructive flames to Enji.

The people comment on how Enji should have denied Dabi's words, that confirming them meant he was finished and Enji had a lot of negative backlash for what he had caused once it became public knowledge his abuse of his family was what created Dabi and, if Horikoshi had taken care to dig into it, we would have seen the whole Todoroki family (Shouto included) facing societal hell for it because Japanese society is terrible with who's related with a criminal.

[Chap 301/302 originally also had another, less praiseworthy purpose which was... to retcon the Todoroki family past so as to discharge part of Enji's responsibility on his family members and paint him in a better light as one of the problems Horikoshi had with Enji is that in his very first prototype of him, Enji wasn't an abusive father but a good, duty devoted Hero, than that plan was retconned but still Rei should have been the bad guy of he Todoroki house, the one Shouto hated while he longed for his father's love and aprobation... but this got somehow scrapped with the U.A. sport festival but it evidently remained inside Horikoshi, who didn't want Enji to be bad.

Now, one of the reasons why I think Horikoshi's writing isn't great is that when he established Enji as an abuser, he made his own bed and should have slept in it and this means he should have found a way to either redeem or condemn Enji which wasn't let's try to retcon things so as to shift the blame, a plan which failed as readers spotted the retcon, which resulted in him having to fix the scene for the volume version and in the Todoroki plot to become a lot messier but I'm digressing.]

As for Jin's death, it has a HUGE consequence on Himiko. We see it in the first war, she doesn't know who killed Jin or how, but instead than trying to escape, she reacted to his death by going on a muder rampage. She then will questions Uraraka and Midoriya and, later, she'll start a new Sad Man Parade that's quite murderous. Himiko wasn't prone to active fighting, she preferred to avoid it and escape when she wasn't one against one. At the training camp arc, right when she was basically introduced, as soon as the fight turns two against one she escapes because she doesn't want to be killed. Even in the first war, before Jin was killed, she was escaping along with Compress.

Basically Jin's death is needed to change Himiko, plus Sad Man Parade is handled as a big deal during the war, especially because Himiko could have cloned Shigaraki and Touya too, creating more powerful enemies for the Heroes... but Jin's death also works as a consequence to stop this, as Himiko is so angry she can't use Touya and Tomura's Quirk (which is another point for which to me Horikoshi isn't a great writer because as an excuse/explanation it's poor... but still it's something Jin's death impacted and that wouldn't have happened without Jin's death).

As for society, they don't really care that Jin was murdered, but they were affected by how Hawks's image was crashed. Up until then he has presented himself as a friendly and careless yet reliable person, and now it turned out he was the son of a killer who murders people with ease like his Villain father.

Remember the sham society Lady Nagant talked about?

Society was so used to the pretty image that it was traumatized by it being shattered.

Heroes were compared to Japanese idols and the reaction is similar to when one idol breaks their prefabricated image, with the extra problem Hawks broke it by turning out sharing his blood with a criminal which is a big sin in Japan.

So yeah, those events are terribly significant... but not in the way they would be if this were a story written for people from my country, who would focus on how Hawks and Enji broke OUR laws and did something we deem horrible.

Horikoshi embraces the way of doings things of his country he has no intention of criticizing society, laws and so on.

Horikoshi: I don’t draw with the intention of conveying a message because of current social situations or the real world. I draw with a sense of responsibility towards the world of MHA, I’m always thinking about how I can make the manga interesting. Reporter: What does “interesting” mean to you? Horikoshi: Looking back, I wasn't into manga for the cool special moves or cool characters. ONE PIECE made me cry. I think my heart shaking & being emotionally moved makes something interesting to me. Crying becomes an experience, and I want my readers to have that experience. [Memo from 2024.07.19 news zero]

In the end, even though abusive parents were what caused himiko and Touya to become Villains, Quirk counseling focuses on children and on teaching them how to fit in society.

Murdering Villains is confirmed to be something that brings pain to those who cared about said Villains but it's not considered wrong, people were inspired by Midoriya doing his best to kill Shigaraki and finally doing it.

We can't say Horikoshi put a chekhov’s gun on stage and didn't fire it, he fired it, it's just it was aimed at a different purpose from what a good part of the not Japanese fandom expected.

In BNHA same as in Japan back then, Enji and Hawks are no criminals for what they did and Horikoshi never wanted to toss them in a jail. Their actions upset society a lot, but not on the behalf of their victims but because they end up on impacting society, who's attacked by Touya and can't trust in Hawks any longer.

To us they're terrible because they're a crime against their victims.

This means we're more prone to criticize what we were shown because we recognize it as inequivocably bad where for readers in which it's not a crime it's SUPPOSEDLY easier to shrug it off and play the game Horikoshi wants them to play 'we aren't here to criticize society and laws' (though as 10 years went by from when the story started and things changed in Japan and yet Horikoshi didn't update to his audience, I've noticed said audience grew more critical as well).

The cultural dissonance is something we've to keep into consideration when criticizing why Horikoshi did what he did with his work because OF COURSE, we're bound to look at it with eyes that reflect our cultural beliefs and not his own.

All this to say that for me, due to my culture, Enji and Hawks' actions look very bad as they're a crime. Horikoshi though, likely didn't see them as bad as me and didn't plan to pant them as bad as they look to me or he would be criticizing his own society who doesn't see them as bad as I see them.

Sometimes it's not just beauty what is in the eye of the beholder, this is probably one of those cases in which interpretation of a scene also lie there, and exactly because there's such a huge cultural dissonance we can't find satisfaction in how the story handles the consequences of those scenes.

At least those are my two cents on the whole thing.

As others, even Japanese fans, had said though, the portrayal of such delicate issues as 'spicy/sad setting' (especially in the Todoroki family case) ends up being something that ranges from tone deaf to insensitive to the people who experienced such dramas. Many agree it's great Enji feels sorry and wants to atone but the handling of his victims isn't equally cool and disappointed people even in the Japanese fandom (though not as harshly as in the not-Japanese fandom).

If I were to sum up my feelings on BNHA is that for being a work that is focused about SAVING, OFFERING A HELPING HAND, it's pretty lacking in the empathy department and prefers a moralistic, good victim/bad victim approach that borders on considering his readers dense.

We really didn't need Midoriya, Uraraka, Shouto to make moralistic speeches when fighting their Villains that end up on bordering on the insensitive, ridicule when Uraraka forgets she can soothe Himiko's fear of being killed by reminding her she's under 18 and Japan doesn't sentence to death who's under 18 and Shouto doesn't tell Touya that no, the family didn't forget him, nor we needed Midoriya to force his way into Tomura's psyche in a way that ultimately kills Tomura just to know what was wrong with him and soothe his rage.

We especially didn't need to see Touya being put in such a horror tube when he could have been placed in a hospital bed or Fuyumi and Natsuo being forgotten by the story that's instead focused on showing us Enji with a new family in form of his sidekicks and Hawks.

But that's what we got and that wasn't really great regardless of the culture one came from... at least that's how I feel regarding all this.

Ultimately Horikoshi went for cliffhangers and cheap tears built on backstories that weren't planned and therefore weren't well constructed in a story that claims to want to be nice but can't really act realistically nice because it doesn't really want to tackle what's wrong.

For all the rambling about saving, Midoriya becomes a source of inspiration to people because he did his best AT KILLING AFO-POSSESSED TOMURA, an ending that's more fitting for stories that do not have as a central theme offering a helping hand but beating the bad guys and in which the characters can still be kind and offer a helping hand but this won't be remarked so much it feels it's a central theme (hell, Toriyama Akira had Son Goku from Dragon Ball save more prominent Villains than the ones that get saved in BNHA and with less moralizing speeches... -_-).

But whatever, I guess I'm digressing, sorry about the last venting bit.

okay but even if we cop out* by accepting the argument that BNHA reflects different cultural values and that certain critiques of it are therefore not valuable/inappropriate, BNHA still completely fails from a writing standpoint as well. the things that get handwaved as cultural relativism in the ending were presented as unambiguously bad things at earlier points in the story (Endeavor’s abuse of his family, Hawks’s extrajudicial murder of Twice.) looking at their minimal at best impact on the ending, these things may as well have not happened at all. from a writing/craft standpoint, what was the point of raising those issues earlier in the story and making a big deal out of them at the time? was it to fill space? what was the point of those fairly significant storylines if they didn’t affect the outcome even slightly? why make a big gesture of waving chekhov’s gun around only to put it back?

BNHA can be a cultural artifact, sure. And it can be a shining example of bad writing at the same time.

*I personally see this as a cop-out. That is a personal viewpoint. I am not criticizing people who accept this viewpoint, just stating my own opinion.

[lightgamble]

DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN | 1.09

You couldn't call me?

[sskk-manifesto]

Next time we should just skip over ep 3 and do a chapters 84-87 reread

[crystalkitty1220]

Man I wonder where the leader of the fear realm could've gone, it's alMOST LIKE NEVIN HAS AN

[sysig]

My kingdom for a "So you say” (Patreon)

[fumifooms]

do you have any character analysis posts you're working on? i'm currently mulling Daya/Dia over in my head right now. In general, I'm thinking a lot about Kabru's team because they don't show up much in the manga and won't be in the show much longer as noticeable players, but have quite a bit of outside-the-manga content to comb through. Personally, I like the idea of Rin and Dia becoming friends with Marcille post-canon, but I want to know them better first. I know Rin pretty well already. 1/2

(for example, Rin/Dia/Marcille seem to like clothes, and i want to draw them clothes shopping.) And I ask this not to put all the work on you! I want to discuss these characters with somebody, and you're one of the only ones I can think of who enjoys doing in-depth dives into the side characters of Dungeon Meshi. You, summerboletes, shisurus, and ambrosiagourmet are some other blogs i can think of that made great meta posts. You can reply to this privately if you want! 2/2 (think about it. daya has a boyfriend and marries him post-canon. marcille loves romance and loves clothes. it'd be adorable if she helped daya find a wedding dress. like kabru introduces them and dia (god i'm so used to writing 'daya') mentions her wedding and marcille immediately pounces on her with eyes sparkling in excitement. i plan to write this fic one day)

This idea is so cute! I’ll also check out those other blogs you mentioned when I have the time to hehe~ I do latch onto minor characters easily but it doesn’t mean I have much to say about everyone. Dia (agreed btw, the situation with Daya vs Dia is confusing)… I do like her, but I feel like her Adventurer’s Bible profile sums it all up quite nicely and straightforwardly honestly. You’re right though her reaction to the treasure bugs was so cute and honestly surprising considering her appearance and demeanor, she does like pretty things and jewelry I could def see her going shopping. More content of her would definitely be fun, I’d read your fic!! I do love imagining how everyone’s relationships are like in Kabru’s party, the intricacies of it… I haven’t mulled it over enough though. I’ve been thinking of Mickbell more because of recent posts though, also Rin… If you’d like, the dunmeshi discord I’m in would be a good place to brainstorm about it I think! Hmu for an invite if you want

Summing up the posts I’m working on was long so here’s a cut out of mercy

I have 78 drafts on tumblr currently oh boy… The thing about my process is that I ramble easily but then I need to compile panels to illustrate the points and that’s real tedious… Character analysis wise - I’m most hyped about a Falin one on the topic of if she’s a people pleaser, how much does she care, what’s her way of thinking etc etc, also her differences with Laios because I hate seeing people seriously say they’re the same person. - Also a Cithis one that I just need to streamline at this point. I want to analyze her demeanor, poke at her psychology and analyze her relationships, she’s fascinating. - Oh I’m so stupid I almost forgot to mention the one I’ve been working on currently about Thistle, the age shenanigans but in an in-world way where yes it’s wonky and it means something. He hauntssss me I have so many thoughts on Thistle & Falin lately. Like, offtopic for the analysis but… Falin loves nature and Thistle is named after a flower… Imagine her post-canon coming across wild thistles and feeling a rush of fondness and she doesn’t know why… Thistles have thorns but they taste sweet… Peel of his thorns and eat him pls.

I have more Chilchuck & family thoughts coming, and more Toshiro & family, but these will have more of a casual brainstorm & speculating tone to them, I also just need to streamline these… Like I am obsessed about Toshiyuki and Chilchuck’s alcoholism I’m sorry

Beyond those the topics of the character analysis become more specific, like - How much social awareness does Laios have? Not none, not a lot, but the specifics can be blurry in ways I think are interesting, he was sensitive to people’s judgements in his hometown after all, and he does worry about others’ perception of him… He does know that buzzcut guy was taking advantage of him, etc etc. - There’s an extensive one I want to make on how the winged lion reflects abusive relationships, like how he targets all his ‘meals’'s specific weaknesses and draws out the worst in each of them. A lot of Dunmeshi is about unity and overcoming prejudices & differences & flaws and forming deep and long-lasting bonds despite it all, and amongst all of it it’s like… How flawed relationships with flawed people can still be made into somehing good and healthy that make the world brighter… Except the winged lion there to represent abusive relationships which you need to fucking DITCH, lol. - And on the topic of Dunmeshi & relationships I want to talk about it and queerness, especially in the queerplatonic sense of blurring lines, and Izutsumi + Laios’ relationship to touch should feature in those.

And my crown jewel but I’m soooo hyped about the Marcille & Chilchuck’s arcs one I’m working on it’s gonna go over so much stuff I’m obsessed about, like the importance of books in Marcille’s life, what the succubi reveal about the characters in what ways, the theme that’s so prevalent in Dunmeshi of idealization, Marcille’s imagery as a dungeon lord, a shepherd a general a princess a monster a damsel a woman in mourning…

But that’s enough for heavy ones, side characters wise: doing quick posts like for the gold-stripper characters has been great, but those usually come to me on the same day that I post them. I might make some analysis posts on say Mickbell or Holm or Otta, but I don’t have the thread I want to follow yet. Flamela’s been on my brain so much too…

Mostly though there’s just a lot that I wouldn’t write analysis for, but that I’d love to explore in fanfics! For example, the hienbeni I want to write the most rn is about the surges of anger that Benichidori gets, impulsive and stressed out. I haven’t made a post on my Izutsumi & Benichidori brotp and all the interesting parallels I think I have, but I’ve written a fic on it! Same about Chilchuck’s daughters and their relationship with his alcoholism, etc. I explored the guilt and confliction he may feel about his wife in my fic Enough as well, etc etc. You can see my fics here! For Kabru’s party lately mickrin has been having a chokehold on my brain, I’d love love love to explore Rin’s and Mickbell’s characters and issues through fics for them. As I think you might have figured, I love to explore characters through the lenses of relationships they have with others (Cithis & Mithrun and Pattadol, Thistle and Falin, etc), and that’s why for example I love to make posts that pitch ship ideas, I think specific dynamics can really have a lot to say about either characters. Oh another one’s toshimari, I want to make a fic about them and their feelings of being foreigners and not being able to integrate well to The Island, through the plot of them going to a restaurant as coworkers and the food they eat there~

These are only the ones I have at the top of my head though………. Someone help me Hopefully this post wasn’t boring lol, but yeah those are my wips rn. Need to make posts on toshimari, kabushuro, cithaios, cittadela and ships like that I think have interesting potential too. Many of these I’ve mentioned here I’ve had in my drafts for like 6 months btw gdvd 😭

[conspiring-limabean]

jurassic world chaos theory is very good. its kind of insanely good for something that's a sequel to goddamn Camp Cretaceous. and im losing my mind because no one i know gives a single damn about it but it's like. actually so fucking good

[helsex-moved]

hey there! I know you've only talked about it twice but i'd love to hear about your exhels western au!/nf

HI. HELLO

Okay it's been sooo long since I talked about this to anyone let me remember

If this sounds incoherent that's because I've only talked with one person about it at length, months and months ago

Where we start Ex is on the run from England for treason (what they did is unimportant, just a coup) and runs to the very edge of civilization, the heart of America. But in getting there they used all their money and has to turn to stealing, they get pretty good at it to, becoming a bit infamous.

Meanwhile Hels is deputy in a small town with Wels who is sheriff and he's so tired of it. It's boring, a stifling job under a brother he's always been seen as second best to.

So maybe when Ex comes to town and Hels happens to catch them he lets them go, maybe several times, because at least this is something new - someone new. And so maybe they fall in love and maybe they meet in the dead of night, until Wels catches them and throws Ex in jail. This is the deciding moment Hels has been waiting for, so he breaks them out and agrees to run away with them and join in on their life of crime

But there's an issue

The scar on Ex's face, under their mask. A Cheshire grin that never healed quite right the cruel reminder of why Ex will never be accepted by most people ever again.

Infection sets in quick, they didn't make it far before Ex's injury had gotten bad. Really bad. With them at deaths door and no other options Hels swallowed his pride and fear and took them back to his town.

He begged Wels not to throw them in jail or turn in Ex, to harbor them just long enough for Ex to heal and live. Wels almost didn't want to, the reward money for turning in Ex dead or alive would be enough to fix up this little town and give it new life.

But looking at his little brother on the verge of tears over this criminal, this stranger, he realized he just couldn't do it. Even though Hels had betrayed him and run away.

He called for their doctor and kept their existence in his house secret for the weeks it took Ex to heal. When he woke up one morning and they were both gone he knew chances were he'd never see either again, but he still felt like he'd made the right choice.

From there I have less of a coherent plot and more general stuff, they do have two horses a Clydesdale and an unknown breed (I know what you're thinking but there is a story reason behind the horse types), and on their journey to who knows where they slowly decide they'd like to stop being on the run and settle down for once.

Then it turns into mostly domestic fluff about them and their ranch/animals. They'd also run into other hermits too though I won't name names until I have things more thought out.

[imwritesometimes]

I'm at that stage where I can so clearly, vividly see all the scenes. I can connect all the dots. It's all coming together. But my god it takes so long to write. That I just end up. Not doing it.

[painsandconfusion]

Writers, here’s your reminder that you should be doing warm-ups!

Athletes need to warm up. Musicians need to warm up. Artists need to warm up. Heck, I even have to play a few matches in video games before I get into a groove every day.

Warm-ups help you get into the right headspace, give you more control of your actions and word choice, get you comfortable in your physical setting (eg: with your keyboard, notebook, tablet, or whatever you're writing with), and spark creativity.

Even if you don’t think you have spoons to write, sit down and do a couple warm-ups. If you still don’t want to, that’s alright. But. I think you’ll be surprised how often they help break that ice.

5-15 minutes is all you need. I personally set a timer for ten minutes each time and do not stop writing until the time is up. Your warm-up can be anything at all so long as it gets you writing and starts nudging those creative juices.

Here's some common warm-ups:

Journaling. Just jot down some notes about your day. Feel free to really lean into something that you noticed. We're going for description and details -- try to avoid settling into a spiral or focusing on something negative that will upset your creativity.

Short story prompts. Type that into Pinterest and pick the most ridiculous, cliche thing you can. Write a little scene, story summary, or even a rant about why you do or don't like the prompt. Just write.

Vocab challenge. If you like a bit more critical thinking to get you in the zone, have a random vocabulary word generator spit out five or so words. Check their meanings and jot down a little story or thought that includes all five. You get more familiar with beautiful and descriptive language, and it gives you a much narrowed prompt (which is lovely if you're like me and suffer each time there's an open-ended task assigned).

Character moments. Try putting your character into a generic setting and write down almost meticulously what their thought process would be. Follow them realizing they've just stepped in mud or dreading the start of the day. Pick a mundane thing and describe them working through it. This will not only get your writing going, but it will wake up the character's voice in your head.

Ongoing storytelling. Did you know that Whinnie the Poo was A.A. Milne's warm up story? He would jot down a quick little story with those very basic characters and did so every day. Whatever came to mind. He kept writing little tidbits on the same characters and eventually it turned into a series. Having that ongoing plot with isolated scenes and simple characters can help you feel more motivated to sit down and write.

Get-to-know-you-questions. Google a list of basic first-date questions (there are a million out there) and answer one yourself. Go into specifics. Where do you most want to travel and why? Let yourself ramble until the question is fully answered.

Writer's block blues. This is a favorite of mine. If you're truly stuck, write about being stuck. Eg: 'I'm supposed to write for ten minutse, but that feels so stupid and impossible. No one is goign to read this anyway. I have no ideas and the page is so overwhelming when its blank. I used to be able to write on and on and nothing could stop me. it was like breathing. but now I have nothign and do nothing and I can't even do a stupid prompt-' Even the rambling and ranting got me writing. It made things easier. It made writing this post easier. Also -- notice the typos? Yeah, don't fix those. You're in writing mode, not editing mode when you're doing this. If you edit while you write, you're forcing yourself to stay in your executive and calculating headspace rather than falling fully into creativity and dream. Ignore the mistakes. That's for future you to handle.

I've officially rambled far too much, but I hope that helps even a little bit. Live well and write often, my friends. Best of luck to you <3

[ambrosiagourmet]

I want to talk about why I think this is the one of the most important Falin panels:

So, Falin is really nice, right? It's one of the first things we really learn about her. She's kind even to the monsters of the dungeon - choosing to ward the party rather than fight spirits and cause them needless harm.

In the above early flashback in chapter 11, we see Marcille fawning over Falin's kindness, calling her an angel. Namari calls her soft-hearted. We see Falin choose not to fight even when a zombie attacks - instead she resolves the confrontation with a hug. After the flashback, the first thing Senshi says is that Falin "sounds like quite the person," which Marcille strongly affirms.

At this point in the story, all we have seen of Falin are these impressions; she is a healer, an angel, a caretaker with an infinite well of kindness towards everyone she meets - both friend and foe.

And honestly, that remains most of what we have to go by to understand her. The only times we get to see Falin on the page, alive and just herself, are in the opening and closing pages of the story and in the brief period of time after she is resurrected.

Nonetheless, we do have some more details to work with. For one, there is the scene that The Panel is from - a short memory in chapter 75, when Marcille flashes back to while she's dying. In that scene, Falin prepares to teleport them all out, and says that she's sorry "if there is a person at [their] destination." And that's when we get The Panel.

If you teleport someone or something into another person, the person teleported into is likely to be, at minimum, severely injured. They could die.

We can see a lovely little horrifying example of exactly why in one of the Daydream Hour doodles:

So, hmm. That's not... that's not SUPER nice. Certainly not displaying the same "kindness to all, friend and foe included" we saw represented earlier. On a basic level, this adds some nuance to Falin's kindness. We see it break a little, when pushed to the limit. We see her chose to protect the people she loves above all else.

Which makes sense! As Laios says when the Winged Lion accuses him of similarly being motivated more by his friends' safety than everyone else in the dungeon, "...most people, aside from virtuous do-gooders, would feel the same way."

So, we can take The Panel as simply showing a moment of weakness for Falin. A time when she was pushed to her limits, and that "most people" selfish side of her shone through.

However... I think there's a little more going on with Falin than just her being an angel 99% of the time, except just that once. I love The Panel because I think it helps us understand that Falin isn't just motivated by kindness - she also has a desire to avoid seeing people in pain.

Isn't that the same thing?

No, no it very much is not.

Let's look at a short comic from the Falin section of the Adventurer's Bible, because I think it illustrates this point perfectly. The group is complaining about how much Marcille's healing hurts, and comparing it to Falin's, which "doesn't hurt a bit." Marcille retorts with the following:

Now, the punchline of this comic is that, despite Marcille's sentimental assertion that she's "thinking of [them]" by letting her healing magic hurt, they all still prefer to be healed by Falin.

But hey, this wouldn't be the first time that Dungeon Meshi hides a very real character beat or insight in a gag, so let's think about this somewhat seriously.

If Marcille is right (and she knows a fair bit about magic, so we can assume that she has at least somewhat of a point), then what Falin is doing isn't kind. I suppose if someone specifically requested to not feel the pain, it could be kind, but that's not really what happened here. She is the one who felt badly about the others being in pain, and she is the one who decided, without telling them or giving them a choice in the matter, to take away that pain.

Both Marcille and Falin are healing the party, but Marcille is doing it in a way that accomplishes the task in the most straight forward way, without any additional interference. Falin is going out of her way to perform the healing in a way she is more comfortable with. A way that avoids pain.

Going back the The Panel, I don't think its a coincidence that the only time we see Falin (well, non-chimera Falin) willing to do something that could hurt someone is when any potential pain will be far away from her. If she got someone hurt or killed by teleporting the party to the surface? Not only would it be far out of her sight, but she'd be dead before she had to deal with any consequences of that action.

Falin is not a confrontational person. She doesn't push when Marcille won't tell her the truth about the resurrection, and she comforts Laios about her own death - both of those things happening in the only full chapter she is alive and conscious in the whole story.

We also know that she considered accepting Shuro's proposal, despite not having any special feelings towards him, and that Falin never explained to Marcille that she wanted them to share a meal together. When she brought Marcille various foods at the academy, she just accepted Marcille's confused rejection and gave up.

And lastly, we know that she is still in contact with her parents, despite the neglect and abuse she suffered at their hands. Although the way someone chooses to handle contact with abusive or bad family is a complicated topic, which I don't want to overly simplify, I do I think this fact gets at the heart of how she handles conflict.

So many people that Falin loves have hurt her. There are understandable hurts, like Laios leaving the village, or Marcille not understanding the food. And there are bigger, far less justifiable hurts - like her parents neglecting her throughout her childhood, and sending her away to be alone at the magic academy.

It doesn't seem like Falin has ever confronted any of it directly.

And the unhealthy aspects of this kind of avoidance of pain and confrontation is one of the things that the story of Dungeon Meshi is all about. We see Laios grapple with it before he goes to kill Falin, and we see Marcille acknowledge it at the end of the story, when she tells Laios that she has come to terms with Falin's death:

Eating is a part of life. Consuming other living things is a part of life. It isn't really possible to avoid that pain - you can only hide from the truth of it. You have to be selfish everyday. You have to eat - to choose to live. To choose to take up space.

And this is something Falin embraces, too. She comes back to life, after all.

We see her choose to come back to life.

And how does she make that choice? She eats. She consumes, and then she is asked a question by the manifestation of hunger itself:

Do you want to eat more?

There is a double meaning in the Winged Lion's final words on the next page.

When I first read this, I took it as him saying: life is cruel. You will suffer. You will feel more pain.

But perhaps, especially for Falin, this also means: you are choosing a path where you must cause pain. Where you must consume. Where you must take, and must be selfish. Because eating is the special privilege of the living, and it is their burden, too. In order to stay alive, she will need to keep eating.

And she chooses that. Chooses to be selfish. It's why her resurrection scene is so important, and it's why The Panel is so important. Because Falin coming back isn't the ultimate reward for all of the party's hard work.

It's her choice. Just like it was her choice that started everything in the first place. But this time, she doesn't choose to accept causing pain for the sake of Marcille and Laios. She does it for her own sake.