#I hope I expanded enough on the points I made in the essay

[mittenskittensslay]

Hi!

I'm doing a project for school, and I need to have some stories from real people to back up my point. My topic is representation in media and how it affects mental health. I was wondering if you had any stories about a movie/show that has helped your mental health or educated you on something? I know media and representation have really helped me to figure myself out and made me feel seen, so I wanted to do this topic because of that. I really need more stories from real people, so I'm asking people online and hoping some of them reply lol. Thank you!

Wow, thanks for asking me! When is your project due? I don't know when it is but I hope I replied fast enough and I hope this helps you! :D

Well, for me personally, the way The Owl House handles neurodiversity, and LGBTQ2S+, and disability is an eye-opening experience because it was previously unseen to this extent! Notable examples are all how all the characters are shown as no less! They don't have to be "normal" or fit in! What is normal, anyway? They're celebrated and valued for being wholeheartedly, shamelessly, and unapologetically their amazing, authentic selves! No matter who you are, you're valid, there's no normal and it's not frowned upon! The manner in which they're portrayed, they're so well written and that has helped people understand that they're actually neurodiverse, or LGBTQ2S+, has helped them reach out to others and seek for help when needed, myself included!

Luz struggles to fit in on Earth and Eda as well as King, Hooty, and the Collector have a hard time belonging on the Boiling Isles. However, by being open and accepting, they realize that "us weirdos gotta stick together!" to quote the Owl Lady, which is one of the pivotal, if not the main message of this show which is "You gotta be your own witch!" Also how "magic (literally) comes from the heart" it's one of the endless reasons why I love the Owl House so much and my love for it will never die.

The Owl House has allowed me to embrace myself, love myself wholeheartedly and practice more self-care. It's helped me come out of my shell and make friends thanks to the treasure it is that we fans cherish and its beautiful fandom that lets us form profound bonds by sharing this deep love and creating our own fan arts and fan fics. Luz teaches us and helps us, reminds us to be even more vulnerable, and spread sunshine and joy, love, goodness and kindness everywhere we go, to go with all our heart wherever we go! I love myself for being autistic and a genderfluid aroace lesbian even more now thanks to them. This cartoon has even aided me in realzing my sexuality and neurodiversity.

Look, kid, everyone wants to believe they're "chosen". But if we all waited around for a prophecy to make us special, we'd die waiting. And that's why you need to choose yourself." - Eda Clawthorne

"You know, you can't hide from your fears forever, which is why you've gotta get the jump on them. Give 'em a whack right in the face." - Eda Clawthorne

Please, do yourself a favor. Never hide. I've been different than others around me all my life and will proudly continue to do so, wearing it as a badge of honor because if you don't then you insult yourself, you don't live with integrity. Easier said than done but you've got to because if you're not you, then who are you? Never let the haters get you down. I relate to Luz and the others as being a proud outsider who found friends and found family also! Imagine if Luz and the others conformed. I have always found it difficult to be who I am, it doesn't always come out but Luz is so inspiring she's so herself, unique, and spontaneous in everything, makes us accept ourselves and that way I have never been happier to be me, you feel connection to the characters: they represent you, they're others just like you: this is a part of you and I love every part of you. Break free from toxicity and recognize it. Being understood is one of the best feelings. Eda accepting her curse has allowed me to accept every part of myself. It show people that LGBTQ2S+ exists and there's no need to be afraid. Change your life, you're not a tree that's stuck, find your tribe. Keeping things in is self destructive. "Does it have to be perfect?" like the most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles says again. True friendship is also shown, being there for each other. This show also tells us that we make the labels for ourselves, we define. It's how you feel, not trying to fit in the mold, you don't need to meet every single thing on a checklist or match all criteria. The labels are what they are precisely because every beautiful individual adds their own meaning and flavor to it.

Basically, to sum it all up, it portrays neurodiverse and LGBTQ2S+ folks accurately and most importantly in a way that people can relate to and feel good about themselves. For example, for me personally, it helped me open up more, embracing and expressing my true and best self, every day we get better and better. We become more social and actually truly connect with others deeply due to our shared love for the owl house which is usually hard for me to do as a high-functioning, self-advocating, and self-diagnosed autistic (or Aspie, though I don't use this label now since its no longer in use). It shatters stigma and stereotypes. It's simply groundbreaking. With love, and support, found friends, and family both biological and found, you can thrive, not just survive, and be loved, and accepted for exactly who you are nothing lees you're just weird enough to be the awesome you that you are. These and countless others are the feel good messages of this show.

Of course this essay wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention Amity Blight! Almost everyone in the Owl House undergoes key character development and their life as they know it changes in the best possible way, no less than thanks to Luz Noceda, which is an astonishingly beautiful thing but I believe I can safely speak for many, if not all of us (also yours truly), when I say that Amity undergoes the most amazing and impressive character development I've ever seen so far! Goes without saying! She starts off being seen as a bully when in fact it is later revealed she never was. It's never taken for granted that Luz with the sunshine she is and spreads selflessly everywhere, helped Amity rediscover her true self. Amity understands and goes on a journey or self improvement. If that's not inspiring, then I don't know what it and I'm not exaggerating here! Amity does a lot of self work, recognised her mistakes and attempts to become a better friend to Luz pretty quickly.

Hm, I wonder if when Luz said, "I'm not a witch but I'm training hard to be one." and showed Amity the ball of light emerging from the light glyph, she was speaking to her essence and broke through/got through to her!

And then, when Amity said "remember to turn on the light" to Luz and saved her in WAD, she woke her up bc she reminded her that Luz is light, literally!

Luz helps Amity remember who she really is, to return to her true self, who she always has been deep down, not just sb trying to achieve ultimate status and Amity helps Luz remember that she's the light of everyone's life! To continue to be who they really are! They saw through each other! I think they also literally became each other - Amity became Luz's light and Luz was suffering with the same issues as Amity, thinking that she ruined everyone's lives which was definitely not true in both cases! Neither Luz nor Amity ruined everyone's lives, ofc! It was the complete opposite! And they did what one did for the other as I said above but reversed!

Bc Amity and Luz are essentially the same -both so positive, carefree (maybe not always but eventually and unafraid to be themselves), dorky, nerdy goofballs who are so kind and sweet and powerful and so much more and full of love! (But also different in their own unique way)!

Love and kindness always win in the end and we have them inside us! We are love and kindness themselves! We just need to give each other a chance!

Luz, Raine, Masha, The Collector, King, Papa Titan, Amity, Hunter, and basically everyone is probably on the spectrum so hats off to everyone and them. Eda helped me confirm my gayness, something I was already aware of before the Owl House. Same goes for the characters mentioned above: Luz as genderfluid; Raine, Masha and The Collector non-binary; Papa Titan as probably non-binary/agender genderfluid? (Feel free to correct me, sorry if I'm wrong)! Vee also (however, I don't think the creators have canonically confirmed whether she's/they're envy or demigirl or something similar but I'm assuming this headcanon respectfully and again, if I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me and educate me because I believe we're all always stil learning! However, again because people are allowed to be truly themselves - as it should be -and not marginalized and hiding for that, we can thrive. I understood that I can actually be attracted to women (I already knew that before, I believe I even had a type already, Eda basically confirmed that or the feelings around that time just happened to coincidentally appear and feel more real not because necessarily because of their frequency and intensity because you can still be attracted to someone even if the attraction isn't always there and strong (hence my aroace label) whether it's frequent and or not intense. Aroace folks can feel or not feel love and attraction and want or not want a relationship and sometimes I have felt not wanting that but it's always very brief, I do want love, I'm too much of a hopeless romantic at heart not too! I also already knew i was genderfluid. I'm a cis woman, I've always mainly identified as a woman but I'm more than just that "label": its doesn't define me fully. It's broad and vague so I feel it fluctuates. I can be and express myself as any gender: no gender, both genders - its never fixed. Before however I always knew I wasn't straight but I wasn't sure if i was LGBTQ2S+. I used to think I was demi sexual, panromantic but it's exactly why all kinds of representation is vital! It's ok to be a late bloomer but if this cartoon existed earlier it would have helped. Dana Terrace herself claimed to be a late bloomer also. Speaking of which, a huge thank you to her and her crew for creating the Owl House! They changed our lives forever in the best possible way! The connection and love between us fans, whether casual viewers or die hard fans will always be priceless: this show means everything to me and always will!

There's a lot more that can be covered but the essay would go on far too long and I don't know the word limit for your project but I hope this is enough!

This is an awesome post I found Life lessons from TOH

[inevitably-johnlocked]

A Breakdown of My Thoughts On Good Omens S2

(That may or may not also be a meta about my predictions for the future interwoven in)

Hey All!

All right, I’ve officially watched Good Omens Season 2 twice, and am almost done my third time through, and I want to put out some thoughts before I start reading other people’s meta about S2 so that my initial thoughts aren’t influenced by those. I was GOING to post it to my GO blog @inevitably-ineffable-husbands first, but decided instead to make the initial post here since this is my largest audience (my GO blog is mostly a reblog blog, but it’s been pretty active the past week with people sending me asks there!).

During my second watch-through, I took some notes about stuff I wanted to expand upon. This got a bit messy, long, and disorganized so I tried to just clean up those notes so they’re more legible. I think I inevitably want to write separate meta about each section, especially after my next few rewatches (AND especially since I want to talk more about 3 or four Big Thoughts that I have about S3). 

This meta turned out to be a lengthy essay-style meta with a few bits of point form and free thoughts, broken into sections for easier consumption, so I hope you will give it a read through. It’s longer than I intended (it’s about 5,000 words), so if you need to pause anywhere, I’ve conveniently broken it up into sections below the cut, which you can see the breakdown of here:

Before The Beginning

Crowley is A-Major-Angel Theory (or The Angel That Crowley Might Actually Have Been)

Maggie and Nina (Mirrors. It’s about mirrors)

The Ineffable Bureaucracy (MORE MIRRORS YAY I LOVE DYING!)

Crowley and Aziraphale (& Their Relationship Arc) (which includes my thoughts on THAT moment and why it was wrong)

The Metatron and Aziraphale’s Decision (I actually covered a large chunk of this on THIS POST so you can read just that if you want instead)

Other Things (That I Didn’t Know Where Else to Put) 

Final Thoughts

Also, so it’s not hidden under the cut, here are the things I’m interested in expanding upon in the future, if you guys would like to read more. The first one is the only “for sure” one on my plate right now:

A Thought on AziraCrow from an A-Spec Perspective [REDUX]: An expansion on the above-linked meta I put out a week ago about their relationship arc and how I feel it’s being portrayed and what it means foor the future.

THAT Scene Small Thoughts: And its importance RIGHT NOW and why the confession will be so much more powerful in S3. Actually I think I MIGHT cover this in the AziraCrow meta, but I DO want to expand upon the scene anyway regardless.

And I don’t have many things to say as of finishing this meta, but I would like to put out my thoughts on why Aziraphale made That Choice. (EDIT: It would be an expansion on THIS POST which would include some points I made under the cut in the various sections, compiled together. I know I’ll have more thoughts as the weeks move on and as I understand the scene more and more).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I’ve written! The next meta I’d like to tackle is the Relationship Redux meta, provided that the asks I got in my inbox aren’t going to take up too much of my time.

Feel free to add your thoughts in the reblogs and replies as usual! I welcome other opinions and thoughts, and I will try my best to keep all the threads together. This blog is and will always remain a community project! :) 

PLEASE be advised, in that case, that Spoilers WILL BE in the notes, and OBVIOUSLY there are spoilers below the cut for the entire season! Cheers, and thank you! Enjoy!

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BEFORE THE BEGINNING

I have running theory that’s kind of on strings right now, but I feel like Aziraphale feels responsible for Crowley’s Fall, that he feels he didn’t do enough to help prevent it, which may explain his actions in Episode 6. 

Now, I’m not saying that the entire reason he spends so much time with Crowley is because of some underlying guilt, NOT AT ALL (just a small part of it), but more that he feels like he could have done more to dissuade Crowley from asking questions – It’s why he spends their entire lives trying to convince Crowley he is good! Aziraphale loved seeing an angel so happy with what they were doing, and his warnings were making Crowley unhappy. Instead, Aziraphale decided to compliment Crowley on his work to make him smile again. I think it’s absolutely something to note since this scene and the finale of E6 suspiciously bookend each other, meant to be compared and contrasted with each other. 

When Azzie is presented with the opportunity to give Crowley back something he loved doing – being happy making galaxies – Aziraphale took it, because he knows how much Crowley struggles with his own sense of self.

Unfortunately, Azzie thinks Crowley’s inner turmoil is because of who he is and his status as a demon, not because Aziraphale is literally his whole raison d’être and why Crowley keeps coming back to him – he’s only ever truly happy being around Aziraphale.

Crowley, in turn, has become Azzie’s own reason for being, he just sadly hasn’t come to that conclusion yet at this point in the story. Aziraphale thinks that by being the Supreme Archangel, he will have the authority to make things RIGHT, not knowing the info that we as an audience have through Crowley that that is FAR from the truth. I’ll go more into it in my Metatron section below.

Basically I’m saying that this sequence at the beginning exists to show who Aziraphale is as a person, an angel who struggles with his OWN sense of self and his desire to do good and make people happy. Aziraphale is so consumed with believing that he can change things if only he has some control over a situation, then it can all be better; he fails to see that he already has everything he wants right in front of him. He doesn’t think he can TRULY be with Crowley safely unless something changes the status quo, and he na��vely thinks that taking the job is the best way to do so. I think next season we will see Aziraphale finally understand that he CAN’T be “free” until he accepts that he and Crowley ARE better as one. 

Another note I wanted to make about this is just an aside commentary: Aziraphale ABSOLUTELY was smitten by Crowley. I suspect until he met Crowley, Aziraphale had never seen another angel be so joyous in his work. It intrigued Azzie and blossomed into something-unknown in him.

Azzie was smitten since before the beginning, and that he indeed pines for Crowley. He’s just terrified about what happens After if he were to do anything about it.

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CROWLEY-IS-RAPHAEL THEORY (or another Top-Ranking Angel)

This is one of my favourite theories that circulates in the fandom, and I went into a bit of detail about this on this post here, but I want to expand more upon it briefly (hah).

I think this season further proved Crowley was A Big Angel™ before he Fell (not necessarily Raphael, but it IS the prominent theory about his identity). It’s a Big Point that I think they’ve been planting the seeds for in both seasons so that we as the audience can figure it out; maybe not exactly WHO Crowley was (the general audience wouldn’t know about the theory), more that Crowley was indeed a higher ranking angel than all of them. This could be a big reveal in S3 for the general audience, and will be the reward for the “easter eggs” that the fans picked up on. 

Here are the clues that I have so far, both from the fandom theories for S1, and my own observations of S2... I have not read any meta yet as of writing this, so I probably missed some if people are talking about it:

Raphael is notably missing from the main Archangels. It’s very odd, because he was a prominent figure in a story about Abraham

When we first see Crowley in S2, we see him as the primary creator of the universe. That kind of task isn’t given to just any angel. We knew in S1 that Crowley created stars, just not the full story of it.

The only Top Angel who recognizes Crowley is Saraqael and we don’t find that out until Episode 6. They mention that the two worked together during the creation of a nebula. Saraqael is just as old as Crowley and was there Before the Beginning as well. Michael, Uriel, and Gabriel don’t recognize Crowley when they come down during Job’s trials, meaning that Crowley probably Fell before they came to be Top Level Angels. 

“A throne, a dominion or ABOVE” is who Muriel said were the only angel classes that could open the file on Gabriel, and Crowley literally just opens it without issue. Crowley faffs it off as an old password (but even then, why would he HAVE an old password for a confidential file?) but I think it’s more true that he actually had and hasn’t lost the clearance he had as a higher order of angel. Muriel NEVER stated that an Archangel can open the file at ALL. BUT I think Gaiman���s Archangels are technically top of the chain so they possibly are able to open the files as well.   For shits and giggles, I actually looked into the orders of angels: Muriel’s listed angels are part of the top 4 levels of Angel rankings. Now, I know that the authors took creative liberty with Capital A-Archangels for story purposes, but it’s a very interesting thought, isn’t it? I wonder if Crowley was actually one of the first Supreme Archangels? Just something to nibble on until S3.

The INSANE power level of HALF of a bit of a small miracle from TWO people that can raise 25 dead people is very interesting thing to literally flash red in your face as if to say “THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER, DON’T FORGET IT”. Why? Why make this the catalyst of events in the series if it’s not important and won’t be brought up again? Was Crowley’s power the one that set off alarms in Heaven since his part was to hide Gabe from Heaven?

The writers have deliberately avoided giving us Crowley’s name in Before the Beginning. Crowley has a penchant for changing his name when he wants to distance himself from the past, and there’s a good chance he purposely threw away his Heavenly (dead) name to cast aside any memories of that former life. It’s not who he is anymore, nor who he wants to be ever again.

Crowley constantly references the problems with Heaven, stuff that Aziraphale seems to have no knowledge of. 

Crowley has an uncanny sense of where Aziraphale is and what he’s up to at all times. Actually, he’s able to sense trouble from everyone regardless. NOW, this might be down to him just... being so smitten with Aziraphale that perhaps he’s purposely attuned his senses to him, but none of the other angels nor demons seem to be able to do this unless it’s with their own kind. Crowley seems to have it for everyone. This is an odd power for one “measly demon” to have.

I’m certain I’m missing a few other easter eggs here that were mentioned, but in the interim, I think these definitely the ones that are worth noting.

“One Character Split Into Two”

I’ve seen a theory that ties into the Angel Theory where Crowley and Aziraphale are actually two parts of the SAME angel, Raphael, and I only remembered it after I saw this quote from David and Michael’s interview:

“Well, now we’re playing one character that’s sort of split into two”

Interesting choice of words... Did one of them slip up here? I don’t think that this is the case, that it’s just me over-reading into an interview quote, but it is something I did came across in my readings of the Raphael Theory that I thought I should mention.

While trying to find a couple posts to link to for this theory, I came across this super interesting post regarding Aziraphale’s name meaning in Hebrew, and it does list ONE of the “unlikely” possibilities being that it means “Raphael is my strength”. While the author links this to be part of Crowley!Raphael theory, I kind of like it for the Duality Theory, where Crowley IS Azzie’s strength in the sense that he’s the Emotional Support Demon. Crowley IS kind and gentle and protective of Aziraphale. And Azzie, who gets his strength from Raphael Crowley, is the brains (or main single braincell carrier) of the operation.

Kind of like an overly-romantic version of soulmates, literally One Soul split into two people who are meant to find each other again and become whole.

Also, I go back to my point about their power being ASININE at less than half each. WHY IS THIS POSSIBLE? A theory: They are stronger than an Archangel’s miracle together, so it’s not absurd to speculate that it was stronger because it was finally at its full power with the SINGLE soul concocting the miracle.

Anyway, this Duality Theory is probably definitely not the case since we see them both Before the Beginning, BUT we can argue that the scene we saw was their first introduction after being split... Aziraphale just HAPPENS to zoom by, the only single angel in the area? Hmm.

I ALSO just want to say that perhaps when they body-swapped, that may have also activated dormant “together” powers within themselves? Just a little thought I had while writing this section.

Aziraphale is Raphael and Doesn’t Remember

And finally, there’s the theory that they will pull a Shyamalan and reveal that it’s Azzie that’s actually Raphael. I honestly think this is the least likely scenario, given that all the clues they’re putting in the show don’t at all point to this, other than the possible entomology of his name (I read somewhere that Gaiman initially was going to spell it Aziraphael to coincide with the naming conventions of the other Angels) could be a play on the Raphael name and it’s Aziraphale who’s actually the missing Raphael.

I don’t think it’s this at all, for the record. I just wanted to point it out since it is a theory that I’ve seen thrown around linked to the Raphael Theory.

Regardless of which theory it is, I just CANNOT get it out of my head at how often they kept bringing up elements of Crowley’s past, and I just.... mmmm. I know he’s more Important than he lets on. There’s just too many eggs dropped in this season for me to let it go without a bit of grumbling.

Or maybe I’m just looking too much into it. *shrugs* I can’t help it, reading between the lines is a hobby of mine I do so enjoy.

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MAGGIE AND NINA

UGH, I absolutely love character mirrors... I love seeing the parallels of characters and how they’re supposed to represent the protagonists in situations. 

Regarding Maggie and Nina, upon rewatching the series, I see now that Nina is primarily Aziraphale’s mirror and Maggie is Crowley’s. 

For Maggie, as an expansion on a drunken post during my liveblogging:

She’s smitten (”pathetically in love”) with someone just out of reach, hopelessly pining and watching from afar.

She’s STUPIDLY protective of and adores Mr. Fell and Nina.

She, like Crowley with Aziraphale, attempts to make Nina happy: She gives a record as a gift without thinking about the “after” (Crowley tends to do the same)

She’s stands up to the demons and for herself.

She’s “unloved and unloveable”, which Crowley believes himself to be

She’s the one who thought up the plans to get them out of trouble

For Nina:

Fussy and stuck in her ways

Doesn’t want to disappoint but can’t seem to do right by anyone

“we’re just friends, well, we hardly know each other” (which I believe is a line similar to one Aziraphale said in S1)

Afraid to start a new relationship for fear of not being good enough

Makes their love interest wait and hopes they’ll be there when the time is right (She will be)

Her relationship with Lindsay appears to me to be a parallel for Azzie’s relationship with Heaven, with them being "done” with Aziraphale for one too many indiscretions. Lindsay also accuses Nina of “cheating” which Aziraphale technically does with choosing Crowley over Heaven 

Their inevitable NOT match-made is a gentle parallel to the painful NOT match-made by our heroes. There’s a bump in the road, and when they’re both ready, they’ll eventually get together. 

Also, another thing I wanted to note here, is that Nina’s VERY heartfelt conversation with Crowley is super, SUPER important to AziraCrow’s arc, and I believe it is the catalyst to why Crowley made the decision to try to confess in Episode 6. Like, he genuinely looks like he’s re-evaluated a few things after Nina walks away. And because it was the Aziraphale mirror stating this, Crowley perhaps starts to get ideas in his head that maybe Azzie is ready to move forward, since “it certainly looks like [you’re a couple from the outside]”. Why not make it official then? Maybe Aziraphale IS just waiting for Crowley to make the move.

Food for thought.

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THE INEFFABLE BUREAUCRACY

I don’t have much to honestly say about this one, other than I am SHOCKED that it only took them 4 years to figure their shit out but our idiots still are at first base after 6000 years. Get your asses moving, idiots!

Seriously though, they’re the biggest pair of mirrors in the season, but funnily enough, I think Gabriel is Crowley’s, and Beez is Azzie’s.  

Gabriel, like Crowley to Azzie, introduces human things to Beez. 

Gabe questions Heaven and convinces Beez to question their side... essentially he “Falls” when the trial happens, abandoning Heaven. 

Gabe throws everything away to be with Beez. 

Beez is the one who learns from Gabe, just like Azzie learns from Crowley.

Beez compares themself to Aziraphale: “I imagine he took better care of you than I would have”.

Beez calling Gabe “you silly, silly angel”... Aziraphale called Crowley silly in the first half of the season.

And as an aside, just... the casual “I love you” from Gabe is like an unfiltered Crowley. Because I am certain Crowley will be the first to say it.

That’s just a super simplified version of it all, but just wanted to point it out so y’all can see where I’m coming from on why I think that.

And I REALLY BELIEVE that Aziraphale will repeat this or a similar line to Beez’s in S3: 

“I just found something that mattered more to me than choosing sides.”

I think it will be the line before the climax of S3 that Aziraphale says when he finally rejects Heaven. Because that was a POWERFUL line, and it will solidify the mirrors and parallels that are all over this season. I feel like Heaven won’t suffer the same incident happening twice, so we might even finally get to see a ridiculously protective, vengeful angel Aziraphale, to rival all of Protective Crowley moments! WHAT a payoff that would be after two seasons of him just kind of sitting idly by not standing up for himself, eh?? GOD I want it.

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CROWLEY AND AZIRAPHALE (& THEIR RELATIONSHIP ARC)

I have just a few notes to immediately take away from S2, but I do plan on expanding more upon these thoughts in my Revision of my A Thought on AziraCrow from an A-Spec Perspective meta I wrote prior to S2. 

In that meta I state very clearly how important their relationship and its portrayal is to me. I do concede that, because of this fact, I may be biased in my opinions about literally the entirety of S2′s relationship arc. I ADORE Aziraphale and I really see a lot of myself in him, and I can understand why he did what he did at the end, and why the “rejection” happened. But again, I will touch upon that with the revision meta.

Instead, I took some additional notes while I watched and rewatched S2 that I don’t think I can fit well into that meta without ham-fisting it in. I’ll try my best to break it into yummier sections so it’s not so messy.

Protective / Jealous Crowley (and his possible PTSD)

This point deserved its own little section, because it’s one of my favourite things this season. I love just how BLATANTLY PROTECTIVE and JEALOUS Crowley was, to the point of being near-murderous. I LOVE the confrontation scene with Gabriel so much, because it’s SO revealing to just how terrified Crowley is of Aziraphale being hurt and not being in Crowley’s life again. 

I imagine he constantly replays the fire in his head: what if Crowley WASN’T there to save Aziraphale that time??? To step into fire for him??? He’s seen how bad No-Azzie would be with the Bookshop Fire, and I think he STILL believes that it was Hellfire that discorporated Azzie (not the accidental summoning circle). So imagine the psyche of a demon who is hopelessly in love with an angel, having to be face to face with the fire that he believes killed Azzie the first time and THEN have Azzie’s boss basically tell Crowley how little he thinks of Aziraphale? Ooof.

And I also will standby the fanon theory that it was Crowley who left all the fire extinguishers in the bookshop, and not Aziraphale. Bless Azzie, he knows that this is a “New Fear Unlocked” in Crowley and lets him do it to ease the anxiety.

And isn’t it funny that Crowley (aside from the 2 year lockdown) seems to have spent every waking moment keeping a steady eye on Aziraphale? He’s scared, which is why I think he might have some PTSD related to everything he’s seen that Aziraphale is blissfully unaware of.

Their Arc and The Kiss

It’s so clear to me now more than before that Aziraphale IS Crowley’s whole life, to the point of obsession. I think the final arc that Crowley has to go through before he can truly be with Aziraphale proper is learning to let Aziraphale also protect him, to loosen the stranglehold that his fear of loss has on him. That Crowley doesn’t have to shoulder everything by himself and be Aziraphale’s shadow. Because that’s what he is in S2 – a lot of scenes of them together in the modern day is Crowley trailing just slightly behind Azzie, always watching and waiting for trouble and being there for him.

I think Crowley has a genuine fear of loss of control similar to Aziraphale’s. Where Azzie’s is related to “well if I can do this thing then everything will be alright”, Crowley’s is “well if I can just keep Aziraphale safe, then everything will be alright” and that’s... not a good foundation for a relationship. Their Big Breakup had to happen for them to both realize this. 

Aziraphale has NOT gone through his “lost my partner” arc like Crowley has with the bookshop fire. I go more into it in the Metatron section, but I think that Azzie’s arc will look more like Crowley being used as a leverage tool against Azzie by Heaven, and those seeds were planted in the final moments of E6. Perhaps something DOES happen when Crowley inevitably comes to his rescue, and he also “loses Crowley for good” (but we know that the totally-made-up-just-now law of parallels will bring him back, we hope).

They’re currently at the Miscommunication and Separation stage of their relationship. They’re both so scared of hurting each other that they DON’T communicate... they DON’T expose each other to “bad things” that they know and instead just focus on the good. The breakup had to happen the way it did for Aziraphale to finally Get A Clue – because I honestly don’t think he realized Crowley loved him until the kiss – and that Azzie himself wasn’t the only one with a crush on his best friend. It had to happen that way for Crowley to understand that his overprotectiveness and lying by omission only harms Aziraphale in the long run.

Listen, I think it’s possible that Azzie thinks that Crowley only did the kiss because he didn’t want Aziraphale to leave at that moment, just another “Crowley thing” that he would do. It was piss-poor timing that was at the tail end of too many emotions and anger, and it’s easy to see how Azzie could have interpreted the kiss wrong. 

They both expressed wanting to be together, but misunderstandings will ensue because neither of them are good at communicating WHAT exactly "being together” entails. Crowley thinks Azzie means “working together side by side for a shitty company”. Aziraphale thinks Crowley means “just doing what we always do and having fun doing it”, both without shifting the status quo, when in fact they both mean “I can’t see myself with anyone but you and I want you forever in any way we can be, let’s please shift the status quo”. 

Then Crowley made the situation worse (though I do think he was VERY brave in doing it because WE the audience know his intentions are true and honest) by adding a kiss into the mix when they’re both upset and angry at each other. Both are left crying (Aziraphale turns around when the Metatron arrives, and there’s NO reason he should unless it’s to wipe his eyes. And Crowley deliberately put his glasses back on, so I think it was to cover up the tears) and no one gets what they truly want.

I think we’ll get a payoff for this next season, when they’re finally BOTH on the same page and NOT misunderstanding each other. I think there will be a “did you mean it?” from Aziraphale, and then a verbalized “I love you (or a variation of those words)” from Crowley, and then the paralleled line of “our side” I mentioned in the Gabe & Beez section. I think there will be a better, more satisfying kiss next season. I really do have faith about that.

Other AziraCrow Things

I saw a meme that put it best: “Aziraphale fell first, but Crowley fell HARDER”. I think Crowley is more comfortable in his pining because he’s not constrained by the same hangups and “obligations” that Aziraphale has. Aziraphale is worried that it’s “sinful” to love a demon.

I mentioned this before in the Raphael section, but I want to reiterate the point about The Miracle, because it’s SUPER important that this was a big plot point. The fact that it was so strong for something apparently so minuscule according to them proves that they are better together, and now that Heaven is aware that their powers combined to create that miracle, they absolutely want to keep the two of them apart. They suddenly became very aware that Aziraphale and Crowley are RIDICULOUSLY stronger together, because if a tiny miracle can set off alarms in Heaven, what can two full miracles combined create? I feel like this is a BIG Chekov’s gun for S3. 

I think a large part about why Crowley is offended by Aziraphale’s acceptance of the job offer is because Crowley is upset that he’s not enough for Aziraphale, especially when he rejected Beez’s offer for Aziraphale. His voice shakes when he asked what Aziraphale did. He’s hurt.

THE TOUCHING in this season is insane. It’s so casual and it’s EVERYWHERE. Their relationship, when it’s finally actualized, is going to be heart wrenching in a good way, the “good sort of hurt”. I truly do believe AziraCrow is endgame.

It amuses me to no end that the fact that these two idiots and their one braincell think that they can make a human relationship work when they’ve been mutually pining over each other for 6,000+ years with very little progress. And good lord, they both take their advice from fiction. It’s hilarious.

Aziraphale’s unending faith in Crowley’s “goodness” also kills me. I love that Crowley actually never wants to kill anything, he’s literally just trying to get by without getting caught, and he always gently encourages Aziraphale to do the same. He cares so much about being gentle with Aziraphale. The scene on the rock where Crowley is SO SOFT with Aziraphale melted my heart. It’s so sweet.

I LOVE that it was CROWLEY who got Aziraphale into food and drinks. It explains a LOT about why Crowley likes watching Aziraphale eat. HE did that. It was his first “gift” to Aziraphale (to his knowledge at this stage, when really it was Crowley’s smile at making the universe that really did it).

Crowley’s devotion to making Aziraphale happy while Azzie is just oblivious to how Crowley feels hurts a LOT, but I want to expand more upon this in my followup reblog to my relationship meta. I see myself SO MUCH in Azzie it’s goddamned scary.

Actually, I don’t think Aziraphale is oblivious to be mean, since he makes a point that “rescuing me makes him so happy”, BUT I think Aziraphale might misinterpret Crowley’s devotion as “Crowley wanting to do good” and not “omg he’s in love with me and wants me safe always”. Which I think is why Azzie is naïve enough to believe that Crowley actually WANTS to do good and not get in trouble for it, so thinks that Crowley will jump at the chance to go back to Heaven with him. Aziraphale always saw the rescues and the saving of children and animals on the same level –  as a demon fighting against his nature – when in reality it’s a demon who just does what he wants because he cares about everything and Aziraphale happens to be at the top of that list.

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THE METATRON and AZIRAPHALE’S DECISION

This section will be short since I actually covered a large chunk of it in my Manipulation of the Metatron Meta Reply a couple days ago, so please go read that if you’re interested. The shortened, summarized version of that is this:

The Metatron is playing Aziraphale, and he’s only using Aziraphale to bring about Armageddon 2.0, using Aziraphale’s desire to be needed and useful against him. Azzie DIDN’T see what Crowley saw in Heaven when he accessed the files and I don’t think he knows about the Book of Life Threat that was the punishment for harbouring Gabriel, either. Only Crowley knew about that, but didn’t tell Azzie (again, a huge problem in their communication that needs to be worked out).

Heaven and the Metatron KNOW that Crowley is a liability and I suspect they also know how powerful they are together. They needed to drive a wedge between them, and knew Aziraphale was pure-hearted enough to believe that he could make a difference, AND that Crowley would never take up the offer that was presented given his vocal disdain for both Heaven and Hell. 

And they chose Aziraphale as opposed to the other angels because the angels actually lust for the power, and that can be unpredictable. But because Azzie has ALWAYS only wanted to do Good with no ulterior motives other than to Make Everything Better, he is easier to manipulate. Crowley is the bargaining chip that will be used against Azzie if he attempts to go rogue like Gabe, that I am pretty certain about. I think that Azzie will find out about the Book of Life because they’ll place blame on Crowley for harbouring Gabriel. Aziraphale has no idea that Gabriel really didn’t have any power. The minute Gabe turned against them, a trial and ousting happened. Aziraphale got himself into a no-win situation, and upon discovering this, he’ll believe that, because he rejected Crowley, Crowley won’t come to save him this time, so to save Crowley, Azzie will go along with the plan. Crowley’s life will literally be in Aziraphale’s hands.

I’ve no idea how Crowley will find out about it (from Muriel maybe?), but Crowley’s POV will be the primary focus next season (since this season was Azzie’s) and we’re gonna see a vengeful demon and I’m here for it. Will there be a dramatic rescue or sacrifice? I think so. Not sure who the whump candle will go to, but my bet is on Crowley this time since we got Aziraphale in S1. Who knows. I’m all for “Aziraphale is hurt, so now Crowley goes feral”, but that’s a personal preference that I can get from fanfics, LOL.

Anyway, the long-short is that this job will be the wake-up call Azzie needs to finally see what Crowley saw, without the manipulation of words to confuse him. That Azzie can’t just “make things better” because he will never be allowed to make things better. As a Supreme Archangel, he will have the clearance and ability to find out everything Crowley did. Unfortunately, it will be too late... or will it? ...

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OTHER THINGS ON MY MIND (that I didn’t know where else to put)

Aziraphale NEVER FELL because they didn’t want it to look like an Institutional Problem. I even hazard a guess that NO angel has ever Fell since the Initial and Only Fall that sent Satan, Crowley and the other demons down. But Aziraphale doesn’t know that and I suspect that it’s this constant fear of Falling that keeps him complacent to Heaven. He’ll find out how they’ve really been dealing with problems when he’s in his new position.

And I think Azzie also never fell because Crowley made a point to never ever snitch. He knows they would eat him alive in Hell, so he protects Azzie from that as well.

I love that the Bentley clearly has a favourite and it isn’t Crowley!!! The car literally tries to follow Aziraphale. It’s so cute.

And on the subject of the Bentley... Crowley can feel everything going on with his car?? So like... is that a metaphor for Aziraphale being inside Crowley or.....? hee hee heeeeeee.

I loved that David got to use his natural accent in the Edinburgh scenes. IT’S SO PRECIOUS OMG.

And and and while Crowley was high off his rocker, he clearly says “Where are you??? 😢” and Aziraphale had to reassure him that he was there. So sweet.

Aziraphale and his inability to do literally anything humans do “the normal way” (mobile phone use, be a “newspaper man”, properly drive, learn French properly) while turning around and lowkey mocking Muriel is... something else. What a hypocritical dork.

The realization that they have a WHOLE-ASSED apology dance hit me like a tonne of bricks, and we KNOW it’s coming back in S3. There needs to be an entire cabaret from Azzie this time ‘round, LOL.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I adored season two, more than season one for sure, and I loved that it built up upon the AziraCrow relationship. It was an interlude that lets us know that they’re sort of in a rut, stuck in a status quo that both are afraid of changing, and that they both need a catalyst event to happen to truly be together.

I remain more hopeful and certain for a satisfying conclusion to their arc than I ever have before. Which is saying a lot because privately, after Sherlock S4, I kind of was ready to not put my faith in another show to canonize a ship I love ever again. 

But there’s a huge difference between this finale and Sherlock S4′s finale: GO S2 DOESN’T feel complete, and Neil wants to finish the story.  I went into more detail about it on this post here, but essentially it boils down to S4 left me feeling hollow and empty because its 4th season felt so detached from what we already saw. It felt like the closing of a book with the wrong pages in it, with no confirmation in sight of concluding the series proper with the S5 they’ve been promising for years. GOS2, on the other hand, left us feeling like everything’s WRONG but in the right way, you know what I mean? Like there is a part two to this saga to be completed. And that Neil himself seems determined to finish the story regardless of what happens.

I like to think that both Michael and David know what Gaiman plans for the endgame of their characters, given that Gaiman HAS said he does “have the final fifteen pages of Episode 6 [...] written. Given what we got in S2 with The Kiss, and Michael and David’s adoration for this story and its characters, I am hopeful that Neil entrusted them with what he wants for AziraCrow. They in turn play those characters better for it. 

So yeah, maybe I’m just putting clown shoes back on with this one, but I will remain... optimistically skeptical. Like, I REALLY want and believe that AziraCrow is endgame, that the Husbands will be actual husbands, but I also will remain skeptical that it can happen and not be upset if it doesn’t. I got a kiss (a terrible one, but a kiss nonetheless). I got a tonne of touching. I got them dancing together. I think that’s more than we ever could have hoped for, and it’s already leagues above what I am used to.

To conclude, here are some more questions, thoughts, and hopes for S3:

There are SO many “Chekov gun” moments in play in S2 currently, little things that really seem so pointless to have introduced (like the apology dance) and I am TRULY hoping that it’s true that Gaiman didn’t put things in this series unless it’s important later. I feel it will all come back around. Where S1 had open and closed plot points, S2 did NOT. 

Why was Crowley able to get into Heaven without any issue? Is THIS part of the Ineffable Plan? Why does Crowley not want anyone to know who he was before the Fall? It’s clear Crowley POSSIBLY knows more than he lets on about Everything. I think he was at one time the Supreme Archangel... Gabriel’s banishment could foreshadow this, given that Gabe is deliberately used as a Crowley mirror in this season.

I hope for a stupidly emotional, makes-me-sob-fat-tears, reunion, confession and acceptance of each other. Oh, and of course, the infamous cottage in Sussex we all hope for. I am a SUCKER for emotional beats and I CRAVE it.

Oh, and a HUGE apology dance from Aziraphale. You introduced that shit, I want to see Azzie go all out in return.

I think Crowley will be the first one to confess verbally. The Gabriel mirror kind of sealed that for me.

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FINALLY, that’s that! Thank you for reading all the way through, if you did. Again, as I alluded to in my introduction, I may expand upon a few sections of this meta on other posts in the upcoming weeks as I catch more and more things, and start integrating other people’s meta into my own theories.

Apologies for any errors in this, it took me nearly 2 days to write and a very tired couple proofreads through it to clean up hanging text.

I hope you enjoyed my foray back into meta-writing, and please, do not hesitate to send me an ask to either of my blogs if you wish for me to expand more on a topic.

Cheers, and good day 💙🖤

[hebuiltfive]

Hi! Character ask game for TAG Scott! Any combo, or all - I'd really love to read your takes!🤗💙

My first impression of them

My least favorite ship of them

A weird headcanon

Future headcanon

When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

So excited to answer this one! Putting it under a cut because it gets long!

First impression: Wow this guy is crazy, (from hanging off TB1)? Also remember distinctly thinking that, as the obvious head of the family, that this guys really knows what he's doing. I was proved wrong in subsequent episodes. Sorry Scoot! But I really liked Scott from the off!

Least Favourite Ship: I don't really have one that I hate but if I had to pick one I dislike... I'd probably say Scott x Kayo only because I see Kayo as their sister in TAG so it feels a little weird to me to ship her with any of the boys. But that's just my personal opinion on it. There are some amazing Scayo fics out there!

Weird headcanon: I don't know whether this meant a weird headcanon in terms of weird for the character or whether it meant weird for me to have the headcanon, so I'm just going to give a headcanon that might be common but might just be me instead, if that's okay (and if that made any sense?

Okay. To me, I see Scott as actually very musical. Obviously he's nowhere near as proficient as Virgil who is the musician of the family, but Scott can hold a decent tune. In addition to singing, he can also play a variety of instruments including the piano, the guitar, the harmonica, the French horn, the drums.

I think this one is a little influenced by the TOS universe — in one of the Theydon books, Scott plays the piano and there's a bit of background to that — so I kind of just expanded it for TAG Scott (and may be putting it into one of my WIPs... 👀).

But yeah. Hope that answers that one!

Future Headcanon: This is a much easier headcanon question, and it also happens to be one I'm currently writing into a WIP!

Once Jeff is home and everything is more stable, Scott settles down with Marion Van Arkle. She joins iR and they have three children together (who will follow in their footsteps when they're old enough) and Scott lives happily ever after. He deserves the happily ever after! (Although there are, of course, hiccups in the WIP, but that's unimportant here.) Happily ever after Scott! That's important!

Most themselves: Ooh. That's tough. I can think of a few.

Recharge, where he goes off in the Pod despite Virgil warning him against it and, oh look! Virgil was right all along? That sums Scott up I think.

Chain of Command, for most of the episode. Getting angry of not being able to help the people in need; going in for that second rescue regardless of the permission; and then, of course, questioning Janus's authority.

Chain Reaction, for when he saves Fuse even though Marion points out he's a criminal. Scott's line of "everyone is worth saving" is such a Tracy line, but I think it also sums Scott up. Likewise, in Brain v Brawn where he saves the Hood. Dude has a bigger heart than I would have in that situation.

I could go on, but this answer is already an essay in itself!

Thank you for this! It was fun to think about, and I hope I answered okay! 💙

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

this isn't about natsu on his own but more of a natsu and lucy theory (or hc(?? since ik it won't be true) and the importance of their relationship and status as -both- mcs had mashima done things with a little more thought

basically it roots from anna's 400 year plan and the reason she decided to send the kids to that specific time to kill acnologia and it was because lucy is alive in this time

I don't believe for a second that anna was "the most powerful celestial wizard to ever have existed", not with lucy in the picture -and having seen literally not a single instance of anna using her powers- my hc starts with anna seeing through the eclipse gate and discovering one of her ascenders will hold an inmense ammount of power and unique relationship with the celestial keys when she grows up and that's when she makes up her mind, she will send the kids to a timeline where her most powerful family/clan(? member will be alive and be able to help them

and now onto the natsu part sorry this is getting long ndhsjf

I think zeref creating natsu was ultimately what made him lose his final straws of sanity tho I can't remember if this was canonically implied

but I also think he was sane enough to realize making so many demons as tests to revive natsu made him completely unable to raise his brother and in his last moment of conciousness he decided that anna and the dragons were far better options, even if it meant natsu was deliberately being used as a war pawn, so he used whatever remained of his power to make natsu more powerful to be able to survive this war and hopefully being able to kill him as his way for atoning for not being the brother natsu deserved to have

and there you have it, pretty much natsu and lucy's relationship was threaded by fate and the plan was for the dragons slayers to kill acnologia under the support of the actual most powerful celestial wizard that has existed or will ever exist

you can think of little moments under this pretext, like why was lucy's father set up on bringing his daughter back after finding out she's part of fairy tail, or how natsu and lucy together was the catalyst a handful of characters needed to surpass their traumas

idk I like them both a lot be it platonically or romantically, mashima could've expanded their relationship so much more 🤧 but anyways hope you liked my derrangedness

I know u sayin a lot right now but i have to let u know in the midst of your paragraphs i zoomed tf in on this point specifically

Cause i sorta wrote a whole ass essay some time ago bout that and it activated my neurons.

Anyways! Onto your actual ask!

Honestly we share a pretty similarish school of thought on the situation there as a whole. With regards to how the heartfilia's got thrown into the mix (and Anna. I have, mixed thoughts on how she was used in the final arc and just her being there in the present the whole time. Home girl would've been a much more interesting character if her role stayed in the past and her connection to the dragons expanded on but! Gettin off track!)

I think the only part here where we may differ majorly is around where you said this-

but I also think he was sane enough to realize making so many demons as tests to revive natsu made him completely unable to raise his brother and in his last moment of conciousness he decided that anna and the dragons were far better options

It's just in my head I always found it so hard to wrap my head around the idea of Zeref doin all that to just give away Natsu. It always felt so hard to believe that mans literally undid the fabric of death to give away his hard work.

(Note this is not a jab at you for using it! It's just me disliking it in canon lol, I personally don't like using that reasoning. Plus with my mental characterization of Zeref he doesn't feel like the type to atone or fix his wrongs to me so can't really see him doing certain things willingly. Forgive me i'm sittin on a whole ass different characterizations and plot beats that im holdin onto for the thing i'm writing that i dont wanna rlly let loose yet)

But like, you're right! Natsu n Lucy work as a neat package deal of MCs! Two weirdos! Blah blah the demon and the star child, blah blah the writer and the guy who's a book. Daddy issues but in opposite directions! It's fun that they're linked with each other! Wish it was used more :)

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DCCU Interlude: The Legion of Super-Heroes (Part 4)

Chapter Four: Places and Peoples

OK, in the last essay, I finished up describing the members of the Legion, as of the first season of my theoretical TV series. Since the main characters are set up, this essay's going to address two things: setting and supporting characters. To be fair, there are a lot of possibilities in both categories, but we'll be looking at the major supporting characters for the Legion as a whole, the most prevalent settings we'll see in the first season, as well as some of the conflicts they face as a part of the setting.

As usual, I'll mostly be using my own versions of thee characters and places, rather than using the comic book versions of these things. And lemme tell you, the comic books never seem to agree on some of the things I'm talking about. Also, I'll be talking about these in order of relevance, making a story of sorts that describes the past and present of the Legion in this series, while setting up stories for the future. And so, without further ado...let's start with the only person I really can start with.

R.J. Brande: Eccentric Benefactor

Few characters are as important to the Legion's history as R.J. Brande, their friend and benefactor, as well as their original sponsor. One of the characters that's stayed the most constant throughout the incarnations of the Legion (save for JUST recently under the Bendis run), Brande is one of (if not the) richest men in the galaxy, and uses his well-earned money for both good and eccentric causes. Having gotten his money from a stargate industry, he's got a pretty impressive amount of influence and pull.

So, while we don't see this event until later on, let's talk about how R.J. Brande's relationship with the Legion began, by talking about this universe's founding of the Legion. And interestingly enough, this'll also serve to introduce some of our antagonists of the series, so that's useful. The whole thing starts during the 8th anniversary of the formation of the United Planets, a multi-system organization that seeks to bring disparate planets and cultures together. Basically, space United Nations.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone is a fan of the United Planets, for a number of regions. At the moment, only planets connected through the new Brande Stargate Network are a part of this organization, and those planets or colonies are usually rich or well-connected. Granted, the UP is hoping to expand beyond that at this point, but the memories of cultures galaxy-wide are quite long. Some planets refuse to join if their historical rivals are involved, while others aren't interested in the oversight and judgement from other planets. There is no united force to bring the planets together. And that's all that Brande wants to do.

See, Brande is a trillionaire, sure, but one who's made his fortune through surprisingly altruistic means. Additionally, he made this company with the help of his brother, Doyle Brande, who was at one point the business-savvy one with more selfish motives. Still, his efforts helped to make the company what it was, despite his own proclivities and frivolities. And now, with their deal with multiple planetary governments to connect their worlds to the Stargate Network, the United Planets movement was born from the increased closeness of these worlds.

At the moment, the First Ring of United Planets are Earth, Braal, the Moons of Saturn, the Moons of Neptune, Mars, Bgtzl, Winath, Cargg, Venegar, Rimbor, Bismoll, and Imsk. These worlds are, for the most part, connected and welcomed into the UP Alliance, although Cargg, Venegar, and the Moons of Neptune actually lobbied for their inclusion. Still, this is nowhere near enough of the galaxy, and there's a lot of work to do. And even then, the worlds of the fledgling UP aren't exactly friendly. Imsk and Braal have had building tensions for much of their recent history, while Winath is barely influential enough to be here.

Brande, in particular, has some issues with worlds wishing to be included in the United Nations, as he regularly tries to lobby for the less-affluent worlds for membership, but is regularly refused. Most prominent amongst these refusals is Durla, which Brande has proposed for aid and membership numerous times, to no avail. Durlans are trusted by essentially nobody, because of their shapeshifting ability and tribal culture. But why does Brande lobby so hard for Durla? Well, like I said in the last essay...IYKYK. Plus, I said this in the last essay when talking about Durlan Legionnaire, Chameleon.

Oh, and if you're getting some heavy-ass Star Wars vibes from this whole thing...yeah, that's not gonna change anytime soon. The United Planets isn't a multi-world government in the same way as the Republic in Star Wars, but it is a democratic overarching body that reviews and monitors intergovernmental relations in the same way. And more parallels are going to come later, believe me. Anyway, the United Planets is having trouble all over. That's not including threats and protests directed towards them by some the main antagonists of the first season of the series, the Dark Circle. More on them later.

In the lead-up to the UP meeting, three teenagers from the First Ring are incidentally travelling to Earth on the same trip as R.J. Brande and his brother, Doyle. Also here is an assassin, hired by the Dark Circle to kill R.J. Brande in order to dismantle the United Planets' most ardent herald, and ensure that chaos remains within the galaxy. This assassin is Cadis Thar-ok, an exile from the planet Zadron, which is attempting to join the United Planets. His attempts are thwarted by the three teenagers, who save the life of R.J. Brande, inspiring him to bring them together as a living symbol of interplanetary unity. With the help of his assistant, Marla Latham, the first members of the Legion are brought together.

After this, history continues forwards, as the Legion is formed with R.J. Brande's backing, and with the tentative blessing of the United Planets. By using the Legion as a diplomatic force, the UP plans to entice planets into joining with the promised protections of the Legion as a membership perk. However, what they didn't expect was the fact that the Legion would protect planets outside of the United Planets as well, again with Brande's blessing. Through this, the Legion gains interplanetary reputation, and the UP benefits in turn. And that's a problem for three separate forces. Let's start with the first of these.

Science Police: Bad Cops, Good Cops

OK, the Science Police, in the comics, have had varying degrees of influence and distribution. Sometimes they're limited to NuMetropolis, sometimes they're an Earth-based police force, and sometimes they're the paramilitary group employed by the United Planets as a whole. And I'm leaning between options two and three in this case. In this series, we'll quickly be introduced to the Science Police as a semi-corrupt agency with branches throughout Earth, and within the Sol System to a certain degree. They're on the verge of a connection with the United Planets at large, which is a huge deal for them.

And then Brande comes in with the Legion. Again, in comics and other media, the Science Police have complex relationships with the Legion, mostly bordering on the antagonistic at least. In most instances, though, the Legion's first major enemy is the Science Police, and that's also going to be the case here. The Legion is not only composed of super-powered teenagers with no law enforcement experience, but they're also on the verge of replacing the Science Police as the United Planet's main enforcement unit. And unsurprisingly, that doesn't sit well with the cops.

As I mentioned in the last essay, the leader of the NuMetropolis Science Police is Director Ryna Norg, a traditionalist cop who dislikes the Legion for what she sees as vigilante work. Her supervisor is Chief Jarik Shadder, who also disapproves of the Legion for financial and power-based reasons, rather than moral and professional ones. Therefore, both of them advocate for the inclusion of Lyle Norg, AKA Invisible Kid and Ryna's son, into the Legion to gather intelligence on them.

However, this plan somewhat backfires on them. Predictably, Lyle falls in with the Legion and turns on his mother's machinations. The Legion also gains the favor of the Deputy Chief of the Science Police, and their United Planets liaison, Gigi Cusamano. She'll be stepping in to replace Shadder after...stuff happens. And even Ryna will begin to come around, especially after another concession is made, come the second season of the series. At that point, the relations between the Science Police and Legion will have somewhat warmed up, and the Legion will even agree to have a sanctioned liaison that works alongside them in the form of Shvaughn Erin. And yes, she's trans in this universe as well, obviously. Not sure of a fancast for her, but I'm open to suggestions!

Now, real quick, the Science Police are not horrendously incompetent. I realize that a trope of superhero media is that the cops pale in comparison to the heroes. But it's the 31st century, and Earth has experienced a lot of superpowered nonsense over the centuries. So, as a police force, they're pretty good at everyday stuff. However, interplanetary threats are still a bit too much for your average Science Police Officer, and the powered individuals of the Legion stand a better chance against these threats than the Science Police do, on many occasions. Still, some of the situations where the two groups clash in this series will be the Legion's fault.

Some members of the Science Police, by the way, do have powers like the Legion. But, because of the nature of the organization, they're discouraged from using their abilities except in emergencies. After all, superpowers can be less-than-controllable, and the Science Police is all about control in the end. And teenagers with superpowers aren't exactly controllable, so some conflict is inevitable. Still, these guys are a first season threat, at best. Let's get into another first season threat, while we're at it.

The Dark Circle: Agents of Chaos

Now for some overt antagonists. The Dark Circle is a terrorist organization, firmly opposed to the United Planets, and with an unknown history or motive. And honestly, in the comics, that's all you get. Despite being a major antagonist for the Legion there is so little about these guys, that they're essentially a blank canvas to paint upon. I'll be giving them a bit of motive and context, but these guys are some of the main villains for the first season.

As I mentioned above, the Legion's first interaction with the Dark Circle is through the attempted assassination of R.J. Brande, which kicks off the formation of the Legion. This action is performed in association with Brande's partner and brother, Doyle Brande, who was manipulated by members of the Circle through his gambling debts to give them information on Brande's activities. The assassination was meant to cause the downfall of the Untied Planets, of which Brande was a noted advocate and backer. But why is the Circle against the United Planets? Because they're opposed to order.

OK, OK, I realize that bringing Doctor Fate into this universe through this series would be insane...and I'm not planning to, don't worry. No, he'll be introduced through Wonder Woman's side of the Trinity, at some point down the line. However, his role as a Lord of Order is important here, because the roots of this version of the Dark Circle can be traced back to worship of the Lords of Chaos, and therefore to the Lords of Order. Without going too far into this, let's just say that the mystical forces of the DC Universe are constantly in balance between chaos and order. On Earth, the person who maintains order is Doctor Fate, who bears the Helmet of Nabu to enforce the laws of the universe.

But it's a big universe out there, so it stands to reason that there are more Lords of Order, governing over different corners of the universe. This has barely been touched upon in DC Comics, and it really needs to be, because having ONE DUDE in charge of the entire mystical universe makes no sense, no matter how powerful Fate and Nabu are. So, let's assume there are multiple Agents of Order out there. This means that, for there to be balance, there should also be Agents of Chaos, seeking to tip the balance into eternal chaos, or the kali yuga. Some of these Lords of Chaos eventually gathered followers across the universe, eventually forming into what we call the Dark Circle.

So again, why the United Planets? Easy: what's more ordered than an interplanetary organization seeking to bring the universe into a more unified and controlled entity? Additionally, the United Planets are in some ways directly responsible for the Legion, and once the Legion forms, they become new targets of the Dark Circle. Again, though, to what end? What does the Dark Circle accomplish by sowing chaos across the universe? What's their end goal? Well, they're actually acting in service of a Lord of Chaos, one of the only ones still alive in the 31st century. And this Lord is a pretty major threat.

And it's at this point you might be asking..."wait, wasn't the Dark Circle the antagonist of the recent Legion of Super-Heroes animated film, and didn't they also serve a mysterious lord?" And to that, I say, yes, and fuck that movie. Not only does it ruin a great Legionnaire (spoilers), but it makes the Dark Circle boring by tying them in with Brainiac, making him their secret leader for some reason. And yes, I'm aware that Brainiac 4 in the comics was a leader of the Dark Circle, but this was original Brainiac. And it feels...uninspired. Especially because that action didn't really give the Dark Circle a good reason to exist, and also created some MASSIVE fucking plotholes in the process.

No, no, no, there's a much better answer here. A character who can be (and in some comics is) a Lord of Chaos, wants to take over the United Planets, and a major Legion villain. So, in my universe and theoretical series, the Lord of Chaos that the Dark Circle serves is...

Mordru the Merciless is one of the most important villains in the Legion's history. And mostly, this is because he's near-impossible to defeat when at full power. A wielder of magic, and one of the most powerful figures in the DC Universe, Mordru's only real goal is to obtain power over the universe. As a Lord of Chaos, he only lives to put an end to order. And on multiple occasions, it's taken the entire Legion to help take him down. But with that said, how in the hell is the first Legion roster supposed to stop an all-powerful wizard? And the answer is...they absolutely can't.

The Dark Circle's purpose is to generate enough chaos to weaken the forces of order, allowing Mordru to emerge from his ancient crystal prison. The Circle will be prevented from doing this throughout the first season...for the most part. Because their ultimate goal, to destroy the United Planets permanently, won't move forward thanks to the Legion. But not only does the first season's actions guarantee his eventual arrival, it allows the Legion to win the battles, but possibly lose the war to come in a few seasons. We need the Legion at their best before they fight Mordru.

So who exactly is heading up the Dark Circle? In truth, it doesn't really matter. After all, they're only acting in service of Mordru, so their individual identities matters little. Still, we should see them as background and bit characters throughout the series, appearing in places where the Dark Circle has struck or will strike, like looming and lingering shadows. Even though the characters themselves don't matter so much, I will highlight one whose name we should know: Ontiir.

Ontiir is a Science Police officer from the planet of Tsauron, and he'll be acting undercover for the Circle. It's through Ontiir that the Dark Circle will gather a lot of information and connections, and he'll go completely undetected throughout the entire season, more likely than not. He'll definitely appear in the series, of course, maybe even interact with the Legion here and there, but his tie to the Dark Circle should come as a surprise. When the end of the season rolls around, we'll discover Ontiir's allegiance, and the goal of the Dark Circle to create enough chaos to free Mordru.

With that, though, that leaves one more threat against the Legion associated with the United Planets. And for that one, I think her own essay will do. Well, her and four of her friends. And yeah, I realize I've teased her through three separate essays at this point, so let's end a little of the mystique.

Emerald Empress is, almost certainly, one of the most prominent enemies of the Legion. Through a portion of her history, she played second fiddle to Tharok as leader, but when she has the chance to shine, she is truly terrifying. And in this series, I'm putting Sarya in position as the head of the United Planets. Because firstly, it's an interesting place to see her exist and eventually fall from. And secondly, those who know that Sarya is the Emerald Empress know her eventual fate. Understand when I say that Emerald Empress is very much meant to echo Palpatine in theme, backed by a power unfathomable to most.

But she's here...so what about the rest of the Fatal Five? And what actually is Sarya's role in this series? Well, that is going to be the next essay, I think. And honestly, it's a long time coming.

See you in Part Five!

[marvellovelacevt]

In regards to your response post!: https://at.tumblr.com/marvellovelacevt/thank-you-for-sharing-your-introspection-on-this/qbzdhda4c3d1

(Firstly, I want to say, thank you again for sharing your amazing introspection! I wanted to react to you sooner, but I fell asleep DX even though I was really intrigued on what your responses would be!)

I think your experiences are a very important part of the broader conversation on identity and even sexual orientation that I don't often see be spoken of enough. Perhaps I'm not in the right circles, but your experiences really are begging the question of, "What if there isn't a label that fits *me*, or what if I don't want a label I have to fit *into* at all?" And it's even more interesting, too, about the portion you spoke of about not having the control of how you're perceived, even with certain labels!

That certainly really speaks to our society, at least in North America/Western countries, that we like to categorize people into frameworks we can use to make assumptions of people—even before they've spoken a single word. Is that human instinct or is that a construct we've created for convenience? I'd assume the latter!

"but i also wish i didn't have to want a label for that convenience and that i could exist using broader labels without feeling like my identity is speculated about or doubted, you know?"

This is such an important idea, here!!! Firstly, I'm so sorry that current labels come with a level of baggage in which the labels you use for yourself that are in the common discourse. Secondly, this is such a BIG thing, even within the LGBTQIA+ community we're in, like "Oh, are you ACTUALLY this or that label, even if you don't do this or that thing??" or "You're not actually this or that label, because you've never done this or that before." I think we can be too strict some times! Labels should be guides, not absolutes!

I feel this way about sexuality in terms of orientation. I've used bisexual, demisexual, and pansexual. Bi felt too strict, demi felt more like a process I experience and less than a specific sexuality (for me), and pan feels like the "most correct" label of them all, but a part of me wants to be label-less in that... I just like who I like! It's true that in pansexuality, it means to basically be attracted, romantically or not, to all genders or even regardless of gender, but you are SO right that it comes with assumptions!! Like, "Oh, you're pan? So you're attracted to men, women, trans folk, and intersex folk?" Like yes, but it's not as strict as that! It even includes people without a gender identity! Or people with a gender identity that we don't have a word for!

SORRY I made that portion about me because what you said just hit my brain right. Anyway, I kind of low-key, high-key hope you get an opportunity to write an op-ed, opinion piece, or book someday on your experiences because it would expand peoples' understanding of labels and identity in a way that would much be appreciated!!

Also, also, I hope I didn't make you feel like I spoke over you at any point! DX I just so badly wanted to hear and discuss with you these experiences, but if I've stepped over a boundary or misrepresented/misunderstood ANYTHING you've said, I am deeply sorry.

I'm also sorry this is so long. ;;

first off;

don't be sorry!!!

i absolutely do not feel spoken over at all and you didn't misrepresent any of what i said. i really appreciate hearing your own experiences! i think having these conversations is really important and i often feel like the broader LGBTQIA+ community doesn't have them enough. i'd really like to make a video essay or host an open discussion on stream about topics like these because i find them super important and queerness is one of my favorite topics to discuss, right up there next to adult-oriented media.

in the early years of modern queer history, everything was a lot less defined and a lot more fluid, and honestly i find that so fascinating. labels didn't necessarily matter and some communities that are very separate nowadays had a lot of overlap and had really fascinating relationships - trans men and butch lesbians historically had a shared community and had really interesting dynamics. women that we would identify as bisexual or pansexual nowadays called themselves lesbians because back then, the term "lesbian" really only meant experiencing a general attraction to women - it's with the advent of the lesbian separatist movement and later TERFs that "lesbian" took on the definition of being exclusively attracted to women. of course i'm not saying that every lesbian that agrees with this definition a TERF, that would be completely and totally wrong on my part - but it's important to note that this idea did come up because of TERFs not wanting to be with trans women because they very incorrectly viewed them as men. a part of me wishes that i could have experienced this era of queerness for myself because it wasn't as restrictive as the current era. there's so much emphasis on labels and definitions nowadays that i feel like we lose a lot of the nuance and personal definition of our identities.

"I feel this way about sexuality in terms of orientation. I've used bisexual, demisexual, and pansexual. Bi felt too strict [...] and pan feels like the "most correct" label of them all."

"It's true that in pansexuality, it means to basically be attracted, romantically or not, to all genders or even regardless of gender, but you are SO right that it comes with assumptions!! Like, "Oh, you're pan? So you're attracted to men, women, trans folk, and intersex folk?" Like yes, but it's not as strict as that!"

this is a really important thing that you brought up! i also used pansexual at one point in life before i settled closer to bisexuality. the way i define bisexuality and pansexuality for myself is that both experience attraction to multiple genders, but pansexuality is an attraction regardless of gender and without preference, while bisexuality can include the presence of a preference in gender, but doesn't necessarily require one. in my case, i have a preference and it skews more towards towards masculinity and neutrality. it's really interesting that it feels strict to you and makes me wonder how you personally define it!

people want strict and clearly defined definitions of labels for experiences that are wholly unique from individual to individual. while yes, having a definition can be helpful, i often feel that we use these definitions as a crutch and end up narrowing the scope of a label in ways that really harm the community.

for example, the obvious and most widespread consequence of this is transmedicalism; the belief that you have to have dysphoria to be transgender and that you have to transition into a binary gender for your gender to be valid. that you have to pass as a binary gender and perform as that gender in order to make the overall trans community look good to outsiders.

but gender is a really unique and personal experience. not every trans person wants to transition. not every trans person experiences dysphoria. the act of simply calling themselves transgender is affirming enough, and it should be! to narrow the definition of being transgender down to a really specific set of criteria is super damaging and can discourage people from examining their identities on their own terms. it can discourage nonbinary people identifying as such or seeking out gender-affirming care because they don't feel "trans enough" or that they're trans in the wrong way or that they're taking resources from trans people or that they won't be taken seriously by cisgender people. but here's the thing; it doesn't matter if you're a binary trans person who has fully transitioned in every aspect, or a nonbinary person who uses neopronouns and doesn't want to transition in any way. transphobic cis people will not take any of us seriously, and the binary, fully transitioned transgender person is pretty much the same as the blue-haired cat/catself nonbinary person as far as they're concerned. we're all delusional in their eyes.

but regardless, i think discussing the impact and consequences of labels and the commodification of LGBTQIA+ community is a really valuable discussion and i really thank you for giving me the opportunity to elaborate on my experiences and have these sorts of discussions!! it really makes me happy to discuss this with other people. i often feel like i can't talk about the thoughts i have on this and other topics because of the risk of annoying people or people going "it's not that deep, don't think about it so hard." because that sort of lack in critical thinking and intellectualism is killing the ability to have constructive discussions!! we should allow ourselves to be unlabeled, for our identities to be messy, for them to not fit neatly in a convenient word, because convenience where there should be nuance leads to confusion and discontent. it's what makes people go "but none of these labels fit me. what if there isn't a word for how i feel?"

sometimes, we just need to allow ourselves to feel and have that be all without need for a word that sums up our existences.

[nobodyfamousposts]

After reading your “Why Lila Fails” essay, I want to ask what would you do to make her a better character/antagonist? Because as much the writers did succeed on making Lila unlikable, I do think her writing feels a bit clumsy.

The problem is that they didn't make Lila unlikeable so much as they made her unenjoyable. And yes, there is a difference between the two. It's part of the reason the old school Disney villains remain widely popular and memorable. They do nothing to make the villains likable, but they certainly do everything to make them fun to watch. And interestingly enough, sometimes THAT'S gets people to like them more.

Look, sometimes we just want a good villain. Not one with a sad backstory thrown in retroactively to try to make them seem like the victims after the fact. Not one that is suddenly said to have a HeelFaceTurn despite them doing nothing to be redeemable. Not one with retconned sympathetic motives to try and make them relatable while ignoring the unarguably horrible actions they take. Just a villain who is a villain and who is GOOD at being a villain.

But part of what makes the villain enjoyable is how they scheme and how we get to see their plans working out. They have their vices and selfish reasons for messing with the heroes as well as their evil plans, and It's also what makes their eventual comeuppance so satisfying. But for that to work, they need to be unlikeable based on their actions rather than a setup. There needs to be a reason for what they do and a reason for why they're able to succeed in what they want to do.

Lila doesn't have any of that. Which is sad, because there are so MANY ways that Lila could have been awesome as an antagonistic character.

So that being said, I would do one of a few things.

One, go with the Miraculous Rogues concept. Have the appearance of Lila also introduce that there are other Miraculous out there besides those of the heroes and Hawk Moth and be the starting point that expands on the magic and lore. This immediately gives Lila more purpose in the story and was honestly what most fans were originally hoping for from her in the first place. In addition, have Lila have a Miraculous that she has either knowingly or unknowingly been using which bolsters her lies. This would open Lila up to becoming a villain in her own right and gain more power with her Miraculous, and in turn boosts Lila as a threat.

Two, make Lila someone else's rival. Marinette already has Chloe as her main bully antagonist and Kagami works better as a viable non-antagonist romance option for Adrien. Adding Lila to either/both is just excessive unless Chloe is actually going to get a redemption arc and stop being an antagonist.

It has already been pointed out that there is a perfect setup for Alya and Lila to be rivals with both being Fox-based. Add to this in that Alya is known for seeking and revealing truth while Lila is a manipulative liar. Plus Lila claiming to be Ladybug's best friend and Alya actually BEING Ladybug's best friend? Come on, we could have had them be foils for each other as both seek acclaim and popularity albeit in different ways. We could have had Lila create an Anti-Ladyblog where she and Alya keep competing as Lila tries to make up lies about the heroes while Alya tries to make the truth known. After all, Lila apparently spent months hiding away at home after Volpina, it'd make sense if she was actually doing SOMETHING with that time than just sulking.

Alternatively, if Chloe redemption was really going to be in the cards, Lila could be HER rival. Imagine how easy it would be for Lila to paint herself as a victim if she targeted Chloe instead of Marinette? The classmates wouldn't look nearly as bad for believing her over Chloe because of Chloe's history, so their distrust of her would seem reasonable. Furthermore, this would be so much simpler for Lila to do than constantly making outrageous claims that she can't keep straight. In turn, this would make Lila appear intelligent as she would be using information she could easily gain to promote herself in the eyes of her classmates by setting up Chloe and making herself out to be a victim—the sort of lie that all of them, even Marinette, would be inclined to believe. Instead of getting their sympathy for various ailments she reasonably shouldn't be able to fake for any extended period of time, she would gain their support and protection from an actual perceived threat. This could also be Chloe's test of character as she's trying not to backslide after the false accusations. It would also serve as a comparison for two different types of bullying, with Chloe being must more openly aggressive and straightforward so people she deals with KNOW she's a bully while Lila is being underhanded and manipulative in such a way that those around her don't realize it.

Or hell, have her be ADRIEN'S rival. Heaven knows he needs one. How would he be able to manage with a liar trying to make him look bad to his friends and family? Suddenly trying to compete with him as a model? Spending more time with his father than even HE is? It'd give Adrien an actual conflict he'd need to address and possibly some development.

Three, change the dynamics. Instead of Lila being an antagonist for both Marinette and Ladybug, maybe have her like Marinette well enough while hating Ladybug. Other fans and creators have made content along these lines and it's immediately more interesting than what's happening in the show. It would also do more to expand on Lila's character.

Four, reveal her motivations or at least plot out her plans more. SHOW, don't tell! Ultimately, it needs to boil down to answering "What is Lila doing and WHY?" In canon, we can certainly guess at a few things, but we have very little reason or understanding of Lila's motivations or thought process. She shows up and is lying to everyone out the gate. She takes high risk/low reward actions and seems to genuinely expect them to just work out in her favor with no real planning or effort on her part. The biggest problem is that it isn't really clear in canon just what she's trying to accomplish. What is she wanting to have happen in any of the setups she's involved in and how are her specific lies supposed to help with that in the long term? How would she even know her plans would work? What even is her end goal? We can guess, but canon doesn't really make it clear.

Five, set up a better stage. Given that Marinette was apparently out of school when Lila first arrived, take advantage of that and show that Lila's already started setting up a groundwork instead of a kingdom. She should have had a few days to interact with Adrien by the time the Volpina episode started so maybe already show her and Adrien interacting like acquaintances. Then instead of having her immediately jump to lying about Ladybug when she should have no way of knowing that Adrien likes her specifically, just have her trying to interact with Adrien at first and trying to get close by sharing in his interest...and then SHOW her be frustrated when Adrien gushes on and on about Ladybug. At length. At least if it's clear to her that Adrien is THAT crazy about Ladybug, then Lila would have a reason to target Ladybug specifically in her lies.

Six, have consequences. So much about Lila would be more bearable and less grating if she at least had to deal with some fallout of her own lies. Either because people realize she's lying or because they take her lies seriously and act accordingly. Have something backfire on Lila so she doesn't always win. This has the double effect of giving some satisfaction in resolution of her storyline/plot of the episode while also building up Lila's own frustrations and reasons to want to succeed.

Of course, those are just what come to mind when I'm half-asleep, so take it as you will. I may have others in the future.

[thedaytheworldburned]

Ghost Girls and Superpowers: BTS, HYBE, and the Past, Present and Future of TOMORROW X TOGETHER

My uni semester is over, and y’all know what this means. 

Unhinged essays thousands of words long rather than actually contributing to TXT’s theory landscape.

Um... anyway.

This is a follow-up from this post about BTS’s military enlistment and my hopes for TXT. Because some people say that HYBE is only BTS, and some people say that it’s more than BTS, but both arguments have truth to them, in my opinion. 

In this post;

The history of BigHit and HYBE

The growth of BTS - how and why?

TXT’s debut and the growth of BTS’s baby brothers

The hope of 2020 and the failures that followed it 

The management and growth of BTS after the English Trilogy

The management of HYBE’s other groups

BTS’s enlistment and what it means - an analysis

The future of TXT, Le Sserafim, and HYBE’s other groups

Conclusion

Sources

A brief and educational analysis of my sources

So sit back and get your eyeballs ready to read. It’s gonna be a long one. But PLEASE I’M BEGGING YOU, feel free to skip the sections you find boring and just read the sections you’re interested in. Not everyone is interested in the management and advertising of the kpop industry the same way I am *crying noises*.

HYBE have ramped up efforts in recent years to reduce the portion of their profit that comes from BTS. But their efforts have only been partially successful - a reduction from an insane 98% to a still massive 60%. So will this be enough to keep the company going after the loss of the group in 2023? Well, I think not, and that’s exactly why I made the original post and this essay. So here is how and why HYBE has failed in the past few years.

Sorry @twentythirteez​. It doesn’t contain as much TXT as you maybe hoped it would...

But on the bright side, I hit a new word record! This one is 10k words.

Oh dear, what am I doing to myself?

Full insanity analysis below the line.

Curses, Scandals, and HipHop: The Origins and History of BigHit and HYBE

BigHit was founded by Bang PD in 2005, and initially managed groups under or with other companies, such as 2AM. They debuted their first girl group, GLAM in 2012, who are known for being the origins of ‘BigHit’s Girl Group Curse’ and one of the biggest and earliest scandals in the kpop industry, which resulted in a member being jailed. For further information on this scandal, and the girl group curse, see Ploopy’s video on the subject. 

The disbandment of GLAM, and the loss of other artists like 2AM and 8Eight was a big issue, and the company had very little money and even less influence in the industry - only a few talented trainees and producers.

Hitman Bang had one plan left - BTS. He had signed the first member, our hero RM, in 2010, and the group had debuted in 2013 with a hiphop image influenced by RM and Suga’s time as underground rappers, and Jhope’s dance past. BTS had mediocre popularity as a group outside of the Big 3, and the company was so poor that there are rumours that the members and staff had to use their own cars and clothes as MV props. I have not been able to confirm these rumours, nor identify which MVs are of concern - it seems that ‘War of Hormone’, ‘DOPE’ and ‘NO’ are considered the most likely.

But BigHit and Hitman Bang marketed BTS well, and BTS worked very hard, resulting in, after considerable struggle, the growth of the group and the collection of a VERY dedicated and loyal fandom. 

BTS became worldwide superstars, which left BigHit, and our pal Hitman Bang, with some very big concerns. BTS made up about 98% of BigHit’s revenue in 2018, which resulted in a ticking time bomb - would BigHit be able to diversify so that the company didn’t collapse when BTS were called for their mandatory military service in 2020? At this point there was no guarantee that BTS would be exempt, and BigHit had to plan for the worst-case scenario.

And so, the great expansion began. Hitman Bang worked on expanding BTS’s storyline, which had been a huge pull for their fandom. This was done through acquiring Source Music, and their girl group Gfriend, whose storyline had been planned in connection to BTS, and the wonderously planned TOMORROW X TOGETHER, whose concept, from the first 3 release albums even down to the debut date and relationships with BTS members, had been planned in advance. They additionally debuted ENHYPEN under Source Music and acquired Pledis, with NU’EST, SEVENTEEN, and fromis9. These efforts lowered BTS’s contributions slightly - to around 87% of total revenue in 2020. 

But that still wasn’t enough. And so begun the creation of HYBE - acquiring companies, growing their groups, and gaining resources and property became very key and VERY OBVIOUS focuses of the company. This included efforts in Japan and America, and, of course, the eternal struggle to make BTS bigger continued, especially with the release of their three English singles, which were, again, very obviously aimed at (naïve) hopes of a Grammy win. 

The company rebranded as ‘HYBE’ in 2021 and continued its growth, along with attempts to break the Girl Group Curse with Le Sserafim and NewJeans. These efforts... well, I personally consider them a failure, although certainly less so than previous groups like GLAM and Gfriend. 

And where are we now? BTS have just announced their military service and hiatus, yet still account for 60-65% of HYBE’s revenue. HYBE stands in the balance, and the question remains - have they grown enough to survive after the loss of BTS? Or have they failed? Well I think so, but let’s look at how and why.

Burn the Stage: The Growth of BTS 

Now, let’s take a closer look at the superstars themselves: BTS.

They debuted in 2013 with a hiphop concept and mediocre success at the beginning of the 3rd generation of kpop. The members, as fitting of the time, had far less training, and less skills, than modern group members. But they had passion and talent, and their hard work paid off, as they became a large group in the 2015 period and only continued to grow. By 2017 they had cemented themselves in the global, and especially American, market, and were winning awards which had only ever gone to American artists. By 2019, they were on top of the world, and in 2020 and 2021 they got bigger than any artist has really ever been... except for the Beatles. But even that is arguable. 

So how did they get there, and why was it BTS that became this big? Why not TWICE, or EXO, or even a group like SEVENTEEN? All of these groups are big, but nowhere near the same level. And why? Well, let’s just say that BTS had the right message, in the right place, at the right time and with the right management. And that combined to do the impossible. So, in no particular order, here are some contributing factors;

Their storyline and album structure - BTS’s albums are arranged in a very careful way. They show the progression the members went through - school, youth, that odd in-between period, fear, self-acceptance and love, then self-reflection and legacy. This album structure is easy to follow and many of their fans followed this progression with them over almost 10 years. Additionally, their storyline, which was one of the first major storylines in kpop and which is complex and with a lot of depth, was a huge factor to them gaining fans. People were interested in the storyline and where it would go - and more importantly, the story and message of pain, love and growth that it told. After TXT and Gfriend’s storylines became connected to the BTS one, it brought in even more fans, although it did peter out a lot after ‘FAKE LOVE.’

Their message - BTS have always sent a message of being confident in yourself and healing after suffering, but their message became especially amplified with YNWA and the Love Yourself series, which followed a progression of fear and hate to self-love, and which was accompanied by global speeches and charity fundraisers. As an anonymous person on the internet said; ‘BTS’s have so much power that they can get millions of self-loathing teens to scream that they love themselves.’ And yeah, this is a big thing. Many people say that BTS saved them, and it isn’t hard to see why they have made such a big impact on so many people. Their music is a source of comfort and confidence for many, and they go through the five stages of grief with the listener, while also guiding them out the other side. It’s a powerful message that few groups had at the time and that even fewer executed well, so it’s no wonder it made BTS stand above the rest and gain fans outside of their typical music market - many older fans cite this message as a key aspect of them becoming an ARMY. Additionally, the exploration of psychology, and the concept of things like Persona, Shadow, Self, and Ego, brings a lot of interest to the group - it’s just another thing that adds to their uniqueness.

Their management and marketing - From 2013-2020, BTS’s marketing was top tier. I’m saying gold-star, 100/10 levels of epic. BigHit always marketed them as a group portraying the feelings of the youth, which was supported by BTS taking part in the production and writing of their own music. As they became more popular, they continued on this journey of growth which captured people’s hearts and minds. And, the whole time, BigHit was not only marketing them worldwide, but was also ensuring the members built the most intense parasocial relationship with their fans to ever exist. Bon voyage, In the SOOP, vLives and a million other snippets of content gave a very curated, but outwardly organic, look into their lives. This made the fans feel like we personally knew the members, and, of course, made them more likely to stream. When you know more about someone, you generally care more about them and their future, and you’re more likely to move towards making that come true. And in this case, ARMY felt (and still feel) as if they have a personal relationship with the members, and thus will work till the ends of the world to help them succeed. It’s one of the reasons they were able to grow so big - because much of the fanbase is so dedicated, they’ll do anything possible to make BTS succeed - thus, they win almost every voting or streaming-based award they’ve ever been nominated for. I’ll also note that this parasocial relationship, and the emphasis the group and company have put on marketing it, is something that we see with all of the most popular celebrities to have existed. One Direction, The Beatles, Justin Beiber and more - they’ve all had very intense paarsocial relationships that have been furthered by marketing some succeeded fans who got to meet and be friends with their stars, so that we can all have hope too, of one day marrying Jungkook. Wow. That said though, BTS’s parasocial relationship is much more dramatic and goes far further than all of the other artists mentioned, and possibly more than any other artist ever.

Their dance skills and hard work + talent - There’s no denying that BTS are both very talented, and great dancers. But it’s not just that. They work hard to improve, and we see them improve. Their routines are mesmerizing and synchronized, at a time when most groups didn’t have either of these things, and they were likely a key part in the dance-heavy focus that 4th gen developed. They showed that one thing you definitely need to succeed in the industry is an eye-catching, or at least trendy, dance.

Their variety and variety shows - They showed their variety through appearances and interviews, and through their content itself (the albums and MVs and their different concepts). The beginning of Run BTS, their reality show (not to be confused with ‘Run’ by BTS or ‘Run BTS’ by BTS) in 2015 was the literal beginning of an era. The show showed the charms of the individual members and their chemistry as a group, and gained them much popularity as memes and clips circulated. They seemed happy to embarrass themselves, and this brought them down to earth and was endearing to a lot of people. And, of course, the show was just generally very entertaining. After this, we saw a lot of other groups creating their own reality shows. These shows had always been a great way to showcase the personalities and charms of the groups and members, but BigHit and BTS created their own, which did all of these things to an even greater extent. And thus, the memes were born, BTS feeling like your best buddies rather than celebrities was born, and everyone had a great time. I guess.

Content content content - BTS put out, and always have put out, absurd quantities of content, and even more so in the past than now. Concerts and world tours, Run BTS, other shows like in the SOOP and Bon Voyage, constant vLives and weverse chats, social media posts, albums and on and on and on it goes. Now, this is something that lots of kpop groups do, but BTS, as always, took it to another level. The extreme quantities of content they put out was their primary tool to creating these parasocial relationships - you could literally watch BTS 24 hours a day if you wanted to, every facet of their lives that has ever been seen by another human being. And this amount of content, this personal and to this extent, just isn’t something that a lot of other kpop artists, or any other artists or celebrities in general, do. 

Their personality and uniqueness - These were best shown off through Run BTS. Sure, it’s inaccurate to reduce the members to one personality trait each, but for most of their careers, and as they were growing, this was what defined them as a group, individuals, and brand. Smart, mature or maybe not, tired tsundere, ball of sunshine, libra, weird, and strong baby. This is an essential aspect of popular boy bands and has been since their inception, but, interestingly, it isn’t a HUGE aspect of the kpop industry. Just in the same way that kpop was made from the best aspects of Western pop and j-idol music to be more successful, it seems that BTS and HYBE combined the best aspects of the k-idol industry and Western pop (as always, noting that I use ‘Western’ and ‘The West’ VERY loosely) to become more successful. These personality traits are something you see in a group like One Direction, and less so in groups like TXT and ATEEZ, for instance. And, speaking of One Direction:

The disbandment of One Direction - One Direction were well known for having one of the most loyal and dedicated fandoms ever. The fandom was one of the reasons I never became a fan of them, despite liking some of their message and music. And honestly, I’m glad I wasn’t a fan, because the fallout was insane. One Direction went on ‘infinite hiatus’ and then... disbanded? I guess. And their fandom, millions and millions of mostly teen girls who had latched onto a group with a positive message to help them cope with the harsh world and the way it treats women, were turned out onto the street, as such. So they needed to find something else that they could enjoy, and which would tell them that it’s okay to be a girl and enjoy things. Side note: the One Direction fandom certainly had a large number of fans who were not teenage girls, and it is inaccurate and unhelpful to stereotype the fandom as only made up of teenage girls. It had many older fans who were primarily there for the message and community provided, and also a large queer population. And, gee, this group of people sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? Mostly teenage girls, but with a large portion of older people and queer people? Holy moly, if that isn’t BTS’s fandom?! A lot of One Direction’s fandom felt abandoned and were on the verge of trauma, and they gravitated towards the closest equivalent - BTS. And when I say this, keep in mind that this only ended up being a small portion of BTS’s fandom. Everything about them brought people of all sorts in, but the disbandment/hiatus of One Direction was definitely a big influx.

And these and many other factors combined to make BTS as successful as they are today. It wasn’t necessarily that the rest of the industry did less, or worse, it was just that BTS did more, and what they did, they did very well. There are more talented and more skilled groups, but BTS had the right strategies at the right times, and a little bit of luck, to pull them through.

Cats and Time Travel: The Debut of TOMORROW X TOGETHER

TXT were originally conceived around 2017, during the height of BTS’s storyline. And it’s a good thing that Hitman Bang had plans, because BTS’s success (and portion of the company’s revenue) only grew from that point onwards. Later, in 2018, the group’s concept and lineup were solidified, and a Harry Potter concept fitting debut date of 04/03/2019 (9 3/4) was set. We were introduced to the five members and their charms, and many ARMY were curious to see where this new boy group, the first after BTS, would go. 

And they debuted, with the absolute masterpiece that is ‘CROWN.’ And thus followed the memes:

Trust ARMY to make a meme like this. TXT got their first music show win after a week, a feat which had taken their brother group over 2 years, a show of the immense support they had from ARMY and non-ARMY alike. Their fandom grew, and so did they. A big draw of TXT was their incredibly well-produced songs and MVs, and their top-tier dance skills, pulling off tough teamwork-based choreographies from debut. They also had the clear beginnings of a complex storyline through the ‘Nap of a Star’ MV, and there were hints that their storyline would tie in with BTS’s, through the ideas of time travel, superpowers, and self-acceptance and love. 

TXT’s next two albums, THE DREAM CHAPTER: MAGIC and ETERNITY showcased their versatility in executing many concepts, and maintained the many established layers of their concept; magic and time travel, Harry Potter, friendship, BTS, and, even more BTS - self-love and becoming a voice of the youth. This really cemented the cohesion of TXT and BTS as individual groups, and also of the connected nature of their storyline. Since BigHit had also acquired Source Music around this time, their girl group, Gfriend, was also involved in the storyline, and heavily rumoured to be the ghost girl seen in TXT’s MVs. 

In 2020, BigHit was going strong. They had survived the initial hit of the pandemic, and their groups, both part of the storyline and not, were thriving. They had bought more companies in preparation for BTS’s impending military service in December, and debuted their new vampire-themed boy group, ENHYPEN, which would begin a second storyline universe separate from the BTS one, with a teased werewolf group (now known as the Japanese &TEAM).

BTS was on top of the world, TXT and Gfriend were thriving, and BigHit was as prepared as they could be for December 4th and Jin’s 28th birthday.

The BTS Law and American Awards: 2020 and the Grammys

Jin approached 28, and BTS only grew stronger, an ARMY with them. Everyone was in anticipation - would the South Korean government break their own unofficial policies and give BTS a military exemption? Or would BTS become part of the literal ARMY? The fans were literally ready to single-handedly unify Korea, if need be.

A few days before Jin’s birthday, the South Korean government passed a law which became known as ‘The BTS Law’ - allowing certain celebrities, including idols, who had achieved certain milestones of spreading Korean culture worldwide, to postpone their military service for 2 years. All of the members of BTS qualified, as they had been given awards of cultural merit previously. It was disappointing for ARMY who hoped for a full exemption, but it gave everyone, and especially BigHit, some hope. They now had two whole years to build their portfolio as a company, so that their name didn’t remain synonymous with BTS, and, more importantly, to show the government that the best option was to give BTS a full exemption. 

Going into 2021, BigHit were on top of the world, literally, and some fans who didn’t quite understand the importance of influence in the industry even said that BigHit was the single biggest and best company. 

BTS had released their first all-English song ‘Dynamite’ in August of 2020, as a gift to the fans, but also, not so subtly, an attempt to push further into the American market. BTS had achieved every award under the sun available to them, but there was one thing that would take them from being, in the eyes of the American public, the obsession of silly teenage girls, to a serious pop group with a crucial message relevant to their generation. 

BTS needed a Grammy. 

And thus began the ‘English Trilogy’ - started with ‘Dynamite,’ then followed by the questionable ‘Butter’ and the even more questionable ‘Permission to Dance.’ All in English, and all in the place of the Korean album that so many fans desperately wanted. 

When ‘Dynamite’ failed to achieve it’s Grammy win, despite a landmark nomination and record-breaking success, instead of giving up, like many fans had, BTS and BigHit continued onwards. There are so many layers and concerns to the issue, so let’s consider a few perspectives.

The Grammys and their prejudice - It’s a pretty well-known fact that the Grammys discriminate primarily against three categories of music/artists - non-white artists, non-English music, and pop music in general. BTS fits all of these categories - thus, their chances of winning were instantly low, no matter how good or popular their song would be. The Grammys are an old institution, run by the kind of old white men who hate all of the things listed above. As sad and undeserved as it was, there was no way even a song as groundbreaking as ‘Dynamite’ would win. And if ‘Dynamite’ had no chance, ‘Butter’ and ‘Permission to Dance’ may as well have not been made, for all the chance in the world they had.

Does Dynamite even deserve to win? - Well, in my opinion, no. And this is an opinion shared by many ARMY, kpop fans, and music fans in general. And it’s not because ‘Dynamite’ is a bad song. It’s because it is one of BTS’s songs least deserving of a Grammy. A common contender I saw, which absolutely deserves to win every award ever created, was ‘Black Swan.’ It isn’t my style of music, but the artistry, effort, passion and emotion that went into the creation of ‘Black Swan’ makes it a piece of modern art. BTS’s work and message would be far better represented with a Grammy for ‘Black Swan’ than ‘Dynamite.’ But, of course, ‘Black Swan’ was in Korean, and not a title track, so not even a contender to be nominated. ‘Dynamite’ was important and started trends left and right - and, of course, it was exactly what the world needed at that time. But it just isn’t the best, or even a good, representation of BTS and their work.

Trying to be Western - This was an argument that was put against BTS after the release of so many English songs. They had previously said that they wouldn’t make any English music, and fans found this weird. But I think that the issue is less BTS, and more what the general public of the world, but especially America (the biggest music industry in the world) views as ‘legitimate music’. No non-English song has been commonly played on radios in the US (and other English-speaking countries like Australia and England) other than when it was a meme. Think ‘Gangnam Style’ or ‘Despacito.’ Did anyone care about those songs other than that they were both memes and the former had an older fat guy presumably making advances towards a hot young woman? And don’t we find making fun of fat people funny, huh, America? Because fat people aren’t real people with feelings and creativity, they’re just stupid and worthless, right, America? Hmm... So we must think from the perspective of BTS and BigHit. They want a Grammy, because they want to be seen as legitimate and hard-working artists worldwide, and because Suga said he wants one, and if Suga wants something we’d better get it for him. But they know the Grammys are racist and prejudiced, and so they only have one option - try to fit in with the most popular songs - the most boring, white, English songs to ever be created. Because no one cares about someone like Taylor Swift’s hard work or the depth of her lyricism - it’s the boring-ass catchy songs which will be successful. And thus, they need to make these songs, with American producers, in the hopes of getting a Grammy.

Does BTS even need a Grammy? And why so many trashy attempts to win? - Well, to be successful - no, they don’t need one. But we all knew this. The fact of the matter is that the South Korean government heavily considers international achievements - such as winning an Olympic medal or a World Cup - when assessing people for military exemption. The Grammy may just have been another award for many of the artists who were nominated and won, but by failing to win the Gramm, BTS were very possibly sentenced to military service. If they had won, it’s incredibly likely that they would have been granted an exemption. The pop landscape moves quickly, and the Grammy for BTS was likely a matter of life or death for their group. Sure, it was something they wanted, but it could have been the difference between a long-lasting legacy and the rapid death of the group. And that is likely why they and BigHit pushed so hard to win it.

So, in conclusion, the Grammys suck, and their attempts to use BTS to gain viewers in later years were both very obvious and only cemented their fate as a dying and increasingly less-respected award show. 

Fandoms and World (Read: American) Tours: The Fallout of the English Trilogy

So what’s the situation with BigHit/HYBE in 2021? BTS had been given a new lease on life, and a chance to prove to the government why they should be given a military exemption. They had failed to get their Grammy, so it seemed the only other option was to get as popular, and as rich, as possible. 

So what did HYBE, who had been managing BTS next to perfectly for years, do? The same company that gave their artists a near scandal-free life for 8 years, who helped them develop their talents to become commonly regarded as the next biggest thing since the Beatles, and the face of the kpop industry?

Well, they went on... a world tour???

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a world tour. It built hype and allowed the group to have interviews and appear on American stages and shows. But the government gave them a military postponement so that they could continue to grow, and the fact of the matter is that a world tour doesn’t grow the group that much. A world tour, with expensive concert seats and hype that only really comes from already being interested in a group, doesn’t really appeal to those outside of the fandom. So they didn’t really gain a lot of new fans - or, at least, not as many as they gained through new albums and the like. 

BTS still grew, but, to me and to many others, they didn’t make the most of these few years. We felt that they would best use the two years of borrowed time they had to release many new songs and, as I seem to keep saying like a broken record, continue to grow exponentially. But they didn’t. They went over a year without releasing a Korean album, and when PROOF came, it was VERY underwhelming. An anthology album?!?!?!? Sure, I understand it’s importance in their journey as a group, and it’s meaning as a reflection of their past and future. But the album only had 3 new songs, and the most interesting of the 3 CDs - the 3rd one, wasn’t even available on Spotify. And even then, it was only interesting  because it contained some new demo tracks, not even new songs. PROOF was expensive and lacking in new content, and its importance could only be seen by the group, the company, and a few ARMY. If BTS had been releasing several new albums over these two years, PROOF would have been a fitting send-off to the members just before their military service. But as it stood, their first Korean album in almost two years, it was disappointing. And I think this, and BTS and HYBE’s seeming obsession with becoming top American artists rather than Korean, turned off a lot of people. 

Of course, BTS are not trying to be American, and they never have tried. But in appealing to the largest music market in the world, it seems that they have forgotten a little about the rest of the world. 

And perhaps BTS’s lack of growth through only appealing to pre-existing members of their fandom would be fine for HYBE, if the other artists under the company grew.

PunkRock and Angels: HYBE’s forgotten groups

With the comeback of Brave Girls in 2021 and the debut of groups like Aespa and Ive, the post-BTS Law period became dominated by girl groups. And yet, boy groups still remain arguably more popular, and with far fewer barriers to success. At the start of this era, HYPE had two other major groups under their belt: TXT, and ENHYPEN. Gfriend had been mysteriously lost to the HYBE girl group curse, and SEVENTEEN, as a self-produced group, needed little management to stay successful (that said, HYBE still manages them badly and doesn’t use their talents and skills to their fullest extents).

So what did they do? They faded ENHYPEN’s iconic vampire concept and music style to a generic ‘bad boy against the world’ concept, and the group’s subsequent releases were barely discussed against the backdrop of girl groups with badass or generally sophisticated concepts. ENHYPEN have had two comebacks in the past year, with ‘Future Perfect’ and ‘Blessed-Cursed,’ both of which were forgettable in the sea of other comebacks. 

A similar thing can be said for TXT. TXT’s success skyrocketed from the moment of their debut, initially propelled by ARMY and later by those who had discovered the group for their own merits. This growth continued through THE CHAOS CHAPTER, which heralded in their new punk rock concept to go with the darker segment of the storyline they had just entered. This was an important part of their concept - switching mood to reflect the current portion of their non-linear storyline we would explore. But after two albums with the same concept in a row, some fans, including and especially myself, became worried that they would never switch from this concept, no matter what the storyline dictated. We hung on in anticipation and waited.

And waited, and waited and waited. One of TXT’s strengths had been relatively regular comebacks with hints leading into the next album, but we waited nine long months for Minsode 2, during which time TXT seemed to do... nothing? They had a concert in October of 2021, and their Weverse concert for New Years and their fansign for their third anniversary in March, but these were all paid contents that a relatively small portion of the fandom had access to. There was no continuation to the storyline and well-produced music that so many people had been attracted to. 

I wrote this 7000 word monstrosity of an article about why TXT are in the best position in kpop in January of 2022. And at the time, it was very true and I genuinely believed it. But, although I leave the essay up as it is still important and has good points, I no longer believe that TXT are in the best place in kpop. One of the main factors riding on this essay was that TXT would continue to produce content on a regular or semi-regular basis, and especially to continue their storyline in another song that was on top of the industry, like Blue Hour or LOVESONG. But when Minisode 2 came, it was too little too late, and, although it continued the storyline, the title track ‘Good Boy Gone Bad’ was underwhelming as a song, a choreography, and, most importantly, a title track. The choreo was satisfying and portrayed the lyrics of the song well, but lacked the teamwork and unique formations we expected from a TXT choreography. The major complaint with the song was that it was kind of cringey, especially the repetitive, droning ‘good boy gone bad’ in the chorus - was there nothing else you could say here? You only want a one-phrase chorus for your first title track after nine months? For real?

‘Good Boy Gone Bad’ became more of a meme than anything else, which is perfectly fine in theory - songs that are memes are played often and get exposure, which in turn often brings at least some fans to a group. But meme songs are best when the song itself is memey. ‘Good Boy Gone Bad’, a genuine exploration of the aftereffects of an abusive and codependent relationship and the emotional, physical, and mental symptoms it leaves, should not have been capable of being memed in any way. And yet, the ridiculous poor choices that riddled the chorus made it one. It was well-known for all the wrong reasons. And while it was well known that a group called TXT had a funny song called ‘Good Boy Gone Bad,’ the comeback itself barely made a splash in the wider industry. Looking back, the only reason I cared about it was because I was a MOA anyway, and because TXT had a world tour coming up. If I hadn’t been a MOA, I couldn’t have cared less about this song, even with its interesting additions to the storyline and meaningful lyrics.

So let’s elaborate on why TXT are no longer in the best position in the industry;

Long hiatus - The pop industry moves quickly, and the kpop industry even more so. You need to stay on top of things. There’s a reason groups like Everglow and Blackpink are becoming less popular - few releases means fewer new fans and old fans become bored. You don’t grow as a group and so fans are less emotionally invested. Yes, kpop is much more than just music, but without new music you aren’t really a kpop group, and fans WILL drift away.

Focus on fans only - As I said in the BTS section, world tours are great. They brings fans closer to the group and they bring the group and company lots of money. But they only appeal to current fans. They don’t bring in (many) new fans and they don’t grow the group. Additionally, Minisode 2 was an album that didn’t appeal to the current mainstream trends, and instead focused on the specific subset of fans who had been following the storyline and would go to the effort of reading and understanding the lyrics. 

Bad title track - As I said above, not many people liked ‘Good Boy Gone Bad.’ The concept was interesting, the music good and the lyrics great, except for the chorus which was the biggest letdown I’ve seen in a TXT title track since ‘LOSER=LOVER.’ TXT title tracks are going downhill and I don’t want to see where they go next.

Storyline muddling - At their debut, TXT had a pretty solid and well-realised storyline - they were children who had grown up on the Magic Island that had featured in both BTS and Gfriend’s storyline, and thus had powers, but also curses. They mirrored BTS’s storyline (think V fighting his Dad and Beomgyu fighting his Dad), and they had themes of self-love, belonging, youth, and friendship, just like their older brothers. And then LOVESONG and LOSER=LOVER came around, and we got hints of the old storyline, but also something new about some boys falling in love and becoming part of a codependent relationship. But this was different, unlike what we were used to, and a little confusing, honestly. And then the HYBE webtoon was released, which brought TXT and their storyline into the real world? Which was something that seemed quite incompatible with what they had previously been. So now they have three storylines, or more, or less maybe, and they’re all a bit muddled up and, like ENHYPEN, HYBE doesn’t seem to know what they want to do with TXT and their storyline. There have been changes and recons and the confusion of it all has destroyed one of the best things TXT had going for them - a compelling, cohesive, and complex storyline and concept. I even made a post talking about how TXT’s storyline seems to have DID.

America tour or world tour? - Why would you have a world tour, which already appeals to very few people (only fans who can afford the concert) and then only go to America, a small portion of your fans which are a small portion of the population to begin with? It’s a bad choice and the management of TXT’s world tour has been criticised extensively, from the very small locations to Kai getting a nosebleed.

HYBE’s obsession with BTS - TXT were once marketed as their own group with their own talents, but, after the BTS Law, HYBE seemed to, bizarrely considering they were going to go to the military, only focus on BTS. The marketing for TXT and ENHYPEN faded into oblivion, and, other than a few new groups like Le Sserafim, it seemed that BTS had become synonymouis with HYBE once again, and that TXT and ENHYPEN were comparatively ignored.

Concerns for another hiatus - It’s been four months since TXT released Minisode 2, and I am genuinely concerned that we are going to see another 3/4-yr hiatus. Of course, they are on tour and shouldn’t be overworked, but, as I keep saying, tours don’t bring in new fans, and their progress as a group stagnates as long as they are on tour without releasing a new album. There have been no hints of the next era of TXT, and, while it’s possible a teaser will drop tomorrow, especially after such an uncharacteristic hiatus, I am concerned that it will happen again.

And nothing to carry them - TXT may not be releasing albums, but they are still releasing contents - vLives, TO DO, and other Youtube shorts and behind-the-scenes. But this content isn’t of the type that will bring in new fans. No-one watches vLives unless they’re a fan of the group, and the same with behind the scenes contents on Youtube. TO DO could work - after all, a lot of people got into BTS and SEVENTEEN because of their variety shows, right? SEVENTEEN even have an entire second fandom dedicated to their variety show. But the fact of the matter is that SEVENTEEN and BTS both have fun group dynamics which keep the audience entertained, whether they know the group or not. And this is how they bring in new fans. TXT have a fun group dynamic, but not nearly to the extent that the above two groups do, and TO DO just isn’t that fun out of context, or as a non-fan. It isn’t even that fun to many fans like myself. So when they aren’t putting out albums, TXT have nothing to maintain a steady stream of people becoming new fans. And this is a problem in a fast-paced industry.

It didn’t help ENHYPEN and TXT’s cases that the remnants of HYBE’s attentions that weren’t on BTS were on their new girl groups - post-IZ*ONE Le Sserafim and the oddly-named New Jeans. Both of which have had run-ins with the HYBE girl group curse, but which, as 4th gen becomes the generation of girl groups, have had more mainstream popularity and acknowledgement than their older brother groups. Both groups have also been, in my opinion, badly managed (Le Sserafim more than the latter), but have still managed to make a splash and succeed. While I see general kpop fans talking about and checking out their songs, the same doesn’t happen for TXT and ENHYPEN. 

HYBE’s other groups have been forgotten (literally, in the case of NU’EST), but they may need to become more noticed, after a recent event which made headlines across the world.

The Army vs the ARMY: The Military Enlistment of BTS

After the BTS Law in 2020, HYBE had been in many talks with the South Korean government in hopes of winning exemption for BTS. But their hopes were in vain, and no further exemption or postponement had been agreed upon by October 2022. So, on the 17th October, after their free concert in Busan, HYBE released a statement saying that, after his solo promotions in October, Jin, the eldest member of BTS, who would turn 30 in December, would apply to cancel his military extension, and would enlist when he receives his enlistment notice. This sent ARMY, and the world, into a mini panic, with tears, laughter and articles upon articles and tweets upon tweets being shed.

There were many interesting details about this. The announcement was made after BTS’s free concert, which, may legitimately be the last concert BTS ever holds. Jin said this was so he could have a happy concert with the fans, rather than seeing them all sad. Additionally, it sugests that HYBE’s discussions with the Korean government had either fallen through or were foreseen to be falling through. This likely caused the company and members to take events into their own hands. 

There are other implications and common points of discussion which I think could be important to note/discuss/be aware of;

Arguments for and against BTS’s military service - The biggest argument against BTS’s enlistment is the huge impact they have on the South Korean economy - they reportedly contribute about 0.5-0.7% of the GDP. This is yes, a very tiny portion. But most of the largest contributors are huge companies like Samsung. The fact that a single group can contribute this much to the economy - enough to actually show up as a notable percentage - shows how insane their monetary power is. However, the greatest argument for them enlisting was that military enlistment is so engrained in Korean culture (on both sides of the DMZ), that the group would likely be shunned by a good portion of the South Korean population if they either didn’t enlist or got an exemption. This was seen in the early 2000s with singer Steve Yoo, who, when he tried to avoid his military service by becoming an American citizen, was exiled from Korea. His reputation was so stained by this that he went from being one of the most liked singers to one of the most hated, and many in the general public still believe he should never be allowed back in the country as long as he lives, despite him getting down on his hands and knees in an official plea  to the government. BTS getting an exemption would not have been nearly as bad for their reputation, but still likely would have reduced their favour and popularity in Korea.

Jin’s character - Jin has stated many times that he sees military service as his duty as a Korean citizen, and that he would go as soon as he was called. He has never expressed a wish to not serve, and ARMY are divided between those who wanted to let him go and do what he sees as his duty, vs those who want BTS to have an exemption, no matter the wishes of the members. Jin has established himself as a generally responsible and mature person, and somewhat traditional in his beliefs in duty to serve his country. HYBE’s announcement specifying that JIn himself applied to cancel his extension was honestly a very good idea for BTS’s image in the public. These actions are directly in line with the character that Jin has created, and so maintains his integrity as a celebrity. This additionally proves that BTS are not trying to ‘become American’ and head away from ‘their Korean roots,’ as they prioritise their country and duty to their country over the wishes of the international fans and music industry. This statement was the absolute best way that BTS and HYBE could maintain their reptutation. That said though, HYBE hasn’t really had a good reputation lately. At least BTS still do...

What was even the point of the extension? - My legitimate belief is that the government gave the group the extension to then see whether it was worth giving them an exemption. As discussed above, HYBE, through their trashy management of the group in 2021 and 22, showed the government that it was best for everyone to make BTS do their service, and to save face among the Korean public.

But what about President Moon? - When BTS were given an extension on their date to enlist in the military in 2020, President Moon (Moon Jae-in) was the president of South Korea. President Moon has often expressed his love for BTS, including presenting them with Awards of Cultural Merit - the exact awards which allowed them to delay their service. But President Moon was replaced as President in May 2022 by the conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, who was president at the time HYBE was having talks about exemption with the government. I don’t think it is a big step to assume that BTS would have been much likely to receive an exemption if President Moon, or the democratic party, were still in power at that time. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they would have received an exemption either way, but with President Moon and the democratic party, it is entirely possible that BTS would have had a lower-grade exemption, such as a reduction in the term they need to serve, as the democratic party, backed by who would be the ex-President Moon, would have emphasised the cultural and economic merit of BTS, rather than the military service emphasised by the conservative party. It likely wouldn’t have made a big difference, but is still interesting to consider.

Who said ‘f u’ to who - the government, or BTS? - When discussing the enlistment with non-kpop friends, one said something I had never considered - ‘so BTS said ‘f u’ to the Korean government?’ And my initial reaction to that was ‘wtf definitely not, that would assume that BTS has any power over the government’. I have since discussed the possibility with some kpop friends, and have reached a more well-rounded perspective. Both BTS and the government said ‘f u’ to each other - but the government certainly had the upper hand in this situation. Let’s go step-by-step. If we assume BTS said ‘f u’ to the government, it is because Jin and the members enlisted on their own terms, rather than those of the government, and essentially sent the message that they wouldn’t be holding onto the possibility of exemption, because they don’t need it to succeed and have a legacy! But if we look at the government saying ‘f u’ to BTS, it’s because they’re the party in power and they have the ability to give or revoke the hope of military service as they see fit, taking control of the phenomenon that is BTS and dangling military service over their heads like a carrot on a stick. Giving BTS an uncertain future is the ‘f u,’ showing that they are still the ones in charge. But both of these are partially the case. The government did hold military enlistment like a carrot on a stick, but more for HYBE, who desperately chased it and the financial security BTS gave them. The government said ‘f u’ to HYBE, and BTS kind of said ‘f u’ to both of them. But BTS’s ‘f u’ is a very small, pathetic one, because an ‘f u’ assumes that the ‘f uing’ party have made a decision that makes the other party lose out, or puts them in an inconvenient situation. And BTS, a relatively small part of Korean culture and economy, just don’t have the power to ‘f u’ the government. The government wins if BTS enlists and they win if BTS doesn’t enlist. BTS picked the option that was slightly less convenient for the government, which is where their tiny ‘f u’ comes from, but the government maintains power, which is where their massive one comes from. They both were annoying each other, but pretending that BTS has any cultural or economic power over the government is just wrong.

The future of BTS - will they survive the military? - I don’t think so. As I said earlier, the pop industry moves incredibly quickly, and the kpop industry even more so. Yeah, BTS will only be gone for 2-3 years, but in that time the third gen will likely have become completely irrelevant. Very few groups that have been interrupted by military service have been able to continue, and none of them have large mainstream popularity. As close as it gets are probably SHINee and EXO, both of which continue and are loved and iconic, but which have both seriously faded in popularity since their service. ARMY are used to ridiculous quantities of content from BTS, and this three-year gap won’t sustain a fandom so used to content content and more content. I think BTS will keep their promise of coming back in 2025, but that their popularity will be drastically reduced. They just won’t be the current hot thing anymore, in an industry that thrives off the next current hot thing. In their statement about BTS’s service, HYBE referenced their latest title track ‘Yet To Come,’ and how it is a mark of how the best of BTS is still yet to come. But this is wistful thinking on HYBE’s part. In my opinion, the best of BTS had already passed by the time the song came out - they were still getting more popular and were still the most popular group on the planet, sure, but they weren’t experiencing the exponential growth of 2017-2019. The lull in albums just didn’t do much for them, and with the approaching knowledge of military service, I feel like a lot of ARMY started looking for other groups in preparation. Especially those who had been Directioners didn’t want to be thrust into the world without a main group again. Things just aren’t looking up for BTS. And it has nothing to do with their immense talents and skills, but instead as they are a product of the industry they are a part of. 

Implications for HYBE - Well, BTS may be a much smaller percentage of HYBE’s revenue than they used to be, but 65% is still a lot. Le Sserafim and NewJeans have been pretty successful, and with the girl group popularity of fourth gen I think HYBE will push them more. As much as I hope that this means TXT and ENHYPEN get more funding and are pushed more as groups, I just don’t think this is going to happen. HYBE will continue to expand rather than develop what they already have. And this is pretty sad, but it’s what they’ve been doing since BTS became popular. And because of this, HYBE has become more of a corporation and less of ‘artists and music for healing.’ They’re losing a large portion of their income partially because they weren’t managing them well. This is either the end of HYBE as a company people respect, or the start of their turnaround, where they manage groups fairly and the groups go up in popularity as one, not in competition to each other. 

The enlistment of BTS will have a big effect on the music industry and especially kpop - that’s for sure. But the effect that it will have on both HYBE and BTS themselves depends on a multitude of factors both in and outside of their control. So I am, in a way, morbidly curious to see where this all goes.

Scandals, Minors, and the sleeping star: The future of TXT, ENHYPEN, Le Sserafim, NewJeans and more.

I don’t see Le Sserafim and NewJeans being anything other than successful in the future. NewJeans have brought a refreshing and (possibly too) youthful spin to y2k and retro concepts, Le Sserafim only have two releases and both of them have been iconic hits, and both groups somehow managed to survive their scandals, at the expense of Garam’s career and a bunch of album sales. As I’ve said several times, from 2021, girl groups have ruled the 4th gen, and Le Sserafim and NewJeans can only really go up (unless HYBE manages them to levels of bad that have only been seen in CLC and Exo). 

I think ENHYPEN will continue in the same direction - somewhat popular and growing, but slowly. They have quite a niche music genre and concept, like Dreamcatcher, so I think they’ll stay how they are. Same with the soon-to-debut &TEAM, Japanese brother group and werewolves to ENHYPEN’s vampires.

ENHYPEN’s management has been a little dodgy from the start, and their concept is very fragmented. They started off as creepy vampire orphans. Great, so that brings in all the people who love the non-sexual vampire stories. And then they have ‘Drunk-Dazed,’ bringing in the fans of unconventional noise music, and sticking with the superpowered vampire theme. But ‘Fever’ comes with that, and, as iconic as it was, it rubbed many people the wrong way as a sexual choreography in a group that was almost half minors. And the recent group of ‘Tamed-Dashed,’ ‘Blessed-Cursed’ and ‘Pass the Mic’ have alienated almost all of the fans I previously mentioned. No more explicit vampire storyline, other than in the webtoon which you need to actively research to understand. No more noise music, just the usual pop summer songs and whatever the very questionable ‘Blessed-Cursed’ was. If you like the Gothic stuff, it’s gone. If you like them being niche, it’s gone. If you were holding on for the werewolves, you still have a while to wait. And if you were a very weird person who sexualised the minors in the group, well, it ain’t as easy anymore. ENHYPEN seem to have a similar problem to Kep1er - although they have solidified an identity as a group of people, their musical identity is all over the place. And their concept doesn’t even call for it, like TXT’s does. I hope that with the debut of &TEAM, ENHYPEN’s storyline and management will turn a new page. They may be niche, but HYBE could still make a lot more money from them and their fans to make up for BTS’s gap. 

SEVENTEEN are largely self-managed and produced. They have their own small group of staff that stick with them, and their success is largely self-made. They’ve had a few dodgy releases in recent years, like ‘Rock With You’ and ‘Ready to Love,’ which have been more of a product of them overworking themselves than any bad management on HYBE’s part. And just as their questionable releases weren’t dictated by the bad management of HYBE, SEVENTEEN’s success won’t be caused by good management by HYBE. I think that SEVENTEEN’S success will continue and grow. Many CARATs criticise their decision to move towards more mainstream pop music in recent years, but I think that the SEVENTEEN heart and soul is still there. We shouldn’t be looking for ‘the next BTS,’ because every group is unique and they are themselves, but if there was to be a ‘next BTS,’ I don’t think it would be Stray Kids or ATEEZ or anyone else - it would be SEVENTEEN (although SKZ have a pretty good shot). SEVENTEEN are also currently under HYBE, so an easy transition. They have well-made self-produced music, two factors ARMY find important, and they have strong, complex choreos, and manage to have both popular and meaningful music. They also have a similar vibe to BTS, as they are both third gen groups, and they have English speakers which gives them a wider audience. But most of all, SEVENTEEN have variety. They are the only group I’ve seen so far that actually surpasses BTS in variety skills. And this is very evident by their second fandom, Cubic. BTS’s variety skills and the unique roles of each member were crucial to their success, and SEVENTEEN’s popularity has skyrocketed because of GOING SEVENTEEN. The members don’t quite fit 2D single character traits like the members of BTS, but you could still push them into small groups if you wanted, and if you want to go deeper, they all appear clearly as complex human beings. They are each bias-worthy, which is crucial, and they have similar levels of popularity. Additionally, SEVENTEEN are a group for all - everyone will find something they like.

The moral of the story is that SEVENTEEN will be fine. Until next year when Scoups’ military service comes up.... Cry with me, y’all.

And finally we come to the heroes (?) of the story, who are so heroic they’ve barely been mentioned... whoops. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, who have recently been managed in a less than great way by HYBE. They’ve lost, or at least had complicated and confused, many of the things that made me place them as ‘the best position in kpop right now’ in my essay. They’ve lost the versatility, the mainstream appeal, the serious nature of their storyline, the well-produced title tracks, the variety skills and the appearances on many shows which gained them popularity. TXT only appear in the public consciousness now through memes, which, yes, is the case for a lot of groups. But TXT never tried to be memes, or even to be funny. Their very serious content just couldn’t be taken seriously because of how HYBE managed and marketed them. And then this world tour came, only focusing on fans and with a tiny number of available seats compared to the actual number of fans. I feel that a lot of problems with TXT came from HYBE’s fear of reality shows after BTS were mistreated on them. And yes, TXT constantly being compared to BTS wasn’t and isn’t good - but I feel that if they went on more reality shows and showed the variety that was peaking through at the beginning of their career, they would reach and thus gain more fans. They don’t have the fanbase and the strong message that BTS did, so they can’t follow the same route, as they have been doing. Or, perhaps we could consider they are going in reverse from BTS? From dark to light concepts, from light to dark. But either way, their musical identity has become exactly what it shouldn’t have - obfuscated and overshadowed by that of BTS. TXT are far from the worst example of HYBE, or any other company, poorly managing a group, and an argument could be made that they aren’t being poorly managed, since their numbers continue to grow. But they haven’t experienced the same growth as they once did, and their lack of an impact in the larger industry is not a good sign. It is this lack of an impact that made me want them to be better managed, and to write this essay. More people should hear about your comeback than just members of your own fandom and a few people who watch music shows live on a weekly basis. 

Conclusions

BigHit started with the slogan ‘music and artist for healing,’ and their initial success with BTS reflected this well. But they started to get greedy and fearful, and started to both acquire companies and groups and neglect these companies and groups in hopes of supporting themselves and the sinking ship BTS would leave them in when they went to the military. There have been many victims of this, notably Gfriend. But I am concerned that other groups will fall to HYBE’s newfound greed - especially TXT and ENHYPEN. HYBE no longer embody their motto - while the artists continue to heal, the company is becoming less and less viewed in the public eye as a cool group of artists and producers, and more and more like the corporations whose level it has tried to pull itself up to. Now that BTS are going to the military, the future of HYBE and its groups hangs in the balance - will they be able to pull their act together and make a splash in the industry again, or will they fall apart and forever be known as a company synonymous with ‘BTS’? Let’s just say that I don’t have high hopes for any artists under the company other than Le Sserafim and NewJeans, and maybe SEVENTEEN for the next year before they too suffer the ongoing effects of the Korean War. It’s sad, but this is just the nature of such a harsh and competitive industry - people become greedy, no matter how good their intentions are (we even saw this with BTS’s attempts to gain a Grammy), and, in the end, the fast-paced kpop industry consumes all.

Anyway, stan ‘Can’t We Just leave The Monster Alive?’

Sources

Zeimba, H. (2022) ‘BigHit Entertainment’s Transformation to Influential HYBE, 2022 Overview,’ KWorld Now.

‘HYBE's Cursed History with Girl Groups - From Glam to New Jeans’ by Ploopy678 on YouTube, 2022

Shapiro, A. (2021) ‘BTS Made $200 Million With Hybe. Now Ariana Grande And Justin Bieber Are Cashing In On Scooter Braun’s Deal.’ Forbes

Yoon, S. (2022) ‘HYBE ��� BTS after big investments in diversification,‘ Korea JoongAng Daily & The New York Times

Peoples, G. (2022) ‘HYBE Revenue Up 31% But Losing BTS Will Squeeze Margins in 2023.’ BillboardPro

‘Will BTS Survive with ONLY 3 Members? BTS Military Plan (2021 Updated!)’ by Rice Squad on YouTube, 2020

A Brief Analysis of my Sources

Disclaimer that my references above are not accurate to any referencing style in particular, since they have been changed for Tumblr’s formats, and that they are in order of appearance, not alphabetical order, as they should be.

Ayo here again comes my obsession with sources. I will discuss them in the order they appear in my source list, which is also the order they appear in the essay (although I haven’t given specific reference points). My points of discussion mostly include why I chose these sources and why it was okay for me to use them in this context (this context being a non-professional internet essay). Unfortunately, I can’t show examples of sources I discarded and explain why as I have... you know, discarded them and don’t remember where I got them from.

A disclaimer that I did use Wikipedia for this essay (gasp). I do not condone the use of Wikipedia for academic or professional essays of any level (school, undergraduate, post grad and so on). Wikipedia is only acceptable when cross-referencing well-known facts across multiple sources. In this case, I sued Wikipedia for my ‘history of BigHit/HYBE’ section, as all events mentioned are well-known facts and thus cannot be obfuscated by Wikipedia. However, I did not feel comfortable using Wikipedia for the more specific or subjective elements of this essay, which is why they aren’t my only source and weren’t really used past the first section.

The rest of my analysis may sound repetitive but is still important.

Zeimba, H. (2022) ‘BigHit Entertainment’s Transformation to Influential HYBE, 2022 Overview,’ KWorld Now.

This was largely used for basic facts, same as Wikipedia. It is a semi-professional article seemingly written by someone who does this full-time and is invested in HYBE and BTS. Thus, it was okay to use for recent and basic facts.

‘HYBE's Cursed History with Girl Groups - From Glam to New Jeans’ by Ploopy678 on YouTube, 2022

Ploopy does this professionally (aka is paid to tell the facts/her perspective). This makes her more reliable. Additionally, she makes her research and sources public for Patreons, and clearly puts effort into and ensures integrity of her sources. I wouldn’t use her for an academic essay that wasn’t about fan reactions, but for my purposes here, her work is appropriate, valid, and relevant.

Shapiro, A. (2021) ‘BTS Made $200 Million With Hybe. Now Ariana Grande And Justin Bieber Are Cashing In On Scooter Braun’s Deal.’ Forbes

This is another professional source on what is generally considered a professional and reliable business website, Forbes. I only used this source as a backup to verify some of my economic facts. Also I did some research, and I am pretty sure the person who wrote this IS NOT Ben Shapiro’s cousin/sister, so my conscience is clear?

Yoon, S. (2022) ‘HYBE ≠ BTS after big investments in diversification,‘ Korea JoongAng Daily & The New York Times

This source has questionable professionality, but I feel that it being in association with the New York Times is a good sign. I used this one for stats on BTS’s portion of HYBE’s income. Since the source is recent, it gives recent information, which is useful for an essay like this, since my essays become outdated quickly in the world of kpop (crying over the TXT one). I would not have used this source if this essay was in any way professional, but, since it isn’t, it’s all good.

Peoples, G. (2022) ‘HYBE Revenue Up 31% But Losing BTS Will Squeeze Margins in 2023.’ BillboardPro

This was another professional article, from a professional site/organisation which is known both for its relevance to the music industry, and for being accessible to and less discriminatory against kpop groups than most international organisations. It’s overall a reliable site for economic music-related news, and, as it is both recent, and written by an actual person, rather than an organisation, I feel fine using it for this essay.

‘Will BTS Survive with ONLY 3 Members? BTS Military Plan (2021 Updated!)’ by Rice Squad on YouTube, 2020

This one has questionable professionality, but is still made by a group of people dedicated to their content creation and who prioritise Asian voices (I believe the creators are mostly South Asian?). The video is extensively researched, and makes sources available. It also is pretty recent, and was updated when new information was made available to the creators. I would not be surprised if a new video was uploaded by the creators after the news of BTS’s enlistment. This video has a lot of content, including the history of enlistment and several possibilities for BTS. It’s a video that initially prompted my interest in the topic of BTS’s enlistment, and is useful for an essay like this.

Source Conclusions

Always look for professional sources, when you can. Someone who is paid to make news content is usually more likely to put effort into that content than someone who isn’t. Although that has changed with the advent of the internet. 

If you read this far, thank you. I really appreciate your efforts and attention. I would really appreciate if you could reblog or like this post to show that you read it - and thank you again! <3

[titleknown]

I will say, having come across this essay by a person being disturbed by the amount of stagnation in book Twitter’s reading takes, and while it makes some good points, there’s one thing I think it ignores...

MOST PEOPLE RESPONDING TO THE PERCEIVED STAGNATION OF READING TASTES ARE FUCKING ASSHOLES WHO ARE ACTIVELY MAKING SHIT WORSE!

Like, a lot of my defensiveness over my own tastes is traumagenic, I will freely admit to this! But the essay’s solution to this is as follows:

and maybe that harshness isn’t the right approach to persuade people who i’d hope would be persuaded, but i don’t know, honestly i think we’re long overdue to start being harsh about it and i’m going to give that a little nudge. at this point, my visceral reaction to seeing this is just thinking “grow up”, and that they’ve been indulged and welcomed and catered to enough already now.

 Do you think it’s going to fucking help to encourage me to diversify my interests by replicating my trauma in a public space trying to make it unsafe for my interests via shame? NO, NO IT DOESN’T!

It activates that fucking trauma response and makes me double the fuck down! Especially as an autistic person for whom “grow up” was basically used as a phrase to shit on me for my disability and my tastes, a thing I don’t think I’m alone on, but I digress.

And the linked essay (which, don’t be a dick to them, if you are you’re missing the whole fucking point of this rant) is the nice version of that. I’ve seen stuff saying that shit on this site that’s a whole lot uglier and a whole lot more dogwhistle-y ableist.

But, like, I’m a person who likes finding new and different shit. I can recommend you a fair few obscure and weird works, feel free to send me some asks on that if you’ve got a subject of interest!

But, imagine how much that fucks up people who don’t have that sense of exploration?! Imagine how much it makes them want to do less exploration, because the second-worst way to get people interested in something is to treat it as a chore and force them to do at threat of public shame!

The first worst way is to shit on people’s current tastes and interests in the interests of getting them to look at something else, which is what they also fucking do. Constantly. Because the same people who say that shit are so often the people who say “bring back bullying”

And on that note, the people who say that are shit as educators! They spend more fucking time bitching about the lack of interest in the classics than; say; actually getting people interested in them! Which like, I get that not every gripe and vent has to have a purpose of direct action, but when I keep fucking seeing a hole like that in your discourse, I gotta question your goal.

And don’t fucking get me started on how these assholes also keep fucking bitching about the “fandomization” of the classics they keep begging people to read, because it’s not fucking enough they read the classics, they have to read them correctly.

Or, if I can be even meaner, the only endgame I see to this cultural push in terms of where current action on the part of the people saying it leads is basically the whole “bring back bullying” shit via making shared spaces unsafe for “wrong” interests, which is viewed as somehow going to magically diversify people’s interests.

Which like, buddy, making people shit on fanfic again like it’s 2005 isn’t going to make Ao3 any less of a shithole and it isn’t going to break up Disney/Warner/Viacom. It will lead to a bunch of autistic kids getting bullied

Like, I think there’s some points to be made about the need to expand one’s tastes, and in fairness, at least that essay I linked tries to address some of the points I made, which are broadly directed at posts in the same Genre I keep seeing.

But the point stands, STOP BEING FUCKING ASSHOLES, YOU’RE MAKING THE PROBLEMS YOU CLAIM TO CARE ABOUT WORSE!

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SOLVE THE FAILURES OF THE US EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM BY BULLYING AUTISTIC KIDS ON TUMBLR AND/OR THE WRETCHED BIRD SITE! YOU’RE JUST GOING TO MAKE THEM MORE OBNOXIOUS AND DEFENSIVE!

[onaperduamedee]

1, 2, 6, 8, 10 for any/all Star Trek :)

Hello again and thank you for your asks!

This got long so I am giving an out to my follower :

1. What originally drew me to it:

Okay, needed background here: I have tried to get into Star Trek in the past, both the original series and TNG. It didn't impress me. I didn't have time for this many men on a ship and the world itself wasn't enough to keep me invested. Here comes Discovery, with her Captain Georgiou and her First Officer Michael Burnham... Yeah, now you have my attention.

Even if Philippa didn't stay long, I was so drawn to Michael's story (and the terrible injustice she suffered, but that's for another time) it didn't really matter that the worldbuilding wasn't as compelling to me as Doctor Who or other sci-fi shows. Women fronting the show got me into Star Trek, and now I started watching Voyager and feel way more generous toward TNG.

So, whenever I see people complaining about the changes made to an adaptation or reboot that supposedly betray the author, I want to say "hello, those changes were for me. They got me into this fictional world, they helped me appreciate the greatness of these stories I had dismissed before. How can it be bad?"

2. What I like most and least about it:

I like that the show is essentially about a system that holds at its core humanism or universalism. It's about the people in this system and how human and alien and different and similar they all are. In a way, it is an office drama set in an administration, except the civil servants in this story have to fly across an asteroid field while leaking oxygen every once in a while.

I don't like the veiled military propaganda and how globalised the vision sometimes feels. It isn't always the case, but it does at times feel like an American utopia where the US expanded and unified an infinity of worlds under the Federation. It's probably a bit difficult to explain to North Americans, but it's a franchise that feels very American and it can be at odds with the proclaimed universal ideals.

6. A character I'd like to frame and hang on my wall and admire like a work of art:

MICHAEL BURNHAM

I used to want to know so much more about her and the way she ticks, how she is the way she is, what she is? She has always been layered and fascinating, but these past seasons she let go of so much guilt burdening her. Seeing her blossom as captain has truly been the most joyous experience, to the point where I could almost (but not quite) forgive the show for the hoops it made her go through. She is a joy of a character, both because she is incredibly entertaining (adrenaline addict much?) and because she is an endless source of questions and mental essays to me. Also, she's played by Sonequa Martin Green.

8. The character with the greatest wasted/unexplored potential:

Philippa, both prime and mirror, always and forever. I still can't believe the show had Philippa Prime and went "nah, this one's boring alive." Mirrorgiou is another matter since what we got was extremely enjoyable and I thought we were getting more, yet I am not holding my hopes up for a Mirrorgiou spin-off anymore. I fear a morally dubious Asian queer ex-spy in her sixties does not seem marketable enough to the higher-ups.

10. A ship I would gladly go down with... and then become Davey Jones, so I can continue to captain said ship for eternity

Milippa, both prime and mirror/prime.

A gift of a ship, with a dream of a blend, mixing duty, remorse, familiarity, devotion and banter, with a delicious twist of monsterisation when Philippa comes back as the Emperor. What do you do when the person who was your safe place, your rock, you blueprint for seven years comes back as something twisted and cruel? Do you kill her? Do you let her run free and tarnish the legacy of your beloved? Do you resent her? Pity her? Do you despise yourself for still feeling so much for her? If Philippa is Michael's Patroclus, Mirrorgiou is her undead Eurydice and I am here for that. The thing is, while both are completely different dynamics, they feed of each other so deliciously. It's like a perpetual angst machine.

[dark-frosted-heart]

Happy belated birthday!! Hope you’re doing amazing today :)

What do you like about Clavis and Saerial ? Like was there a specific reason why they’re your favourites, or is a collection of reasons?

As a fellow Clavis simp I can list a lot of reasons why I love him and I love to read other peoples’ reasons for falling for their fav otome boy !

Thank you!

( ˊᵕˋ)/ whenever people ask me why I like a character, I always have a hard time answering because it’s usually a natural pull toward them. I wish I could write essays on my favorite characters but I can’t. I suck at this kind of stuff.

So…Clavis and Sariel have been my favorites since the day the game was announced. Simply just by looking at their designs and what little description they had, I was like “Them. I like them.” 9 times out of 10, my initial picks remain my favorites forever. Their voice actors were a big plus too, even with what little spoken dialogue’s actually in Cybird games. 

So yeah, the initial reason was pretty superficial. I liked their designs and descriptions, along with Nokto’s and Chevalier’s, the most. And I ended up with two workaholics that hate each other. But out of everyone, Clavis always felt like “the one”.

I guess, in an attempt to expand on this...

Clavis

On the surface, a lovable troll, tease, and pervert. And I love all of that about him.

I guess he’s a happy virus. Clavis has never failed to make me smile and laugh with all of his antics. This bastard has also almost made me cry a few times too with his words and thoughts. I was in the middle of a rough time when Ikepri came out (and I’m sure a lot of people were given the year), and his trolling and teasing in Chevalier’s route was such a joy. 2 years later and he’s still brought a lot of happiness to my life. He’s like the extroverted friend that’s adopted introverted me.

I admire what was once learning about everything and anything to be better than Chevalier has become utilizing this knowledge for his pranks, his work, and for the benefit of other people, how he works tirelessly to help others, how much he enjoys life, and how he’s always able to come off as someone with an overflowing amount of self-confidence despite his actual low self-esteem. And I love that he grows comfortable enough to begin to expose himself to Emma (it’s a slow process but he’s working on it). Because I want all of that 🤣 I could go on about my life story and how Clavis is the opposite of me—minus the low-self esteem and constantly being compared to others—but I’ll save everyone the trouble and not do that.

This man’s continuing to grow, doing his best to let go of his bad habits and I am here for it. And the way he’s a gentleman to the point of blue balls-ing self.

While I wouldn’t want to deal with a person like that irl, how he throws everything out the window when he gets jealous is just hilarious to me. Like “I want Emma to struggle and learn. I won’t coddle her.” *Emma seeks advice from Keith* “Yeah, no. Emma can come to me for advice whenever she wants”

Sariel

While Clavis is this whirlwind that sweeps you off on an adventure during the day, Sariel feels like someone you can retreat to afterward. A mysterious, yet comforting presence I guess?

Also I’m gonna be real here...I am weak to glasses wearing characters, especially the “cool” types. And he’s voiced by Hayami Show. Plus he’s a sadist and a tease with an unexpected mischievous side that always catches me off guard. But he can also be really soft and sweet, a side he only shows to Emma.  And the amount of patience and self-control this man has... His entire being is for my self-indulgence. 

Anyway...I love the way he is with the princes...How hard he tried to get along with the princes when he was assigned as their tutors. And now he’s drinking buddies with Jin and Leon, and the latter’s confidant. He’s never been scared of Chevalier at all and has this understanding of his behavior. I think he was the twins’ first friend and though things have changed since they were 10, having known them for so their whole lives, he can easily see through them. Regrettably being Clavis’ enabler yet sometimes he can’t help but feel proud. 

And him telling Emma (paraphrasing here) about taking care of what you’re passionate about so that even in times of chaos, you a place you can still retreat to and be yourself really struck me.

[strawberryjamsara]

I want to hear the entirety of your Sara analysis. I need to brainrot

Aaaaah…. I don’t exactly have a full on analysis planned out so this is gonna be just scattered thoughts.

First of all, we have never seen her straight up interact with Mr. Chidouin and the more we see of him and the more we learn about her, the more I’m becoming firmly set that Mr Chidouin is a villainous player. First of all, the fact a teenage girl, some dorky kid who loves cute uniforms and making stupid jokes, is somehow going into simulations for a game that is somehow meant to revolve around her and being a merciless killer, to the point the organization can’t control her…. To the point she’s high ranking over the adults, people like Qtaro…. And again, when there’s so many hints the game is made for her that she somehow has the perfect personality type for it…. Something is fucking up. Someone also mentioned in a post of mine that when in Kais emails it’s mentioned that Mr Chidouin wants to leave the house behind, Sara says she didn’t hear of any plans implying that was just testing Kai’s loyalty whether it was to Mr Chidouin or Sara. And with the implication that Meister wrote the memorandum that adds a whole new layer of uncomfortable! Basically, Sara is an abuse victim in this essay I will-

Okay but moving on, I also want to talk about the significance of not just Joe but everyone in the death games influence on Sara. Although Joe is the most important. It’s very significant that Sara doesn’t use the key on herself in the first trial. Because Joe is her best friend. Joe has already handicapped her, because of how much she cares that she’s willing to put her life on the line and her trust in him so he turns out alright. And…. As much as I hate to reference it, this scene is expanded upon in the manga. She thinks of taking the key at first but can’t because it’s Joe. Joe is her human anchor. Her bond with and grief for him also do a lot to push her towards other people (she was willing to pull her gun out on Alice but Joe wanted to trust him, Gins counciling for her grief, their talk with Mishima, etc) There’s also several other people who factor in to her ability to keep hold on herself who weren’t accounted for, and one person who she might not have been able to make a bond with if it weren’t for Joe.

Reko- So Reko was a very important person to Sara, but I don’t think this was the case in the simulations. The AI of Reko was 2 years behind, and didn’t have her current kind personality. Our Reko often encourages Sara, wants to take responsibility off of her, and cares for her like a big sister. That switch up in personality I think does a lot for Sara.

Nao- Nao is an ASTRONOMICAL factor in keeping Sara grounded. Nao in many cases is willing to bear the weight of Sara’s pain, such as by pushing the fake Reko for her, or in the massacre ending where she is willing to bear the burden of everyone’s deaths for her. I also want to point out a very important scene: the monitor room. When Sara says “I’ve really lost it haven’t I?” Nao takes Sara in close and says “You haven’t lost anything.” It’s important that when Sara feels shes slipping off the deep end she hears someone tell her she’s perfectly okay. God, they mean the world to me…

And now the big one….

Keiji- Honestly I have enough thoughts on Keiji and Sara for its own analysis so I’ll try and not go off on a tangent. Sara is initially suspicious of Keiji because why wouldn’t she be? He randomly comes up to her and tries to befriend her (my personal theory for this is that he was told to do this as his handicap) while giving no information about himself. While he does grow attached to her by the first main game (even breaking that emotionless facade by mistake) it takes her a while before she starts to trust him. But by chapter 31B the effect is significant. In logic route, Ranmaru saying his name is all it takes to bring her back to reality when she was about to go full murder mode. That is huge. Keiji is essentially Sara’s new Joe, further signified by later during the banquet when in a parallel to chapter 2, she imagines Keiji encouraging her to get through the game. I see a lot of people jeering that you can’t turn down signing the contract, but sorry ladies, Keiji is important to Sara. He has become to her another anchor.

And speaking of choices (smooth transitions? What are those?) I wanna talk about the lack of choice to go with Ranmaru in logic route. I will say I am dissapointed we don’t have an ending where we go with Ranmaru. It’d be so rad. But I do think the fact we don’t have that option says a lot about Sara’s character. When the Yabusame dies, her thoughts are “I didn’t want this.” And she then decides to make the resolve to become a better person. That means a lot. Sara has been changed by her experiences and her friends. She is not the same person from the simulations and it is not too late for her to change herself. And I just. (Chefs kiss) Mama Mia that’s a spicy character development, and I am now firmly logic route supremacy.

I also want to talk about her narrative and the weight of responsibility. After the Russian Roulette game, Kai tells her not to push herself, a sentiment that gets lost when she realizes he’s her stalker. The adults in the game all put her on a leadership pedestal when it shouldn’t be her responsibility. I used to think the biggest culprit of this was Keiji, but looking back and replaying the game, I think the biggest, albeit probably not malicious factor, was Qtaro. I made a post awhile back about how Keiji began to realize pretty early on that making Sara the leader was a mistake, and tried to calm her down. The thing is, by that point it was too late. By that point, she put the priority of the group over her best friend. Abandoning that responsibility would triple her guilt. Again, logic route seems to have her realization she isn’t fit to be leader, and Qtaros acknowledgement she doesn’t have to be one so, logic route supremacy.

This wasn’t really a full analysis but I hope I helped with your brain rot

[mc-tummy-blur]

@ruestew here’s part two of the ask! Again I’ll try to be as concise with my reasoning as possible.

*Honestly I feel like I didn’t do enough justice in explaining how I feel about The Narrator. I probably need to dedicate a week of my time to create like, and essay about him because I feel like I got a lot more to say about him

My thoughts expanded under “read more”

“They are soooooo cool looking sounding”— Yeah he’s a disembodied voice and doesn't actually have a physical form, but Kevan does fantastic job in his voice work. He sells it so well in his deliveries, you can just feel when he’s having a good time, or when he’s distraught or scared, or furious at the situation. There’s so much range in his voice performance, and it does make The Narrator seem…real. And that alone, makes him cool looking sounding to me.

“They are deeper than they seem”— The game clearly shows us that The Narrator is extremely complex, both in the OG and UD (though it’s WAY more expanded upon in Ultra Deluxe). In the OG, he desperately wants the player to play the story in the way that HE wanted you to play it (Freedom Ending). But, he makes other options that lead to a variety of endings, yet still hopes that you choose “correctly”. Probably in order to give the illusion to the player that “Yes, your choices do matter and you do have free will.” (Which, while is probably not a new hot take, it is completely ironic to think about. As TSP literally consists of you trying to free yourself from The Narrators preferred path, but he wont allow it, even though his correct ending he made is about us trying to make our own choices for once and free ourselves from the machine). In the UD, he’s stuck in the past, thinking that his work IS perfect and loved by everybody (which to be fair, TSP pretty much is). But when he learns that there are people who don’t like it, it takes him on a downward spiral mentally, and arguably creatively. He thinks he has to cave into trying to create work for and audience that love the OG, and for an audience that wanted things such as gags or ways that make them feel comfortable about the games meta narrative. The result is that he made something that, in actuality, didn’t need to be made. But he felt like he needed too, in order to show others (and himself) that his work hasn’t dropped in quality and is on par, if not even better than the first. That his story means something and that by just adding the stuff that he thinks he needs to add, will make more people see what the meaning is.

“Wow! They are a horrible person”/“They’ve never done anything wrong in their life <33”/“Wow… They are literally me!— He is literally fine with killing off Stanley/The Player at any given point (and even mock them as they die). He will belittle Stanley/The Player when they don’t follow the story or break the game in some way. Yet also wants to try to make Stanley/The Player/Fans happy. He wants to give them some sort of control over the game. Specifically, in UD, even though he encountered a few negative feedbacks, he instantly wants to give those fans what they want. Also, him struggling with trying to make something perfect in his eyes while also trying to please the masses in some way, and him having the intense fear of being alone and that he needs his work to be heard is justtt,,,, man. It’s something that makes me feel bad, and it some areas, I do relate to it a whole lot (at least with wanting to be heard in some way).

“They work better as part of a dynamic”— Do I even need to explain why he should NOT be separated from Stanley/The Player at any point though seeing how he reacts to being alone definitely is an eye opener to his character that was only barely touched on in the OG, with that ending where you see Stanley not moving (dunno the ending name to that).

“They’re like a blorbo to me”/I’m mentally ill about them”— See points above

[re-x]

Anatomy of a scene: (1) the ‘difficult’ bathroom scene from NHIE 2.10

I thought it would be fun to do a bit of a deep dive into a few pivotal scenes for the character Ben Gross this season. In my opinion, the second season of NHIE did many things right, but it was by no means perfect. That said, one thing I was really satisfied with was the way the show expanded Ben’s world and deepened his character by putting him through new situations we had not seen before. (TL;DR: Ben got hurt a bunch and experienced emotions he had not experienced before.) It goes without saying that a big reason the character worked so well was the excellent work that the character’s portrayer, actor Jaren Lewison, put in this season. I hope that this little essay (and its future follow ups) could help enrich your experience a little bit and help you better appreciate both Ben as a character and Mr. Lewison as an actor. 

I thought the now-famous bathroom scene from the season 2 finale is a good one to start our little journey, so let’s get to it!

Prelude: 

To make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s first revisit this statement Jaren Lewison made recently:

Q: Were there any scenes this season where it was like, “we don’t just have to learn 1 or 2 things, we have to really figure out 6 or 7 different complicated elements,” and if one of them doesn’t work, then the entire scene doesn’t work?

JL:“...[In] Episode ten, there’s a bathroom scene ...that scene is so difficult because there’s so many underlying levels and nuances within it. We did it so many times. When I first saw it I was like “I have no idea what takes they are going to use!”... because, again, it’s such a multilayered, complex scene. That relationship [between Ben and Devi] is really difficult. We talked about [character] building, and OK, so:

Ben’s navigating this pain, and now 

He’s got this relationship with Aneesa, and yet 

He still obviously cares about Devi, but also 

There’s a little something else mixed in there!” 

So it looks like as far as Ben’s concerned, he was juggling all these complicated emotional elements at the same time. We’ll revisit them later.  Shall we begin? 

The setting

Sherman Oaks High School. The time was December 2019. Devi had just asked Paxton to go the winter dance with her. Paxton’s response was “Sorry, but no..” Trent and Marcus were being... the same dumb teenagers they had always been. Devi was at a loss for words, clearly devastated as she walked away. 

Unknown to her, Ben Gross — currently the underdog in our story — saw the whole exchange take place. 

Ben clearly felt for her. This kid understood more than anyone else what it felt like to be unseen, unvalued, and abandoned, for obvious reasons. In fact, he almost fell victim to a likely child predator who had deftly identified and manipulated this ‘kryptonite’ of his just weeks prior. Observe the similarities: 

Even now, Devi Vishwakumar remained Ben’s primary pressure point, in spite of the fact that, in Mr. Lewison’s own words, “she’s the cause of some of his pain..” And Devi had just been hurt. Ben’s reactions were further intensified here because this was not just a random insurance adjuster from Tarzana. It was Devi. She had been hurt, and Ben felt that he had to do something about it. 

That difficult scene

The girls bathroom, some minutes later. Devi was boohooing inside one of the stalls. Because that was clearly the best place to have a private cry session when at school (NOPE. Ask Hermione Granger and that poor troll!). 

Ben walked in. We had a nice little comedic moment as the boy announced his presence loudly enough for everybody to hear. 

What a dork! You’d think that Ben would have been better off walking in  covertly lest he be noticed. I suppose subtlety had never been Ben’s strong suit. However. it clearly is Jaren Lewison’s, though. I loved the way Ben earnestly attempted to cover his eyes here... it was sweet. But also absurd because Ben had clearly never been in a girls’ bathroom before. Well, at least he didn’t ask out loud “huh, where are all the urinals?” because we know he would. 

Devi was horrified that Ben had found her, so she immediately told him to get lost. But this sad boy underdog was determined to make sure that Devi was okay. 

So, Ben started yapping about how Devi had nothing to feel embarrassed about. Paxton, however, well, the joke was on him, he said, because that 30 year-old man kid was terrible at decision making. Apparently, this was enough to make Devi come out of her stall. 

They locked eyes, and Ben smiled sadly at her, reminding us once again of that underlying current of sadness that, to me at least, defined so much of Ben’s personal experience this season. 

There was clearly a lot of things going on here. As Jaren Lewison said:

“I feel like [Devi’s happiness] is what his number one priority is, maybe even possibly over his own happiness... if he sees Devi’s really happy, and while it may pain him, I think Ben would respect that.” (x)

“Why are you being nice to me?”, she asked. Seriously, Devi? How many times did she have to keep asking the same question over and over again lol

What followed was nothing short of one of the funniest moments in the entire season. Ben rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Devi, when are you going to realize that that dick doesn’t deserve you?”

Immediately followed by this very poignant moment. Let’s pause to appreciate what a really good job Jaren Lewison did here: 

In my view, this is exactly that fourth emotional element, the “little something else mixed in there.” that Mr. Lewison alluded to in that interview I quoted above. Sure, on the surface level this is another one those longing looks the actor has really made into his own, a personal signature the one show co-creator and EP Lang Fisher essentially referred to as the best-in-industry. 

But it wasn’t just your regular old longing of a hormonal teenaged boy, was it? No, it was a look filled with unfulfillable longing.  For whatever reasons, this 16 year-old boy now believed that Devi would forever be unattainable to him. And if Paxton did not deserve her, well, neither did he. Don’t get me wrong. I believe Ben thought about himself and Devi a lot. It was probably one of the things that kept him up at night. He dreamt about them. But what could he do now? He had allowed himself to have hope at one point, and for that fate rewarded him handsomely by making him end up getting so badly hurt. 

But anyway, realizing that perhaps he had let on more feelings than he intended, Ben came up with what remained to be his best save yet, “Also, I heard he bought his abs in Mexico!” 

And we’re back in comedic territory. But not for long... oh if only things were  ever that simple. Devi thanked him and told him he wasn’t the worst. 

Ben realized that he had fulfilled the job he came to do. Devi was going to be okay.  He forced himself to smile at her, gave her one last respectful nod, and then walked himself out (ugh! :(). 

Notice how Ben stopped smiling as soon as he turned away. As Jaren Lewison said, “the relationship relationship [between Ben and Devi] is really difficult.” Truer words have never been spoken. But would you have guessed this scene was so difficult to film had Jaren Lewison not spoken about it? Nope. It all looks effortless, which is a perfect example of art concealing art. That was the beauty of this scene. But none of it came easy. Not for the actor, or the character. 

@hairen13​  @mellarkably​ @benjamingross​

[angelssdecay]

Why Zhongli isn’t just a blockhead (though sometimes he is) – another essay by yours truly

Disclaimer beforehand: I am partly Asian, but I am not Chinese and as such don’t have a complete grasp on the richness of Chinese lore and history although I do try to keep on educating myself about it. If you see I made any mistakes, missed out on something very important or accidentally said something I shouldn’t have please don’t hesitate to point it out for me, I’d really appreciate it. This analysis was mostly for myself and because I wanted to set a few things right about some things I’ve seen and encountered about his character in the fandom, that is all. 

This analysis ended up to be quite long (over 1.3k words oops) despite me keeping some points out of it on purpose to make it more compact, but I hope you’ll enjoy my thoughts nonetheless!

-          Zhongli is not, and has never been, simply a brute without a brain despite his undeniable trail of destruction left in the wake of the Archon war – everything he’s done, as immoral as it may seem to humans, has been done with the image of a more peaceful future in mind and the wish to create a better world for those inhabiting it. 

-          And let’s not forget that he is extremely cunning and always waging decisions carefully considering he has planned out such a grand scheme from faking his death to implementing Childe in this game of his, and using everyone in Liyue for his grand, final test 

- though he did not do so without a thinking about the weight such a final decision would hold, but instead hought long and hard about it through observations of Liyue’s people and how they would fare without his divine intervention from now on.

-          Zhongli is without a doubt not a 110% good character, he is indeed manipulative, irrational and inconsiderate of individual human lives to a certain degree and I won’t say that his objectives erase the way of his methods, after all everyone knows that the path to hell is paved by good intentions-

-          but it’s simply impossible to define any character in Genshin in such black and white/ good and bad ways because each and every of his decisions is very nuanced - he is not only selfish, Zhongli is also incredibly selfless at the same time because all that he did was for the people of Liyue, he gains literally nothing from all this apart from his rest from his immortal duties, and he is not heartless either because despite making just yet seemingly cold decisions it also has to be said that such hard decisions cannot be made and set in stone when one let’s themselves swayed by emotions

-          To come to another point: After living so far off from the mortal world for so long – because watching over humans isn’t the same as wandering amongst and living with them – it is no surprise he is quite detached from them, his heart despite his love for Liyue having petrified little by little and he knows it.

-          Yes, Zhongli definitely knows he can’t escape eventual erosion, petrifying little by little, that he will wear away as a river wears away a mountain - but still he lives on to uphold the memory of those that have faded to dust, had sacrificed their very lives to help pave the way for a peaceful and prosperous Liyue and also to carry the weight of sins he has committed in the war – he thinks and he cares so, so much and to conclude this:

-          I literally cannot stress enough how he carries so much responsibility, so much history on his shoulders – he is living history – even more now that he’s the only one left to carry on the hopes and dreams who have long passed and that this is an incredibly lonely task. It’s just heart-breaking to think about what he’s carrying with him day by day.

-          And to come to one of the most important people from his long life and who helped to shape him into who he is now: Guizhong.

-          She was one of the people who taught him that his heart is capable of more than just living for his duty, that he doesn’t only have to live as the God of Martial Arts – they were not just ‘brawns and brain’ – they were a team that complemented and completed each other

-          and Guizhong (and consequently her death as well) pushed him to embracer the other sides of his personality as well. It doesn’t matter whether people see their relationship as platonic or romantic, because the impact she has left on him is the same – as someone who believed in his gentler, more caring side

-          Zhongli is also incredibly thoughtful and perceptive, seen in the way he talks - a very refined and elegant way with every word laced by the wisdom he has accumulated without it being overbearing or coming across as absolute with no room for doubts - about various important characters in Liyue right now – accurately pinpointing their strengths and weakness and how valuable they are to making the land he has protected for so long continue to prosper

-          for example when he talks about the Yuheng and that despite, no, because of her abrasive attitude towards his deeds as a good she is a gem amongst humans and one of the many people he places their trust in to take care of Liyue’s future in his stead. Or Yanfei, the young half-Adepti who despite never having entered a contract with him, or rather doesn’t even know of his true identity upholds order and contracts within Liyue which he praises and values

-          It shows how deeply he cares about this land and its people, believing in their strength to overcome everything even without him – which is one of his most defining traits – seen in the way he has guided humanity all these years and in the way the people of Liyue have faith in him, a faith that isn’t blind or caused by fear like with Decarabian, but true respect for all he has done for the people of this land.

-          to say he’s a blockhead who doesn’t think nor care about humans is completely wrong because his entire rule for the past millennia was centered around protecting mankind – yes, it has to be said that his methods and morals are outside normal human values but it has to be kept in mind that he is an immortal god and gods neither feel nor live like humans, they understand and perceive the world differently than humans

-          gods stand outside out world and that makes it harder for them to truly connect with the way humans live - and it is only after stepping down from his throne that he actually has the chance now to try and experience the life of mortals for himself, to see and live it for himself and not as the distant overseer that Rex Lapis was.

-          and while he may feel sadness over not being needed anymore, giving up his godhood is the freedom he chose for himself, it’s something he deserves after watching over mankind for so long and trying to keep balance between the world or mortals and supernatural being

-          being free, being allowed to be selfish and think of himself outside of being a god is something he’d never done before being so incredibly bound to duty, contracts and traditions as he is; but by now he truly believes that this is the age of men as the end of the age of gods is coming to its end and it’s a beautiful thing to see him grow beyond the boundaries he had set for himself the past thousands of years

-          though in all fairness, sometimes our beloved Ex-Archon can indeed be a little of a blockhead considering he dumped the entire world of Teyvat into a financial crisis by stopping the production of one of the most important catalysts for everyday life – something that may not unfold its consequences immediately of course

-          – and even forgot to lay aside a private fund of mora but that’s because he isn’t accustomed to normal human life at all, he is still learning and more than willing to expand his horizon despite the vast knowledge he’s already accumulated over years of his life – and in the end that’s what makes him such a brilliantly lovable man, am I right?

[buddielove]

Hi! I'm a gay fan of 911 and I have a question about the whole Buddie fandom. As much as I like Buck and Eddie, it's frustrating that a HUGE part of the fandom is pushing for these two characters to get together instead of putting energy into supporting Hen & Carla and Michael & Dave. Not to mention Carlos and TK in Lone Star. Can you explain to me the appeal of wanting these two men together? Wouldn't it be more interesting to see two heterosexual males just be able to bond in a non-toxic fashion? That's something we don't get to see often on television.

Hey! This is MAD long lmao I am so sorry! You caught me on a day I felt like talking! Also this took like a year to answer you lolololol. This does have a few ʻhot takesʻ so please be warned! So like in this essay....

So first I am also apart of the LGBTQIA+ community, so I do understand how it could come across as a fetish or being non supportive of the current canonically LGBTQIA+ characters, however I think a lot of the interest around Buddie and the want for them to be confirmed as a couple is how they are being written. Me personally I knew since s2 e1 Buck and Eddie were written not as rivals but as two people who would eventually become friends, but it wasn’t until the Christmas episode with the elf assuming Buck was Chris’s dad and Eddie’s partner that I was like ‘hold on!’ because I was really hoping Abbey would return and I didn’t see Eddie as a possible Buck live interest because of that. The elf’s comment wasn’t played off like most other shows would (think Dean and Sam arriving anywhere in Supernatural) it made me go back and look at the other episodes to see exactly how Buck and Eddie were being framed/written. And as we have moved into further seasons I think there has been a shift in how Buddie is being written, in s3 it was very much like two people progressing into a deeper friendship then the blood clot/lawsuit gets in the way and they both have to deal with emotions surrounding that, then Buck’s response to Eddie being trapped (we see how is he when Boddy is trapped in a fire WITH A GUNMAN, it’s emotional but not to the point is is with Eddie), even the love interests feel very pushed on us and there’s so little banter between Buddie about their gfs and how they feel about these new beginnings. It feels off, not like a friendship in the slightest, more like two people trying to force something and not wanting to deal with any other feelings. Then when Eddie gets shot and reveals Buck is Chris’s legal Guardian in the event Eddie dies, that’s huge, and he did this after only a year of knowing Buck (I have friends with kids. I’ve known one of them for FIVE years, I’m at their house every week, the kid calls me family. I’m person #10 on the list of ‘who gets my kid if I die’, not #1 lol) It just feels like it’s all building up to something, and people are getting tired of waiting for that something! We’re all emotionally tired from the past two years, and probably from many shows queerbaiting us and this is something that could happen, seems to be something the actors are ok with and the fans want. So why do they keep drawing it out. This isn’t about us demanding they ignore the chance to write a healthy platonic male friendship, or forcing two characters to be gay, it’s about holding the writers to what they’ve implied and seeing what could come of it.

Also think of it like this; If Buddie is confirmed it will still be a good example of a healthy friendship which then developed into something else, like Booth/Bones! Showing the natural progression of friendship to relationship that happens a lot in real life. It’s two men who previously (on screen at least) have only been with woman, but now they have an emotionally connection with someone which they then develop and explore. This could be 911’s first nontoxic depiction of two gay characters coming together, because sorry not sorry the canon couples aren’t perfect (which does humanize them) but they also reenforce harmful troupes that plaque the LGBTQIA+ community, which I’m sure you understand: TK was a drug addict, who only got with Carlos at first cause he was hot and sex was TK’s new addition (all gay men are sex addicts who do drugs and sleep with anything that moves). Carlos was ashamed and wanted to keep TK on the downlow (poc gay men want to pretend to be straight but have free access to gay sex). Hen cheated on Karen seemingly the first chance she got (lesbians can’t handle monogamy when pushed, and cheat on their long term partners). All known and documented troupes that happen far too often.

I’m not saying Buddie is some gay jesus ship that’s gonna save the entertainment industry but if done right it could prove to be one of the few healthy depictions of two men getting into a gay relationship we have. If they plan it out correctly, show us the relationship development, like they did with Maddie/Chim for example, Buddie could be used as a positive example of a gay fictional relationship (I really could go into depth about this. I probably should tbh).

As for not supporting Hen and KAREN, or Michael and DAVID, I think fans do support them! The writers don’t. If you read fanfics Henren and Michael/David are featured heavily in many fics, and ik some people might say ‘well they’re only there so Buddie can talk about their gay side!!’ but both these couples have their own fans and fanfic tags! They aren’t just plot devices in Buddie stories. There is a huge side of the fandom that supports Henren and wants to see more of them and their family. Same with Michael and David, during the episode where Michael and Bobby team up to find that plastic surgeon who was working illegally many people where ecstatic that we were getting more Michael/David content and that David was getting more than a couple lines. But sadly it seems like the writers only want to delve into these story lines when they need filler, they even miss opportunities to include these other LGBTQIA+ characters when it makes sense;

(Someone came for me about this but I am going to bring it up again)

When Chris is sad and wants more human connection, instead of bring Harry + Michael/David and Denny+Nia+Henren back into the picture (and yes I understood at the time the pandemic was bad (lmao still is!!), but all the actors at some point would have/had crossed over into each other’s ‘bubbles’, so ALL the actors would have been exposed to each other so getting the children together with adults they had ALREADY been with during shooting wouldn’t have been a super spreader event) but instead they brought in Ana after only two on screen dates and pretended like it was a logical thing for someone who’s up to that point been extremely careful with their child.

They really could have pushed the ‘118 is a family!’ message here and included the canonically gay supporting characters, and the lesbian main character(s) but they did not and instead chose to push the Ana/Eddie coupling even though they hadn’t properly developed it yet. The writers themselves don’t seem to care about developing their canonically gay characters and including them more than they have to but fans are continuously developing Henren and Michael/David with hc and fics.

I’d like to use your logic against you for a second, in s1 we have a very healthy, platonic friendship between Chim/Bobby but that got written out to the point they are more like boss/employee unless the scene calls for them to seem closer, we now have Bobby and Michael friendship but again we hardly see Michael. On Lone Star we have Owen and Judd as a really, really good example of a healthy male friendship but we see Judd more often with Tommy now then we do with Owen, and in s2 it’s overshadowed by Owen trusting Charlie from Twilight and constantly getting fucked over! Why can’t the writter just be happy with these happy, healthy, emotionally well male-male friendship they’ve already included and expand upon them. There’s enough drama because the show literally involves burning buildings and people’s lives being at risk from some natural/man made disaster ever 12 seconds. Does it need to have so much interpersonal conflict and male peacocking??