#I just noticed that every time I've drawn them so far I always add a little heart

[pamshindouu]

A little something I drew a while after finishing Survive's Truthful route last year. Ryo and Kunemon immediately became my favorite characters in the game, they're so sweet I often find myself crying just thinking about them... I'm ridiculous.

[woodohwanedandproud]

Mr Plankton

So. As I've mentioned before, the thoughts are thoughting ... a lot ... in a lot of ways, and so I need to get them out?

(This turned out even longer than I thought it would - and I tried to limit myself? Also, I don't want to spoil anyone, so it's all under a cut...)

There's so much to unpack but let's start of course by the expected gushing about our man, right :)

First, (not) to be obviously shallow, Mr. Plankton is just a giant Do Hwan praise party and I'm so thankful for it - every shot of him is just so brainstopping breathtaking *beautiful*. You bet he definitely always knows what he's doing and he's definitely always doing it so very well, duh; but the lightning and filming here are REALLY complementing (and complimenting!) - not even mentioning the unexpected level of fan service everywhere - but he sure works hard for that glorious body of his so the least I can do is take notice in thanks, right? (I had to wonder at some point if they had been yet again 'erasing' some of it like in Joseon Attorney - lol, the trouble of being too much of a hunk - him only, I swear; but i've been told that it's not the case - he stopped working out for a while while filming (thanks @pashminabitch). To be honest though, even when he is *like that*, apparently my eyes are still magnetically drawn to HIS FACE - I hadn't even noticed his birthmark (now i love it) until it was pointed out (thanks @mrwoodohwan): can you believe how RIDICULOUS I am for this man? Also, I have now A THING for HIS HANDS: massive !!! (On a side note: I'm collecting his body parts one by one apparently lol - besides the obvious all over glory of his face and build that no one can fail to notice right away of course, I got obsessed over his thighs in Bloodhounds (those low scrunchy moves!!), and now i truly noticed his hands?) But honestly? How did I fail to notice the appeal his hands have before? Especially as Yeong's trembling hand has been the definitive jaw-dropping smacking nail in my since irreversible never to go away adoration of his TALENT? (You know: that singular 'oh you' acting moment when you understand you're now irrevocably A FAN of someone's acting - and have to hunt down all their work and, and, and...) There has been that watch add too, but wihtout comparing size refrence I hadn't apparently realized until now how he truly has paws (and i mean that in the best way)?

So now YES let's talk about HIS ACTING. Because, as usual, I will never shut up about HIS ACTING. He truly is AN ACTOR WHO ACTS, right - his physique is just a bonus: it might hook you indeed, but what reels you in and pin you forever in his orbit is HIS TALENT - his mindblowing ability to express any and every human emotion and to make you FEEL. Just LOOK AT HIM ! And LISTEN TO HIM (and yes, his voice, too, grrr) ! The range - THE RANGE - yes yes thank you more more - AND HE'S SO GOOD HERE. He's really put his whole everything into Hae Jo and WOW does it show ! I so hope this opens even more doors for him; he's just so *entirely* talented. Give him all the parts - especially good ones (and if possible more of those multi layered voluntarily misread heartbreaking gem of a MESS of a character - because he DOES truly EXCEL at fleshing them out !! His Nam Seon Ho !! And yes now his Hae Jo!!) - please pretty please ! HE CAN DELIVER; ANYTHING - HE CAN ! From silly funny to soulshattering, from introvert to extravert, from raging to loving, from physical to metaphysical, from whatever to whatever ! He's just always SO plainly expressive, even when only through subtle micro expressions. He always acts with EVERYTHING he is and has; and it always hits you downright KO. THE FEELS ! THE FEELS ! (On a side note, he's truly and entirely ALWAYS DEVASTATINGLY EXPRESSIVE - no matter what the intended expression is, he just NAILS everything all the time, of course - but I'm starting to think that *his acting signature* as far as *I* am concerned might be HIS SMILES. I mean, I won't ever shut up of course about HIS (thousand ways of) CRYING(S), nor about literally anything about the ever perfection of any of his acting choices that never fail to punch me right in the feels (from comedy to physique work to heartbreak), but... he has such a wide wild array of smiles, from blinding sunshine to obliterating sadness to incendiary promise of doom to irresistible positive confidence to all encompassing glowing inner peace to... EVERYTHING - he really can express anything and everything just with one smile (because he doesn't just smile with his mouth but with his whole face and even his whole body; and it always feels entirely natural) - he smiles when he's happy, he smiles when he's sad, he smiles when he's in pain, he smiles when he's angry, he smiles when he's flirty, he smiles when he's threatening, he smiles when he's dying (!!!), he smiles when - HE SMILES. And as if that wasn't enough: all his characters have like their own brand of special smiles too... (In order of appearance in my life: Yeong's smiles are not Eun Seob's are not Seon Ho's are not Han Soo's are not Gun Woo's are not Min Joon's are not Hae Jo's (I'm still working on his older roles - I stumbled upon HIM mid 2022). But yeah... How does he even do that? I am IN AWE, I swear ! He has a thousand ways to cry too (even without tears imo by the way), but his smiles just always feel particularly *unique* to each of his character, to me. And allow me to mention too while I'm busy his overall INSANE eyebrows work. And well, once more (and forever): HIS HANDS (meaning the way he uses them to show what's going on inside this time - I won't repeat myself and mention Yeong's trembling hand, but Seon Ho's hands at his first kill? Hae Jo's hands during the hospital revelation?) But yeah... just EVERYTHING - everything he does is just LETHAL GOOD level anyway...) But to come back strictly to Hae Jo: he is a hell of a character; and Do Hwan truly succeeded in impersonating him. The layers! The unfiltering! (even when there are filters - Hae Jo IS filtering A LOT, don't get me wrong; but compared to several of his characters who tend to want/need to try to bottle up EVERYTHING (and again, THE TALENT, then - to let you see not only the wished perception but also what's hidden under it anyway), Hae Jo is almost (at least sometimes) an open book - and what a feast it is to see Do Hwan free to have a blast with it when those moments come!) It's even one of my favourites of his roles now :)

On to the show?

First, I'm so thankful it delivered what the first scene promised. I was ready to hurt from the premise, and so I wanted to hurt; and hurt badly. But I was still half expecting the show to pull some unrealistic magical recovery - even at the end of the last ep. I was so relieved and satisfied when the end credits started to roll and it hadn't - a total wreck of course, but a good wreck. I can't believe it's labelled a rom-com (and again i'm SO happy it ISN'T). Not only because of THE MASSIVE HURT, but also because even though the romance aspect is definitely present, to me it's not really what the show is about - it's SO MUCH MORE, and again, I'm glad Do Hwan got the opportunity to be this kind of not exactly (but in some ways yes) antimodel but always so much more LAYERED character than the 'standard' romcom part. I wish he could have gotten his teeth even more into the horrendous sadness and wrench our hearts even more (I don't even mean by crying - no matter how gutwrenching WELL he always does that too - but he's actually SO good he can be gutwrenching even just simply staring into nothing or whatever, right); but the show kept too upbeat in general for it and I understand why - and it really works (also, in a way, it makes it HIT even more when the show DOES get in this direction, so it's not even really a complaint!)

Then, I LOVED the traumas, the issues, the unreliable self narrator thing, the lack of communication / miscommunication thing(s), the lack of understanding from lack of information not only between characters but also for us, because we don't have yet the whole perspective and pick up rocks of hints underway, the hurt, the lost families and the found families and the self-chosen families and so many LAYERS relationwise between the characters. Love works downwards - and that can be true (it is for me, because I had/have wonderful parents/grandparents; and they are the ones who taught me love, indeed, from day one). But love also works upwards and sideways, of course, and even if Hae Jo doesn't (want to) see it for a long time, we as viewers get to see it and so plainly :) It is in the end a truly HUMAN show, about real people, with their qualities AND THEIR FLAWS, with their best and their worst. We're made of greys. It feels REAL. I watch shows to FEEL - and Mr. Plankton definitely served.

The show always balances between fun and serious, and yes of course i did laugh, and a lot actually, but to me the show truly wins when the fells take the upper hand. The show imo was at its best when it toed the line between silly and heartbreaking. The potato girl and the mushroom guy. We come out of the same freezer. John Na's hand blocking Eo Heung's view while he cries. The escape from the hospital because Hae Jo doesn't want to die under a *$!%&!$ ceiling. That damn four leaves clover.

What I didn't really adhere to though was the 'gang chase threat/comedy' arc. It adds imo nothing to the plot - the bad guys could (and should?) have gone chasing after the woman and the money, instead of behind Hae Jo's sorry ass?? And most parts of it felt to me either unrealistic or too obviously made to be weirdly funny - and I was like, whatever, I buy it if you say I must buy it - but why?? (even though not gonna lie all the inhabited island moments WERE meaningful and I LOVED any minute of those - but, even without any involvement from the gang, Jae Mi could still have fallen or whatever and hurt herself just as badly while being saved by the shoe instead of taking a mess wound, and it could have still been 'on Hae Jo's conscience' by accident (falling bad and impaling herself on something or whatever while she was running away from him after he (mentally) pushed her away?) I can't help but wish they would have done something else with all that screen time. *SIGH* (On the other hand, if you cast Do Hwan why not use his amazing sportive/fighting skills, I guess, of course (he CAN do anything, truly), but that whole arc just felt 'cheap' to me?)

About Hae Jo's quest: I was expecting for him to find his sperm donor had died long ago. I love what the show came up with even more. Especially as you can see it two ways - and both are awesome. If number 2 is his father it's maddening and painful because let's be honest he's a total jerk, yet he lives while... yep; if number 2 isn't and Hae Jo abandons the quest because he's realized there is no quest necessary to start with because the father he needs closure with is, well, his father, i just really love that take - growth AND heartbreak, right, AAAHHHHHHH ! (And when Hae Jo finally gets back 'home' and tries to tell himself it's now allright even as he realizes that this isn't home anymore because it's over a decade too late? - as his bed doesn't feel comfortable anymore no matter how much he tries to shift? You can reconcile with the child you were, but you can't ever go back home after leaving as he did? AAAHHHHHH ! And then Jae Mi comes to kidnap him back AAAHHHH again, gold reversal)

I have mixed feelings over Jae Mi, because on the one hand she has a lot of luggage, and I respect that. But I still think she is on the whole quite selfish generally - and I get where it comes from and I don't really blame her, but looking forward and looking TO OTHERS instead of always backwards and inwards might help, you know? I also don't think she was actually in love with Eo Heung - more like she was searching for warmth and security (and does he provide indeed !, so totally understandable ! ; but I can't help but feel their relation would have been unbalanced) so I can't judge Hae Jo too hard for coming in between. Jae Mi definitely has her moments though indeed - my favourite being her confessing that she walked away at that time because she wanted him to stop her - there's guts in that admission, chapeau (their break-up was so miscommunication/not interpreting the signals right on both sides I'm like why did you two idiots did this to yourselves, you were so cute and so obviously head over heels (and still are) - but that's real, actually, and that's why it hits, every time, no matter how many times we get back to that moment- AAAHHHH) And the noise bite - go girl, I agree !

But Hae Jo and Jae Mi? I BELIEVED in their love. I really did. They sold it 1000%. All the time. In the flashbacks. In the present. I BELIEVED. and I FELT. Do I feel that Hae Jo loves her more than she loves him, yes - because she is imo more self-centered and less giving than he is (explainable from her past; and it's good to see her at least START to grow as time goes by). But she loves him - truly and obviously. And she makes him happy - she does. Not all relation are 50/50 on the lifting, but as long as both are actually willing to lift at least some, right... They still honestly feel like true *partners* to me - both doing things FOR the other, and proactively; both to each other depending on the moment a wall they can lean on, a hug they can find comfort in, and a hand pulling them forward when needed; both willing to go in the same direction - and to go there together (no matter how shortly - PAIN !!!!)

I love Eo Heung too (honestly, he is the kindest sweetest ever), but his love for Jae Mi to me feels more selfless and caring, father like, than partner like, though; so I wasn't rooting for him in his Jae Mi debacle. Also there were moments I couldn't help but feel he was a bit over stereotyped - especially in a show where all other characters are imo really fleshed out (not including the mob gang only there imo for (unnecessary) comic relief indeed). I'm really glad he seems to be at a good place by the end, I wish him the best :) And his growing caring/understanding of Hae Jo :)

John Na is a surprise gem (and could have been used more as (necessary) comic relief than the gang imo). So very few lines yet so ever present - and always so ON POINT. Also, I have his whole background headcanonned :) And when he gets 'adopted' at the end (my heart!)

And Kkari is such a cutie :)

The music is honestly good overall. And yes : The Town! But California Dreaming? It just fits. My jaw dropped and my chest tightened the first time it came up at the end of ep1 and recognition hits. JUST SO PERFECT. The catchy yet melancholic tune. The longing sadness and the hope. The need/missing to belong. The oldie so 'memories calling' vibe. Thanks to the one who made that choice because WOW DOES IT WORK !!!

Lastly, I hesitated before mentioning those last bits because I can't even believe this is what I come up with at the end of the day, and I don't want to upset anyone or whatever - but it IS what I feel?

Kdrama's imo are particularly good at being profondly honest and uncaring about polishing anything in any way. There is no glazing over, being about character's agendas nor over possibly hard historical facts (brutal honesty instead of covering up in misplaced cultural heritage shame - and that's imo the best way indeed to deal with problematic past). (So even when I'm SICK I'm somehow on some level still like in awe because wow yes they dared? Am I looking at Vincenzo? I am looking at Vincenzo - even if I am never going to watch Vincenzo ever again.) But yeah, to me, kdrama's are simply human, basically, and there's sometimes even BRAVERY in the way they sometimes dare to go where others just... don't and won't ever.

And here? It's like they took on purpose so many cringe tropes and turned them into something real and true and beautiful anyway? I was surprised by the way my thoughts and feelings over the characters evolved ep by ep - it was like being repeatedly slapped in the face and forced to reconsider carved into marble stuff even if I didn't even want to?

I've got so many thoughts/feels for so many characters it's like i'm perpetually rotating them in my head like in a microwave :)

Imo, Hae Jo isn't the typical 'thinking he is entitled' asshole who can't take no for an answer he seems to be at the beginning. He came to the kidnapping plot because he has just come to play the part for that woman in the beginning, and he is doing it in fact because he believes it's in Jae Mi's best interest after having witnessed her emotional display at the hospital. Does he do it for himself too - because he needs her to face what's ahead; because he wants a last ray of sunshine in his life; yes - of course, indeed. But I do believe he would never have even come to the idea and even less actually come for Jae Mi if he had stumbled upon Jae Mi and Eo Heung walking down the streets happy together. And if she had gone back to Eo Heung he would have let her be. Also, by taking the blame on him that way, he ensures that she stays in fact spotless - and so if she truly wants to leave and go back, no one will be able to blame her for anything. The kidnapping is really, in that very specific case, a caring gesture, in fact. And even as he chases her; he never pushes. And no matter what she says (and does she say hurtful things - telling someone you wish for him to die is like the rudest of rudest thing to say no matter what - I get that it's intended because we know he is actually dying so we're slapped in the face anytime she shouts something like this out, but still, girl, that's just not how anyone is supposed to talk to anyone no matter what, and no matter what you have been through - also: when someone is fainting around it is generally NOT a good sign, i understand she wanted to be in denial (i guess), but still, it took her so long to actually *worry*?) she clings to him, and right from the beginning - she's clutching at him for dear life even when she's cursing him in that field right from the beginning, and she really isn't willing in fact to go away - when she could, let's be real. Her fighting him is more about fighting herself than anything, and she is actually and actively playing along. And when Hae Jo realizes he actually has won her back and kind of realizes then what he will put her through and tries to push her away again and that she says that this time she'll stay ? AAAHH !! Anyway, even when he does the most seemingly awful hurtful things - like dumping her at her mother's house - he's in fact not being awful (it was a gift to start with because she has always wanted to know about her birth(day etc); and he had thought Eo Heung would get to her (because he knows he cannot take care of her for long himself anyway) - and then Eo Heung comes to him; bless!) I'm not saying he's always right. And even less a model of perfection we should aspire to or long to neither be nor meet. He's a MESS. But in the end, aren't we all? At least, in his sometimes tangled seemingly wrong ways, he tries to do right?

And Bong Suk? I'm a mom, okay - A MOM. Who needs perfume? I was already like huh? BUT He's going to be my son or my lover? - those two words just shouldn't ever EVER be in the same sentence, I'm sure they heard me shout at my TV from the other side of town. Cringest of the cringest to me - so much more than the kidnapping bit which I could contextualize in that precise context. And guess what. I firmly believe now that she truly WAS Hae Jo's jackpot - and the one who loved him THE BEST out of everyone. And I'm like: how did THAT happen? But she was truly here, always, FOR him, no matter what. She took him in whenever necessary, she let him go whenever he wanted/needed to go, and she even pushed him whenever she had to - whenever it was in HIS best interest; all the while never demanding anything for any of it. she is THE ONE he knows he can come to - always; and for anything. she is the one he always willingly opens to, and the one he willingly *breaks* to (and *chooses* to break to - when Jae Mi holds him he has already started falling apart / when Bong Suk confronts him he could still have escaped the room). AND I LOVE HER FOR IT. (Do I even believe she might be the one he gave his virginity to; because she was safe and he wanted to build confidence or whatever - and not because there ever was anything romantic between the two of them - and she went along FOR HIM even knowing it would probably end up hurting her more than she would want (There is just too much nonchanlance and open ease and familiarity about the way he walks around her place and gets in her bed practically naked for no physical history at all between them - even if nothing more than just laying next to each other happens anymore and for years imo - but their skins still do find comfort in touching each other, obviously (also, you bet he is an ass and he does enjoy making her flustered whenever he needs a distraction from his troubles or/and self boost by teasing her even as they both know it won't go actually anywhere further than teasing, and she just lets him do it because she knows it's his way of asking for a hug or somehing and she can't ever be mad at him anyway to begin with) - and I'm not only okay with it but even grateful? Coming from where I started? Again: how did that happen?) Just to be clear in case it isn't, I do not ship them - at all. They are NOT partners, at all. There is definitely a caretaker and a caretakee, no partner balance. But it's not at all like she's his Mom or whatever - he had a Mom and she's dead. It's just, they have their own thing, and it works - it really works; but only because it is them.

(And don't hit me; I hit myself hard enough already?)

Finally, I get it's a show so I shouldn't take it that seriously, but I can't help but feel that 1) they shouldn't have had Hae Jo drive around so much himself, knowing he had a ticking bomb in his head - it is not safe for others - so that blatant lack of care feels way more cringe to me than the kidnapping that sort of isn't. 2) please, do not make Do Hwan smoke. Not only because I care about his lungs, but because I care about everyone's lungs in general and him smoking is like an advert for it because, yes, he makes it look sexy (but then, he makes everything look sexy, right, so it's not his fault, lol) - and smoking just isn't sexy (and it stinks!). 3) use salads intead of fish for silly fights. don't waste any food, generally; but if you have to then at least use not living food for it? (Am I petty? I am. Still... A minimum of respect for what dies so you can eat?)

So.

Do I believe story-wise Mr. Plankton could have been even *better*. Yes. Are the parts I didn't like much still in fact working as intended. Yes. And am I forever carrying all of them and especially Hae Jo in my heart anyway. YES !!

So. FAIR WARNING: I will reblog Mr. Plankton EVERYTHING !!!

(And now, on to a rewatch? (skipping the gang bits))

@mctna2019 : thank you so much for pointing out the reason Jae-mi was kidnapped by him. this is what I thought from the beginning. in his own way, he wanted to make her happy before his death. not to take Jae-mi for himself, but to show her a more correct way, and this led to both Eo-houng and Jae-mi finding their way. it was so beautiful.

=> YOU ARE SO RIGHT AND I LOVE HOW YOU PUT HIS !!! HUGS:)

Last addition:

I'm truly not here to fight with anyone and I simply won't. If Do Hwan's fantastic job doesn't convince you of Hae Jo's actual (also) selfless love for Jae Mi then nothing will anyway I guess. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm forever a proud member of the Hae Jo's defense squad !! Hoist the colours !! Let's raise our flag !!

(Also, prayer circle starting now about Do Hwan getting so many more rich roles to play in the future!!)

[professional-jaywalker]

Every year there's fledglings in my patio.

------------------

This coincides with when my brain would see fit to find a partner and nest. This is sometimes strong, sometimes not so much, but always a somewhat disconcerting time. I've tried to fill it with a variety of occupations. Some trying to appeal to the bird, with fake eggs, fake nest, fake courting stories drawn and written, some to try the human equivalent, a game of dress up and dates that usually go nowhere.

And, like clockwork, hatchlings show up in my nest, technically. But they're not mine. Not my own specie even, but just close enough for a pang of familiarity. It used to be blackbirds, a quiet few with a disgruntled face. Now it's redstarts, the parents aggressively calling out my presence every time I dare enter their vicinity.

It's a strange feeling. They're not mine. A part of my brain, predatory bird, opportunist, recognizes these as easy prey, especially the redstarts with their noisy, flighty nature compared to the blackbird hatchlings, who mostly stayed still when they spotted me.

But they're still hatchlings in my nest, and I cannot help but get frustrated I cannot help. Worse, any interaction, even looking at them, signifies stressing out both the fledgling and their parents. It's like a sly mockery of the fact I cannot have my own brood. So close, yet so blatant in the fracture between us through every possible reaction.

All I can do is watch from afar. I hear them chitter and chirp still in the nest, out of reach. I catch a glimpse of them on the ground, panicking as I walked into view, and make a mental note to feed the dog inside. I quietly mourn the hatchlings that don't make it. I don't get sad, really. It's a fact of nature some die. It is more of an observation, almost a critic of the adults in my innermost self, jealousy for not being able to do it myself. I celebrate the ones who make it, too, watch them grow and learn to feed and search, watch them from the window follow their parents steps. I thrive in seeing them become a true bird, living vicariously through seeing them acquire some of the skills I feel in my blood but cannot replicate in my flesh.

I can't shake the feeling of wrongness though. They're still so differently shaped, so foreign acting. Like a coyote seeing a dachshund, there is a familiarity overrun by strangeness. Too small, too flighty. Head shape wrong, sounds wrong. Adds that disconcerting prey drive that never lets me attach myself too much.

It is bittersweet. Not mine but mine. Too far to truly recognize but too close to not notice.

[dans-den]

Oppenheimer Review

Hey what's going on everyone! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing the Oppenheimer movie by Christopher Nolan.

Now this movie is already unique because instead of focusing on WWII or just a movie about a bomb or two, this movie focuses on the man himself, J Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was the Physicist who created the first nuclear weapon and the man behind the Manhattan Project. I imagine that not too many people know too much about him and only know him for making the two bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ushered in a new era of weaponry that would shape the decades to come. I know there was another movie from 1989 about the bombs creation although even then they didn't focus too much on Oppenheimer before or after his involvement. When I heard this was a three hour movie, I was skeptical if they could fill in that run time and not drag it out, but after the movie, three hours felt like nothing because there was so much to dive into and it feels like there was so much more they wanted to go into but there wasn't enough runtime.

Let me start off by saying, the cast. was. STACKED! The list of acting powerhouses goes on and on, hell there are actors in this movie that I didn't even know were in this movie till I saw the credits! Where do I even start? Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, Josh Peck.....JOSH PECK WAS IN THIS MOVIE?! Each character had an integral role to play in this film and I thought Some of their characters were just there for background because some of them hardly have any lines to speak, but then my expectations were subverted in the second half of the film. Cillian as Oppenheimer was phenomenal and I think brought Oppenheimers character out well like we really saw what it was truly like to meet the real J Robert Oppenheimer. Robert Downey Jr crushed his role as Lewis Strauss, people have said that he can't act beyond his Iron man role but this movie disproves those claims. Again, he's playing someone with charisma but he's playing that charisma with an sinister twist and it works. I'm trying not to give too much away as you can see but so much happens in this 3 hour movie.

I really don't have any major complaints for this movie. I guess my only real complaint is at the first fifteen minutes of the movie when we're introduced to his backstory. People say Nolan always has audio mixing issues in his films and I've never noticed before with the Batman trilogy but I definitely noticed it here. I barely understood what he was saying in the first fifteen minutes but other than that I have no real complaints. I do wish the pacing was a tad slower because everything happens so fast or add more time to the movie but I'm sure they didn't want to make it Godfather long.

You know after watching this film, I think we now have a better understanding of the man himself. I know there are books but it's different when you see someone portray the person and seeing how they would act in real life. I will also say that this man isn't completely good because there are a lot of complex things about him like his narcissism, his methodical thinking, his promiscuous affairs, etc. But that's what I enjoy about biopics, we learn more about the person and how the person was far from perfect. Oppenheimer is no exception, he may have been a genius and gifted but those same traits would turn out to be his undoing as he did create a weapon that can quite literally destroy worlds and he had to live with that. I'm sure his colleagues felt the same way but he was the face and mastermind behind it all so I'm sure he got plenty of mixed feelings from the general public after the war. In the end, he carried the burden of his creation with him for the remainder of his days and all we can do is learn from someone like him how far you're willing to go for results.

Overall, I enjoyed this film, I was drawn into it and enjoyed almost every moment. I even feel I learned a few things which I think is always a plus.

rating this I would give it:

9.5/10

I highly recommend this film for all to see (though there is some nudity so watch out for the kids) and I feel this may be one of the best films of the year if not the best of the year. I know spiderverse fans are ready to come at me. That's all I have to say, now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for the Barbie movie.

See ya!

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 17 ARYA III (pages 227-235)

Arya experiences a betrayal on the road to (not) Riverrun.

-

On the morning of the third day, Arya noticed that the moss was growing mostly on the wrong side of the trees. "We're going the wrong way," she said to Gendry, as they rode past an especially mossy elm. "We're going south. See how the moss is growing on the trunk?"

Y'all need a compass. I mean, I assume a compass would work in Westeros. From what I understand, there is a 'curtain of light' or something further north of the Wall, deep in the Lands Of Always Winter, which I'm pretty sure is an aurora.

Auroras Borealis and Australis are formed when sun particles get dragged by the Earth's magnet poles into clusters and interact with stuff in the atmosphere, which suggests that there is a magnetic pole to the north of the Wall, so a compass should work. If they have the tech, which they shouuuu... how old are magnetic compasses? Google says the Chinese circa 206 BCE, so magnetic compasses are roughly 2200 years old. Cool Beans. But also if Yi Ti is Generic Fantasy Ancient Asia, then even if the Maesters didn't steal the tech, it should be around. ... who wants to tell me there's been at least one mention of a compass in the books thus far and I've just forgotten?

Telling Harwin would be almost like telling her father and there were some things that she could not bear having her father know.

Oh that came for my feels. ... now the question is: will Harwin live long enough to pass the information of Arya's survival on at a critical time?

...Harwin catching Arya up like. That's for giving us backstory, I appreciate it, but also don't add to Arya's trauma? Did you need the details about the arm chopping? I suppose it's kind of bonding, for them to swap stories, reconnect, what connection there is.

Arya was sucking the last bit of meat off a wing when one of the villagers turned to Lem Lemoncloak and said, "There were men through here not two days past, looking for the Kingslayer."

Lemon(cloak) = 🥛

She dreamt of home; not Riverrun, but Winterfell. It was not a good dream, though. She was alone outside the castle, up to her knees in mud. She could see the grey walls ahead of her, but when she tried to reach the gates every step seemed harder than the one before, and the castle faded before her, until it looked more like smoke tan granite. And there were wolves as well, gaunt grey shapes stalking through the trees all around her, their eyes shining. Whenever she looked at them, she remembered the taste of blood.

working through stuff, or visions = 🥛

I am going to count this one, just because, even knowing that it works as a vision because I know Arya's path doesn't lie towards Winterfell (yet), it also works as an expression of her anxiety and frustration over the fact that no matter how far she travels, she never seems to get closer to home or safety, like something is dragging her back every struggling step of the way. There's always something that stops her from making measurable, sustained progress. You really could interpret this one either way. It's been a bit since we've had a dream that's so on the fence about whether it's one or the other.

... The Betrayal!!!

... Run Arya, Run!!!

She knew the fight was done. "You ride like a northman, milady," Harwin said when he'd drawn them to a halt. "Your aunt was the same. Lady Lyanna. But my father was master of horse, remember." The look she gave him was full of hurt. "I thought you were my father's man." "Lord Eddard's dead, milady. I belong to the lightning lord now, and to my brothers."

Poor Arya. Jon and Sansa both had a thing going on with allies (temporary and false) which I think I commented was a theme running through those few chapters with Arya and Dany as well, but those were newly met. I did remember from the show where Arya's path was going (in the more immediate) but I didn't think it would come directly from Harwin. The betrayal.

"- He has an army all his own, and many lords bend the knee. The smallfolk only have us."

Urgh, this series! Let me be angry at some one for a change! let it be simple and uncomplicated "this person did a shitty thing and is Bad." But noooo, GRRM is all about the complexity. More layers than an onion. Nuance and motivations.

No, no, I get it. Sadly, even though he's betraying Arya's trust here, he's one of the few still fighting for the smallfolk. Goodness knows the kings and their armies have stopped giving a shit... if they gave one to begin with.

She had been better off as Squab. No one would take Squab captive, or Nan, or Weasel, or Arry the orphan boy. I was a wolf, she thought, but now I'm just a stupid little lady again.

I mean, they were all captives, that was a pretty significant thing that happened. Mmm, more identity stuffs for Arya. comparing her freedom in false identities to the fact that it's her core identity which has her in trouble in the first place, add that shake up with her core identity from a few chapters back, I'm not going to be surprised if she attempts to - ah right, House of Black and White and "becoming No-one." No surprise about it, she literally does attempt to reject her core identity at a future point.

[cosmicyeen]

Sudden desire to ramble out of nowhere BUT I've just come across a conversation people are having about AI images, and how some artists are feeling demotivated because they'll never be "as good as the AI," and that was a shock to me. I don't think I've ever looked at AI art with any kind of jealousy, nor with disappointment at not meeting that "level," even though the images are otherwise aesthetically good to look at.

So of course I wondered, why didn't I have that reaction to what is objectively technically proficient imagery? The desire to have my art look a certain way has always been with me, especially when I was learning as a kid, and admittedly I do still look at others' art with envy at times.

But, by default my brain never looked at AI art with anything other than the depth I might look at a billboard ad with. I see more or less pleasing images, and nothing to prop them up.

This isn't to say I think I have some superior viewpoint here; if AI art had been a thing when I started out (or even if i had just not found a different mindset around art as a whole) I likely would have felt that same kind of demotivation.

I'm also not saying art needs to mean something explicit or profound every time, the whole "AI images as "real" art" thing is a fascinating discussion imo, but whether one considers it art is also not really relevant to my point here.

This is more an explanation of a mindset I didn't realize I had been building, and it's kind of nice to look back and realize how my mind's changed over the years I've been drawing. There were probably two main points where this happened.

For one thing, the things I value in art are different, and thus my taste has changed. I used to wish my art could be hyperrealistic, and this is fine as a goal of course, but it wound up being a goal I drifted from over time as I found less and less satisfaction with just repeating images in front of me. I noticed realism suddenly having value to me not for what it perfectly reiterates, but for how much time and raw skill it takes to get to that point. Nonetheless, I wanted to keep going, to make my *own* images, to see what rules I could break and reinvent for myself.

Same goes for the art of others; I value the skill I can see behind each line, and I wonder what each stroke and dot and color choice means and comes from, what they choose to add and bend and leave out instead of just mimic.

The other, and main underpinning of this mindset finally happened when I got into spinning and fiber arts. I used to prefer the look of chunky "homespun" yarn and weavings, not understanding the appeal of the otherwise-visually-boring-threads of uniform thickness I would see. But, after I got into it and saw how much time and raw skill it takes to spin yarn, and I saw others share their skeins of a uniformity and lightweightness that I still havent gotten near skill-wise, the once uninteresting fiber arts began to suddenly become so much more interesting to me.

Chunky and art yarns are still good, don't get me wrong, but they're just the beginning now. Lace, something I never thought twice about, suddenly became a baffling complexity of knots and loops.

Embroidery, defined not just by the final image, but by every stab of the needle and pull of the thread.

A uniform white rag, now known by the patience needed to clean every fiber, spin every thread to such a light weight, and align it all perfectly on a loom.

Every line in a drawing, a shape someone has drawn a thousand times before, honing muscle memory and understandings of balance and color and contrast in both conscious and unconscious ways. As far as I'm concerned, the imperfect circle someone has drawn a thousand times is more interesting than the perfect one, and every perfect circle takes on a life of its own when used as a tool and not an aspirational goal.

Somewhere along the line, I began seeing a kind of awe in artwork that I can only describe as an awareness of the crystallization of time. And I think that's why AI images don't give me any sense of insecurity as an artist

[casspurrjoybell-22]

Master - Chapter 45 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

- Lincoln -

"The castle will be full in a week's time if things continue at this rate, but it's for the best," Malcolm says beside me, keeping his tone hushed while he eyed me as I did the map. "We need to get a better handle on the ground situation before we are overpowered."

"I agree," Alexander adds from my left, her stance firm as always. "We've bolstered our numbers as best as we can, it is time to take the fight to them."

"We've secured a blood flow strong enough to support us a decade if the war came to that. The castle is barricaded as is all the land under our clan's name now," Malcolm continues, his breaths hasty with his insistence. "We are ready to face them Lincoln."

I could feel their eyes on me, all of their eyes on me, Malcolm, Alexander, 'The Elf' and the rest of my council, Fae, Sterling and Karios but I kept my focus on the piece of cartography before me.

It was vast and compact all at once.

Wenquie steps closer, sliding into the conversation as he leans against the nearest wall.

"It would give us better standing amongst the few remaining clans to see that we're making proper, enforced moves," he adds thoughtfully. "It displays power and confidence, two things that would make them more inclined to support us."

The remaining members of my council, all hum their agreement, adding words of wisdom before they quiet once more and wait for my response.

I was focused on the map, this map of this world that was so... underwhelming.

Everything was smaller now.

I'd realized time ago that the world, this planet of ours, was beginning to feel smaller.

Almost as if it was caving in but I hadn't truly taken notice of that feeling until now.

Time ago, when I stood before this map, it was like I was examining the entire universe instead of just one planet.

Earth had felt massive initially, with so many places to see and things to discover.

That was before the lines had been drawn all over it, creating borders made of greed.

And now... now, it all seemed so small.

Smaller still with all the dotted areas that marked Diablos' territories.

I knew he'd expanded his reach, I just never realized by how much.

The little red pins that littered every inch of the map showed his reign, his terror, in full and he was quite literally everywhere.

In every continent, in every city, town and crevice, his mark on this world was a bone-deep one.

"We've grown from where you left us. We are far stronger than you can imagine, the deals we share run deep, the path we've dug for ourselves through the mud will not be washed away."

There was much truth to Diablos' rambles after all.

"I've examined every scenario and every outcome I could see," Malcolm presses with unwavering confidence. "We can plan for everything, as we always have, we will still win this."

"I know," I say immediately because I could never be doubtful about that.

I had, in fact, agreed with everything they'd said, to the letter.

I was of the same mind... it was just that something was making me feel uneasy.

I didn't know what it was, whether it was just a feeling, instincts or paranoia but there was something inside of me that recommended patience.

"Then what is it suckling," 'The Wench' drawls from somewhere in the room. "Your silence is hardly inspiring."

I don't bother glaring at the Elf, his existence was insulting enough.

"Lincoln."

I finally look away from the map of our coming battlegrounds and to Malcolm stood, where there was confidence before, there was now worry as well,

"Why are you hesitating now? When we've come so far?"

"It is just..." I take a breath. "I feel as if this is all too easy," I confess to the room, causing several pairs of eyes to widen all around.

"Easy?" Malcolm repeats with only confusion now and a deep frown to support it.

"Have you forgotten all the hunts we've been on?" Wenquie asks disbelievingly, no longer leaning on the wall he stared at me with his hands gripping his cocked hips. "Or all the times we've had to put lives on the line to build this clan, ours included?"

"The negotiations," Karios supplies.

"The secrecy," 'The Plank of Wood' includes unhelpfully.

"It has not been easy," Malcolm concludes for the group.

"But it hasn't been hard either," I reply gently, knowing they were rightfully tired of remaining relatively stagnant.

"We've put lives on the line, yes but we haven't lost any," I point out with a glance at Wequie. "We've had to be exceptionally smart with our negotiations and careful with who we allow in but we've weeded out all the bad fruit so far."

Weeded was a very nice way of putting beheading.

"It's been challenging, yes, I admit that. But in the same breath, tell me you don't find it all not nearly as challenging as it should be."

When only silence follows after my words, I relax in my place, satisfied to know that I was making some measure of sense.

"So you wish to wait longer Pylen?" Sterling questions with a grimace of clear displeasure.

As our appointed battle commander, I was sure that Sterling was more than tired of being stuck in the castle walls instead of being on the outskirts, slicing through our enemies.

"No," I answer instantly. "I agree that we need to act and that we are in a good position to do so, I just think we need to be careful about it. As you all have stated, we've put in a great deal of work to get to this point and I won't let it all go to waste because of negligence."

"That is wise," Alexander replies with a nod. "We are a smaller force, so being more careful is essential."

"Aye," Sterling agrees through his thick Scottish accent. 

Hums and nods of agreement come faster this time as understanding passes between us all.

"Shall Sterling and I plan the first attack?" Fae asks, her nerves only showing a bit through her words and while she tried to hide it, it wasn't necessary. 

I'd picked Fae because she was tactical as she was kind, she was the heart needed in war rooms to ensure that darkness and violence didn't reign unprovoked.

"That won't be necessary," I state as I take a step closer to the map. "I've already made one."

[coolcreations]

Ask game: 16, 20 and 22?

Hello :)))))) alright, asking game: round two! I also wrote a ridiculous amount here just for three questions X'D hope you enjoy the ramble. Thanks for asking, friend :D

16: my favourite media to work with when drawing traditionally would have to be biros. Just, scratchy old biros, they're the best. You can shade with them, you can make really nice dark and crisp lines with them. The textured sounds they make on paper oughh. Epic. I prefer them over pencils.

Plus, any mistakes I make with them I learn to live with. It's been good practice. When drawing digitally I'm always so sooo hooked up on every gross and icky detail I notice, and I end up undoing or just deleting a lot of my works (since it's easier to do that than worrying about leaving erase marks on your saturated paper). With biro, nah, you live with it. You work with it. And, it actually may turn out pretty neat :]

20: A piece from this year that I'm really proud of would have to be...this digital painting of the romantic flight scene from HTTYD! I went with realism and tried to get as close to the reference as possible, and I love colour theory so working on the different shades and colours and lighting and everything iconic about the sunset scene was really fun. It also helped me deal with the loss of my dog as I started working on it shortly before he passed away. I'll add a screenshot of the WIP so far at the end!

Last but not least, 22. What inspires me? I'm not really sure! I doubt I have a concrete answer to this. I sure love a bunch of movies and artists that I've taken inspiration from and learnt from... Honestly, and this is going to sound soppy and kind of cliché, but I've taken inspiration from a lot of things throughout my life. Whether they've been from old Pinterest, boards or incredible scenes from my favourite films or series, I've witnessed and enjoyed a lot of amazing beauty from other creators that has helped me create my own style.

Hmm, nature and the abstract and absurd in it is also a bit inspiration to me, but it's hardly reflected in my works. I'll have to learn to unleash a bit more weirdness into my art hehe.

Thanks for reading if you took the time to :D and thanks for participating in the ask game!! These questions are great, they've seriously helped me to reflect on my expression in my art. I should share more here, maybe

Favourite piece I've made this year:

(not sure if this is even the most recent draft of it, but either way I am extremely proud of it. Drawn with trackpad?!?!)

[bookwyrminspiration]

Do you have any thoughts on the amount of italics in Legacy? I haven’t really seen anyone talk about this, which makes sense because who wants to have a conversation about italics but the sheer amount of italics in Legacy made it a bit more of a distressing reading experience for me. (Also for clarification, this isn’t against Shannon or anything. I don’t think having a lot of italics is necessarily a bad thing, it’s just someone’s writing style.) Keeper does frequently use italics generally, but Legacy seemed to have far more than the previous books, at least to me. It felt like every other sentence had a word italicized for emphasis, and I don’t know why but that just made dialogue so confusing to read for me. Often italicized words can change the meaning/tone of a sentence, but it‘s sometimes difficult to identify what exactly it’s representing when it’s used in so many different ways so frequently. (Not even including telepathic convos here.) Like is it italicized because it’s sarcastic? Because the word’s being drawn out? Because the character is shouting? That word has more emotion than the rest of the sentence? And I’d often have to reread the sentences multiple times to try to understand what‘s going on because it doesn’t make sense that they’d be sarcastic here, so is it emotional? But this isn’t an emotional conversation is it? Just to give a quick example of what I mean, I’m going to put a snippet from legacy here. Since I don’t know how to do italics on anon, the words that were italicized will be in caps instead, so this is a warning to people who are sensitive to that.

”’If I were in your position, I’d DREAD having to talk to him and stall doing it for as long as I could. THAT’S why I want to help. I can save your from the hard parts- AND get stuff taken care of faster.‘“

((Kinda spoiler in this next one-))

“’SERIOUSLY?’ Fitz’s eyes narrowed when Keefe nodded. ‘Wow, you really hate Tam THAT much? Because he’s the one who’ll pay the price if you’re not there- you get that RIGHT?‘ ’He’s also the one who told Keefe to stay away,’ Sophie argued. ‘TWICE.’”

((Also am I the only person who completely forgot that convo happened? Fitz was really hitting where it hurts my goodness.))

I always have thoughts, nonsie. It's a burden and a curse. Wait. That's not how the saying goes but it's too funny to take back. But I'd love to have a conversation about italics! They're an interesting but difficult part of writing to utilize, as they add stress to the sentence in a way that completely changes their meaning! But also you have to be careful with them because they're so powerful!

I know there's been times when I've been writing and I've wanted to emphasize something but I already used italics earlier in the sentence/paragraph and I have to decide if the emphasis is actually worth it or realistic. Because while I want to bring attention to that specific word, the character might not! But on to what you're talking about!

You make an excellent conversation! A sentence has its basic meaning, and then adding an italicized word changes that! But there are so many ways that it can change it that it takes a bit more energy to figure out. You're trying to determine how it was changed, maybe reading the line again or saying it really exaggerated in you head to get the full effect. And when a book has that a lot, all those moments start to add up. Personally, it can go so far as to break my immersion in a story because I'm trying so hard to figure out what the sentence means.

Keeper definitely does have it's share of traits--well, Shannon has her writing traits! And italics is one of them. Another one people might notice is her tendency to use the word "corrected" as a tag after dialogue (like said, mumbled, laughed, asked, offered, etc). It's as common as Edward chuckling in Twilight! Used with telepathy just separates it as a type of dialogue without using the quotation marks that indicate its being said out loud, so I won't comment on that.

But you're definitely right. Legacy used a lot of italics. An overwhelming amount. Especially those lines you mentioned! At that point the italics are taking over the sentence and aren't contributing to it anymore. I'd probably rewrite the first one to have a dialogue tag after "seriously?" to convey the tone, and just get rid of the emphasis on "right" but that's my preference.

Okay just to confirm (not that I don't believe you, but to find even more evidence) I've got my copy of Legacy next to me and am flipping to random pages. it is. A lot of italics. I flipped to five random pages and of those five, each one had something italicized. I don't think all of them are necessary. All the italics change the sentences as that is their purpose, but I don't think they're all enough to warrant use of italics and that it's really repetitive in the story.

I wonder what Shannon's reasoning was. I found the quote you mentioned (the second one, on page 700-701) and it's an emotionally charged conversation and that would explain the emphasis, but then again it really disrupts the flow of conversation. At least for me it does. I can reasonably understand Sophie's "Twice." In response because she's matching Fitz's energy, but it's Fitz that stands out here. Perhaps this was to try and showcase some of the anger he'd been working on and how it's manifesting through slightly aggressive speech instead of flat out blaming people like he did in Exile.

It's also entirely possible Shannon's in the middle of an italics phase! Writer's go through phases all the time as writing develops, getting attached to words and manners of speaking, something that can even be tracked to an extent. In my experience this usually happens when you're trying really hard to avoid something else and lean too heavily into a new thing, which then becomes the new thing to avoid and it's a whole cycle--hence the phases! For example, I've been using the words "just" and "simply" a lot in the past few weeks/months and I don't know where it came from but it's coming up a lot more so I'm trying to avoid it, but I don't know what's gonna take it's place as I try to get around those words. She could be using italics to avoid a dialogue tag she'd been overusing or perhaps her editors thought there wasn't enough variation on the page.

Whatever the reason is for the increase in italics, you're 100% right that's its unusual and new and makes it harder to read. it's not a bad thing, like you said, but it is noticeable! Writing is very difficult and it's really easy to rely on certain words/phrases, so I think that's my main guess for why it's happening, but no way to know for certain!

[aot-snk-4238]

SNK Meta Part 1: Historia

After listening to the latest YHBG podcast, I thought I'd add a few miscellaneous thoughts of my own regarding where the rest of the story is headed, how I feel about Historia, and Ymir's fate. I'm going to start with Historia since I've had a lot on my mind about her that I haven't figured out how to put into coherent words until now. I'm going to split this post into three parts so it doesn't turn into a novella, so expect my thoughts on Ymir's fate next, followed by how I think the rest of the story will go based on where we are right now.

To kick things off, I agree wholeheartedly with what Puppet said in the beginning of the podcast about how even if Historia is given a decent ending, the wait leading up to that has made it not worth it either way. This whole pregnancy plot has been dragged out and dangled just out of our reach for far too long and I'm sick and tired of it. It's been my least favorite plot twist in the whole series by far and I just don't understand what the point of it was. I've been wondering for a long time whether the whole idea of her getting pregnant was something that Isayama had in mind for a while and planned out in advance, or if it was more of a last minute decision because he didn't know what to do with her anymore. If it's the latter, then no wonder it's been so poorly done. But hey, now I finally understand how Annie's fans felt having to wait 8 years for her to make her return in the manga. That's another thing that was mentioned in the podcast; Because Annie's character had been sidelined for so long, the hype and the excitement was just not there when she finally woke up. I remember not feeling as excited as I thought I would, despite being happy to see her again. That doesn't mean there was no hype at all, it just means that people's reactions were watered down from being too weary of the unbelievably long wait. This is how I feel about Isayama's handling of Historia throughout this final arc. Too drawn out, too confusing and just too boring. To wrap up my point, here's a compilation of every appearance that Historia has made post time-skip:

Five. Over the course of 2 years and 4 months, we have seen Historia in the present time a total of five times. And once you've viewed them all in order, you'll notice that nearly each time she appears, it's always for just one panel. Not to mention she hasn't spoken a single word. The last one implies screaming, but not even that gets a speech bubble. We don't know what the other women in the room are saying to her and we don't know what she was thinking when she opened her eyes for a brief moment. Finally, you'll notice that in two out of these five appearances, we can't even see her face. Her reaction to Eren's announcement is the only one that remains completely obscured and at this point I'm not sure if we'll ever get to see it. Looking forward, I'm worried that the next time we see her post time-skip will be the last. She will have had her baby, we see one or two panels of her holding her/him, and that's it. Still no dialogue, still no knowledge of her current thoughts, just nothing worth making note of. It would be great to see her happy and finally proud of her life again, but it still wouldn't make up for her prolonged absence that's given people very little to talk about other than, "WHO'S THE FATHER?!" I don't even think the anime can fix this one. There's just not enough to work with. Isayama had set up plenty of opportunities to re-introduce her throughout this arc and actually give her a voice, but they were always passed up. The first one was in chapter 111:

I was led to believe that Nile would be sent out to check on Historia and that's how we'd see her again, but we all know how that turned out...

The next instance was in chapter 115, where it was thought that Hange would end up on Historia's farm after rescuing Levi and swimming away with him. Nope. Okay...

The last instance was chapter 125 where everyone had split up and was heading in different directions. We were hoping that one of those groups would run into Historia, but that didn't happen either. Nobody has ended up on her farm, which means no one except for Eren has interacted with her in a long time. *Sigh* Do you see why I'm frustrated? Now with all of that being said, this hasn't ruined Historia's character for me completely. She still had a great role to play in Clash of the Titans arc and the Uprising arc, and I'll always enjoy those parts of the story. Isayama is certainly not a terrible writer, on the contrary he's quite talented. But like every other writer out there, he has his flaws and to me personally, this is one of them. And like I mentioned earlier, I'll be okay as long as she finds happiness in the end, but I'll always wish that she could have had a more active role to play in the final stretch of the story rather than...this. Literally anything other than this would have been fine with me and I know there are plenty of others out there who feel the same. To those who do, I feel you. All we can do now is sit back and enjoy the rest of the story, and that's just what I plan to do.

[senrinoa]

Soma x Erina in Chapter 279

I've been meaning to talk about this since I read the Japanese version, and I've found a few things that were slightly different from MS's translation. I'll be honest, I've never liked Mangastream, normally they get pretty close to what's going on in the manga but sometimes they can really bad that's why I decided to write this post.

First let me review the chapter a bit, this is a nice relaxing chapter. It's great to see the interaction between E10 members because I can see a glimpse of good old fun Shokugeki days. The author has always been great at comedy and character interaction and it's really refreshing to see Ryo and Takumi actually conversing with each other even if it's an angry glare down contest. Seeing more characters and less drawn out food battles is definitely a positive for me.

Maybe for some people it feels like a filler chapter, and by filler I mean not exciting plot-heavy stuff. Since Erina is taken hostage (I really wished Tsukuda didn't have to take the kidnapping route) and no one is reacting to her disappearance, it's safe to assume that the news didn't break through yet but I'm sure we will get back to that soon.

I might write something about Asahi someday but I won't discuss him in this post, I just want to make some things clear especially for my fellow SouEri shippers who might not aware that the author kinda hinted Soma's feeling in chapter 279.

Let's begin with this panel! 

We all know that Nikumi's been harboring secret crush to our MC for more than 200 chapters, it doesn't surprise me that she was the one who noticed Soma's behaviour which seemed a bit unusual that day. Because when we have a crush on someone we tend to always pay attention to them, right?

Nikumi: "You seem pretty cheesed today, Yukihira. Something happen?"

Not gonna lie, when I read that panel I had to google what does "cheesed" mean because it was the first time I heard the "cheesed" word. And the result was a bit surprising to me.

"Cheesed" is a Canadian slag, it's a cheesy way to say you are pissed.

I was confused, why did Nikumi get that impression? And why would Soma be upset? Based on the context, it doesn't seem to fit there. And when I read the Japanese version, I know that MS somehow messed the translation up again.

つーか幸平今日なんか浮かれてるよな" (Tsuka Kōhei kyō nanka uka re teru yo na)

N: "Yukihira? You sure seem happy today."

Viz version

Soma looks happy and carefree all the time, its his default emotion and I'm not gonna deny that. We rarely see him mad or sad or anything but troll or cocky. But that day was different, Nikumi felt an unusual excitement from him. She even asked "did something happen?" Hmm, I wonder what made Soma so happy, it's not like he just had a really incredible romantic moment with someone he likes the night before or something, right?

Then in the next page we saw a really unimportant guy who acts like the big shot only because his shop is doing well compared to E10's shop. I love how Soma encouraged the other members by reminding them about the past generations and got everyone back together. As Nikumi had pointed out Soma seems to be in a really good mood that day, he smiling brightly while saying that he can overcome any challenge with confidence.

Soma : "今までも散々乗り越えてきたからなっ" (Ima made mo sanzan norikoete kitakara na~tsu)

"I've overcome things like this before, as always."

And I've read something similiar from the previous chapter (Thank you @doromame for telling me <3)

Erina : "何でも乗り越えられる....今までみたいにね" (Nani demo norikoe rareru... Ima made mitai ni ne)

"You can overcome every obstacle put in front of you. You always have..."

I want to emphasize these words 今 ま で (ima made) and 乗 り 越 え (norikoe), which translated to English are 'always' and 'overcome'. In raw version those two panels with Soma and Erina are very similiar to each other which some SouEri fans in Japan have pointed out, I'm saddened that most non Japanese-speaker probably missed the SouEri hint in this chapter.

It's interesting to see Soma saying the exact same words that Erina told him the night before. I believe the author's decision for using the same words isn't merely a coincidence, the Nikumi panel is supposed to be a little tease on Soma's feeling. The author wouldn't write that scene without reason.

In chapter 279 Nikumi's pointed out that Soma's looked so happy, he's smiling widely and saying he can overcome every obstacle as always. But in the previous chapter Soma was a little doubtful whether he could pass the exam or not

And Erina assuring him that she trust him to overcome the exam because he's Soma, she believes that he will always find a way.

You don't need to be a genius to put two and two together, it's very clear where those scenes are going. Soma is one of those characters who are clueless about love, he's so dense when it comes to romance and he won't realize it unless it becomes undeniable, many shounen authors usually reserve that kind of development for the very end of the manga and I'm really glad the author seems to break that trope.

The realization that you're in love with someone usually takes some time. It's the little things that add up and mark this whole process as "falling in love". Things like Erina describing Soma as her ideal type of guy without realizing it, Soma taking notice of Erina's beauty, even Erina getting all nervous about the "Nakiri's mine" thing show that although they're still at the friendship stage, we're starting to see their growing feelings towards each other.

This Asahi plot might be not my ideal way I'd have preferred for a romance arc, but not gonna lie, I'm really enjoying every moment between Soma and Erina in these recent chapters and I'm looking forward to see how far the author will go with their feelings ^^

[pluck-my-life]

Hey Snark! Silenda (loverofthebirbs) here. I was wondering why exactly do you like to ship Red x Chuck x Bomb together? I know why you like the polyship itself, but why the separate ships on their own? (Red x Chuck, Red x Bomb, and Chuck x Bomb?) You got me to kinda see some appeal in Red x Stella even if I've never liked it, so I wanted to know because you give good reasons! c:

Oh hey @loverofthebirbs nice to see you! My brain self-awakened at 6 am and is now bubbling with activity, so buckle up for a ride! *stretches hands preparing to type a lot*

First of all, it’s inclusivity. I don’t want to imagine a couple snuggling on the couch while there’s a “third wheel” on the other side of it, lonely and awkward and maybe a little bitter seeing all the affection and feeling excluded. And among the three only Red understands from the get-go how PDA can be painful for the onlooker, and what would he do if he’s the one in the relationship? He’d have to persuade his partner to cuddle in private, but! the other two are insanely physical and can’t resist touching him even as friends, and in a relationship? They’d have a hand on him all the freaking time unless he explicitly states he needs to be alone. Now Bomb can exist outside a relationship just being happy for his friends, because he’s got great empathy and maaaybe he could be ace, but that leaves us with your least favorite ship? And I absolutely can’t imagine Red or Chuck being the third wheel, unless Red is totally ace and satisfied with just having friends. I can see ace!Red + Chuck/Bomb, with an effort, because I connect with him the most and I’m not ace, but then the whole thing feel kinda bland. Sweet but bland, like a cookie without filling or icing. Movie!Bomb can’t fully satisfy Chuck in a relationship, he would be left at home while Chuck goes clubbing and picking up someone for the night, and he would sigh about not being cool enough to share Chuck’s adventures (while understanding that you can’t put restrictions on him, freedom is crucial for his happiness) and Red would feel obliged to cuddle with him to make him feel better, but if Chuck sees them like that he’d want to be in that fluff pile, and that would still turn into awkward polyamory, however more dysfunctional than my usual sort. And you can’t have Red/Bomb while leaving Chuck out, you just can’t, not with his obvious crush on Red. Bomb himself would try to talk Red into giving him a chance, because Bomb can’t stand seeing his friends suffer. Chuck’s attraction to Red is the key factor here, he’d want in on any relationship Red is having, whether it’s with Bomb or Stella or both. I can ship all four, connected via Red, and as far as I remember I’ve told you in messages how Red couldn’t deal with his roommates all the time, he’d need a breather and someone he can trust, to be able to fall apart in someone’s arms (and Bomb hasn’t reached the emotional maturity yet, he can maybe nod at Red’s complaints and hug him, but Stella could actually understand, maybe even share his burden of being a self-sufficient bird with needy partners while her own friends are perfectly able to entertain themselves). Red and Stella are both leader types, but Red is introvert or at least ambivert, and these types are said to get “adopted” by extroverts (such as Stella or Chuck). I must say I’m projecting a lot here, but isn’t it the whole point of shipping? to have at least some imaginary relationships when you can’t have it irl for one reason or another? When I was in a social phase and had relationships I wasn’t in any fandoms, I didn’t even draw anything. The whole fandom thing is my substitute for love life, and tbh it’s more reliable and satisfying than 1) trying to meet people, 2) talk to them enough to decide if they’re worth meeting, 3) find out you’re not attracted to them but they kind of are, because I’m the picky side here, and the whole thing turns awkward. And this is how I find friends through Tinder, even when I’m looking for a hookup. And then I’m likely to find a therapist for them via my own therapist, because the only people I resonate with are kinda messed up. In the Bird Village it’s the other way around, Red finds mates through group therapy, but the result is the same: misfits sticking together. And here we get to another reason I’m polyshipping through the character connect to: I can’t really love myself, even on a mentally healthy day I struggle to find myself attractive - but loving a character while simultaneously connecting with him almost takes me there. And here comes the best part: I connect with other characters in my ships as well (I don’t usually ship people I can’t relate to) and then I get to feel for both parts, even for three parts on a good day, and this fills my huge emotional capacity almost to the brim while my mind is involved too, imagining stuff and supporting the connections - unlike in a real relationship, when my brain gets bored and wanders over fantasies or trivial matters even during intimate moments. I’ve never thought of it that way, but it seems like I’m polyamorous because of my neurodivergency. No person I’ve ever had experience with had a personality as multifaceted as mine, ergo I can’t be satisfied with just one person emotionally (not even talking about sex - without emotional involvement it’s plain boring). Just like another character mentioned here, though for a different reason: if I’m a very big computer, and Chuck is a very fast computer, the result is technically the same: the calculations are done quickly and we’re left idle, understimulated. I don’t fully understand my connection with Chuck, or rather I can’t pinpoint it, because… let’s just try to list it. I’m anarchist, Chaotic Good, I love to entertain people with jokes and dorky behavior when I’m in a social mood (especially when drunk), I can be very active and enthusiastic when I have the energy… A lot of my qualities that I don’t even notice because they’re so natural would remind people of Chuck rather than Red, and isn’t that ironic in light of me not initially liking the “sexy and annoying” type? Or maybe it’s just my second-hand embarrassment getting in the way of just laughing at their antics? Most of the time I lack Chuck’s confidence, especially that finding-yourself-attractive brand of confidence, but with some effort I could adopt that quality and it could make me a better-functioning person. Now if I could adopt Bomb’s ability for unconditional love I could become that fusion phoenix we’ve been talking about, maybe even a complete person… but that wouldn’t happen without gaining some femininity from Stella’s flock - good thing it comes mixed in with mischief and badassery, which make it far more palatable than the annoying “tomboy turning into a prom queen” trope that needs to get thrown in a volcano. I’m carefully exploring a straight ship through the most capable character, borrowing some of her confidence to support my weak, underdeveloped female side. I would feel fairly comfortable as Dahlia too, except it makes me self-conscious about boring people out of their minds while being bossy - not the most attractive archetype, though I’m not familiar with her enough to see her good side (gotta rewatch the Stella toons, this time with a more analytical mindset)… Gale is the one I’m most wary of: I have that selfish bitchy side to me that I prefer to keep far away from the front parts of my personality, because I’m madly scared of her - can’t let her take reins of my self-criticism… or maybe I need to befriend her first? Except that’d take a lot of work I’m not yet ready for. I could do with Poppy’s carefree attitude and Willow’s love for the process of art, not the result I can show off in the internet to earn a little bit of attention - I think those qualities can go hand in hand. Less self-consciousness, more enjoyment, and if I can’t feel encouraged and supported whether others provide it or not, maybe I should achieve that through the powers of my imagination. My brain could be a whole world of its own if I wasn’t constrained by depression, anxiety, fear of rejection… things that sound familiar, and they do play a part in connecting me to characters. If I didn’t have them I’d be out in the real world, doing… I don’t know what exactly, if making art is one of my coping mechanisms?.. Crafting, I guess? Eh, my train of thought took a wrong turn… Here is another post about my connection to characters, if you haven’t seen it.

Why are you mentioning separate ships? They all happen in the same headcanon-universe, more or less. Polyamory isn’t always threesomes, and interpersonal relationships all have their own dynamics. Two can entertain themselves while the third one is busy or not in the mood. A fourth can spice up the picture once in a while, with or without intimacy. Pairings mix in my brain like colors and flavors, add a mood and it’s a different picture every time. I’ve drawn frisky Red x Chuck and passionate too, in my drafts there are unfinished comic panels for a fluffy first time and a quirky first time (that would be AUs from each other but whatever, how exactly their intimate life starts out doesn’t matter in the long run) as well as some scenes implying that Chuck has been annoying Red to get the rough treatment for a change (more on sexual dynamics here). Some of my scenarios involve Bomb walking in on the pair and they insist that he should join, even if he’s embarrassed, because it’s definitely better for his psyche than trying to go back to whatever he was doing before he heard the noise and went to investigate. He worries and even explodes when the two upset him by bickering with each other (in the comics), how would he know the noises weren’t arguing and fighting if he’s so socially inexperienced? Again, that makes Red x Bomb first time a separate AU, but those are just scenes their eventual life doesn’t depend on, I draw them to convey moods and emotions rather than to mark an event in the birds’ life. Maybe it’s not Bomb’s first time per se, maybe it’s his first time trying to be active rather than being pleasured by his mates, and he still needs tons of encouragement because he must be so insecure about, well… everything about his appearance! He’s not a conventionally attractive bird, there’s no way he hasn’t been teased a lot growing up, even if he was home-schooled (very likely due to his condition). You’ve mentioned Chuck giving him confidence about his ability by being impressed, same way Red could make him feel attractive (Red far more likely than Chuck, ‘cos the latter is a bit of a thrill-seeker, more attracted to a snarky bird with a temper, while Red would seek solace and relaxation after dealing with the needy, sometimes insensitive little annoyance that is Chuck). Bomb is a good empathetic listener, something both of them need, but Chuck can forget whatever bothers him and move on, while Red would dwell on it until he works things out on his own or Bomb asks what’s bothering him. He might not help to resolve the issue but he can comfort Red without too much talking, platonically or intimately or both, because that’s how moods work in harmonious relationships: people can cry after sex, or cry into their lover’s shoulder until they’ve dealt with that feeling and then get horny, or they could get overcome with feelings right in the process - crying is emotional unloading, and sex is… well, you see the parallel. Watching a movie we cry during emotional climaxes. Now I’ll leave these metaphors for potential fics and conclude that Red x Bomb is the emotional aspect of the trio’s dynamics, Red x Chuck is more sexual, and understanding Chuck x Bomb requires me to further my connection to both. I haven’t incorporated Stella in their dynamics, and she may not want to have relationships with all three anyway, but this is fine in polyamory too. It’s all about balance and satisfying everyone’s needs, not the geometry of connections.