#I want to actually make the music to make visualizing the event more clearly at some point

[fight-for-what-you-love]

There are screws loose in my head and they rattle around in my skull like rice in a maraca

[seasaltmemories]

Top AMVs of 2024 - 20 - 11

A more in-depth breakdown of what I am doing can be found here, as well as the past entries here. Today's entries are as follows:

20. Royal Revue by Scoobisms

Audio: One Girl Revolution by Superchick

Visuals: Princess Peach Showtime!

I am always a sucker for gmvs that make use of actual gameplay footage, and Scoobisms pulled off this exact trick with a very unexpected source. It turns out though, that Princess Peach Showtime!’s theatrical setting and variety of outfits/roles for her to try on gives a lot of material for Scoobisms to work with. There is a good balance here with the gameplay footage helping accent the flashy cutscenes while still remaining interesting with little flourishes of internal sync.

This vid is also not lacking at all for personality, and I think the song choice especially helps threads that needle of “fun girl power anthem” while still giving less traditionally feminine aesthetics a chance to shine. A good example is the instrumental break where we get the focus on spy!Peach and all these fun classic espionage scenarios. Overall both Peach and Scoobism put on a great, charming show.

19. Ctrl Alt Delete by ManlyMango (CW: Suicide)

Audio: Did It To Myself by Orla Garland

Visuals: Wonder Egg Priority

I sometimes find I have hot takes when it comes to storytelling in amvs. As much as I try to make sure my prior knowledge of a source doesn’t influence my judgment, I find that compared to clear, linear narratives, I often value visceral, detailed conflicts and emotions even if the exact events are vague. I can’t help but give bonus points when I not only can summarize the video easily, but I feel like we take the time to untangle more complex stories.

Thankfully, plenty of people seem to be in agreement that the storytelling of Ctrl Alt Delete hits hard. I have heard about Wonder Egg Priority’s troubled production/unsatisfying ending, but ManlyMango manages to get to the heart of mess by exploring our protag having to grapple with both monsters and her best friend’s suicide. What she “did to herself” is vague and unspecific (perhaps the fact she didn’t save her friend from her troubled circumstances) but what is important is how clearly it showcases the guilt and frustration she puts upon herself.

And while the music is upbeat and poppy, I love that the ending actively denies us catharsis. No matter what she does, her friend is gone, and we in the audience also just have to sit with that loss. Mango mentioned being surprised with the warm reception it got at several contests, but it really pulls off what could be a convoluted, hard to approach topic with a deft touch.

18. Champagne for the Exes by JazzVids

Audio: Who Do You Blame (Ablainkan Remix) by SAINt JHN

Visuals: Noragami

In comparison, JazzVid’s amv took me a while to get. While the basic premise of a break-up is clear, I was real unsure why Noragami was being used as the source with this song, what motivated her to included a comedy sketch in the middle of the vid, or what purpose the border and text work was for.

Still something about it all together just works for me. There’s a deliberate back and forth between the prideful boasting of the verses with the vulnerability and sincerity of the chorus/outro. And editing-wise, she includes a good amount of slapstick to keep it a fun time, but also plants some set-up and payoff (the fact we don’t see Hiyori’s face clearly until the end for example) that just makes all the disparate elements resonate. It is always a treat to encounter the type of art I might struggle to categorize but that compels me all the same.

17. ToxiCommoner by Spuddstaaa

Audio: You Signed Up For This by Maise Peters

Visuals: The Apothecary Diaries

I am a strong believers that artists should make whatever they want, but it is always exciting to see people explore outsider their comfort zone. Despite being known for more goofy, upbeat vids, Spuddstaaa has spent a lot of 2024 dipping his toe into the drama/sentiments pool and this one is my fave of his experiments.

Outside of the basic premises of the show, I don’t know much about this series or Maomao’s particular struggles, but there still manages to be this engaging underdog narrative to it all. It is nice to see this sorta loser coming of age amv with a female protag, both a bit tongue in cheek yet empathetic. The sparkly overlays really work, as does the dance footage for the climax, and by the end of things I feel the I want to sign up for this gal and all her shenanigans.

16. A Story of Despair and Hope by MarshmallowGoop

Audio: 15 Min Flame by Poets of the Fall

Visuals: Witch Hat Atelier

Although she had worked with some manga elements in the past, MarshmallowGoop said this was her first full on Resolve MMV, and I could barely believe it. There is no fear in using overlays, masks, and animations, to create so many engaging compositions.

The text also deserves special mention. MarshmallowGoops creates some of the most creative captions you might never see if you never consider to toggle them on, but here she goes all out in the vid itself. Not only does she pull from the lyrics of the song, but she also includes the manga text itself, often sync it to strong beats for pacing and dramatic effect. Which for an already tense part of the song, just ups that suspense even more.

She mentions initially wanting to make this vid longer and possibly coming back to this project to expand, but even just this 30 second snippet is such a delight

15. Crossings by AdventLostKaichou

Audio: Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng

Visuals: Hyouka

There is such a deliberateness to Kaichou’s editing here. Not only does it take a lot of masking to play with the partially coloring going on for most of the vid, but it is used for such delicious slowburn storytelling purposes.

Another commenter mentioned that Hyouka can be a “talking heads” kinda show, and she admitted to really wanting to make sure she didn’t just spend time using the iconic scenes of the show (and it in fact takes us until 1:49 to get some of the more iconic surrealness). So not only does the gradual increase in color help give us some sense of the male lead’s growing feelings, but she also plays with the coloring reverting back to its dull gray haze during moments of repression like at 2:16. By the time we reach the last chorus and the money shots, it is an earned moment of release that really matches the singer’s similarly overwhelming feelings.

The rest of the video is also great of course, but it is that attention to detail and care that makes a concept that could be one-note and cloying really work.

14. Never-Ending Dream by Madmegatex

Audio: Dreamstate by Son Lux

Visuals: Omori

Speaking of tension, this vid is another example of tight, deliberate control. I have never played Omori (although this vid did make me read up on it) so I can’t say how much the cutscenes are just like this or due to her manipulation, but either way, in the hands of a less skilled editor, this could be a very slow and boring vid.

But not only does Madmegatex make use of ever bit of movement and visual interest, but she is very careful in how information is given out. There is a clear structure and rhythm to it, even foreshadowing the central conflict haunting the protagonist. A scene as simple as the protag getting up to play the violin feels as dramatic as any high energy scene thanks to the careful context that has been built.

Despite the oppressive atmosphere dominating most of the vid, the move towards a hopeful conclusion is nice. Its not a clean ending, but it is one the lets you truly breath a sigh of relief, buoyed by the overall pitch perfect pacing.

13. angsty metal by Silent Hero Studios

Audio: Song 2 by Blur

Visuals: FLCL

Silent Hero is a master of just dropping some of the slickest action without any warning, which I guess is true to his name. Song 2 and FLCL feel like the kind of combo that should have existed the minute the anime came out, but whether this is truly the first time this was done, or this is only the latest render, Silent Hero makes it his own.

Not only is the overall flow and all the heavy beats extremely strong, but he is a genius at nailing down a lot of the more understated song elements, such as infectious riff from 1:15 - 1:18 or the singers vocal inflections at 0:51. I am always a sucker for internal sync, and he just makes it look like the easiest thing in the world. By the time it ends, I’m always just ready to cue it up again.

12. NiteLight by Radical Yue

Audio: The Night Out (Madeon Remix) by Martin Solveig

Visuals: Multisource

I can bounce off of big multisource upbeat videos sometimes as I like having something singular to really focus on. But what really keeps me glued to NiteLight is the atmosphere.

The neon aesthetic definitely unites the various sources together, but overall I really like the relaxed pace to it all. There’s a deliberate rise and fall for each drop that keeps the entire vid from just melting into a compilation of sakuga moments. A good example is the two HSR women dancing. While I’ve seen the more dramatic moments of this clip/video, Radical Yue lingers a lot in the flirtation and tenderness. And when the drop needs to drop we can kick into high gear just as easily, with several sweet masks.

Radical Yue mentioned being inspired by "Welcome to the DCC" by TakeshiAMV and Kuroo and how it seemed a celebration of anime in general. She accomplishes a pretty similar goal with this varied and lovely curated source list. It feels like a big party where there is something for everyone to enjoy, whether they are a veteran fan or just got into the medium yesterday.

11. Long Live Shonen by Sean.PNG

Audio: Lost in the Echo - Linkin Park remix by Paul Udarov

Visuals: Multisource

There have been some serious data about the impact Linkin Park has made on amvs. I could pull you up some sources, but I don’t think they’d be telling you anything you don’t already know. So using a remix to update the classic Linkin Park/Shonen formula is the kinda of concept that on its own gets butts in seats.

Best of all, Sean.PNG also kills it on execution. As talented as he is with stringing so many shows together, what really elevates it is how easily he redirects the motion. Some of the struggle I can get when editing action is feeling constrained and stagnant with my flow, but if Sean.PNG ever felt stuck like that, it doesn’t show in the final product. It all flows great without ever falling into predictability, just as comfortable using either subtle masks or basic cuts. Really one of those amvs I was so grateful I got to see on a big screen this year.

[cladestruction]

PART I of my super long aotd thoughts (and prayers) commentary/analysis extravanganza🤪

warning: spoilers. repetition of words/expressions hehe. badly written (english is not my first language lol). looong text. biased opinions because this is my blog and i get to do with it as i please.

Press conference and failed plan: i love how there’s practically no time jump in the beginning, i find it both dynamic and realistic. as the world’s most famous band/people, they’re always right at the center of attention, even more after such major events like the ones in dsr, so the press conference is great: is sudden and painful to watch, it’s awkward as the boys try to answer the clearly triggering questions in their usual laid-back, disinterested manner, and barely succeed in doing so. also, this scene establishes three elements that i’m so grateful for: 1. Toki is safe with them again but still visibly fucked up, 2. the boys Don’t Remember what happened after they found Toki (the dethlights and stuff), 3. Nathan is the exception, he remembers but doesn’t quite understand wtf happened, and it haunts him. i love how Magnus is talked about in this movie and this scene, the public and the press don’t have much information about him and the band (i guess?) so calling it a tragedy is practically the easiest way to label it, but the reality is waaay deeper, and the fact that this comes back later on? i love it. i also like that the band’s plan announcement shows exactly what i wanted personally: how much Charles' guidance is missing. the boys are erratic and messy, and considering their actual behavior throughout the show it’s actually very rational for stars like them to want to jump right into action. bc it’s their job, their passion, and there’s pressure on them to do something: either talk about what happened, acknowledge their trauma and heal, or get to work and give people music so they can shut up and stop asking questions the boys are not prepared to answer. the tour fails before it begins and it’s great. the fact that Nathan only gets exhausted right after announcing they were back and ready to kick ass adds so much weight and drama, i love it. here we get a beautiful, stunning, amazing sequence with great voiceover and visuals. 10/10 i love the black/white/red sequence with Nathan’s silhouette falling and falling and a bunch of menacing shadows haunting him while the deththeme plays on the background. Masterpiece me thinks.

Crozier: the voiceover is AMAZING (i always loved his voice tbh). Crozier was kind of an annoying character to me throughout the series. he’s the typical american military authority and i’m not a fan, but i have to say i was very excited to see him get more depth in just one scene! i couldn’t help but feel for the guy as he failed to deliver what could’ve been his last words. it feels desolating to see him once again be left in the hands of these mysterious and shady people who are constantly preying on him. this sequence also gives much insight to the Tribunal, which is great to make the audience feel more on edge with their plan and see Salacia as a threat. the song of salvation is mentioned, the metalocalypse, Charles and the Army of the Doomstar. it’s great exposition without taking too much screen time. big fan of scenes like that.

The Church: what can i say, i love the (found) family dynamic. it’s always been there on the show, but this movie really took it to a whole new level and i’m living for it. Ishnifus’ funeral is a great detail. my man did nothing wrong in his short appearance on the finale of the show+dsr, and as a high priest, it feels only right to remember him and pay respects even if it’s for such a short scene. moving on, Toki with headphones is so important to me. he seems a bit recovered but it’s obvious something changed in the band’s behavior toward him. it seems it’s already normal for them to look out for the youngest and tend to him without as many reservations as they once would’ve shown, at least Pickles looks very used to it, even if it’s also clearly a lot of responsibility and he most likely has to deal with by himself (Murderface doesn’t really help and Skwisgaar is very cold and kept to himself. even if he complies with Pickles’ orders, he seems painfully closed off, and Nathan might actually be of help when present, considering Toki wanting to go to the bathroom with him and hinting that this is something they do now. but Nathan is not very present so yup, that’s that). moving on, Charles is…different. he was always calculated and cold but i kinda feel bad for Pickles (and Nathan later on) when they talk to him. Charles uses very mystical(?) language now and talks to the boys in a mysterious and ominous tone, it feels very impersonal, but it’s so good story-wise that i just can’t complain. Pickles’ reaction to Charles telling him that his role in saving the world is just: to be a friend to Nathan is AMAZING. Pickles is clearly nervous and expectant (it’s the end of the world, after all) but then he just asks “that’s all?” and it’s literally the BEST thing he could’ve said. he already IS a friend to Nathan, he has been so for years, even when things had already gotten ugly, so what more should he do? is it not enough? would he even be able to be such a good friend to Nathan if the frontman is being so closed off? the honesty in Pickles’ doubt is great and i love him so so much. moving on, that Edgar exchange with a very dozed-up Nathan almost made me cry. Edgar’s face when Nathan brushes him off is ugh, my heart hurt so so bad for him :( i’m sooo happy this wasn’t his last appearance and final interaction with Nathan. moving on, Nathan and Charles speak and it’s pure exposition, but i like it bc, again, is made clear and dynamic. i reiterate my point about Charles being too ominous-y (?) in his way of talking, making an already exhausted Nathan even more tired and overwhelmed. it feels even a bit out of touch and cruel of Charles to do this but, again, it fits just perfectly in the narrative so i like it.

The fucking PROPOSAL!!!: oh god, ok. i love Abigail, believe me. i remember being so desperate to see a female character appear on the show for more than 1 episode and not be killed off immediately that i screamed when Abigail came around. seeing her again in this movie, alive and well and receiving help really augmented my lifespan. that said, i am happy this is The Abigail Scene of the movie. she’s shown strong, confident, and most importantly, wise. she couldn’t say yes to Nathan, that’d be absurd, but she declined very elegantly. and though Nathan was already going through a lot, she was clear, direct and honest, while expressing respect towards him as a man and towards his feelings for her (though confused and not very well-founded, were honest). she wasn’t cruel but she also didn’t sugarcoat the stuff that Nathan Needed to hear. especially considering how he was acting, how uncharacteristic and weird he was behaving. and no, i won’t say “oh Nathan Explosion would NEVER get on his knees and beg” bc we all know that’s not true lol, but it was very erratic behavior, desperate and needy for all the wrong reasons, and please let’s again remember how much xanax/red wine/coffee this man had on his system !!! and oh, don’t even get me started on how important it was for Abigail to clear up how her kissing Nathan at the end of dsr was an act of shock and thrill of what they just went through. they barely knew each other but Nathan still went and saved her, and while Nathan was just out of all the fucked up shit that happened in dsr‘s last act, she kissed him. they almost dies, and in such extreme conditions they did what they did and that’s ok. but to think there would be more after that was, well, kind of an illusion. and that’s sad but true. in summary, Abigail is a queen and i love her with my whole heart and lungs. if you ask me, i’d love to have seen her more and i actually think her and Nathan could’ve worked out if things were different, or maybe they could be great friends. but for the short scene she got, i think she was great. Nathan breaking up with the fans right after is such a good scene too. he’s lashing out and it makes perfect sense for him to do so. and tbh i will go and say it: he wasn’t wrong in what he said. yes the fans are always there to support the band (i’ll talk more about this in the ending) but they also are constantly setting expectations. the fact that they’ll go and celebrate 99.5% of whatever the band does, the constant fear of losing them is still there, and for Nathan it’s infuriating bc it might get difficult for him to believe that these people will love everything he does, especially bc he, in this moment of his life, doesn’t feel loved.

last part of the church scene: Rockzo. i’m glad his scene was short, i dislike him and don’t enjoy him at all, but i will admit that after witnessing such a painful heartbreak/horrendous proposal, hearing Rockzo start singing Amazing Grace made me laugh very hard. great comedic timing, i liked it.

Dethklok tries to cheer up Nathan: i talked about this before, when they released the teaser clip and all. when i saw that with no context i did feel like Pickles was acting especially concerned toward Nathan here, and he even sounded a bit needy. now that i know it’s because of what Charles told him, it makes so much sense. he feels almost obliged to support and even comfort Nathan in ways that he hadn’t done before, but of course it is! the world is at stake! he is trying his best and he even goes against what he thinks, shown by how he actually doesn't appreciate Nathan treating them like crap and calling them “fuckbags” and “jackshit”. i love how those little details build up tension between them.

[arcane-ish]

They posted some "script to scene" stuff and those were imo usually pretty good.

There are some infamous cases where the writers commented that the animation didn't fit the intent (most notably saying that Vander and Silco look so young/Vander was beardless in the drowning flashback that made people convinced it had to be before the Day of Ash/Bridge fight wasn't the intent [though I think if they had bothered to fix it they would just have made Vander beardless in the opening scene where he picks up Powder and Vi on the bridge]).

I just find it the idea weird that the animators might have been upset that they didn't get to portray various character developments more in detail. When my impression is that the animators were probably most excited about things like the music video sequences. They have talked about it in interviews how they presumably loved that it gave them a chance to go wild on art style.

And it just makes sense that actually portraying large thing in a dense visual way would be something that would appeal to animators in particular.

(and I think those cases where the animators wanted to portray more are pretty obvious. We KNOW they submitted something more for Ekko and Jinx bonding in the main universe that the writers turned down and they whipped up something after the fact for the music video outside of the show. So that was clearly a case where IMO they animators felt that beat of Ekko and Jinx bonding/having feelings for each other in the main universe should have been depicted and the writers/showrunners thought it wouldn't have worked. And I don't even see that as a clear right or wrong thing. I think for the plan the writers had, I do think it would have felt redundant. And at the same time I get why to the animators that might have been a special moment they wanted to portray)

That said, even in live television fans and shippers in particular also always come up with these elaborate myths about how the actors are secretly on their side and totally fighting for their ship and being oppressed by the evil writers or the evil network. I assume this is kind of the Arcane version of those "Actor X secretly hates that he got put in another ship and is sending us secret messsages that he's miserable".

I have seen some of those shipper narratives that were painfully not just kind of optimistic/unrealistic for some that were just like easily disprovable (ie shippers claiming that some actress hated being in scenes with some new actor and then the actress actually got married to that actor they hated and they were very vocal about how they fell in love during shooting and they are still married years after the show ended). People are always so eager to project their feelings (I hate that the other ship gets a scene, I hate that this scene makes my favorite character look bad) onto the various artists involved and love to spin dramatic parallel tales about some people being their allies and others being their enemies.

And it's not like there are never any dramatic behind the scenes things going on, but most tales that fans imagine just strike me as being very far away from how those work place conflicts usually manifest (and for what it's worth: imo everything points to Fortiche and the Riot people/writers getting along very well. I don't think that their support for each other in various interviews and additional events they do together is fake. And if Fortiche hated Amanda Overton/had a bad opinion on her, why would they work with her for their attempt at an original story?)

I think the way the camera treats Caitlyn in the first act of season 2 is really interesting. It cuts off her eyes at some very key moments.

The eyes are how we connect with someone. Cutting them off cuts off the ability to sympathize with them. And depending on how the mouth is shot it can make the character seem more base or animalistic in a given moment. I think the show did this quite a bit with Silco in season 1, and they do it with Caitlyn in season 2.

The first one is from s2e1 when Caitlyn says about Jinx, "I want to rip that laugh from her throat forever.

Up until this point the viewer has been quite embedded in Caitlyn's POV when she's on-screen. The musical segment was showing her perspective. We witness her fantasy of being able to take down Jinx. The show is making sure that we understand where she's at mentally.

But here, the first time she's expressing violent thoughts, we're decidedly not in her POV. Her eyes are cut off, we don't get that connection with her. But what we do get is Jayce's reaction. And he's concerned. It's the first kind of "uh oh" moment, where you get a sinking feeling about where Caitlyn's headed.

2. After the memorial attack, she calls the attackers "animals" and we get this uncomfortably close shot of her teeth.

She's calling others animals, but she's the one who's shown snarling in this animalistic way. Again, her eyes are cut off, cutting off that avenue for sympathy when she says this, cutting the viewer off from her perspective, distancing her. Instead our attention is directed at this ugly, unsettling expression of hers. The camera is presenting her as something to be worried about rather than someone to feel sympathy for.

3. After interrogating Heenot, when she's gearing up to go after Jinx, and Vi is about to ask to talk to her.

Throughout the preceding scene, we were getting a lot of shots of Vi reacting to Caitlyn's behaviour, with a quite open expression, and a lot of shots of Caitlyn looking hardened and aloof. And then we come to this shot, and though Caitlyn is centre-frame, it's still Vi's POV. We see how Vi is feeling and reacting to things, but Caitlyn's eyes are again cut out of frame. She's distanced from the viewer, just like Vi is feeling distanced from her. Vi's position in the frame communicates how she's feeling, like she's being edged out of Caitlyn's life by Cait's singular focus on revenge.

And just like with that first shot with Jayce, by focusing on the reacting character, the camera is showing the viewer how they should be reacting to Caitlyn too: unsettled, disturbed, alienated.

4. When Cait and Vi are fighting, and Vi grabs Cait's arm, before she jabs Vi with the butt of her gun.

It's a reaction shot, Vi just grabbed her arm and told her she's acting like Jinx, this cut should be showing us how Caitlyn feels about that. But we don't see the reaction in her eyes, we just see her mouth.

In this case, I think it's not just about presenting Caitlyn in a way where she's cut off from the viewer. Because it is a reaction shot, I think this communicates that Caitlyn also feels cut off from herself in a way, cut off from the sympathy she had for others that was such a part of her character in season 1.

And then it's interesting to compare all this to when Vi and Caitlyn cross paths again, and Vi calls Caitlyn "cupcake." And we get this shot:

We get the closeup on her eyes. Whereas before, the audience was repeatedly cut off from having that connection with her, now it's like, boom, big connection. And just as before, I think the shot is not just about the audience being able to connect with her, but Caitlyn being able to connect with herself. That despite everything, she's still the same woman who fell in love with Vi, that part of her is still there. She's been on this whole awful journey, and she's done awful things, and allowed awful things to be done in her name, but she's still the same person, and she can't pretend anymore that it's all fine. She sees clearly again.

[kyrodo]

Honestly I kinda hate how random or nonsensical some of my thoughts while I'm alone are. I tend to think more clearly in the presence of other people because I become more self conscious about what I say and do, and in the event I'm wrong about something I get corrected immediately so it is nice to have that immediate feedback as well. So when I do long posts like this they are honest to a fault. Take the color post for example. Who other than me would actually give a f* what my logic is for my favorite colors? Pretty much no one. I still see blue orange black as an extremely satisfying solid color scheme to shape myself around identity wise but ultimately it is still a personal preference thing.

But I guess that's just one instance. My mind has an imagination when it comes to visualizing how I feel. When I feel dread, anger, sadness, love, or happiness or even any kind of physical sensation, I try to tie it down to images and words or even sounds and music. Love for example has a distinct sensation in the chest that is particularly tempting to describe with imagery like butterflies or more personal ideas like sweetness or boiling water. So I like to describe that feeling whenever I'm crushing on anyone for thoughtful reasons beyond just the natural urge to actually be able to express them to its subject.

In any case I sometimes feel the more I talk the worse things get for me and the more I start to lose whatever perceived audience I might have. Because what I say is too personal, or too direct, or too obscure, or things that are simply better left unspoken for one reason or another. For example I love the compliments I receive on my avatar. And who wouldn't really? The stars that glitter on my fur make it perfect for dance worlds and beyond that it is a cute avatar with some decent coloring that appeals to a lot of people. And I take pride in it even though I don't really get the same kind of attention a streamer or of literally anybody else had my avatar instead of me.

That is one thing I always pay attention to, my lack of attention. Even with one of the best looking avatars some people have seen by their own words, I didn't get much out of it beyond that. People still hardly ever like my videos or care, and nothing I do changes that. I get a like here and there once in a blue moon and that's it even if it looks really nice and sounds really nice. And that plays with my self esteem in ways that I would be better off not thinking about.

And that is the original reason I used to check my likes all the time. Why I used to practice drawing in the long forgotten past or make music. I wanted people to like and enjoy my work. I never got into art hardcore but my odds of doing so would've been better if there was enough support. And I never received it. So hobby after hobby ended up being discarded. Twitch too come to think of it.

A part of me wants to enjoy the glory of the limelight and a part of me wants to enjoy my privacy at the same time at certain times of day. It can be frustrating though how some of the best stuff I could show people never gets any attention no matter how good it is compared to some stuff other people post that always gets visibility. Even after my social journey on vrchat even, even after all the friends I've made on discord. My circle grows and I still end up invisible again and it's silly to care so much about that. But when I really think about it, such basic thoughts are ever present on any kind of social media. It's why people make memes. It's why people go through all this effort to be funny or meaningful in some way to get people to notice them. And the people who don't care about it have most likely grown to repress or hide it.

So maybe I do want "fans". Maybe I do want people that like my posts that actually put whatever work I have on display into consideration. But I try not to care because it always seems so impossibly hard to do so. My best posts usually get 0 views 0 likes besides my own views and it can sometimes be difficult not to think about it. Yet I know the kind of attention I want to have is not something I would be able to sustain for a prolonged period of time.

So I want my one-off posts that gain a lot of traction. Like the art I got from Hyrika. I wish I had maybe a few more posts like that where over time I just keep getting another like here and there and it's something pretty or something I'm proud of. And then maybe that'd be enough to scratch whatever itch that's causing me to doubt myself so much.

The past months since I met Choskey have hands down been the best experiences I've had for who knows how long now. It still amazes me how madly in love he is with me or how much I sexually excite him despite him being an ace, to the point he's questioning his own acehood. And I find that extremely hot in a way. And Red is growing a bit more adapted to Choskey always being there too. Choskey is extremely thirsty for me. xD In ways he didn't know he was capable of. I keep him constantly hard 24/7 just for existing. That is wild, and also very promising of a successful and happy relationship. It's hard not to be happy about that. And we're still instantly seen as a couple on vr like always except it's actually true this time. Should be old news but we haven't been on vr much for a good while. Mostly because Choskey's headset is dying and I'm experiencing problems with my headset too due to the cable. The way the linkbox precariously hangs down without anything to support it meant it was doomed to be this way since I got the headset without gluing it to the wall or a command strip like we started doing now. Would have prevented a lot of damage.

But finances have to recover before I can even think about getting a new one, and there's a backlog of other stuff we need.

[that-1-url]

my thoughts on the pjo tv show (spoilers for episode 8) pt 1

i want to preface this with: I have exactly zero (0) beef with the actors themselves personally i think they all did a great job with what they were given and all gave incredible, heartfelt performances so 10/10 on that front. I acknowledge that the TV series was not made to be a shot-for-shot remake of the books, and I accept that.

also, i only watched it once through and don't really want to rewatch just to make points so i won't remember everything clearly so if i get anything wrong feel free to correct me in a polite, constructive way. that being said,

i didn't like it. shocker, i know. but hear me out.

I'm not here to diss the show or just spew a bunch of hate. I'm here to make nuanced points and arguments for both sides, but the general overall conclusion will be that, in my personal opinion that is mine alone, i didn't like it. Starting with the critiques:

In the months leading up to the show's release I'm upset to say that there was a lot of racism surrounding the casting of Leah Sara Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri, something that left me extremely disappointed in the PJO fandom as a whole. Annabeth being white has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story and it shouldn't have mattered to anybody when Leah was cast. I never pictured Grover as white in the first place, but even if I did, Aryan as Grover wouldn't have fazed me. My only concern was if the writers were going to get their characters right. (I had no concern about their acting abilities or their ability to portray the characters correctly. If Rick cast them, I have complete confidence in them as well.) As far as casting went, the only person I actually had any issue with was Lin-Manuel Miranda. It was the equivalent of seeing a d*sney channel actor on a serious show I guess? I couldn't take Hermes very seriously mainly because the whole time I was like "okay Hamilton". I'm not even a musical fan I just couldn't take him seriously. Nothing against the guy, it's just what my brain did. When it comes to casting, you have to be very careful about just how big of a name you cast. And in this case Miranda's presence just kind of stood out too much and ruined the suspension of disbelief.

Pacing. I was going to put this first as this was the main issue I had with the show, but I felt that what I had to say about the casting was more important. Every time they entered a fight, there was no sense of mystery. There was no build up to when they figured it out. There was no suspense. It was just "oh hey Medusa." and then they killed her shortly after. At first I had benefit of the doubt, and then the Crusty scene happened and I just kind of sat there like "...really?" The writers felt the need to balance "We don't need to reintroduce this, book readers will be watching!" and "New viewers who are unfamiliar with the source material will be watching, we have to reintroduce this concept" which in theory could have worked, but it always seemed to tip the wrong way at the wrong time. As a book reader, I feel as though I should not have been confused with the way the story was going, instead, the suspense in seeing exactly how they were going to portray something through TV, and how they were going to add to the story via visual format would change the storytelling. But I ended up being extremely confused in most of the scenes. I didn't see how things added up and I didn't understand most of the changes. It made the plot feel very choppy and random, like they were trying to add too much and in the process took away from an actual linear story, leaving me to watch a series of scenes rather than an even-paced flow of events.

Mischaracterization. Percy and Annabeth were really good, actually. It was very true to character and Walter Scobell and Leah Jeffries' acting really brought out the reality that they were 12. The characters felt very organic and childlike, leaving us with the hard truth that the gods sent literal children to the Underworld to retrieve the most dangerous firecracker of all time. Back to critiquing however, Grover's character felt very off. Grover is an extremely anxious 28 year old satyr who has the misfortune of having to be in middle school for the past six years. He's not timid by any means, but the way that TV!Grover interrogated Ares in the diner a) led no where, at the very least the scene felt unnecessary, b) felt extremely out of character, and c) kind of took away Grover's role as the protector of the group, as he didn't get to save Percy and Annabeth from an untimely demise from the Thrill Ride of Love. Chiron was also given a much smaller role, as he doesn't give Percy Riptide and his wise words of advice before sending him off on Half-Blood Hill. Sally. I've seen a LOT of controversy on the characterization of Sally in this series, so here's my piece. Sally Jackson is by no means someone who backs down or is submissive. She is an extremely clever woman who knows when to pick her battles. While Smelly Gabe may have just been around to mask Percy's scent, he was still a very real threat to her and Percy in their ordinary lives. I know everyone says that Sally is perfect, and I love her so much as a character and person, but we also as a fandom have to accept that there is no such thing as a perfect person. That's kind of one of the big points in the series. It shines a flashlight on the darker parts of peoples characters, to show that even the so-called "perfect" immortal gods aren't all the myths made them out to be. Percy is an unreliable narrator, meaning that he has certainly exaggerated certain parts of Sally's character because she's his mom. Some people have defended the scenes in which Sally raises her voice at Percy and gets frustrated with him with this argument. It's a valid thing for her to do! She's human! She's a single mom raising a son who has multiple learning disabilities and can't stay in the same school for more than one year. She has no living relatives and is married to an asshole! But Percy also stated that Sally never raised her voice at him, and he's never pushed her because he knows that if he does, she'll cry. They are both careful with each other. Which makes the car scene and the pool scene make so little sense. Book Percy apologized to Smelly Gabe because he knew that even if it was something he really didn't want to do, it would make his mom happy. Sally, although not stating the specific reason, actually did manage to explain in a patient way why she felt the need to send him away, which is something she continually brushed off in the show. Gabe. I've seen a lot about this as well, with some arguing that he should have been "more abusive" and others pointing out that that could be dangerous and triggering to put in a show. My take walks the middle line. Don't show Gabe's active abuse, but continue to show it passively. Instead of Percy walking to the window, have him walk into his bedroom, taken over by Gabe's stuff. "Oh, but Gabe's stuff dominated the living room!" Yeah but it was super dark and I couldn't see a thing. Plus, that's a communal space. Having it in Percy's room as well would've been a brilliant but subtle way of detailing what little respect Gabe had for both Sally's and Percy's privacy. (also what was up with the complete lack of Gabe in the last episode? I'm so confused by that-)

Dialogue, but Percy's specifically. I understand that most of Percy's funny quips are said in his head, but the "jokes" he made out loud just...weren't funny? Like the original lines from the books were, I have no idea why they didn't just take some of those. It felt like an adult trying to relate to "the youth" rather than Percy actually quipping. The other main thing I can think of off the top of my head were whenever he was speaking to a god. Ares made a little more sense because of his aura making Percy angry, but when he spoke to Zeus? Hades? Book Zeus would've smited Percy there and then. Percy at the very least starts respectful, beginning with formal titles and being as polite as possible. TV!Percy just immediately started arguing with him and it was more tense than any of the actual "battle" scenes.

The fights. Oh my gosh they were so underwhelming. Whoever green-lit the show had to know how action packed these scenes needed to be, and then blatantly ignored that fact. I understand that VFX teams are overworked and underpaid, but I also understand that the sarcastic narration and quick-paced action scenes were written to keep neurodivergent readers (hi) engaged, which made it very difficult for me to take any of the so-called "fights" seriously. In my opinion, if you can't, don't. And by that, I mean if you couldn't find the time to adequately pay a good team to do cool effects for the action heavy series, then don't make the show. (1/2)

[gameofsevens]

hey cowboy! for the ask game, I have a lot: 13, 16, 24, 46, 57 and 74

Howdy!

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I don't know if this is a tip I saw or a rule I came up with myself, but I try not to start a sentence with the same word twice in a row. That usually applies unless I'm making a stylistic choice to repeat. One that I do know is a tip I saw once was how to tell when to start a new paragraph. I do think I'm a little too excitable when it comes to starting a new paragraph, but I think reading on my phone makes paragraphs look longer than they actually are.

16. already answered

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I remember it clearly: sophomore year, accelerated English II. We were learning about passive and active sentences, and the teacher told us that in both creative and professional writing, you should aim to mostly use active sentences to keep your reader engaged. I then wrote a report that included a fair amount of passive sentences, and when he called me up to ask about it, he said he highlighted all the passive sentences--spoiler alert, he missed more than half of them because, like I'll say next, they didn't matter. He said I should've written those sentences he highlighted in active form, and I said "but I don't care about those sentences--they don't matter in keeping the reader engaged" because in my mind, they're transition sentences that are only there because of necessity. If you only have active sentences, it can become too much or bog down the entire piece of writing because nothing sticks out. If I want to build tension of scare the reader, I'll start by writing passively and build up to only active sentences, or if something's boring or depressing, I'll use passive sentences to portray something dull and monotonous. I still follow my own advice (and ignore his) to this day.

46. How would you describe your style?(Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

Hm, this is a hard one. I guess I would say my style aims for the reader to be able to visualize it exactly as I do in my head: I try to paint it as a picture or a movie, one that you can see every expression or twitch of the muscle, can feel the environment around you, or hear the swell or decrescendo of music as the scene moves on. So depending on what I'm writing, it changes between character, emotion, or action-driven.

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

Usually, I wait until after I'm finished so I don't get distracted. However, with the recent big bang event, I was editing as I went, which cut it very close to posting time lol

74. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

This is also a bit of a hard one, but I think there's two things. The first is "lore"—I tend to over-explain, if you couldn't tell by my lengthy answers, so I'll always stick in some explanation for characters' reasonings and actions. This is also because I don't like characters being two-dimensional, so I want to give a history for the 'why'. Another would be symbolism. I like to have a deeper meaning and purpose for objects, actions, or dialogue, and for my longer works (like Monster Party was going to build to), have stuff that will make things click in the reader's brain. I'm also a slut for Chekov's gun, so I like to sprinkle that in there when I can, but that's almost solely for longer works, like mp or some original works

[knightotoc]

Who fumbled the trope better: The Rise of Skywalker or Picard Season 3? (long post by a hater)

1. Everyone's Related

- TRoS: retcons the story to make the protag someone's kid; it's a big reveal with little time to process; odd things are apparently genetic (like shooting lightning and being evil and goth); she rejects her heritage and chooses a different family, who are all dead; the emotional peak is a father ('s ghost) redeeming his wayward son; nepo kids get together, sorta; a claustrophobic sense of being trapped in the past and made intentionally inferior to the famous

- PIC S3: protag has had a secret kid this whole time; it's a big reveal with little time to process; odd things are apparently genetic (like bravery and accent); inconsistent with other legacy character's parental experiences (Geordi's daughters are second-tier characters who parallel Jack's rejection-acceptance-nepotism arc; Riker and Troi's kids are briefly but emotionally discussed; one emotional line about Wesley; one unemotional line about Lal; utter absence of Alexander); the emotional peak is a father redeeming his wayward son; as Picard's unqualified son and Geordi's qualified daughter get jobs on the bridge of Starfleet's flagship, Picard says, "Names mean almost nothing," and his son responds, "Names mean almost everything;" nepo kids get together, sorta; a mind-numbing sense of conservative family values and reassuring some very insecure people

2. Lesbian Queerbaiting

- TRoS: in the final celebration homage to RotJ, two minor characters kiss in the background; this spawned the "live slug reaction" meme that has now manifested as a homophobic inside joke in Jedi: Survivor

- PIC S3: Seven and Raffi got together in S2 and became Trek's first lesbian couple between two major characters (DISCO already gave us Trek's first major gay couple), but they broke up before the events of S3; they are coworkers in the end of S3, but are not back together because of...

3. Fear of Shippers

- TRoS: Finn is clearly into Rey, but it's unclear if she likes him back; Rey and Kylo kiss sans romantic music, but then he dies and she does not see his ghost; two more women are introduced to pair with Finn and Poe, but none of them get together either; it's unconfirmed, but the vibe is that they didn't want to commit to anything to try to please everyone

- PIC S3: the vibe is the same and it is confirmed:

(by "that scene," he means Picard returning to Laris)

Both franchises also had a focus on an interracial relationship (Finnrey and Saffi), then have the Black person hang out mostly with another Black character (Jannah and Worf) while the white person hangs out with mostly white characters.

4. Bad Boy Braincontrol

- TRoS: somehow Palpatine returned, and he's been in Kylo's mind this whole time; that's why he's evil, not anything of his own free will, just the old story impressing itself upon him (he still has to die though); you know this villain, just defeat him with the power of love like you did last time

- PIC S3: somehow the Borg Queen returned, and she's been in Jack's mind this whole time; that's why he has intrusive thoughts, not because that's a thing that happens to people, just the old story impressing itself upon him; you know this villain, just defeat her with the power of love like you did last time

The visual similarities of Zombie Palpatine and Zombie Borg Queen are remarkable -- physically trapped in dusty corners by creepy machines -- and would be even more interesting if I could actually see them in these dark rooms. This design, which suggests an elderly person immobile in a hospital, actually makes me feel a lot of pity and affection for them. It certainly would have felt far more heroic to help these poor creatures than to rather easily defeat them.

5. We Love Objects

- TRoS: Kylo's private room is literally a museum with curated displays of old props; fetch quest video game-y plot; lots of attention paid to whose lightsaber does what and goes where

- PIC S3: let's break into the museum of old props; kitschy oil paintings of the Enterprise and Picard on the walls; the most unearned and half-hearted "long shots of beloved ship leaving space dock" sequence in a franchise full of such sequences

[seasaltmemories]

4, 5, and 21 for the vidder asks!

Gonna allow myself to ramble and answer with two vids thanks to this double jeopardy lol

Vid you're the proudest of?

I consider Spring Awakening to be my most polished/some of my best editing yet. Not only did I really start to nail some techniques like light leaks and color correction, but I think it has a good balance of tight sync and thought-out structure.

Beyond just a romance vid, I wanted to make sure it was clearly a vid about a queer awakening, which did involve me having to bend Bloom Into You a bit (not bc it isn't that, but everyone's self discovery journey is a bit more complicated than a 3 minute vid can visually capture) but it was so satisfying when others picked up the whole flowers/nature vs. train/mechanical symbolism I had going on. I worked really hard to build up to Yuu and Touko getting "together" with verse 1 showing Yuu mostly alone and pining, verse 2 about being close but still no touch yet, until we get Yuu actually reaching out in the bridge, before the final chorus is like a victory lap of them being happy on a date and self-actualized

Then this has new vid freshness to it and new breakthroughs in mediums, but I am also pretty proud of To Have Without Holding, 2023 I really got interested in mmvs and I never expected to be able to put out a 3 minute one within a year's time. If you have been paying attention to this blog at all, you know I am obsessed with the series Aono-kun, so it was really great to edit out those feelings and convince a few more folks to give the series a read

Hardest vid to edit?

Due to the difference in medium, it is pretty clearly To Have Without Holding probably makes sense as a clear contender. But aside from mmvs just being slower bc of the composition work and masking that has to go into it, I would also say The Storyteller's Burden is up there as well

Rakugo Shinjuu is not the most visually interesting show to look at, and the song both has a lot of intense musical cues but each verse takes forever to say a complete idea, so I had to really stretch out every scrap of footage I could. The fact the song is so specific and I only watched 3/4th of s1 of the show added to the pain. Ultimately it is a vid that lives and dies by its storytelling, and there is still a lot I am unsatisfied about it, but I am glad I at least got it out the door and out of my head

How would you describe your vidding style?

A fellow editor describing their philosophy said that song is queen, and I totally picked that up as well. My first goal is to maximize as much sync as I can in any section, then I want to make sure the lyrics and overall themes of the song line up with the visuals as much as possible. For the length of the song I am dedicated to making sure these two sources feel literally made for each other, and I want to make sure it all flows together seamlessly enough the viewer never feels pulled to click away

Because of these goals, I would say I try to make the most of what the footage itself offers in internal sync and other little quirks I can use, but I am not against using more and more special effects, again I want their inclusion to feel like a natural choice, and overall for fans of a series, I do want the vid to itself feel like a heightened version of the show, maybe not literally looking like how the events happened, but feeling it

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

weird question but do you know any place i can find a summary of chapter 5? or if you have one? i dont like vil so i cant really make myself sit and read the whole chapter but i wanna move forward and read chapter 6 but ALSO feel like i should know the important plot points so im not like "wtf is going on"

I mean 🥲 I don’t like Vil either, but I’d still highly encourage you to read episode 5! Getting a summary isn’t really the same as experiencing the story for yourself; the visuals, songs, and voice acting really helps to sell the emotions and the stakes. Who knows, maybe you’ll leave episode 5 with a little more appreciation for Vil (or the other characters; they all have various cute or heroic moments)? He’ll come back to play a major role in episode 6 anyway, and his character moments won’t hit as hard if you didn’t read 5. For example, there’s a particular line of Rook’s in 5 that Vil repeats in 6 which really hammers home his character development since 5.

… Although I won’t lie, episode 5 has veeery slow pacing because it’s basically one long, dragged out training arc 😂 so I’ll summarize what happens anyway; just know that I’d still recommend actually playing through the story yourself, especially if any of these plot points seem too cool or too interesting to not witness yourself. I’ll be glossing over things that aren’t relevant to the main conflict, so 💦 please keep that in mind!

Sooo Yuu starts off Book 5: A Beautiful Tyrant by finally starting to put the pieces together; they visit the Great Seven statues and confirm their own suspicions that the figures in their dreams are the same as the people depicted in the G7 statues (though their actions are framed as more “evil” in the dreams).

Yuu tells Adeuce and Grim about Mickey! They suggest that Yuu takes a picture of Mickey with the Ghost Camera so they can use it to investigate who or what he is.

There’s a dorm leader meeting to give exposition about an upcoming event. NRC will be having a two-day cultural festival in about two months! They will put on a bunch of activities, as well as showcase their clubs and give presentations on the art and research their students have produced.

One of the biggest events is the Vocal and Dance Championship (VDC). In EN, this has been changed to Song and Dance Championship (SDC), so I will refer to it by the English name to avoid confusion. It’s basically the music industry equivalent to what the Magical Shift/Spelldrive tournament was in episode 2; it’s a golden opportunity to launch many people’s singing careers in the entertainment industry. (A lot of talent agencies will apparently clamor to sign you on for a professional debut if you’re a SDC finalist!) The favorites to win this year are Vil and Neige Leblanche (twisted from Snow White).

I won’t mention every single time this happens, but throughout the chapter Vil has these segments where he asks his phone assistant Mira (TWST Alexa or Siri, basically) who the fairest of them all is. Mira always replies with “Neige Leblanche”, which seems to greatly frustrate Vil.

Anyway, Adeuce and Grim are interested in entering SDC because if the team representing their school makes it to the finals, they’ll get a cash prize of 50,000 thaumarks (5 million madol in JP).

Ace and Grim are pumped about trying out for NRC’s team, but Deuce is hesitant and bails.

The group eats lunch and then chills in the courtyard; it’s here that they hear singing and follow the song. It was Epel who was singing down a well (a Snow White reference), because he thought the well would help project his voice more clearly.

Deuce recognizes Epel as the crying boy he ran into at the end of episode 4! Epel says he recognizes Yuu and co. from the Magical Shift/Spelldrive tournament; he also heard about them from his classmate Jack.

Epel tells them about how his dorm leader Vil wants him to practice singing and that he’ll be a part of the SDC auditions. However, it seems that Epel isn’t eager to do this (which Deuce notices).

Vil comes to check on Epel and catches him talking to Yuu and co,; he is disappointed in Epel for “slacking off” and tries to drag him off. When Epel resists, Vil reminds him of a promise they made, which makes Epel fall into line.

Ace, ever the nosy one, picks a fight with Vil (because he doesn’t think he should be bossing Epel around). Epel begs everyone to not do it, but they fight anyway and Vil is, of course, victorious.

This reinvigorates Deuce’s motivation to be in SDC; he wants to help Epel, who seemed to be so hesitant about taking part.

Adeuce and Grim practice dancing on the basketball court. Here they run into Kalim and Jamil, who are also planning on auditioning since they already enjoy singing and dancing. The Scarabia boys give some pointers on dancing to Adeuce and Grim.

Azul shows up; he needed to find Jamil (they’re classmates) because Professor Trein needed his help with handing papers out. The boys banter a bit and Azul reveals that he was bluffing in episode 4 about live streaming Jamil’s breakdown and OB to the world. Only the Scarabia dorm members are aware of the incident.

Tying up loose ends from the ending of 4!! Kalim was able to convince everyone to let Jamil stay on as vice and to give him a second chance. Jamil claims that he is behaving for now to atone what he did, though he also says he will work hard to prove his worth.

The Scarabia boys tell Adeuce to sign up for SDC auditions via a “Rook Hunt”, who is in class 3-A. They go and do this and uh (well, Leona cameo but that’s not important) 🤡 well, Rook does what he does best and spooks them.

Cut to the VDC auditions! We see other competitors, one of which is Lilia (who delivered a holiday card from “M.D.” to Yuu) and Cater! They share some tea about the mysterious Shroud brothers, who enrolled at the same time and seem to do everything together.

Cater wants to show Grim a video, but he’s forced to sit through an ad first. It’s an advertisement for an apple soda featuring Neige (who, if you’ll recall, is one of the favorites to win SDC).

We get to hear various characters (Cater, Ruggie, Kalim, Jamil, Epel, Ortho, and Lilia) sing part of TWST’s opening song, Piece of My World!

Auditions wrap up and at first Vil wants to pick only the best performers, a she believes this will give him the greatest chance of beating Neige. However, Rook stops him and suggests that he instead pick people who are rough around the edges so Vil can polish them to perfection. Rook points out that he sees a lot of potential in Adeuce in particular.

Rook shoots an arrow at Adeuce with a letter attached to it letting them know they passed auditions, so they should report to Pomefiore dorm. Yuu is also told to come along.

The gang pulls up to Pomefiore and meet Kalim and Jamil there. Turns out the Scarabia duo have also passed!

A bunch of Pomefiore students start attacking them, but they manage to battle their way to Pomefiore’s ballroom where Vil is waiting. This was all a test he arranged so they could prove their worth to him.

So the SDC team is: Vil, Rook, Epel, Jamil, Kalim, Ace, and Deuce.

There’s only a month left until SDC. Crowley wants Yuu to let the NRC team hold their training camp at Ramshackle, since he is convinced that living together will help them build teamwork. He originally thought of holding the camp at Pomefiore, but he didn’t want some students to feel out of their element. They get bribed with a cut of the prize money and the promise of Ramshackle renovations 😂 so Yuu’s like “Okay, sure. C’mon in.”

Everyone moves in, and Vil starts imposing new rules on the SDC team members. For example, he takes away their snacks (including an apple pie and chocolate cake that Trey sent with Adeuce) and says he has designed low calorie yet nutritional meals for them. (I want to be clear here: some people misinterpret this part as “Vil is starving them like Mama Rosehearts starved Riddle!” which is NOT true. Rook says that this is not a diet in that sense, but to help them be in shape. Vil wants them to eat healthily so they can perform at their best.)

Vil gets a phone call from his manager who says he has been offered a role in a biiig movie production… as the villain. The hero for this movie will be played by Neige. Upon learning this, Vil becomes irritated and insists his manager reject the offer. He doesn’t care how much money he could earn from this, he says that all he wants to do is “stand the stage until the very end”. Vil then tells his manager to not contact him again until SDC is over.

It is revealed that the voting for SDC is done via audience poll, not by professional judges. This is an important detail to keep in mind for later.

Vil shows the group an original song (Absolutely Beautiful). In EN, he says he commissioned it but in JP he is more vague with his wording, which has led some fans to conclude that Vil personally worked on producing this song. (Uhhh, they also sing Piece of My World at some point.)

He tries to show them a video to help everyone get a feel for the dance choreography, and another ad featuring Neige plays. The boys talk about how Neige is such a popular celeb these days, and how he’s a student of Royal Sword Academy so that makes him their rival. Vil says something cryptic about how he’ll finally defeat Neige this time.

Vil picks himself, Epel, and Jamil as the main vocalists. Jamil is surprised and starts to say that Kalim should be picked instead of him, but Jamil stops himself and accepts the role.

Epel says he isn’t sure about being picked, but Vil again brings up their promise which makes him comply.

They keep practicing and Epel pisses Vil off when he says the dance is too girly. Vil chews Epel out for having outdated views on gender and then places him on a solo ballet regimen. Deuce asks to join Epel for his ballet lessons!

A ghost delivers 10 crates of apple juice to Epel. This is unsold stock from his family’s business, which is struggling at the moment. They all chill and sip on the apple juice!

Vil interrupts to lecture them on skincare. Ace asks isn’t there magic to make them instantly beautiful? This seems to annoy Vil, who says that he’s not interested in “beauty that only lasts until the strike of midnight”.

Yuu wakes up in the middle of the night to find Kalim singing outside Ramshackle. He confesses that he’s frustrated about not being chosen as a main vocalist. Kalim’s so used to having everything handed to him that the experience of being overlooked surprised him. He says that he wants to try hard so that he will genuinely be picked for something because he’s actually the best choice for it.

It’s revealed that Jamil was listening in on Kalim!

Adeuce sneak bites of Trey’s apple pie and chocolate cake. Vil catches them in the act 🤡 Adeuce suddenly fall over and can’t move!! Vil tells them he put a curse on the baked goods using his unique magic/signature spell. Fairest One of All allows Vil to lay a curse for anything he touches. The conditions he sets must be fulfilled, for even the original caster cannot lift it. (Vil cursed the pie and cake so that if anyone eats it, they cannot move until morning comes.)

Yuu sees Mickey in the mirror again but fails to take a picture of him. They begin to wonder how their original world and Mickey’s may be connected.

This isn’t relevant in the story of 5, but it may be important overall lore-wise. Apparently it is possible to transfer into NRC; Kalim originally did not go to NRC but the dark carriage came for him one month after Jamil enrolled.

Epel becomes frustrated with practice and wants to quit the team. He fights with Vil and loses, prompting Epel to run off.

Deuce suggests maybe Vil be nicer, but Vil snaps that Deuce has no room to be worrying about others or taking back when he’s falling behind the rest of the team. Vil compares Deuce to Ace, saying that the difference between them is too obvious. Ace tells Deuce to focus on himself more, and Deuce gets mad because someone naturally gifted like Ace wouldn’t understand him.

The team is really fractured at this point, so Jamil suggests taking a break. During this break, Rook advises Vil that he show Epel “the power of beauty”, to which Vil agrees.

Rook and Kalim give Deuce a pep talk! It leads Deuce to nabbing a magical wheel (blastcycle?) from Ignihyde and driving himself and Epel to a local beach. (They also see RSA on the way!)

The two shout their frustrations at the sea, and Epel’s dialect comes out full force which shocks Deuce. Epel then explains how he doesn’t want people to underestimate him because of his looks. On his first day (before he was sorted into a dorm), Vil tells him to button up his shirt and comments on his cute face, which causes Epel to instigate a fight.

Vil wins and tells Epel that “the weak obey the strong”, so until Epel is able to beat him, he has to listen to everything Vil says. This explains why Epel usually hides his dialect; Vil says that he doesn’t have a problem with Epel’s love for his hometown, but that there is a time and place for the dialect and his rude attitude. In this case, he must address his superiors properly.

The two first years have a heart-to-heart! Epel talks about wanting to become stronger, and Deuce talks about how how his own strength is how amazingly stupid and stubborn he is.

Epel gets a phone call from his mom!! Their business was suddenly flooded with orders from all over the world, and she says a customer told her it was because of “Vil”, whom Mrs. Felmier recognized as Epel’s dorm leader. She asks him to thank Vil for her.

Vil made a Magicam post featuring the Felmier family apple juice! All of his fans want to try the same juice, so they’re buying it en masse. This is the “power of beauty” Vil wanted to show him, that being beautiful and being strong can be powerful in their own rights, and that until Epel understands that, he can never defeat Vil.

They’re interrupted by some random NPCs that want to ride on Deuce’s (borrowed) ride. The NPCs get aggressive, but Epel is able to catch them off-guard with his cutesy looks. This lets Epel get some hits in!

The NPCs are beating them 😔 but suddenly…?! Deuce’s magical power overflows…!!

We cut to a later point that day when Epel and Deuce return, apologize to Vil, and rejoin the SDC group. Deuce confronts Ace and swears to him that he doesn’t plan on losing to him!

Crowley gives everyone in the team tickets for them to invite people to see the show. Yuu gives their ticket to Malleus.

The cultural festival has arrived at last! Yuu spends some time looking around at the attractions with Grim. We get a bunch of cameos from other characters.

While looking through some of the exhibitions, they see some NRC mob students bullying some short RSA students. The NRC boys intervene, and then Chenya comes to pick up the short kids (which are twisted versions of the Seven Dwarves).

Yuu and co. go to the SDC location (the Purple Stage) for rehearsals. Surprise?! Neige appears!! Vil is curt but professional with him.

NRC does their practice run and, for a brief moment, Vil is considered “most beautiful” (he checks with Mira). Buuut then Neige and the dwarves do their practice run (EN removed the song Minna de Yahoo), and Neige is on top again 😭 (Their performance isn’t even that well-executed, they’re very clumsy and everything. The song also isn’t very unique; it’s an arrangement of a popular children’s song from the Shaftlands. However, it still makes the filming staff feel nostalgic and they gush about how cute Neige is and how pure he makes them feel.)

Vil gets a scary look on his face and leaves; Rook, Kalim, and Jamil notice the look he made 👁️ 👄 👁️ Errr, Vil shatters his phone (“mirror”) in a fit of rage.

Yuu follows Vil backstage because they have a bad feeling. They see Vil offering apple juice from Epel’s family to Neige.

Neige is about to drink it until Rook intervenes and tells him (his “Snow White”) to hurry away because the staff need him. Rook takes the juice for himself and tries to drink it, but then Kalim cuts in and knocks the glass out of his hand.

It starts bubbling on the ground 💀 Vil cursed the apple juice! Kalim says he recognized the face Vil was making; it’s just like Jamil before he went mad over winter break.

Rook says he wanted to drink the juice even knowing it would harm him because he wants to believe that Vil wouldn’t tarnish his beauty and hard work by stooping so low.

The spilled juice vaporizes into a toxic mist, and Vil begins to Overblot 😔 He is different than the previous Overblots in that he is somewhat self-aware of what is happening to him (he shouts at everyone to not look at him, at his “ugliness”; the ugliness here is not literal, Vil is most likely referring to his “ugly” actions (ie the attempt to poison Neige, perhaps even kill him).

Jamil comes on the magic carpet to whisk everyone somewhere safe! He lets them know he used Snake Whisper to get Neige to put on a performance. This performance lured people away to watch him (plus, the first years went around getting rid of loiterers), so the SDC stadium is empty except for OB Vil, Grim, Yuu, and the NRC SDC group.

Deuce saves the day by directing the damage he has taken so far back at Vil…! This is the unique magic/signature spell he unlocked on the beach, Bet the Limit (Double Down in EN).

In the post-OB flashback sequence, we learn that Vil’s dad was a famous actor as well! It seems that Vil has consistently been casted as the villain ever since he started his own acting career. He resents this, because according to him, “a villain never stands on the stage until the very end, they can only watch the happy ending from the sidelines”.

Vil was also bullied in the past, although it is a different kind of bullying than Azul suffered. Other kids assumed he was as cold and cruel as the villains he portrayed in films, dramas, and musicals. (We see young Jack defending Vil!) He worked very hard in hopes of landing a hero role—but he was still never chosen.

Vil wakes up and finds himself upon a ruined Purple Stage. SDC can’t happen like this…

Malleus shows up with his ticket and uses his magic to repair the stage—he came to see their performance, after all. (It is also here when Yuu finally learns who “Tsunotaro/Hornton” truly is.)

SDC happens!! More cameos from characters in the audience as they vote.

RSA wins by one vote. That deciding vote was… Rook! Now, he gets a lot of hate for this move, but 🥲 he explains that he couldn’t lie to himself; he was genuinely moved more by Neige than his own group’s performance. Additionally, he says that even if they technically didn’t win a competition or get the most votes, so long as Vil has the strength to believe in himself… then no matter how old or disheveled Vil is, he will always be fairest of them all.

Vil collapses and cries…

Neige comes over and??? Turns out that Rook is a HUGE Neige fan 😂 (When first moving into Ramshackle, Vil remarks on a thick book Rook brought with him. They never looked at what was inside, but it was a bunch of Neige bromides.) Neige says he recognized Rook as his fan (“R”) because Rook called him “Snow White”.

Aaand Neige says everyone should sing together :)) (Again, this was removed from EN.) Vil suffers a lot :)))

Crowley is mulling over another loss to RSA and encounters its headmaster, Ambrose the 63rd (twisted from… Merlin???). Ambrose remarks that he senses strong magic in the area (probably residual from either Malleus or OB Vil) and that he’ll have to keep an eye on Crowley’s students.

Yuu finally grabs a picture of Mickey, but then notices Grim is missing so they leave to find him.

They see Grim on the Purple Stage eating Vil’s OB stone. When Grim notices Yuu there, he attacks them.

We finish off on a preview to Ignihyde. Idia gave a presentation at the cultural festival that made a lot of people interested in having him as an intern. Ortho offers to read the email opportunities to him, but in a resigned tone, Idia says to delete them all because he thinks he “doesn’t belong anywhere” so it’s not worth trying to.

[katherynshoward]

𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞; { 𝐝.𝐦. 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 }

SYNOPSIS; you catch draco eyeing pansy parkinson at a party despite him insisting he has no eyes for her. no one likes a liar. all characters are aged up to 20 in their 6th year and it’s the early 2000s. i repeat, there are NO underage characters in this. hogwarts functions as a college.

RESTRICTIONS; 18+ only. i don’t consent to minors viewing this content.

WORD COUNT; 4.9k

WARNINGS; smut, edging, bondage, name-calling, degradation, blow jobs, hand jobs, rough sex, size kink, sex toys, alcohol, drugs

The night was growing old, but yours was far from over. Three drinks down and another in your grasp, you could feel the effects of intoxication overwhelming you by now. You were never much of a drinker, but this was a Slytherin party. It would be considered nearly an insult to not finish what was supplied. And as much as it was a Slytherin gathering, it was also your birthday celebration. Of course, the birthday girl was expected to indulge in the night more than anyone. You felt special as this event was already contesting with one of the better Gryffindor House parties of the year.

You hadn’t expected your boyfriend to make an appearance this evening. He thought himself above parties as his arrogance would lead him to believe. Yet when Draco emerged from the men’s dormitories so late into the festivities, Theodore Nott could be heard howling his excitement and rooting Draco on. The young man quickly thrusted a drink into Draco’s hand and began urging him to ‘loosen up’ over several other hoarse voices that were worn out from yelling over the music. You turned away and smiled to yourself, taking another sip from your goblet.

The commotion over Draco’s appearance would draw more attention to him than he cared to receive. If he was truly here to enjoy himself, it was unlikely he would ever partake again after the spectacle Theo put on. 

But by Draco’s protest you could faintly hear, it became obvious Draco did not come to celebrate. He was irate. A soft tap on your shoulder a moment later alerted you and you spun back around.

“Break this up. It’s four in the morning.” He said.

“Don’t be a party pooper.” You frowned. “I see you have a drink. I think Nott was on the right idea.”

“I’m tired. Silencing charms aren’t working.”

“One drink and I’ll break it up. For me? You may even thank me later.” You winked and Draco subtly rolled his eyes.

Pushing his free hand into his pocket, he began drinking away at his beverage and walked away. You sniggered to yourself, bemused by your own wit. You were the only person in the world Draco would yield to at this point and it felt vigorous. Knowing you had the solidity to command Draco by sex appeal alone. He could hardly resist how tempting you were and obeyed without resistance.

You knew you would marry him one day.

It could have been predictable Draco was a lightweight and Nott gave him a particularly strong drink. Theo himself was a heavy partier and could take as many drinks as a 7 foot three hundred and fifty pound man and still feel fine enough to play beer pong efficiently. Draco was never the type to drink or engage in any kind of activity involving impairment. He seemed to think it stunted his magic. Something he wasn’t keen on for reasons you couldn’t identify. But after thirty minutes had passed, Draco was visibly impaired. He was trying to conceal it which only made it more obvious.

You purposely hid yourself away when he came looking for you, having held up his half of the deal. You giggled with another Slytherin girl, watching as Draco was clearly looking for you without much success. Yet when his eyes fell onto Pansy Parkinson, his gaze seemed to act a little too familiar with her. His eyes rested on her backside, lingering far too long to be an accident. You shot a look of malice to the girl beside you. She looked at you and shrugged her shoulders.

When you looked back at Draco, he was now observing his surroundings to make sure no one saw that. He was still aware enough to be mindful of consequences. It occurred to you then that he wasn’t that drunk. That excuse wouldn’t hold to defend his wandering eyes.

You’d have to remind him that his eyes were meant only for you.

Walking towards him, his eyes widened a bit as though you startled him. But he quickly relaxed again.

“I was looking for you.” He held the goblet upside down, showing there was nothing left in it.

“How do I know you didn’t just dump it?” You said.

He huffed out a vexed sigh.

“Maybe you should have been watching me if that was a concern.”

“I was watching you. I saw everything.” You smirked and quickly flicked your eyes towards Pansy.

Draco began massaging the bridge of his nose in a visually exasperated gesture. How he would dig himself out of this one, he seemed unsure. You crossed your arms over your chest and smiled.

“Fine. I’ll just deal with it.” He grimaced and nearly began walking away.

“Excuse me. You think I’d let you off the hook that easily?” You half chuckled. “I catch you burning holes into Pansy’s arse with your eyes and you think you can just go about your night?”

“I’m sorry, darling. Truly, I feel a bit fuzzy.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I mean, honestly. You know how I feel towards Parkinson. That was highly uncharacteristic of me. I do only have eyes for you.”

“Prove it.” You challenged him.

“What do you want?” He sounded skeptical.

“Hm, it depends. Whatever might satisfy me.”

As you said this, you wrapped his tie around your hand and pulled him closer to you. Your lips met with his. He did taste like alcohol. You knew he wasn’t a cheater, you just wanted to give him a hard time. He was the most fun to peeve of anyone as he always took everything so seriously.

Maybe if he made it less fun, he wouldn’t always be at the butt end of every joke.

You used your tongue to part his lips and leaned in closer to him, pressing your chest into his as you stood on the tips of your toes to better level yourself with him. He was still taller, but Draco leaned down into you to deepen the surprisingly erotic moment. Which was also unlike him. A benefit of the drink.

He pressed one hand gently against the nape of your back, traveling lower until his hand would rest directly over the curve where your back met your ass. He pulled you closer into him with the same hand and returned your kiss tenfold. Your pussy began throbbing already, taking you a little off guard. Draco never kissed you in such a venereal way to elicit this kind of response from your body. Maybe you would encourage him to drink a little more. He was more relaxed. Even the devil’s lettuce could do him some favors.

Draco typically preferred to keep this intimacy between the two of you. But now, the heat of his breath and the way he pressed his pelvis into you signaled that for once, he was a bit looser. You loved every moment of it. Of course, he still pulled away from you first with dazed eyes.

“You can show me your proof in the dormitory. If I broke up this party now, we wouldn’t have our privacy. Would we?” You stared up at him with big eyes.

Draco swallowed hard and modestly nodded, setting the goblet down on a table beside him.

You signaled for him to follow you by gesturing your head forward. When you took a left up the stairs, you made sure to sway your hips more than usual with each step. Halfway up the set of stairs, you glanced back to see if his attention was fixated where you intended. Just as you hoped, his watchful gaze was lingering on the curvature of your hips and bottom. He looked up at you. You bent forward a little to expose more of your panties beneath your skirt and continued up the stairs.

“Like the view?” You joked, giggling a little.

Though you couldn’t see him, your mind’s eye already pictured Draco shaking his head to himself.

You reached the room you shared with a few other girls first and pulled him inside by his collar, slamming the door behind him by shoving him into the door with such force, the foundation shook. You pressed yourself into him and sunk into his lips with ardent force. Draco forcibly grabbed onto your buttocks, squeezing hard. You pushed his hands away and planted a firm smack on his cheek that cause his hair to fall over his face. It actually looked better that way. 

A soft breathy chuckle escaped your lips and Draco quickly grabbed hold of your wrists, making you spin around so that your back was now pressed against him. He pushed you onto the nearest bed and mounted you, grinding himself against you. You could feel him growing harder with each passing moment.

“Watch it, Malfoy. You’re biting off more than you can chew.” You warned him, already having an idea of how this wanted to go.

He began undressing himself quickly, getting rid of his button up shirt and tie first. You could hear him fumbling with his buckle now.

“Try me.” He sounded almost angry, but in a lustful way.

As he always did, he placed two fingers into your mouth to pull your head back while he unzipped his trousers. But this time, you bit down. He hissed and pulled away. You promptly kicked him away while he was distracted and reached for your wand in your waistband.

“Accio!” A chair came hurling towards you.

With another flick of your wand, you pushed Draco into the chair and acted quickly to bind his hands behind him with a temporary binding hex.

“What exactly are you doing here?” He sounded annoyed again and you laughed.

“What satisfies me.”

You shrugged and got up. Getting on your knees in front of him, you took his belt off for him and teasingly snapped it in front of him. You got back up and tied his hands behind the chair, careful to not cut off any circulation. But to be certain it would be difficult for him to escape, you placed a sticky charm on the belt.

“Too tight?” You asked, peeking your head over his shoulder.

Much to your surprise, he chuckled and shook his head.

“I didn’t know you were into bondage.” He observed. “You know your knots. It’s not too tight.”

“Maybe next time, I’ll let you tie me up. But I think you deserve this.”

You circled back around in front of him.

“Now, your punishment. You can’t touch me. Or yourself.”

“That’s it?” He asked.

“Oh, love. I’m not going to make this easy. Not even a little.”

His eyes narrowed on you and you returned the same look. You used your wand again to lock the door behind him and began circling around him. First, you traced your fingertips along his clavicle. He felt hot from the alcohol around his neck. His head followed you, looking around to the other side when you emerged from behind him. Casually, you ran your hand over his hair before grabbing a fistful and snapping his head back to expose his adam’s apple. You placed a sweet kiss on his lips.

“Safe word is baboons.” You whispered against him.

“That bad?” He asked with a smile. “I might act out again.”

Again, you placed another firm smack on his other cheek. He was aroused by this as you noted his pants move a little.

“Don’t be a pig. If you want something, you don’t resort to childish antics. You take them like a man.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He snarled back when you brought his head forward and let go of his hair roughly.

You walked away and positioned yourself in front of the bed. Still turned away from him, you began to strip off your skirt first. He loved your ass the most. The creaking of the chair told you he was either shifting uncomfortably or already attempting to work himself out of his restraints. You made sure to struggle with getting the skirt past the girth of your thick bottom, bending over slightly to make it appear even bigger. Draco sighed at the sight of your panties finally peaking through. A designer pair he bought you as part of an early birthday gift a week ago. Again, the chair creaked. Your skirt finally hit the floor.

You took no time to remove your top, already braless. Turning around to face him, he immediately looked at your breasts

“You weren’t wearing a bra?” Draco quickly observed.

“What? You must hate the idea of other men looking at my hard nipples. Don’t you? Maybe I wanted them to stare. It’s my birthday, after all.”

You shrugged and sat on the bed, which made your thighs appear wider. Relaxing onto your elbows, you kept your eyes on Draco who remained just as fixated on your figure.

“They know better.” Draco said, referring to the men of his house having a certain moral code. Specifically when it came to significant others and staring.

“You didn’t.” You retorted, a little pleased with your quick response that would have angered him. It’s not like he could do anything now.

You lifted your legs up to gently pulled off your panties and wiggled them up your legs, removing them from your ankles. Now your slit was exposed to Draco. Teasingly, you opened your legs before quickly shutting them again with a laugh of mockery. He angled himself down slightly, almost as if to get a better look.

“I can tell you want to touch me already and I’ve barely started.” You swung your panties around your pointer finger before slingshotting it at Draco. “This is gonna be fun.”

“You have no idea.” He said.

You propped your heels up on the bed while keeping balance on your elbows to make sure he was still watching you. But it seemed as though he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. With your legs now spread open, you used one hand to trail gently down your navel to meet with your nether lips. Draco squirmed again, this time flexing his arms. He was maneuvering an attempt to escape. But the sticky charm he was unaware of would make that process much more difficult. Slowly, you began massaging yourself where your clit would be while he watched. His pants appeared to subtly move again.

Draco groaned out.

“Are you already about to cum in your trousers?” You giggled out.

“My pants are killing me. It’s — I’m hard.”

“Obviously. Maybe you shouldn’t wear such tight pants all the time. Although I do like how it accentuates your bulge.”

“What? People can see that?”

You tossed your head back and laughed. Getting up from the bed, you quickly moved onto his lap to straddle him. The heat between your legs caused him to tense even more. Draco tossed his head back and gently groaned again, already physically quelled by the influence of your tempting body. He was going to be easy to break. Only to you.

Your slit met with the outline of his erection. You began grinding against it and Draco’s breathing sped up, growing deeper with each breath. He was now squeezing his eyes shut, attempting to calm his arousal. It would be embarrassing to cum now.

“Are you alright, love? If you say pretty please, I might be kind and let you out of these painful restraints.”

Draco nodded, his eyes still shut tight.

“Please, for the love of god. I’m fucking dying.”

You got back up off his lap and spread his legs apart sensually, running your hands up and down his thighs. This elicited another involuntary response from his body. Close up, you could see his v line flex with the straining of his abdomen. It was arousing you now. The heaving of his chest and the outline of his neck tightening. Observing how his body naturally responded to you without sex was extremely lubricious. Inciting sexual desire in you. Your nipples were now painfully hard in a satisfying way.

You finished unzipping and unbuttoning his pants, slowly pulling him out of his boxers. It was true, he was completely solid. He was enjoying this even more than you were. The thought started to make you wet.

“Wow, you’re kind of a whore.” You smiled up at him, resting your hand around the base of his cock. “You love being tied up and helpless, don’t you?”

“You better hope you tied this belt tight enough.” He warned.

“Or what?” You teased, licking up his shaft. His arms moved again to release himself.

Draco snapped his head back up now to look directly down on you.

“I will fuck the absolute shit out of you.” He pressed through gritted teeth.

“I’d like to see you try.” You smiled up at him and winked, starting to squeeze the base of his cock as you moved up and down with your hand.

Using your other hand, you began massaging deeply into his pelvis while jerking him off. You used a little spit to lubricate him which only seemed to deepen his arousal. You began speeding up in slow increments, using your hand to stimulate the area beneath the head of his cock every time you moved up. He leaned back into the chair once again, somewhat straightening out his body. Again, he was attempting to get out.

Now moving fast, you focused your attention closer to his head. Every time you felt him contract in your hand, you’d let go. This frustrated him visibly.

“Fuck you.” He mumbled out a few times.

With this, you began using your mouth to stimulate the base of his cock while still jerking his head. Draco moved up in a sharp movement that told you he was now close. When you felt that familiar pulsating sensation, you immediately pulled away and walked off.

“You fucking bitch.” He breathed out heavily.

“You love me.” You cooed out while looking through your panty drawer.

“And you’re so god damn lucky I do.”

“Ah, here it is. I think I’ll go first. And then you. I’m not done with you” You pulled out a vibrating toy.

It was a simple muggle toy and relatively small, but it was effective. Of course, there were many magical toys, but you somehow preferred these ones. With five different settings based on speed and frequency, you really couldn’t go wrong with these little guys. They were simplistic and nearly comforting.

You positioned yourself back on the bed the same way you had before, certain Draco could see everything. You switched on the middle vibrational setting and moved it gently against your clit. Immediately, you gasped out before relaxing into it. It was slightly cold due to the make of it, but your warmth would immediately change that and it would become comfortable.

This time, you didn’t care to watch Draco. You were far more invested in pleasing yourself now. Making yourself cum while leaving him high and dry would be the sweetest punishment. Laying your head back onto the bed and closing your eyes, you began using your other hand to insert two fingers inside of you and stimulate your g spot by curling your fingers up while the vibration of your toy continued to hum against your clit.

You heard something, although you figured it was merely Draco once again enjoying himself too much. That was fine. If he could cum without being touched, it wasn’t as though you could prevent that. You squirmed beneath your toy, feeling heat rising in your core.

Time passed, although you weren’t sure how much. But you could now see the horizon turning a deep blue color and morning was almost upon you. And with each passing moment, you felt yourself getting closer. Your abdomen tightened and small little shocks throughout your body indicated you were now closer than ever. Easing into your climax, you cried out with ecstasy. And even though the quivers of your orgasm pulsing through your body were intense, they weren’t enough to satisfy you the way Draco’s cock did.

You wondered if he was worth quenching that thirst right now. But remembering how he could slide into you as though you were made for him, there was no second guessing. You needed him inside of you.

Slowly, you got back up and looked at Draco who was still hard, his large cock resting against his abdomen. It twitched slightly when you looked at him and your lips pulled up into half of a grin.

“Shall I go again or is it your turn?”

“I quite enjoyed the show.” Draco said.

You began walking back towards him and tossed the vibrator into the air a few times, catching it each time it fell back down. When you knelt in front of Draco again, he visibly tensed.

“I think we should try the strongest setting. What do you think?” You asked him while holding up the toy for him to see.

“I guess that would depend on what you already believe I deserve.” He let out a breathy chuckle. “I would think you’ve already made up your mind.”

“You know me so well.”

Switching the setting up to the highest vibrational speed with a fast frequency, you didn’t hesitant to trace the vibrator up his shaft and tease it around his tip. This was exactly the response you had been yearning for. Draco nearly cried out which was an accomplishment in and of itself. While his body leaned away from it, his pelvis gravitated into the touch of the vibrator. His body was communicating all green lights and his words didn’t protest.

He fucking loved it.

All you could think of now was having him inside of you. Watching him break beneath the weight of his carnal lust was so painfully arousing, you could feel your wetness traveling down your thigh. It was becoming more torture for you to refrain from having him. His legs were tensing so hard, the muscle in them was now clearly visible. He was practically shaking now.

This was all for you. Not Pansy. Not anybody. He was yours.

You angled the vibrator against his shaft and began sucking on just the tip of his cock. Again, a few subtle whimpers escaped his lips as he was attempting to control himself. You swirled your tongue around this part of him, focusing again on the area just beneath the tip where it met with the rest of his cock. He was absolutely reeling with the intoxication of you.

And just as you had hoped, you finally felt his hand close around your neck. He had worked himself out.

Knowing what was to come, you let go of the vibrator. Not a moment of hesitation and Draco had one hand wrapped around your neck and the other, tangled roughly in your hair. He began fucking your face, forcing you to gag on him as you took his full length down your throat. You wondered if this is where he would decidedly cum. Mentally, you’d prepare yourself for the warm liquid that always caught you a bit off guard.

You braced yourself on his legs, feeling him invest a lot of strength into using your mouth. He was raging with lust and that was just how you wanted him. It was difficult to get him this way, but when he was, it was all you ever wanted.

He pulled you off of his cock by your hair and smacked your face more gently than the treatment you recently subjected him to. But he knew you loved being treated this way. It just took effort to be able to get him to act upon it. 

He lifted you to your feet and quickly picked you up, throwing you onto the bed. It took you a moment to gather yourself, the impact startling you. But when you did, you were feeling pain from your arousal. You needed him to fuck you. And it seemed that was what he was readying to do.

“I already warned you I would fuck you silly if I got out. So now we can see who the whore is.”

Lifting you back up, he forced you into a straddling position against him as he held you up by your ass. He didn’t hesitate to start slamming his erect cock into your pussy that was already dripping wet. Your preparation had made this part simple. It felt as though you were already gaping, ready to receive him. And just as promised, he fucked you mercilessly.

You cried his name out loudly, assuring anyone in close proximity would know Draco was pounding into you. The clapping of your thighs against him also presented loud enough to issue a noise complaint.

Holding onto him to keep yourself supported up, you bit into his shoulder to stifle your cries that only grew louder. The way he felt inside you was perfect. Your pussy fit over his cock like a glove and the slight curve of him made it so he scraped frequently against the nerve endings of your g-spot. It wouldn’t take long to make you see stars this way.

The way his strength was able to hold the full weight of your body while simultaneously fucking you meant you were now his to do with as he pleased. You were completely at his disposal. He was much stronger, taller and more agile. The only advantage you had over him previously was having him tied up. And he even managed to undo those difficult binds.

Again, he pulled you off of him and set you back down on the bed. Quickly, he removed the rest of his trousers and climbed on top of your trembling body. He placed an endearing kiss on your forehead and wiped tears away on both of your cheeks. You often cried with overstimulation and now was a perfect example.

“Now, I’m going to fill you up and I don’t ever want to hear you doubt my devotion to you ever again.” He spoke gently, seeming to mock what was to come.

“No woman in this world can hold a candle to the riches of your sweet cunt.”

“Then take it.” You taunted him through a few shallow breaths.

He flipped you over onto your stomach and angled you so that your ass was now in the air. You could hear him pump himself a few times before thrusting his cock back inside of you. Gasping out, you grabbed hold of the bed sheets and took all of him into you.

Draco loved this position because he could feel you deeper. On the seldom occasion he would cum inside of you, he preferred to be as deep as possible. Sometimes, due to his length, he would go a little too far. But he had more recently acquainted himself with a healthy medium he was able to maintain. You also felt more of every inch in this position. And because of leverage, he could move much faster and harder. This was perfect for the times either of you wanted rough sex as simple as it was.

Each thrust was mind numbingly pleasurable. Draco eventually placed his hand over your head to keep you against the mattress. The precise angle felt better for both of you. But the idea that he only did this for his own pleasure made you wetter. It was the idea of your only purpose here being to please him. You loved it.

Your core tightened when you felt that familiar sensation that indicated Draco was ready to cum. His hips tensed and jerked more upwards while his cock would start pulsating. And when you felt his warm liquid fill you up, you nearly cried with elation. It was your favorite place for him to cum. You had been on birth control for awhile and never risked pregnancy, but the thought of him claiming you in such an intimate way made you happier than words could say. You sighed out when he pulled out of you, quickly followed by his cum dripping from your cunt. Quietly, you let your body collapse onto the bed. It was a good thing this was your bed. Your roommates may not have taken kindly to all the body fluid on their sheets.

Draco laid himself down behind you and hugged you close to him, burying his nose into your shoulder. You began caressing his soft cheek with your knuckles.

“I love you. I love only you.” He whispered.

His arm moved up between your breasts so that his hand could cradle your chin. Despite his callouses, he had the most gentle touch you had ever known.

“I just hope you’re prepared to be my wife once we graduate.”

With large eyes, you gazed back onto him with a soft smile.

A loud knock on the door alerted both of you.

“Draco, lad! We know you’re in there fuckin’ the lovely birthday gal, but there’s been a bit of an accident, mate!” Theo’s voice sounded through the door. “I think someone stopped up all the toilets and it’s leaking from the pipes when anyone tries to flush!”

“It’s your fault, you prick.” Blaise could now be heard talking to Theo.

“Shut it, bell end.” Theo whispered back. “I’d really appreciate if ya could help me out, friend!”

“You better go handle that.” You joked at Draco as he rolled his eyes.

Draco started getting up and fetched his clothes with sophisticated poise.

“I don’t suppose this is over?” He asked you while pulling his boxers and trousers back on.

You shook your head with a coy grin.

[star-going-supernova]

STAR! STAR I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! Gosh that fic was amazing body and soul whole once more tell me your thoughts of the game! Your ideas! I NEED ANGRY DAD HENRY WITH AN AXE CHASING AFTER WILSON FOR WHAT HE DID TO HIS INK DEMON SON PLEASE!!!

Joey you lost dad rights Audrey and bendy are Henry’s kids now

Friend! Thank you!! I’m glad you enjoyed it, I had an absolute blast writing it. Saw the art and was like, “WOW, I need to write something like that right now immediately.” 

I think the game is awesome! They outdid themselves! I’m in the middle of a second watch-through with a more in-depth exploration of the game, and I’m really enjoying seeing it all again. I originally just breezed through a no-commentary video from someone who had clearly finished it before and did everything very quickly, because! I had no intention of falling back in the fandom! A friend asked if I was going to watch it and that she was going to, so I figured I’d just check it out for the sake of it!

(spoilers below, if you missed the spoiler tag)

But then Henry was in it?? HECK. But even beyond Henry’s inclusion, I really like Audrey, I love baby Bendy, and the visuals are incredible. I don’t even mind that it was the same “animator gets trapped in the studio, needs to survive and escape” premise because I felt that the differences built on the original rather than copied it. 

My only complaints, therefore, are extremely minor. One, I don’t love that they made the Lost Ones hostile. They were my shivering, skeletal, mostly silent, tragic babies in the first game! The deep despair they exuded just really hit me hard, so I’m kinda meh that they have a mindless sort of violence now. That’s what the Searchers are for. That being said, I did like that some had personalities. 

Two, the Ink Demon. “Bendy.” Whatever you want to call him. His wandering in the original was probably one of my favorite parts, so I wasn’t a huge fan of how he only seemed to appear for scripted events, and even then, you didn’t really even see him most of the time, just heard him growling. And c’mon… “The Ink Demon is coming. Hide.” Really? What happened to the player needing to pay attention, listening for the heartbeat and watching out for his inky wall shadows? And then hearing the heart-attack inducing music when he spotted you? I think it would have been cool if they just had that darkness and the warmth being drained out of the color, and preferably, that heartbeat. I did like his voice, though, it’s a good choice for him with the emphasized demonic appearance.

Still unsure about his new design, to be honest. I really liked his tall skeletal form and the way he sort of trudged around. I don’t hate it or anything, I just don’t know if I like it, lol. 

Now on to my ideas!! Angry dad Henry is actually one of the other stories I’m working on! Along with one where everything is nice and nothing hurts and Joey just one day says to Henry “I want to make a child with the Ink Machine” and Henry has to take several very deep breaths before choking out “I’ll get right on that.” There’s another I haven’t started yet but the premise is that Allison actually remembers pre-Wilson stuff like Henry does and she breaks him out (inspired specifically by a shot in Rockit Music’s song “Revive My Soul”) so it’s her, Henry, and Tom running around the studio pre- and during Audrey. 

I also want to do something with either Audrey asking Henry about Joey or Henry meeting Joey’s memory ghost thing. Maybe both. 

But yes, Joey has lost all dad rights and Henry will be calling dibs! Sorry, them’s the rules! 

[holographicbutch]

Thoughts on across the spiderverse in whatever order my brain comes up w because I need to write it down while it's fresh in my mind:

Starting with things I was wrong about (based on minor spoilers I'd seen beforehand):

1. Thought spot was another spiderman. Was proved wrong instantly. All I knew was that he was a silly little guy and I LOVE that he's a silly little guy but also fucked up with it <3

2. Thought miguel was the main villain. Sort of right, will go into my thoughts on his character later because he's SUCH a good villain

3. Thought hobie would have more screen time, purely based on the amount of fanart and gushing abt him I'd seen. Disappointed he wasn't around as much as I thought he'd be but I still love him and understand the hype

MOVING ON, scenes I really enjoyed:

1. The opening scene (obviously). As a percussionist every time I see gwen on the drums I get so excited. The visuals along with the music made me have to restrain myself from bouncing my legs a lot because I didn't want to shake the chairs of the people next to me lmao

2. The scene where spot explains his connection to miles and actually becomes legitimately threatening/scary. No longer villain of the week!

3. Every scene with gwen and her father. The way the background steadily becomes more abstract the longer they talk is so good. The way it reflects their emotions and also makes them seem more defined in contrast.

4. Miguel's intro. When his theme kicked in I was like oh yeah. This guy is a villain for SURE

5. When they first entered the HQ and all the spidermen were making quippy one-liners. Made me smile real big. Also the sheer amount of individual spider designs they made was incredible.

6. The chase scene in the HQ had me leaning forward with my heart pounding. Just. Everything about it. The music was amazing (as usual)

7. The way they make you think gwen is listening in on miles' conversation with his mom was so clever, made the reveal that he was in the wrong dimension so much more impactful

8. WHEN THE PROWLER THEME KICKS IN. THE PANTIES HIT THE FLOOR

And now the main event - thoughts on miguel because he's incredibly well-written and I'm obsessed with him:

Finding out that spot was the "main" villain surprised me because of my impression of him before I saw the movie, but after watching it I still don't feel like he IS the main villain, because really, there's two. Spot is a villain because his actions drive the plot forward - he's the Bad Guy that the Good Guys need to stop. His reasons for hating miles are understandable (if misplaced. It's not like miles hurt him on purpose), but ultimately, the viewers aren't supposed to sympathize with his cause. His actions are clearly Wrong, and the heroes' attempts to stop him are clearly Right. While his actions upset miles and the rest of the spidermen (who wouldn't be upset by someone threatening to kill their loved ones?), they don't present any moral conflict, or provide character growth for the heroes.

That's where miguel comes in. He doesn't give a lot away from his first introduction - he's more stiff and serious than other spidermen, but the way he fights with gwen and jessica shows that he's used to working with a team, and is ultimately willing to let gwen join them. When he sees her argument with her father, he sees a like-minded individual - someone who's willing to do what they think is right, even when it's not easy.

When he meets miles, we've already seen glimpses of his life with his daughter - but it seems like typical Spiderman Tragic Backstory. The longer he talks with miles, the more he loosens up (his quip about how their official name for the spider-verse is also kind of dumb stuck out to me the most). He becomes more complex and relatable, easier to like when he's not acting like batman. It's easier to understand why so many spidermen across multiple universes follow him, and why gwen and peter listened to him and hid the truth from miles.

He truly and completely believes that what he's doing is the right thing, and that alone makes him feel more like the "main" villain than spot. When he tells miles that saving the captain was the wrong choice, because it means that that universe will start to fall apart, it's both shocking and understandable, to a degree. It's a classic use of the trolley problem: allowing one person to die when you can save them seems extreme, but when you let someone die in order to save an entire world, it's the right thing to do... right?

THIS is the main conflict within the story - not what the heroes should do to stop spot, although that's still important - but whether allowing someone to die is the right thing to do (and by extension, if it's what spiderman would do). Because miles is the main character, it's clear to the audience that miguel is wrong, but the other spidermen don't know they're in miles' story. And generally in media, the option to sacrifice one person to save many is shown as the correct option, or the heroic option. Believing that their loved ones HAD to die, and the idea that nothing they did would be able to stop their deaths from happening, makes it easier for all of them to cope. When miles stands up to miguel, it's clear why the rest of the spidermen would try and stop him.

Miguel's belief that certain people have to die in order to maintain balance, the reveal that miles wasn't supposed to be bitten, and the fact that he turned miles' friends against him is what drives miles' character development. Miles' actions in response drive the development of the rest of the cast - from main characters like gwen and peter, to the spiderwoman who allowed miles to escape. Suddenly, they're found questioning whether what they're doing is right.

But miguel unshakably believes in his cause, and is willing to do whatever it takes for the Greater Good. Which, to me, is the hallmark of a compelling villain. He's angry at himself for inadvertently destroying a universe. He grieves the loss of his daughter and his chance at a happy life. And he projects this onto everyone around him. To him, everyone is as likely to make the same mistakes as him, because they weren't calculated decisions. They were simply the actions of a man who just wanted to live a good life with the people he loved. And if he couldn't have that, why would the universe make an exception for someone else? Why would it be kind to miles, who wasn't supposed to be bitten, but was still able to exist in his universe without consequences? It isn't Fair.

The reveal that the other miles became prowler adds an extra layer to miguel and miles' dynamic: miguel took the place of the other spiderman because in his universe, his family was alive. From what we see of prowler miles at the end of the movie, he feels the same. His uncle may be alive, but his father is dead. (Cue the "we're not so different after all" speech.)

To summarize: miguel provides the bulk of the moral conflict to the story, is a relatable and compelling character, and this is why he feels like the "main" villain, despite all of spot's hard work to not be Villain of the Week.

Also, rip to noir and pig john mulaney for getting like two seconds of screen time

[petrichoraline]

Hiii let me chacha real smooth in your inbox for that "X or Y" game!

The Untamed or Word of Honor? Pat or Pran? To my star or To My Star 2? Pawin in Star in my Mind or in The Eclipse or in Never Let Me Go?

Gmmtv whiped boys edition: Palm or Tinn?

And would you rather eat Noey's over salted food OR Tan's 'dr bun wont eat that' instant(ly failed) noodles? -☆

<33 what a smooth sliding into my ask box 🥰 it's a tough road ahead from here on though, go make a cup of tea, i've prepared you a read

The Untamed or Word of Honour?

ohhh shit, okay. so.

cql was the most draining show - it's amazing and so enticing but i had never watched anything from the wuxia genre before so it was A Lot..i would not rewatch it tbh, maybe the special addition if i miss wangxian too much 💞 it's so tragic and i'm always at risk of The Feels when i come across any cql or mdzs post, not to mention the yi city arc which fucked me up in a particular way...

woh doesn't make me as emotional because everyone is insane? it's actually impressive how unhinged every single person in the show is, the stories are tragic too, especially the last episodes but i was kind of numb to it, decided to focus on my guys and their happy ending only ✌️

woh gave me wen kexing, visuals (the designs of the characters are wild, espeecially the ghosts, they're straight out of a children's book, so expressive and individualistic) and the most blatant expression of romance they could - not only could you feel the love through each gaze, touch and action but boundaries were pushed in terms of script and the portrayal of physical affection was more than what they had to do. also i'm obsessed with the lipreading videos <3

cql and mdzs are still distant to me and i feel like an outsider to the fandom but i feel the same way about woh. cql introduced me to wuxia, i see posts about it more often and i feel like i remember the characters and events better. not to mention i got into mxtx bc of it so i have it to thank for the blast i have when im reading svsss. so ig i have to pick the untamed? but woh really is special, i hope ppl watch it

Pat or Pran?

boyyy i would usually say pat no questions asked but i think about pran and how he's handled all that his mom put him through and how he clearly struggles in so many ways and my protective instincts are screaaming, he's such a brave patootie (or, yknow, patootie)..but yeah no, i'll say pat, he is so loving loving loving despite everything, so considerate, so caring, he's a bit of a jock, a bit of a theatre kid, a bit of a band member - he's straight out of high school musical but adorable

To My Star or To My Star 2

TMS2!! i am sure s1 is great but it just didn't leave a lasting impression on me, it was the second season that had me shaking in excitement and yelling at the screen and going through tumblr to read analyses and stuff. it made me care about seojoon and jiwoo soo much and even if in the future i find the first season better in retrospect, s2 is my baby (and it got me so excited bout daseul's vision for blueming 2 🥰)

Pawin in Star in my Mind or in The Eclipse or in Never Let Me Go?

ohh that's interesting..maithee, namo and phum are all annoying but supportive losers lol

i dont have much of an opinion on any of them like phum was a villain for most of the show and then he had a glow up and became a rich hottie with a cute boyfriend, namo was a decoy that suddenly became a part of the squad and i dont remember much about maithee in the og show honestly.. based on the our skyy 2 episodes, i'll go with namo - he gave off sweet supportive kid who just wants to be loved and that's pathetic and cute <3 (tho maithee deserves betterrr)

Palm or Tinn?

in terms of whipped, i think i'd go with palm. man is borderline crazy for nueng, it's impressive. with their our skyy 2 eps out it's confirmed it's not just teen hormones lol

when it comes to my personal fave...they're both precious and frustrate me a lot but ig i'd go with tinn - i think of his reaction to gun rawring at him, about him coming back with those grocery bags.. he's so intense and awkward and devoted but it's not in the way palm is (which makes even me a bit uncomfortable hahah)

eat Noey's over salted food OR Tan's 'dr bun wont eat that' instant(ly failed) noodles?

i cannot deal with salty food, i'm more sensitive to salt than others so whatever noey's cooking has got going on that makes others spit it out immediately? not for me. nuh uh.

i can't find tan's noodles but i found the chicken scene and boyy that is probably salty on top of burnt and with disgusting texture soo (also burnt on the outside raw on the inside is wildd)

yeah. noey's food. small bites, lots of water - if it's otherwise tasty then i'll take a day to finish it, it's cool. :') (on a side note they'd both look with such anticipation and nervousness and wide eyes and aaa reminds me of dfqc, i love it when bad cooks try their best and realise they suck lol)

[yeolmae-s]

a chanbaek analysis from a veteran exo-l

before anything else there are a few disclaimers i'd like to make:

i am writing this analysis right now because as a non exo stan i'm not into chanbaek that much anymore. of course i like them to some degree since i'm writing this and all but it's nothing in comparison to the way i felt about them two years ago. so i feel like it's easier to keep a less clouded (?) state of mind being where i'm at right now, mentally, in regards to them. i feel like i can look at things more objectively, which is why i decided to write this and share it with you all.

for all the smart asses out there, this is a ship analysis. yes, i’m reading too much into everything. that’s what an analysis is.

all translation credits goes to @/fyeah-chanyeol

i'm a chanyeol stan. this analysis will, most likely, have more information about him in comparison to baekhyun. this is simply because i consumed more content about him since he's my bias (such as magazine interviews, fancams).

i don't stan exo anymore, but it's not because of anything they did. i liked them for a long time and made a lot of different friends because of this fandom, therefore i experienced a lot of hurt, scandals, fights and didn't deal very well with many things, so i decided to leave. this didn't happen because of exo themselves and neither did it happen because of the fandom itself. it happened because of the relationships i had.

that being said, i haven't been following them closely for the past year and a half, but i still keep up with stuff a bit, although not chanbaek related stuff since i gotta dive in kinda deeper for that lmao. so this analysis is mostly in depth for 2012-2018. if anything that you perceive as significant happened after 2018 i'm more than willing to hear your opinions about it.

so, let's get started!!

MAMA ERA

I have always felt like Chanyeol and Baekhyun's relationship was strange. I started shipping them when they debuted and more specifically because of the 130128 ISAC. When I was younger I didn't see a lot to discuss in their ISAC interactions besides it being cute and shippy, but I've started to look at it differently now.

I think everyone knows how ISAC is known for being basically a stage for fanservice. The whole "dating ground for idols" issue aside, judging from the amount of attention they direct towards the fans who manage to attend the event, idols are clearly instructed to perform fanservice. EXO's first ISAC had to be full of it, obviously, and they did give fans a lot to be happy about, content we still get giddy about to this day, and I'm sure they were instructed to act like this to please us. I don't believe that fanservice equals "false interactions": if two individuals are talking, touching each other, they are interacting, even if it is a carefully planned setting made specifically for pleasing fans. They still get reactions out of one another through these interactions, it is still relevant to the way these people's relationship will develop; even though these acts are done with the intent of pleasing a crowd.

Don't get me wrong, though. I don't think the 2013 ISAC fanservice changed anything in Chanbaek's relationship. In fact, I just want to use it as a way to illustrate something I will explain later on.

To be remembered in an industry you must have an image. You won't be getting anywhere without a carefully constructed visual image. Marilyn Monroe is always used as an example of this: she's someone you can easily make a costume of and people will instantly recognize it as her. She's basically a concept by now: blonde hair, red lips and white hair. These aspects take our mind back to her instantly. Of course, most celebrities don't achieve this type of icon status, but it is still important to cling to a specific concept/image of what you want your celebrity self to be perceived as. Without this, you'll be forgotten as soon as your career ends.

When Chanyeol debuted, he clung to the first trait they gave him: being a happy person, a.k.a "happy virus". If you were not an EXO fan back in 2013 then it's likely you're not even aware of this nickname that was given to him, but it's basically just what it sounds like (lol). He was bright, energetic, had a "teeth rich" smile (another nickname that was given to him back then), was able to give 10/10 laughter reactions to MCs and to his members jokes, was always enthusiastic to interact and smile towards fans. He even introduced himself as "happy virus Chanyeol" in interviews (and later on that changed to "EXO's voice Chanyeol" or "EXO's rapper Chanyeol").

I feel like Chanyeol was very much aware of this "must have" that I mentioned, this need to have an image pasted into yourself and have that image be what people will remember you as. We're all complex and multifaceted individuals, but the general public needs something simple to grab on to, something easy to remember. That happy guy from EXO? I know who he is! I'm sure this is the path Chanyeol chose, back when he debuted: to pick a trait given to you by the public and make it a huge part of your image.

However, that image of him didn't last very long. It certainly became tiring to worry so much about how he was being perceived, to carefully construct something so his career would last, specially when his group had so many scandals and went through a sudden burst of popularity that changed their lives completely. By 2017, Chanyeol already had a change of mind in relation to his career, these changes being mostly due to how he felt about music and what he wanted to do with it.

He recognized himself as having always being impatient, which might be the reason why he clung to a specific image so fast right after debuting:

From Fall Magazine in 2017

"At the moment I just want to enjoy myself with the music as it comes, without feeling as though I have to do something. It isn’t a greed from impatience, I could call it more of a greed to do better."

"When I first debuted I thought I was very optimistic, but as time has passed I think a more reserved side of me is showing."

"I think I've grown in many ways. Maybe it’s because it’s as though I perform everyday, but the stage has become comfortable for me. Shall we say I’ve become more calm and composed? [...] I think I’ve become more mature."

He matured. He's still bright and energetic but he's also more reserved. He managed to keep up the fanservice that his fans adore in a way that is more fitting to his actual personality. It still is an image, but an image that's not as exhausting as his previous one, with its strict demands to act in a certain way all the time. I remember specific interview with MCs demanding him to smile (although jokingly, of course) saying things like "Aren't you EXO's happy virus?", so I'm sure he felt pressured.

This is interesting to think about when put side by side with his relationship with Baekhyun. Back when they debuted, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were close friends that clearly felt comfortable with each other, and it isn't surprising to think that Baekhyun would be Chanyeol's first pick when he thought about doing fanservice with someone. Of course, I can't exactly pinpoint their first fanservice moment since I'm not a walking EXO encyclopedia anymore, but I can say with certainty that both of them felt like it worked as soon as they first tried it with the fans, and that's the reason why they kept doing it. Conveniently, they were both good friends, so all was good.

Until well, it wasn't.

At some point, Chanyeol's interactions with Baekhyun seemed too eager for Baekhyun himself. There are various moments where this is visible, such as this one:

Why are you grabbing my wrist out of nowhere young man........

Or...

That one pic where Jongdae, who was in front of them, looked so damn uncomfortable I can't even bring myself to google it

Of course, they had some over the top fanservice that did work out pretty well, such as this one, both of them imitating Jonghyun's and Taemin's Internet War stage, which seems a little scripted now that I look at it properly, with Baekhyun seemingly expecting Chanyeol to do whatever it is that he did on that day. (Can you imagine this: both of them backstage, watching Jonghyun's and Taemin's performance in silence, and one of them just blurts out "We should do that too!". What the fuck was going on)

By the way, if you have never seen the original Internet War performance, you can watch it here.

This is what they were imitating.

Tumblr won’t let me upload the gifs for this moment for some reason, so here and here.

You can't tell me Baekhyun wasn't expecting it already, lol.

Now, know what this moment reminds me of? ISAC. On their Internet War imitation moment, Baekhyun seemed fine, playful, even, agreeing. During ISAC, however, doing basically the same thing again (this time on a lighter way even; since they weren't, you know. Imitating a strong performance such as Internet War.), he appears reluctant. It's a bit painful to watch.

What changed? The ISAC event happened a few months after the SMTOWN concert where they did the Internet War thing, so what made things become so different?

If this has enough likes I’ll make a second part!