#It was a more obvious thing in the 90s and early 00s

[yonderlyporcupine]

I don’t know who needs this little reminder but the trope of hating on lawyers is deeply rooted in antisemitism

[ursacolossus]

Hi sorry I can’t stop thinking about how Charles grew up in -the AIDS crisis- and how that affected him and his view of sexuality. I initially thought ‘well he’s bisexual, obviously, he’s gotta know that’ but I really don’t think he does!!

My partner and I kept going ‘well what happened in the last 30 years?? Why didn’t they figure this out sooner?’ And I take that back. Those 30 years were the rest of the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s, shit was -not- better for being queer. Like you might not have been burned at the stake, but people finding out could still ruin your life -very- easily. Discrimination laws were shit, they still kind of are in a good amount of states. I don’t know anything about discrimination laws in England at the time but they can’t have been better.

So I think Charles had clocked Edwin as queer very early on and was like ‘I’m not going to be like my father, or my ex-friends, I’m going to accept my friend’. And gave no thought to his own sexuality, most likely as an unconscious protection. (I’m fine with other people being gay, but -I- can’t be gay type of thing)

Also Punk subculture in England began in the ‘70s and obviously went into the ‘80s going very strong. Charles being from a lower-income family (still high enough income to send him to boarding school and having a basement, but we also have to consider that the ‘80s economy was -much- different and people could still afford a house and be poor at the same time) and dressing and speaking the way he does pinpoints him to a specific section of London that was seen as less desirable and punk culture and queer culture and poor culture -were and still are- a big-ass Venn diagram.

(Side note, Maurice by E.M. Forster was written in Edwin’s timeline. It’s about class disparity, being queer in an English boarding school and having a genuinely happy ending and it wasn’t published until -1971- because Forster did not want it published while he was still alive for obvious reasons)

(Other side note, Edwin was born just 5 years after the Oscar Wilde trials, so you -know- that scandal was burned into his brain from a young age)

But Charles knows that he loves Edwin in all other aspects, and I’d like to think that he’s recently come more to terms with his sexuality as a result of watching of the culture shift before his very eyes. Not thinking about it explicitly in the context of Edwin but like, understanding that queerness isn’t bad and -really- internalizing that.

We also don’t know if Charles has ever been in love before, and Edwin has had three -recent- experiences that have pushed him to this realization. Monty, the Cat King and Niko showing him her BL collection. Charles most recently was involved with a girl and he did -not- have several rendezvous with self-revelation. I think his response in Hell was extremely well-measured, all that considered. I just love this character and I have a lot of thoughts.

[confield]

i adore cd futurism, like that really clean digital 00s stuff. (i'm talking about electronic music here because it's kind of the only thing i know about)

maybe to me it's a feeling that i can only apply retrospectively, and it was never really a discrete milieu, or maybe this is conjecture based on the jacket designs of a few albums i really liked when i was younger. but to me it seems like where the 90s had this vibrant, kinda whimsical strand of futurism in electronic music, with warp artificial intelligence and kraftwerk techno pop and early computer animation, the 00s seemed to turn cold and austere and abstract, but also more focused on aesthetic pleasure

maybe now that information was stored in numbers and not mechanically, people started wondering how formalist and abstracted they could make stuff, because there no longer had to be an obvious physical correspondence to sound/to the medium. to me mille plateaux clicks & cuts reads as the digital answer to warp artificial intelligence. during certain times in my life it makes me emotional and I don't know why

[cantsayidont]

Recentish movies of note, or not:

BOTTOMS: Ridiculous "teen" comedy about two gay high school losers, PJ (Rachel Sennott, who also co-wrote with director Emma Seligman) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), who seize on a rumor about their having been in juvenile detention to start an after-school "self-defense club," in the hope that introducing the school's hottest cheerleaders to the cathartic thrill of girls beating the shit out of each other will finally give these hopeless (and ho-less) virgins a chance to score. So silly that complaining about the stupidity of the plot seems a tad churlish, but the story misses some obvious comedic opportunities, and despite the premise, the film eventually becomes far more interested in cartoonish violence than sex. If you dig the overall vibe, you might not care, but as a gay teen sex comedy, it's ultimately less successful (and less outrageous) than BOOKSMART, even though only one of the latter film's teen loser heroines is gay.

DO REVENGE: Black comedy homage to the teen comedies of the '90s and early '00s, inspired in part by the 1951 movie version of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, about a disgraced prep school popular girl, Drea (Camila Mendes), who joins forces with gay weirdo Eleanor (Maya Hawke) to avenge herself on her former friends and find out who leaked her sex tape — a plan that involves giving Eleanor a makeover so she can infiltrate the popular kids. Hawke is a delight, Mendes is very good, and the homoerotic tension of their odd relationship makes the movie fun for a while, especially if you appreciate the many self-conscious homages to prior teen movies. However, a major reveal late in the second act makes hash of the already sloppy plot, and the finale is both nonsensical and as antisemitic as STRANGERS ON A TRAIN author Patricia Highsmith, which leaves a sour aftertaste.

IT'S A WONDERFUL KNIFE: Bizarre slasher movie pastiche of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, about a teenage girl named Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop of YELLOWJACKETS), who kills the masked serial killer who's been terrorizing the small town of Angel Falls and murdered her best friend (Hana Huggins) at Christmastime. A year later, everyone in town seems to have gotten over it except Winnie, who's miserable. On Christmas Eve, she's magically transported into an alternate timeline where she was never born and the masked slasher has continued murdering people, including Winnie's brother (Aiden Howard). To set things right, Winnie has to stop the villain all over again with the help of Bernie Simon (Jess McLeod), the town outcast and the only one who believes her story. Not scary, gruesome, or suspenseful enough to be much of a horror movie, but there are enough grisly murders to make the comedic holiday fantasy aspects seem a trifle sociopathic, and a late reveal that the killer has supernatural powers beyond just stabbing or slashing people feels like one ingredient too many in an already convoluted plot. The main redeeming feature is that it's ultimately a gay love story, which I wasn't expecting, but appreciated nonetheless.

THE KILL ROOM: Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello, and Maya Hawke go slumming in this dumb black comedy about a handsome hitman named Reggie (Manganiello) who becomes the sensation of the art world after his mob intermediary (Jackson) concocts a scheme to launder Reggie's payments by selling his abstract paintings (under the nom de plume "the Bagman") through a burned-out, Adderall-snorting art dealer (Thurman). Intended satire of the cutthroat vacuity of the art world lacks bite and no part of the plot makes any sense, but sheer star power gets the movie through about half its 80-minute running time before the banality becomes terminal.

POLITE SOCIETY: Silly British action-comedy by Nida Manzoor (creator of WE ARE LADY PARTS) about Ria Khan (Priya Kansara, delightful), a Pakistani teenager who aspires to be a stuntwoman, and her quest to save her flaky art student older sister Lena (Ritu Arya, radiant) from marrying a handsome doctor (Ashay Khanna) who seems a little too good to be true. It looks great, and the characters are very charming, but the story waits much too long to clarify the stakes of the plot: Until the finale, we don't know if Lena is actually in any danger or if Ria is just letting her imagination run away with her, and that uncertainty becomes an unwelcome distraction in the later action sequences. As a result, it feels more like an update of the John Hughes perennial SIXTEEN CANDLES than the over-the-top action movie it obviously aspires to be.

SHIVA BABY: Low-key but vivid comedy of manners, written and directed by Emma Seligman, starring Rachel Sennott as Danielle, a bisexual 20something Jewish girl who secretly pays her bills as a sugar baby. When she goes with her parents (Fred Melamed and Polly Draper) to a shiva, she finds herself trapped with not only her most annoying relatives, but also her disgruntled ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon), her current sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari), his gorgeous blond wife (Dianna Agron), and their new baby. Seligman milks every awkward nuance of this uncomfortable social situation for maximum dramatic effect, and the tension of the final scene (which is nothing more complicated than the characters trying to squeeze into the back of Danielle's father's minivan) will drive you right up the wall.

VOLEUSES (WINGWOMEN): Is it really possible for a 40-year-old Frenchwoman living in the 21st century to not know that lesbians exist? One wouldn't think so, but watching this jokey buddy-action movie suggests that director/co-writer/star Mélanie Laurent desperately needs some kind of educational intervention in that regard. This is for all intents and purposes a lesbian romance: Master thieves Carole (Laurent) and Alex (Adèle Exarchopoulos) live together, routinely sleep in the same bed, and plan to retire together; they constantly express their love and affection for one another, and when Carole discovers that she's pregnant (the hows of which are never explained), Alex immediately assumes that they'll be moms together. Nonetheless, the story not only attempts to no-homo this cozy domestic scenario, but also presumes that there's no way Carole and Alex's relationship could ever be the de facto marriage it obviously already is — indeed, a crucial story moment involves Carole tearfully wishing she were a man so she could love Alex the way she deserves! If the movie had been made 50+ years ago, this might be poignant, but in 2023, it's just weird, and the resulting cognitive dissonance largely overshadows the thin plot, which concerns Carole and Alex trying to persuade their bitchy, cheerfully murderous employer Marraine (Isabelle Adjani, barely recognizable beneath her big hair and oversized sunglasses) to let them retire, while training a younger woman named Sam (Manon Bresch) to become their driver and the ambiguously defined third in their domestic ménage à trois.

[broken-clover]

Nonverbal Autistic Little Mac Headcanons

This was originally just gonna be a crop of headcanons for everyone, but then I realized most of the ones I had were just for Mac so it seemed better to just have it be all his. A portion of these are based on my own autistic experiences but a lot of the ASL/sign language related elements come from the classes I've been taking and personal learning I've been doing in between. So if there are any actual Deaf folks in the audience and I do an egregious mistake don't hesitate in correcting me (though the questionable level of fluency is something that carries over in-universe)

-Communicates mostly with Pidgin sign, he's trying to better memorize the proper grammatical structure of ASL but since he's mostly around people that can speak, he tends to hop back and forth without really thinking about what he's doing

-Most of his signing skills are self-taught from either the internet or the library (even at the series' most recent he was in a late 90's-early 00's inner city public school, they barely taught sign to the actual Deaf kids)

-(though that does mean he tends to incorrectly sign things and not realize it at first. It took him way too long for someone to point out that he was signing 'breakfast' wrong)

-Main way of getting attention outside of making a vocalization is scuffing a shoe/stomping a heel against the ground. No point in knocking/hitting a hand against something, because people would assume it's something boxing-related

-The WVBA is legally obligated to provide some sort of translator, but he brings Doc (despite his lower level of fluency) because he understand his mannerisms better and Mac can be uneasy around strangers

-When referring to Doc in conversation, he'll usually use 'coach' or 'teacher,' but on numerous instances he's accidentally signed 'dad'

-Has a couple of signs that he finds funny and will find excuses to use more than necessary (like 'lobster' and 'weird')

-On a good day, he might make out a couple of words at a time, but he doesn't force himself to talk and someone else trying to make him is a very fast way to get him to stop talking entirely

-Does actually have a New York accent, but most people haven't heard it, for obvious reasons

-Both Doc and his mother have tried learning a bit of sign, they're nowhere near fluent but they at least understand the basics

-Tends to exaggerate his facial expressions to compensate for his natural lack of them

-Sensitive to certain loud noises and a looot of physical textures/touch, but doesn't mind most smells

-Isn't bothered by a lot of the loud sounds at a boxing venue but he has a deep rivalry with Doc's very loud coffee grinder

-Because he signs a lot of people will automatically assume he's Deaf and thus not have any kind of restraint or filter in what they say around him. He chooses not to correct them and only does so when it's funny

-All of his boxing outfits being the same but colorswapped is entirely intentional, he owns like five of each because they're comfortable and he sees no reason to mess with what works

-Special interest is boxing, to nobody's surprise, but he's also knowledgeable about subway systems, and as a kid he was very into cats

[sygneth]

I am not even sure if I will be posting this (though, if you're reading this, I did), but, nevertheless, I have a few points about Jean that I have to make. He is no saint. He is an asshole and I’m not gonna pretend that he is not. But there is so much more to it. 

Let me start with the most obvious. He is said to have clinically diagnosed depression, with, apparently, no distinctive source, and, from what he says, we may assume he is under some sort of psychiatric supervision. 

He was diagnosed seven years ago. Diagnosed with depression, which probably means he’s been dealing with it for a good while longer, only at a certain moment he decided to seek help/had an attempt/any other circumstance that lead this man to get a diagnosis. He is now 34, seven years earlier he’d be 27. 

The reasons for such unspecified depression may be many, from some kind of a rare neurological defect causing one’s brain to be incapable of properly producing/transmitting/I’m-not-a-biologist-neither-is-English-my-first-language-so-I’m-not-gonna-dig-into-neurological-dysfunctions-further-but-you-get-the-point, serotonin, through a burnout, all the way to having other, undiagnosed disorders/illnesses as *checks Luiga’s tweets* Schizoid PD (I am not convinced that what Jean presents is a 100% textbook SPD example, rather SPD traits/behavior patterns? But I’m no specialist and even if I were, it’s hard to diagnose someone based on those few dialogue lines) and codependency tendencies. The doctors didn’t diagnose any other disorder, or at least he never mentions it, but looking at the world of Elysium, those disorders may not yet have been widely recognized, especially if not presenting themselves in the most typical ways/high-functioning. And Jean tends to be high functioning despite his issues. Yet, I assume that in Elysium, and Jamrock especially, the access and quality of psychological and psychiatric services are poor and probably limited. Not to mention education on the matter, which is probably low if not near none. (Just looking at how is alcoholism treated by *everyone* there, or the short mention of McCoy’s brother gives me a good 90’s/early 00s Eastern Europe vibe of mental issues/disabilities public awareness.)  Now, keep that in mind. 

Alright. Next up: a codependent, close relationship with an alcoholic. 

Jean’s relationship with Harry is an interesting one. I found this interesting research on codependency among spouses of alcoholics, that states codependency is related to, among others, SPD traits. (That’s an, uh, disclaimer? I was just curious how that two may coexist, but apparently, they do.) 

Back to the main thought. 

As someone who has been in a close, codependent relationship with a person who had problems with drinking, I can tell you something. It’s more than hard to get out of one. You see a person you care about do stupid, drunken, dangerous shit, you may be angry at them, you may be furious, yet you will still feel responsible for them in a way, and you will take that responsibility and try to get them out of the shit they got themselves into. I’ll say more, if that’s an actual relationship, you will feel social pressure that you are responsible for your partner’s behavior and you’re the one to take care of them. If it’s your work partner, then it’s highly probable you actually will be held responsible for their behavior, so you’re even more likely to clean up their mess. And when you help them out, because you care, because you feel like you should, because you don’t want to be “dicked” for it, maybe all of the above, they will be grateful and they will praise you and love you and even if you feel like this is not the right thing to do, you will do it again.

It takes a lot of work and self-awareness to get out of something like that healthily. And if you have some psychological knowledge, it also helps a lot, to understand how to deal with it. And the only way to do it, regardless healthy or not, is by setting boundaries. If you can healthily set them, and make the other person respect them, that’s very good. But if you have some other mental issues in addition to that, if you lack knowledge on how people’s behavior patterns work, on how exactly addictions work and that, you are maybe having some problems with generally understanding relationships between people, how and why they work, it’s very likely that you won’t be capable of setting those boundaries and enforce them to be respected. It’s very likely that one day, when something will happen and you will realize how toxic and unhealthy this relationship is for you, you will panic and you will start to do anything to get out of it, like a cat drowning in a well. That you will start acting cold, maybe even merciless from a certain perspective, maybe you won’t let yourself believe in their pleading and assurances of change, because you will know that letting yourself *feel* sympathy for the person you had this relationship with may lead to spiraling back into the wheel of codependency. Maybe you have already tried this, and letting yourself trust them only led you back to the point where you started and maybe this time, you don’t want it to end up this way.

And you know what? There is nothing wrong with trying to ensure your mental well-being. “Before approaching the casualty, always make sure the area is safe.” YES because if you’ll get hurt trying to help somebody, there will be one more person to help. The same applies to helping people get their life together. If you won’t have a good mindset to help them, if they will only drag you down, maybe the area isn’t safe? 

Moving on. 

Now, remember when I said that the level of social and psychological awareness seems very low in Elysium/Revachol/Jamrock? About that. 

You know what else I see, looking at the Harry-Jean-Dora-Kim situation? A bunch of people with self-awareness in terms of emotion, and emotional development of teenagers, but problems of grown-up people. And they are not to blame, the system is to blame. Harry seems to be very self-conscious and connected to his emotions, yet for six years he couldn’t find a healthy way to get over a heartbreak. He has tendencies to act violently, to randomly drunk-phone his ex to harass her (I mean come on, he was asking her if she is naked), not to mention a tone of other things. 

What happens here to Jean, is his situationship/best friend, whom yeah, he decided to ‘have a break’ with, immediately gets over it, and starts to go out with someone else. Taking, that this man has probably understanding of his emotions on a level of a high-schooler, he WILL be salty. He will be mad at Harry and he will be salty towards Kim when he sees them in Whirling. (Not to mention that it’s probably how they just roll in the precinct, and I’m quite sure that Harry’s and Jean’s relationship has been japing on and teasing each other, and as long as they both knew how it works, it was all good, compare: this post. So yes, Jean will be angry with Harry and he will act like an offended drama queen partially because that is just how their relationship dynamics probably looked like for the last two (at least!) years, and partially because he is an offended 16-year-old drama queen, whose bestie told her to fuck off and found a new (boy)friend. 

Is it good, that grown-up men have the emotional capabilities of high schoolers? No. Should we blame them, or the fact that their system seemingly doesn’t provide any prevention, doesn’t promote awareness, or offer any proper healthcare for that matter? I’ll leave that to you.

To add to all this, yes, the RCM’s fucked up system, hierarchy, and mentality don’t help. Yes, it would be better for both Harry and Jean and probably Kim too, taking for his PTSD, to get the fuck out of there and live peaceful lives. But you know, changing your whole lifestyle isn’t easy. Understanding that maybe it’s better to leave now and that it doesn’t mean you’ve “wasted” your years is a process, a long and hard one. I had to learn this. My close ones had to learn this. Some of them still didn’t, especially, that where I come from, there is this CEE culture of not letting yourself fail with peace of mind. You got to do everything the best you can, you gotta do it 120%, and if not, you’re a rotten piece of shit. Looking at how Harry treats himself, Revachol seems to have this in common with Central-Eastern Europe as well. 

Another thing, we don’t even know what Kim or Jean did before they joined the RCM, and Harry was a gym teacher. Thinking that it is easy to just switch your job in, again, a place with a CEE mentality, is a huge mistake. At the age of 40-odd years especially. In the 90s, especially. We don’t even know if Jean or Kim have any other education on their account, besides being cops, so changing professions would mean additional education, and for Harry, how many places, realistically, would take in a 45-year-old gym teacher?

I generally see that many people seem to forget/not understand how CE European mentality works, and it shows. I am glad that we live in a world where awareness of things such as homophobia, ableism, misogyny and else is common knowledge. But it wasn’t here, not even those 15 years ago. I remember people using names of dysfunctions and disabilities as slurs. Grown up people. I remember my classmates and my friend calling each other faggots or laughing at each other for not being gender-affirmative enough. Half of us turned out to be queer, and nobody had a problem with that, because in those times this kind of language wasn’t necessarily indicating someone’s worldview, it was just a bad habit, a very common one. I am more than happy, really, that we got rid of this kind of narrative and are more aware of the weight of a spoken word now. But when talking about past or settings that resemble this past, let’s please not forget that it DID look different and take that into consideration. Please. 

Remembering what we derived from and what a great progress as a society we did is important, as it shows the way we managed to walk, but also reminds us of what people had to deal with. And is a warning, because now we’re probably still all doing things that in 30 years will be so, so wrong. 

So concluding this ridiculously long consciousness stream, I love you, DE fandom. Now, I have an interview to watch (probably not anymore) and a comic page to draw (as always). I’ll leave you with this here.

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

Hi hello me again- recently checked out the suicide squad issue with Arthur that you recommended to me. Very funny how the group is handled in that issue versus how they're portrayed in JLA (same writer too! Hence the reason they were likely pulled for the first issue. A funny note on the difference in tone between eras in my mind (early 90s versus early 00s)

Anyway there isn't too too much insight into Arthur beyond the fact that a) he has no qualms about hurting kids even before he learns that they're not really people. Gee I wonder why. Certainly not a pattern of behaviour he's shown before. Nosiree

And b) he says Steph is "just as messed up as him"- patently false but I imagine a comforting thought for Arthur, that Steph's vigilantism is just the product of an addled mind much the way his criminality is. And not that Steph is everything he isn't.

Also that despite his clear disregard for his wellbeing or her as a person, he still wants her to think highly of him and knows heroism is the way to do that. Whether he wants this bc he sees Steph as 'beneath him' and needing to know her place (that is to say, looking up to him) OR if deep down he knows Steph is a better person than him (as crystal says, it's "surprising that she turned out so wonderful" given the circumstances- something I'm sure Arthur is smart enough to recognise when hes not deluding himself) and wants her approval, much the same way he craves the approval of other criminals. I like the second reading a lot bc it lends credence to my own view that Arthur's abuse and even his crime is driven by insecurity about his capabilities and station in life!

And that's just everything I was able to waffle on about from about 9 panels! Neat :] reread robin 111 for the umpteenth time, reread all 3 issues of her robin stint (her initial reaction to being made robin AND the cheating thing is. Ooc and contrived respectively but AUGHHH SHE'S SO CUTESY SHE'S TRYING TO HARD SHE'S SO EXCITED TO BE ON THE TEAM AGAIN AND THEN BATMAN. HE. AUGHHH BOILING HIM LIKE A LOBSTER!!!). Robin/spoiler special is probably next, and the latter half of her batgirl...

First of all THANK YOU for getting it…. I’m always thinkng and saying things like ‘Batman should be boiled like a lobster’ and ‘Batman should be slammed into a wall at maximum velocity’ and ‘what if I exploded Batman with my mind’. Like a great guy in isolation im extremely compelled by certain aspects of his character but when im thinking abt stephanie brown (which is like all the time) hes.. he’s so.. lowkey want to kill him with a rock.

Arthur’s “just as messed up” line makes me insane. Like, as you pointed out, not true. But also for the aspects of her that are a little messed up... Whose fault is that. Who could possibly be to blame for that Arthur Brown. Who messed her up..I wonder how that came about. Strange. Guess we’ll never know.

Like Cluemaster is seemingly ascribing any potential “messed up-ness” to a genetic or maybe fate(?) based factor, oh Steph she is just as messed up as me, we’re alike she’s inevitably messed up for inevitable reasons. Instead of the much more obvious and true reason Steph might be a little fucked up: because he abused her throughout her childhood. Like Arthur is not only projecting he’s also engaging in Next level shirking of responsibility.

His whole wanting Steph to know thing is so Urghh because even if he did mean it in a good way, like even if it was his weird way of trying to show he cares about her opinion of him, Steph takes it so poorly and is understandably sent spiraling.

Abt Steph’s time as Robin that’s pretty much exactly how I feel. Like I hate how rushed the whole situation is and how despite being in Steph’s pov we don’t really get the rationalization that is there for why she’s so quick to believe the worst of Tim. Like her time as Robin isn’t written in a way that gives her the benefit of the doubt or seems all too invested in presenting an in depth understanding of her POV as valid. And then it ends and it’s shallow and then war games tries its absolute hardest to make everything Steph’s fault forever so that it’s okay that she dies.

But on the other hand…. She gets to do headstands and jump for joy and shake her fists in the air in excitement!! She’s so damn happy! She does a backflip!! She blabs to Cass about how happy she is that she’s good enough! Who could have figured that she was good enough after all! Haha what if she isn’t irreversibly bad because her of her dads actions!! lol!! Who could have guessed!!!

I’m Exploding Batman with my mind.

Sorry this took me a hot sec, just finished my own finals, thank u so so much for your thoughts as always peace and love

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Propaganda why Anakin Skywalker is insufferable:

It's less about his character and more about the way ppl talk about him and narrative around him in a lot of current stuff. The way everyone try to bend over backwards to prove how his reasons to turn Darth Vader were somehow noble or good when almost every single bad guy in Star Wars (expect Palpatine and that guy who taught him) have much more sympathetic history and reasons and how he's not a bad person bc he cried a few times while doing atrocities. And how everyone else gets the blame for all his shortcomings ('they did it but never taught him!!!' -he literally parrotos this same lessons to his own student, it's obvious he knows better but chooses to not apply to himself anything that is slightly uncomfortable to him). Like, I love characters being genuinely not good people as much as a next guy but let's not pretend they're good people actually

the guy has zero critical thinking skills, he whines about everything all the time. I love him, but he’s awful to listen to. THIS BITCH. I HATE HIM. NO CRITICAL THINKING. NO SELF AWARENESS. WHINY MURDEROUS ASSHOLE. LIKE SERIOUSLY. He's a JEDI. LIKE. THEY HAVE HISTORY CLASSES!!!! He should have KNOWNNNNNN that when he had prophetic dreams they're not necessarily true!!!!! Also like. In the Star Wars universe, do Jedi just not have imaginations that can create NORMAL dreams when they sleep??? Do Jedi just not usually dream??? If he hadn't gotten paranoid from the dreams of Padme dying in childbirth

BILLIONS OF LIVES WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED. FOR THAT MATTER, if you're gonna have A SUPER ILLEGAL SUPER SECRET MARRIAGE, wouldn't you, I don't know, USE PROTECTION SO THAT YOUR WIFE WHO IS SECRETLY AND ILLEGALLY MARRIED DOESN'T GET PREGANANANT????? LIKE LOOK I LOVE LUKE AND LEIA MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF BUT THEIR PARENTS WERE SO FUCKING STUPID. ANAKIN SKYWALKER HATES CONDOMS BECAUSE THEY DONT FEEL AS GOOD I DON'T FUCKING KNOW. Man is an IDIOT. How can you have had a role model and father figure like Obi-Wan for most of your fucking life and grow up to do the shitty, STUPID things Anakin did. Ok this is way too long I'm sorry but I love Obi-Wan so much and Anakin ruined his fucking life and hes just such a little DICK. MURDERED A WHOLE VILLAGE OF SAND PEOPLE. AND DOZENS IF NOT HUNDREDS OF CHILDRENNNNNNNN. ANGSTY WHINY TEENAGER. FUCK HIMMMMMMM

Yes he was probably directed to act that way but the way his lines were written did not help

Propaganda why Tim Jackson Drake is insufferable:

oh man. i've had enough of this duckboy (as the protag, he's tolerable in yj and stuff.) like when tim is the protag every character in the story becomes Worse. lady shiva gets nerfed. steph is turned into jealous hormonal catfight girl. helena is dumbified and too womanly to function (they have a nice dynamic as long as tim isn't the protag). cassie and tim were great in yj98, but as soon as he is The Protag then she is his best friend's girlfriend and they're barely friends anymore. cass is turned into a rapist. dick is turned into a lazy mediocre robin. jason turns into fucky wucky dumb brute yaoi stalker boyfriend who is suddenly obsessed with tim's awesome skills. 10 y.o. damian somehow deserves to be put on a hitlist because he's a savage and tim is civilized. Sometimes the story is bogged own with tim's internal or external lectures about their flaws and how they need to be better (better like him), except for dick HMMMM wonder why that is. probbly wouldn't be so bothered if tim wasn't crammed into the spotlight of every crossover in the 90s and early 00s and then so much of dc and the fandom wave it around as the peak era of comicbooks. like im sorry. he is not a relatable protag. like the editors literally told newspapers that he was created for gen x white dudes who blow their money on comics and merch, the info is on wikipedia.

White twink rich boy who always has to be smartest bestest boy even when he is a part of a whole group of smartest bestest ppl (aka bat family as a whole, like he's literally THE Mary sue of a group of Mary sues) at expense of literally everyone else

His definitive writer is a conservative Republican. His series is full of moral PSAs, *dumb* *hormonal* girls getting into catfights over him, and blatant sexism and racism. He gives anti-marijuana speeches to a standing ovation, he lectures about how babies need a father and a mother, and sex is for marriage. Other characters suddenly become stupid around him so that he looks smart. The other characters talk about how he is the best, nicest, smartest Robin ever and ALL the others were dumber and meaner than he is, even the one that mentored him. He as a grown adult man is canonically still bitter about ""his"" child sidekick role being given to an actual child (fans pretend he is the victim of this on both sides—nope he's the adult fighting a child for the child sidekick role, no adult wanted to replace him). Did I mention that this character is the amazing pure white boy, and his 10-year-old successor is painted as a savage Arab terrorist who needs to be put in his place? T*m is a 5'9""+ adult grown man, not a delicate sensitive baby boy.

[randomkposts]

If you actually think about it, if Light was the only genderbent character in deathnote, the show would take very dark turn and would communicate a different message.

K:- " If Light was the only genderbent character in death note, the show would communicate a diffrent message, yes, primarly because the show was written in the early 2000s with 90s values, and its creator was not good at nuanced portrayal of women, to put it mildly. Look at how Death Note treats Misa. Shes treated as a legit threat until she joins up with Light where she becomes more of a joke. Yes the sexism and being talked down to for being a girl would drive Light nuts, but its nothing she didnt already deal with growing up. Would it be harder for them to take her seriously? Yes-"

E :- "Which is obvious considering the early 90's 00's Japanese work culture. Even now it's still a breakthrough.

But they may or may not be trying to say Fem Light would suffer under male hands or something of that issue.

Would the Task Force hurt fem Light? Doubt it. Most of them are respectful men, the worst I can say is they can get hot headed with each other as men.

Laying hands on Fem Light? No.

They never did that to Misa not counting the time with Soichiro as that was with Light under the impression they were suspects."

K:- "Misa being under arrest and filmed was pretty yikes. And Solitary confinement was already a pretty dark and messed up angle to go. But Light here is the chief of police's daughter. She has the power of Neoptisim and a prior connection with most of them on her side. "

E:- " True true. He already had a bond with them. Misa's arrest was more hostile. Maybe that is what they were referring too?"

K:-"Misa was both treated like a threat and not.

Later on in the prisonorship she had police escort shopping privlages, but at first that image is pretty wack.

And why? What are we supposted to infer from this?"

E :-"I know right? She's a threat enough to keep around surveillance but not enough to stop her from swapping places with friends.

She can show she is capable of fooling people but it's not enough to treat her as a genuine threat. I doubt Misa minds it. It gives her so much leniency to get away with things.

But for fem Light it's infuriating.

But here I wonder if L would see her as a threat?

My canon L doesn't give a fuck about your gender. Only if you can actually play the game. Violence is not restricted by gender. Anyone is capable."

K:- " Are we supposted to infer something about L from Misas outfit while being filmed? I guess its interpritive, but I see it more as L breaking social boundries to make her unconfortable and push her closer to hopefully breaking. Same with the handcuffs really."

E:- " L does that with everyone. She ain't special in that which makes it oddly open minded.L does that to me by getting his damn feet on things."

K:- " I don't think L cares about Gender. But the steryotypes at the time imposed preformances of gender upon most of the players"

E:- "Right right. Such as expected reactions"

K:- "And I admit, I AU for fun. I'm not intrested in exploring the darker timeline where the taskforce is a skeevy to female Light.

And we acknowledged that the world would treat them diffrently by gender from where the concept was first incepted with female L.

Its always been part of the considerations, the Sexisim present in Japan at the time at which Death note was written. Hell, I'm probably missing nuances from it, from not being Japanese nor Not being an adult in the 90s"

E:- "We can only gather what we know and work with it. And once again this is for fun."

: )

[timdrakesbussy]

Goblin Destroyer: How the Internet Revived an Obscure Local Band

This is something that suddenly appear in my mind when I was waiting for a public transport near my campus but like ... Stardew Valley's aesthetic looks like they're in the 90s in rural Northern America/Western Europe (though still cmiiw since I don't live in neither of those regions).

So then I thought about Sam's band and the real life band called "Panchiko" where the internet basically rebirth this band. (If you want to know about the band, here's a video)

And I randomly think about some kids somewhere in the SDV-verse came across Sam's band's LP (I'm gonna go with Goblin Destroyer) and asked online forums about it but none got anything so far. Doesn't help the fact that the LP was credited only with their first names which are very very common names. The names in the back of the LP only says Abigail, Sam, and Sebastian with their roles which are drummer, guitarist/vocalist, and keyboardist/synth in that order.

OP then gave more information, like how the label seemed to be from either the late 90s or early 00s and it was obvious that they were from the Republic of Ferngill. Small problem though, Ferngill Republic is not a small place. Sure, it's not a big country, but it's still going to be hard to find the people who contributed to this record, especially since it was decades long. Regardless, this was a step forward. 

I personally think they would not take too long (like Panchiko irl) because of my personal headcanon of Sebastian being chronically online even to his fourties.

The forum was very popular with many tried to remaster their songs or figure out just who they were. So then Sebastian rolled around and was like, "Holy fuck, I can't believe you found a copy of this. Thought they threw them all away in Zuzu City back in '98."

AND PEOPLE WERE SHOCKED AND ASKED IF THIS USER HAS A CLEANER COPY BUT THEN HE WAS LIKE, "lmao I'm the Sebastian credited in the back of the LP. Sadly, no. I do not have the cleaner copy, but I think my husband do keep some in his previous house when we still lived in the Valley."

Obviously, people were skeptical because the internet lies a lot. But they still gave him the benefit of the doubt because this was more information than they previously tried to dig. It was true that Goblin Destroyers were from Ferngill, specifically Zuzu City, and it was correct that they were from the late 90s.

Few months went by without a follow-up so most people just brush him off as hoax because that's what they usually did to lost media, claimed to know and kept it somewhere but unattainable for some reason.

That is, until another user joined the forum and introduced himself as Sebastian's husband who has the cleaner copy back in his old home. The husband was apparently, a very important piece in the band because he was none other than Sam -- another name crossed off the list.

Sam apologized and claimed that it took him longer to find than he expected and to compensate, he and Sebastian did a digital remaster for the LP and will put it to streaming services alongside their previously unreleased tracks.

With the band finally found, some questions arrived. Most of the questions were about Abigail, the drummer of the band, and also about them in general. The only things they knew so far were that Goblin Destroyer was a prog metal band from the late 90s, Ferngill, and that two out of the three members are married to each other.

The two claimed that they had no idea where Abigail was; the last time they saw her was when they still lived in their hometown. Sebastian then mentioned that she joined something called "The Adventurer's Guild", and one of the last things they did together was go to the forest and watch Abigail's improved swordsmanship. That was almost twenty years ago. They just hope that wherever she is, she's alive and well because she was their best friend.

They then ended the forum with pictures of them when they were young and some band photoshoots, needless to say that social media will be filled with their pics for a few months or so because of how attractive they were. The couple also added a recent pic and well, they're still handsome as hell.

It took them a while to finally return as a band; they were not the young adults in a small town who were bored and annoyed with how their parents coddled them anymore. They are middle-aged with a family and jobs, so yeah, it took a while for them to perform again. Eventually, though, they were back as a band. At least a duo for a few months, releasing a new single after twenty years.

Goblin Destroyer did not tour or participate in any music festivals until they were hit by a surprise, Abigail finally returned to the band. She revealed that she's been busy with the guild for over twenty years and is a mentor, so she was so out of touch with the news. She also revealed that she figured out that they went viral through her mentee, who told her about it.

Finally, the band was back in business. This was the dream that Sam had thrown away, and to actually have it tenfold decades later was exhilarating, to say the least.

[cleoselene]

don't know why it took me so fucking long to add this pop-goth masterpiece to the vinyl collection but the situation has been corrected

as a snobby 90s goth when these lovely folks came out in the early aughts, my kneejerk reaction was to gatekeep because that's one thing goths are REALLY good at lol. I was a Tampa Goth (yes, Goth Talk being in Tampa really fit lol it's like the goth capital of the world) who went clubbing 4-5 times a week, smoking clove cigarettes at The Castle (though I liked the DJ better at The Edge, DJ Nemesis who is still out there spinning all kinds of futuebop jams in clubs) and when the WWF (at the time was still called that I believe) used "Bring Me to Life" for a promo I realized it was a pop-goth outfit and was enraged like any dumb young snobby music gatekeeper could be

what I only admitted to myself (not even my boyfriend who honestly didn't evne care lol) was how much I loved this album. I may or not have shoplifted it from my job so no one caught me buying it (I'm not being coy here lol it was 20+ years ago I don't remember but I think tha'ts how it went) and listened to it secretly when the boyfriend was working and remembered every lyric marry me amy lee you're so pretty

anyway the albums till holds up great. "Tourniquet" is my favorite even though it's probably the most obvious of the album that is a Trojan horse of a goth song that's really a Christian song. That's the other thing lol this band is supposedly covertly doing Christian messaging and tbh sometimes between goths and Catholics it is genuinely hard to tell the difference.

It's a stunning album and I feel like the numetal era of the 2000s was really the last time a rock subgenre took over pop on that level. We could really use a rock renaissance in popular music. There were more explicitly rock pop projects but with the rise of alternative as a genre rock drifted further away from pop during the 90s and 00s

[annabtg]

I mean, I do think it’s genuine progress that kids these days read ‘go out with me and I’ll never hurt your friend again’ and recognise a red flag for *potential* toxicity and are therefore a bit sceptical of canon Jily, but I don’t believe for a minute that it was JKR’s intentions writing James and Lily in 2003 as a couple of teens from the mid 70s to convey that impression (though this is somewhat complicated by the fact James is clearly inspired in looks by her abusive ex-husband, much to unpack there). Harry Potter is not timeless, there is a LOT that is ultra specific to late 20th century British culture - which includes teen communication styles, Hogwarts teaching standards, complex class structures, and the fact that the Death Eaters are not the KKK, they’re the IRA.

Exactly!! I don't know if I should be blaming Tumblr, TikTok, Hollywood, modern US culture or whatever, but those takes are so woefully uneducated in the broad sense of the word - it seems like this generation can't grasp the concept of things being different in the past. You see it in the way they handle queerness in fandom. You see it in the way they can't handle darkfic, not because it's triggering, but because it's bad and you're a bad person for writing that. You see it in media like Bridgerton.

I don't know if the society has changed so massively during the last couple of decades so as to make the past unrecognizable to the point of inconceivable. I was a kid in the 90s and a teen in the early 00s, during which time I read tons of books taking place from the antiquity to what was then contemporary; I saw them as an opportunity to learn about a different era, draw comparisons with today, try to understand how people thought and acted and extract my own lessons. Perhaps kids/teens these days just don't read that much anymore, and as such they haven't learned to extract information from text, or at least, text that's not just speech written down - so they're only left with what they see, and what they see is their own, new and improved reality.

I don't know about James being inspired by her ex-husband - I recently heard Sirius was? I think that's the least problematic part, anyway. Harry Potter is a transparent text; its influences are very obvious, more obvious the more you know about where the author comes from (I don't really know about the differences between KKK and the IRA, I'd have to do more reading on that, thanks!) and that's not a bad thing. It makes it easier to understand and connect with.

If you can't do that, you end up taking out the names mentioned once and put them in a universe like the one you live in - which, good for you for having fun, but you're not engaging with the text at all.

[cyber-corp]

Suburban music videos: What's the deal?

Some of you may know that a couple of days ago I started a playlist of music videos from the 1990s and 2000s which all seem to be featured in or prominently feature American suburban areas. I forget what the actual post was that pointed this out, but I think I kind of had that idea before I saw it.

One of the first music videos I thought of was 'Rockin' the Suburbs' by Ben Folds from 2001, because not only does it explicitly mention a suburb, but the video is done in such a way that I think it was meant to poke fun at the angry white boy music that plagued the late 90's (Limp Bizkit, Korn, etc).

The other video I thought of was 'Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)' by the Offspring from 1998. Like RTS, it's meant to poke fun at middle-class white dudes who think they're hot shit because they listen to rap, when in reality they come off as cheesy wannabes. So it would make sense for the MV to have that setting.

The main trope these MVs have in common is that they both have the "haha 90s ironic edge" on them. Like it's very obvious that the songs are about how tough some dudes think they are, when really they live in a relatively safe and secure area. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden did something similar in 1994, but I think that it has a completely different vibe to the others. More surrealism, less irony.

But I think the true golden era of the "suburban neighbourhood music video" was during the early to mid-2000's. With a rise in pop-punk and emo, comes a rise in angsty teens going "blehh!!! screw this place!!!! screw the establishment!!!!!! its not a phase mom!!!!!!", which then resulted in music videos featuring an environment they were probably most familiar with (and probably stuck in).

Here's '1985' by Bowling for Soup, released in 2004. The colour palette for this video is a lot more muted, which is (I find) a common link between most MVs in the 00's. Which gives a more "this is the way things actually are" vibe, compared to the much brighter palettes of the 90s.

'The Anthem' by Good Charlotte (2003) is quite possibly the most early-00's MV ever, and I consider it to be the definitive suburban neighbourhood music video. The song is about "not living the way you're meant to live" according to Joel Madden, and the video reflects that sentiment! Just a bunch of punk and emo kids going out and causing a ruckus, having a gay ol' time.

It also has this weird blue/greenish filter on it, which is very indicative of its period. That's a whole other story.

The suburban neighbourhood continued to thrive in music videos throughout the 00's, mainly in pop-punk and emo. I believe this was an attempt to target its demographic; adolescents aged 14-19 who had yet to find their place in the world. Some notable MVs include 'You're Going Down' by Sick Puppies (2009), 'Only One' by Yellowcard (2003), and 'Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground' by the White Stripes (2002).

(side-note: michel gondry, director of the white stripes vid, never misses when it comes to his music videos. this is one of my favourite music videos ever, but it definitely isn't one of my favourite suburban music videos ever.)

SNMVs began to go out of style around the early 2010s, presumably along with pop punk and emo. The closest to it would be 'I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo' by Capital Cities, which came out in 2014. It's very much of a more nostalgic style compared to the others, but it's most likely one of the last of the SNMVs.

So: Does this specific sub-genre of MV mean anything?

I think individually the videos definitely represent and reflect certain zeitgeists of their eras, but the SNMV is very much rooted in adolescent angst. That feeling that while you are living comfortably, there's definitely something more. Boredom is present in every teenager, and these videos are like a fantasy for them: getting to live out your days without responsibility with your friends, but are suppressed of having any fun because of the 'system' at large.

"Let me tell y'all what it's like

Being male, middle class and white"

(also i think all star is partially responsible for the rise of interest because of course it is. it's all star by smash mouth. mentioning its very existence feels redundant.)

[fereldanwench]

Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @corpocyborg! Thank you, bb!! ♡

Last book I read: I still haven't finished There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job Kikuko Tsumura I started back in January, lmao. Not for any reason other than I just haven't been in the right headspace to sit down and read for the past few months--What I have read of it is great, so hopefully, I can make the time to pick it up again.

Greatest literary inspirations: I like the female protags in Karin Slaughter novels, and I love Tanya Huff's Torin Kerr from her Confederation series--I'm sure they've inspired me on some level. Oh, and Phedre from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, too, although it's been ages since I read those. But I think most of my inspiration actually comes from other forms of media. I love the action babes of the late 90s/early 00s: Lara Croft is the number one inspo here, and pretty much all of Michael Turner's comic girls but especially Sara from Witchblade. And I think Better Call Saul is easily one of the best-written shows ever made--That's one I always go back to when I feel like I need to refill the inspo well.

Things in my current fandoms I want to read but I don't want to write: I have a confession: I usually only read a ton of fic when I first get into a fandom and I can't get enough and I just want to soak it all up, but after a certain point, I just don't have a lot of headspace for other people's stories. 😬 I feel bad about it sometimes, and it's not like I never read anything after that point, but 90% of the time, what I wanna write is what I wanna read. It's kind of a closed loop, I guess.

Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: Well, I'm not at all deterred by being the only person interested in something I write, haha. One of my favorite one-shots I've ever written is between my Cousland and Hawke meeting briefly at Ostagar, and it's probably my least popular fic on AO3 by a big margin. But I do like deep-diving into my own OCs, and it generally is harder to get an audience for fic that doesn't have canon characters. Ain't gonna stop me, though!

You can recognize my writing by: Lots of pining and banter; obvious thesaurus abuse

My most controversial take (current fandom): Yeah, no, not gonna be sharing my actual most controversial takes, lmao.

But I do also love the Devil ending! I don't think there's one objectively "best" ending--What's good for one V isn't necessarily good for another--But for my Valerie, it suited her story the best. I love the poetry of her going back to Arasaka after getting fired by them, I love storming Arasaka Tower with Goro, I love the conflict with Johnny, I love making Goro confront how fucked up the Arasakas are, I love the possibilities of Mikoshi--The only way it would have been better for me is if this nixed idea had actually been put into action.

And I wish we could roleplay a V that is actually more "pro"-corpo in the game, especially if we had the corpo lifepath. Sticking it to the man is sexy and all, but I just love delving into characters that align themselves with shitty institutions and exploring different motivations (I personally like cynical pragmatism/self-preservation and delusional idealism) that lead a person there.

Top three favorite tropes: 1) Rivals to friends to lovers 2) Mutual pining 3) Forced proximity

What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): Like, 0.5, lmao. I've been rereading and organizing my WIPS, so there's some effort being put in there, but I'm very much in one of my "ummmm, how do I even write fiction?" phases.

Share a random frustration: I have ZERO discipline when it comes to writing. I need to be in a fully feral, totally isolated from distractions place or I just can't get shit done. When I'm in the zone, I'm in the fuckin' zone, but I get like 3 months of that every 5 years, lmao.

Tagging (with no pressure, as always) @ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian, @dread-red-queen, @vorchagirl, and @aceghosts <333

[polarisbibliotheque]

Hello. For your Spotify Wrapped Game, how about 4 with Dante. By the way, thank you for all your writting, I really enjoy it 😊

Hello, my dear!! I'm always so happy to see you here, I enjoy your presence in the bibliotheque ^^ thank you so much for all the love always and thank you for the request of the Spotify Wrapped!!

It took me some time, but here it is \o/

I gotta get used to write smaller stuff

Spotify Wrapped Special: 4, Dante - Baker Street Extended Mix, by Undercover

Pairing: Dante x Reader

Summary: To maintain your incredible physique and stamina while fighting demons, you and Dante must exercise regularly. He often forgets you're human, though.

Author's notes: I wheezed when I noticed it was Dante with the very 90's dance remix of Baker Street, since Vergil's first Devil May Dance edition was with Baker Street - the non dance-y version of it. Oh, I love when fate makes oposite-complimentary twins so obvious *sighs*

About the Song: Originally by Gerry Rafferty, Baker Street is a song with a catchy saxophone riff and lyrics that are quite existential about life and its changes. It has a mixed version by Undercover, the one in question, and being a child of the 90's I'd say I listened more to this version in the early 00's rather than the original one. Love 'em both, though.

4, Dante - Baker Street Extended Mix, by Undercover

“Dante, I love you… But my energy levels are close to zero today.”

You were practically being dragged by your red devil – Dante held your wrist and got you walking alongside him as he guided you to the center of the shop. The upbeat music took over the Devil May Cry, but you just wanted to sit down and sleep.

Probably on his chair, feet on his desk. The classic.

“Nah, babe, can’t let you slack off like that!” Turning back at you, Dante stood with both hands on his hips. “It’s trainin’ time. Gotta get those muscles strong enough to fight demons.”

“I’m already strong enough to fight demons.” You pointed out, raising one of your eyebrows. “I’d gladly train with you, but I’m really tired, Dante. I feel like I’m gonna collapse on the floor at any moment now.”

“See, I can’t let that happen to my sweet muffin, can I?” He winked back at you; a cheesy smile glistening on his lips.

“Sweet muffin…?” Oh yes, you were judging, now with your hands on your hips. “Really…?”

“Oh, yeah. Sweet muffins are as delicious as ya, babe!” His answer came with Dante starting to move his hips from side to side on the rhythm of the song. You never thought the remix of Baker Street would be so fitting for his fitness sessions, but there you were.

“Jeez, who are you now?! Jane Fonda?!” You had to laugh back as Dante did the same, trying to get you to move alongside him.

“I’m gonna be if I need to! Leotard and everythin’!” He pointed back at you, making you laugh even more. You had to give in, moving slightly. “C’mon! Gotta get some energy goin’!”

With those words, Dante took his shirt off, throwing it back on his desk, standing side by side with you. While watching, you just sighed in response, rolling your eyes.

“That’s low, you devil.”

“Hey, I do what I gotta do.” Dante winked back at you. “C’mon. Let’s start with a couple of jumpin’ jacks.”

“Yeah, why not kill me right at the start…!” You complained but accompanied him either way.

Exercising with Dante was always fun. He liked keeping it fun and upbeat, choosing high energy songs and mostly strength exercises you were both used to.

Even so, following him wasn’t an easy task. You often talked about that with Kyrie: sometimes, Nero decided to train alongside her, and she always had a hard time. Kyrie wasn’t weak nor in a bad cardio shape, but keeping up with Nero… It was a thing in itself.

You immediately understood when she talked about it with you for the first time. Training with Dante was a pain – you and Kyrie did different kinds of trainings, but even if the Spardas said they would keep it light for humans, they had a hard time knowing what light meant physically.

Lady later joined that conversation, mentioning the very few times she made the mistake of going to a local gym with Trish – the devil never seemed to get tired and lifting weights was so easy, every bodybuilder at the place ended up overworking themselves trying to prove they could lift more than Trish. Long story short, they couldn’t and ended up in the hospital while the devil woman left for tea and macarons with Lady post workout.

And Lady didn’t do half of the things Trish did but looked like she had just ran a marathon three times in a row. Trish was barely blushing.

Living with devils really wasn’t easy for humans like yourselves.

“Ei, you’re doin’ pretty good today, hot stuff. Dunno why you were complainin’.” Dante winked at you as he finished the jumping jacks, ready to start a new set of exercises. You just rolled your eyes.

“You say this all the time, red devil.” You placed your hands on your hips, already feeling your breath accelerated. Dante, in the other hand, was completely normal. “I’m always doing pretty well for a human.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re awesome, babe.” With those words, he placed a quick peck on your forehead, before starting moving around once more. “C’mon. We’re just startin’.”

“I’m gonna regret this, I’m pretty sure…” You shook your head, sighing. He was an endless ball of energy when depression didn’t hit.

When it did, though, it was almost impossible to get Dante off his chair. He was an immovable force tossed on the big Devil May Cry desk and there wasn’t much you could do – although, you could always find a way to grab him out of his deepest nightmares.

There was a reason why you would always follow him around whenever Dante was that happy and wanted to dance, exercise, go out, have fun or whatever. It warmed your soul – no matter how much he tired you physically. While watching him move in the rhythm of the saxophone blasting through the shop, you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling upon watching him smile.

You would never say you’d be one to experience real love. But there was something about wanting to smile when you saw someone you cherished so much smiling as well. The fact he was happy made you happy, no matter how gray the day was. And if that wasn’t real love, you’d argue you didn’t know what love was, then.

“See? You are doin’ great!” Dante couldn’t spend time doing something with you without praising – it was something inherent in him. If you could smile only watching him smile, he could drown in happiness whenever he saw you blushing and letting yourself free around him. That was real love for Dante. “Ready for some push-ups?”

“Oh, c’mon! Now you’re definitely tryna kill me!” You had to laugh it off, although preparing yourself. Taking your shirt off, you threw it on the couch and cracked your fingers.

“Ha! You’re all talk, I know!” Starting a weird dance, you had to laugh back when he started talking again. “C’mon, don’t give up now! We have a long way to go and you’re doin’ amazing, hottie!”

“Not giving up, Jane Fonda! Let’s go!”

Of course, you would do push ups in your own human way, while Dante leaned his feet on his desk, hands on the floor, just warming up his muscles, as he would say.

You learned the hard way his official way of doing push ups was against a wall, feet high on the air – a push up in a handstand. During those days, you would just lean on his desk and read something while he exercised with metal music blasting through the shop – those were the days Dante took his exercising seriously and you just allowed him to do whatever his devilish stamina allowed and needed him to do to keep him in shape.

With your hands on your hips again, you were already sweaty, blushed and needing a little break to breath normally once more. Dante just got up and it seemed like he hadn’t even started.

“Need a break, gorgeous?”

“Yeah, a quick one…” You sighed while wiping some sweat off your forehead.

You didn’t expect, though, to be swept off your feet in your strong red devil’s arms.

“Dante…!”

“I love dancin’ with ya, babe!”

There was a golden laugh in his voice that made you giggle in response while holding tightly to his shoulder and hand. Dante intertwined his fingers with yours, spinning with you in the floor of the Devil May Cry – the song carrying you both in that lovely feeling of having each other.

Living with devils wasn’t always easy. Living with Dante, though, was always delightful.

[arbitrarygreay]

I would love to hear more Berryz vs C-ute meta if you're interested! I started out as a Momusu fan and dabbled in Berryz but C-ute felt way, way too young for me at first so I mostly ignored them. By the end of their careers though, Berryz sometimes felt like they were miserable performing while C-ute just got better and better. I've never seen anyone seriously ruminate on this though.

Thanks for the ask!

The thing to know about the era is the industry context. MM is the obvious case, starting in the late 90s when there were some pretty big girl groups (Speed, Zone, Folder5), and of course the Golden Age was called that for good reason.

(Huh, weird, now only Wikipedia lists MM's single sales in table format.) But if you look at the singles sales numbers, they've already fallen back down to Morning Coffee/Furusato level sales by 2003. This is why when you read the ancient fan forum archives (o7) the people who are all around for Golden Age have a grudge against 5th and 6th gens, and the taken-for-granted assumption of management's incomptence. So, H!P is already in a decline by this time (not that H!P broadly was ever as successful as MM in this era), but Tsunku is on a total roll musically, so it can be hard to notice.

And outside of H!P, the idol market (for girls, anyways, Johnny's is still trucking along as usual) is pretty bleak. Avex makes a few attempts every now and then (with dream, BRIGHT, and SweetS), but none of them really take off. For reference, AKB48 starts in December of 2005. I have treasured fan forum memories where Maeda Atsuko was "the one who looks like Kamei Eri". They won't get any real traction (especially sales-wise) until 2008, at which point they spearhead the Idol Sengoku Jidai.

This is the environment in which the H!P Kids are formed and have their early careers. H!P in decline but in denial about it and so throwing about some money they probably didn't make back their money on (very notably, the Sports Festivals actually going so far as to rent out Dome arenas). ZYX, Aa!, and early Berikyuu are receiving god-tier music, Berryz skips doing indies and is doing hall tours right off the bat. (Idols won't really get into livehouses until years later thanks to Idol Sengoku Jidai.)

At the same time, there are some signs. Most notably, the similarities between Berryz and Melon Kinenbi. Sure, I just called early Berryz music god-tier, but there are also quite a few songs and singles in those first three albums are now forgotten deep cuts, aren't they? Even the good ones! At the time, people could definitely predict that Kofuku Kangei would get lost, but the ever catchy Piriri to Yukou? More than that, there is the easy sense that this music is already deeply uncool. Those MKB songs are outright cringe now, especially in the visuals. This is why MKB eventually had to re-pivot to that rocker energy (to the point of mosh pits and even crowd surfing at some of their lives). Berryz, however, were never able to do that. To the end, their music retains a composition style harkening to this mid-00s Tsunku pop, even their dance tracks like Want! or Dakishimete Dakishimete. His last hurrah of the unabashed cheesiness that took Love Machine straight to the top and Koi No Dance Site to peak MM's sales. Pata did a series of posts where he complained about Tsunku's intrusions into Buono's otherwise blessedly Tsunku-free run of singles.

Kobushi, of course, also never recovered sales-wise from their scandal parade and exodus of members. However, because the members of Kobushi grew up in the social media age, as well as after H!P had gone through true industry dark ages, the members reacted to the shrinking by upping the sass and DGAF that make for great clips, Jojo Gundan able to engage with them on improv comedy.

Berryz, meanwhile, kind of had a chemistry problem. They were friendly enough. A newbie like me found their early making-of footage compelling. But they could not really carry a non-scripted segment. Again, maybe a newbie might find their DMs sweet, but the moment you switch to another group, you can see the difference when the interactions have snap and rhythm. Wota joke about Yurina's inability to tell anecdotes. There's a very real reason that only Momochi was able to break out on TV, and even Momochi's schtick feels more forced than the attitude the 48G was bringing to the table, honed by late night variety willing to be really mean to them. Maasa and Chinami are getting pretty good at DGAF, but it says something that they seem to get better mileage when interacting with their juniors (like 5nin J=J or 2nd gen S/mileage) than their own group.

So yeah, by 2007 (around Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba) Berryz can tell that it is not going to happen for them. I guess given that they started their careers so early, they really didn't know yet what they could possibly do outside of the industry yet, so they all just stuck around because why not? And they broke up when enough of them had found post-Berryz prospects.

Honestly, I can't give you an answer as to why C-ute succeeded. They were why I thought Kobushi's scandal parade and member exodus would actually benefit them, but I was never really into C-ute's music. Their songs were also pretty unabashedly Tsunku cheese? Someone I met through SNSD fandom really liked e.g. The Middle Management, but didn't seem to get any deeper into H!P. Anyways, some kind of magic happened, with Chisato and Nakki embracing late blooms intersecting with being able to snag onto the Idol Sengoku Jidai momentum with with a will. Who knows? Love is timing, after all.