#Its a cool af power imo but

[eir-trixa]

Okay, this was probably already said before and I might be slow in this uptake but don't you think that Annabeth's fear of Percy controlling poison in HoH is less because she fears him using that against Akhlys or against her or anyone, but more on that she was getting flashbacks of Luke as Kronos and how the same kind of anger and unlimited power lead him to betray his family and leave her behind?

I think to see that same thing that happened to Luke happen to someone she loved as much as Percy was what triggered her. Cause she's already seen Percy harness so much power before, probably had the front seat to most of his feats. But seeing the same anger as Luke's - which Percy already admitted to having understood in MoA - and having been presented power great enough to allow him to get revenge was probably the combination that threw her off like... that's not Percy. If he continues to that same path she's gonna lose him, like she did her older brother.

[coffeesleep-ooc]

For your last anon, I have 2 things to say:

1. I think the lack of stress on the early days can be inferred to say something about SQQ, something about how SQQ is doesn’t find these moments as important because he’s planning/worrying/etc over the post-IAC events. Though I see it more as he saw those days as just an everyday thing, doting on LBH. He’s really sweet bc that’s his blorbo!! Ofc being nice to him is so easy even outside of the golden thighs part!! And!!! LBH, an easily impressionable teen is going to care a lot more about this when he’s not used to getting this kind of treatment- not just form SQQ- but from the peak. I mean even with NingNing, she’s seen to make the bullying worse- not on purpose though I still love her <3- so even the “kind” person he knows, kindness backfires.

2. I do think the “first person to show kindness” thing is so not true bc literally the first scene we see with ningning and lbh he’s snarky! And that may be after meeting the qi deviated SQQ but iirc it was immediately after so there’s no real interference. And the rest of the scene played out without SQQ doubting the plot events. Also OG!LBH had a harem of any women just because he wanted to prove himself, it’s a power fantasy not a romance. Imo if it was the “first person to shwo kindness” argument it kinda falls flat since ogLBH didn’t care about his wives the way a loving person would. He literally just married any woman to prove his power lol. (Though some could argue that’s because he reached a point of no return, but this isn’t my post to rant lol)

Hello again!!! It’s really nice to keep hearing your thoughts! And honestly i agree with most of what you say!

I believe that og!LBH may at some point thought to himself that he loved them all, but in the way you love shiny stuff that you collect and put on a shelf and sometimes play with? There is indeed power in keeping so many women and taking so many women from their houses, tribes, even husbands or sweethearts. I believe this is not bc LBH forces them to, but we all know that his presence attracts women according to the laws of the universe Airplane created. I believe these power fantasies are sometimes reflections of men that have been taught that having many women surrounding you and wanting you (to be a protector or just for your looks or body or whatever) makes you powerful and superior, this is also reflected on LBH having the heavenly sky pillar like SQQ calls it…bc we have been taught that erm…bigger makes you more proud or stuff like this.

I think I’m deviating to talking about toxic masculinity ksjdkskdjd but anyways! The point in sv is precisely that this absolute character of a man in SQQ’s eyes suddenly (not really suddenly though) turns around and becomes a person with wants and needs and what he wants is actually his old teacher. SQQ does not take this well lmao

But its also true that SQQ treats LBH’s disciple days like a calm period…i mean who wouldn’t! Imagine that you have transmigrated into the character with probably the worst death at the hands of your fav chara…i’d cry XD

I believe that dissociating a bit was normal in this scenario, but SQQ took it to the extreme, he thought that canon was written in stone, without taking into account that his presence and actions could make ripple changes to everyone including the protagonist, he thought his influence extended just to make his death less graphic, and maybe make the protagonist treat people a bit better, in short, he was too humble at first and too oblivious at the end (i mean pre IAC)

He also is trying to play his obsession with a character (first) and with his disciple (later) as something that is completely normal and cool. Cool as a cucumber. Jokes on you SY.

At least we recognize how into a character we are you silly man. Though i also understand him bc LBH post abyss is scary and powerful af even if inside he is still a crybaby wife that pines hard lmao

Brain just conjured the image of LBH meeting SQQ for the first time after the abyss while internally being: I JUST WANT TO MARRY SHIZUN IS THAT SO HARD QAQ

again, thanks for sending me your thoughts! Im happy to answer what i think or have observed from sv and fics~ brainrot for sv is too strong anyways

[strawhatyami]

Why you absolutely should bother with watching One Piece in 2022:

Alright I'm going to get straight to the point.

Usually when you ask people “what’s so great about One Piece” the most popular answers will be about the loveable characters, good world building and great foreshadowing.

Which is all very true and I’m here to delve into why, starting with the main character :

Monkey D. Luffy:

I once saw someone describe Luffy as a "pretty simple character that is done right". And I must say that’s the best way to describe him.  His straightforward, curious, extroverted nature is the is the perfect window to explore such a vast interesting world.

Luffy does his own thing, he’s selfish in many ways, his main goal of becoming the king of pirates itself is rooted in selfishness and greed. But he’s still a chill and kind-hearted dude. It just so happens that the selfish things he wants in life are fairly tame things like eating lots of meat and punching those who hurt his friends or innocent people in the face.

And in truth, he’s quite the emotionally intelligent character which is such a charming quality that has landed him allies and friends all over the world.

In short: He’s just goofy and loveable and I like the fact that Oda ditched trying to force a "relatable" protagonist (him not having any internal monologues is a nice touch that fits his character well imo).

And before we move on, I’d like to give an honorable mention to Tanaka Mayumi who is such a wonderful voice actress<3

Next up : World Building and character design

This anime undoubtedly has some of the best world-building that I’ve ever seen.

Which is great because at its core, One Piece is an adventure manga not a battle manga. Sure fights and matchups are important and epic and Haki is one of the coolest power systems out there.

But also watching the heart wrenching relations and back stories of the characters and seeing everything connect and having characters from 400 episodes ago make a comeback and be relevant to the plot in ways you never expected is WHERE IT’S AT.

Oda plays a lot with foreshadowing and he’s very good with continuity and revisiting small details which makes the story a lot more cohesive as a whole.

Watching this show feels like an adventure which is what Oda was going for. It’s so immersive and really plunges you into this fictional world that is so well built and versatile that you will never find yourself bored because each island is a new story. A new adventure.

The character design is also top-notch.

Oda has opened many possibilities for himself with the art style as the cartoony style helps in creating a fantasy world, you get more design freedom when you're not limited to proper proportions and things like that.

And he uses that freedom to create memorable characters but also to integrate parts of their personalities into their designs. Some of my favorite character designs include Sir crocodile, Franky, Kuzan, Doflamingo, Boa Hancock and Baby 5 just to name a few.

Last but not least, The humor :

Okay so humor is subjective. However I can confidently say that no anime has ever made me laugh my guts out the way OP did, the humor is elite and the jokes (especially pre-time skip) hold up even 20+ years later which says a lot.

And I think what plays a big role in that isn’t so much the joke itself but the (often) deadpan and downright hilarious delivery from the talented voice actors.

SO TO RECAP:

Cool mc, watching him punch bad guys is satisfying af.

Great worldbuilding.

Lots of heartwarming moments.

Characters be silly and loveable.

Lots of tiddies. Male AND female.

It has Trafalgar Law in it.

But yeah real talk this show has been a source of comfort for me lately and I believe it has something for everyone (especially if you're a sucker for the found family trope, it does it really well.)

Plus with the manga drawing to an end now would be the perfect time to catch up~

[kajaono]

Why I prefere 2023 Constance... and still like BBC Constance

Take in mind, I write this at a point where I have only watched BBC The Musketeers season 1 and The Three Musketeers 2023 - part 1

So I recently started watching a lot of different The Three Musketeers adaptations. And all of them have a really different approach on Constance. The one dimensional love interest to the Dinsney Princess. BBC The Musketeers and The Musketeers 2023 have choosen a way more interesting approach.

BBC The Musketeers has given Constance much more involvment in the story, changed her from "a love interested" into a woman with her own motivations, her own story, her own power.

The Three Musketeers 2023, stayed closer to the book but carefully updated Constance. 2023 is still a love interest, a damsal in distress.

So why do I prefere 2023 Constance over BBC Constance?

1. In the book D'artagnan is horny for every decent looking woman who crosses his path. He often kisses them without permission (Constance) or their knowledge (Milady). And it mostly played as a joke. When women refuse him, he never accepts that. It is potrayed as "no means yes". Both BBC and 2023 updated that. In the 2023 movie it is really well shown how D'artagnan looses every braincell everytime Constance (or any other woman) enters the room (Not that he has any in the first place). When he is around Constance he comes closer to her, comes into her personal space, heavy flirts with her, is always around her. But he NEVER never ever kisses her. When they finally kiss it is Constance who makes the first moves. It is her decision, and the kiss is a 100% build on consent. In BBC they choose anotehr approach, that was really clever imo. D'artagnan kisses Constance without consent, to hide from the people behind him (a nice wink to the book). But then gets punshed by her. So far... i like it. Now comes the bit where i struggle. The scene quickly takes a drastic turn. Suddenly our hero trambles and falls. Constance is not only helping him, but also giving him a home. Which frames the scene as: "Its not okay to kiss a woman without her permission. But if you are meant to be together... its okay." Which is so wrong and weakens the previous statement of "don't kiss women without their permission!"

2. In the books Constances husband is a comic relief. He has no real story relevance, apart from one bit, but all in all he is just dumb and disgusting. So 2023 wasn't the first adaptation to get rid of him. He was allready erased in the 2011 movie. It simplifies the story a lot and also takes away the "Constance is a cheater"-narrative. Which in the book is potrayed: "Its okay thing to do, because he is old and disgusting and dumb af. He is basically begging his wife to cheat on him." With erasing him in the 2023 movie it also gives Constance more autonomy over her own life. Makes her more independent. Which is really cool, because she makes her living on her own. In the BBC show I struggle a lot with her husband. Because he isn't an asshole, he isn't old and he isn't super dumb. He is just... there. Or most of the time, he isn't actually. He only appears to pepper in drama in the Constance/D'artagnan relationship, and is then painted as the asshole. That is weak writting imo. They can have sex in his house but then he has to magically re-appear to ruin the relationship? Come on. I think his character could have worked if they worked with him more.

3. I can understand that the BBC show wanted to have more female power among the main cast. Which is totally understandable, considering the book is completly centered around white male cis characters. The BBC made sure that half of the main cast are people of color, making sure there is a certian kind of diversity (not queer sadly). But I don't think giving a woman a gun and a sword is necessarily the definition of "empowerment". Constance being able to fight is cool, but giving her a gun and a sword isn’t "upgrading" her from a simple love interest into a powerful character. Especially when the narrative is not supporting it. On the one hand you have Constance being all bamf, but on the other hand she is introduced by inviting the guy who assaulted her into her house (D'artagnan), is then staging as a prostitute and a wet nurse. Also, so far, in season 1, she has fought with a sword once and shot a gun twice. Mostly she is reduced to a love interest. Imo the show hasn't found a good balance between "this woman is empowered because she knows how to fight" and "she is still a sexy love interest". Maybe that will change in the coming seasons, but why can't Constance stage as a horse driver or a guard or idk. Something that is not limited to her gender.

This is why I like the 2023 movie approach more. Where Constance is doing the laundry for a living but also serving the queen, acting as kind of a spy when needed. And she is good at that. She manages to do these two things simultaneously and often saves the day with her spy skills. She is still reduced to a love interest eventually of course but the show has the "she is a spy"-narrative right there (because it is already in the book) and doesn't make any use of it. Thats so confusing imo. Because it would have suited the time the show plays in her so much more, then: she can swordfight" and maybe even contributed more the story.

4. As already pointed out in point 3 BBC Constance is eventually often reduced to traditional female roles and wishes. The end of ep 7 wasn’t a big „ah she can fight so well with the sword“ but „she wants a baby from D’Artagnan“.

TL.DR: BBC Constance often feels like they wanted to show her all empowered but eventually still not knowing what to do with her character. So they gave her classic female roles again. It feels like the show is running from end end of the spectrum to the other and there is nothing in between. I really like her, I just see so much missed opportunities when I look at her character.

[weirdcat1213]

YEY THE HORRORS i mean YEY THE BOOKCLUB :D

thoughts on volume 6 (oh boi we're almost halfway someone hold me pls)

chap 1:

-OH MY GOD ITS HIM I FORGOT ABOUT HIM FOR A MOMENT (not in general, ik he's in 98)

-HEY HIS WINGS MAY BE CREEPY BUT THEYRE ALSO BEAUTIFUL TO ME >:[

-HOWEVER i love how yeah they are scared af but also get that vash as a person is not bad and they don't leave his side

-WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOUR BF LIKE THAT STOP STOP STOOOOOP. IDC THAT HE IS A LITERAL LASER CANON HES STILL JUST A LITTLE GUY

-are we...supposed to notice how bad the state of the gun is or...?

-nono brandon is right, i would also not give good guns to cops

-vash i fucking swear-

-SHUT UP YOU FUCKING COP >:[

-BRO WTF

-YEAH BRANDON CALL HIM OUT

-MY FAVORITE WEIRD CREATURE IS HERE

-ok in my 1st read didnt get that, idk why but i was confused about meryl getting worried for some reason. but she has a (sad) point. will one day the ptsd related to violence and guns be enough to make vash not shoot his gun? shes asking an interesting question. shes literally asking how much can vash take imo.

-wait so...was the replacement gun...the one in stampede??? (i will compare them later)

-DONT LOOK AT ME WITH THOSE GENTLE EYES MAN CMON

-I didnt notice he took the punisher lmao

chap 2:

-:c wolfwood having nightmares its not even a hc, IT IS CANON

-NOT THE FLASHBACK OF VASH CRYING BLOOD OUCH NO PLS NO

-:c im not even mad at wolfwood calling vash a monster cuz it must be fucking TERRIFYING but it still hurts :c

-you could...but youre not gonna

-"so yeah you cant be there for every problem in the pla- HOLD UP WHERE ARE YOU GOING"

-lmao meryl is like me fr

-this time i got most of the fight but i think we can all agree the mpv was the table

chap 3

-YEY LEGATO IN THE.....metal handbag?

-YES ELENDIRA FUCKING READ HIM

-OH MY GOD HES HERE HES HERE OH GOD NO

-i remember i was so confused i didnt realize THATS HIS FUCKING TONGUE

-also did double fang kill trail of death?

chap 4:

-OH I LOVE THIS SCENE SM. i also hate walking in a place with a shit ton of people

-YES IT IS BABY, THATS THE SAME CHILD YOU [so so redacted] WOOOOOOOOO (i love this chapter)

-oh...yeah that...oh

-"we cant survive without her power, neither can you" dude...dont...just dont

-ah yes. the hair. yeap. just a cool artistic decision. yeap.

-also i forgot how fucked up the last run was here

-oh he felt it, i saw that in his eye

-oh so he also went apeshit....ohhhhh. ok so if vash went apeshit cuz of a physical fight or flight reaction (I THINK) did knives go apeshit cuz of hate? the physical need to kill people in revenge? nice

-BRO WDYM "why not just end this crusade?" YOU JUST SAW WHY HE WOULD NEVER END IT

-oh that was his last straw. one thing is him being tricked by a human but that lie affecting his brother? the one thing he's trying to protect (yes ik he's not doing the greatest job at it) from humans? yeah no you gotta die

chap 5:

-NO. NO. NONONONONONON NOT THIS CHAPTER NO

-I HATE THE METAPHOR ALREADY (i love it. i want to yell at nightow my thoughts about it. i will never be normal about it)

-pls no. im begging you. pls dont make me read this again. this is when my sanity starts to break into little raggedy pieces of paper

-i just notices this change happens cuz he got HIS MEMORIES BACK WHAT IF I ENDED IT ALL

-i dont want to read anymore

-its just. so fucking hard. like ik we say hes jesus. but at the same time jesus never felt like that. jesus was born without sin but in vash's eyes he is full of sins and no one can forgive him. bro, honey, god would forgive you anything. you are his favorite im sure. but no matter the arguments for the allegory vash can never be jesus cuz he carries the pain of his "sins" everyday PLUS THE ONES FROM THE HUMANS. idk. im sad and tired. my baby. its ok i forgive you. and im sure rem forgives him. im sure. im sad

-anyway, back to the kinda normal thoughts

-also i think vash thinking he has to forgive himself is kinda flawed. like instead of forgiveness he has to accept what happened and i think those are different things. ofc yeah july was messed up but he never intended to do it. idk

-ANYWAY

-huh, those speakers look like eyes

-cant even swallow in misery in peace anymore lmao

-:c not the day drinking

-i think thats vash talking but yeah....nothing is easy for my guy. hes kinda right, better than crying ig...

-i prefer spike-isms but i will also take needle noggin-isms thank u

-that man can move in such unnatural ways *hears the uncanny vash people cheer at a distance*

-oof, the ptsd got meryl

-also the question is not whether vash was going to take the bullet or not, the real question is how hard does that question makes me cry

- SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUP

-OOF, i mean i 100% get meryl but OOF

-also YES THATS WHAT I FUCKING MEAN. AND I READ THIS ON [redacted] A FEW WEEKS AGO. THE BALANCE BETWEEN EXTREMES ITS JUST NULL, ITS NOT A COLOR AT ALL. his love and faith in humanity vs the pain they cause him...that balance creates a colorless emotion and IM SAD ABOUT IT.

-i hate that final page. i fucking hate milly protecting meryl from her memories while comforting her while protecting her from the rocks, i hate the people still insult vash even when he was long gone, i hate to see the children who saw the same thing as their parents try to convince them to stop because they know vash would never hurt people on purpose only to be ignored..and more than anything i hate vash apologizing for something he has no control over.

-ALSO I ALSO FEEL LIKE CRYING VASH-

[let it be on the record that i needed a minute to continue with the volume]

chap 6:

-OH NO IT STARTS

-"how could i have known?" youre telling me you spent years studying yourself and other plants and never saw one with black hair? really? (im not saying its a plot hole, im saying he was too distracted being a dick)

-so that was his imagination im assuming

-TESLA MENTION WE WIN

-OH GOD OH NO PLS GET ME OUT OF HERE NO PLS NOT THIS

-i love her dialogue with the funny glasses lmao, she really was the only mom ever

-oh..here come the tears

-oh right..they used to be like this

-oh...oh god

[tutyayilmazz]

so, MÅNESKIN in torino

first off I'm so grateful that i got to see them again, 10 months after verona 🥺 they are beasts on the stage, everything they play goes a thousand times harder live and their energy reaches every corner of the room (apparently expect the people in my row who literally sat through most of the show?? they only really stood up for zitti e buoni and coraline etc. which are of course highlights but i don't understand how can you sit through such a high energy LOUD AF gig. my feet were aching from 2 days of sightseeing and still i jumped to my feet the moment they started)

don't wanna sleep is PERFECT to start the show, i was waiting so much to hear it live and it's amazing and the red curtain drop is so cool

when they play zitti e buoni it's like being transported back to may 2021 and first discovering them, that song will always be special

own my mind is one of my english favorites from rush and for good reason, the heavier instrumentation is excellent

coraline is a fucking journey no matter how many times you listen to it, what a song, so glad to hear it live again

baby said is definitely deserving its rising attention, so fun to dance along to

bla bla bla is obviously made for the stage and it does work i looove the ending and damiano was crowdsurfing during the last "ha ha haha haha ha"s, looked so fun

i'm so glad they kept in nome del padre on the setlist, the final instrumentals are some of my absolute favorite things the power trio plays!! ❤️

as much as for the complaints about beggin from both sides it's hard to imagine they'll ever not play it considering how enjoyable it is with a whole crowd dancing, i don't ever listen to it but live it does the job I'm afraid

even a song that i don't have much special liking of like timezone is absolutely ROARING live

for your love live my beloved <3 though i gotta say thomas's solo in verona was better, felt more psychedelic than the one here

then a new intro to gasoline and FIIIRE though at first it seemed like damiano's microphone was trying and failing to light up but it did during the middle

they did the acoustic torna a casa and vent'anni they also did in verona and as beautiful as they are like that, it also makes me wish they were the "full" versions instead 🙈

same for amandoti but i DEFINITELY wasn't expecting them to play it so i appreciate it very much

intros with ethan and vic <333

and IWBYS live is the fun thing in the world honestly, that jumping on damiano's count is an incredible energy 🤩

la fineee it felt like the first time i was listening to it in the middle of the night and having those feelings wash over me

feel is also way more harder live and interactive with damiano having us "practice" the daaa-da-da-da-da-duh at first

AND MARK CHAPMAN AAAAH i love this so fucking much I'm so happy they played it, it's a culmination of all their prowess imo 😍 i have no idea what thomas was doing with his mouth but it was amazing

i wanna be a kool kid on stage so bad too 😭 it looked so much fun though there weren't too many people. fortunately no one was shoving a phone into their faces and it's just amazing to see vic surrounded by all these girls everyone having the time of their life

the 5 min solo thomas does before the loneliest is INCREDIBLE i would kiss his hands for it. also the ending ofc though i still think that solo works better for le parole lontane, either way just wonderful music 🥰

and IWBYS to close off 😭 I'm already missing it ❤‍🩹

[aesrot]

🧸🪀🔔 for any character you fucking want. go wild my dearest <3

sorry for taking so long, tumblr deleted everything i wrote and i had to write it again :') also since you gave me the liberty to choose, i made two of these about riptide and one about bitb! heads up for spoilers, specially in the last one.

🧸hurt/comfort headcanon

since jay and gillion are so emotionally fucked up and traumatised, they have a reeeeally hard time figuring out their feelings and talking about them. talk through it is not something they understand. they are used to action and violence, not emotional support.

chip, on the other hand, had a better childhood (at least for as long as it lasted w the black rose pirates), he had people to talk to him when he was upset and who were there for him when he needed support. obviously he's still pretty fucked up bc of his own traumas, but i believe he's the one who's most likely to actually process his own feelings in a healthier way than the other two.

so, its slow and it doesnt always end well, but he tries his best to be patient and to show the others that they can be vulnerable around him. that he will listen to them, that they dont have to suppress it all, that they dont have to suck it up and deal with everything by themselves anymore. its not easy, but they're slowly opening up and healing.

🪀silly headcanon

not sure if silly or angsty, and i said this b4 i think, but i believe timothy rand knows how to bake. his only reason for learning that is because he wants to make edibles (or thats what he tells himself). so he'd often hang out in the kitchen with his mom to watch or maybe even help her cook when his dad wasnt around. but deep down thats a way for him to bond with his mom, because he doesnt know how else to approach her.

so, the silly part is that although rolan is the canon malewife and does all the cooking, he lets rand help him sometimes. rand, ofc, tries to sprinkle some weed in their food when rolan isnt looking, and even tries to create his own recipes with kians help (well, help is a strong word), which may or not go terribly wrong and end up w rolan scolding them and making them clean the entire kitchen.

🔔unpopular opinion

idk about unpopular, but i believe there's a chance niklaus isnt a villain. i know i was brainstorming with bee earlier (which btw she has some pretty fucking cool ideas, everyone should check it out), but hear me out.

ik niklaus has everything to be the bad guy: he knows everything, he's too powerful, keeps making shady deals, and his name is followed by dread. hell, he fits perfectly in the stereotype of 'villain wants powerful thing that he cant get it by himself, so he manipulates everyone to get it for him'.

BUT we know too little. theres some information there that we dont know yet, that we're missing. he could very much make a deal with the other bad and powerful guys (aka the navy or the elders or god knows who else is out there) but he's sticking to the people who are against those guys. idk, something about the deals he makes sound kinda desperate for me. obvsly he's too composed to show that when he talks, but i sense there's something that makes him worried, anxious, so he's always ready to intervene if the situation goes out of hand. and the whole thing with arlin? sus af imo.

maybe he is the bad guy. or maybe he has the knowledge of some greater thing thats still beyond our (and the crew) comprehension. so he can sense what things are leading up to and is pulling some strings to shift their destiny to do or avoid something specific. but we'll have to wait and see

[starredforest]

Not so much an opinion on magic system as it is an opinion on writing magic in general, but imo the key to writing believable magic is that you ALWAYS need to inform your readers when something is possible. You don't need to lay out all the rules, but if one thing magic can do is important to the plot, you NEED to drop hints at SOME point that this is something that can be taken into consideration.

Like. If you tell me "magic exists, and this character can control fire because of magic," the reader is going to assume that magic is the ability to control fire, or maybe the elements in general. If you want to introduce that magic can do other shit later, you need to drop hints early on like "oh I read this book on controlling plants" or "urgh stop reading conspiracy theories EVERYONE knows mind control isn't possible."

Magic systems are bad when they feel like it's "anything goes as the plot demand," because, well, if magic can just do whatever, how can the reader ever understand the stakes in any given situation? Maybe blorbo is in danger and about to die and I should be worried! Or maybe they'll just whip out necromancy unprompted. And that's anticlimatic af.

Dunno if it answers your question, but hope it helps! Sorry for the long ask!

i feel at odds w this response a little, because in my HEART i know that both.

characters are stronger for things like them having believable limits in what they do and do not know. characters feel more like a functioning person with skills if they know off the top of their head what their skills and capabilities are.

magic by its very nature is arcane and mysterious. In fiction, it could lend a LOT to a narrative if a character discovers something new in a sufficiently cool way. As for sudden abnormal magic that tops out on in-universe power scales, it can be really fucking cool when someone pulls out something that you strictly didn't know they were physically capable of, and neither did they. So long as their character supports that growth in a meaningful way.

I think you can avoid this feeling completely bullshit if you establish that something like that is still fully capable of existing in the realm of the fictions reality. Or at least establish themes centered around whatever actions the character takes.

i'd like to say it comes easier for me to say I enjoy magic at its most when it feels firmly rooted in the fiction itself. it might not to be contextually evident, but if its got a firm grasp on the narrative itself I'm generally cool with some sudden tomfoolery.

[harpieisthecarpie]

Thanks for the peer review o7 i will use this power for ramble

I do think that a lot of the fic sex/romance issues were started in a genuine push to not spread misinformation, bc iirc fics used to parrot a lot of common myths re: intercourse (even moreso than now), especially ones about non-"traditional" non-cishet practices. And safety. And anatomy.

Which, it's cool and good to see a push for sex positivity and education! But I do feel there's now a pressure (internal or external) for the sexual aspects of fic to be textbook safe, sane, and consensual in all avenues.

I have 2 main reasons (beyond fic ≠ sex ed) that the squeaky clean route shouldn't be our only route. Which are: characterization, and erotica vs romance.

Firstly, characterization:

Intimacy can be an amazing way to explore characters, a relationship, or even a setting in your story. You can miss out on a lot by treating sex as simply a lesson rather than a tool in your narrative toolbelt!

Tbh I think the reason gen z ppl (like me) often say we "hate sex scenes" in media is bc they feel unnecessarily explicit or unnecessary in general, and we often don't have the language for what the problem is. Or we misattribute the ickiness to sex scenes happening at all!

I'm grayace and they can be boring af, or sometimes creepy as hell for reasons unrelated to the narrative (stop auteur directors now! /hj).

But one of my fave fave fave book series is the Binding Light trilogy by Freya Marske (I think the author's on tumblr actually), in which the sex scenes are narratively pivotal. And I, the sex scene hater, love the series sm I didn't even have to look up the title or author just now!! Unheard of!!!

These books are so dear to me bc the intimate scenes mirror both the (wonderful, superb) magic system AND the characters' relationships! Their sexual vulnerability and connection evolves alongside the characters' development. I've never before rambled about breathplay as a metaphor for trust, but Marske had me writing ESSAYS. My apologies to my friends' DMs

At first I had skipped those sex scenes, but once I had to go back for plot info, actually reading them made me go "oh holy shit this is all important".

I think stories miss that relevence pretty often. You don't NEED to have sex scenes, but also you CAN have them wherever it feels right.

IMO It's important to treat intimacy (of all kinds) in a work as character exploration first, rather than purely mile markers or something for characters (and writers) to "get a good grade in"

Moving on to erotica vs romance:

I've recently been watching a lot of SAVY WRITES BOOKS on youtube, and in one of her CoHo reviews she talked about the difference between works labelled "erotica" and "romance".

To her, romance novels have a sense of realism, they exist in a world that functions (at least adjacently) like ours. A romance would treat consent and safe sex like we do irl (or some historical equivalent based on setting). Basically, characters wouldn't be able to smash in a subway car without getting charged with public indecency.

Thus, if the characters were practicing BDSM, they would on some level acknowledge they're performing a scene (ex. consent check-ins and safewords). Here we have some level of RACK. Or if its unhealthy, there's framing acknowledging that fact!

Whereas erotica exists inside that BDSM scene! An erotic fic that tags its kinks and content correctly has given you enough for you to have informed consent. If you read the fic, you will thus be reading the "fantasy" of a BDSM scene. We know this isn't necessarily realistic or healthy, and that's fine! We read it with the knowledge it's not meant to be!

Uhhhh so. This was a really long way for me to explain "fanfic isn't sex ed so it's fine if they don't always use contraceptive"

tl;dr Intimacy and sex are cool for characterization. And smut is a Scene, if a person is informed of its contents all consent is accounted for :)

author’s notes today: hey guys so just a warning there isn’t 100% explicit verbal consent even though they’re both really into it so remember this is FICTION, also they don’t use a condom :((( but in real life safe sex is important!!! please be safe out there everyone

a/n back in the day: kept thinking about ____ stabbing knives through both of _____’s hands to pin him in place while they fucked so here you go lol =P

[maximuswolf]

Does anyone else feel that The Who is criminally slept on?

Does anyone else feel that “The Who” is criminally slept on? I’m British, perhaps that makes me biased. That being said, however…I personally feel The Who is incredibly underrated. So many people——even the so-called “old school enthusiasts” I know——just don’t give those guys a chance; they’re too busy eargasming to the Beatles, or the Stones, or the Beach Boys (just for the record, that is completely fine; those groups made killer music), which is a pity, because they’re missing out on so many of the good things in life by skipping over The Who.That group alone influenced almost every punk and hard rock band. Moon and Entwhistle’s revolutionary styles literally changed the direction contemporary music took. Townshend could chop that guitar like a mf (and practically invented power chords), and Daltrey’s vocals are unforgettable. Those guys literally made synthesisers and large public address systems cool. Furthermore, arguably their greatest contribution to music——the development of the rock opera——is often overlooked, which is just… sad.Their first single (I Can’t Explain) made top 10 in the charts (not many bands can brag about such an achievement!), and was followed up by a string of hits. The follow-up single to I Can’t Explain, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, featured guitar noises such as pick sliding, toggle switching and feedback, which, albeit unconventional then, was massively ahead of its time. And arguably their greatest album, THE rock opera Tommy, was such a commercial and critical hit, imo it overshadows all that came before it. Their next album, Who’s Next? (1971), was another commercial success, featuring iconic songs such as Won’t Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes (a beautiful rock anthem which showcases Townshend’s lyrical ability) and Baba O’ Riley (my personal favourite song). Their live performances were unbelievably energetic, too, featuring killer music and auto-destructive arts. Their concert album Live at Leeds is the greatest live rock album of all time, not just to me, but also to a lot of music critics. The fact that The Who does not receive the same level of mainstream recognition as other British bands like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, despite arguably contributing more to music than them, is something that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else feel like The Who is underrated af? Submitted June 07, 2024 at 01:31AM by Aggressive_Cherry_81 https://ift.tt/ls7h6eF via /r/Music

[littlebittykittycommittee]

Callout post @ Chara & how they are canonically a cutie

In normal run, they speak very casually, cheerfully, and excitedly, while also being an insatiable little smart-ass. Still likes to sprinkle in some of them fancy words (to show off? because Toriel and Asgore's very proper way of speaking rubbed off on them?).

In Kill All, they are extremely short and blunt in their narration. When prepared to give their full attention and big speech directly to the player however, though still stiff and clipped, they switch to a more formal way of speaking that seems to be directly based on Toriel; imo, this shows that even then, they still fall back on Toriel as the prime example of someone powerful and worthy of respect in their big moment to give a speech and impress their partner.

tbh tho even Kill All Chara chugs their "respect gay women" juice? Undyne is "the heroine", Alphys is "Dr. Alphys"… meanwhile they're slinging MUD and talking trash all over Papyrus and Sans in the checks lol ("Forgettable", "The weakest enemy")

like sorry, boys, be girls I guess

Totally picked up on their mom's playful sense of humor and love of jokes. This includes but is not limited to puns.

On that note, they think they're VERY funny. Likely was the class-clown on top of being the new kid/the only human kid/the new royal kid. Probably spent a lot of time bantering with their equally goofy mama and joking around a lot to make their dad and brother laugh (Asriel spends SO MUCH TIME giggling at their antics in the VHSes, he was definitely used to seeing everything they did as goofing off). Bad move, Dreemurrs, now Chara thinks they're a stand-up comedian.

A mother-kid comedy duo probably explains why they're SO upset by the sight of Snowy's mom calling out to her kid that they slip up so bad on the narration. Snowy's "the comedian" and its mom likes to laugh at its jokes too, after all.

SO committed to the narrator bit, they literally say sound effects out loud. The cutest is giving the Annoying Dog in MTT Resort Dog Residue when you have a full inventory ("ZOMM!!! It shoots back out at a high speed!")

(seriously Chara did you really say "zomm" what the fuck)

So we can deduce from this they would probably make comic book sound effects with their mouth when play-fighting with Asriel.

They also literally say "zzz" out loud in the Greater Dog fight after canonically calling Napstablook out on doing it

Very possibly did narrator shit like this in life too, which would explain why Toby Fox decided not to give them any lines in the VHS tapes to not make it too obvious lmao. Imagine Chara narrating doing their own creepy face at Asriel.

The point I'm trying to drive home here is that Chara is actually a total baby geek and a nerd and more people need to recognize this, y'all are letting Chara WIN if you think they're even the slightest bit cool. A close examination of the narrative confirms they were not EVER cool.

Chatty af! Literally the type of kid who gets home from school and follows you around to jabber nonstop about their day (me, I was that kid)

Calls their mom's pie ButtsPie, regardless of what flavor you say you like better. Imo could mean that THEY like cinnamon more (in other words, might "turn their nose up" if they found butterscotch on their plate… picky-eater Chara?) or that Frisk has An Opinion on butterscotch and they're teasing them.

[quietgamelover]

Timeforce was chosen by my wheel of Power rangers. One of my favorite seasons actually, but doesn’t necessarily mean I’m gonna have nostalgia glasses about these mechs.

(Also jesus this season TESTED me for finding pictures that weren’t 96p quality. Like lightspeed and wildforce were rough but damn my dudes)

Timeforce Megazord: Mode Red 4/10

So the main megazord has two modes so I’m gonna rate em separately cause they’re distinct enough. This one is ok, like I’m not angry with it but I also don’t know that I’m a fan? Going through all these ratings I’ve realized how picky I am about the helmets and this guy doesn’t fall into a good spot for me. It’s so WIDE, I understand the idea and I like the concept but in terms of improving it I wouldn’t know where to start. I do like that its supposed to be a knight with the shield and stuff, which matches the battelizer Wes gets but I can tell the idea of “futuristic megazord” and knight really clashed.

Mode Blue 6/10

Ok Ik what your thinking but I have my reasons on this guy. The helmet is definitely out there but imo the shoulders and the way the torso shapes up into the head makes it feel like they committed to the design a little more. Ik in the sentai series this one gets a bit more screen time but like the American show should’ve used more footage of this guy cause it’s the better half for me. Also I like that the ship the rangers use to board has a purpose outside of just being an elevator.

Time Shadow 9/10

(This thing took forever to find even a remotely decent picture cause they like AVOID showing a full body shot at all times cause its supposed to be mysterious but like BRUH i wanna see the cool zord! PLEASE!)

This things pretty badass and the developers clearly knew they popped off on it cause they make this thing so cool in the show. The hand blades are super unique and the overall shape of the zord as a whole is very reminiscent of it’s jet form it takes to make the time jump which I really like. Also everythings sharp in like the perfect place, and they left the legs simple (but not boring) because they knew the blades and the helmet were the stars. Design wise this thing just slaps and I’m actually bumping my rating up to 9 now cause I talked myself into it.

Q-rex Megazord 4/10

Ik I’m gonna get some kinda hate from the Quantum ranger fans but this thing is kinda a mess 😅 (yes ik its not a good picture! The other pic I found looked like someone took it underwater through a window screen 😑) The shoulders are really round while the chest and helmet wanna be sharp af. The feet are Q-rex feet but like they look super out of place compared to the armored torso this thing has. Also red/green/yellow is a BOLD color theme for a ranger whose suit is red and black. Funny thing is I actually don’t mind the helmet on this guy but the face looks so fucked up to me 😅 He looks like a middle schooler who’s taking a picture and his mom told him to smile with his teeth 😤

Transwarp Megazord 9/10

This is the one megazord I admit to having a ton of nostalgia for, this mf looks SO GOOD. The episode where this thing fights had me POPPING OFF. The flip down visor, the cool extender arms that look like huge boxing gloves, the super like chunky armored look it has is just 😤 its so good. No one can change my mind on this one and I honestly debated giving it a 10 but I don’t think its perfect just cause the legs feel a little weird and I think thats mostly cause the designers figured they wouldn’t get seen as often cause they’re mostly behind future buildings.

[halcyon-hero-head]

Ayo, whose polar? Looking for new heroes to follow

love to spread the word hell yeah

ok so. what we know:

- POLAR is made up of Impulse (powers: electricity. looks: blue color scheme, cowl and cape), Shadow King (powers: being super fucking cool also, illusions. looks: full on fucking knight armor, LITERAL king) Centerfold (powers: portals. looks: red/orange color scheme, like dream but cooler, risqué jester vibes?) Copycat (powers: waterbending with herself?? cool looking but not sure exactly what's going on there. looks: cat themed suit) Xolaris (powers: tech/inventor wiz from what I've heard! looks: Soltarian so you'll know her when you see her!)

- for the most part I think Xolaris is the only offworlder, she's Soltarian and Monarch's apprentice, working/living out of their embassy near downtown (i think that's where POLAR base is but that's neither here nor there)

what we don't know/speculation

- there's some evidence to back this up BUT Copycat may also be a shapeshifter! it's a whole other tangent on its own but im a CC shapeshifter truther ^__^

- we have no idea what POLAR stands for. Shadow King has said that it's an acronym for something but gave no further explanation. all my guesses are shitposts

- sometimes there's duplicates of them/an extra random person so a lot of people think they have a shapeshifter friend that sometimes helps them out?? "friend" is kind of putting it a bit lightly imo because Copycat was arrested at some point by AEGIS for something this "friend" did so idrk

- most recently there's been a lot of storms happening around them/whenever they're together soooooo imo i think they have a new member who has storm powers. but some people think it's a villain???? honestly don't understand bc there's like. plain af evidence. do people not watch Lifeline??? there's a video. like the new member is right there. but w/e 🙄🙄

so yeah that's the gist of it i think! I could go more into detail as to when theyve been seen/what exactly theyve done but we'd be here for a bit longer so this is like. sparknotes version (btw anyone else who follows POLAR, lmk if I left out anything please!) so far they've been doing great work and i really think they're going to go far<33

[fayesdiary]

What on your thoughts on Ashera

Ok for starters she's immediately off to a great start since she's the only female final boss save for Idunn, but unlike her she has actually agency in the story.

But about Ashera herself, she's great and a breath of fresh air for the series:

She's a female final boss, not a dragon and not even really evil per se, more like a robot who concluded that mortalkind was only a flaw on the world that she had to correct.

Also I love the subversion that the Goddess of Order is the antagonist rather than the force of good, but also that it makes sense: what's more in order than a stale, dead world filled with nothing but statues?

When taken to the extreme, it makes sense that Chaos would champion life in its unpredictability while Order would be antithetical to it.

But also Ashera's existence is sad. She was afraid of her own emotions and power, and so she casted all her emotions aside and basically became a barely alive husk of her former self in an effort to be as impartial as possible. (huh, both of FE's female final bosses are soulless emotionless beings)

And despite her desire to destroy her quite literally chaotic half, she deep down longs to be whole again, she listens to Lehran's pleas multiple times and if he attacks her she won't fight back, showing that she's not completely emotionless.

(also some characters not fighting each other even if attacked is one of Radiant Dawn's best features for storytelling IMO)

And, again like Idunn, if you go out of your way and plan your whole playthrough to get the best ending (even if you have to play the game twice to even get a shot at it), she and Yune become Ashunera once more, and it feels so satisfying.

oh and her magic looks cool af especially in Heroes

[wickedpact]

You can't just drop that "I read Forces Multiplied" bomb on us and not give a ten page written reaction.

[cracks knuckles] if u insist

nicky cant drive hc: destroyed. rip. also i loved how andy and nile stole those sports cars and were being badass and driving off the bridge & meanwhile joe and nicky were just absolutely vibing in the van

'heres the thing about power: people who have it think they deserve it' [shot of police car] i see u greg

5 whole panels being dedicated to booker not being able to unlock his door. booker not even seeing noriko sitting RIGHT THERE in the window at first. incredible

noriko being 24/7 horny was surprising. like wow all of the stuff i saw she did out of context was 100% equally horny in context as it was out of context. love that for her

i didnt think the 'andy + slavery' thing was handled as badly as everyone made it out to be when telling me about it. tho from the way it was talked about i had kind of figured the conflict between andy and nile re: slavery would be really racially charged (esp considering nile is a black american and would obvs have Thoughts on the subject in that regard) but like,, done in a cringey 'a-white-guy-obviously-wrote-it' kind of way? but it wasnt that. i mean. it makes sense that andy would be implicit in slavery through the years

i mean, like she says, is that not what people just did to each other in the aftermath of battles for thousands of years? and i really like how its pointed out that it was what she was raised with (in the beginning when you see her put shackles on that guy after the battle) but she also accepts responsibility for it and acknowledges that it was wrong and not just 'what people did'.

i like how from her expressions you can kind of tell baby andy knew it was off but she sets those feelings aside bc she felt angry. it explains how she felt but didnt make her out to be blameless in it. plus i mean. i dont know, the fact that andy was involved in a lot of morally shady stuff for 7000 years is not that wild for me. if you live that long youre just Going to be involved in some shit, and she didnt even have other immortals with her as positive community influences, she literally just did whatever the fuck she wanted for thousands of years

'i was worshipped as a god once' i mean, yeah no shit she wouldve been involved in some seriously fucked up stuff, gods were fucking scary back in the day

tldr it could use some polish but it wasnt that bad

tho everything people said about moose being boring was unfortunately a little true. sorry king i tried to be interested in you

joe and nicky writing verbal fanfiction about nile and moose was iconic. 'you seeing that?' 'i am definitely seeing that'

it was also extremely funny bc that was like 60% of their contribution to the whole comic, besides kidnapping copley. they came, they wrote some fanfic, they left. kings. at least in tog1 they had an excuse to be useless bc they got kidnapped

joe just found out his old friend who he thought was dead is alive (and also probably wants to murder them) and instead of investigating with andy he stopped to help nile up. champ.

nicky shooting noriko through andy was cool. rip to the concept since it wont happen in tog2

wanna see mr ejiofor deliver this line

on that note imo copley was. weirdly enough, more interesting in fm than in tog1. to me at least. the fact that andy let him live and he was so haunted by what had happened that he came back and sought them out despite knowing they would likely kill him for it bc he wanted to not only make up for what hed done but also to tell them what theyd done for the world was admittedly more interesting than andy just kind of drafting him to the cause and him going 'okie'

i like how nicky was drawn in this one. in opening fire he looks like a blob man but in fm he looks more like a very nice grampa with a very good dye job

'theres no pain like a broken heart' andy 🥺

noriko implying andy's never drowned. .. .idk about that one, she musta drowned sometime

joe and nicky came, they waxed poetic about nile's love life, they waxed poetic about grog, and then they left.

sports bras being a reason humanity is good. i mean..... okay, yeah.

i mean. wild but you cant exactly tell her shes wrong

i liked how noriko telling andy that their purpose is to make people suffer coincides with joe and nicky finding out that they actually did good all those years

joenicky in opening fire: jail for booker jail for booker for 100 years

joenicky when copley tells them he knows where booker is: WE'LL KILL YOU WHERE IS HE

joenicky when copley comes back: if your vibes come off as even remotely rancid we Will destroy you

joenicky 2 minutes later when copley helped them find booker: he made up some ground :)))) <3 lov you j cops

theyre forgiving af

moose: how old are you?? a hundred??? a thousand???

nile [vine voice]: I M 2 7 ?

alright andy you got me there

joe texts like my aunt

i dont know why noriko drowning andy in that car tickled me. Bad And Naughty Andromaches Get Put In The Pear Wiggler To Atone For Their Crimes.

the drowning sequence was cool

copley trying to talk to andy while she was like o_o at him was great

ive hit the picture limit but id seen that panel where nicky goes 'forgive me' as he kills a guy out of context and it was HILARIOUSLY anticlimactic for me to discover that there was literally no context to it. nicky just apologizes to random people he kills. i thought that guy was someone he knew or something. nope its just Some Guy that nicky didnt know from adam

nile's complaint that andy was especially brutal to the guys on the boat... i mean. . , how exactly does one kill a man with an axe and not be brutal about it?

it was funny how noriko kissed andy and the only people who seemed surprised by that were nile and also andy

nicky and joe's complete non-reaction to finding out noriko is alive And Evil Now is endlesly funny. they just left her on that boat and neither cared. i get book and nile not caring but joe and nicky knew her, and they just have 0 input on the subject of what to do with her

pinstripe suit guy!

joe and nicky and booker packing up and leaving with nile

andy blowing up at nile was A Moment tho

i dont know, i get why people didnt like the ending but its. .. . it makes more sense in the comicverse. bc the squad doesnt really. .. interact outside of jobs? i mean, think of the moon landing story in ttt. that was booker and joe and nicky doing a job and andy only showed up a for a couple minutes after it was done. or the brunch in the first issue of opening fire. the squad arent as tight in the comic, and andy often seems to do her own thing outside of work, so andy saying 'i dont want to do work anymore' and the squad being like 'alright bye then' makes more sense in this universe than the movie one

also i feel like greg was Trying to set up a thing where nile becomes the Leader of The Squad after andy dies but like. its not very well done since. . . i mean, nile hasnt spoken to booker since opening fire, (and she only knew him A Day). and shes known joe and nicky all that time, but there isnt really anything that indicates that they have any relationship at all, much less one that's grown. in all the comicverse the only time nile and nicky speak is in FM, and in that scene nicky tells nile about noriko. nile goes from someone who needs to be set aside to have background knowledge explained to her to being the Leader of the group with nothing in between. it kind of... comes out of nowhere.

on the other hand tho... i felt really bad for andy thru the whole thing. well, i always felt bad for andy, but in this one she seemed so miserable, especially since it really felt like none of the others actually.... cared about her. when noriko came back no one asked andy how she was doing (big question ik, but it wouldve showed they cared at least), nobody ever expressed any concern for her, no one even really seemed to want to be around her. in opening fire everyone was more distant than in the movie of course, but there were little moments where she would joke with joe, or nicky would try and comfort her, or stuff like that, but in FM it really felt like they just didnt really care about her. & in opening fire it felt a lot like andy's relationship with nile breathed some new life into her, but in FM it felt like all they did was argue. i get theyre not *as* close in the comics but it really felt like the only person who cared about andy at all was noriko (which was probably also how andy felt) but it just seemed to come out of nowhere. honestly i was reading and i was honestly agreeing with andy that she might just be better off if she did just die. opening fire, on the other hand, never make me feel that way

tho everyone made it sound like when the squad split up it was one of those cursed 'the found family leaves each other at the end of the journey' tropes. but guys i mean,,, this is the second installment out of three. that isnt the End. theyll come back in the third one and Dramatically Reunite to fight some baddies (probably those 'others' noriko mentioned). im guessing yitzhak fits into that too somehow.

anyways it wasnt That Bad but it made me kind of sad and the only Sweet Found Family vibes in it were when they saved booker. also they shouldve beefed up that nilemoose romance, it underwhelmed me. 6.5/10

i also ABSOLUTELY understand all of greg's comments about how you couldnt make FM directly into a movie, he always said that it had no plot and. i get it now. it really didnt have a plot sdfghjkl

[sugar-petals]

Bts voice analysis anon here! I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to respond ❤ it made complete sense why yoongi is the deepest I kinda feel bad for him everytime he wants to sounds cheerful or speak in a way so people can hear him he strains his voice

lot to talk about, i’d like to expand on this. especially what his voice being the deepest means for bts’ songs. plus, where his undiscovered vocal talents are, and in what manner his voice will not strain.

that he’s very introverted contributes to what you say, but yoongi is certainly the odd one out voice-wise, such low baritones hardly sound upbeat. similar to how taehyung being the odd one out in the vocal line whose head voices are literal superpowers. i really respect him for singing with jin and jimin who can climb one octave higher than him, up to C#5! and with jk who has the best technique and breaks into the 6th octave if he goes on like that.

it’s very much like yoongi who probably has to mix their tracks back and forth to fit his parts with hobi (who is a tenor as a rapper! — very uncommon) and namjoon who raps in several modes. very low, very high, very impactfully. he’s the most full-bodied baritone in the group even if he’s only the third-deepest. the tone is just so rich. both hoseok and RM are extreme vocal chameleons on top of that. in speaking and in their music you can hear the difference to yoongi all the time. they don’t suddenly drop in pitch and they’re vocal acrobats.

hobi in particular, this guy can do anything. the sheer agility my god, he connects his registers. he can go up and down, impersonate and do a million effects, adlibs, you know the drill. it’s him who actually owns the “cheerful/loud and clear” brand you mention. which is good if not fantastic for yoongi’s production endeavours, the group mood, and how bts cannot be ignored — but tough for yoongi’s voice and comparison thinking, and when he tries to make a point in interviews. maybe it’s not bad that bts have to slow down sometimes to let yoongi speak, but his tone is drowned out (not intentionally of course) in other occasions and he wakes up hoarse often as we saw. which might sound hot, but it’s not good for him as you say.

to be clear. i wouldn’t chalk down his more monotonous and silent tone as a weakness, it’s just outside of bts’ other vocal variety. he makes up for it with speed and good lungs anyway. we just have to listen more closely to him in talks/episodes/conferences but i think he shouldn’t worry about it either or try to sound more enthusiastic, the fans love his soothing speech for its pure sake. he does change it regardless to be more poignant and blend in. it has pros and cons but it wears him out.

yoongi’s voice is under that strain not just in conversation but also in the studio if he wants to bring connection to the rap line parts instead of having 3 songs in 1. which usually ends up happening anyway. that’s also why the cyphers (!) switch genres mid-song so often: their voices are all strong in different registers! yoongi the lowest, joon midrange, and hoseok up high. 

that’s why cypher pt2 is a HUGE stunt and production masterpiece: hoseok’s part is tuned differently, then other instrumentals start with namjoon. and you can literally hear, okay alright a deep voice is coming! from there it just gets deeper and deeper until yoongi is just rapping over a bass guitar (every baritone’s best friend lmao!). god, please give yoongi a big bassline for his every part. “ugh” is the exact opposite: yoongi has to start too high and namjoon also has problems with the key, only hoseok can fully take off after 1:50 with perfect vocal stability. guess which song is autotuned: it’s not cypher pt2! a 3 in 1 song fuels the rapline in a way where they are most comfortable. it’s crazy how far apart they are among each other vocally and it has to be considered.

it’s a dilemma but also why bts’ rap line can tackle any song with at least one member suiting it. they complement each other, every register (except the rare whistle register, aka what mariah/ariana do) is covered. i think that contributed to bts’ fame, it’s so important. however usually, the song caters to hoseok since tenors are preferred in kpop music, or it caters to RM as he’s the central songwriting entity even if mind you, he always thinks about all the members and works closely with yoongi.

but even with joon’s support, it doesn’t work if yoongi is caught in his wish to be a tenor. we’ve seen how much the guy talks about wanting his range to become wider and how he even tried singing quite high for his standards on d-2. he goes as far as collabing only with sopranos to help him achieve that pitch. yoongi is invested to pretty much change his entire vocal type 🙁because the environment simps for high notes so bad (which is fair, falsetto is related to releasing certain happy hormones and highlights parts in songs, but still).

... he actually can’t, unless he wants to damage his throat. that’s the last thing we want. a listener can get the serotonin from a very deep voice equally if they got good taste.

thing is. you cannot morph yourself into a different vocal type and shift your range to the opposite of your comfort zone unless you’re whitney houston. even one in a million tenors like baekhyun can’t make themselves a baritone. his lowest notes are less clear no matter how hard he practices, even if his chest voice is almost operatic and his technique excels. meanwhile, chanyeol (who’s a lyric baritone and exo’s deepest voice) effortlessly hits them without (!!) that kind of decade-long training. have baekhyun or jimin been called bad singers for not being able to cover the other end of the spectrum? nope. so: why would yoongi be a bad vocalist who needs autotune. with lessons, oh man, he could do a lot and many things he dreams of. he has a very unique timbre and enough musical knowledge to do so.

so, we see the magic of your natural supported range. it’s simply given to you. imagine that: if you know you’re not a tenor, you could sort of outsing jungkook — obviously not by technique, but projection— as long as the song is tailored to you and the notes are low enough. yep, jk’s lower register is not extremely forward. each note is perfectly sung because he’s jk, but his power vocals are settled much higher. joon/tae/yoongi would sound much fuller with huge oomph in those lines. that’s where yoongi would be much more clear-sounding to us. a lot of baritone rappers in kpop would be damn good singers. 

that’s why it’s good how a lot of rappers produce solos on their own so they can try it out. 

you just have to respect that your range usually (not always) goes in one direction. once yoongi rightfully decides to abandon his high note fantasy and goes lower just for fun, we are not safe anymore lmao! exception for range: female singers have an advantage there. trained mezzo-sopranos have great access to the head voice and lower registers since they’re in the perfect middle of the scale. but the guys, forget it, even the baritenors. yoongi’s fullest voice will always be coming from a chesty depth and we love him for it. guy just needs to realize.

that’s why his real challenge is rather somehow tweaking the rap parts so his voice finds good resonance like in “혼술” or even “ddaeng”. where his voice is strong, relaxed, and full and flowing. ddaeng — “boy with luv”, too— is ironically in a very high pitch and again caters to hobi’s tone the most, but: yoongi just scales down to his own octave and it still fits, so — great key choice and musicality! and adaptation. it’s not easy to do. you can tell he plays piano.

he either becomes less easy on the ear or has to autotune himself entirely if he works against his voice. or: goes on a track way outside his supported range (dynamite, WOW). it’s a shame. “daechwita” and “agust d” are such a case: both go into the head voice where your resonance should show the most aka the chorus. there are aggressive belts/snarls/shouts that make more sense for higher, trained voices. yoongi is most famous for raps that are literally designed to fuck up his vocal cords 😷that he’s so skilled as a rapper prevents him from that to a degree, but it’s still not healthy. he adapts a lot to bts’ overall delivery but he doesn’t have to, in fact: he could go in the other direction and it would work even better.

the reason for the title track issue: they are the most energetic. in k-pop, energetic means amping up the pitch. and that’s probably a logical choice and a natural human association. if you make a baritone kpop track with a lot of energy, it probably becomes pretty creepy, uneasy, film noir. but i think that’s exactly yoongi’s thing: to unsettle and critique and rage. i think it could work out. lil nas x is a baritone pulling it off. he achieves energetic title tracks, he honors his vocal type well imo. his live singing is cool af, i need this so hard in the rap landscape. so, it’s not impossible to do.

the trick is probably setting everything to minor key. surprise... yoongi’s challenging title tracks are all in major key. boy with luv: minor key, interesting. the former are extremely difficult for him to do so hats off. “shadow” is more suitable for his baritone as is “burn it”. it needs a very heavy, dark track. which is why it’s good that yoongi has that kind of public image. a baritone’s best genre is not super light and whimsical. that’s why all of our baritone faves are not main vocalists but main rappers. kai, taehyung, jaehyun: low voices in vocal lines are soldiers.

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now a note on yoongi’s best method of singing since it reflects his voice type and brings out the fullness of it. as in, how does it crack and strain less? guess why “사람” is yoongi’s favorite d-2 song to sing. it’s ALL his comfortable range and the singing — very beautifully done —  is in mixed register (= head + chest)! which imo might be his secret weapon. it allows him to do what he longs to do successfuly without going extremely high. bingo.

because: even with baritones, the golden middle is still important. they’re not as deep as a bass, after all. that’s why their voices are so honey-laced in the mixed range and it sounds amazing. heaven, their timbre sounds so seductive. so, it’s wonderful when they find their middle and dare to sing. 

i wish yoongi gets/makes more tracks aimed at just that. in “outro tear” he has to go both too low and too high so it takes a lot of production effort to patch it together. the rapline is doing god’s work to make all their voices sound cohesive without being trained singers. it’s always a trade-off and risk, an immense balance act. “paldogangsan” is hard on yoongi’s voice but works as a whole plus it caters to namjoon to carry the song’s message. the cyphers are chopped up and not chart-friendly but each member is in their comfort zone. 

PS: i said bts’ rap line covers all registers except one. i think that jin is the one to complete bts’ entire spectrum coming from the vocal line. i’m no whistle note expert but dionysus went pretty high up there, i think he might be able to do it. it’s very impressive, even jungkook and jimin probably don’t have access to that register. so, another point for bts being a very ‘complete’ group.