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boreal-sea · 1 year ago

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If I were going to rewrite Midsommar...

I would want the audience to be horrified that this cult intentionally invited in a bunch of outsiders to murder them, and that they specifically manipulated and involved Dani in the murder of her friends.

Basically I would want everyone watching the movie to have a very bad time and not walk away thinking it was about #girlpower.

I would have Dani's family member (whoever, doesn't matter) commit suicide by falling off a bridge or something.

Christian wouldn't be thinking about breaking up with her; she might still be thinking he wants to, but it would entirely be trauma on her part.

Christian's friends shouldn't hate Dani either. We need to like these people.

Pelle should directly invite Dani on the trip, making her presence there intentional.

It should be more obvious this is a rare version of the festival that only happens every 90 years, I only know because I read the wiki afterwards.

Mark is pointless and simply shouldn't exist. We don't need the asshole friend trope, it's boring and annoying.

The fact that Christian is struggling with his thesis should be established more strongly than just a single throwaway line. He should mention it to Dani.

Christian and Josh should be, above all else, likeable.

The movie shouldn't overuse generic creepy music. It also shouldn't overuse dialogue. Let the scenes breathe. Silence is ok.

We need to get to know Simon and Connie better (the two guests brought by Ingemar).

Using the midnight sun as a way to immerse the characters in a "disordered world" is great, but the movie should really lean into the ways light changes throughout the day, even during the solstice; strong yellows and deep blues, a lot could be done.

On that note, make the movie weirder.

Cut the use of a disabled person as body horror. I don't know what you replace their seer with, but not a physically disabled person being put on screen just for shock value.

Because Dani's relative died by falling off a bridge or building, the attestupa is now much more traumatizing. Maybe Josh even tries to convince her not to go ahead of time because he knows someone will die.

The movie is already man vs man with the guests vs the cult, we do not need the guests to also be fighting each other over a thesis. Drop that plot line, or change it so that Christian deciding to study the Hårga doesn't compete with Josh's plan. This gives Christian an excuse to stay even though he just saw two people die. Again, this plays into keeping these guys likeable.

The disappearance of Simon was good; Connie being left alone could be extremely scary, if it's given time to develop and we get to see her fear grow before she also disappears.

On that note, Josh should not try to secretly photograph the book. He still totally dies, it's just in secret. The cult was already gonna kill him. They don't need a secondary reason to do it.

And on that note: the fact that the guests are disappearing should be the creepy part. First Simon - the villagers say he was driven back, but Connie swears he wouldn't have left her alone. Then Connie also disappears. Then Josh. I think we need more hints around the village that these people are still around, and haven't actually left. Subtle hints.

The wedge driven between Dani and Christian should be entirely caused by manipulation, not because the script suddenly turns Christian into a jerk.

Christian should in fact see that Pelle and cult are doing weird shit to Dani and try to convince her they're manipulating her, but fails. THAT can be the wedge, as the cultists comfort her. In fact, I'd like to see the cult do more to win Dani over. Maybe even more of Pelle talking about how Dani's relative killed themself, trying to link it back to the cult's traditions. Just trying to win her over even more than they did in the original film, and to turn her away from Christian. Maja wanting to sleep with Christian is also another way the movie could drive that wedge, even while making sure Christian is completely against it the whole time. Dani wouldn't see it that way because the cult won't let her.

The rest of the movie plays out roughly the same, we just care more about these people and it is now suspenseful to see them disappearing one by one.

Christian is still drugged and raped, just make it way more obvious he's really not doing it of his own free will. Put him on the bottom, or have them tie him up or something.

Dani still spies and thinks Christian is cheating on her.

Christian escapes from the women as usual, but in his fear he does not wander into a hen house with random, unexplained gore. Just cut that scene.

Dani is still the May Queen, and she still makes the same choice at the end of the film. Everything else can happen just the same.

We are now horrified that this cult intentionally invited in a bunch of outsiders to murder them, and that they specifically involved Dani in the murder of her friends.

#midsommar

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episodeoftv · 11 months ago

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Round 1 of 6, Group 2 of 4

propaganda is under the cut (607 words) - may contain spoilers

summaries (pulled from imdb or wikis)

propaganda

Dancing with the Stars - 31.11 Finale

The four finalists perform their final two routines in hopes of winning the mirrorball trophy.

The winner had been pre-decided before the season even began which rendered the entire season pointless. I also watched on the West coast so I went into the episode knowing just how rigged it actually was because the results were already posted online. I don’t expect these shows to be 100% authentic but I at least expect the finale to use actual votes instead of having the winner put it in her contract that she wins.

Lost - 6.17/6.18 The End

The Man in Black searches for Desmond to achieve his goal of destroying the island. Jack, the newly-appointed "protector" of the island, sets out to stop him. In Los Angeles, the survivors reunite and recall their island experiences. / Locke puts his plan into action, which could liberate him from the island.

Locke puts his plan into action, which could liberate him from the island.

1) Worst payoff of all time. What the fuck does any of it mean and not in a fun twin peaks kind of way in a this had so much potential and such high expectations attached to it way. I haven't seen GOT but i really think Lost rivals it for cultural impact and widespread enraging of the audience. This final is proof that a TV show should never be greenlit without a complete story outline. I rewatch every so often though when it's good it's great it's a real tragedy

2) So many loose threads either messily explained or ignored completely. Extremely unsatisfying explanation of what the island was.

3) Legendary L, never been one like it, the king is on the top and we can see him, just fell on their fucking faces I can't explain I won't explain

4) They were just so unsatisfying. None of the build-up (and there was a TON of build up) paid off.

5) ok look. the Lost finale has been criticised a lot, and a lot of that criticism has been dumb (they weren't all dead the whole time and people need to stop saying that you guys are just misunderstanding the episode) HOWEVER. I maintain that even if a lot of the criticism of it historically has been unfair, it's still an awful finale. Its first and biggest crime is the main plot of the episode (and season as a whole) is really boring. It does away with the interesting character drama and moral dilemmas the show always excelled at and turns everything into a boring black and white good vs evil battle between two characters we don't care about. Just generally it feels super dumbed down compared to the rest of the show, especially when the stupid afterlife plot swoops in and starts explicitly telling the audience which characters were good, which were bad, and which characters were meant to end up together. It's frankly baffling, it feels like the writers suddenly decided they were sick of letting the audience interpret things for themselves. and again, one of the main strong points of the show had always been its moral ambiguity and openness to different interpretations. And the worst part is that we don't even really get a cute "everyone reunites in the afterlife" ending, because the writers FUCKING FORGOT ABOUT HALF THE CHARACTERS. WHERE WERE MILES, DANIEL AND CHARLOTTE? WHERE WAS WALT? WHERE WAS MICHAEL (actually I know exactly where Michael is he's stuck on the island as a ghost forever because his crimes were too bad to ever redeem himself) (his crimes were not that bad) (he had a very sympathetic motivation of wanting to protect his son) (this wasn't in the finale but I think is emblematic of the same problem of the writers really really dumbing down the morality of the show) (also it sucked and was racist). However at the end of the day this episode's true crime is being boring. I would forgive so many problems if only I cared even a tiny bit about the main conflict going on, which I don't. because no one cares about jacob and the man in black.

#dancing with the stars #dwts #lost #lost show #wfround1 #wfpoll #wfr1g2 #polls #poll

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dailyoyo · 7 months ago

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hi again dailyoyo (mostly directed at mod noname) i have 2 question

1) would you ever be up to making a jsr/yoyo tidbits blog or post someday? you find a lot of 'hidden' jsr stuff and i think a masterpost to links and images or something if you're up to it would be really nice

2) WHERE the fuck does yoyo come from like what do you think whats your general consensus. does he have a family. is he not an earthling. why is he here??? is he homeless??? does he avtually have a lovintg family and became a gang member for shits and giggles??? why???

if i made a second blog it would die probably. also i wouldnt really say i find "hidden" jsr stuff per se, almost everything i know about is either just from the games or other sources linked/mentioned on the wiki! i don't Find this shit i just overthink it and peel it apart with my teethhhhh. @dedtoot would probably be a better person to ask abt niche jsr oddities i think esp cuz iirc they own the wiki? IDK WHAT ELSE TO REC SORRY

oh god this is gonna get long i think. you opened the fucking can of worms YOU HAVE NO IDEA ok so there's two things about this. the first is that like. i tend to think of pretty much All the ggs (excluding roboy on account of hes a straight up robot) as like. Just Guys. just mundane homeless outcast or runaway kids who are doing whatever the fuck. iirc in Paradox we hc'd Soda (and maybe Boogie i dont remember?) as having homes and jobs but barely being able to keep up with them, and Cube and Combo and Coin HAD a shared apartment deal but Coin's dead and Cube and Combo are in japan now, and i think we said Mew has a home and family that's just REALLY hands-off, but like aside from that they all kind of just Live at the garage. the second thing is that me and pseud keep backstory headcanoning to a low level, because whatever like. You don't end up as a homeless street teenager for fun reasons. in our interps like despite the more fantastical elements of the setting, these are all traumatized youth who ran from stark, brutal, mundane problems that we don't especially prefer to puzzle out and examine too much in this particular fandom. (paradox!Beat gets more backstory than everyone else because of plot relevance (beig gouji's kid) though. rip lmao) this even extends to an in-universe extent of the ggs kind of being like. "We dont ask each other about our backstories. If someone wants to volunteer that information they can but otherwise IT IS NOT OUR BUSINESS" which brings us to our headcanons about yoyo. paradox!yoyo on top of whats been said prior is also an intentionally "mysterious" individual. he's also fucked up in the head in ways that are genuinely concerning. he treats the idea of him having a past as a joke - he will make shit up, he will feed you 20 different fake backstories. sometimes they'll be obvious jokes, sometimes he'll say something really horrible to make you feel sorry. and if you mention something ACTUALLY from his past, he will either deny that ever happened or say you're thinking of someone else entirely. there are a few things we HAVE overtly established about paradox!yoyo's life before the GGs: - he's probably been in tokyo-to his whole life. he's been around most of the city (often scamming people lmao) - he has been homeless since he was 12, though we do not know WHY - he is transgender, but he may not have called himself that until the GGs, and we do not know WHEN he started presenting as male or why. - "yoyo" is just one in a LONG line of pseudonyms and false identities he has made up for the sake of convenience. he refuses to claim any of these past names as having been him and has even figured he'll just stop being "yoyo" and be someone else if things don't work out with the ggs. - he's dissociative as shit so HE might not even remember his backstory so like. we don't know where yoyo came from in our hcs. we don't know what his life was. that said? it was probably very bad. a happy and healthy childhood does not turn you into someone who believes they're a hollow shell playing pretend at personhood in a neverending social game of chess that you can only win by cheating. At the age of 16. SORRY IF YOU WERE HOPING FOR SOMETHING GOOFY BTW . i feel this blog really does not let on that me and pseud's idea of fun is doing straight up paranoia agent shit to joke characters. We dont got that #vreepypasta tag for nothing

#mod noname #long post #vreepypasta #you cannot. understand. how deep the madness goes #this only scratches the fucking surface of me biting rocks about this stupid fucking character #I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW IT GOT THIS DIRE.#LIKE IT STARTED WITH THE NT-3000 THING. BUT EVENTUALLY IT REACHED THE POINT WHERE LIKE #HAVING DELUSIONS OVER CONFUSING HIMSELF WITH HIS ROBOT DOPPELGANGER #IS THE *LEAST* OF HIS PROBLEMS #WHAT FUCKING *HAPPENED* HERE MAN #i could talk. forever.#augh.#Can confirm. Good lird. and thats not even getting into some of the stuff we've implied with Other GGs - mod pseud #noname's paradoxposting

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knowlessman · 1 year ago

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am a veggettibble. dint sleep much lately; AC was broke. gonna watch some bnha tho. "Make It! Do Or Die Survival Training." Also: tier lists! but text only bc I don't feel like whole-assing it with pictures and all.

new OP. prolly just for this special, I'd guess? -- is the "delinquent" archetype that they seem to be pulling with bakugo usually half as, y'know, blatantly abusive and generally hazardous as he is, or is he just a huge outlier? I don't think I've watched that many highschool anime.

"we're gonna do two teams of ten." oh, awesome, so we're gonna see some of Class B - …there really are twenty entire characters in Class A alone, huh. I keep forgetting that. excuse me for referencing something that… may have aged very dubiously, but I swear this show is taking over a large chunk of my monkeysphere. : \ -- if you flipped a coin between deku and bakugo and they were both able to see it, it would land on its edge. (…he says, as if it isn't just the UA teachers going "hey, this kid REALLY wants to kill this other kid. we'd better always group them together no matter the context until that stops being the case.")

deku I'm pretty sure your team is waiting for you while you laboriously recreate momo's logic in making the teams and recycled footage of eveyone's quirks plays over it

"that's yaoyorozu's voice!" mimic. …I mean, it could be.

inb4 bakugo starts up some more quakes

not a mimic. fair enough. 'XD wait, why isn't iida's helmet strapped on? what's the point of it if it just flies right off and lets him bonk his head?

they keep making bakugo smarter than I'd like him to be. : / he's an evil sledgehammer on legs, it doesn't feel right when he's the solutions guy.

…this special or whatnot is a little boring so far tbh, but come to think of it, at least mineta's not in it.

beats me how deku's saying his kick is more accurate for this than bakugo's blasts, but wever

"hey, you. you're finally awake. you were trying to rescue that training dummy, right?" -- hm. apparently the thing's not padded enough, or something. he whacked his head on the wall and then the helmet came off.

"if deku said he was gonna save them, it was because he knew he could!" …yeah. because deku is absolutely the kind of guy who has a solid grasp on his own limits. (well okay, he has gotten a bit better about it.)

maybe bakugo's writing is actually galaxy-brained and he's a parody of libertarianism. he sure as hell talks like it. "let me help you walk!" "no!" "you helped us by getting pichu to turn on the emergency power, let us help you!" "no! I had only selfish reasons for doing that!" … "be my cane! it's okay if you help me walk because I bullied you into it, but only then!"

TIER LIST TIME (I was gonna use tiermaker but then I realized I could literally just write it down normal-like; also I didn't feel like either making lists on it or browsing it for ones with identifiable pictures). As a reminder, I just finished s3, so, yeah. My memory of stuff up to that point (and a wiki page I'm trying not to read the spoily subtitles on) is what I'm working with.

CLASS 1-A (Plus, I guess, the smaller-than-I-thought handful of other students who we know anything about/who I recognize) TIER LIST: -- Zuko Tier: Shoto Todoroki (He's so cool and has so much going on and he manages to be OP without being a dick or annoying-to-watch about it); Kyoka Jiro (She's so cool); Tenya Iida (He wears glasses and doesn't suck and is a good bean even if he's also a square); Hitoshi Shinso (He looks like a Homestuck and also I wanna see him do cool things in spite of the inherently-villainous power he didn't ask for). -- B Tier: Izuku Midoriya (Gonna be honest, I might mostly be knocking him down a tier to adjust for him being the protagonist; he is a pretty good one as they go tho); Momo Yaoyorozu (The fanservice thing is annoying but she gets to be the most competent character in the show (maybe she's tied with Todoroki for that but he has the advantage of being OP) and that's cool); Fumikage Tokoyami ("What if Crona was a Pepsi Cola instead of a cinnamon roll?"); Tsuyu Asui (Eh, she's cool and is debatably autistic rep, and she has a snake friend); Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu (META. POD. BROS). -- Very Mid Tier: Itsuka Kendo (She might mostly only have screentime in relation to Ditto, but eh, I like her); Ochaco Uraraka (They had her describe her parents' backstory thing in s2 and then, uh, well now she's pretty much just Sakura-if-Sakura-was-allowed-to-do-things); Eijiro Kirishima (He willingly hangs out with Bakugo and is the guy who says the faux-positive toxic masculinity bullshit, but on the other hand, he's one of the Metapod Bros and that bumps him up a bit); Ibara Shiozaki (IIRC, we very briefly saw her make an idiot out of Kaminari; pretty sure I remember being entertained by that); Inasa Yoarashi (His was an interesting subplot I guess); Mirio Togata (Fricking nudists. : | But he has a point to make and I guess that's something); Mei Hatsume (Her pranking Iida for advertisement was fucking hilarious, but her invading Deku's personal space to annoy Sakuraraka was… well, annoying). -- Who? Tier: Mezo Shoji (He has zero discernible personality but his power's sort of interesting); Mina Ashido; Mashirao Ojiro (He does karate I guess); Nagamasa Mora (Mostly in here to acknowledge his existence tbh); Koji Koda; Toru Hagakure (I swear the sub puts two U's in it; anyway, no me gusta "This character's powers only work if they aren't wearing clothes." Also how in fuckery did she beat Deku in the physical); Rikido Sato; Denki Kaminari (He sidekicks for Mineta : / If it wasn't for that, he might be up a tier); Hanta Sero (He's less interesting than Pichu and would probably hang with Mineta if he had the billing); Tamaki Amajiki (Gorillaz-lead-vocalist-looking mfer); Nejire Hado (…I vaguely remember finding her annoying. We don't know much of anything about either her or 2D yet tho); Saiko Intelli (An interesting antagonist; she gave Yaoyorozu and Jiro and company a hard fight); Neito Monoma (I remember liking his thinking, or at least resisting the show's intention for me to dislike his thinking, when he debuted, but then he just became a sad running gag); Yuga Aoyama (Literally forgot about him until I had everyone else in 1-A down; anyway I guess I don't strongly dislike him but I don't really like him either); Seiji Shishikura (Flippin libertarian creep). -- Weewoo Tier (Translation: "This person is never onscreen without me wishing this show had authority figures in it who were actually remotely responsible"): Katsuki Bakugo (Self-explanatory); Worst Character (Same).

PRO HEROES/TEACHERS TIER LIST: -- B Tier: Eraser Head (Okay maybe it's partly because he reminds me of the shopkeeper from Bleach but he's also just kinda cool); All Might (Smol Might's visual design is Zuko Tier; the character himself, eh, he's pretty good. He has flaws, but he's aware of them and wary of them); Kamui Woods (…He looks a little bit like a Bionicle). -- Very Mid Tier: Gran Torino; Thirteen; Nezu; Selkie; Manual; Cementoss; Gang Orca; Ms. Joke. -- Who? Tier: Ectoplasm; Snipe; Power Loader; Mandalay; Ragdoll; Best Jeanist; Recovery Girl; Tiger; Vlad King; Hound Dog; Mt. Lady; Fourth Kind; Uwabami (Literally did not remember her until I was posting this and had to reopen the wiki tab and check her name 'XD). -- Weewoo Tier: Present Mic; Midnight; Pixie-Bob; Endeavor (…Granted, maybe I'd have a different opinion, or less of one, if I'd been spoiled on things a bit less).

VILLAINS TIER LIST: -- B Tier: Kurogiri (Pajama Boy's handler. The dapperest living hole in reality anyone's ever seen); Dabi (Yeah I've been spoiled on a huge part of what his deal is but I guess I still won't have the full picture for awhile). -- Very Mid Tier: All for One (He is very Mojo Jojo but idk he's competent I guess? And he has some kind of body-possession-immortality thing going I think); Himiko Toga (So far, kind of annoyingly typical with the happy-slasher-blood-licker thing; maybe she gets more interesting later, who knows); Tomura Shigaraki (He's silly and I have no idea what he wants but he's also spoopy sometimes and maybe his motives will get easier to comprehend as we learn more about how One for All's users have treated him); Twice (…I think people like him? He felt very Deadpool in an annoying way at first but that backstory spiel was pretty brutal. Also sort of annoying in another way tho bc people are always looking at clones and going "But which one is the real me?" as if that means anything). -- Who? Tier: Spinner (I don't remember if we found out why he has such a stupid-looking weapon); Stain (…The story treats him and his spiel like a big deal but I still have no real idea what his deal is); Muscular (AKA Bakuswole; I do not remember whether we know anything at all about this fucker); Mr. Compress (…Idfk he looks like a Pokemon filler villain); Moonfish (Go back to Hellraiser you weirdo); Mustard (…He had the backup gun, right? Dang, the last main plotline was so effing long ago); Magne (Very vague queerphobic vibes from this one tbph).

Anyhow. On to s4 next time.

#knowless watches bnha

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ikilledamanforthisurl · 2 years ago

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Minami x6 you are okay boss everyone needs to recharge sometimes……. Im actually extremely head empty today so apologies if this is like just Entirely Words V_V But real real…… I wish there was more general discussion of Majima's relationship with his family because iirc it wasn’t even something he asked for initially but he gets it Anyways and now he just has to deal with it. But not only that it soon becomes somehow The Biggest Family in the tojo which leads now to Majima basically being responsible for like so much of the clan to the point where he’s constantly getting threatened because there’s no one else TO threaten anymore the tojo is in such shambles…. and well how are you expecting him to act normally and kindly in this sort of situation. I wish the games took it more seriously because I feel like at least w what we see of Nishida Majima's casual violence and abuse is treated a bit too Jokingly but like I get why he’s Like That. World is a hell the cycles just keep continuing forever! Also nah you’re okay for tangents I also actually love Majima a lot I just feel myself break out into hives whenever I have to witness fandom Majima Family stuff where a lot of it treats it as though it’s just like funny cutesy hahas and not like an Organisation of extremely violent and fucked up people who realistically probably don’t know how to really interact with each other and the interesting ways this could be shown. Like i love shitposts top but come on gang. Png

Also I hope you don’t take this poorly but I have no idea who Aratani is <///3 I couldn’t find him on the wiki and Im not super far yet in the yakuza franchise so you’ll have to excuse me if your points In Regards to majima family members which one actually is taken seriously and which one is not Im just nodding along. But YES real I loooveeeeeee the whole minor theme of like reputation and stories in yakuza…. I think Kiryu is the most notable example of this with how much reverence people put on his name and how it affects like important characters (nishiki most obviously but also Ryuji and the whole debate of “There can only be one dragon” etc) but Majima would definitely also have stories about him that would spread far and wide and it doesn’t matter if they’re true or even real at all because it’s the Image that lingers and that would affect the people around him too most importantly to this discussion Minami. Wants to be somebody ism IS real and i am shaking it around by the neck

Minami might be a lil side character goofy guy but he is my friend and ill put the work into developing him if i must. RGG hire me for my spin off game where you are a employee at Majima construction and you do building minigames and get to hang out with and get to know better Nishida and Minami respectively amen. And i hope the playlist making of one day goes well <33

FEAR NOT! i have pickture of the sulking wretched fiend.....

I'm afraid i don't have a screenshot of him not going on about his whole deal but he's literally patriarch-gunner personified....... Aratani (and most other M.Family men that i'll ever mention for a while besides Minami and Nishida) is a Dead Souls exclusive! i am currently watching a playthru of DS because i've already exposed myself to spoilers a'plenty cause idrc + i think having the most atrocious watchorder of Yakuza is really really funny. We've gone from all of Y0 shown to me by an ex > a lil bit of Y1 > Dead Souls > and then imma do either Y7 or Y3. i enjoy making things harder for myself

also ive had the exact same wishful thinking to myself....... sidecharacter spinoff game...... where u just hang out with them or some shit whatever. most loserific iteration being a Minami focused one because Who Even Wants That but i'll own it idc i have ideas. i have plans. the haters (rggstudios legal team) will sabotage me etc etc. i'd like to think i could have an okay shot at balancing the At First I Lol'd with the But Then I Serioused in a way that's satisfying 'cause both are integral to these characters to me. just like, two more seconds of thinking implications of Anything through would do this series Wonders

but sidetracking cause you mentioned M.Construction and its got me Thinking Again cause like.... i like the idea of balancing Nishida + Minami as opposites in many ways who clash and struggle to fit in with the other. they're not perfect opposites by any means but they function pretty closely. i like stressed, decent Nishida representing the side of the family involved with M.Con while lenient punk twat Minami is firmly planted in the Yakuza side. if Junior Leader is at all involved with a training position then that kind of helps prop up this idea a little bit.... though, ofc, there would be plenty overlap, having so many men on payroll practically requires you to make jobs for them, so it's not like the Family is divided into these two sectors or anything.... lots of mixing of shifts goes down no doubt. whether there is a method to this assignment is another story entirely (probably depends on each person's strengths, abilities, whether they applied for sitework specifically, or as punishment/reward)

(shit i made up territory) Minami is probably assigned to M.Con worksites often.... probably as punishment 'cause you already know this man got the 80HDeez he can't sit still and not cause trouble for the life of him. it both keeps him in one place and occupied while still holding over his head that he Fucked Up, Dummy. oh great, now I gotta deal with Nishida's bullshit (petty squabbling ensues in the office that's my setup to get the two to interact on a regular basis anyways.... there's lots of fun to be had with these two, but so little actually bridges them together. they're SOOO WORSTIES but they work on the other ends of the Family. one's at Oyaji's beck-and-call and the other is kept as far away from Oyaji as possible the millisecond he annoys him a lil too much. one belongs in finance and requires anxiety drugs while the other can't dress himself and needs rehab. oh my god theyre so (crushes them in my hands like putty

#ikildaman shut the fuck up #laughing at being called boss also. me? boss? you have contracted yakuza goon syndrome #i cant even say i hate it its kindof slay.....(guy whose faves are all gang goons #in a strangely beautiful irony Minami probably Does get stories told about him..#theyre just not told with the fearful reverence that Majimas are #Majima basically crawled out of hell kicking and screaming and shrieking and killing. Minami is just a weirdo #(said with love)#everything u say abt Majima nd his Family are so real and true btw you get me you Get It #I NEED A SPOTLIGHT ON THE FAMILY MEN.... I NEED IT NEEOWWW #something beyond using them as plot and joke props. please #i need just one family man to be a Person a little bit. pleeeeeeease #i think Kido is like this a little bit but im not sure. looking forward to meeting him #Rikiya too ohmy god how could i forget

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notmoreflippingelves · 1 year ago

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So like I'm pretty much in complete and total agreement with everything said here, but I'd just like to build upon what you said a bit more especially in the reference to the writers largely ignoring Esteban's trauma. Partly because "well, it was kind of his fault" and partly because "this guy spent 41 years in captivity wallowing in guilt and desperation without a break or a friend" is admittedly rather a lot to put on the eight-year-olds watching.

But even knowing that does not make it any more frustrating to watch as an adult. I already did a little word vomit of my own about how "Island of Youth" is actually rather heartbreaking in an understated way. But at least, he does get considerable focus in that ep, unlike the other microagressive moments in S1-S2 which Esteban's past experiences (or even the man himself) are either ignored, played for laughs or both.

Don't think I didn't notice how quick everyone was to ignore his stated wish for a quiet, traditional Navidad at home with the familia in the first holiday episode ! Even though he has probably been dreaming of that very thing for decades! Nope, this idea is not even worth considering for everyone else. (At least, he got his family Christmas time the second time around).

Don't think I didn't notice that he straight-up *wasn't* there during the "family" vacations in "Royal Retreat" and "The Gecko's Tale"! (And yeah, he was probably working but would it really have been so hard to have someone quickly say "It's really too bad Esteban was too busy with that trade agreement to join us. Next time, we'll take him with us even if we have to pack his entire study to lure him here.")

And on a similar note, his absence in every Dias de las Muertos episodes is also super-glaring. Word of God says he's visiting his parents' altar but like... you could've showed that and you chose not to. Because apparently, he's the only one who isn't allowed onscreen grief on the day where people remember their lost loved ones.

But all of that is absolutely nothing at all compared to the glaring hole of wasted potential/unexplored complexity that was Esteban's characterization in S2 in particular. (Adding further insult to injury, he's not even listed at all as either a "main character," a "recurring character," *or* a "supporting character" on the official wiki's page for S2. King Verago's listed and he's only in 1 episode. Esteban is in 8-9 but apparently he's a non-character).

It's incredibly frustrating considering that S2 as a whole is arguably the most plot-consistent and has the least filler. More importantly, Esteban has long-standing and very important connections to the driving forces of said S2 plot (namely Elena, Shuriki, and Victor). And yet, the only real things of substance the S2 narrative gives us for him (apart from a few funny moments) are his rap battle with Elena and the Navidad episode. (Ironically, both of those are only peripherally related to Esteban's connections to the S2 plot as a whole)

Even both of those great moments are undercut by the fact that in the latter case, he has to share focus with Elena, Mateo, and Naomi all of whom get at least 1 additional character-focused episode of their own that they don't have to "share" with anyone else. And in the former case, the fun Hamilton-esque beat makes it far too easy to ignore what is actually happening during "The Right Thing to Do." Namely, Esteban doing a literal song and dance in order to convince the Grand Council to protect Elena from Shuriki--since Elena sure as hell isn't going to protect herself.

However, the most aggravating to me personally is the absolute wasted Esteban potential in "Song of the Sirenas." This is arguably the most important episode of the show since "Secret of Avalor" and it should've been nearly as huge for Esteban's character as it was for Elena's. He comes face to face again with the person who manipulated him and terrorized him for forty-one years, (!) the person who had thought he was finally free of but turned out to be mistaken (even if the reunion was mercifully temporary). The narrative owed him a direct interaction with Shuriki, one that would've brought him closure or at least would've acknowledged how painful and terrifying his situation is. I would've gobbled up that delicious angst like Esteban gobbles up tres leches cake.

Instead, we get only two tiny little character moments from Esteban in the episode, both of which involve his "cowardice" being played for laughs and neither of which stop to consider that his self-preservation instincts are normal considering what he's been through.

The first of these moments is Esteban immediately darting behind Francisco for protection when he sees that flash of green smoke for the first time in two years.

This is especially striking as it's a direct contrast to his behavior in S3. Long before his sacrifice in the series finale, we see multiple occasions where Esteban inserts himself as a physical barrier between Elena and Ash Delgado. Even though Elena sees him as the "enemy" and arguably "more" of the enemy than Ash, Esteban still refuses to let any harm come to his cousin, even if he has to put himself literally in the line of fire.

And yet when Esteban sees his former queen, his first instinct is to hide behind his grandfather like a scared little boy. Shuriki terrifies Esteban in a way that nothing else in the show seems to--not even Ash or Zopilote or Cahu. He reverts to being the child he was forty-three years earlier and waits for the older, braver man to save him from the nightmare.

The second notable Esteban moment in "Song of the Sirenas" is pretty similar to the first and nearly as striking. And it's played for laughs even more so than the other. After Esteban, his cousins, the abuelos, and Marisa are locked up in the tower ("for now" as Shuriki made sure to remind them), they are rescued by Naomi, Gabe, Mateo, and the jaquins. When Mateo asks who should be taken to safety first, Esteban's response is an immediate "me, me, me." And then two seconds later, "Or Isabel."

Unsurprisingly, Esteban's first instinct is to protect himself from the person who made his life hell for decades. But equally telling is the fact that just a few short moments later, his priorities reorient towards protecting the youngest and most vulnerable person in the room. Even though no one was able to protect him when he was nearly as young and nearly as vulnerable. (I'm fairly meh about Mateo overall but my opinion of him did shoot up dramatically when he subsequently decides to save Isabel and Esteban at the same time. You done good, wizard boy. Keep it up)

It's all so much and Esteban is just so much, the most character. But still not nearly as much character as the narrative should let him be.

Both my twitters are locked now due to the increase in spam and bot issues since the Muskrat's hostile takeover but here is the original "losing my mind about Esteban Flores" thread for posterity and your reading pleasure*

#all this to say #you're right op and you should say it #also i love the whole reflection on the magical staff and how metaphorically appropriate it is for esteban #just #the THEMES #the complexity #the 41 years of trauma in a cute little package #how did the writers expect me; an english major #to ever be normal about him?#esp when they used a magical deus ex machina to bind him and elena together as symbiotic narrative foils?#they even gave them perfectly tailored powers AND matching outfits to remind us of the fact which is just *chef's kiss*#elena of avalor #esteban flores #elena of avalor meta #eoa meta

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balillee · 4 years ago

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tommy's character gets far too much shit.

hi tumblr. i'm gonna need a few bitches to spread this post everywhere, essentially because i want someone, or just tommy really, to see it. so if you really want, you can screenshot it and post it on twitter, reddit, link it everywhere - go absolutely buck wild. i know he reads the VODS comments a lot, but they're chock full of people just insulting him, his character, his writing and everything about his story in the dream smp simply because they don't understand it and because they refuse to acknowledge his character's perspective (mainly because they only care about the pig). reading that many critical comments on something you've created can only make you feel worse about it eventually, and in light of all the awful techno apologist takes on his character, i wanted to basically just word vomit about how wonderfully crafted c!tommy is, as well as compile some other tumblr posts about his character.

there is a massive fuckin community of people who enjoy the character of tommy, because the character is incredible. i myself have made post after post after post commenting on and analysing tommy's character because i find that there's so much to pick apart. but that enthusiasm for his character only seems to be found on tumblr. reddit and twitter seem to hate his character, the VODS seem to be filled with comments from people who only care about techno's perspective (and treat techno as a reliable narrator, which, is the furthest thing from the truth - that guy lies through his teeth all the time), and the smp wiki is a hellscape of godawful takes and mistruths, not even on just tommy's character.

c!tommy is brilliantly acted and brilliantly written, and almost everything he does is either justifiable or has been rectified or admitted as a mistake. you can clearly make connections as to where he got his conclusions from. you feel what his character experiences, as a member of the audience, vividly.

if you look in the more objective sense, c!tommy, and this is especially in the context of him being the youngest character, is a scapegoat. people claim he's awful and destructive when in reality he's a lot less destructive than most characters on the server. a moment that comes to mind is where he diverts schlatt and quackity's attention from pogtopia by breaking part of the flag in manberg, and then replacing it so as to buy tubbo some time - he literally monologues after it about how he doesn't want to destroy but instead rebuild, and how he feels as if nobody else seems to understand that.

his arc in season two was incredible. it was very character driven, and it gave a spotlight to his motivations. at the start we see him in new l'manberg, and he's enjoying his time there, he's skeptical of his friend's presidency, but his main goal is to get back the discs so that he can stop dream and eliminate that threat. he made one screw up that didn't even matter to george, and he paid for it tenfold, even after dream had spent a while with puffy griefing the server and framing it on tommy - what tommy and ranboo did was convinient. then, in exile, we see c!tommy straight up get abused. he's gaslit and conditioned into being c!dream's friend, and in his brain he teaches himself that those acts of abuse are moments of bonding, and it eventually brings him to the point of wanting to end his own life - he's been torn away from his friends and his support system, and nobody will visit him consistently anymore because they only showed him pity, and all he had left was dream, who had hurt him.

but he doesn't die there, because while he didn't understand the full gravity of it back then like he does now, he recognises that dying isn't an escape, and he can beat dream, even if he doesn't know how. so this is where he goes to techno's place, and here's where the fandom starts to misinterpret the situation wildly.

it's the problem similar to when your parents tell you that they're owed something back because you put a roof over their head, despite that being Not How It Works. techno took tommy in and severely mistreated him emotionally. sure, and i understand this, c!techno is a bad communicator who isn't really that empathetic to anyone who isn't phil or wilbur, but that doesn't excuse the blatant lying to c!tommy's face, the guilt tripping, the friendship buying and the degrading. the day before the festival, tommy finally does something violent in his interrogation of fundy, and only then does techno tell him,,,,

that tommy's not equal to him, that techno doesn't respect him all that much, and that they're not friends.

from techno's perspective, and at the time, this was viewed as a positive development in their relationship. oh, he's starting to warm up to tommy! this friendship could really blossom!

no. from a more objective standpoint, what techno has just said to tommy is : 'i respect you only a little bit more now, because while you're starting to act more like me, you're still annoying and a burden.'

and i haven't even touched on the whole 'erasing the words 'Destroy L'manberg' from techno's to-do list' thing, because that instantly refutes the point of 'techno was upfront with his intentions the whole time' - because he wasn't! he may have said it the first time, but you also know what else he did? he repeatedly told tommy that they'd 'air the details out later' whenever the discs were brought up, and from a tommy viewer's perspective at the time, it was framed as if techno was no longer going to do that.

and i also haven't dared touch the 'i would have fought them all for you', because that's major guilt tripping if ever i've seen it.

so, the day of the festival comes, and here's where c!techno and his apologists completely misread c!tommy's thought process, and why he makes the decision he does.

tommy instantly regrets valuing the discs over tubbo, and it's framed as the culmination of tommy having become all the people he said he would never want to be like. and what does he immediately do? he tells tubbo to give up the disc, and he sides with tubbo. he puts his value in his friends, and, by proxy, l'manberg. and when he betrays techno, he tells him 'i'm sorry'.

from a more objective standpoint, tommy's time with techno is him valuing the discs over almost anything else. so, in leaving techno to be with tubbo again, he is valuing people above the discs. so when, on doomsday, techno says his 'discs aren't people' line, what he doesn't realise is that he himself fueled tommy's valuing of discs above people when attempting to fuel tommy's vengeance against tubbo and l'manberg. techno doesn't realise that he was an unhealthy presence for tommy, and an even worse influence.

what techno also doesn't seem to understand is that tommy never hated tubbo or l'manberg - tommy recognises, now at least, that his exile wasn't a product of tubbo, but a product of dream's manipulation, likely in part because at the time, especially with dream lying about tommy blowing up the community house, tommy was the only one who could see it because he had experienced it firsthand. so when techno sides with dream, it's like kicking tommy in the teeth.

and i want to mention that betraying someone doesn't necessarily make the person who was betrayed good, or in the right, or even justified, because tommy was entirely justified to leave techno. you know who else was betrayed? schlatt. but i don't see many schlatt apologists around angry at quackity for joining the rebellion.

tommy stole the axe of peace? good. it was a moment of tommy defining his self-worth, instead of having it defined by others. gone is the age of c!techno belittling him and deciding how much c!tommy should be respected. NEXT!

here's a moment i wanted to talk about that will forever be funny to me.

'i am a person.'

techno's very famous line from doomsday. techno says to tommy that discs aren't people, and that tommy should value people, despite not understanding that by leaving techno, he did just that. and what does tommy say in return, which has been omitted from every c!tommy-critical analysis, and every animatic?

'yes you are, but so are we.'

an acknowledgement of techno's hurt, to which tommy has already apologised for. a statement that says 'your hurt does not excuse, nor justify, the hurt you have inflicted onto us.' an acknowledgement that tommy has already learnt the lesson techno seems to be trying to 'teach' him. but you can't teach him anything by destroying.

c!tommy has had almost everything he has ever owned or built either taken from him or destroyed. ranboo even points out that the only two things of tommy's left standing are his house and his hotel, and if i'm honest, his house is dissheveled. it's a labyrinth of terror due only to how many times it's been torn apart. l'manberg being blown up didn't teach anyone anything about anarchy, or about valuing people over possessions. logstedshire being blown up didn't teach tommy to be obedient.

i could honestly ramble for ages about how nuanced tommy's character is and how much depth and complexity there is to his character's process and his relationship with others, but more than that, c!tommy is forgiving. he invites almost everyone who hates him to the grand opening of his hotel - if that isn't an indicator that he just wants friends, and not to be treated like the embodiment of evil, then i don't know what is. he holds grudges, but he doesn't really actively hate anyone, other than c!dream. but, we'll let him. c!dream deserves nothing but to be pummeled into the floor.

tommy doesn't spoonfeed his character nuance, and he doesn't really spell it out for his audience. he'll mention things like trauma and triggers in passing, but a lot of analysis on his motivations has to be picked up from what is said in passing or from what can be seen in between the lines.

i'd be here for hours if i were to talk about everything i love about c!tommy, because honestly he's one of my favourite characters, and there are so many angles you can look at his character from in terms of his age, his relationships with others, his motivations, his personality, his character arcs etc etc. so instead of doing that, i'm going to compile some much more specific analysis posts below to skim through because they highlight so many good aspects of his character.

^^ A thread about the 'yes you are, but so are we' line.

^^ About how shit the VODS comments are.

^^ A comment on how c!Tommy is actually pretty peaceful, and is actually less destructive than most characters on the server.

^^ Possibly the best c!Tommy analysis thread I've ever seen in relation to his trauma, which gives multiple perspectives.

^^ About how c!Tommy is treated as a scapegoat, and how, from an objective standpoint, he is no more violent than any other character, it's just that the little violence that is committed is blown far out of proportion.

^^ Tumblr user flypaw being a bad bitch, as per usual.

^^ c!Tommy being incredibly intelligent, and talking about wanting to rebuild and not destroy. A very underrated monologue of his.

^^ Something short about c!Tommy and c!Wilbur's relationship in Pogtopia.

^^ Less about c!Tommy, more a meta on L'Manberg. Really interesting to think about.

^^ A take on Doomsday.

I'll add some more posts in a reblog in the notes, but if anyone's post(s) is on this and they want me to take it off, let me know and I'll do that for you! Feel free to add your own banger c!Tommy takes or ones that you've found.

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yallmakemyassitch · 3 years ago

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Okay how 'bout we try something a little different.

For Mid Fight Masses! R, L, Q, F, T and either U or D. For Selever, Sarvante and Rasazy. (Excluding Ruv mainly to go along with the canon that he's not ticklish)

Alright, this should be fun! I haven't done any MFM characters before (only once) so it'll be cool to do this =)

Headcanons✨

R - Lee or ler, what is generally their main role?

Selever: He has ler energy 200% but let's be real, this man is a lee by heart. He's a great ler but as a lee, all that bravado melts away and next thing you're met with is a giggling teenager, begging for you to stop. He's adorable, who would stop?

Sarvente: She is canonically ticklish according to the mfm's wiki page but on a serious note, while not a lee often has that ler aura lingering behind that sweet smile of hers. She has two children so of course she would be a motherly tickler. Nibbles, raspberries, kisses, anything a child would love to experience from their mother.

Rasazy: Rasazy is so mysterious that nobody can really pinpoint, nor give her a direct role. She could be both, one or the other, neither, it doesn't matter. It'd be best if you hadn't tried for yourself, she's quite powerful and could likely turn you into a pile of dust if she wanted ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Q - Their response to the question ‘are you ticklish’?

Selever: "Uh yeah, duh???"

The guy is so confident that he'd be entirely honest, This causes the person asking to be taken off guard since they expected some sort of reaction like a blush or scowl but none of that happens. By then he's laughing in their face and makes fun of you for reaching the way you did. Don't try to tickle him either since he can see that shit from a mile away and is already prepared to scatter, along with the fact he can fly so it's gonna be hard to catch him.

Sarvente: "To be sincere my dear saint, I am ticklish. Why do you ask, kind stranger?"

She'll flutter her eyelashes at you all innocent, blissfully unaware of the grave she just dug for herself. Sarv isn't the smartest individual so when you approach her to tickle her, she'll just take that as a invitation for a hug, and a hug she'll give. Until you tickle her and she's shrieking.

Rasazy:

Rasazy won't respond, only staring at you and if you try to make a move , for a split second, her eyes will flash a blue and pink color. It'll be so quick you almost wonder if you're seeing things but once you see she's looks much more threatening, that is a warning you should take it.

F - What is their behavior in a tickle fight like?

Selever: He lives alone in The Nothing World with his sister, so that means no friends or other family members to be with. Tickle fights rarely occur between the two and if they do, they often end in disaster. He acts very predatory and skulks around the place, looking for Rasazy and teasing her to death while doing it, fully aware she can hear him from wherever she's hiding.

Sarvente: She is a wonderful partner to have in a tickle fight. Sarv is very trusting, making her victims easy to capture. She respects your boundaries and will stop if you say so but very thorough in what she's doing.

Rasazy: Not the type to participate and will typically quietly observe or just walk away. If Rasazy is somehow convinced to join than well consider it an instant loss. Despite her petite stature and innocence, she is very powerful and capable of 'restrainment magic'✨, bless your soul if you fall victim to her. Very merciless but will drop you once you've reached your limit. Maybe she'll comment that it was fun and even smile a bit before walking away.

T - Their most favorite methods of teasing their lee/ler?

Selever: He likes to feel in control and will make sure you know you aren't escaping unless he says so. Your struggles for mercy and your begging only inflate his ego, so he's absolutely gonna tease you more about it to hear your delicious cries for mercy. "You can't handle it? Aw, well that too fuckin' bad, suck it up! I ain't stopping anytime soon..." Selever will call you names like a crybaby but means no ill will and that only means he's having fun tickling you. You're likely enjoying it too and if he ever catches wind of this, he's never letting this go and will constantly taunt you for it, poking you randomly all around the place, leaving you a vicious cycle of hypertickilishness (it'll go away in 3-4 business days).

Sarvente: As a holy figure, she won't be as merciless as you think her to be. She's rather kind but because of her naivety, Sarv doesn't necessarily know when she's being a tease. She likes to point them out for her lee to hear and finds it cute when they get flustered. Sarv almost does this to catalog their victims so next time a tickle fight breaks out, she'll know exactly what to do and where to target.

Rasazy: Razy doesn't verbally tease. She is completely nonverbal and only watches her lee struggle and squeal quietly. Physically however is a different ball park. Rasazy will slowly poke her way up, almost like a itsy bitsy spider and relishes in the fact you're screaming a whole lot more.

U - Do they have some unusual tickle spots? Where?

Selever: The spot right between the wings and the shoulder blades. Those spots are the bane of his existence and he can't stand it when it's touched or tickled. But it's not his fault he breaks out in a fit or giggles or even cackled when you just happen to dig in.

Sarvente: Her hands are quite sensitive so imagine what it's like when they are even in any sort of contact. Hand holding with her freaking husband is a hassle since she has this stupidly large grin on her face and she's giggling like a fool. Ruv one time decided enough was enough and investigated it, very thoroughly examining her hand to see what made her tick. Ruv's finger gently tracing her palm would be too much for her and she yanking and pulling at it, begging for him to stop.

"Da, there is nothing to worry about I was just-"

"R-RUV! Nohohohoho!"

Rasazy: Beneath her chin. Hardly anybody knows this (except Selever's rat ass) but under her chin could get quite the giggle and even a blush if you're lucky enough. Rasazy actually enjoys it and likes the feeling of fingers caressing her chin, more brownie points if you manage to get her neck. Because of her reserved nature, nobody knows about it except Selever. Even though he's a little shit sometimes, he promises to keep her secret and often uses her chin to make her smile a bit if she's feeling a bit down. Selever is a greater brother than you think he is :3

D - What is there most ticklish spot?

Selever: A good way to catch him off guard is to sneak up on him, and one of best areas to start are his armpits. Dude squeals like a little girl before his cackling is all that fills the room, it is extremely loud! He can't even fight back because of how much is tickles and isn't even focused on revenge, only getting it to stop.

Sarvente: Ribs, sides, and hips. Attack any of those and she'll shriek at the top of her lungs. She refuses to remember the time Ruv was trying to get her attention during a church service and squeezed her side. The ensuing scream jumpscared everyone in the room, even herself a bit. Ruv sometimes subtly teases her about it and even wiggles his fingers a bit, much to her embarrassment.

Rasazy: Remember what I said about her chin and neck well, if you manage to make it down to her collarbone is when she really starts to react. This is only area where she genuinely laughs with a bright smile on her face. She can't focus enough on her powers to activate so she has to take it until the ler (Selever) stops. He finds this to be super intriguing and even nibbled on them before, much to her ticklish misfortune. Nibbles and raspberries are where they are actually effective and Rasazy is trying to push you off with a blush across her face. Once you'll stop depending on who you are, she won't send you through the roof.

#fnf tickling #lee selever #ler selever #lee sarvente #ler sarvente #lee rasazy #ler rasazy #mid fight masses #friday night funkin #headcanons #ask answered #anon

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litlbean · 2 years ago

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⚠️Contains Spoilers!!!⚠️

The Old Grist Mill

youtube

I'm just going to go ahead and link this song because in my opinion it is one of the best songs in the whole series period.

I love how the beginning of the series makes no sense to first-time watchers but after you have watched it at least once, everything at the beginning of the first episode makes sense. It gives off the same vibes as Jojo's Bizzare Adventure's openings... The Tome of the Unknown style is in every single title screen and it makes me so aesthetically happy. It intensifies the melancholy-autumn mood that this whole show embodies and of course, the art style is just amazing. I don't think any other art style would fit this series better than this one. Can we just pause for a second and talk about how f*cking cool it is that this entire show is just one big circle? The opening scene when the narrator starts talking is Wirt falling into the frozen pond... How do people come up with stuff like this!? I wish more series/movies did this kind of stuff. It just opens the door to so many more theories and expands the lore just that much deeper. Also before this episode gets any further in I just want to mention: grist;

grain that is ground to make flour.

malt crushed to make mash for brewing.

2.useful material, especially to back up an argument.

grist for the mill — useful experience, material, or knowledge.

I just found it interesting that the episode is named after it ヾ(＾∇＾)

Beatrice is one of my favorite characters in this show besides the Frog. The name Beatrice has many meanings but the one I think that makes sense in relation to the storyline is the one from the bible: deriving from the Latin word Beatrix meaning "One who blesses others". We'll talk about her more later because she is definitely a very important character in the series and the amount of lore is just *french kiss*. I'm ashamed to admit that I missed this the first time around but it's now so funny to me that while Wirt is wallowing in his sorrows and talking versing poetry about his life- Greg is just in the background swinging around objects to see which one he could knock out the woodsman with the best.

I love rock facts. 〔´∇｀〕

🍬 The candy trail that Greg has and produces out of his pants that ultimately "leads the beast' to them (Wirt and Greg) could be taken as a metaphor for no good deeds go unpunished- or that all good things lead to the bad. The 'beast', or the bad in OTGW is led to the mill by Greg's candy trail that was supposed to lead Wirt and Greg back out of the Unknown. One of my favorite lines from the show is when Greg sees the 'beast' and says "You have beautiful eyes". Greg always looks for the good throughout the series and that makes me happy （＾ｖ＾）

🐢 The Black Turtles ~

These guys show up everywhere. I recommend you read the short article about them from the wiki that you can find here. I love these things. They're so mysterious, rare, and never explained. It never is even explained why Wirt says later in the series to Auntie Whispers that he "came to burgle her turts!". Does Wirt know something to do with the turtles that the watcher doesn't or is he just being observant and trying to make up an excuse on the fly? (More about that later in the series) It's such a good example of an uncanny valley~ they are turtles but they're black..? Black turtles don't exist in real life** and the ones in OTGW seem either to be just a singular turtle (although its never specified ).

** I kind of went down the Wikipedia rabbit hole and found out that "black" turtles do exist. Okay, so they're not entirely black but they are at least darker in color than your average sea turtle. Even farther down the rabbit hole, I started to find some things about Chinese Astrology and what certain constellations mean to them. The one that I found is the most 'relevant' (a.k.a I think it just matches the theme of OTGW the best). This is kind of complicated because of course, everything is disputed because legends and myths are always disputed so I'll try to explain this in the least confusing way possible: So the moon travels around the earth in a total of 27.32 days. Scientists track this progress by calculating the longitudes along the orbit (called an ecliptic) and then split it up into 28 different segments called Mansions or Stations (and sometimes even houses for some reason?). Anyways, ost often these were used by ancient cultures as part of their calendar systems. One of these cultures is ancient China. There's more... "The 28 Lunar Mansions are divided into four clusters, with each cluster made up of seven constellations"... There's a lot of math involved in all of this and I'm not an astronomer so I'm not sure how all of these connect but anyways I will put a pretty picture to kind of give you an idea of what I'm talking about here. Now... how does this connect to OTGW? Well, 2 things: 1. All of these Moon Stations make up "The Black Tortise of Winter" which according to this Wikipedia passage states that the Black Tortise corresponds to astrology and traveling to the underworld to guide people. 2. The 11th Moon Station of the "Black Tortoise of Winter" has a Chinese character meaning Emptiness. (pictured below)

I think that all of this concentrated around emptiness and the underworld largely reflects the ideas of the Unknown in OTGW. The Unknown is like a different world where people who are lost go to never be seen again. Kind of like Hell or the underworld. It's vast and has very few inhabitants. The turtles showing up in the movie could be almost like a guiding figure.

I appreciate the fact that the 'beast' in the beginning is Beatrice's dog. I just love dogs and that little extra added touch for the whole full-circle vibe of this show just makes me happy. "Aint that just the way" Burdens and burdens that are needed of bearing are mentioned in this episode and then never again but I still want to acknowledge that the Woodsman kind of predicts that Wirt will take on most of the problems in this show following this episode. Taking the blame, solving problems, etc., etc. which is most likely the reason why he gets turned into an adle wood tree first before ultimately Greg does. Kind of a statement piece on how difficult it is being an older child and looking after your younger siblings. This whole sentiment of "oh, your younger sibling is too young and doesn't understand, and therefore shouldn't get blamed" really can affect the elder sibling and like Wirt in the end, make them lose hope over time. Getting blamed for other people's problems is a tough situation and I think that way too many eldest children get put in the same boat. Especially at younger ages, this can cause severe problems later on down the line. I love the frog. I also love this drawing by @wabidrawbi

keep drawing friends. you're doing amazing <3 XOXO

#Youtube #over the garden wall #otgw #otgw aesthetic #greg otgw #otgw wirt #otgw spoilers #otgw fanart #wirt #greg #otgwfan #otgw beatrice

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nebulous-tundra · 3 years ago

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Kind of confused re: your response to green-tea-in-a-flask's post: what other "troubling parallels drawn to real life" are present in the TBS-verse? Most of the allegories I've seen are very clearly intentional and well-handled so I'm a bit confused. (Also for the record, Lauren Shippen did not write the miniseries in question, Meghan Fitzmartin did)

WHaT?! Shippen didn't write the AM archives?? wasn't that the first series to come out post TBS ending? before TCT where Fitsmartin was a cowriter? and the wiki says they're cowriters on both series

anywho, this has actually been a gripe i've had w the writing of the series since S2. Shippen's good at writing characters who feel real and coming up with interesting concepts, but definitely struggles when it comes to coherent plots and characters arcs, and struggles a super bunch when it comes to themes.

first and foremost is the setting. Atypicals are clearly a real life parallel for neurodivergent folk, they're on the fringes of society, and harassed by super secret organizations who either want them gone or want to use them for their own gain- at of course the atypicals expense. that's all fine and dandy, Dragon Age even has a very similar premise with it's mages! but Shippen fails where Dragon Age succeeds at conveying that people are all morally grey, mages can be destructive, they could be absolutely devastating(see: Tevinter, the Evanuris), but ultimately it falls on both the individual and the greater society to not only cultivate a certain predisposition towards care and compassion for others, but also ensure an environment where those properties can flourish and inspire attachment and not resentment. Bioware does an excellent job at showing this(see: pretty much any and all characters from the DA series, but especially Anders lol) Shippen on the other hand has Good Characters and Bad Characters. Chloe? Good! Damien(*i'll get back to this guy)? Bad! Agent Green? Good! Director Wadsworth? Bad! i think she really tried with Dr. Bright and Samantha to make them more "grey" characters, but they end up just being Good People who did a Bad Thing, but don't worry! They had a Good Intent and felt Bad about it cause they're Good! even the so called repercussions they face are laughable, so-and-so will find out and admonish them, they'll apologize but maybe insist they felt like they had no alternative but will grow from this. so-and-so will says they won't forget about this and will be watching very closely for said growth, and then next episode is Caleb/Adam centric and suddenly the issue is just a minor character flaw.

that's not to say the characters are flat, i said before Shippen writes very nuanced and realistic characters......but as for how the Narrative treats them, well, there's a clear way you're meant to see these characters. Let's take one for example, oh idk let's say..... Damien! Damien can been seen so many ways, ranging from vitriolic hate to my own poor little meow meow. Can he control his ability? Can he form healthy attachments? Will he ever find redemption? Who knows! Shippen only allows him to be written in flashbacks now! Never mind TBS's theme, in entire premise hinging on therapy, is that people can grow and become better than what they were, Damien is Bad so he goes to writing purgatory. Narratively, this means that he just......went away? So, on one hand, we have this theme of growth, but then here, we suddenly have a character allegedly So Bad he can't become Good(interestingly like the rest of the pre-ordained Bad Characters), and is written conveniently out of the plot so we don't have to think about how 'the AM's treatment of atypicals is slightly justified' too much, so then, why have him at all if he doesn't fit the theme of the story you're trying to write? i'm guessing it's because having an undeniable villain is fun, and fits most storylines. just not here.

a more personal allegorical scene is the last scene between him and Mark. it's meant to be an allegorical representative of abusive relationships and cutting abusive people out of your life, this is a very important thing to do because irl abusive people will almost always continue to abuse. The issue herein lies that Damien DID CHANGE. And the reason Mark gave Damien for why he couldn't be around Mark anymore is because HE COULD NOT CHANGE. so now the abuse victim is.....canonically wrong? awesome, next allegory.

Chloe's a mind reader, she can peer into the depths of a person's thought and have a reasonably well understanding of what they're thinking, this is an allegory for violating people's boundaries(i.e. reading they're diary, going through they're phone, checking they're browsing history), something people do when they're searching for trust, which has been shown to be an issue for her when she can't read they're thoughts and make sure they're Good(tm). i personally think, and ymmv here, but(as someone who loves Chloe and she's my #2 TBS chara) i personally think Chloe should have permanently lost her ability when when Damien knocked it out of her. how satisfying would it be that someone who continuously violates people's boundaries(to various extents) would only stop doing that thing when she herself is the victim of how far it can go. this would've been perfect because Damien and Chloe's abilities are said in iirc S1 to be complementary, to the point they cancel each other out. instead we get a Chloe who can now actively shut her ability off.......but also still chooses to use it a lot of the time. cool display of growth bro, next allegory.

it's mentioned when they were little, Joan and Mark were quite close. as they grew, they slowly drifted apart, for the most part because of Joan's involvement with the AM. this is actually a good allegory for predatory organization's isolating people from their loved ones before introducing them into the more insidious elements of their organization. i'm sure with covid and whatnot, seeing our loved one fall for qan0n rhetoric makes this now an especially relevant storyline. i actually really like this allegory because it not only shows how even really smart people like Joan can be targeted by cults that end up hurting their loved ones. i also like the attention to the fallout of having to regain the trust of someone you didn't even mean to hurt, and how many "i'm sorry"s and "please forgive me"s they'll have to say and mean for the rest of the foreseeable future. my issue with this one is......how does this fit into the story of TBS? the allegory by itself is solid, plotwise it's been hinted at since S1, but thematically, where exactly is the growth? is it when they were growing apart? well, no, that happened in the years before TBS. the growing Joan did when she found out about Mark? well, maybe? iirc we never really know how deep Joan was in the organization, in fact to my best recollection, Mark was her premature introduction to the more graphic elements of the AM, and she immediately recoiled and cut ties so, the journey she had then was more in her personal knowledge of the situation than any change or growth to her character. thematically, this plot beat is more relevant to the idea of cults than anything close to growth. i couldn't put my finger on why this plot point bugged me when i was first listening, but now i think i understand a bit better. it feels like the story is trying to tell use Joan needs to grow and be a better person than when she was working for the AM(and certainly she has her issues), but then the reason they give is actually quite flimsy. Joan was almost indoctrinated into a weird anti super power cult and now she needs to grow and show she's sorry? for almost being indoctrinated into a cult she immediately cut herself off from when she found out about it's insidious elements?? okay....

maybe your mileage may vary, and certainly if you still enjoy TBS kudos to you, i don't want to take away from that, but allegories that are held together with string and gum, and that's gets really distracting for me.

anyway, i apologize of this is rambly and all over the place, it's been a while since i've relistened to TBS(an usually when i do it's just Damien's episodes), but yeah i have a lot of beef with TBS lmao

#tbs #the bright sessions #the raccoon discusses #the raccoon speaks #anon #they exist #just want to make it very clear i love Chloe and Damien #luckily their arcs were only ruined at the end lol #such a waste #anyway i'm gonna get breakfast now

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sdv-player-9 · 3 years ago

Text

Sebastian

I was going to make a post about how sad it was that everyone wants to leave Pelican Town in Stardew Valley, but then I got caught up in reading Sebastian’s dialogue on his wiki page and I just-

You know what makes me really sad? Even more than everyone wanting to leave? Sebastian.

- “If I just disappeared would it really matter?”

- “What’s the point of going outside? I’ve already seen it all.”

- “Why does everyone like Maru so much? Sure, she's smart and friendly, but don't they realize it's all just an attention-grabbing scam? Sorry...”

- “I was this close to moping in bed the entire day. Kinda wish I had, now.”

- “Hey... It's hard to think of new things to talk about, sometimes. Even after you know someone. ...Sorry.”

I think he’s depressed. Like, how do you say those quotes and mean them and not have something hurting you inside?

Also these:

- “I was thinking... people are like skipping stones. Eventually we’re going to sink.”

- “I usually stay inside, but I do go to the beach now and then. Pretty much only when it's raining, though. For some reason, staring off into the bleak horizon makes me feel... I dunno. Like it's worthwhile to keep pushing on, I guess.”

- “Nothing surprises me anymore... nothing makes me laugh. Yeah, I know... I'm being a little dramatic.”

I’m starting a petition to add a new character who’s a therapist and has a room either in the clinic or in a new building. We could do with one of those.

But then I read further into the dialogue, because it’s mentioned quite a lot that Sebastian wants to move to a big city and work there and I was wondering if that was ever addressed, or if he just kind of lives with this guilt inside him that he hasn’t done what he wanted to with his life. And I found this (dialogue is from when he and player are married):

- “The older I get, the less I'm drawn to the city. It had a certain mystique to it, once. But it turns out that was just a romantic fantasy. The city's so busy, so full of people... I don't belong there. I'm a loner.”

And it makes me kinda sad that he does abandon his dream, but then (dialogue is from when he and player are married):

- “I did some work on the laptop today. I was actually brainstorming some ideas for a game I want to make. With your farming income, I can afford to do what I want with my life. It's pretty amazing. Thank you.”

And if you read his dialogue from after the player marries him (if you do) it’s just- it’s so sweet??? And he seems so happy??? And it just???

- “Living here with you is teaching me to come out of my shell a little bit. I think it's good for me.”

- “I couldn't sleep last night so I went for a night ride on the motorcycle. I need to stay independent, even though we're married. That's just how I am. I still love you, though.

- “Hey...want some coffee? I needed some...woke up early from a nightmare and I just couldn't fall back asleep.”

- “I'll just watch you from here. I enjoy watching you.”

- “This is so different from my old life, but I'm really starting to like it. I feel like I really belong here.”

- “I often felt unappreciated at home...but here I feel like I really belong. Thanks for making me feel welcome, [Player].”

- “Hey. I just hung out around the house, today. Nothing interesting... The view from our house is perfect. You can see the sun setting over Pelican Town from the front porch.”

- “I may be a reclusive guy, but I'm always happy when you're around.”

- “Hi, [Player]. Good to see you. It's comforting when you're around.”

- “Hey. I couldn't sleep last night so I took a walk to the caves. I found this ...want it? I just have trouble sleeping sometimes, it has nothing to do with you. I love you.”

And there are just so many more and it’s beautiful. He’s my favourite character. Go read all of his dialogue, even if you aren’t gonna marry him in the game.

I don’t know where I was going with this. Sebastian makes me sad.

-10 minute timeskip-

I went to try and find an image with one of his quotes to put at the end of this post and instead came across a bunch of Reddit posts about how awful he is and honestly they have a fair point ngl

- When married to the player, he keeps his frogs inside the house even if the player asks him not to

- Doesn’t consider Abigail one of his friends, because he has a crush on her

- Literally makes an effort not to get along with Demetrius and Maru, even though he’s had at least 10 and possibly 20 years to come to terms with this

- Apparently when you’re married he also just kinda vanishes on a Friday and also complains about mess a lot

However I then read a ton more people with good fair points that go against this so

- Keeps his frogs in his office. That’s fair enough. He can have his own stuff in his office

- Doesn’t consider Abigail a friend cause he isn’t sure if she’s into him, and it’s also okay to grow away from people you once wanted to be close to

- Demetrius does blatantly prefer Maru and rarely mentions Sebastian. It’s not Sebastians job only to fix his relationship with Demetrius. Demetrius could’ve done something, and so could Robin and Maru

They didn’t say anything about the final point but that’s cause it was from a different post

I also learned that everybody loves Elliot and there’s an even split between the people who like Shane and the people who don’t

In conclusion, I have no conclusion. All of the characters are flawed, which is good, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be problematic because some of them are.

Might switch who I’m trying to marry tho lmao

I did find this funny though:

#sdv #sdv farmer #sdv sebastian #sdv demetrius #stardew valley #stardew valley sebastian #stardew valley quotes #stardew valley my beloved #sebastian makes me sad

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theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin · 4 years ago

Note

When I saw 'Romanians' mentioned in your last post I had a wtf moment cause I have only watched the movies and I don't think I've ever noticed their existence. Regardless, I just had to read the wiki page and it is hillarious to me cause coincidence or not they seem to be named after the psychopathic ruler 'Vlad the impaler' and his cousin 'Stefan the great'(he might have murdered more people than his cousin known as the impaler, but you know he is great). Also, what do you think of them? Sorry for the rant...

You have no idea what you’ve unleashed.

I love the Romanians because they are, hands down, the trashiest, weirdest, lamest, loser vampires in Twilight canon.

Just, these two are so hilariously beautiful.

First off, while Meyer undoubtedly named them with Vlad Tepish and Stefan the Great in mind, the Romanians are actually much older. We don’t have exact dates, but we know the Romanians (then presumably the Dacians), held great power over their territory for a thousand years before the Volturi had truly established themselves. After the Volturi took on and won against Amun’s coven in Egypt (and took the grateful Demetri off Amun’s hands making Amun still bitter thousands of years later) they waged war against the Romanians and won. (Vlad and Stefan are still very bitter but give us the silver lining of “oh yeah, well, we’re only partly petrified. SO TAKE THAT STUPID VOLTURI!”)

Vlad, Stefan, and Vlad’s wife were the only survivors. The Romanians, being one of the most evil and trashy covens in Twilight, decided to take on Volterra by amassing an army of 100 vampires. Hilariously, they had poor timing, this is a decade after Aro acquired Jane and Alec. The entire army is defeated in a second, Vlad’s wife is murdered, and by 810 AD, it’s just Vlad and Stefan.

They’ve remained losers the Volturi don’t take seriously ever since. Every decade, Demetri pays them a visit to remind them that yes, the Volturi does remember them and can find them any time they want to. Even more hilariously, Vlad and Stefan take this very seriously, and are constantly on the run from the Volturi, never aware that the Volturi actually don’t care. At all.

Point being, given these guys, first it’s entirely likely their original names are not Vlad and Stefan. We see many of the vampires of the ancient world periodically change their name. We have Chelsea and Demetri, who are canonically acknowledged as having done this. Given when and where they were born, we can assume Marcus and Caius were not originally Marcus and Caius. Similarly, we can assume Aro’s name was originally far longer as well.

None the less, it would be just like these two to name themselves after these Romanian human warlords, one of whom serves and the inspiration for the modern vampire myth in Europe. And then, insist, of course, that the human rulers were actually named after Vlad and Stefan, because the humans still worship them, you know.

They’re going to be back on top any day now, you’ll see.

That’s another thing worth getting into. The Romanians are evil. I’m not exaggerating this, of all the vampires in Twilight, they are the most appalling (and this is including James, Maria and the southern war lords, Joham... well not Joham, he’s a special brand of evil). These guys had a thousand year reign of terror in Dacia. Humans were butchered seemingly by entire villages, they made humans their slaves and demanded worship and sacrifice. When the humans periodically tried to overthrow them, they slaughtered them all, presumably placed their heads on spikes, and used them to taunt those few surviving humans.

When they lost power, they made an army a hundred vampires strong, which given what we see of the newborns in Seattle (who were only around twenty and still far too large to control), probably wiped out several large settlements in eastern Europe. Didn’t matter, just as long as they got rid of the Volturi.

And they miss those glory days dearly.

They actively reminisce about in Breaking Dawn to an oblivious Bella, who is just so happy these very important and impressive Europeans are here to help her beautiful daughter and so impressed they they’ve been fighting the corrupt Volturi for thousands of years (which is another bit of hilarity we’ll get into). You know, when/if the Volturi fall, the Romanians will be the first in line to rape the women and enslave us all. Good times, good times.

But back to them being trash people.

Vlad and Stefan are utterly destitute, their entire coven is destroyed, and yet they still insist they’re a Big Fucking Deal. Not only that, but just their every action is beyond weird. They talk in unison like Fred and George Weasley, they’re these ridiculously tiny men dressed as stereotypical vampires, and they show up out of nowhere on your doorstep saying, “So, hear you’re starting an insurrection against Volterra, Carlisle, we want in” (While Carlisle, I’m sure, just dies a thousand times inside).

They then talk to Bella all about how they fight the corruption of the Volturi. What is the corruption, you ask? Well, the Volturi drove them out of their kingdom and liberated the human slaves. Then they imposed this stupid law where you couldn’t eat humans in broad daylight. Then when the Romanians tried to invade Italy they killed them all.

The Romanians will expose the Volturi’s crimes here and now. They stand for justice, peace, and Renezel--Renpunz--Renesmee. (The Romanians decidedly do not come for Renesmee, they hear about Carlisle’s army through the vampire European rumor mill, which just shows how out of hand it all got because now Carlisle’s amassing an army to protect the immortal child his son made. They show 0 interest in Renesmee.)

They give me serious McPoyle vibes.

More, beautifully, everything they touch becomes tainted.

Laurent, another beautiful loser character, starts life as a French courtier in Versailles. When he’s turned into a vampire, he assumes the vampire world works like Versailles. It works nothing like Versailles.

He seeks out those vampires with the greatest power.

Well, vampires in general are cannibalistic homeless nomads who care nothing for power.

This brings him, beautifully, to the Romanians. They insist to Laurent they’re super cool and powerful, Laurent believes them, but either Laurent eventually clues in or realizes something’s not right here. So, he goes to seek out the real power, the Volturi.

Unfortunately, Laurent is a loser, the Volturi is not court, and Aro has no need for some lackey trying to get in his good graces. Plus, Laurent hung out willingly with Vlad and Stefan. And anyone who does that...

So, Aro goes, “Ew, no, leave.”

Laurent is convinced, even when canon rolls around and he’s sunk so low as to hang out with James and Victoria (also loser vampires), that Aro will call him back any day now.

Aro never does. Laurent is eaten by untrained sixteen-year-old shape shifters.

But yes, point being, I imagine that in this modern era the Romanians would have a Go Fund Me for purchasing the blow torches they’ll use to destroy the Volturi once and for all. They also have a YouTube channel which is unintentionally dungeon porn, in which they cover their heads in bags so as not to be recognized, and talk about the good old days in thick Romanian accents. It’s a very popular YouTube channel, nobody understands why they wear so much body glitter.

Oh, right, Bella.

Bella is so beautiful with these guys. So, in Breaking Dawn, Bella actually takes the Romanians seriously. They’re all I describe above and more, they’re not hiding it, they’re full McPoyle (including the taking over the world built). Jake even tells Bella he finds them weird as hell. Bella thinks they’re great.

No, really, she thinks they’re great.

They tell her how they enslaved all the people in their territory, demanded tithes, and would eagerly do so again as soon as they get the chance and she stares at them with wide eyes and thinks about how cool all these vampires who came for precious Renesmee are. (Which, funnily, they actually all came either for Carlisle, because he has a billion friends everywhere, or else as a power grab like the Romanians, or both in Amun’s case. It’s the weirdest, most beautiful, mixture of people.)

Bella has her moments, but loving the Romanians has got to be a top ten for her. My explanation is that she’s so high on vampirism and Renesmee that this is all just great for her. LIFE IS WONDERFUL!

EDIT: I could no longer abide my spelling mistakes, I also edited a bit for cleanliness.

#ask #anon #twilight

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m0e-ru · 4 years ago

Text

eight months in somebody actually asked me abt visualive instead of me immediately annoying ppl about it without former notice. I might actually write properly for once 😳😳😳

OK OK!!!!! In this essay I will.... I will.... Visualive Adachi.... Visu/BURSTS INTO TEARS/

OKAY OKAY for real I just care Visualive so much (as someone who can’t fully understand Japanese AHAHA)

First I’ll add some foundation about what Visualive really is, then I talk abt Adachi in the latter parts of it because this is technically the first time I’m properly talking about this hehe 🐿

T....table of contents???

Visualive

Visualive the Evolution

Masami Itou

Visualive Adachi

Visualive the Evolution Adachi

Terms and Legend

VL - Visualive

VLE - Visualive the Evolution

stage - shortened for “stageplay”

面白い - omoshiroi (it’s just that specific)

Yuuya - VL Hero name

Hayato - VLE Hero name

Baba - Hero

Masami - Adachi

Taniguchi - Dojima

Saotome - Daisuke

Mamiya - Izanami

I add honorifics but sometimes I forget the hyphen intentionally or unintentionally I’m sorry if it makes it hard to read lol

all links have automatic timestamps for easy viewing. i mean. i hope the timestamps work

VISUALIVE “Persona 4.” A stage adaptation of SMT: Persona 4 by Atlus. It adapts the first part of the story, from the hero’s arrival to after recovering Mitsuo Kubo from the TV world. It also ends on a cliff hanger, showing a teaser of Shadow Naoto being projected on the screen.

It takes up a speedy recapitulation of the hero’s spring life, before slowing down and showing in depth his school life in summer. A day before Morooka-sensei’s death, there is a little skit with Kou, Daisuke and Adachi. The hero walks into the conversation before the two other boys leaving, and Morooka-sensei walking in on the student and detective. The next day follow’s the teacher’s death and the Investigation Team (IT) begin investigating their new lead.

From the words “visual” and “alive,” the niche of this stage was meant to be the fusion of live acting and visual digital projections. All seen from the stageplay with the colorful cast of actors and CG animations being projected on the screen. This offers an opportunity for characters to summon their personas, perform cool visual effects, change the backdrop, or even confront their own Shadows.

Performed in Sunshine Theater from the 15th to the 20th of March 2012. The screenplay was written and directed by Shintaro Asanuma from the theatrical group “bpm.” The video production produced by Shutaro Oku, a film director and visual planner. He later takes over as director for VISUALIVE THE EVOLUTION, the sequel stage. The stage music was produced by Shunsuke Wada, with a special show exclusive vocal track sung by Shihoko Hirata.

On this note, I haven’t seen any sort of original soundtrack released for any of the stages and I’m SO SAD. The last song in Mitsuo’s boss fight was such a BANGER and literally EVERYTHING ELSE Marvelous, Wadasan please take my MONEY

Regarding the cast, there were some special accommodations for Teddie, Rise, and Nanako, all of which did not have live actors at the time. During the casting, actors for the three characters could not be found or simply left the directors unsatisfied they couldn’t cast anybody. An exception for Rise, who was able to have a live actor in the sequel stage. It has been stated that there weren’t any “pretty boy” actors that fit the “Teddie Criteria.” While there weren’t any child actors that were believed to portray Nanako well.

Teddie was only ever seen in his bear costume while Rise was busy talking through a call, all voiced by their video game cast. Nanako has never appeared on stage, only being scarcely mentioned in the script. Again, this is different in the sequel stage where her role was extremely important and was shown as a screen projection.

VISUALIVE “Persona 4” THE EVOLUTION. A sequel stage. Beginning abruptly in the middle of Shadow Naoto’s boss fight, the story continues from there until the “true end” of the game’s original story. *Certain characters are introduced while others have been reintroduced. And on a personal note, when it’s all comedic in the beginning, it’s all for what’s coming right after.

I don’t know if I’m salty or just find it really funny AHAHA I might go talk abt it some other day with more context ehehe

Performed in The Galaxy Theater from the 3rd to the 9th of October 2012, only a few months after the PSVITA Persona 4 Golden release, which is July 2012. The screenplay was now written by Jun Kumagi while directed by Shutaro Oku. And music production finally taken over by Shoji Meguro himself.

---

HAHAHA this is starting to look like a wiki page. moving on. I might start rambling rn

(warning LONG !!!! aaa,,)

My thoughts on the stage adaptations. For the first Visualive (VL) I believe it’s pretty close to canon! I enjoy the characterization and how much love and care was present when handling the entire production.

Actors were busy playing the game itself, wherein a PS2 was present in the practice room. Along with magazines and game guides explaining the game’s story and the characters itself. Actors performing together and even improv acting together to get a grasp of their characters. All of them knowing well of Persona 4 as a well loved game, delicately handling their characters and hopefully performing them right while making the audience happy.

The staff taking care of each other while the director and video producer, Asanuma-san and Oku-san, working together well to make their vision into a reality.

The same thing happened with VL the Evolution (VLE) and literally every other good stage. Except... I feel the script kinda got out of hand with too much liberty where it feels a bit more disconnected from canon. But! It makes up for it in its content, whether comedic or (INCREDIBLY) dramatic! It’s great as its own story at that point. So in this case, I like to take the first VL and get to connect it canon, while I don’t know what the hell happened in VLE to the point I’ll just enjoy it as its own content.

These opinions deserve its own essay, post whatever bc I have SO much to say abt this. ANYWAY. VL ADACHI

---

Tohru Adachi is portrayed by Masami Itou (伊藤マサミ), a screenplay writer, director and an stage actor himself. He does have a single character voice role along with a fellow troupe member in the same franchise, but mostly works as the former three. He is part of Asanuma-san’s entertainment group “bpm.” On a similar note, Masashi Taniguchi, Dojima’s actor, was also part of their group from 2011 to 2016, which may explain their good synergy as the boss and the bumbling fool dynamic. I mean, somebody’s gotta get hit in the head every few skits.

With Masami-san being an important part of the cast, he doesn’t appear as often as Taniguchi-san in backstage content like the VL bonus disk or the official blog. Mentioned in his own personal blog, he had been busy with his roles as assistant director (I am assuming also for VL).

Also fun to note, because his role is mainly comic relief, he has been using his liberty to change up the material almost everyday making each performance exciting. This also leaves some other actors jealous of his freedom in his role, such as Saotome-san, Daisuke’s actor.

---

VL Adachi really has a... how do I say this? an adorable speech pattern (THE SAME SPEECH PATTERN THAT DROVE ME MAD TRYING TO DECIPHER I THOUGHT YOU WERE A CITY BOY OSSU OSSU MY ASS /shakes you violently/). Overall, he really fits the loose lipped bumbling fool, and his accent really makes him seem more casual and invested. What I’m saying is... VL Adachi either actually has genuine empathy or he actually has more energy to fake it (compared to some other edgelord. i mean you saw my p4ga analysis. I’m sick of him lol ahaha).

One of my favorite ways to explain this (OTHER THAN CHAIR CAR ADVENTURE MY BELOVED WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER) is the rice field scene with him and Dojima. It’s overanalyzation time 🎉

youtube

(43:04)

While investigating, Adachi whines about being tired while Dojima smacks him in the head. In this case, it’s established that Adachi doesn’t want to be there, yes? It’s the country, it’s hot and it smells like green.

"Ah... Dojima-san..! Why don't we take a break? (...) There really is nothing out here... Is the criminal still even here at all? (...) I wonder if I've passed being a rookie yet. Haha, but this city doesn't even have convenient transportation. I can't go to leisure lands (recreation, amusement parks, arcades, ect.) and head home at all."

Adachi then tries to tell Dojima a story. “when I got to this city after being newly assigned, I met an interesting guy (...) Yeah, I remember that the cherry blossoms haven't bloomed yet. So, I was driving my car and got near the station and--” Dojima gets a phone call.

Adachi politely puts his hands down waiting for his boss to finish so he can finish the story. Again and again, Adachi attempts to talk to Dojima about a story he’s so persistent trying to tell someone about. It was so 面白い that he would find someone to talk to about it. Even being polite and patient enough to wait for a chance to speak. He even gets fed up with it and blows up in front of his boss, clearly irritated he’s not given a chance to talk.

Sure, it could be Adachi feeling fed up like a normal person where someone agreed he to listen to him, before being constantly ignored. Or Adachi trying to be a more annoying whiny brat, depending on where you look at it.

If the story wasn’t too “interesting” to Adachi, he would’ve just brushed it off and stopped talking to Dojima entirely, or start up new small talk, or even complain some more. But no, he had a story he wanted to voice out so bad that he got irritated that the one person in the vicinity couldn’t listen to him.

Only after Dojima told him to continue their investigation elsewhere did Adachi finally stop and focus on something else. Maybe that story was for another day, or maybe it was never meant to be told.

What if it was just original (game) Adachi? He’d find a way to squirrel out of the investigation as usual, or push Dojima to “investigate” elsewhere. “Hey boss, don’t you think it’s hot? Why don’t we go elsewhere? We’ve seen this place too many times to count and I doubt anything new’ll turn up. How about we take a break at Junes, y’know? Where it’s cool? C’mon boss,” something like that.

og Adachi is just really annoying and silly to me. Some grown man thinking he can freeload because he never gets anything out of putting in more energy and effort? I don’t care how tall he is, I will smack him in the head.

Yeah VL Adachi whines, too, but at least it doesn’t look like he’s going to escape and waste his time somewhere else. He just sucks it up stops trying to leave the situation.

Or maybe I’m getting this all wrong and VL is exactly the same and my rage just gets dampened because of Masamisan’s execution of character hmm...

SO. What was his story about anyway? The one he really wanted to share to Dojima?

I mean... it’s obvious enough

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First day in town? Spring? Actually mentioned driving a car when literally out of every single persona 4 media at the time was there not a SINGLE mention of Adachi having a car OTHER THAN the same stageplay it’s being mentioned in?

A story, from somewhere around uhh four? five months ago? was something that he remembered so dearly and was willing to share despite it obviously embarrassing him even if he puts the blame on a certain somebody in the same story?

Or maybe it’s because he really had nothing to talk about ever since he realized all his stories from the city weren’t actually that funny or interesting in the first place.

BUT then that would mean out of all the things he could talk about—more whining, complaining, complimenting, small talk—he insisted about talking about this story in particular.

Okay, look. I’m just. Just. As someone who talks too much, of course I have things I actually want people to hear out of all the bullshit that comes out of my mouth. And if the thing I actually want people to listen to doesn’t even get heard, I’d go mad.

Sure, Adachi’d be fine when his complaints or intentionally unfunny jokes get brushed off. But a story of a guy that he thought was so funny, interesting, 面白い gets ignored, he really blew up, even just for a split second, maybe.

And ALL the things that happened in that story—on his first day in Inaba! His car got dented, he had to deal with a weirdo dumbass employee that knew zero personal space, yelled in his ear, who didn’t know how to do their job, got his station reputation messed up on the first day, got his ass grabbed, got (unintentionally?) mocked for his lame stories, and got his car dented for the SECOND time. Probably MORE

And he STILL wanted to talk about it /punches through concrete wall/

yes I’m overthinking about this of course i am

This little tidbit of VL Adachi kinda makes me go insane sometimes—his entire characterization in VL in particular. It was really refreshing to see and how they included both of his characters in it, his facade and how irritated he is of a lot of things underneath. And how flexible his character is immediately working with other characters when there’s sudden improv to balance the situation. Like him and Dojima, Morooka, the attendant, or even Yuuya (hero) himself.

I’ll take Taniguchi-san’s messing around in the VL bonus backstage disc in place of Masami-san being so busy he couldn’t appear in it as often as other characters.

For stagetime that lasted for fifteen minutes or less, my appreciation for VL Adachi, even if he was just comic relief, really rocketed. I say VL, bc Adachi the edgelord he’s supposed to be in literally every other media is something I analyze separately.

I haven’t even gotten to VLE oh my GODDDDD

Like I said, I don’t really regard VLE close to canon but as something to be appreciated for what it is by itself. But the way Adachi was characterized there, in or out of character, still struck me.

---

Yes, there was his strange fan-agreed-canon which is,,, now canon obsession with cabbages (not that that’s a bad thing lmao). There was also him being a lot more jumpy and intimate in a clowny way, patting people on the shoulder or even downright hugging them just to mess around. Even FORGETTING who the same goddam loser who grabbed his ass almost a year ago is. But like, can’t blame him they literally changed their actor (and screenplay writer) AHAHAHA

ha... no more comedy, only dorky sword fights now

(speaking of sword fights I think it’s a fun thought how Mamiya-san [Izanami, also one of the youngest in the cast] admitted it was his first time doing sword fight choreography and even thanked Masami-san and other staff members for guiding him)

One thing unintentionally in character was Adachi accidentally nabbing the sushi overdosed in wasabi. Masami-san didn’t actually account for a joke sushi and didn’t immediately eat it—until Taniguchi-san (who also made Dojima go off his shits compared to VL) jokingly yelled at him and even riled up the audience for him to eat it. He even went off stage to get water just for him to eat the goddam sushi.

And Masami-san did! (kinda choked, but he’s fine).

Continuing from the same scene, while being overly giddy about sushi dinner (and I mean overly--he was singing about it while hopping to the Dojima residence), he tried to remind the two, Dojima and Hayato (hero), that Nanako was sleeping. Probably where she was sick if the scene was translated from the game.

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(30:07)

And... the dramatic parts of VLE

Adachi was the one who reported to the IT that Dojima was chasing Namatame in the rain. While Naoto was discussing Namatame’s journal entries, Adachi, as giddy as he is, took it from Naoto’s hands and reveled in the discovery of evidence so childishly(?). He even ran to Dojima when he began regaining consciousness and immediately called the nurses to help him wheel Dojima to the ER.

Then, The Hospital Scene™️, right after Nanako flatlines.

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(1:02:02)

Adachi, who recently walked into the scene, immediately worries about Dojima and IT who were ALL crying. He looks down, devastated—before yelling how Dojima’s heading to Namatame’s room.

He yells in terror and the same grief at his injured boss, all while running past and even jumping over children, who fell to the ground sobbing, to get to him. He continues yelling in a pained fashion while immediately reprimanding Dojima to stop. He gets carried by the collar before being tossed to the ground at Hayato’s feet, all while being pat by the same boy.

Dojima makes his speech about how unfair it is for the ‘killer’ to be alive when his daughter isn’t. When he finally falls to his knees, Adachi rises from the ground, humbly saying he’ll do his best to take care of Dojima (or something like that I’m in tears I literally can’t do VLE’s hospital scene i h8 this). He finally starts crying along with everyone else, being pushed away again but still tries again, trying to usher his boss away from the door.

With the help of the guard in front of the door, they all disappear off stage

please... I know this scene doesn’t need that much translation because of how important this scene is in the entire story. and I know my narratives aren’t enough so just,,,, just watch it please it’s so much more than this. everyone’s acting was just spectacular

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(1:08:47)

So, after the IT (YOSUKE. JUST YOSUKE. good job Mae-chan) stop themselves from k wording Namatame, it was ADACHI who reported Nanako’s miracle recovery. He ran to the same corridor where they all cried in, even panting and falling to the ground in relief trying to report the good news. Then he pats Hayato on the shoulder and says he’s going to Dojima.

With this... /slaps roof of half of VLE/ ALL of this....adachi.... adachisan.... he Cares™️..... holy shit.....

now. comparing to the game. do you even remember what og Adachi did? did he.. even do anything?????

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(56:39)

NO!!! he just stood there!!!! being a bumbling fool but.... inappropriately!!! man. he didn’t act concerned enough.

adachi: /walks into a bunch of kids crying outside a hospital room/ “lmao why tf are y’all crying? did uhhh what’s her face uhhh nanako. did she d word or something? rip, I guess lol” LIKE????? CAN YOU IMPLY FASTER

and then he’s like “wgat hmm Where’s Dojima-san Heading Because That’s Not The Way To His Room 🤔” and only when he’s asked he actually mentions he’s heading to Namatame’s room and still needs to get choked by a first year for the room number like..... zero consideration

and his boss??? where his daughter he loves so much just??? di*s???? and he’s so devastated he’s doing what he can that very moment while he’s so numbed of thinking of the consequences???? And adachi goes “uhh boss that’s illegal” LIKE. BITCH. /punches through a concrete wall but harder/

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And??? His confrontation scene??? Like, I know they mashed it up w his tv confession scene to save stagetime for other scenes BUT IT WAS SO MMBMBMBMMGN /gestures in a good way/

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(1:15:56)

UM?? guy behind everything??? in a vulnerable area where he could easily get physically assaulted bc hes not in the tv world w his persona?? Trash talks women like he absolute misogynist he is??? getting yelled at by a bunch of kids and YELLING BACK IN THE SAME AGITATED MANNER even TAUNTING THEM then and there to GET HIS ASS?????

og Adachi was such a pussy he got caught and just scurried off into the TV world where he ended up having powers like...ok....scared of getting beat down by a bunch of highschoolers unless you have powers...ok....

he only taunted them to get him when he was in the tv world too.....he rlly couldn’t say shit in the real world huh... lol

(yeah yeah this shows how VLE Adachi knew abt his TV world powers which would make you think if he ever went into the tv world and came back out alive. Or he’s really just a badass who doesnt give a shit abt anyone’s opinions and CAN beat anyone’s ass. i have a separate thing abt this but bc i like to laught at vle rather than overthink its own lore i might. not. idk lol)

and ??? VLE Adachi can??? He can swordfight??? he doesn’t even NEED a gun—he even reflects bullets w his blade (but apparently he can still get slapped by a flying fan more often than any other attack). His fight choreo was just...so poggers. He’s like short villains done good—like??? he’s short compared to everyone else!!! but he makes up for it for stuffing all the energy inside him while is bursts out making him him the over energetic gremlin he is!!! go VL adachi!!!!

(am I low key making fun of Madono-san in the TUUSH stageplay I’ve seen four minutes of? maybe)

OK!!! Yes I was gushing abt Masami-san again back to Adachi.

It’s portrayed that while not being afraid to admit his crimes, he also goes out of his way to be a bastard and have the gall to get a bunch of kids to fight him, one on eight. He can use a katana, probably a narrative dark reflection of the hero, Hayato which I thought was nice—and he can fight!!! It also shows his persona, yes, but...it doesn’t make it clear if he’s overwhelmed by his Shadow like in the game, where his eyes were yellow and he was emitting a dark aura.

But it gets interesting how he sees he’s getting overwhelmed and starting to lose his edge towards a bunch of kids. He falls to the ground even banging the floor like a whiny brat while literally the IT tries to tell him to turn himself in. Again, like a brat he tells everyone to shut up—before getting incapacitated. While some of the IT rejoice, he bolts up unaccepting of his defeat—before getting hit in the stomach.

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(1:23:54)

And his words from when he drops his katana, “Why..?” He grabs the foldable chair against his stomach, and with a remorseful look in his eyes, he says “I’m sorry..!”

THEN HE BACKFLIPS—then Hayato slashes him.

In a tone of disbelief, he goes “no way...” and collapses to the ground, being possessed by Ame-no-Sagiri.

Blah blah blah then Teddie rockets himself into the eyeball spy cam and then they both explode aaaaa

Teddie survives but I really don’t know where Adachi went. Not even a mention by Dojima if he turned himself in or was ever found—or I need to review VLE for the 48274827482nd time hehe

WHOO then the whole cast appears for the dance number at the end of show YAHOO

#long post #persona 4 #persona 4 visualive #persona 4 visualive the evolution #tohru adachi #sulululat #pagsususuri #p4 #p4v #p4ve #//HAPPY 4K WORDS VL ANON #// if theres anything u want to ask... im right here /collapses/#// i almost went ham over actor relationships like. talking abt bpm was ENOUGHHH we're talking about the character not the assistant direct #// aaa this took so long... i literally mashed up so many other idea documents into one.. man.

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astalkingirin · 4 years ago

Note

Scorpia is an unreliable narrator. We don't actually know for sure if Hordak and the Scorpion king were friends at all and how much of the "alliance" story was true. It wasn't explained very well or given any closure.

I do find it frustrating how little information we got about that. And I’ll agree the alliance was either an outright lie or there was some sort of alliance/surrender deal that Hordak then violated given he seems to have wiped out the entire royal family aside from Scorpia.

However, there are several points in favor of Hordak initially being welcomed.

1) He did manage to take control of the country somehow. Given how much difficulty he’s having conquering just one more country when he has the full resources and population of Scorpia’s kingdom and thirty years of learning to function on Etheria, it’s very hard to see how he could’ve managed to get anywhere with only a crashed ship and no experience acting on his own at all.

I really can’t see any way Hordak could possibly have popped out of the ship attacking and gotten anywhere, and that’s before we get into the fact that he doesn’t appear to be particularly good at actually running the Horde - that suggests that no matter how incompetent everyone else was at dealing with the threat, he would simply not have been able to build his army slowly because he can’t actually manage people. He needed to pick up a lot of people all at once, including people who knew how to run the others.

Furthermore, even assuming somehow he could conquer the place foot by foot as he scrabbled for resources, it’s even more implausible that anything slow could’ve actually taken out the royal family. We know even in the present he can’t handle the Crimson Waste which is either next Scorpia’s kingdom or originally part of it, while Scorpia is so well suited to the environment she's going on about how it’s the best place she’s ever been. If Hordak somehow was winning, it’d be easy to retreat toward the desert until they had the upper hand again. What happened to them had to happen relatively fast - not necessarily taken out in a single attack, but speedy enough they didn’t realize how badly it would go and try to escape. The glacial crawl of Hordak conquering another stretch of ground to mine metal to make another murderbot to conquer another stretch of ground doesn’t fit.

If it was not an outright coup, it had to have been pretty close to one. Hordak got in good with the royal family first, then turned on them.

2) Completely making up a lie is a lot of work, especially when it doesn’t seem to matter much and when Hordak isn’t all that socially focused. I’m going to grab from the wiki transcript, so this could be off by a word or two, but:

This guy...this is my granddad, the King. He was the greatest. I mean, that's what the Horde told me anyway, I don't remember him, I was too young. [Emily walks away] I have granddad to thank for my opportunities in life. He made the alliance with Hordak. As part of it, our kingdom gave up our Runestone...and...princess...[chuckles somberly slightly] My granddad must've known I'd be...happier...as a soldier. And I made friends in the Horde...like you!

[Steps when she sees Emily staring at Horde graffiti over a mural]

Scorpia: [quietly, somberly] Ah. Okay, well... [walks to Emily's side] Things didn't exactly work out for my kingdom, but...granddad stayed loyal to the end. That's what scorpions do best! Brave, loyal...great hugs.

We can guess the parts Scorpia is stumbling on are the parts that are wrong. The “alliance” that is giving up their runestones and princess, and also, reading between the lines, the fact that it sounds like they killed everyone but infant Scorpia, because it’s the Horde who tells her about him. We also know that even in the official story, Scorpia can tell that things very much did not work out - if you’re just making stuff up, you could fix that.

Why have the Horde talk about how great her grandfather was if in fact he was Hordak’s enemy the whole time? Why claim the runestone was given up willingly, especially when no one outside of the Horde seems to particularly care and the bit we saw on Shadow Weaver’s side suggests everyone else has always known otherwise? Why not do a better job of smoothing out the problems in the story if it’s being made up entirely? There must have been enough of a relationship for it to be plausible that her grandfather supported Hordak, enough it’s worth using the story to get legitimacy for Hordak’s control in the country itself.

And so again - it would have to be a coup or something close to it.

3) On a theme level, Scorpia is a subversion of the backstabbing nature of the scorpion, and she’s the only lens we have to guess what the royal family was once like. It fits for her family to have trusted and been taken advantage of by Hordak.

So, a coup.

#Anonymous #she-ra and the princesses of power #scorpia #she-ra meta #spop

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