#This song is so lore-relevant I can't even-

[crumpet-doodles]

Dear anyone who sees this: get your ass ready because I actually have enough motivation to make a SHORT ANIMATIC WOOOOO!!!

[koimethehorizon]

Fionna and Cake theory: Simon the Artist

Nothing like a good old creative panic attack.

Fionna and Cake good. Haven’t been excited about a show like this in a long time, though it being a part of Adventure Time does help quite a bit. I was holding on to some cautious optimism for the show when it was announced as yet another big IP series covering the multiverse (still waiting to groan at THAT scene where Prismo has to explain to us about there being infinite universes), but as usual, Adventure Time’s crew continues to surprise me with its creativity, humor, and thematic resonance.

The most striking part about Fionna and Cake so far is just how deliberately the show wants us to differentiate it from the original Adventure Time.

We’re getting shots where Simon pops an artery from his arm, a theme song that explicitly talks about suicidal ideation, discussions of rent and financial problems, and curses no longer disguised with AT’s usual dialogue. Adventure Time has always had violence, thematic density, and juvenile rating pushers, but they were always reserved at small points. Meanwhile, these are factors that are just casually shown and discussed in Fionna and Cake every 3 minutes or so. This is not an all-ages miniseries, it’s for young adults. (hint: this will be relevant later)

Let’s get right into it. This is much less a speculative lore theory and more on what thematic direction the story may be going.

Before we do, let’s get this out of the way first. This theory assumes that the current Fionna and Cake world is all a part of Simon’s head and not merely a separate multiverse, which… I’m certain is fact for the following reasons.

The immediately obvious piece is that Fionna and Cake was always the Ice King’s fanfiction. Now if you’re versed in AT’s continuity you’re probably going to be asking about the red light in Fionna and Cake + Fionna and… I’ve no answer for it unfortunately. It’ll probably be relevant later in the series and possibly age this post like milk but for now, we’re not here to focus on the how, but the why.

Second is that the intro and the ending of Ep 2 literally show Fionna’s world spilling right out of Simon’s head like an animated world out of a frozen brain. If that isn’t clear enough-

Didn't realize this until writing, but these glasses are just plastic made to look like Betty's

There’s no other explanation for this other than that this world is artificial or influenced by Simon in some sense. Fionna even specifies that the statue went under renovation 12 years ago, but nobody seems to know who it is. Considering how Finn looks in the episode, it’s likely that it’s been that long since Betty’s sacrifice in the finale.

With that out of the way, here it goes.

The reason Fionna and Cake exist in the first place is because the creators found Natasha Allegri’s genderswap designs charming and wanted an in-universe reason to use them the Ice King wanted to create trashy, wish fulfillment through art. It was a phase.

Definitely changed that image for publishing.

Simon can argue if they’re good or bad but it’s undeniably his art. It’s not just a portfolio he left behind in a closet, it’s an experience that was shared with a larger audience.

And even if wasn’t liked at first, the citizens of Ooo seemed to have come around to it. And some of them love it!

Whether Simon likes it or not, he has a fan base that is so endeared to the story he made all those years ago that they demand he makes more. Why let a good story, loved by many, go to rest when you still have some life and creativity left in you?

Can't move on in more ways than one.

Except, the problem is that Simon isn’t Ice King anymore. He’s aged out of it.

His real passion is history, he's an adult who who finds passion in the mundane and antiques from the past. And frankly, there isn’t much room for wish-fulfillment and fantasy anymore. Simon has responsibilities. He has a job and a daughter in a world that is moving faster than he can process.

And where Ice King wrote about looking for love, Simon has already had it.

And lost it. His mind isn’t focused on the rosiness of finding new love, it’s grieving the one he already thought was the one.

Wasn't he supposed to be good with kids?

Despite his new life experiences, all his peers seem to want from him is to make more of what they’re familiar with.

A story made from wants and wishes that he doesn’t even have anymore.

A story that was literally made by someone else at a different time. It’s a fiction he cannot connect to anymore, art that he’s embarrassed by. Yet also jealous of. Because at one point, the body Simon used to be in understood what exactly was missing from his life and could express that easily.

Seeing it again is like experiencing a retrospection of a cringey loser you don’t want to imagine having ever been. It’s not you anymore, and you don’t want to be reminded of that.

Because despite him having a new creative passion, no one seems to care about that. All they want is Fionna and Cake. And what is more lonely than other people misunderstanding what you’re trying to express?

If I failed to make it clear somehow, my theory is that: Simon’s relationship with Fionna and Cake is a metaphor for creators growing out of their art. And this new Fionna and Cake world is still comfort art born out of Simon’s current desires and perceptions.

The snippet subtitles this “child holding a phone”. I guess I’m wrong. Essay over.

Episode 1 and 2 both have direct parallels with each other. They’re both about a protagonist who are feeling displaced from their world, living a phase of losing a significant other, leaving a thankless job, wearing a mask of stability in front of the people they care for, seeking a guru at the heart of the forest, and concluding that they no longer belong in their current world.

But more importantly, Fionna and Cake (the characters, the world, and the show) are no longer for an all-ages crowd. Fionna and Cake now feature young adults, curses, gore, alcohol, partial nudity, financial issues, morning routines, mid-life crisis, and overt suicidal ideation. These are the feelings that Simon relates to and possibly desires to express through art. Thus, his story and our new miniseries have warped that way.

Am I overthinking this? No. How dare you assume that.

Is equating the unconscious writings of his dementia-ridden self to Simon as his younger self seem a bit odd? ….Kinda. Again, it’s not the how but the why that matters in this case. I'm NOT crazy, I have proof that there is some acknowledgment of this directly in the show.

Rewatch the bar scene and apply this reading of the episode to what Simon says there:

“Your old stuff, Fionna and Cake, honest to glob my man, is an inspiration to me.”

“My old stuff, I don’t really want to talk about my old stuff…”

“Why not? You should be proud! You wrote an entire extended universe in a fugue state if you think about it.”

"Simon cringes"

If you have ever shared art with a group of people in the past, you’ve had this conversation.

Not likely, not possibly, no perhapses. You HAVE.

And Fionna and Cake being an epilogue to a massive award-winning, near-decade-spanning, cultural sensation 5 years after it ended, might result in its creators feeling very retrospective about what audiences want from them now.

And how difficult it’s going to be to tell new experiences and tones from what’s come before. Also, come on. “Extended Universe?” That doesn’t sound like Fionna and Cake. That sounds a lot like something else.

Again, seems bad with this kid.

One of the more profound shots in the main trailer for the show features the inconspicuously Finn-like kid crouching at her Fionna and Cake book in Simon’s trash. I believe this character is going to have a major role in two ways. Convincing Simon to be proud of what he’s accomplished and/or embracing that Simon wants to move away from his original work in order to create something new, or perhaps more likely, reinvent Fionna and Cake into what Simon relates to now.

We’ll just have to see what Simon thinks of his new Fionna next week.

PS. Talking as a fan now, WHAT IS UP WITH THE 1000+ TREEHOUSE IN THE INTRO?!!! ARE WE REVISITING THIS TIMELINE AGAIN?

SOMEONE TELL ME NOW!!!

[werothegreat]

More cards have been revealed! Let's talk about them!

Now this seems a neat Chip 'n' Dale payoff. Kinda similar to Snow White - Well Wisher, except already the chipmunks have better shift targets, and the one Dale mills you to give you targets. If you're playing Amber/Sapphire, you can potentially get multiple cards back in a turn.

She ain't bad! I like that you get use out of her the turn you play her (unlike Bernard). Will be very useful with high-lore questers or characters with important abilities, like Disguised Peddler.

This seems nutty. Rafiki has multiple playable shift targets, including a 1-drop. All I can imagine is shifting this in then singing Friend Like Me. Notably this is thus far the most expensive (inkwise) Amethyst character to be printed.

Amethyst gets its own version of Maui's Fish Hook. That's a really powerful effect it hands out, but being uninkable and costing 4 (essentially meaning you have to pay 6 the first time you use this) makes me think this will probably not see any actual play.

Card draw is always nice. We'll have to see how pervasive Pirates are in the new meta for the first ability to be relevant. The main drawback I see here is having 1 strength means he dies to Sisu and Brawl.

I've been waiting for this! A character that enters play exerted! 4 strength means he can't be Brawl'd or Medusa'd, and 6 willpower means he'll usually survive at least one challenge. I'd love to run him in an Emerald/Steel or Emerald/Amber deck to hide him behind bodyguards, maybe Amber for preference because you could cheat him out earlier.

Holy hell. A 2/2 2 lore with evasive for 2 is insane stats. Granted, you can only really play her in a Pirate deck, but I think Wendy alone makes a Pirate deck worth it.

So. If he survives to quest, you can get out Lucky Dime on turn 5. I mean, Sapphire is the ramp color, so there are builds that could do that anyway, but this does so without sacrificing tempo. I think he'll see play, and he might make other expensive items see more play, like Eye of the Fates. Even just getting to reuse Pawpsicles is pretty sweet.

Okay an inkable 3/2 1 lore 1 drop is kind of insane. There are multiple support characters at 1 and 2 ink. Hell you could run him as a 1 drop into Chicha, and do all your ramping and drawing shenanigans. This will see play.

Forgot this song existed. The main effect is a bit too kindred-niche (unless Inventors as a kind actually come together as a deck), but I would love to see more actions that ink themselves after play.

I see they've reprinted that one Jafar. Mr. Smee floodborn incoming?

[sarasade]

Since I've been complaining about YouTube criticism a lot lately here is some positivity for a change: Here are some of my fave TDP YouTube videos. These creators would probably appreciate getting more eyeballs on their work. (listed from newest to oldest):

The Genius of the Dragon Prince

by wordswith dragons

A GREAT analysis of the the over all themes of TDP with an unique and well thought out perspective.

Viren’s Dream Analyzed: Claudia Witnessed Viren Seal Kapp’Ar - The Dragon Prince Theory

by Angeles Lunamoth

a really fun & cute theory channel. I'm not a lore person so I don't know if the theories are correct per se but speculation is fun anyway. (Also it's funny to me that this person didn't know what Twin Peaks is. Like yeah it's not the most relevant thing to reference.)

The Dragon Prince Is an Amazing Mess.

by XeroLmao

Don't let the title fool you it's mostly a very positive and humorous video. This is the most genuinely funny long-form TDP commentary video I've seen so far.

The Music of The Dragon Prince - Season 1 (themes & analysis) &

The Dragon Prince Music Analysis - S2 and S3

by Spelonberry

As someone who doesn't get music at all I didn't expect to like these videos this much! It's rare to see someone analyse a non-musical show's OST in such detail. it made me appreciate TDP's music even more. I can't believe I didn't notice that the Mirror theme/Aaravos' theme sounded so diffenrent because it's the only song in the OST that has piano in it.

The Dragon Prince: Why Fans Love Aaravos But Hate Viren

by Cartoon Junkies

the title made me giggle :)

How The Dragon Prince Captures the Spirit of ATLA

by Mother's Basement

A great video essay about the themes of grief and death in TDP. Once again a very unique perspective to analyse the show from. It's just so satisfying when someone puts together a really good argument, you know? I'm kind of tired of the ATLA comparisons after hearing them for over 5 years though. TDP itself really leans into them so what can you do.

----

I love VogJam too but he's VERY critical so his channel might not be for everyone. I'll gladly listen to any negative crit as long as the person doing it is funny and he's pretty damn hilarious. I don't mind hearing harsh critique of TDP at all like people do make good points.

[foxes-that-run]

The thing is...the manipulate jerk that Jake is, he was in her life for way more time than people think. No one understands how much Jake impacted her and broke her. Yeah that can happen in one month too but she literally resents him in a way that makes me think that it wasn't just one or two months. Feel like there's a chance they kept seeing eachother for few more months or like just hooking up. I mean I've read The Moviestar and Me so I wouldn't put it past him to keep coming back to a 21 year old Taylor. He has a pattern

Jake is a POS, Taylor said it was “a kind of bad that gets so overpowering you can't even write about it," Manuscript sings of trauma, and after dating younger boys. I know the WANGBT swiftie-lore is they were on/off, but it was in 2010. Her team said it ended December 2010. To Vanity Fair she said in 2013 "since 2010 I have dated exactly two people.” That is Harry and Conor, so she said she didn't date Jake in 2011.

He also just doesn't sound like someone with who 'the armor falls', 'a worthwhile fight', or the 'golden age of something good and right':

The Guardian: [Hide away and find your peace of mind / With some indie record that's much cooler than mine.] "That was the most important line of the song," Swift says. "It was a relationship where I felt very critiqued and subpar. He'd listen to this music that nobody had heard of … but as soon as anyone else liked these bands, he'd drop them. I felt that was a strange way to be a music fan. And I couldn't understand why he would never say anything nice about the songs I wrote or the music I made."

And finally to USA Today: "WANEGBT is a definitive portrait of how I felt when I finally stopped caring what my ex thought of me. He made me feel like I wasn't as good or as relevant as these hipster bands he listened to. So I made a song that I knew would absolutely drive him crazy when he heard it on the radio. Not only would it hopefully be played a lot, so that he'd have to hear it, but it's the opposite of the kind of music that he was trying to make me feel inferior to.

So maybe State of Grace is about some blue eyed fire sign we never knew about... Conor Kennedy is a Leo (fire sign) with brown eyes... or maybe that detail was changed, or its a line she liked from an earlier song. Lots of swifties think its about Jake and that's all cool, but I don't think much of Red is about Jake apart from ATW. ... and I don't' think Taylor does either because:

In October 2013 she spoke with Vulture, “I heard from the guy that most of Red is about,” Swift said. “He was like, ‘I just listened to the album, and that was a really bittersweet experience for me. It was like going through a photo album.’ That was nice. Nicer than, like, the ranting, crazy e-mails I got from this one dude."

"Most of Red" is about someone who listens to her music, unlike Jake who didn't listen to her music, did rant at her and she so much wanted him to hear WANGBT that she made it an earworm. And:

On 28 December 2015, when the Out of the Woods Music Video was about to be released she went on a liking spree about it which included this post, linking the muse of State of Grace with Out of the Woods:

(Thank you @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim who had all of that in her fabulous Red post.)

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I've also been thinking a lot about closeted pop stars (including Harry) in the time of Chappel Roan. Mostly unformed thoughts but very eager to see what's next for all of them

You sent this a while back anon - and I keep thinking of answering it and each time what 'in the time of Chappell Roan' has shifted slightly and so my answer has got more complicated and the fundamental differences between Chappell Roan and Harry have become more obvious.

I think there's an emotional landscape question about what it means to be a closeted pop star in this moment. I don't know if we can imagine the complexity of this answer - and when we try it's important to include the push back against the fan gaze that is coming from queer artists.

The other side of this question is what it means for his career. And here I think it's worth asking what does it mean that Harry is going to be making pop music in this moment. It's been a time of these massive, interesting, female pop acts. All of whom in their own particular ways say something about themselves and something about pop with their art. It's been a time that Taylor Swift, who has baked cookies for her fans in the past, has told fans to fuck off in songs.

None of this is very Harry Styles. One of the things that has been really interesting to me watching the pop landscape shift this year - is that has really made me define what Harry does. These are I think the key elements to his proposition:

With each album he has had a very big song that spoke to the moment we're in

His aesthetic is striking, interesting and playful (thanks Harry L - but also thanks to hiring strong artists with a point of view for key tasks such as album photography)

In his music there's a lot of space for people to project onto, with particular space for fantasies

The core of the fantasy is the live show and its place of joy

And certainly there's a huge gap between that - and what we've been seeing from other artists recently.

I was listening to a recent episode of Every Single Album and Nora and Nathan were talking about Harry Styles for a while (I can't remember which one and would welcome pointers, because it's not clear from the episode description). And Nathan in particular was suggesting that Harry would need to think carefully about how he presented himself in this space and it wouldn't be enough to be projected onto - he needed to share something of himself. Here Dua Lipa is used as sort of a cautionary tale of what happens if you don't have enough Lore.

It's not that I entirely disagree. I think there's a lot that Harry address in his music that would be thrilling, if he was interested in sharing. When you think of songs like 'But Daddy I love him' or the 'Girl, So Confusing' remix - and imagine what would happen if Harry was interested in playing even near that playground - that's something I'd look forward to. I also think the most effective way to address the way people do and don't talk about his sexuality - would be a song that had an element of fuck you in it.

But I think there are multiple dangers here - and not having enough lore is only one of them. I also think there's a worry of losing what people want from you, by trying to be what people love in other people. (I think this, far more than anything, has been Katy Perry's problem. She's trying and failing to be a more relevant version of herself - but she'd be far more relevant if she'd kept doing what people love from her.

I really think the 'if he's interested in sharing' is the key point. If he has any interest in writing any music that comments on his life in a way that is intelligible to listeners - then I think there's real potential. But I think nothing could be more fatal than doing it for the lore.

To come back to Chappell Roan - I just listened to the popcast episode about touring, and read Jon Caramanica's review of Chappell Roan's show in Tennessee. In that he compares the show with the on-line discourse - and basically argues that the way forward, the way to build a career that matters - is to ignore the people who want to talk about you and focus on those who want to be part of the collective experience when you make music.

I hope that this, more than anything else, is the message that Harry takes forward. If he has anything to say, then I'm all for him saying it (although I think the response to Chappell clearly shows that people don't really want popstars to say things). But I think the most important thing for his career will be him continuing to do what he does well.

[silverloreley]

Thoughts about Descendants: Rise of Red

I saw Rise of Red.

It was a mess and, as I expected, it blew up the lore of the whole franchise, so I'm going to consider it an AU of sorts from now on, or out of the original canon because there is no way to make everything work together.

Besides, it feels very rushed, especially the ending, it comes far too soon, and even if it's basically certain there will be a sequel or two, it still doesn't work on so many levels.

That said, it was a funny nice little thing, the songs are catchy (Red and Life is Sweeter are pretty great) and if it was for a different franchise it'd be nice and fine.

But it isn't. This is set in Descendants's world and that's where a good bit of the issues arise.

This is going to be long.

First of all, we already had enough problems with timelines as it was, but we kind of solved the issue with different theories (merged universes, different developments due to segregation, they were different but the unification brought a super quick collective development... it all depends on what line of thinking you prefer) the only one that never worked in the first place was that everyone was the same age and went to school together, Heroes and Villains. It simply doesn't add up, most of the Villains are supposed to be much older and most certainly didn't live along Heroes peacefully. But RoR went exactly there?!

And I see the appeal of it all, sure, but Maleficent should at least be older than Aurora by the simple grace of having been the one to curse baby Aurora at her christening so Maleficent being the same age as Cinderella, and Aurora by proxy since Chad and Audrey are the same age too we can assume Aurora and Ella are around the same age, makes no damn sense. Hades is a similar issue, but that one can be solved, let's say he was too bored in the Underworld (or was trying to escape punishment for his coup and was depowered by Zeus) and decided to take a younger appearance and mingle with mortals (ahem, with Maleficent in particular, I do love the pair, okay?), Greek gods did that in the myths, I can accept that.

On the same line, Aladdin and Jasmine being there puts them in a spot that is just too strange. Unless their whole plot already happened and the Sultan agreed to ship them both to school before they got married? Idk, some things can be fixed, some not, Aladdin and Jasmine probably can. The "call us jaladdin" can't, I draw the line here.

What can't be fixed in the slightest is Cinderella's story. I mean, I have seen many movies that set Cinderella's story in modern times, they're fine, for the most part, but in this case, a huge bit of the original plot just disappears, and it's the search Charming has to do to find a girl he met at the ball and only there through a single glass shoe that a Fairy Godmother made for her. Charming knows Ella already here, he doesn't have to look all over the kingdom to find the girl with glass shoes?! And since we're told the glass shoes are important for Ella and Charming when the gift the new shoes to Chloe, you can't tell me they aren't relevant.

AND Fairy Godmother, here Fay, being the same age too, if not younger, and unable to correctly do magic is a bit I have beef with too, FG was supposed to be friends with Ella's mother, but she's too young here! And clearly unable to perform magic as she should. Let's use the "fairies grow slower" explanation here, so Fay is much older than she looks, it's fine, we can even use the same for Maleficent too, just for the bit. I have no idea why would either of them go to Merlin's school for teenagers if they are not so, but let's just say it's because no one can teach them as well as Merlin can and let's call it a day. The problem Fay isn't able to correctly perform spells is a huge issue also because we're explicitly told in Descendants she had a "motherly smile" when she helped Cinderella and FG didn't correct that, she even got upset when Maleficent talked about hamsters and eggplants instead of mice and pumpkins when the carriage was discussed so it's pretty much established that FG was the one to help Ella, it couldn't have been anyone else.

Let's talk about the great absentees while we're at it, shall we? Aka, the makers of Auradon, Belle and Adam. Where are they? Is Adam cursed at this point and Belle doesn't go to school? Like in Beastly (great book btw, not so much the movie tho...)? I mean, everyone else is missing too, if we want to get technical, but the problem is that Merlin school's existence undermines a good chunk of Auradon's lore as we know it.

(After I started writing this post I came across the very disturbing info they almost put Beast in the plot of RoR, as a jock kid who could switch between beast and boy basically at will, which is not how a curse that leaves a boy traumatized for life to the point he decides to ban magic as soon as he becomes king should work, so his presence would have been much worse than his absence. In fact, I think it's for the better he didn't appear at all)

We speculated and we were sort of told by the extra books that the reason Auradon united and the Isle was created was because of a "Villain takeover" for which a rebellion was necessary (exact words we find in the guide), so there was a war and all, do we have to assume everything happened after the ones we saw in RoR left school? Since we have added the info Wonderland didn't want to join Auradon, hence the seal of the Rabbit Hole, what side did Bridget stand on during the war? Did she already have the authority to call the shots? When did it all happen?! How do you go from going all to school together to rise up in arms?

On a similar note, as funny as it can be the idea a coup can't start from a school so Ben is very relaxed when told, I've been informed by people who know this kind of stuff that a coup can, indeed begin from any place, as long as there are enough important people/resources where it all starts. As we know, Chad was considered second-in-line after Ben (he says so in D2), although I guess this changed in the years after the first 3 movies (possibly because Chloe was deemed more fit to rule?), so the Charming family is important enough that the Queen of Hearts seizing Auradon Prep with her whole army can be considered a successful coup, even more so in absence of the actual High King and Queen from the country. If we add many royals and their kids were there, as well as Fairy Godmother and Uma (yes, Uma became very important for Auradon, you can't change my mind), it is, most definitely a very real coup.

One thing I saw around is that it's likely Red and Chloe solved nothing or made things worse for Bridget and I sort of agree only in part. People tend to underestimate how much traumatic events can affect people, especially people as sweet as Bridget seemed to be, even more so when she didn't have any friends but Ella (by her own admission) and Ella was too busy with her own happiness to help her friend who got hurt, so yes, that single prank could have changed her completely. Also, I believe, after she went dark, the Queen of Hearts killed Ulyana.

I suppose we're going to find out what did Red and Chloe messed up for real in the next movie, I tend to think that either Red realizes she doesn't like bubbly Bridget as a mom that much because she's too kind and it makes her a rather bad queen, not a dictator but not capable of making the right decisions either OR something else vital in the franchise was blown up, like Ulyana being still alive (yes I totally stand that the Queen of Heart killed her, but if she didn't it means there's a problem on the loose).

Another thing is the freezing spell in the cookbook. Some say that its existence should have blocked Ulyana's plot all the same and Chloe and Red's intervention actually changed nothing, but I disagree.

Assuming it would have worked all the same on Ulyana in the original timeline, we could suppose that she didn't open the book inside Merlin's study, but simply the gang took the book and left before Merlin could arrive, so one of the others (Maleficent, Morgie and Hades all had magic) could have unfreezed her, then she could have found someone clueless to open the book for her (Ella in exchange for a chance to attend the ball, so Ulyana was her actual-but-evil-FG? a random extra who the gang brought specifically for the goal? Bridget herself, naive as she was, they left the book there and she opened it sealing her own fate?), so the prank would have happened, the main change was that R&C activated the security system much earlier and kept the gang in the room longer, so Merlin got around to catch them and give them detention this time around, that part works.

Now, this is all I have for now, but I may add another post and reply to the comments to this one, so go wild!

[yuseirra]

I thought about it, and the way Mephisto could be about Aqua would be that he's expressing his feelings towards Sarina. But even that doesn't work because the song has lyrics of "I want to become you". So.. No matter how I take of it, It really isn't about Aqua.

That song IS indeed Kamiki's. That has certainly been confirmed. It's not Aqua expressing his longing towards Ai, it's Kamiki talking about his "love"(may it be twisted or not)in regards to Ai(and if we do bring mythology into this, Ai really is supposed to be his other half. They function together to restore balance of the world, share shrines, are worshiped together and are very much in love. Without her, he can't be himself. That seems to be how those two gods, amenouzume and sarutahiko, are supposed to be.)

He must be a favorite of the author's or for the artists involved, his lore at least, if he has TWO whole songs dedicated to him revolving around his feelings towards Ai, but what would be the point of having an insane psycho's mind being THAT emphasized?

That's sort of...another meta reason I believe this can't be all. When you dive into what those songs are speaking of, what it's implying isn't so simple. There are some really vague ideas going around that imply of wishes and divinity and have some fantasy elements to it, I kinda do think those shouldn't be there if it's not relevant in the first place.

I really hope they tackle that!♥♥ it's what I look forward to still

[chaotic-goodsir]

The Searcher in The Shadows Part 3 Spoilers

I loved this whole episode. It was full of so much lore for the Blazing World and some huge character moments for all the main four. The writing, acting and singing were all fantastic and I had so much fun listening. But also, much like the great astronomer/lovesick nerd, John Herschel:

I have questions.

Which is good, because the pulp genre is supposed to leave you excited for more of the story and this has definitely succeeded.

Some thoughts in no particular order:

1) This is probably not relevant to anything, but where did Kal get all those boats? Were they former Blazing World ships similar to the Antikythera but corrupted by the fog, or did he make bargains with human captains other than AJ to commandeer their ships? It would be very cool if he had a fleet of stolen ghost ships from all throughout time.

2) So, Margaret was 'The Great Enchantress', but what exactly does that mean? Was she evil? Did she work for her father? Who were the names she mentioned when she got back to the Nautilus? Was Itzal really pulling the strings of the whole evil fog curse thing all along, was it Kal (now we've learned a bit more, I feel like he's fitting into more of a shady advisor/vizier sort of role than just another victim of the fog...), or could it even have been Margaret weilding power over her father before she lost her powers/memories?

3) Ahem. Look. You can't put the phrase 'old friend' in a song about two people on opposing sides of a cosmic war having some kind of history and expect me to be normal about it. And don't think I missed Kal saying 'Dak' either. What went on between these two? 🤔 Much to consider.

4) (In which I finally shut up about Kal)John overcoming his fear of his father's disapproval and now Margaret standing up to Itzal, in the same episode? Ooh, the parallels. I feel like this theme is going to build up to something/relate to more lore about The Great Enchantress, although I'm not sure what exactly. I'm excited to see what John ends up doing after the dramatic character shift in 'Before the Island'.

5) Okay, the ending hurt. But this is pulp musicals, based on the genre famous for giving characters dramatic death scenes and then bringing them back. So I don't think we've seen the last of Samuel, and I don't just mean in the sense that he'll live on through the notebook. Is he dead? Sure, but is that really the end? I don't think so. ☀️ Nothing can stop the sun! ☀️ (I'm in denial...)

But on that note: Samuel's whole arc about being the one writing everything down, the eyes through which the listener sees the story? Being the character who started it all and documents it all? I had the feeling throughout this and the previous episodes that Samuel was fading into the background of the story a bit, but this ending really said 'he was never a part of the same narrative as everyone else, because he's the goddamn NARRATOR.' and then made him the one to decide the fate of all the other characters. That was amazing writing, and even if he doesn't come back at all (though I still think he might), I'll be satisfied with that ending, however sad it was.

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 6)

And, we're back! I'm so glad that the leaking issue didn't wind up making the team have to delay their episode releases, both for their sake and ours. I've been highly anticipating this teaser release, and look forward to cracking into the next round of Power Rankings.

In case you didn't see my last power ranking for Episode 5, the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Connor's Elimination

Current Point Total: 9 acquired/14 possible

'Cause now we have lore! >:D

Well, turns out that my assessment that the Season 2 cast was safe turned out to not be true. At least Connor was my second lowest positioned of the S2 characters, and my bad vibes about the Yellow Tribe were on point... Yeah, that's some copium right there. Seems this whole predicting business might be harder than I thought. Genuinely, though, I'm glad that Connor was at least in the better half of the contestants ranked (barely).

While I'm a little disappointed that Connor didn't make it farther this time around-- I think his placement was nearly identical to how he did in S2-- he wasn't particularly one of my favorite characters, so the loss didn't hurt me that deeply. Instead, he was an understandable sacrifice in terms of making the villains out to be more of a threat, much like what I theorized for Grett. Lesson learned that sometimes the most obvious boot from a tribe simply will be the boot.

Trailer Analysis

Looking back on the last power ranking, I feel like I could have done a lot better if I'd been paying more attention to what we were shown in the preview beyond the song snippet. So, combined with the fact that I'm just really excited to figure out what's going on next episode, I decided that this time around I'd take a closer look. I've never been a fan of analyzing a trailer so closely that you basically spoil the entire story before it happens, but, I don't think that'll happen here...? Depending on how accurate I am, maybe this section will suddenly disappear next time. Who knows.

So, a compilation of relevant things that I think will happen next episode:

Connor and Trevor will have a conversation. While I doubt that this will have anything to do with the elimination order, it is interesting. I'm guessing that Connor will give Trevor some sort of advice regarding his feelings for Derek? Or, even if it can't be counted as advice (given the L he took with Riya), Connor could at least relate. I don't think this is foretelling that Connor will reenter the competition now, though.

Somebody set up a trap to catch a squirrel. My guess is Tom, as a continuation to the drama between Gabby and the others over killing and eating animals. (Aiden confirms in Episode 5 that catching the chicken was "Tom's trap.") However, it could also be something related to Jensen and/or Trevor and Derek, if they started trying to kill the forest animals again.

Yul will take more orders from Emily to make Grett happy. This means that this is an ongoing plotline.

Tess and Ally will reunite at some point. Interesting.

Tom and Jake are definitely going to fight. Given that Tom looks surprised in one screenshot and regretful in the other, I think he's going to realize how much his relationship with Aiden has been hurting Jake.

The challenge will be contestants pushing balls of yarn(?) down towards other teams' arches, trying to score a goal, while other members of the teams try to block them. All teams appear to have arches and people pushing balls. This is definitely another challenge taken from Survivor, I think possibly Gabon...? I'm pretty sure that, in real life, they had to stop doing this challenge because it injured people too much, but that's the beauty of animation!

At least Yul and Aiden will be knocked down, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Does that mean they gave it their all to stop a ball, or that the ball trampled their attempts to stop it...? Focusing on the second screenshot, though, the Cyan team is stopping yellow and magenta balls at the same time. Assuming the contestants have any say in where they aim, I wonder if the Yellow (Grett) and Magenta (Ashley, possibly Fiore?) teams will align to target Cyan because they have five members. That could be an in-universe reason to keep the teams even with a Cyan elimination, despite Cyan being pretty physically fit.

"Sure, princess. Whatever floats your boat~!"

Given Fiore's placement in both of these screenshots, it seems like one image must happen right before the other, so Fiore is probably addressing Jake. She sounds really confident and mocking... for some reason? Not saying that's out of character for Fiore, but did something happen to make that confidence warranted as opposed to her anger at being on the bottom? Here are my two guesses: 1) Fiore, Ashley, and Ally have made a girls' alliance, so Fiore is dismissive towards Jake because she knows he's on the bottom. 2) More likely, this might have something to do with Tom and Jake's fight. Jake ran in to urgently tell Fiore something, which could be about a development in Tom and Jake's relationship. Fiore doesn't care, so she gets sassy. I'm honestly kind of confused by this, but we'll see what happens.

Those are all of the scenes from the trailer that I thought were important/I was actually able to get something of value out of. Onto the main event: the actual Power Ranking!

Power Ranking

#1: Jake

Other than... being a S1 character, I guess? There really isn't anything that makes me think that Jake would be headed home this week. He's entrenched in drama, he seems to have the numbers on his tribe, and I don't even think that Magenta is going to tribal. To me, it's so clear cut that I don't have much to say. If he does go home, I'll be very surprised.

#2: Alec

Woah, check out that jump! From 12th to 2nd. Adventure Camp Dan wishes he could've had that when moving to Disventure Camp.

Now that Alec has survived one Yellow vote-- which turned out to be Connor-- I think he's pretty safe. The idea of Riya, Yul, and Grett suddenly now turning around and all working together to eliminate their leader feels laughable, given how dysfunctional the three of them are. Like, could Alec really lose that much social capital in the span of one episode, in a challenge he'll presumably be good at...? I'm kind of anticipating a merge at 12 (Episode 7), so I'm hoping this would confirm that Alec makes the merge.

#3: Ashley

Speaking of making the merge, I honestly think that Ashley will be there. After exploring some more of DC's behind the scenes content (the charity livestream they held 4 months ago and Silly Billy's S1 cast interviews), I've come to learn that the DC cast really likes Ashley... for some reason.

Look, it's not like I hate the gal! I just don't see her as the standout, heroic and hilarious character that a bunch of the voice actors seem to. Because I held this opinion, I was unaware of the possibility that Ashley was brought back because she was some huge fan favorite that everyone wanted to see done to justice. If that's the case, I have a hard time seeing the DC writers eliminating her as a premerger again.

I don't think Magenta is going to tribal, and I think that Fiore or Ally would be more natural boots than Ashley would be anyways. Congrats on ranking this high even though you're currently being hunted for sport, S1 girl. I still don't think you're going to win overall, but you'll probably make it through the day.

#4: Yul

Another big jump! Yul's new position is aided by two major factors. The first is that he's one of only two S2 boys left in the game, after James, Hunter, and Connor were eliminated (side note: I did NOT notice that the game only started with three boys from S1. I wonder what level of safety that grants them. Why did they bring back every S1 girl except Lill. That's so many.)

The second is that the plotline between him and Emily is clearly continuing to have relevance. Perhaps I'm relying too much on the rule of threes, but it would be strange, in my opinion, to have Yul lean on Emily for assistance more than once, but still only twice. Perhaps Emily's character was largely designed to assist a major Yul plotline, after all.

He also doesn't seem to have suffered too greatly from that stage light falling on his foot last episode, which bodes well for his odds. Unfortunately, it seems like the viewing public is going to be subjected to Yul for a little while longer (/lh).

#5: Aiden

Woohoo, the other surviving S2 boy. I honestly wanted to put him higher, but the fact that I'm really feeling like Cyan is headed for tribal couldn't let me justify higher than 5th place.

And, there are genuine reasons why I think he could go home now. If that conversation between Tom and Jake ends in them reconciling, the writers might not want Aiden around anymore to continue being a barrier between them. (And, now that the music episode has passed, they don't need to keep him around for his pipes, either ;).) It's been long enough now since Lake's elimination that I don't think Aiden's elimination would feel super weird. He's had a bit of a chance to play for himself, so if his fate now becomes to hang out in a cool hotel with his boyfriend and bestie for a couple of weeks, it wouldn't seem so bad.

...But I still think Aiden isn't going home, dammit! Knowing DC, I doubt Tom and Jake would make up so early unless one of them was going home, not Aiden. They love the drama. Tom and Jake's relationship is more likely to get worse before it gets better. Not to mention, I still find the "James returns" theory very compelling. Although the Cyan girls have plenty of reasons to eliminate Aiden, I still don't really think they would.

#6: Ally

Is it just me, or would Ally's elimination feel... really random right now? Like, how would it happen, and what narrative point would it serve? The show has very deliberately shown Ally bonding with each and every member of her team. She's had multiple one-on-one conversations with Ashley cementing their friendship, she grew closer to Jake by relating to him through song, and was always the one to defend Fiore from Hunter's attacks. All three of them have reasons to like her and want to work with her, so why would they let her go?

However, Ally doesn't cement a higher placement because I do think there are ways that they could swing her elimination. It's possible that the writers only established relationships between Ashley, Jake, and Ally so that there'll be high stakes and tension between which teammate Ashley and Jake will pair with if Magenta does go to another vote. For Ally to go home, they would have to choose to side with Fiore, but that's not totally unreasonable given how they voted last time.

The fact that Ally and Tess seem to reunite in this episode is also troubling. We have the dangling plot thread from last episode that Ally is worried that she and Hunter won't be able to spend that much time apart (which she believes is good for them) before they have to reexamine their relationship. If that fear turns out to be true, I could see that giving Ally an opportunity to quickly get some advice and closure from Tess would allow her to head to the Losers' Motel with a plan of how to handle Hunter in the future.

I still don't think that Ally or Magenta has anything to fear with tribal, though.

#7: Tess

A definite downgrade from last week, but still not that terrible. A lot of Tess' new placement is that, as I keep reiterating, I think Cyan is very likely to go to tribal, so it's hard to justify putting anyone on Cyan too high.

Having the opportunity to reconnect with Ally is also potentially bad for Tess, although probably less problematic for Tess than for Ally. If the writers were like, "well, Tess got one conversation with Hunter and one with Ally, now she's out!", that would be kind of silly, imo. But, still, that chat will eliminate the sort of "immunity" from getting booted that I gave Tess previously.

It's also not like there's no reason for the Cyans to take out Tess here. The swing vote is usually a fairly protected position, as both alliances should be looking to her for aid. But, if neither side finds her trustworthy enough, they could unite to take her out. I can definitely see a potential character arc of Tess' indecision taking her out from the game. If she can truly never make up her mind about whether to trust Ellie or not, everyone could unite to take out their unreliable teammate and save their own asses.

However, from a narrative perspective, this would further postpone the conflict between Ellie and Aiden, which could be kind of anticlimactic. It would also throw away Tess' character over a trait that wasn't even particularly pronounced in her original appearance. Then again, we saw what the writers did to Hunter, so we can't be too sure that Tess isn't headed in a similar direction.

#8: Grett

Much like Alec, I'm a bit less worried about Grett in this episode after we had the Yellow elimination last episode. She's also picking up points from (presumably) being involved in the ongoing Yul and Emily plotline, which could give her some plot armor moving forward.

If Yellow is headed to a vote, I don't really see why Alec and Riya would choose to eliminate Grett over Yul. Riya really dislikes Yul, he's still possibly injured, and Alec has a history of working with Grett, even if it ended on kind of bad terms.

Why put her so far below Yul, then? Well, first of all, Grett is a meta-threatened S1 girl, while Yul is a meta-protected S2 boy. Secondly, I do still think that Yul will probably be the cause of Grett's elimination at some point down the line, even if it's not this episode. Perhaps I should make an overall theory post talking about some of my thoughts on potential endings someday. And, third, I actually did think of one reason why Alec and Riya would choose to keep Yul over Grett... kind of. If Emily wanted to keep Yul in the show for whatever reasons, she could use the earpiece to instruct Yul on clever, strategic things to say that could also convince Alec and Riya that he turned over a new leaf. Basically, it's possible that Emily could girlboss her way into keeping Yul in the game, rather than Yul staying in due to his own merits.

There are other S1 girls (and others) that I believe to be in a spicier position now than Grett, though, so she lands at #8.

#9: Fiore

With Fiore, we enter the realm of players that I seriously believe could be in danger of elimination this episode. Yes, despite my claims that I think Fiore could be the winner, I do think that, if Magenta goes to tribal this episode, Fiore would be the boot. I just don't think Magenta really is going to tribal; ha ha!

It's really that whole, "whatever you say, princess~" that has me worried for Fiore. I'm concerned that, after getting a taste of power with the Hunter boot going her way, Fiore has become overconfident in thinking that Ally is definitely the next boot and that she will make the merge, whenever it is. (Basically, Fiore would think that Ally's presence gives her enough of a buffer that she thinks the merge is essentially secured.) If she goes back to demeaning Jake and Ashley, they could easily choose to turn on her and protect their newfound friendships with Ally instead. Fiore's status as a S1 girl isn't helping that read.

Again, I feel like all of the current Magenta team members are probably going to make the merge at this point, so Fiore should be safe. However, as (in my opinion) the most likely Magenta boot, Fiore winds up at #9 in case of emergency.

#10: Gabby

Thinking back on it, other than being a S1 girl, my reasoning behind Gabby's elimination wasn't that strong.

Or, maybe it was, before Ellie absorbed even more of the villainous energy last episode with her comments about torturing Jake. With comments like that, it becomes even harder to believe that Tom and Aiden would choose to target Gabby instead of Ellie. The farther Gabby makes it into All Stars, the less of an excuse there is for her to be eliminated with very little focus beforehand.

Still, I think Cyan is in trouble, blah blah blah. If some sort of twist does occur that gives Ellie individual immunity amidst her team-- and I don't think that would be a totem, as Ellie using a totem on herself and inadvertently sending Gabby home would basically require her to make her totem publicly known before the vote-- then they could target Gabby instead.

It is harder to predict DC than Survivor because DC has more of a penchant for pulling random shit out of nowhere, like that vote in S1 where Gabby just straight up obliterated Ashley. I wonder if that relationship will reemerge later in All Stars... Gabby would probably need to be around for it to happen, so, clearly, she should stay in.

#11: Tom

When I was drafting out my initial thoughts for this list, I originally put Tom really high. Like, top 3 high. But, the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel like Tom could be on the chopping block this episode.

For starters, the love triangle. I said last episode that, because Tom is the central leg between Jake and Aiden, he wouldn't be at risk of elimination. Well... I take those words back, sort of.

Let's look at it this way: if you eliminated any one of Jake, Aiden, or Tom, what would happen? If you eliminate Jake, Aiden and Tom are left. That's pretty boring, because then they could just be friends without any particularly strong (or at least personally motivated) opposition. If you eliminate Aiden, Jake and Tom are left. That's definitely better, because Jake and Tom could simply continue the will-they-won't-they plotline on their own, but you'd still lose Aiden as an obstacle without Jake having any hand in it.

If you eliminate Tom, Jake and Aiden are left. In my opinion, this is by far the spiciest option. Jake would probably be super mad at Aiden for not doing enough to protect Tom from getting voted out, leading to Aiden being justifiably angry that Jake has been so aggressive towards him despite Aiden not wanting Tom to go home, either. I think that having Tom's two "love interests" left to fight each other without him actually being there is the most interesting way in which one corner of the triangle could be eliminated.

But that's all about why Tom "should" be eliminated; what about why he would get eliminated? There are a couple of possibilities here, too. First of all, that argument between Jake and Tom in the preview, which ended with Tom pretty clearly being remorseful about what he did. If Tom gets super demoralized about screwing things up with Jake, it could cause him to be seen as a liability. Or, in an extreme case, Tom could feel so guilty about his and Aiden's kiss that he would ask the girls to target him instead of Aiden.

Alternatively (or even additionally), we also saw that squirrel trap in the trailer, which I said could be hinting at further conflict between Tom and Gabby over the team's diet. If Gabby got really fed up with Tom's carnivore side, she could ask Ellie if they could target Tom instead of Aiden, which Ellie might agree to.

Despite all this, I can also totally understand why the writers would want to keep Tom around. After his kiss with Aiden, his visibility and importance seem higher than ever. If James does return to the competition later, having him chat with Tom would be... interesting, even given James not caring that his boyfriend was stage-kissing another man. And, Tom potentially has a winner plot set up, given that the writers found it important enough to tell us what Tom would do with the prize. With Cyan likely going to tribal, however, the possibility of a surprise Tom boot felt more viable than ever. I'm not putting him in last place, but if Tom does wind up going home, I'm gonna feel pretty smart.

#12: Riya

Much like Fiore, Riya is here as my safety net for who I think would go home if Yellow does wind up going to tribal instead of Cyan. However, I feel like a third Yellow tribal is, on the whole, more likely than a third Magenta tribal, so Riya gets kicked all the way down here.

Without Connor as a shield, Riya is in a much worse position. Yul already dislikes Riya in general, but that only increased after she caused the light to fall on him, and would only increase more if he ever learns that Riya was the one to fire that stray vote at him. Grett would probably work with Yul, which is already 50% of the votes against her.

Alec is definitely Riya's best lifeline, and it could work out in her favor. After all, if Alec continues working with Grett and Yul, if they go to tribal again, the couple would most likely vote him out. However, I think it's really a question of how much longer Alec thinks he has before the merge.

Here's my logic: if Alec thinks there's still a long time until the merge, then, yes, it would be better to work with Riya to have a chance to eliminate Grett or Yul. That's because, the more team challenges there are, the greater opportunity Yellow has to lose again, and the greater possibility that Grett and Yul vote him out.

However, if Alec thinks that the merge is soon, it's better to vote out Riya. If Alec and Riya managed to eliminate, let's say, Yul, then Alec is essentially losing two members of his villains alliance-- one due to Yul's elimination, and one due to Grett presumably withdrawing. Alec has already burned her once before.

That would cause the villains alliance to go into the merge with a maximum of only four members: Alec, Riya, Fiore, and Ellie. The other teams have already been primed to believe that the villains are a huge threat, and with such small numbers, they would be very easily eradicated. Even beyond others, Fiore and Ellie might also be mad at Alec for him dragging them onto his sinking ship of a plan, and try to desert as well. My point is, sticking with Riya could go really badly for Alec.

So, combining that doomsday scenario with me at least thinking that the merge probably will be soon, and the fact that Alec choosing to side with Riya would only put them at a 50:50, NOT a majority, and I can totally see why Alec would choose to vote for Riya.

And, that's not even taking into account Riya's poor behavior! The Yellow Team did lose the singing challenge due to Riya's influence, and they suffered during the diving challenge due to her fear of the depths, too. She's a challenge liability. She was also shown hogging the shower, and is now sunbathing during camp life, proving that she's not a team player. She has way too much confidence in her "power position," as she put it last episode, for where her game actually is. If it's not Cyan that goes to tribal, I can totally see the threads coming together to lead to a Riya elimination.

#13: Ellie

It's just simple math for me at this point. I think that Cyan is almost certainly going to tribal next episode + I think Ellie is by far the most likely boot for Cyan's next tribal = I think Ellie is really, really likely to be the next boot. She's even a S1 girl.

My argument is pretty much the exact same things I said last episode, except now they're even worse. The screenshots from the challenge now make me think that Cyan will go to tribal next episode, as opposed to my confusion about why Cyan would lose a music challenge. We also saw that Ellie has begun to prioritize suffering over strategy, which both increases the odds that people like Tess would want to take her out and decreases the odds that she'd be able to pull off an intellectual move to save herself.

I'll honestly be pretty surprised if Ellie doesn't go home next episode... but, hey, I was surprised by Connor's boot last episode, too! If Ellie does manage to survive another episode, I wonder if I'll have to start reconsidering putting her so close to the bottom. Part of it would depend on how she survives, of course.

The only way to know for sure is to actually watch the episode myself, so, see y'all on Thursday! Thanks for reading!

[angeldustanalog]

29 alternate ways a sub who can't/can't always communicate verbally might display sexual/kink desire

1. awkward, dubiously efficient but earnest, or vague attempts at being direct/initiating scenes or sometimes even initiating social interaction at all

2. talking about kink stuff with the intention of escalating (often will have a different tone than them explaining their kinks because they know they need to explain what they like at some point to be able to play which would probably sound more anxious/stressed, whereas if they start talking about kink offhandedly, maybe they can even be flirtatious sometimes. but the vibe is closer to 'bringing up a topic for funsies' not 'conveying information about this topic because information must be conveyed')

3. vague, repetitive statements, usually trying to communicate an overarching idea (telling you 'you're cool' 'i like you' 'you're nice' 'you're fun' or things like that but not being able to really express further but the overall message is 'i have positive feelings towards you of some kind' they just have a hard time speaking)

4. nonverbal communication like growling, biting, scratching, head butting, licking, nuzzling, obviously this was written by a dogboy but there are probably non furry examples too

5. relevant posting online in a place they could reasonably think you might see it (especially if they then tell you about the post, indirectly lead you to it, or send it directly/tag you)

6. sending really obvious anons

7. reblogging things that are relevant to things you've talked about, inside jokes, things that they think you would notice and understand

8. flirting via other social media/tumblr methods

9. researching things and telling you about what they found/implementing that knowledge

10. drawing/painting/writing/ any art or expressive outlet depicting what they want, or a metaphor for what they want, or how they feel about you, or anything in service of adding to the dynamic lore

11. taking nudes/making porn/fetish art of any kind/asking if you want to see the content, ***especially*** if they're trying to appeal to your interests

12. metaphors and euphemisms, verbal/written/visual/etc. this can often also sound overly complicated or overly simplistic. the point is to listen to the psychological feeling.

13. dressing in specific ways (esp if it's in a style/aesthetically they know you are particularly into, but could also include just trying to dress 'nicer' to display effort, or things like wearing dirty clothes if you're into salirophilia )

14. grooming themself, sometimes in ways that might not be what they would normally do, but in the ways they know you prefer/need (can look different; like if you have a musk kink they might intentionally not shower before seeing you, or making sure to shower and clean their space if you're averse to mess. could also include cutting/styling their hair with your preferences in mind, same for body hair/facial hair, nails, whatever)

15. using scents you like, colors you like, themes, IPs, characters, words, references, aesthetics, generally displaying interest in learning about you as a person and then displaying that they have remembered that knowledge, or are trying to

16. prioritizing your wants over theirs (sometimes, and in a strong/loving way not like a manipulative way)

17. playing specific movies/videos/shows/songs/etc around them, sending them relevant posts/memes/articles

18. doing things to themself around you that are on theme for your dynamic (if you have a heavily ABDL focused dynamic maybe they dip up unprompted and dress super baby and just so happen to be adorable in your sightline. if you have a dynamic with a lot of sadomasochism maybe they do autosadistic shit around you. it's like a mating display.)

19. talking/writing/etc about a ship that they relate your dynamic to

20. writing about their desires and sharing that information with you, including out of scene/character

21. learning about your special interests on their own

22. acts of service but in a bit more focused way (like, acts of service that are specifically a demonstration that they know/are trying to know and anticipate your needs

23. acts of service with the intention of reducing your stress so that kink would actually be like a fun thing and not a hassle

24. finding out what things they do that turn you on and then doing those things a lot and trying to do those things in ways that are even hotter to you

25. researching conditions/allergies/idiosyncrasies/anything new to them on their own you have so that they can be responsive in the most effective way for you

26. making a point to learn new skills, emotional/sexual/practical/whimsical/whatever, to make you feel as good as they can and be most helpful to you

27. jokes!!! haha jkjk......unless? but no...

28. environmental storytelling (you get home and they happen to be drunk and dressed all cute and oh weird their toy bag and duct tape is all laid out?? how convenient :0 )

29. maybe sometimes they actually do just express desire verbally, but in a way that is comfortable to them. maybe they can't, or can't always, say really explicit things out loud, not out of bratiness or defiance. but they can use gentler language, and *you* understand what they mean because you know them. so it is effective communication

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 25/04/2024

Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 2

Ripped by Half Pixel (@half-pixel)

Requested by Fezaki! (Request Form)

Been a while since I've covered something closer to a "meme medley", hasn't it? It's a bit of a conundrum really, the rips like Memey Hell, Rippin'! Mashin'! High Quality Grand Prix and A love letter to this wonderful community and my amazing friends are some of the most relistenable on the entire channel due to the sheer variety found within them, yet they're simultaneously very hard to write about for the purpose of this blog. I can approach these posts from a lot of different angles, be it the history of a ripper, history of a joke's presence on the channel, the unique sound of a game, a rip's relevance to the lore and goings-on of the channel at that time - all of which provide me with a lot to say, in contrast to simply saying that a rip is just a really good listen. But some of these meme medleys ARE just really good listens, ones that I recommend wholeheartedly of course, but ones that can be rather hard to turn into an interesting read. Still, Fezaki's enthusiasm for Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some in the request form is one I absolutely share, so I'll try my best to do it justice in my coverage. After all, Half Pixel made my darling Everybody's Special Course as far back as Season 1 - he's almost bound to knock it out of the park no matter what!

Then again, I suppose it is wrong of me to present this rip as if it's just like those other meme medleys, it's pretty apparent right from the start that there's something quite special about it. I mean for one, there's the track its arranging: Super Paper Mario is a game that wears its weirdness on its sleeve in every aspect including its music, to where even though Champion of Destruction is actually still playing in 4/4ths time signature, it still sounds incredibly uneasy and chaotic - a lot like The Ultimate Show as heard over in The Ultimate Whip and Nae Nae. Yet with both tracks, through the noise and chaos, a strong melody prevails throughout, which is where Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some makes its second distinction, in having the lead vocals of Childish Gambino's Bonfire be pitch-shifted to said melody. Bonfire is a classic in SiIva mashups, you can hear it as far back in Season 1 with the aforementioned Memey Hell, yet its rarely played with to the extent that it is in this rip. The song headlines the rip for about half of its playtime, with a few other rip sources complimenting it along the way: Space Jam's immediately identifiable drums, a quick Flintstones cue melodyswapped into the song's original backing instrumental, and so on, it's all incredibly seamless, yet all building up to the track's final ace up its sleeve. As the rip builds and builds, as Bonfire's vocals end and we're left with naught but the instrumental - you realize that The Ultimate Show has been playing about 20% slower than its supposed to.

Suddenly, things speed up: Chip tha Ripper's drums playing in the background start feeling louder, the vocals of Space Jam kick in for just a moment, bits of Gangnam Style and We Are Number One and MEGALOVANIA play one after another - It truly feels as if the rip begins spiraling, sort of like we saw back in my rip :) yet with far more buildup and cohesion present before things start to plummet. Yet there's a harmony to the back half's chaos althesame, much like the channel's other meme medleys - it IS an undisputed banger, just one that manages to hit far harder than it has any right to through an incredibly well done lead-in. I can't even call it a bait-and-switch, the transition between its two halves is so incredibly seamless and natural to where I cannot see the rip working nearly as well without the two parts together.

Being part of some of the first-ever rips we'd get to hear for Season 4 Episode 1, I have to wonder if the two-part structure of Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some was a move Half Pixel made deliberately for the premiere. I mean, he's no stranger to making incredibly dense rips for the channel, even helping kick off the currently-ongoing Season 8 with Nucleear Pomeranian - but given that Season 4's stated goal was to surprise the audience far more than usual, it almost feels as if Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some was Half Pixel's way to lean into that philosophy. Intentional or not, the end result is amazing, it's the kind of rip that just oozes above-and-beyond personality from every corner, and acts as confident reassurance that Half Pixel has STILL got it.

[neruhichy]

Hello, I come to spit lore because I have nothing better to do xd

Most of my characters already have characteristic phrases to give a glimpse of their personalities. Years ago I stopped making them public because it was more of a reminder for myself, but one of my favorites is Lev Leopard.

"What use is believing if I can't pray"

"I wanna be the hunter not the hunted"

"I want to be the killer not the prey"

For those who don't know, it's part of the lyrics of the song Hunter by Ken Ashcorp, because I love that song despite it being one of the works that I hate the most xd

I loved those parts because I feel that it represents quite well the helplessness and rage that the character has, in her lore she is the one who had the worst time in her childhood and adolescence, not only because she practically had been a toy for the mafia but also because the repudiation that the average human has for hybrids (come on, it's a story with furry overtones, obviously there is going to be discrimination here).

Also this version of Lev is the one who cares the least about human beings, she does not know the concept of morality or ethics and if it were not for Krueger she would not have any problem with ending a person's life even for the simplest things, it could even be that they hold a certain grudge against the species in general, for everything they experienced in their hands and what they themselves do to their kind.

The only one who is saved from this rule is Krueger, thanks to him she discovered what freedom and genuine love was, and Krueger knows perfectly how her mind works after having cared for her for so long, he knows that she is a potential danger to society, therefore, does everything it can to teach her that what she does is wrong, Lev's mind is not going to change, but he knows that she does care about him, so Krueger takes advantage of that to force her to moderate, because If she didn't, the responsibility would fall on him, and the last thing Lev wants to do is give him problems.

I like to emphasize the change of roles that she was looking for, going from being a prey to a hunter, being able to return all the damage that was caused to her.

This is also why she is relatively carefree in life in general, she does not suffer from any social stress or anxiety, since she does not consider the average person relevant enough to care about their opinions or ideas, beyond work and intentions. Mandatory, she generally doesn't talk to humans other than Krueger.

But there may also be cases where she can tolerate them better or come to feel affection, although those things are really rare to happen, she is very closed-minded, and really spiteful.

She has the basic principle of "don't bother me, I don't bother you", instilled by Krueger to try to make things as pleasant for everyone as possible.

It's also a little exhausting for Krueger to deal with her, but he really loves her and isn't going to give up, he also has hero complex, wanting to fix her when he was worst (?

Btw, Lev loves him too much, she is like a faithful dog and will always return to him, the only thing he seeks is his happiness and well-being, you could say that he sees him as something sacred, she knows perfectly well that he is not a good person and what he did horrible things, but she couldn't care less.

A lot of lore for today jsjs

And I'm sorry for my bad English.

[maximura]

I have listened to Babymonster's Sheesh so you don't have to.

NMIXX made AESPA sound like Mozart. Babymonster makes NMIXX sound like Vivaldi. It's not a compliment. I understand YG want lightning to strike twice and comparison is the thief of happiness but this is a budget Blackpink cosplay with none of the Teddy/Bekuh hooks, like at all. That was a very interesting choice.

Aespa were smart enough to realise that being BP 2.0 wouldn't cut it and worked on their own group personality. It's not all good but I think they have plenty of redeeming qualities. Prayers for Giselle to step up because her lack of everything is startlingly obvious when she performs with the other three.

IVE never played the same game with their concept or sound, even with the woefully unsuited 'Baddie'. Wonyoung's position as Thee IT Kpop Girlie has not had a worthy challenger for years. Hopefully Starship don't fuck this up but let's be honest, they probably will. Still, I look forward to their comebacks the most.

NewJeans started so strong but I am now losing interest. I'm not their target audience so I can't criticise them for how juvenile Supershy sounded to me. It's nice to see youthful music for a youthful group though and I like that they aren't trying to be mature too fast. It's just hard to vibe sometimes.

NMIXX are just strange. I don't understand them but I do see how talented they are. It's just a shame their skills are wasted on such polarising music. It takes some balls to knowingly deviate from the safe path just for the vision. I have to respect them for that tbh haha. I can see this group really maturing into something great in a few years, if they can keep relevancy. I said the same exact thing about NCT when they came out so maybe there is hope (and despair).

Le Sserrafim are a Jukebox Group. Their last albums sounded like covers of Tyla, Rosalia and Rema. It's very trendy music and I don't fault them for doing that but when I'd rather listen to the original over them? That's not really good. No amount of aesthetically pretty lore videos compensates for their current lacklustre music (and vocals). I feel like we're heading into 'great gowns, beautiful gowns' territory with them.

Now Babymonster. I have not been impressed by them at all. The much-heralded Ahyeon has apparently returned to the group like Lazarus and I was informed she would be Wonyoung's successor but she does not even stand out in her own group. I would not be able to pick her out of a line up. They get full points for effort and I do like Stuck In The Middle but I begrudgingly admit that for these girl crush concepts, Teddy is Teddy for a reason. Choice37 and Jared Lee just don't produce in a very impactful way that I like. Good luck to them but I have no desire to replay any of their songs.

(G)-Idle remain playing chess.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Hello, i wanted to ask you why people haven't been liking taylor's newer album. I don't really follow her but i've seen a lot of videos that criticize it. But i still don't understand what's so bad about it, they don't really even talk about the music.

Lmaooooooo. Classic! (as in, that they'll complain about an album without elaborating on what they think it lacks).

I mean, I don't think you can separate the critique TTPD has received from the widespread general Taylor fatigue which has been building up for years, due to her being kind of constantly in the news for almost 2 years now (and also a fair amount the 2 years before that on top of that). So one part is definitely just "she's annoying because I see her everywhere".

However, here's a rundown of the musical critiques of the album I've seen and my thoughts on them:

1) It's not sonically adventurous, within the context of her discography.

I think this is a fair criticism, overall, though it's not true that she broke zero sonic ground with it, and I'd say there's a lot of new stuff in terms of theme, which makes up for this at least a little. TTPD isn't exactly like any of her previous work (or merely a worse version of it), but I understand finding the production lacking in a lot of places.

2) It's too long.

I mean, it's 31 songs. I think all albums of this length will catch criticism like this, and it's valid IMO. Albums being of digestible length has advantages, but I also love having as many songs as possible. There aren't many songs I personally would cut.

3) It's too self-referential.

Honestly, this one kind of annoys me, but I also can't fully blame people who make it, because there's a type of swiftie who will insist on a lyric being important because it references some deep piece of Taylor lore only fans know – I get finding it eyeroll-inducing to be told you have to do "homework" to understand a song. But here's the thing: those swifties are wrong lol. It's not that I'm against their way of interacting with the music but it's just not true that you need to know Taylor's life to appreciate it. Case in point. people routinely relate her songs to their own life or to their blorbos. And, honestly, TTPD is IMO mostly thematically consistent and thus works well as an isolated work of art if you're actually willing to just engage with what it has to say.

4) It's cringe.

There are songs on TTPD (especially the first few) that are highly stylized and include lyrics which feel clunky. I think these lyrics are either a) literally fine, you just need to hear them in context (thinking of beloved "Aristotle/Grand Theft Auto" in particular), or b) they're blunt or strangely worded in a way I think is kind of intentionally off-putting, but I also get it if it just doesn't work for someone and they have trouble taking the line seriously.

I feel like that sums up most issues people have that are specific to the album. There's other critiques which are applicable to all of Taylor's music, which obviously some people don't like, but it wouldn't be relevant to people who like her previous work.

Also, btw, I kind of admire you for asking me about this. As in, being genuinely interested in people's opinion on something you're not that invested in :)

[katsu-curry835]

So you're thinking about reading A Song of Ice and Fire...

Now, it's come to my attention that there are some people out there who are contemplating reading George RR Martin's masterpiece of a series A Song of Ice and Fire, also known as the Game of Thrones books, but they haven't actually picked them up for various reasons. I'm here to convince you why you should read them, and why your concerns aren't justified (some of them are, we will get to that.)

This post is for people who have contemplated reading the books and need an extra push to actually going and buying them. This is your sign to start reading this series if you haven't already. You will not regret it, it's exquisitely written.

I've seen the show, I don't need to read the books.

Oh lord.

The show and the books do diverge quite extensively, especially as they both go on. Book 1 of ASoIaF and season 1 of GoT are pretty much scene for scene the same story, with, however, big differences in plot after that. Body counts are different, character motivations and arcs are different, and even certain major events have very noticeable changes from book to show. Needless to say you will not be getting the same experience by any means if you were to read the books.

But that's pretty obvious, right? Obviously you know the two are different; all adaptations are different. So what's better about the books?

Well, for starters, the books don't have a trash fire ending (yes I know what you're thinking, see concern 5.) The later seasons of GoT were terrible, it must be said. Yet there is not a single moment in the ASoIaF series that I would call bad, especially compared to the final two seasons of the show.

Secondly, the books and the show both have bombastic plots and intricate character arcs that are easy to get invested in. But the books have something the show doesn't: banger prose. I was one of the people who watched the show before reading the books and I was blown away by just how much better these characters that I already loved were because I got to see inside their heads with their internal monologues. This is a series that really lends itself to deep character introspection. And Martin is an excellent prose writer, make no mistake. This, I feel, is often left out when we're talking GoT. Yes, Martin's plots and characters are amazing. But the sheer quality of quotable lines from his work that aren't in the dialogue and absolute zingers from his internal monologues make this more than worth it.

The books are more than their own thing and are, in my opinion, the optimal way to experience the series. The show is easier to consume, but the books are more in depth. They stand apart from the show as the superior telling of the story, and it definitely helps that the people doing the writing of the show were incompetent. If it wasn't clear, David and Dan were not the geniuses behind seasons 1-4 of GoT, it was George RR Martin. The reason it was such good television, was because it was an adaptation of even better source material.

2. The books are really long and complicated, they feel like they'd be quite difficult to read.

There is some truth to this notion; this is not Baby's First Epic Fantasy Novel. This ain't a light read; it's pretty dense with information. That being said, I don't read to much fiction myself and I found it pretty easy to digest.

Here's the deal, if you go into this series intimidated by all the lore and the size of the books, you're almost setting yourself up for failure. My advice is to pretend that you don't know how 'complicated' it gets. Because being complicated is only a problem if you can't understand what's happening because of its complexity.

From my experience at school (this is relevant I swear), I have found that the best teachers are the people who able to explain complex concepts in a way that makes it seem obvious or simple. And I began to notice this when I started to recount what I had learned from my teachers to other people and came to the conclusion that I did not know how much I was learning. I knew more than I thought. Then I noticed a similar phenomenon when I started explaining stories I really enjoyed. I told the story to my friends, and I realized that there was way more that I needed to explain than I assumed. A good writer is a good teacher: they make the complicated seem simple, and make the long seem short. And George RR Martin is a fucking brilliant teacher.

You will fly through these books quicker than you expect, and you will pick up more information than you know you are picking up. The fact of the matter is, they're well written. If you pay attention, you won't be confused.

3. I've heard the series gets really violent and sexually explicit. There's a lot of guts and gore and scenes of assault and violence against women. How bad does it get?

Obviously I cannot tell you personally whether the series is too shocking or visceral for you, since I don't know your individual tastes. People's mileage will vary with this sort of thing. But there are two things I want to say about this.

Firstly, the show has given this series a bad rap in this regard. There are plenty of scenes in the show that have way more blood 'n' boobs than the books did in those equivalent moments. Scenes will fade to black or be referred to off screen in the books where the show takes great pains to show you everything. This is because of the marketing around the show at the time as some sort of 'this isn't you're typical fantasy for nerds, this has blood and tits. This is sexy fantasy, not like lord of the rings!!1!' The show runners relied on this sentiment to make you uncomfortable because that was part of the point. So they embellished. However, I don't want to convince you that this is a light read. There are descriptions of blood and there are some rape scenes from the perspective of the woman being raped, and that can get pretty harrowing.

But this brings me to my second point: books aren't a visual medium. Maybe this is personal thing, but reading a description of a murder, no matter how evocative and disgusting, will never be the same as someone being stabbed in front of you on your screen, it just won't. There are particularly bloody or uncomfortable scenes in the show (the Red Wedding, Oberyn Martell vs The Mountain, that Sansa scene with Ramsay and Theon) that I struggle to rewatch because every human has a tendency to get a little squeamish at moments like that. But reading them/their equivalents in the books doesn't feel as bad, because it's ink on a page, it's words. And as fans of the series will tell you, words are wind.

That being said, if you think a viscerally described sexual assault, rape or murder will be too much for you, or if you cannot handle depictions of those things in general, it's with great sadness that I should recommend you don't read these books. The violence and rape isn't gratuitous, but it does happen, and frankly these books should have a trigger warning in the front covers.

4. The series is problematic

Yeah, uh, a little bit.

No piece of media is ever going to be ideologically pure and it's unreasonable to expect that. As alluded to in the last section, there's some pretty heavy stuff in this series and the line between depiction and glorification/normalization is blurry here. But I'm going to stop you there because if we had that discussion we would be here all day. When people say 'this is problematic' what they usually mean is that the way something is done has some form of unintentional (or maybe even intentional) bigotry baked into it. And there is some of that here.

The way women's bodies are described can be a little weird. There are scenes where Martin will describe a female child as having 'small, tender breasts,' and it's like 'um... sir what is this?' Generally, though, that Martin describes the women in this is supposed to have a point. It could've been done less strangely, though.

Drogo's relationship to Daenerys is v e r y strange when you consider that Drogo is 30 something and Dany is 13 at the start of the series. Yet we as the audience appear to be asked to root for them. Very gross, George.

I'm sure I missed something, I'm not super deep into this discourse and this was just the stuff that I, someone who is not and has never been a woman, has noticed. But there is substance to this criticism, the weird misogyny in the way Martin writes women's bodies is non trivial.

BUT, I can excuse it because outside of this, ASoIaF has some of the most brilliantly written female characters in any media ever. Their motives are complex, they all embody different kinds of femininity and womanhood, and they're all strong, in their own way. Martin is excellent at writing characters regardless of gender, and this series has some excellent women in it.

5. But the series might never be finished!

This is the big one, really, and this is the concern, along with concern number 3, is the one I understand the most.

If you're unfamiliar, George RR Martin has gone on record saying that he plans to release seven books in his series, although if he thinks his characters outgrow that, he will change it to be more books. For now, though, he seems to be sticking to seven. He has released five novels so far... and the last one was released in 2011. Martin is 75 years old. At the pace he is currently writing, we probably will not get book 7 before he dies. And if we do get book 7, it likely won't be written entirely by him, and therefore will not feel like an appropriate conclusion to many.

This puts some people off and I completely understand why. All I can tell you is why I don't mind.

Currently, the five ASoIaF novels that were released are the best literature I have ever read hands down. The first three novels form a semi completed arc of their own, so some can view them as their own self contained story. For me personally, the 1,7 million total words Martin has already written are enough, because they fuck so hard.

If I didn't address a concern you have about reading these books, please just ask, I'd be more than happy to talk about it. Otherwise, thank you for reading!