#about 0.5 seconds if anyone’s interested

[godsfavoritescientist]

My current thoughts on gravity falls classpects:

Stanley - Thief of Time Stanford - Prince of Light Fiddleford - Mage of Rage Mabel - Page of Space Dipper - Knight of Mind Soos - Sylph of Blood Wendy - Rogue of Breath Bill - Lord of Hope

[yellowbrokenblue]

„Just… Pretend.”

summary: in which harry convinces you to spend your summer in cape cod with his parents as his ‘girlfriend.’ but everything is just pretend, your not actually his girlfriend and you never have wanted to be his girlfriend, you’ve never seen him as more than harry styles, the singer… but by the end of the summer will that change?

tropes (so far) : fake dating

part one

“It’s just for one weekend.” He pleaded, “Then you can go back to hating me. You never even have to talk to me again, I don’t care.”

You sigh, your head falling backwards with a groan. You did not want to do this at all, but he’d been persistently asking you for days.

“C’mon, please?”

You roll your eyes, “You’re on a date with a new girl every week, I’m sure any of them would be up for it.”

“I can’t just take anyone to my parent’s place.”

“Why not? Or how about you just tell them you’re not seeing anyone right now? They won’t care.”

“I just need you to come, alright? I’ll owe you one, I promise.”

“Why me? There’s a million other people you could take, besides I’ve already met your parents at a show, they’ll never believe we’re seeing each other.”

“And they really liked you!”

“There’ll be a ton of other people that they like too, Harry. Choose anyone else.”

“I can’t.” He sighs.

“You can.”

“I can’t.” He repeats.

You look at him with tired eyes, awaiting his explanation. You’d been over this a hundred times, you had no interest in pretending to be his girlfriend while he visited his parents over the summer.

“I already told them we’re together.” He says quietly, avoiding eye contact.

“What?” You scoff, “You’ve gotta be joking.”

“They just… They met you at the show, and they really did seem to like you, and they kept going on and on about how they want me to find someone who makes me happy and stuff and I shut them up by saying we’re together…”

“You’re unbelievable.” You say, annoyed.!

The fact he’d been telling his parents ridiculous lies without even telling you about it, when said lies actually involved you had pissed you off.

Harry’s parents were lovely, and a producer on his latest album you’d met them a couple times at shows- Especially during the LA residence where you and his parents sat through the concerts in a VIP booth. His mum was lovely, always smiling and knew every single lyric. She told you that she was in Harry’s 0.5% of top listeners on Spotify last year.

You thought that was cute.


You couldn’t relate though, 5 Seconds of Summer were your top Spotify artist- Harry could never find out about that.

“They’ve been asking for me to take you to the beach house for months-“

“Months?!” You interrupt, “How long have you been telling them we’re together?”

He shrugged, “Since the end of the Forum residency?”

“Harry that was SIX months ago!” You yell, “I can’t pretend to be in a six month relationship with you, that’s ridiculous.”

He sits down on the couch, hugging a pillow.

“Yes you can. You practically know everything about me already. We spent every day of the tour together.”

“Everything about you in a career aspect.”

“Everything in general.” Harry corrects, “Sometimes I think you know more about me than I do.”

“I don’t. You’re just saying this because you’re convincing yourself that this ridiculous idea will actually work.”

“Name my first pet.”

“What?” You question. He was being stupid. There is no way you’d ever be able to spend two weeks with his parents over the summer, it was never going to work. It was a recipe for disaster.

“C’mon. You know the answer.”

He just kept staring at you. He wasn’t giving up. The longer you stayed silent the more intense his stare got. When he began to raise his eyebrows you’d given up.

“Max.” You mutter quietly, unimpressed with this whole game he was playing.

“And what am I allergic to?”

“Marshmallows, but you eat them anyway.”

Harry was grinning, and it was pissing you off. He was winning and he knew it.

“My favourite Christmas song?”

You rolled your eyes, “Christmas lights by Coldplay, but you tell everyone that it’s Merry Christmas Everyone because it’s a classic.”

Harry was giving you a ‘I told you so’ look. He wasn’t going to quit until you agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend.

You sigh softly, “Even if I agree to this… It could he really damaging for my career.”

“No one will find out.” His face was more serious now, and you could tell from the way he was looking at you that he meant it, “I’ll make sure of that.”

“But if if does-”

“It won’t.”

“But if it does, because there’s always a chance no matter what you think, then everyone will only think I got hired to tour manage because we’re ‘sleeping together.’” You say, using air quotes, just to further elaborate that this was all fake.

Harry had already got his grammy, he was at the peak of his career he’d be fine no matter what happened. But you were a female music producer in a male dominated industry, if people think you were only hired for this album because you’re fucking the singer- your career was over.

“If people find out I’ll kill you.”

“Does this mean you’re gonna agree?”

You nod, reluctantly.

“Thank you!” He jumps out of his chair, “I swear I’ll make it up to you, thank you so much.”

— — —

If you were in Harry’s position you’d be vigilant of everything, everyone, everywhere. You’d be paranoid of someone jumping through your bedroom window while you were asleep. But Harry was oddly calm. Maybe he was just like that. His lips were formed almost in a smile while he slept, and his eyes were moving under his eyelids- probably from a dream he was having. He wasn’t calm very often- recently he’d been very on edge and anxious about everything, it was nice to see him look so peaceful. You hoped for that sort of peace someday soon.

You had been in the studio going on six hours, and when he’d taken a break from recording so you could go over the tracks he’d managed to fall asleep in that short period of time.

You let him sleep while you packed up the equipment, putting things back into their assigned places, and didn’t bother waking him up until you were 100% ready to go.

“Harry,” You said softly, shaking his shoulder lightly, “Harry we gotta go.”

His eyes opened and he blinked a few times to adjust himself to the light.

“Huh?”

“We only had the studio booked until six, we gotta go.”

“Oh,” He sat up, stretching his arms and cracking his neck that had went into a cramp, “Sorry, don’t even remember falling asleep to be honest.”

“Don’t worry about it,” You shrug, “We got enough done today anyways. You deserve a rest.”

There were only three days left until the day Harry had said you were leaving for his parents place, and you had skipped over the subject every time he’d tried to bring it up. You didn’t really want to think about it because you were dreading it so badly.

“I’ll give you a ride home.” Harry said as you left the studio building.

“No, it’s alright.” You say, “I’ll just get an Uber.”

Harry glared at you, “Y/N, just get in the car.”

You glare back. But it had been a long day so getting a free lift wasn’t so bad.

“So.” He said, starting the car. “We gotta go over some things.”

“About the album?” You play dumb.

“… No.” He rolls his eyes, “Stop pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“I’m not pretending.”

“Love, you gotta tell me some stuff about you. My parents are gonna ask me shit and I don’t have a clue what to tell them.”

You groan. You should’ve stuck to your gut and got an Uber.

“Like what.”

He shrugs, “What’s your favourite colour?”

“Purple.” You reply.

“Mines is blue.”

“I know,” You reply.

“What’s your favourite song?” He asked.

You laughed to yourself a little.

“Jet black heart,” You grin, knowing you’d get some sort of reaction out of this answer, “By 5 Seconds of Summer.”

“5 Seconds of Summer?” Harry scoffs, “They’re punks!”

You roll their eyes, “They turned to pop music and half of them are married, they’re hardly punks.”

“You know one of them dated my sister, right?” Harry groaned.

“Yep,” You grin, “And wrote a banging tune about it as well.”

“Don’t remind me.” He muttered.

“Look, you asked me a question and I gave you an honest answer. You can’t complain.”

“I know, I know.” Harry said, “You got any exes?”

You raise your eyebrows, “What?”

“This is the kind of stuff I need to know! Like I dunno if I’m your first boyfriend and all that.”

“Harry… I’m 24 years old. You’re not my first boyfriend.”

You said it almost as if he was your boyfriend. It sent a chill down your spine. This was going to be a long few weeks.

“Good to know.” He said.

He dropped you off outside your apartment.

“I guess the next time I see you will be for when we’re leaving, yeah?”

You nod. There was no studio session booked until after his vacation to Cape Cod, where his families beach house was, so he was right. The next time you see him would be at the airport.

“Flights at seven.” He says.

“Got it.”

The next few weeks were going to be hell.

part two coming soon…

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[sirius-crowley-immortaltwinks]

IDEK what to say about this

After a few shots of vodka, my roommates and I came up with a chaotic fancast for the marauders. I have notes but there's literally no context besides random shit written down and I figure it would be criminal to not share this absolute trainwreck with everyone so here it is... Chaotic Marauder Fancast brought to you by drunken thoughts.

Marauders

Tom Hiddleston as Sirius Black

Tom Hiddleston would be a good option to play Sirius Black. He has the capability of having a boyish attitude and sass that Sirius has become known for. Also, Adam. Nuff said.

Rami Malek as James Potter

Look at him. He also has the capability of coming up with that sass and attitude. Imagine him riding a broomstick in a quidditch uniform and that is all.

Robert Sheehan as Remus Lupin

This man could play all of the characters, but he is best suited for Remus Lupin. Unkempt look but in an attractive way. Looks like he could be a werewolf. A lot of the same Remus Lupin mannerisms.

Andrew Scott as Peter Pettigrew

A short little Irish man with a very good skill for acting a villain that's cunning and sneaky and that's why he would be a good option. He would be a very good actor to portray the change from friend to enemy.

Slytherin Skittles

Aidan Gallagher as Regulus Black

Aidan Gallagher has the capability to play an angsty character who's a little bit evil and a little bit good all rolled into one. He's also just got the look and the vibe that Regulus is kind of become known for.

David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr.

This is partially because when he played Barty in the 4th movie, he didn't get nearly enough screen time in my opinion but the other part of it is because, after watching lots of his filmography, I seriously can't think of anyone better to play it. Unfortunately we would need to make him like 30 years younger and we don't have a time machine.

Michael Sheen as Evan Rosier

I told you it would be chaotic. Maybe it's because I can't see David Tennant without Michael Sheen anymore after GO and Staged but he's also quite similar to Evan in my mind and I think he would play the character very well. Unfortunately... still no time machine tho.

Lisa Kudrow as Pandora Rosier

I mean I was watching Friends and she kinda just stuck out to me and that is why she is now Pandora. I think Lisa has the capability to play someone as wonderful, beautiful and quirky as Pandora. Also I think it would be so sweet and interesting to watch Michael and Lisa play siblings.

Valkyries

(I will admit and say that I don't know nearly enough about the Valkyries so my roommates were the ones that came up these)

Florence Pugh as Marlene McKinnon

I don't really think this one needs explaining but I do think she would be best to play Marlene McKinnon. She's got a fabulous look that would suit Marlene well especially with the fanart seen of her. I mean just look at her.

Nina Sosanya as Dorcas Meadowes

Nina's got the spunk and the attitude that Dorcas has. Mainly pulling from her performance in both GO1 and GO2, I think she is just the most fitting to play Dorcas and would act very well alongside David and Michael (as we've seen) but I think would act very well alongside Florence and Robert.

Emmy Raver-Lampman as Mary MacDonald

Has the capability to play a sweet character but could turn deadly and horrible in 0.5 seconds and that's stunning for her and would work very well for Mary. Also the depths from her pain and everything of her friends dying and then eventually obliviating her memory.

Scarlett Johansson as Lily Evans

Scarlett has the attitude of Lily Evans in real life and honestly she would be stunning. I could totally see James falling in love with Lily if she looked like Scarlett which is one of the main reasons we've cast her as Lily.

Now, we all think that the original fancast that is the most popular is perfect and stunning. This is just some brainrot. Anyway, that is all.

[loreartisan]

Okay, I've had some time to let my thoughts settle about the River Cartwright/Louisa Guy snippet we saw in the S5 preview and (while I've kind of begrudgingly accepted it) I've come to a conclusion about why I was opposed to it.

For the most part, I've gotten the impression that River is a very very single guy who doesn't really 'go' for women/romantic situations. And to me, this makes sense. I'll elaborate below, if you're curious to see my thought process. If you're one of the ppl who think he really deserves to be with someone, then... idk this is just my own justification. Get ready, I'm going full analytical essay mode here.

Reason 1: He respects boundaries too much. In season 1, when Sid tries telling him the reason she's at Slough House, he tells her that he doesn't want to know since it's likely for personal reasons which is "none of his business". In season 2, when Lamb says that River should 'get' with Kelly if she offers, River is very opposed to this and finds it (rightfully) unethical. In season 3, River tells Louisa that her private life is not Lamb's business and that he shouldn't bring up her "way of processing her trauma". In season 4, he hesitates to share his personal problems with Louisa, emphasizing that he is considerate of "keeping things work related". There are a lot of instances where River shows how he doesn't want to take things beyond what is needed, which to me translates to: friends are all I need.

Reason 2: It's very anti-Bond of him. James Bond is this slick, suave guy who manages to charm every lady he comes across in literally every iteration he's in. One of Bond's most recognizable aspects is how he is always seducing women to get his job done. River is this awkward guy who bumbles most of his social interactions through misunderstandings and sarcasm. Most of River's characterization is on the basis that he thinks he's Bond, but continually proves in many ways how he is the opposite of him. River's relationships with women is another way to telling the audience that he is very far from being the 'perfect' spy that James Bond is.

Reason 3: He's got too much drama around him that renders romance unnecessary. River is likely one of Slow Horse's most intriguing characters, solely based on his family background. The grandson of a legendary spook, the son of an ex-CIA mercenary, the son of a bitter and neglected daughter, the brother to trained assassins who got in trouble with lots of people... There are so many points of interest around River's family alone that I just don't think a romantic plot would benefit his character. It's nice to have rounded, three-dimensional characters, but if a character has too many conflicts and side plots, it can get difficult to keep up with. If I had to choose between the themes of River coming to terms with his family legacy or allowing him to find romance with someone, I'd pick the first option because it seems far more intriguing and has more setup/depth.

There are more subtle reasons here and there, and I know that the book version of River contradicts some of my points, but these are the major aspects behind my pitch for "River should stay single and not be shipped with anyone." I see why he might be shipped with some ppl, but ultimately that is my stance on River's romantic life. His women friends should just stay friends, and I am glad Spider died because that man was TOXIC and i dont know why ppl ship them.

uhhhhh thanks for reading my essay? Hopefully yall see the way I'm thinking (maybe i convinced you to see my side of things too???). Crazy how i did all this based on 0.5 seconds of footage that is likely (in true River fashion) a misunderstanding. Yay for overthinking!

Let me know if my essay was good (was it engaging? was my writing good? did i bring up some dogwater points?), i spent more time on this than I expected but it feels good to air my thoughts out.

TL;DR I am ✨ delusional ✨

[silusvesuius]

not to be pompous but i like my mind a lot

feeling inspired sorry i feel like i can't shut up for the last 2 days i keep logging in and out saying anythang. but also it's embarrassing when people apologize for posting online in their own space i can't stop thinking about the time i was abt to eat dinner and my brain was on nel/vas steroids mode so i was pacing around my room eating soup thinking about them really hard. i'm realizing tes in general doesn't interest me like at all i'm just a Skajrim head forever maybe i'll draw something from other games but just because i love drawing and dipping characters into my mindset. i don't care about any of the lore in the slightest i was put here to analyze any possible thoughts any sk*rim character might have in any corner of their mind..

[notsorryiml8]

Okay, I’m super sick (yay). So, have been stuck in bed perusing the interwebs for the past few days, in between fever dreams. Naturally, while I could be working from home, I look up Naruto things among others, because why not. Half the time I don’t know what to believe and I’m relatively new to the fandom, so bear with me. So….

In today’s edition of “Did Kishimoto Really Say: Kakashi edition”

Everybody always says, “Kishimoto said it in an interview,” but nobody ever produces a source. So, did Kishimoto really say?:

1) He intentionally made Kakashi, for lack of better terms, hardcore and effeminate?

Like he’s hardcore and bada$$, will slit your throat or chidori you in 0.5 seconds like the cold blooded killer that he is, but at the same time super effeminate (hence reading romance and liking Icha Icha, being nurturing, giggles like a schoolgirl, and being just so darn pretty), almost like borderline androgynous, and representing a duality of personhood. And it was intentional? And that’s part of why I guess he’s so appealing to just about anyone and I guess so shippable with just about everyone? 🤷🏽‍♀️ The mind games are strong with this one.

2) Kakashi was supposed to be an “old soul trapped in a young body.” Like he was supposed to only speak in parables and riddles like a wise old sage, and be centuries old, but Kishimoto was like naahh…?

3) Kakashi has no love interest/significant other because Kishimoto was so busy focusing on other aspects of him, that by the time the series was ending it was too late to give him one because he’d have to create a new character and there wasn’t time, so he left him to live a life of bachelorhood? There just wasn’t enough time.

So I guess in Hiden with Kahyo, that’s why a lot of people say it felt rushed - the bulk of the book from the time they meet to the time the airship go boom, it’s literally ONE DAY! Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. Girl and her friends and family try to kill boy. Things go boom. People die. Purple lightning. Girl repents. Boy still likes girl. Boy becomes head leader guy. Boy puts girl in jail. Ahh, a love story. I still ship ‘em though, but that’s just me.

4) All the characters were supposed to wear masks because, well, ninja, but it would have been a nightmare for writing and animating when showing expressions?

So, we only got Kakashi and a handful of random characters? I’m okay with that. He’s unique. 🙂‍↕️

5) Kakashi was supposed to be a samurai and have a whole samurai backstory, but the idea was nixed because he wouldn’t fit in with the others? Okay, and??

That would have been awesome! That’s all I got. Look, I’m sick. Brain wants to say more, but can’t.

6) Kishimoto didn’t want to keep drawing shoes, so stuck with sandals. This one is more of a me problem and not Kakashi related. And I don’t care if Kishimoto said it or not - I just HATE exposed feet * and reading the manga and watching the anime was extreme exposure therapy. 🤢 😂

*ETA: unless it’s 90 degrees year round/summer/ hot/indoors - then yeah, feet = okay.

Okay, now back to sleep for me!

[nohara-rin-dot-mp3]

Ask game, Danzo?

ask game ^_^

My first impression: i distinctly remember seeing him being set up as a villain and wondering if we were gonna see his tragic backstory or not since he was like. old.

My impression now: he's the best shinobi ever shown to us he's despicable he's just doing his job he makes me sick he's just some guy. i will get up in arms for him because nothing he did was all that worse than anything else anyone was doing but i'm not an apologist because he's never done anything good in his life. i love him

Favorite thing about that character: his hypocrisy <3 this guy will go ON and ON about how willing he is to sacrifice everything and how selfless he is but when push comes to shove hiruzen ends up living an awful long time... i love the fact that he is just lying to himself about his actions LMAO he sucks

Least favorite thing: uhhhhhhhh idk i think his flaws are what make him interesting. i guess the fact that he doesn't show up at all before shippuden because he did not exist yet ?

Favorite line/scene: i kind of love his fight with sasuke,,, both of them are spiraling into beautiful self destruction. it's martyrdom at its finest babyyy!!!!!! also the choreography is just really good for most of it.

Favorite interaction that character has with another: oh hiruzen for sure. their weird gay longing compels me. toxic old man yaoi at its finest. neither of them will ever allow themselves to indulge in each other so they keep inventing new ways to love. such as assassination attempts. i love when kakashi tells hiruzen that danzo's planning to kill him and hiruzen does nothing about it because he knows. that's how they flirt.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: KAKASHI!!!!! like ok i know there was the whole anime only filler stuff but if i'm being honest??? it only makes me want more because like what the fuck. in my head danzo had a weird situationship thing going on with sakumo and after the 3rd war started for many complicated reasons most of which tie back to the fact that the people in the highest positions of power benefit from war and danzo led a smear campaign to pin all of the blame on sakumo so that no one would think too hard about it things kinda fell apart... yes this is meant to parallel the fact that danzo eventually is used as a scapegoat for the uchiha massacre so that no one had to think too hard about it. anyways kakashi doesn't really remember the era where danzo was his dad's shitty boyfriend but danzo does and later when he reaches out to have him assassinate hiruzen its like. weird. its weird. because the assassination attempts are the closest thing those two will ever get to sex. i need kakashi to stop disassociating for 0.5 seconds and think about this because i think it would be funny. and thematically relevant. like. this paragraph is already way too long i'll elaborate on this some other time but GOD i need to lock those two in a room and watch them like bugs

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: idk. is anyone doing it like him? wait actually manfred von karma ace attorney

A headcanon about that character: i don't think he intended for itachi to kill *all* the uchiha! he thought that he had figured out suchhh a clever way to cripple the uchiha to the point where they would no longer be capable of unionizing while still keeping them in the village and therefore a utilizable tool. like. i don't think he though itachi would be capable of killing every uchiha including the ones who had mangyeko sharingan??? idiot didn't consider the existence of obito. rookie mistake.

A song that reminds of that character: freefall by rainbow kitten surprise ^_^ because what is he doing if not claiming to save everyone while killing himself. and them.

An unpopular opinion about that character: uhhhh the fact that i see him like a person at all i think? naruto fandom at large is not concerned with danzo as an individual which is sort of fair i guess. because neither is naruto the show.

Favorite picture:

is it just me or does he look kind of cute here

[rafumeika]

I'm honestly intrigued by the bg3/Arcana au idea, like, how do you imagine it? The Arcana 6 in bg3? The bg3 main 6 companions in Arcana? Or maybe just making them meet somehow? I'm sure Asra and Gale would become bestest of friends in 0.5 seconds talking about magic

I was thinking along the lines of "take the 6 origins and put them in the main Arcana 6 place" but now the idea of them all meeting is stuck in my brain and yes, Asra and Gale would be amazing friends but you know who I think would be even better friends? Portia and Karlach! And also Karlach and Muriel, too, bonding over their shitty ex-employer who fucked their lives up

But no, the main idea would have to take the 6 origins and put them in The Arcana in place of the main 6 there, and obviously the story wouldn't be the same since they're different characters who act in different ways but it's still an interesting idea imo

I'm mostly imagining Wyll in Nadia's place, both of them people in power, Wyll's ending where he becomes Grand Duke Ravengard has somehow a special place in my heart and I feel like he would be the best choice as Count of the city in Nadia's place

Gale in Asra's place of course, both of them renowned powerful wizards with Tara as Gale's familiar in place of Faust, and maybe Mystra to represent the Magician which I think would fit amazingly

Now, for Lucio I was thinking Shadowheart, especially Sharran!Shadowheart. She wouldn't be as much of an asshole as Lucio (probably) but I think it'd fit well, with her Reversed Ending basically being the equivalent of DJ!Shadowheart (something something enabling Lucio's delusions results in him being your loyal attack dog something something enabling Shadowheart's delusions results in her being Shar's loyal attack dog) and her Upright Ending being the equivalent of Selûnite!Shadowheart, and instead of having the Red Plague following her every step like Lucio she brings the Shadow Curse wherever she goes (which could still be adapted as some sort of deadly disease)

Julian, though. Julian would be Astarion. Both bitter, grieving people who have lost something. Astarion isn't much of a doctor in bg3 but Julian is a huge theatre kid and don't tell me Astarion wouldn't fit right in. Also Julian being plague-touched and having to hide his eye reminds me of Astarion trying to hide his vampirism at the start of the game, which I think would fit with them both. Not to mention Julian's habit of breaking into people's houses. That is peak rogue behavior and I will not hear otherwise, maybe even with a bat following Astarion instead of Malak the raven

(Bonus point for my favorite Julian quote, "Death cast her gaze on this wretch and turned away" which I think is perfect for Astarion)

(Extra bonus point for the Asra-Julian beef becoming Gale-Astarion beef which is *chef's kiss*)

Karlach would be the perfect Portia I think, working under Wyll and being just generally a sweetheart, I would also like to imagine her and Astarion still being somehow tied together like Portia and Julian are but instead of siblings they'd be childhood friends or something along those lines, and when she heard about the countess' (Shadowheart) death and that Astarion was accused of her murder she immediately went to the city to find him and have answers

That would leave Lae'zel in Muriel's place, which I also think fitting. Maybe without the whole being forgotten thing (I can't see Lae'zel ever resorting to that) but the place of the once fighter would be perfect for her. She wouldn't be like Muriel is in the sense that Muriel comes to hate violence and wants to be left alone and forgotten, but I do think she'd work perfectly in his place if we think that he goes to live in the forest and keeps an eye on things and he's the one noticing weird Lucio-related movements before anyone else, and I do like the idea of Lae'zel going from famous and unbeatable fighter to silent protector living in the forest and prowling the edges of the city to make sure nothing weird/wrong/worrying happens

I do have more than one idea to be fair (if I wasn't trying to fit the 6 origin with the main 6 I would have put Gortash in Lucio's place with Karlach as Muriel) but this is the one I'm most obsessed with. I also have some more ideas about the other characters as well (like Valdemar, Volta and all them) and some about the other Arcana (Scratch as Scout, anyone?) but I feel like this post is already long enough so I might write more later on another post if anyone is interested (or even if no one is, because this AU is already eating at my brain so I might post more even if it's just for myself)

[gunsatthaphan]

Just wanted to speak up on your comment about The Heart Killers trailer being subpar from a trailer perspective--because I agree. It feels like a trailer made with intention that you already know a lot of context as opposed to being for someone who has no idea what's happening going in.

I watched it knowing that there was going to be some sort of Shakespeare interpretation and that it was likely going to be Taming of the Shrew; knowing that, a lot of the plot elements and dynamics came together more clearly in the trailer. If you had no idea, you'd be totally lost because it's using TOTS as a conceptual basis rather than something totally literal, and then it's also using that concept to jumpstart a rather big plot that isn't well explained. So much is happening that it looks like nothing is happening at all. Essentially, even though First and Khao may be representing the "secondary couple" of TOTS, the reason is because their characters are actually driving the plot. Jojo is using the scenario to jumpstart his story.

Lucentio and Hortencio are combined into Kant, who is initially less interested in ensuring he woos Bison/Bianca because he's in love and wants to court them like the original; rather his goals as a "spy" are the priority (ergo all those conflicted shots of Kant because he inadvertently fell in love in 0.5 seconds but still has a job). Bison is more central in wanting to play matchmaker for Fadel because he's invested in Kant (warping the "daddy won't let me" passive plot of the original into a more active "big bro won't let me (because we're assassins)" and creating a very different dynamic that we see in a few scenes; though Bianca is involved in TTIHAY to an extent). Kant's conflict between his job and his heart is probably going to take center stage in their portion of the story.

Joong and Dunk's Katherina and Petruchio have a dynamic more reminiscent of TTIHAY than the original TOTS with its intention to develop a genuine romance between Petruchio/Style and Katherina/Fadel and bring Kat/Fadel out of their closed off shell pretty clear and not...legit tame the shrew. And all of this is not even mentioning the dynamics arising from the practicalities of the assassin vs. infiltrators plotline (which was under-explained--like it seems like vigilante work given the context clues). "Trust" is probably going to be a strong theme across the board. Jojo, as you well know, has strong credentials in balancing drama with comedy, so I think this has a lot of potential. Everyone emphasized that this is a rom-com dressed as an action drama.

It's pretty clear to me that the four of them are going to be treated pretty equally (strong 4-person plot with lots of intertwining elements) and it seems like Aof weirdly even went out of his way to imply on Twitter that FK having strong scripts/characters was a priority for all of them.

Anyway, sorry for the long rant. I just wanted to put words to why you might be feeling the way that you did about the trailer and maybe even allay some fears. I never want to have too high expectations (I did the same with Only Friends lol), but I don't want to sell this short either.

okay so anon sent this back in April on the day of the lineup/THK announcement and I put it into my drafts with the intention to revisit it closer to the THK premiere date, but eventually forgot about it lol.

I didn't want to delete it however because obviously anon took some time to write this and it's intriguing to read. So in case you see this anon, thank you so much for this detailed analysis and sorry for letting it sit for so long, I think you're making some excellent points. I have not read the original TOTS but it's interesting to compare your notes to the final show and assigning the TOTS/TTIHAY characters to the ones in THK.

So I'm just gonna post this into existence for anyone who's interested - feel free to comment your thoughts below! 😊

xxx

[shen-daozhang]

ooh i saw your tags in the post about ppl hating female characters for the same things they love about male characters, and i thought about sqt vs jgy, so i wonder what you think about both of them! (if you feel like answering! it's not like a 1:1 comparison)

*vibrating* Yea I like those characters a normal amount why do you ask!! (Also I had a super busy week at work and I kept thinking about this ask and monologuing about it in my head, so thank you for the enrichment in my enclosure)

(very messy thoughts incoming!)

Ngl, I never considered how they are similar until this ask, and there are a lot of ways that they are! A background that includes abuse, being seen as less-than for the circumstances of their birth (SQT as a Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast, JGY as an illegitimate son of a sex worker), both gravitate towards powerful men to protect themselves, both are navigating the confines of society trying to move upwards, again, in order to protect themselves. Also both use torture (or at least the 0.5 timeline SQT does)! So that's a fun little similarity.

Now, a big difference is there is the element of revenge in JGY's actions on top of the base need to survive (and a desire to thrive in a world that looks down on you), and I think considering his intelligence he would have gotten away with his plans if not for the completely buckwild re-introduction of WWX back into the plot after his death. I personally think SQT is just focused on survival, and even when she is cruel to Chu Wanning in the 0.5 timeline, I believe she does so because considering TXJ's own treatment of CWN she thinks that is want he wants, and doing so will improve her standing with him (which, sidebar, I am always floored by people who hate on SQT for hurting CWN while they woobify TXJ). Her accusation of Ye Wangxi is only done in an attempt to survive, and I think should be viewed in the lens of the danger that Mo Ran's planted evidence places her in - she's a known Beauty Feast and you know in the world of Erha the second she is out from the protection of Nangong Si her life is likely literally over.

SQT is also just not as smart as JGY, which isn't a slight towards her, JGY is obviously brilliant on many fronts. But I think there is an element of SQT batting above her level, and that leads to her downfall in both timelines. Another glaring similarity is the fandom reaction to them and their actions being a smidge... shall I kick the hornets nest and say hypocritical especially when compared to the actions of the main character? Or other characters in the story who get woobified? (I will also throw Ye Bingchang from Till the End of the Moon into this category). At the end of the day, they are people who are just trying to survive in a deeply messed up world in the only way they know how. Now! Are they both innocent of any wrong-doing because of this? Of course not! That's what makes them interesting and why I gravitate towards these types of characters. The TL;DR: of this is essentially, "people doing fucked up stuff to survive in a world where you have to do fucked up things to survive? It's more likely than you think!"

I will say the fandom's feelings towards JGY has chilled a bit lately, but people were nasty towards him back in the day. Unfortunately, people still are towards SQT and I don't see that changing. I actually ended up including her in my 0.5 fic because I was tired of seeing fics that she either didn't appear at all OR was killed off in a way that was obviously done with malice on behalf of the author. Now she uh doesn't meet a happy end in either of my fics where she features but she's actually a character I really enjoyed writing, and I hope I did it with some sense of sympathy.

There was more I wanted to say but this is already long so I shall post this before it withers further in my drafts! <3

Also gonna link my own fics in case anyone is curious since I mentioned them. SQT appears as a character in this one here - my take on "hanahaki but worse" which has a sad ending - and her death is an inciting incident in this one, an AU where Chu Wanning is the one who got the flower and has become a zealot trying to cleanse the cultivation world (a WIP but I will finish it!).

[deas-junk-bin]

My brethren in Typhojem, Maul is 5'9, not 5'7.

I see a lot of people claim Maul is 5'7. I see where people are going wrong here, and I'm not setting out to insult anyone, but there is a step missing in your calculation if you got that answer!

See, according to an official (archived) online character encyclopedia, Maul is 1.75 meters tall. Converting meters to feet, you'll see that 1.75 meters is equivalent to 5.74147 feet. It can be tempting to skim this and interpret it as 5 feet and about 7 inches, but that's not quite right!

See, the first digit after a decimal point represents a fraction of that number out of ten. So, for instance, 0.5 is the same thing as 5 over 10, or 5 divided by 10. You can also express them as percentages by multiplying the decimal value by 100, so 0.5 is also the same thing as 50%, or half.

Inches, however, are out of TWELVE, not ten. An inch is one-twelfth of a foot. One foot equals twelve inches. Why do we do this? I don't know. I'm sure it's a very interesting historical story, but for the moment it's basically arbitrary. The point is, 0.7 feet is seven tenths of a foot, and we are looking to measure in twelfths of a foot, which is what inches are.

So we need to convert units a second time: feet to inches. You'll see that 0.74147 of a foot is equivalent to 8.89764 inches. We typically round up for a decimal value that high, so we're looking at approximately 9 inches. Then we go back to the information we got from our first unit conversion, which is that we're adding those 9 inches (which are the same thing as our 0.74147 of a foot from earlier) to a value of 5 feet. Maul is 5 feet and 9 inches tall.

You can also get this information by searching up the real-life height of Ray Park, who portrayed Maul in live-action. Park is listed as being 5'9 on IMDb, with 1.75 meters listed as the metric equivalent of that height.

Maul is still definitely the shortest person in his family, but after all he's suffered, surely we can allow him the dignity of those two inches?

[hmshermitcraft]

This was meant to be short but then it kinda got away from me lmao, enjoy the longpost

It gets lonely, living in the same old ruins day in and day out for who knows how long. Boring too. Still, Cleo stayed there, both because she didn't really have anywhere else to go and for the safety of herself and others, can't turn people to stone if there's no one around after all.

Not even the animals tend to come by anymore, not after the first few however many years ago got petrified on accident. Which is why they're so surprised to see a flash of orange from the corner of their eye one day while walking around, so used to not seeing anything new she almost didn't notice it. Still, when she does process that there's something there, it takes about 0.5 seconds to whirl around and stare at the small creature crouching down at one of the buttons they'd placed around the ruins for funsies one day.

It was a curious being, humanoid in form yet seemingly made of copper, completely focused on the button in front of it (her?) to the point of not even noticing cleo approach until they were right behind it and clearing their throat in a way she hoped was menacing and not at all sounding like she was desperate for interaction with another being

Pearl meanwhile, had just been messing around with a button in these funky ruins she found before getting absolutely jumpscared by a (very pretty) zombie-snake-lady thing who was twice her size and promptly jumping much higher in the air than she would ever admit aloud from fright.

Still, after the initial scare and some very awkward introductions (particularly since the snake lady seemed to have not exactly spoken with anyone for a while so she wasn't great at speaking at first), they ended up gelling together quite well. It helped that pearl was immune to the petrification on account of being a copper golem, and the interaction ended with a promise for pearl to come back with stuff to teach cleo about how the world has changed in their absence.

Overall, a very successful trip into the spooky ruins the villagers warned her not to go into!

She doesn't understand why people think the ruins are dangerous! They're perfectly safe, especially with Cleo protecting them.

So, Pearl wanders back there day after day. She'll bring interesting objects from her village. She'll tell Cleo about her friends. And her very important job, clearing up trash from around the village! They put buttons on all the bins, it makes her job so much more fun.

Cleo sits, listening and smiling. Pearl doesn't seem to mind Cleo not speaking too often. It works perfectly for them.

Many weeks later, as Cleo scrapes some of the rust from Pearl's joints, Pearl asks what's so dangerous in these ruins. Clearly something is, and Cleo must be really strong to fight it away for so long!

Cleo can't help but laugh. They point out, scratching across Pearl's scalp, that they're the dangerous thing in the clearing. The monster that petrifies everything they look at?

Pearl responds with a quiet, "Oh." Then quickly points out Cleo doesn't petrify her. Maybe they were meant to meet!

Cleo has long stopped believing in fate but, luck? Luck, maybe.

[the-force-awakens]

top 5 very minor sequels characters?

*claps my hands together giddily* my time to shine, thanks Casey! Honestly it's going to be the hardest to narrow down solely to just five. I'm only going to be including characters from the films (otherwise this would be a very different list) and I'm running on the basis that they don't have a huge role in affecting the plot and primarily function as background characters (so no Paige or Zorii or Kaydel on this list, but know that I adore them)

Snap Wexley. Although technically my love for Snap is definitely born a little bit out of the Poe comics, I still adore the moments we get of him in the movies, rare as they are. That quick little shot at the end of tfa where we see him and Poe looking excitedly at each other in the bg when the map is complete? I adore them both so much. Shout out to Poe's canon bestie, and also bigger shout out to Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga for going "he's fine nothing happened on Exegol what the fuck are you talking about"

Tallie Lintra. MY LOVE. MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED I'M SO SORRY THAT EMO ASS BLEW UP THE HANGAR YOU WERE IN...anyway, I just love the vibe that Tallie gives off in her few scenes we see of her. Plus an A-Wing pilot?? FUCK YEAH. I'm always gonna adore A-Wing pilots (I have a soft spot for A-Wings, my dad gave me a toy A-Wing as a kid)

C'ai Threnalli. I just love C'ai. Running theme here in that all my faves are pilots (is anyone shocked? I mean, really?). He seems like an absolute sweetie. I love the canon details we got of him outside the movie as well - that he's one of Poe's frequent wingman and understands Poe pretty well/they're close because of it, and that C'ai doesn't speak Basic. Also the hug between him and Poe at the end of tlj is SO SOFT and sWEET I love it sm. I also just realized a couple weeks ago that you can actually hear Poe say his name, so I finally know how to pronounce it (it's said like Kai)

Beaumont Kin. Beaumont you funky little autism, you. I love the fact that his scenes in tros is just him infodumping about his special interest. This man was a professor before he joined the Resistance? He's estranged from his shitty family, has a special interest in the old republic (and altho now it's not on wookieepedia i swear at one point it was canon he had visited like - some sith planets to take a look at the historical sites).

Captain Canady. The one and only First Order fella to make the list. Why is he on here? Because for reasons unknown even to me, I love him? He's so exasperated in the like....five minutes of screentime he has in tlj, and looks like he's 0.5 seconds away from materializing off that dreadnought onto the Finalizer to throttle Hux, which is...valid as hell, and funny as fuck to watch.

Honorable Mentions (some of whom felt a little too plot relevant to include): Larma D'Acy, Wrobie Tyce (another pilot, also D'Acy's wife!), Jessika Pava, KALONIA my beloved I'm sorry you couldn't fit into the list, Peazy (PZ-4CO), Ushos S. Statura, Aftab Ackbar, Taslin Brance, and whole lot more because I want to fit the entire Resistance into my pocket to keep them safe. I love them deeply.

Ask me my top five anything!

[willel]

If Will was mistaken for El and there was nothing intentional going on about him then i am going to say Will is a pretty irrelevant character in the story. Because what is his role exactly, being an accidental victim that Vecna decided to use at some point? And i guess he is gay and will be accepted or something. I think that is like the most boring character and narrative ever, especially bc his story never gets focus ever at all. I dont know why they would leave this for s5 at all.

Please reread the post. I'll screenshot the relevant parts.

I believe Will's circumstances is all of these things. I don't see how Will would suddenly become an irrelevant character just because he wasn't the original target.

If he was just mistaken for El for a split second on the road but discovered to be someone else, that means it took Vecna/Henry 0.5 seconds to change his plans and incorporate Will into them instead.

If he was mistaken for El for the entire chase and kidnapping and wasn't discovered to be someone else until he was taken into the Upside Down, that means despite knowing he wasn't El, Vecna had the Demogorgon chase Will down for an entire week. A seemingly easy task given what we saw the Demogorgon do in S4 and yet it took it an entire week to track him down "safely" for capture.

If he was mistaken for El for his entire kidnapping and wasn't discovered to be someone else until he actually caught by the Demogorgon, that still means the Demogorgon, despite its claws and sharp teeth which it will happily use on anything that moves.... "decided" to not harm Will in any way shape or form and gently posted him up on a library wall for the tentacles to have him.

It seems like people are looking at this in black and white like "It was completely on accident and a complete coincidence" or "it was completely on purpose and entirely planned out from the getgo."

No, right now I believe the Demogorgon was tracking down El that night and mistakenly confused Will for her at first. It perfectly parallels the rest of S1 where Hopper is chasing down El the entire time thinking she was WIll.

BUT THAT ISN'T ALL. Even though he might've been mistaken for El at first, I think the Demogorgon/Vecna realized he wasn't and STILL had an interest in Will because he is Will. I think there is something about Will that is close enough to El (or potentially more suitable to whatever he's planning) that made Will a valuable asset.

Even if him running into the Demogorgon was a wrong place wrong time situation, I think Will would've attracted the Demogorgon eventually anyway. If the Demogorgon was tracking El and already mistook Will for El once, then of course the potential for that to happen any time of day was very high. Their house is literally smack dab in the hunting zone. We saw it chase Joyce multiple times while she was just chilling in her home. Will likely would've always been a target.

Not only that, the fact that his kidnapping and capture was somewhat purposeful has already been proven thanks to S2. Even if you're someone who believes what happened to Will in S1 would've happened to anyone and it was a complete and total accident.... there's no way you believe everything that happened to him in S2 was also just a coincidence and an accident.

To me, in writing, whether it's the villains or the heroes, they should be able to adapt their plans when the need arises. If an easier way to accomplish the same goal pops up, then you should take it. If you find a shortcut, take it.

If you find a kid who is strangely similar to the one you were already looking for who is also strangely similar to you and seems to have some kind of potential spark........... then why wouldn't Vecna kidnap Will?

I mean, obviously he still wanted El but life gave him lemons in the form of William Byers so it only makes sense that he'd make lemonade out of it.

Did Vecna plan to kidnap Will the moment he escaped from the Upside Down? No I don't think so.

Did the Demogorgon/Vecna intend to run into Will that night on the street? No.

Did the Demogorgon/Vecna intentionally chase Will all the way to his house and kidnap him into the Upside Down even after realizing he probably wasn't El? Absolutely. We saw the Demogorgon chase Joyce at least 3 times or something. Compare those chases to the Demogorgon chasing Will through the woods, to his house, through a locked door, and then all the way into the shed....?

I hope you can see how it's a mixture of "happy" coincidence and intentional fluid plotting?

Even if this were all a complete accident in season 1, it's not an accident anymore. I still find the narrative of a kid getting wrapped up in a plot way bigger than him and suffering for no apparent reason compelling. It's that juicy eldritch horror stuff y'know? So it's still entertaining for me.

[kyarbrougharts245-02]

Project 2/ Blog 4

As we progress in the course, I find that I’m slowly starting to comprehend just how labor-intensive Type is, especially in its early stages. The reading gave a bit of insight into that bit of history. For example, the book mentions that early text had to be made from metal or wood, even the construction of spaces required a “physical body” as the book defines it.

It makes me feel a little bit better about my projects. While I find cutting to be annoying and measuring accurate alignments manually to be ever so time-consuming, I can’t fathom how much stress I’d be going through if I had to situate each individual letter used on top of my current process. My weekdays would be filled with more all-nighters than I’ve ever experienced.

I can see how our hands-on assignments are encouraging discipline, and overall, I think doing this work leads me to respect my predecessors even more. They probably have seen more all-nighters than anyone in recent years. 

This week’s reading was a little more interesting to me, visually. I like how certain quotes mentioned are aligned in a way that doesn’t conform to the original grid. By pushing the quotes into the margins, the significance of the quote is all the more enhanced—which I get is likely the point, however, I feel it is worth mentioning. I also like the formatting seen in the example on page 66. I had to double-take initially and forced myself to more carefully analyze the body in an attempt to find what was wrong. I think the effect it has is trippy, but aside from being cool, I can’t see myself reading a book till the end if it had a similar formatting. 

I think I struggle with reading as it is now, sometimes I find myself skipping lines or needing to reread a line as I read the text but I didn’t “digest” it.  It’s a little setback but it only shows itself when I read history or a Biology textbook. In other words, if it’s not fantasy, I have no interest. So unless the book had a groundbreaking, mind-shattering storyline, I don’t think I’ll read a book with unorganized spacing.

Additionally, I found many quotes that piqued my interest. To keep it short, I’ll list two by Jacques Derrida (1976) and Jakob Neilson (2000) respectively:

“That a speech can supposedly alive can lend itself to spacing in its own writing is what relates to its own death.”  (67, Lupton)

“Web users don’t like to read…They want to keep moving and clicking.” (75, Lepton)

For my projects, we’ve just finished our second assignment, Gray Readings. I liked this a little more than the Nine Square project. Mostly because it didn’t involve constantly recutting a color outline of a man. I think I most enjoyed simply piecing the text cut from magazines onto the paper and seeing what worked.

My idea for the project was to treat the project like an actual InDesign template, and that meant making the three squares more polished in alignment. It was a great surprise to find that measuring and aligning would not be as pleasant as indulging in pretty fonts. And surprise surprise, it took forever.

I wanted to make sure I got as organized as possible with each square so they could closely resemble a digital counterpart. In my original 8x8, I had the top/bottom margins approximately 1 inch in size and 0.5 inches for the sides. Then I added two little boxes where the intent was for them to be the pages one would see in InDesign. I can’t remember the exact final measurements—I remember making some last-minute changes and having to slide some measurements up a bit but the boxes were each about 3.25 inches wide with a 0.5-inch margin between them (if I’m not mistaken). Allow me some grace, I was up till 4:30 am working on them. 

As time-consuming as the project was, I was pleased with the process. Seeing different fonts slowly unify and shape into something more appealing was the dopamine I desperately needed for the night. I think my favorite was the modular grid, but the experimental grid would be a close second. However, I do believe the fonts I found played a larger role in my favoritism. The title text for “Monsters” and the bold lettering I was able to find (seen in the bottom left) for the grid seemingly complement one another nicely.

However, I’ll admit, by the end I was a little worried I had done the project wrong. I noticed my designs were much more simplified than my peers and no one else seemed to take the InDesign Format approach. Luckily, my fears proved to be simple nothing burgers and I could breathe easy by the end of class, the deadline for the assignment.

Minus a few smudges from the glue and rubber cement, I really liked the end results of my assignments. I could even see myself doing more personal projects similar to this one.

[kbookblurbs]

Ancillary Sword - Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch #2)

4.5/5 - lots of interesting questions; builds on the world established in the first, has our characters grow; no fun time jumps

Spoilers below!

Let me start with the bad, AKA the 0.5 knock. And truthfully, this wasn't even bad, as much as I just missed the storytelling device used in the first book. Linear storytelling is fun, but I love a little nonlinear as a treat, and Leckie pulled this off unbelievably well in hat novel.

But on to the good!

This book does an excellent job of moving the pace along at a reasonable speed, abiding by space physics, and of keeping our characters in such a state that the reader has to ask themselves some questions too.

To the first, I love that this book doesn't allow itself to get bogged down in the details. The flavor of every tea isn't necessarily important. Details around the room are sparse, but enough to give you a sense of the space. You're filling in the gaps from a lot of character interactions because Leckie trusts that you'll be able to put some things together on your own. Frankly, I prefer this very purposeful, precise prose to the more flowerly, descriptive language elsewhere.

To the second - space is big y'all! It would take a while for messages to send and for people to move. The miracle/magic/science of the Presger is that they can move so quickly and without anyone knowing. I also lovee that the final fight relies on zero grav and the problems associated with decrepit infrastructure in space. What a plot device, man.

And lastly, to the third. This book asks you to think about privilege, even unwilling/unwitting privilege, and how that automatically orders the way you view the world. How that structures the way your help can or should come. I know that this is something I'll have to think about more than others, since I am white and American, but in today's day and age, it really does make you think about how people should be creating the space for the marginalized to speak for themselves and on their own behalf.

And there's of course more gay and genderqueer people (if you were to ask me for Breq's gender, I couldn't tell you. They're genderless to me) and some excellent space empire politics. I really can't recommend this series enough.