#also I don't think every aspect of a song fits each character and some of these are probably pretty obvious

[starry-bi-sky]

hi I saw your post about hadestown and bingge and I'm frothing at the MOUTH. I think like how shen yuan started hyperfixating on pidw bingge just fuking becomes a number 1 fan for the performance troupe. What other performances do you think Shen Yuan will xianxia-ify?

SAME. Aaaaaa im so glad you liked that post, im in a similar state over it <33 Bingge went in expecting a vaguely entertaining but ultimately mediocre show and instead got fucking SCALPED. Like instantly obsessed, unable to go back to the way he was before, completely unhinged <3

And aaaurrgh I have this design idea for the Hades actor where throughout the whole show, Hades is wearing a mianguan with so many beads hanging over the front of his face that you couldn't see anything above his mouth. His upper face completely obscured by his crown and the jewels/beads hanging from it. The picture of an untouchable, terrifying, powerful emperor.

But during Epic III, when Orpheus sings the first "la la la", Hades bellows "Where'd you get that melody!?" as he stands from his throne in rage. As he does, his mianguan falls from his head to the ground, revealing the full of his face for the first time. Revealing the face of an angry, scared man.

He doesn't put the mianguan back on for the rest of the show, and he's so expressive that it's no wonder he wore the mianguan all the time.

and as for your ACTUAL ask -- nothing too modern gets xianxia-fied! Hadestown was easy because it already had mythical elements due to being another myth. He just had to rewrite it in a way that would make sense in PIDW. And he doesn't xianxia too many musicals i think, some of them require too much outside context that would be too hard to translate.

Epic I think would be one that gets xianxia-fied, although that's one of the trickier musicals because Jorge has very specific musical motifs behind each character that makes it hard to translate into PIDW -- Hermes' is associated with the harp and the lyre but every time he's in a song he also comes with a very techno-disco-y (???) beat. Plus a lot of other technical aspects as well -- Scylla is the first to come to mind -- that SY's troupe doesn't have the manpower or funds for.

I think it could happen, though! It's just rather tough and it helps fuel SY's decision to keep the musical adaptations to a minimum AND to use musicals that aren't super modern. Hunchback of Notre Dame I think SY could get away with xianxia-fying. Anastasia too. I don't know many plays so I can't say what plays he could xianxia-fy, but he DOES write stage adaptations for some of the stories he tells his troupe, and finds that he really likes it!

It's surprisingly fun coming up with roles, lines, story beats, etc, trying to figure out how he could make this into that. Writing is fun, and the mental challenge that comes with even more so. He loves it!

He makes a stage play telling the story of Hades and Persephone -- albeit altered to fit into Hadestown, rather than the original tale.

And eventually he starts making up his own stories as well -- retellings of myths from PIDW and his world, and things he made up himself to tell certain messages. Rarely does he play a major role in any of these stage plays themselves -- much to Bingge's dismay. It's too much attention for his poor thin face to take! He most often just plays Orpheus. He prefers to stay behind the scenes during plays.

But you can always find him outside the theater when his troupe is in town! If they're not preparing for a stage performance, SY loves going out to tell stories to a crowd! It brings him a lot of joy to watch them sit on the edge of their seats, hanging on to his every word. He especially loves telling stories to children, they get so excited and their interruptions can get annoying sometimes, but its endearing.

And oh, he does love to sing. He's just so very shy about it. It's a miracle that his troupe managed to convince him to be Orpheus -- but that's probably why they waited until opening night to do it. People get so weird when he sings -- it makes him self-conscious. So he only sings when he's alone or around his troupe while on the road.

Oh yeah no, Bingge is OBSESSED with this group. Specifically one mister Shen Yuan who looks so very much like his old teacher, but ISNT him. He's not sure if Shen Yuan is a descendant of Shen Qingqiu's family line, or straight up the man's reincarnation, but at this point he doesn't actually care that much he just needs the man's attention.

It's actual so funny I think. I don't think fan merch exists in PIDW which is a problem, because Bingge WILL resort to stalking. He's going to orchestrate a fan meeting with SY mark his fucking words. He has to see what this man is like when he's not on stage -- is he as pure as the character he portrays? Or is he as rotten as the face he wears.

(It turns out to be the former, and Bingge doesn't know what to do about it. Kidnapping is high on that list. It is SO high on that list.)

[gwinaesfer]

Thoughts on Dragon Age: Inquisition (and how they relate to my opinion of the Veilguard)

It occurred to me that I never finished this review JDIFSOAJDIOSA I'm a few months late but hey, better late than never. Some of you are aware and were excited for me to play Inquisition for the first time after playing Veilguard, sooo let me yap about it.

Important notes: I have only finished the main story, I don't think I'll play the DLCs but I'll explain this further on (in summary, I'm exhausted and the DLCs are long and hard).

This post is GIGANTIC, and also to respect people who don't like critial content I'm putting it under the cut. If you're skipping this, thanks for the company, I do want to chat more with people who have other perspectives so my ask box is open. Still, reminder that this is MY opinion on how things happened in MY experience, you are allowed to disagree with me.

Let's start on a lighter note, here's everything I absolutely adored about this game:

Straight to the top of the list, the soundtrack. What a work of art, pure emotion in song that takes you on this journey even harder than the game itself. The motifs that follow you throughout the story and remind you why you're there, that you have a world to save and people to care about, how the scores talk between each other. Just UGH, 1000000000000000000000000/10. Personal opinion it is better than VG's soundtrack, not an accident that one of my favorite musical moments of VG was the Inquisition theme building up in Blood of Arlathan.

The scenery. What a BEAUTIFUL game to look at, even with 2010's graphics and resolution, the game looks like a painting wherever you stop. Shoutout to the Dales and the Emerald Graves for making me tear up. I love both game's art style, I have nothing to complain or compare.

The companions*: It's impossible not to love all of them, building a friendship (or relationship) takes time and feels earned, I loved how realistic that felt. Yes some people disagreed with my choices and we didn't turn out friends in the end because of it, it's what happens in life and I actually liked having this sense that no, not everyone loves my Inquisitor for what she does. Romance will get its own topic but the friendships in this game, oh my god. Cassandra opening up and turning out to be really sweet and goofy, Leliana being emotional about everything that's going on, Josephine letting herself relax around you and no one else, literally every single one of the Iron Bull scenes, the Wicked Grace game. Goddamn I love these people. Also while at it, the character designs were on point, chef's kiss.

*Regarding personality, I will have a topic further on about the companion missions but it's in the bad section lmfao.

The romance. You guys saw me going through solavellan hell, and if that was an afterthought that they added later in development I can't IMAGINE what the other romances look like. It's tragic and it hurts but it fits the story so well, I do have an issue with it but I understand in this case that it was added later so it will be lacking. For me personally it was so odd and so sad seeing Solas being a normal person for once and realize that he is a person (Veilguard lays heavily on the mystic aspects of him). I think solavellan is an extraordinary match, I see why it's so popular, you all were absolutely right.

Speaking of her, the Inquisitor. WHAT a character. The responsibility of the world on one's shoulder and the yearning from being completely alone while surrounded by people. I played a Lavellan Inquisitor (duh) and it hits you just right just how hard her life is, someone who belonged to a culture that's completely separate from the rest of the world now having to face all of it, becoming a symbol of a faith she doesn't have. She was to be the Keeper of the entire clan, was taken from that path and lost it without ever being able to do anything about it. She's surrounded by people who don't understand or disregard her beliefs and still fights for all of them. When I played Veilguard I thought it was bullshit that she would leave the world behind and willingly go to the Fade, now that I know who she is I see why she needed to go. GodDAMN what a tragic character and so fun to explore in writing.

Not a Section, but what I'm gonna touch on this next topic isn't good or bad. This is neutral ground.

The Story. I have mixed feelings about the story of this game, mainly because playing it in its entirety was SO demanding, SO boring, that I could barely connect to the story at all. It felt badass in a way that I read about it and thought whoa, that's cool, but after I finished it, I felt like it could be more. Still, a protagonist that unwillingly becomes 1- a religious symbol (REGARDLESS of their faith), 2- a war general and 3- a KING/QUEEN of their own little nation was INSANE. Also loved how much culture there is on this game, Orlais looked so different from Ferelden and the rest of the world, all the bits of Dalish history we could read, talk about and even visit sacred grounds!!! I learned more about the Qunari by just chatting with Bull than playing Taash's quest in VG. Thedas looks so alive in this game, it's refreshing to see.

On another note, however. What made the story move and the conflits it brought didn't seem convincing enough for me. Corypheus is a good antagonist, sure, and his monologues were incredible. I still have no fucking idea where he came from, who he is (was?) and what led him to be there in the first place. If the game told me, I was too tired of it to listen. All I gathered was red lyrium bad, addiction worse, fake(?) archdemon big no no, I barely understood what Solas was doing there too, but only because I already knew about it before playing. If all of this is explained in Trespasser, then sorry, didn't have the patience to play it, but also, if the core of your story is explained in a DLC, that's also bad??????? Anyway, good anchor to go to the bad section of this post.

Most critical part of the post, everything I hated about this game (you're welcome to drop the reading right now XD thanks for the company if you do so, see you around <3)

Playability was my biggest issue with Inquisition. Right off the bat, the camera made it impossible for me to fare well in combat and just navigating the game in general, it took me a few tries to actually grasp it in the prologue (I walked around pressing the mouse keys to move the camera with it instead of A and D). I don't know how Inquisition was released, but it felt like a console game thrown into a PC platform without the necessary changes for it to run well for PC players. I didn't mind the ability bar (or whatever it's called), it took no time at all for me to get used to it, it was the camera that got me nauseous and didn't allow me to actually see the game. 3/10 because of how the companions will blast out their special abilities automatically instead of you having to select them (which saved my ass countless times)

I think it still counts as playability, but the quests came in second as my biggest issue, which is bad because it's.... the whole game. The main quests didn't feel very connected between each other for me because of the sheer amount of side quests available between them. I was completely drained halfway through it, I was SO bored, I was viciously following markers going "I wish I was playing literally anything else right now", I forced myself to finish this game and that shouldn't have happened. "But Gwin, you don't have to do the side quests!" True, and by not doing them I miss out on 90% of the lore in a game known for it's writing, I miss companion quests and opinions that could change my view on certain topics, and generally speaking the markers left on the map would piss me off.

I DID miss companion quests, I didn't finish Sera's and Vivienne's stories at all! I know where I went wrong with Vivienne, I refused to give her the wyvern heart because I didn't know what she was going to do with it, and I found absolutely no way of finding out later? It looked like I was completely locked out of her story (I understand the story reasons of it, the "you didn't trust me with this so fuck off" I guess, but no explanation whatsoever? No way of saying aye sorry I didn't give you this then but I want to now?). I have no idea what went wrong with Sera.

Some of the quests were also SO mundane and so... ??????. For instance why am I, the leader of a newly founded military force focused on saving the whole goddamn world, looking for a goat someone lost in the woods? Why am I looking for a wedding ring your daughter lost in the snow? Some of the early game quests made sense (looking for supplies for the refugees, finding medicine for that one woman, hell even looking for the golden halla had meaning), but the others...? In my opinion Veilguard made better choices in side quests, all of them did feel like they had stakes on the bigger problem at hand, you should help the compassion spirits because they were on the verge of turning/you will uncover an entire demon operation under Minrathous, you should look for the crows missing in Rivain because they were bringing suplies back to Treviso after the dragon attack, those missions helped the storytelling of how fucked up the world was then.

Another thing that Veilguard did WAY better and no one can argue about this, all the companions matter to the story at some point, and all of them show up in big missions where you would expect the whole team to be there. Inquisition had me facing an army of demons with 3 people. Out of TWELVE companions only about half of them were integral to the story. You can spend the entire game without talking to HALF the crew once and it doesn't change absolutely anything. Lelianna and Cassandra mattered because of the Divine, Varric mattered because he's directly tied to how the entire plot started and to Hawke, Cole sort of matters because he warned Haven about Corypheus and he's used in storytelling regarding Solas and spirits, and that's all that comes to mind right now.

It was a good game, it could've been great, even, it had everything to be, but I've said this before, I'll take an imperfect game with great playability over a perfect game that's insufferable to play. It does not push me away from loving this era of Dragon Age history though, it's just not something I'll revisit often.

Thank you for reading, I encourage you to give your opinion (respectfully, please, this is a conversation and not a debate), and I want to make more friends to talk about this.

[theemporium]

okay so a while back you said something about how the song sharpest tool bu sabrina carpenter is so luke and cherry coded and i think about that all. the. time. like every time the song comes on i try to determine who it fits better as a whole, however i have come to the conclusion that it fits best when you look at it like a conversation between the two instead. for example,

“We were going right, then you took a left Left me with a lot of shit to second guess” is 100% Cherry to Luke and

“Guess I'll waste another year on wondering if If that was casual, then I'm an idiot” is so totally Luke to Cherry

there’s so many bits of this song that could literally just be a conversation or what the two of them are thinking in the same moment, separately, about the same thing. like

“All the silence just makes it worse, really 'Cause it leaves you so top of mind for me” is Luke and

“All the silence is just your strategy 'Cause it leaves you so top of mind for me” is Cherry

Same situation, same conclusion for the both of them, just different thought processes to get there.

OKAY HI SORRY I LOVED THIS AND I WANTED TO REPLY PROPERLY ON MY LAPTOP BECAUSE WE LOVE SOME ✨ANALYSIS✨

this is like my fav ask ever because i love putting songs to couples/fics and i have so so so many thoughts about the luke and cherry playlist, and how each song relates to them. and i absolutely love hearing other people's interpretations of it because obviously i have the whole timeline/plot in my head but yous just have the actual chapters so it is so intriguing to me

that being said, i do love your breakdown of it and i find it so interesting!! i had never really viewed it as a conversation, but you are so right. it does definitely work that way!! i am so careful with what i wanna say because there are aspects of the song that i feel like come into their plot later and i don't wanna spoil it too much

BUT

"we were going right, then you took a left, left me with a lot of shit to second guess” - in my head, this was always luke to cherry, but now that you have said it, i can see how it could be the other way around. it fits the last wee bit of the latest chapter, her being totally blindsided with his confession. she viewed their relationship in such a solid place and now she feels like the rug has been pulled beneath her from his words. and to her, it feels like it has come out of nowhere. she always assumed they were on the same page.

“guess I'll waste another year on wondering if, if that was casual, then I'm an idiot” - i mean, this is so so so luke in the next chapter. because even if he is aware that he kinda fucked up, her blanking him and running off in the middle of the night doesn't feel fair. he assumed that their friendship was more than that, that she would at least talk to him in the morning, even if it was to reject him or let him down nicely.

"I'm looking for an answer in between the lines, lying to yourself if you think we're fine, you're confused and I'm upset" - i also think this just sums up the next 'act' for luke and cherry so well. and i think it fits them both, like either one of them could be the confused as well as the upset one in this situation. but ultimately, that is just how each of them view the situation from their perspective so i don't wanna spoil too much👹

my one last thing is that as much as this is luke and cherry coded...some of it also fits a third character that yous will find out about soon

[ringleaderising]

PIGLET APPLICATION #05 ROT THE BUTCHERESS.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:

These Piglets are for lore clans with a tumblr presence (sideblog, FR posting on mainblogs, etc you simply have to be a lore clan who engages with the community here on tumblr.)

Other players with their siblings (and myself with their parents) will be not only welcome to but encouraged to write interclan letters/in character messages to their siblings, and you'll have to be okay with everything that comes with that (On-Site DMs, the potential of a message going unanswered/etc) I would also appreciate if you ping me for the stuff you do with them because I want to see what they get up to <3

If you win one of the siblings, please refrain from applying for another, this is so everyone interested gets an opportunity and a fair shake at taking one of the girls home!

If you're the selected winner, the dragon is yours to do what you please with! (Regene, change species, rename, change gender identities/pronoun preferences, etc) I ask only that you have a lore/character reason for breed or name changes, as they'll be connected to a wider group of dragons that would need to know these things (What kind of dragon their sibling has become, What to call them in letters, etc) and if you can keep them a modern breed so they can keep their cleavers, well that'd just be nice for their old man Pig.

Please honor the basic lore of the dragon you win, you're welcome to rewrite/reinterpret the lore they arrive with, but please don't eliminate that history entirely, since they'll be interwoven with other clans/players!

[and a big thank you to Khadjin for reminding me I never mentioned this yet!] my lore deviates pretty substantially from site lore. however every aspect can be explained within the context of the site, please don't feel like you have to adopt my headcanons to participate in these!- my "Lesser Gods" are nothing more than magically afflicted/overcharged spirits or magically mutated dragons created in a reactor explosion somewhere in Lightning and some timeloop silliness, and the 'Gaps' are highly concentrated leylines caused by this incident. the eleven gods of sornieth remain the only true gods in my lore much like the site on the whole!- the Piglets and their parents simply lived under the affliction of spirits, cults, and mutated dragons and contextualized them as "Gods" the very same way we create urban myth/legends. While they would know of The Host and the Gaps because of the direct effect both have had on their parents, they are not required to have continued to believe in them as "Higher beings" and can have learned in their time away from their family that these things are likely, little more than the arcane gone haywire.

BLANK APPLICATION

Please copy/paste and fill this out in a Reblog here on tumblr or send it to me through my submit box here so I can keep track of things on a per-dragon basis for the course of the 48-hours each application will be active!

FR Username/Numbers: Basic Clan Lore: (just a general description of the lore/area of your clan you intend to place this hatchling in!) Plans For Dragon: (A little description of any of your ideas, headcanons, story beats, etc you're thinking of for the dragon you're applying for! This can be anything you've got in mind, scries, outfits, etc, feel free to go as big or as little as you want, I wanna see what's going on in your head!) Intended Payment: (These dragons will be PWYW, but I need everyone to acknowledge they're not free, so whatever you're planning on paying/trading for them, even if you change your mind when the time comes, stick something here.)

RINGLEADER'S HEADCANONS

These are just some smaller lore bits and pieces you're welcome to use or disregard for each child, things that I couldn't fit into the bios in a way that made sense. much like the example outfit photo up-top, this is for fun or stuff to help get ideas flowing, if you're stuck!

While all the hatchlings have a song blurb that fits them in their bio, Rot actually ended up with a second one stuck in my head working on her, and it's been categorically "IN MY BLOOD" by Wage War. specifically? "Learned that all good things are earned and learned to live off the land // I close my eyes and hear those words from my old man: Never start what you can't finish with your own two hands." as she's not only the daughter most like her father in lifestyle, but the one with the most prevalent taste for a fight.

If her sisters have been somewhat bear-coded, big and dangerous with a noted regality, Rot is the veritable cougar or wolf. Powerful and deadly with a slinky, thinner frame built for stealth over brute strength. For this reason, she fights with her cleaver differently- using the heavy piece of steel to dig into the ground and anchor steady whilst she whirls around it with smaller, more maneuverable weapons.

She's got Pig's oddly southern drawl, and while her sisters may not have taken it on as prevalently, Rot sounds every bit like she grew up in the backwoods, rumbling a 'darlin' on smoky, rough vocal chords.

Magically primed in the Godfall, Rot now bears the ability to camouflage herself via bending and twisting light off her scales- it is a clumsy, unhoned talent at the moment, and requires the regular intake of magic harvested from other sources.

THIS APPLICATION IS OPEN FROM 5:30 PM DECEMBER 10TH, 2024, TO 5:30 PM DECEMBER 12TH, 2024. REBLOGS AFTER THIS TIME WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM THE RUNNING.

And here's the pinglist! (Aren't you all glad I'm done with this now?)

@hor-wod-flir @harpyartisan @fuiran @terra-tortoise @bawkrya

@pocketmouse-fr @spongyspingy-rising @avalonianrising @clansunsharp @khadjin-fr

[0creativity0]

It's so funny to me that so many of us fanfiction writers (and also just writers in general) spend lifetimes trying to pinpoint and convey super specific emotions and feelings with the perfect words and wording, and then some 14 yo on SoundCloud makes some weird combination of synthesiser notes with an echo, gives it a plain orchid blue screen for cover and calls it something akin to "Warm nights" and we all know exactly what the fuck they were getting at.

I can try as hard as I want, my words could never provoque emotions the way sounds do, and not even the way colors do. Colors are so evocative and I think the meanings different cultures have ended up associating with them because of it are so interesting to compare. But that's a subject for another day.

A book is very one dimensional, right? Like, your brain (as you read) might create an image of what you've been described. It might try to interpret what a character looks like, or what a place is like. It might even play a little music in your head, if a little music is said to be playing. It won't ever be able to really get into every aspect at once in detail, though. I don't think you can read a book, be focused on what's happening, while also imagining a place, a character, their voice, the wind, the sky, the way your skin feels, where your glasses weight on your nose, etcetera. All the things that make it feel real.

There's, I think, only a few of those pieces that your brain can work up alone at once, and the more of those pieces I manage to envision at the same time, the more dopamine my brain produces. With a book, I have maybe one of those factors down at a time. Listening to a song is almost automatically two of them. Sounds and lyrics, setting/atmosphere and story (albeit it often takes a few tries to actually understand the story). If you've seen the cover art for the song or album you're listening to, or a music video, you might be able to make a mental image of it, or just create your own from scratch, which is even more immersive. If you've listened to other songs from the same artist or album that fit in with this one and make a real story with multiple chapters, that really helps in my opinion. If you like the artist, you can maybe even comprehend exactly what a song is about and relate to it better. By simply existing, a song already puts together a lot of those pieces. The art itself does all the heavy lifting. Reading demands more brain capacity. I think it takes a very special person to be able to do so much at once, and that those people make phenomenal writers. I certainly can't do all of that, I'm a dumbass.

Then there's, with music, the excitement of live events. Which, I don't know about you guys but I'd rather read alone than listen to someone read my favorite books for me. Music is much more popular and convivial. It ends up being a big part of everyone's lives, and playing a role in our relations to each other. Relatability undoubtedly makes art better and more enjoyable.

BUT, in my opinion, trying to write something technically impressive and compelling is so much more interesting. Just how a technically impressive and compelling art piece is more interesting than a plain orchid blue screen, even if it's less evocative sometimes. Which is why poetry is just so... So... There's probably no art form I find more interesting than poetry... It's so... Explodes

Even then, despite all of that, for daily consumption, music is much better. I listen to a lot of music, I listen to too much music actually. Lost access to my Spotify for about two weeks about a month and a half ago and how that affected my mood was eye-opening to say the least. It's low-key an issue. I live for this thing. I'm listening to music in the morning before I've had the time to register that I exist, I'm listening to music during conversations, during my five minutes of break between classes, and while I study as well. I'm listening to music right now ffs. And I don't know if it helps me think or prevents me from doing so.

All of that said, I wonder why shows are so much less entertaining to me than music. I think it might have something to do with my vision not being very good, and my visual memory even worse. Looking at a show might be awesome when it's happening, but I'll only be able to recreate a poor and blurry copy of it in my brain. Even a painting is better because it's static, that's less information to remember. Rythms and beats are so memorable and so repetitive it's not even hard to keep them in mind, which is why they don't leave your head. I don't know about you guys but I've never had a vivid image stuck in my head just because it's pretty, but I sure have had songs stuck in my head just because the rythm is fun.

Yeah, that sounds about right. But now that I'm thinking about it, I'd also say the reason I like music better is simply that looking at something is the single most grounding sense of all. Seeing things is what feels real. But so I know I'm staring at a screen and not a landscape, contrary to when I'm listening to a song and can thereby just close my eyes and produce a pixelated version of that landscape that looks like nothing but feels a thousand times as real as any picture. Unless we're talking about virtual reality I suppose. That's a whole other thing though.

Animes, cartoons, live actions, movies. The only real visual performances I enjoy that much are plays, preferably broadway musicals. And ballets, but dance is just a whole other thing. But also, when a show/movies does stick with me, it sticks for much longer than anything else could, even music. Probably because of how many factors go into making one, and how intricate they are.

Anyway. Just a bunch of dumb thoughts.

[narutoheretic]

Danzo 2,3,4,5,8,23

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Hard to decide, but I have to go with how... overall positive his interactions with his Root agents are?

People tend to ignore canon and just project Bad Boss Danzo and mindless/sad and blank Root agents over what's there, but especially in comparison to the very common awful management and authority figure feedback in this story (send people who are 100% not qualified on missions who cares! yell at everyone! if a kid fails a mission call him a little bitch baby and tell him it'll be his fault if his friends die if he quits!) Danzo's generally straightforward, calm, and remarkably forgiving (we're ignoring whatever was happening in the last part of kinoe's filler arc partly because it makes no sense) interactions with his special little murder guys are refreshing and complicate his presentation as a cold and harsh personality.

(bonus painful headcanon: He used to be harsh more often, but after he was one of the people who condemned Sakumo - who was his student - for the failure of his mission, and Sakumo committed suicide, Danzo was deeply shaken and became rather more forgiving/careful while dealing with his people's failures from then on.)

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

the point where Kishi decides that he can exonerate like a million other characters by just blaming everything on Danzo, all the time. (Hanzo wanted to take out challengers to his power for practical reasons because he was a competent and vicious man? nooooo he was peace-loving and didn't have any problem with them! DANZO evilly manipulated him into thinking Akatsuki was bad and... uh, then Hanzo still decided to deal with it in an OTT and sadistic way...? Don't think about it too hard!)

It is kind of hilarious though how the end of the story boils down to essentially 'All evil in this world is the fault of the devil, the devil's weird son, and...... Tom. Yeah, this one guy. He sucks sooo bad.'

4. If you could put this character in any other media, what would you put them in?

Oh man... honestly I'd love to see him in an MXTX novel, specifically Heaven Official's Blessing (pre-the edits I heard vaguely it got later on which sound like they torpedoed some of my favorite aspects...). From my experience in MXTX fandoms I'm sure he'd be just as hated by the fans, but MXTX handles morally gray characters and villains with such clear-eyed sympathy in her books - she has a real knack for presenting someone as both a deeply flawed person who's responsible for bad things, and someone who has been shaped by their circumstances and is driven by motivations that aren't just 'be evil'. Heaven Official's Blessing I pick on in particular bc (a) that book is massive there's room for another storyline (b) there's so much about people who are fucked up by war and complicated love-hate dynamics and the desperation to acquire personal power at any costs for the safety of yourself and others.... he'd fit right in

(also, for people more acquainted with that book - heavenly official Hiruzen keeping up secret contact with his in-life general Danzo who's become a high-level ghost so they can both augment their power. they fucking hate each other and both seem unsympathetic and then there's a backstory lore dump that makes you cry. you get me right)

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

I'll be honest, I've been listening to The Ark and the Tinderbox for late-stage Konoha misery and chaos and there's a lot of Danzo that figures into that so that occurred to me first, but for one that's more a focused character song, Holy Branches by Radical Face is a big one for younger Danzo.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Oh, boy... there's so much, but I'll pick 'acting as if killing him would magically solve every problem with Konoha/in canon'. not how government/political events/war/the world works even if you're convinced he's just bad, folks!

(And I'll cheat a little and also include 'completely siding with the canon narrative that he was a coward for hesitating on volunteering to die in his youth'. Like it's actually heartbreaking to me that Danzo is So fucking mentally ill around that incident and seems to continue to live his life with the assumption implied by what he says about his father and grandfather dying in battle, and that being his duty - essentially, that he has to constantly earn the mere fact of being alive, because he 'should' die if the opportunity ever arises. So he has to be constantly doing stuff For The Village, and doing the most stuff, because otherwise how can he justify not dying at the first opportunity as a teenager? And canon kind of just agrees with that line of thinking by being like 'his only minorly redeeming act is killing himself instead of dying', and then people constantly refer to him as a coward for that one incident in his youth, and... man, just as someone who can really relate to some of Danzo's personal brand of insanity and doesn't like any narrative that holds up getting yourself killed as a heroic moral good and wanting to live as cowardice, it just makes me sad okay! personal/blorbo pity party over)

23. Favorite picture of this character?

How can I choose?

(Also I swear I vaguely remember other arts that aren't turning up when i search my blog... rip)

[shit-talk-turner]

We talk a lot about Louise being a cosplayer, and for good reason, but I feel like we could apply this label to Alex as well. If we think about it, every era of his has always been about trying to emulate or being heavily inspired by someone else//

Alex does cosplay to a degree but I think it's more rooted in creativity and 'artistry' whereas Louise cosplays in real life as a human. I'll explain.

Alex has discussed in interviews before about creating 'personas' and being aware that he is doing so, he has mentioned he does this as it gives him something to hide behind so he doesn't feel exposed. It's well documented that Alex is a more shy, introverted personality so it makes sense he'd feel more comfortable in the work he does if he's got a 'character' to hide behind which fits in with the vibe of the each new era/album release. In saying this, I don't think Alex becomes a completely different person each time it's just certain aspects of his personality may be more exaggerated (which you also highlighted). I think his personas are more of an aesthetic thing than they are him actually changing 'who he is'. Many artists do this not just with musicians but you see it with actors also. This might be an unpopular opinion but I think as time goes on he is becoming more himself, at least aesthetically.

One of the things I find attractive about Alex is his personal style you could see since the first TLSP record he has an old fashioned charm and flair. I think he's always been growing into his current look, taking inspiration and growing in confidence along the way. I would disagree that Alex and Louise are the same on this front because Alex actually has some originality to him and uses his 'cosplaying' as a tool for his artistry.

Alex is a prolific and successful artist, Louise not so much. If you got a qualification as a Surgeon and worked within that field for 6 months to a year then changed your qualification and became an Engineer and have worked in that field for 10 years on going, would you still call yourself a Surgeon?! Louise has one album release in the span of her whole career, I think she calls herself a Musician still? Correct me if I'm wrong at any point but as far I know she hasn't achieved popularity as a musician nor have any of her songs, nor her album. A curious mind would wonder how she makes a living from this especially over the last 6 years or so as she seems to live a luxurious lifestyle, it's obvious from what we know that it's her boyfriend that affords her luxury and not her 'career'. It still remains to be seen if 'Lou the Musician' will have a resurgence. The point I'm getting towards is that there is no 'need' for Louise to be cosplaying the way Alex does, she's not an active, working artist (as far as we know anyway) and she doesn't seem to be an influencer either.

Also the way Alex 'cosplays' and the way Louise does is very different. Alex takes inspiration from others and creates something new with it, Louise COPIES from others and presents an imitation of it. Just go look at all the photo references of her copying Alexa's style and poses on Instagram of Alex's ex girlfriends including Taylor. The realest we might've ever seen Louise is more in the present day with the at times 'head scratching' outfits. I'd argue Louise lacks originality hence the recycling of others ideas as opposed to coming up with her own and as the anon mentioned her desire for validation and her insecurity is plain to see. I think Alex may have a more established sense of self than Lou but I could be very wrong!

Good points, thanks all the anons who have been submitting these thoughtful asks!

[curtsies-from-princess-ashlyn]

Who says we have to let it go? (a season 4 reflection)

As promised, I finished rewatching the show in full one more time, so now I will finally put my S4 thoughts to paper (or screen). Coincidentally, this is also the day that the series finale would've dropped if S4 was released weekly, so it feels fitting to write this today, anyway.

Even after the initial Rina fog has lifted and excitement has died down, season 4 still remains my favorite season. While it has plenty of issues with plotting (certainly more than s3 or s1), it absolutely nails it thematically. The season explores the importance and consequences of vulnerability, and the power of seeing others as they truly are (as I mentioned in an older post, it's all about vulnerability and authenticity), and every main character's storyline so beautifully contributes to those themes in unique ways. There's also a really interesting dynamic between looking to the future and holding onto the present being explored this season, and I think the glamor of HSM4 (a hollywood movie) and the humility of HSM3 (a high school play) are symbolic of each respective idea. There's actually a lot I want to discuss about each character's relationship with both HSM4 and HSM3, and how it succinctly shows their internal feelings about their futures, but maybe that's for another time. Anyway, Tim has said his intention for the show's thesis is to find people who see and accept you for who you are, but this last season goes so much deeper with that concept, emphasizing the necessity of letting yourself be seen and known, too. This can be through letting your walls down, letting your flaws and struggles be seen, choosing to forgive those you love and take a second chance, or boldly speaking what's in your heart. Nearly every original song this season touched on this theme in some way, which really emphasizes the thematic cohesion of this season.

This leads me to the music, which is the best it's ever been in the show. Every single one of the originals is so good, and I love that there was also (finally) a showtune in a traditional musical theater style ("Over Again")! However, the score is what really stuck out to me this season (HUGE shoutout to Gabriel Mann, the scorer of the show). I do think the scoring of S3 really started to assist with telling the story by including more recurring leitmotifs (I think the return of the Rina cue helped), but the score of S4 really leans into this aspect of storytelling, especially in the final 2 episodes. There's leitmotifs to represent Shallow Lake, a magical motif from "Dreams Don't Die" to represent the magical and fleeting nature of high school theater, countless variations of the Rina cue, and I'm pretty sure there's even a recurring leitmotif established for Kourtney (I have to go back and listen for if it's used beyond her scenes).

Another thing that really stuck out to me was how well each episode was written. I think overall, there are leaps between some episodes that don't feel natural, but the story of each episode is well constructed and executed. There's genuinely not a single episode this season that I would say is boring or pointless... certainly some plotlines throughout the season turn out to be, but the episodes themselves are solid. Unfortunately, some of the plotlines this season feel like they end really abruptly, which did feel jarring on a first (and second) watch. I do believe Bart Johnson when he said some stuff for HSM4 was cut, because I was surprised at how little the OGs were in this season. Same can be said for Dani's storyline, which really felt superfluous in the end result. I hope that there's a showrunner's/extended cut released of this show someday, because that would probably fix those issues.

Overall, with this being the last season, it had the most important job of closing the show out in a truly complete way. I really believe it competently did that job, and I think how it finished the growth of the lead characters is what makes it conclusion so poignant. Everyone will have their opinions on how the show handled certain characters, but how Ricky and Gina (and even EJ, to a lesser extent) were handled in this last season absolutely tells me these writers knew what they were doing with these characters. The last series finale I watched that concluded character arcs so resolutely, with such tremendous humanity and truth, was Lost (Jack Shephard's arc is one of the most complete and profound I've ever seen). Gina Porter has always been a character I related to deeply, and that final season really made my connection with her even more personal and heartfelt. I actually have experienced healing of some wounds of my younger self witnessing her story, and I see how much more growing and healing I still have left.

So, what's the sum of my thoughts on season 4? I wouldn't change a thing! Ok, that's not necessarily true, but I still love it as it is. It was the funniest season (seriously, every single joke was hilarious), it was the most heartfelt, it was thematically rich, and it helped me say goodbye to the wildcats, while still holding onto hope for a bit more.

[halucygeno]

Yes, I know PAFL has comics too (not just "Rough", but also "Execution" on Itch.io). I'm not ignorant — I omitted it for brevity. If I had to discuss every aspect of PAFL, we'd be here all day.

- "google doc is quite laconic and tells the facts about what is happening right away"

- Exactly, that's why it's boring. There's a clear difference between "telling a story" and "giving a summary of events". The Strugatskys tell a story. Ferry tries to tell a story (with MVs), fails, and then has to explain to the audience what the story was supposed to be. That's the difference.

Roadside Picnic doesn't contain lines like:

"The book is split into 4 chapters. Chapter 3 switches perspective to Richard Noonan."

because you understand that by simply reading. Ferry, on the other hand, does write things like:

"The video can be split into two parts. The 'present' part takes place around 2 weeks after the incident. [...]"

She has to write it, because half the the audience won't pick up on it from watching the videos.

And the doc does undeniably contain tons of unnecessary detail, like the characters' birthdays, height and weight:

Do you think Roadside Picnic would've been a better story if we knew each character's birthday, height, weight, and favorite brand of toothbrush? Cause I'm glad this kind of guff was omitted, and only relevant information was kept.

- "besides not everything can be shown in a 3 minute music video"

- Nobody held Ferry at gunpoint and forced her to tell her story through a series of music videos. That was her choice of medium, and it was a bad one — it clearly wasn't a good fit for the kind of complex, serialized plot she was trying to tell. If it had been a good fit, she wouldn't have felt the need to explain herself in a separate document. The work would have spoken for itself, no clarifications needed. (I'm glad she eventually went on to write comics; that's probably a much better medium for this.)

Even so, there are MANY obvious things that could've been done to improve clarity. For example:

The MVs could've been in chronological order, instead of jumping around the timeline with a random arrangement of prequels and sequels-to-prequels (with flashbacks spliced into them, for good measure).

The characters could have had more distinct faces, so when they're rendered in monochrome or shown as younger versions in flashbacks, they'd be easier to identify.

Some of the more abstract imagery could've been toned down.

Some videos (most notably, the middle section of "The Mill") contain uninterrupted scenes of character dialogue. Why not use these kinds of scenes as intros and/or outros for the songs, which would help set the scene and orient the audience? (This is not uncommon - many music videos have non-musical intros which establish some sort of story.)

These aren't perfect solutions, but they show that PAFL isn't confusing solely because of some "inherent limitation" of music videos. No, Ferry deliberately made the story far more convoluted than it needed to be.

- "besides pafl is like one person's project. who doesn't even do it like. full-time"

- Fair enough. I never said that PAFL wasn't an impressive technical achievement, especially for a solo artist doing it as a hobby. I'm deeply envious of Ferry's skills.

But, and this goes without saying, the fact that it's a solo project has zero impact on what a critic can or cannot say about the quality of its writing, presentation, editing, etc. If it's bad, it's bad. I don't care if it was written by one person or an entire team of writers. This point is a cheap deflection.

- "pafl does have lots of social commentary on the way life in cis countries is"

- To be honest, I'm sure there is some kind of valid social commentary hidden in there somewhere — I'm not very good at interpreting media that is already trying my patience, so a lot of stuff goes over my head.

That said, whatever social commentary it may have, it is VERY difficult to take seriously when the main plot involves a shady institute experimenting on (and eventually planning to execute) children, with the research being headed by a Dr. Temnova (roughly Russian for "Dr. Dark"). This does not scream "well thought-out social commentary". It screams "we are the obvious bad guys™ from a Saturday morning cartoon".

Roadside Picnic does have a lot of very blunt, unsubtle critiques of, say, the police. But it didn't need to name one of its policemen Sgt. Svinyovich to get that point across. (To be fair, R.P. does feature other lazy, downright offensive characters names, like Gutalin, but that's a whole different story).

Anyway, idk, conclusion, summary, TL;DR:

I think my main issue with most "Roadside Picnic inspired" media is less with specific plot points or characters (which may very well work in their own, isolated context), but more the slow, wishy-washy style of presentation (confusing MVs, long-winded light novel series), the lack of harshness in themes and tone (IMO the zone should not give you superpowers), and the shift to a strong visual focus, leading to the zone being treated as an aesthetic.

The thing that best shows this difference, IMO, is comparing their worldbuilding. In Roadside Picnic, the town of Harmont is basically its own character. It has history, infrastructure, politics - we see it evolve and develop throughout the chapters. Before the visitation, it used to be an industrial factory town. After the visitation, it shifted to a service economy, fueled by immigrant labor and tourism. Stalkers were initially a popular profession, but as the supply of artefacts dried up and technology advanced, they were gradually replaced by remote-controlled robots. Throughout the novel, we repeatedly hear about new construction projects, workers protesting for better wages, disgruntled ex-stalkers becoming taxi drivers, etc.

What is the town in PAFL even called? According to Ferry's doc, it's "an Eastern European city". That's it, it doesn't even get a name. It has the research facility, some factories... a club, I guess. That's a start, maybe, but where's the flavor? The texture? Does it exist as anything more than a flat backdrop for whatever dramatic pose the main characters are striking?

Idk, it's 4AM and I'm losing coherence. Maybe I can't explain it with words, but to me, the priorities of these derivative works feel all wrong. They're too visual, too stylish, full of dramatic scenes and camera angles... it's so much, when Roadside Picnic excelled at working with so little (it's almost novella-length). It created a grimy, awkward world which was complicated and alive, and did so simply, clearly, without all this flashiness or pizzazz. No X-men styled superpowers, no shootouts. No guff: no character birthdays, heights and weights... It was just plain, good sci-fi.

(it’s not for nothing that the zone is addressed as a woman)

that's kinda specific meme I made for myself and one and a half people who are as insane as me to understand da meme

[llycaons]

finished the LA!!!

Pros

I do find yyh's early mini-arcs to be pretty slow, so I don't mind skipping them. and for a shortened series, combining several arcs and ramping up the pacing made for a faster viewing experience and definitely streamlined hiei joining the group

making them 17 was a good change

the production value was high enough that a lot of the aspects genuinely fucking ruled

GREAT music. fantastic battle scenes. incredibly smooth cgi resulting in effective body horror and thrilling monster fights. final fight scene with the sparks looked incredible

the spirit gun, spirit sword, rose whip, and dragon of darkness flame all looked SO good. it was really cool to see them in a live-action format

I didn't dislike the wigs! I thought they were charming and stylistically perfect

I have a lot more to say about the plot below, but I will offer this praise: it could have tried to do a lot of things and it didn't. it may not have been completely faithful, but it avoided being a bad adaptation in other ways

I really liked the hiei and kuwabara. kuwabara initially disappointed me, but his earnestness and passion grew on me and I ended up really enjoying him. and hiei's actor just nailed him in every way - mannerisms, line delivery, body language, attitude

kurama was fine! there was a lot there they could have delved into but didn't. important thing is, he was a mama's boy who fights with plants.

yukina and keiko being immediate besties was really sweet! I wish they'd adapted more yukina moments but there wasn't a lot to work with anyway

keiko being more fighty was a really fun change

elder toguro RULED. younger toguro was really good too (in looks voice and body language) and so was sakyo but elder toguro stole the show. sakyo is a very stylish character who I always associate with smoking, but despite the changes I liked the LA version. but elder toguro. FREAK OF THE WEEK!!!!

some moments of genuine emotional resonance: kuwabara manifesting his spirit sword after days of hitting rocks with sticks. keiko inspiring yukina to escape by telling her she should try for the person who saved her last time. and hiei and yukina's last conversation where hiei looked like he was about to cry

it was SO well acted. and yukina looked so happy!! I think she knows. I also liked yukina and kuwabara's first encounter and kuwabara's convo with her after she heals him. it was very genuine. depsite not being into yukina/kuwabara or love at first sight, it was a sweet and well-crafted moment

the kuwameshi scraps...I heard yusuke say he wanted to eat ramen with kuwabara and then tell keiko 'it's not like that' and went 👀

ummmm what else. atsuko's first appearance was fine. in general everything in eps 1 and 2 were things I disliked and plenty in 3-5 were fun

the car crash was INTENSE

I was happy to hear smile bomb

the ending credits are cool and I like the music choices. the songs fit the vibe of the show, but the actual character writing doesn't

Cons

there was a time in my life (a few days ago) where I simply would have put 'everything else' but I'm in a different place now

but not TOO different. this show cannot stand on its own! it cut out MANY many iconic lines and character traits and jokes, even when it would have been easy to include. it's got the trappings of SOME things related to yyh, but lacks the actual soul

iconic character moments such as yusuke realizing how much people care about him and genkai falling to toguro's attack simply fail to impact the viewer in the same way because while they're incredible in concept, the execution is utterly rushed, nothing has ANY time to sink in. I don't even know what the themes of this show are, besides....protect your friends, I guess?

trying to crush everything up to three kings arc into 5 hours was ambitious, but not necessarily doomed. but they fucked it. they fucked the pacing and they fucked the characters and it feels gutless and boring and lazy. everyone seems like they've known each other for like, a day. at most. that genkai episode?!

it was cool that hiei's true motivations were secret for a little while. until the casual sibling reveal

a deeply beloved part of yyh is the core four dynamic. but these people BARELY know each other! kuwabara and yusuke are friends I guess, but they met kurama like twice and they don't even know hiei. genkai was killed TWENTY MINUTES after her introduction. who signed off on this?!

no botan oar, no jorge, koenma is a TEENAGER with a PACIFIER

and wtf was going on with yusuke!!!! his actor managed to convery anger, disgust, and boredom, and that was about it. he smiled maybe once? he almost cried in ep5 and that was HUGE to see. ugh he was robbed of his dynamism and life and passion and sense of humor as a character. I miss anime/manga yusuke so much. he was a goofy boy!!! he made that little kid smile!!! he jokes around and laughs really big and loves his friends!!!

they also failed to adapt botan. her actor was either poorly directed as I assume yusuke's was, or she's just an awkward performer. she's just a timid blue-haired cheerleader for yusuke who cows when he's mad I guess, not the fun, competent, confident, ball-busting older girl we all love. and her STYLE!!! let her dress up!!! it's 1991!!!

well, they have smartphones so I guess not 😔

I thought a lot of eps 1 and 2 were really boring...the fight scenes were way too long and not very good and I had no emotional stake

so this adaptation was too scared to really do its own thing but it also failed at recreating the true magic of yyh - the characters and their love for each other. the scene at the end was nice, but it didn't capture half of their chemistry by the DT arc

I really missed the tournament....and the character moments. atsuko screaming at yusuke and throwing things at his body!!! drunk and sobbing!!! a WRECK!!! I wanted THAT Atsuko. she was so collected and comforting to keiko, too. since when has atsuko been a responsible parent or adult?

whyyyy was his revival so easy!!! NO PUU!!!!!???? no proving himself, no emotional journey??!!

especially grieved to lose yukina crying because of her friends the birds being killed and not bc of being physically hurt. and I really wanted keiko to be more of a hero and save yusuke's body!! while giving keiko more of a character, the writing still let them down; they were relegated to Girls Needing Saving again at the end

it wasn't funny which is a crying shame given how hysterical the manga and anime dub both are (often for different reasons)

character arcs just got aborted. there was no way to explore hiei's past or his complicated feelings about his family. no way for kurama to reconcile the ancient demon and the 15 yr old boy he simultaneously is. no way for yusuke to truly overcome his anger and mature into a young man who's happy to be alive and is okay just chilling with a ramen shop. and um. well kuwabara got a spirit sword and that was pretty sick

also yoko kurama looked very silly and I didn't get his 'ancient powerful yokai' vibes ALSO it wasn't a surprise borne from kurama being poisoned to regress to himself of 20 years ago so that was a shame

I liked hiei's actor a lot but he SHOULD be 4'9!!!!

why did they spend more time on bullied kid than on the ACTUAL characters if they were so strapped for screentime?

ep1 was so bad. it was so bad guys. it was boring and not fun and I'm including the fight scene

no sensui or itsuki 😔 no shizuru, no puu, no jorge

overall the show tried to change both too much and not enough. if it only had 5 episodes, there are much more efficient ways of making the plot move forward and bonding the characters, and it doesn't requite sacrificing beloved character details. or hell, this is a new show! put IN some content, don't just take stuff away and mash other things together!

as another person on here said....it's a bit gutless

Final verdict: lots of style over substance with some good scenes and performances but ultimately a hollow shell of what it aspires to be. 6/10 will not rewatch but do not regret it

[mttcrwfrds-blog]

𝕦𝕟𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪⁠— a playlist inspired by the characters of @halstonshq

disclaimer: these songs were chosen based on my interpretation of the characters and are not based on the admins’, applicants or members’ characterization. 

warning for strong language and mentions of drug/alcohol use.

listen on youtube 

[purplerose244]

Watched the eighth episode of LEGO DreamZzz: Loved it!

EVERY NEW EPISODE IS MY FAVOURITE EPISODE! I feel very attached for all five of them, I want Mateo to keep working on his confidence, I wanted Cooper to keep walking his own way, I want Izzie to save her friends, I want Logan to better himself, I was Zoey to have more friends I... I... 😭😭😭

Also side note, the how to draw videos are super cute, Mateo is super good and also...

Mateo: I'll make a tutorial on how to draw all of these wonderous creatures, quite fascinating right? Anyway TODAY I'M GONNA DRAW MY VERY COOL FRIEND ZOEY

Yeah I'm pretty sure this guy has a crush 😂 And he thinks her eyelashes are pretty 💕💕

I'm super curious! ONTO THE EPISODE

(Yes I watched the whole first season already, and I was wondering if anyone knew where the second season is? I know someone on Youtube post it, but how? Where did it come out?)

THE BIGGER PICTURE

THE THUMBNAIL IS SHOWING MATEO AND ZOEY! ARE THEY FINALLY INTERACTING?!? I feel like we got lots of time to define Zoey's character, so I wonder if we'll see Teo showing more of his crush

DUDE THESE COMICS ARE SO COOL LOOK AT MY BABY GO 😍😍😍

Lol Mat dedicated two whole pages to Zoey and Zian, sweetie you're no subtle, it saves you only your shyness 🥰🥰

AWW HE WANTS TO TALK TO HER 💕

I know that he got a crush and obviously that's a major reason, but I really like how it's so simple. Mateo thinks she is really cool, she wants to talk to her. He really reminds me of me a lot 😅

Ah, the whole important milestone for every artist in school: having the courage to show his art to someone else

So not even Coop saw these comics? Only Izzie did? Interesting...

Logan is up to stuff apparently?

LOL we're finally seeing other professors aside from prof Oz and that one jerk coach! Interesting change from sensei Wu from Ninjago and sir Brickland from Nexo Knights, she seems nice

LOGAN IS BACK IN OUR TEAM?!?! 😍

Awww, he did have a bit of a change of heart! Did he realize Mateo is actually kinda great at leading and wants in? Or just really likes the team? Whatever the reason, welcome back mah dude! 💪💪

Gotta say that Izzie got great instinct, whenever something is wrong she feels it right away, so I'd trust her about this Insomniac Club

... or maybe it's a bunch of people playing Spyro or Ratchet and Clank, who knows 😂

Noooo stealing is a bad idea

NOOOO STEALING IS A BAD IDEA

Vincent's characters are quite different from each other, but they do have a common pattern: they make some pretty amazingly bad decisions 😂😂

TEO NO DON'T AGREE 😱

My baby got confidence only in the Dream World while not in the real world COME ON SWEETIE YOU CAN DO IT

Oh so we are using that locator thingie! It seemed very useful when they found it in the Night Bureau, even though the discarded it so easily

Is that thing not enough to find the Sandman? I guess not?

LOOK AT THE SCHOOL 😂

ZOEY IS THERE 👏👏👏👏👏

"Hey broseph, que pasa?" I just love these little spanish snippets, love to see some rep, especially in a LEGO show!

DUDE WHAT IS THIS COACH DREAMING

Interesting this aspect of this world, I thought that dreams were just the people landing on these realms and exploring, but I wonder if these worlds change according to the influence of the person dreaming

Julia seems like a very sweet lady... unfortunately she teaches math, therefore making her the evil incarnate 😡

I hate math sorry miss school memories

LOOK AT Z BLOB PUSHING MATEO I LOVE HIM SO MUUUUUUCH 💚💚💚💚

Zoey playing the guitar 😍 Well she has always showed she was a musical person, between the song and recognizing music notes in the seashell message, I didn't realize to which extent! It fits her

Is the Rad Radioactive some sort of narrative about drinking junk stuff before going to sleep? 😂😂

I... did not expect the Nightmare King to straight up say "dude-bro" 🤣

Awww, is Logan becoming self-conscious over causing so many troubles? I realize I've been very against him in the past but in retrospect, that must have been tough

Hey Nightmare Kin- I mean, Lance

Dude you're seriously using his insecurities against him? HE IS A KID DANG IT

I LOVE MATEO SO MUCH I CAN'T EVEN I SWEAR 😭😭😭😭😭 We got so many wonderful protagonists in the past but all with ego, with confidence, with inner strength, which is great. Then there's this kid who struggles so much into the real world, he's self-conscious about his art, he can't even talk to the girl he's into and he feels so little about himself

THIS KID WILL LEARN THAT ONE STEP AT THE TIME YOU CAN GET EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT TO BE AND I'M ALL HERE FOR IT 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Also can I just say, love me a guy who thinks his girl is the coolest person ever 👌👌

Fun fact, in the English dub Mateo says "T-That was amazing! Your song, I mean...", while in the Italian dub he says "Beautiful, amazing... your song!". It makes his feelings even clearer 💕

WELL HELLO MORE ANGST FOR ZOEY? Gotta be honest I did think that the song debacle was a big weak, but I didn't think there was a whole thing about losing everything, included a best friend! My poor super cool girl 😢😢😢

... is... is Zian the best friend? Did the Night Hunter hit the best friend, making it a night terror, but managed to break free and now he looks like this?

HEADCANON MOMENT DON'T MIND ME JUST HAVING A BLAST 😍

Now I get why Zoey was adamant over Izzie not calling her her friend... but I think this group is making her change her mind 💕

Logan, sweetie, why did you think rapping was a good idea? 😅

Okay, new theory... what if Ms. Castillo is Lunia? Maybe when defeated, Lunia retreated into the Waking World and stayed there. She seems to be always there to help, I kinda think it could be true

PLAN TIME WITH MATEO- Logan no stop what are you doing- DROP THE MATTIE NICKNAME DANG IT HE DOESN'T LIKE IT

I know you're trying but come on

I KNOW YOU'RE TRYING BUT STOP

YEEEEEE ZOEYYYYYYYY 😍😍

"That's what friends are for, right?" I'm super happy for her but also I love that Mateo is not smiling, he looks genuinely shocked like "DID I MANAGE NOT TO MESS IT UP?!" 😂😂

THERE'S A FROG TAXIE 😵‍💫

Julia seems like another stressed character, she just wants to play her music and relax for once in her life... yeah, she teaches math, that's understandable

Okay, see, Castillo is the first one to clap! I feel like she knows more than what she lets on and after my experience throught Ninjago and master "there's something I should've told you" Wu, I don't trust old LEGO people not to know stuff

They got the answers... still bad idea 😅

LOOK AT THAT EXCHANGE OF LOOKS THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO TALK ZOEY KNOWS NOW THAT HE WANTS TO BE HER FRIEND AND STRUGGLES WITH TALKING AND OMG LOOK AT HOW SHE LOOKS AT HIM WHILE HE WALKS TO HIS DESK SHE LOOKS HAPPY AND I BELIEVE GRATEFUL AAAAAAA- 🥰😍🥰🥰😍🥰🥰

Yes I might be shipping them, we'll see what happens but so far I like what I see 🥰🥰

Ah, so the answers were useless I see

And Teo knows they screwed up, alright that's nice that he didn't loose his integrity over something like this 👌👌

Okay but did all the other people hyped up the Destroyers the entire episode to troll them or because they actually fear them? Just how mean are these middle school students, seriously 😅

Yeah Teo needs to train, my son sucks at sports just like moi 😅😅

Nice to see Cooper is not letting Logan off the hook on this one! And still Teo is kind enough to apologize for being hard on him... even though he had rights for it 😅😅

Noooo Logan don't do something stupid

Logan??

LOGAN????

ONLY TWO EPISODES LEFT AND OMG I'M LIKING THEM MORE AND MORE 😍😍😍

[fulcrum-021]

Very convincing ppl in my comments <3 ramble under the cut :)

Starting out strong with To Me by Pinkshift. This song is literally so Bahryn coded to me (pun intended).

The first part?? Is that not Kallus and Zeb bonding over their war trauma and realizing the other isn't all that different from them? And then there's the second part, which of course builds on this, but to me also entails Zeb confronting Kallus with the truth and Kallus trying to deny it, while deep down knowing Zeb is right.

Additionally towards the end I think it fits very well for Kallus seeing the Rebels come for Zeb and realizing that he wants that for himself too. That he wants a community and he wants people who care about him. Particularly he wants Zeb to care about him.

Sharing stories we haven't heard before Even though they'll sound familiar The air in here is easier to breathe It just feels a little lighter to me To me

Lies are whiter than they used to be Every angle hits you differently Carving out a shape I won't remember Let the darkness hold you in to me To me To me To me

I don't wanna say that I'm afraid I never believed that I could be anyone to anybody Anybody Closing doors is what I'm used to Shutting down is what I'm meant to do But in here we're safe and sound In a place that lasts forever to me To me To me To me

I want you close to me I want you close to me I want you close to me I want you close to me

Next up is Sick Of Yourself by FRANK. This one to me perfectly portrays Kallus struggling with his cognitive dissonance and denial about the Empire's true nature and how it reflects upon himself. To me this especially fits after Bahryn, especially with some of the lyrics reflecting the sentiment of Zeb confronting him.

Bitterness bites The heavyweight poison feels so right Digging your heart up every night In places it shouldn′t see til light Tell me the truth why don't ya Are you gonna let them get away With dodging your aching thoughts each day You sure have a lot you′ve got to weigh You don't even know what's taking your soul You′re swallowing dirt You think that it′s gold Your hate is a hell, a poisonous well You're figuring out You′re sick of yourself

Bitterness bites Bearing the burden, proud and trite You said forgiveness is weak, unjustified Ingest all the outrage you can find You don't even know what′s taking your soul You're swallowing dirt You think that it′s gold Your hate is a hell, a poisonous well You're figuring out You're sick of yourself

You don′t even know what′s taking your soul Your stomach has turned You're sick of yourself Your hate is a hell, a poisonous well You′re figuring out You're sick of yourself You′re sick of yourself

Next one is Gladiator by Jann. This song to me perfectly lends its symbolism to the kind of social climate of the ISB and Empire in general where you have to put on a performance and perfectly execute your role as a soldier. Constantly fighting to win and maintain your superior's favor to stay on top of the game. I view Kallus as a man who learned this game by heart and puts on the performance so well that he himself often can't tell the show from reality. Another aspect of this song that I find incredibly fitting is the constant chase for validation, something I personally view as key to Kallus' character. He wants to be special, even at the detriment of his morals and identity.

Welcome to the party, say hi to everybody Paid for by Martini, but they're sippin' on Bacardi Body's more than just a flesh, you can sell it for success What's your price what's your address? We can finish at my place Ever been to Bali? I really need some sun Such a shame 'bout that tsunami, I'll have to go to Cali I can get you dressed, wrap your body in excess Give them something to obsess over You'll love it when I give it to you, leave you wanting more I know your addiction's attention, let's start a show Is it everything and more than you were hoping for? Show us something we ain't never seen before Smash your competition, baby Show us some good entertainment Victory's your only payment Gladiator, gladiator Welcome to the party, I know it's kinda funny That everyone is acting like they know you personally Just play along, be nice and all You won't get far being on your own They've all been dying for a little drama Their favourite stars getting out of coma To fill the news with 90's nostalgia It will take more than just a pretty face to top that Give it to you, leave you wanting more I know your addiction's attention, let's start a show Is it everything and more than you were hoping for? Show us something we ain't never seen before Smash your competition, baby Show us some good entertainment Victory's your only payment Gladiator, gladiator Fake it 'til you make it Mask on, never take it off Wear it 'til wearing it feels natural Whatever you tell yourself, it's not true Power's what I make it Pixels like it's 8-bit I'm picking your new favourite You buy it and I savour it You buy it and I savour it You buy it and I savour it You buy it and I savour it Buy it and I savour it Buy it and I savour it

Following on that note, I think Little Big Boy by Madds Buckley is perfect to portray Kallus desperately grasping for power. I genuinely think Kallus wants to do good and I think a big part of why he wants power is because he views it as a tool to do good. But I also think Kallus grew up in a world where he felt powerless against the greater forces, and his way of coping with this is to become a greater force himself, fighting tooth and nail to do so. He's constantly toying with death and as he moves up the Imperial ladder it only becomes more dangerous. As he becomes more powerful he becomes overconfident. He achieved this power due to his abilities yes, but he fails to realize that he only achieved as much as the system wanted him to. He's not the one in control, no matter how high up the command he gets. At the end of the day, Kallus is still simply a pawn to the greater forces.

Brimstone fire and eyes aglow Little big boy's making the whole world know his name Name Raised on pillars and shining lights, Breathing smoke for the right to keep his place Place

Never satisfied 'till they all see How big this little boy can be

Well the water's rising Tide's comin' in Does little big boy know how to swim? In a pond filled with fish bigger than him Oh little big boy's gonna see how little he really is

Well he clawed up cliffs 'till he was sick But desperation's a tricky fickle thing It never really sits still And all getting higher is gonna do is make you look As small as the whole world looks to you To you

Never satisfied 'till they all see How big this little boy can be

Well the water's rising Tide's comin' in Does little big boy know how to swim? In a pond filled with fish bigger than him Oh little big boy's gonna see how little he really is

Well the water's lapping at your heels boy Do you really feel like The world's gonna end if you're not at the top 'Cause once you claim that throne Once you call it all your own The climb never (never) Never (never) Never stops (never)

Well the water's rising Tide's comin' in (tides coming in) Does little big boy know how to swim? In a pond filled with fish bigger than him Oh little big boy's gonna see how little Oh little big boy's (he really is) Gonna see how little he really is

On that note though, I think we need some good old disillusionment :) For that, I think The American Dream by Chandler Leighton is perfect. To me, this song can serve multiple eras for Kallus.

Personally, I think Kallus in his youth was incredibly politically critical of the Old Republic due to his experiences of growing up during the Clone Wars, as well as growing up in the lower levels (I just personally really like this headcanon). As such, I think this song could partially serve as his thoughts/attitude regarding the Old Republic. Which I personally find the irony of to be very fun. Became the very thing he swore to destroy didn't he? Because of course the next era this song could go with, is the loyal imperial dog era.

For this era, the sarcasm is completely disregarded and he's wholeheartedly believing all of it. "What, it's not brainwashing! It's merely fostering loyalty and loyalty is good because the empire is good and everyone who says otherwise is obviously a terrorist!" Yup... In his fascism era... There's also the fact that he himself is buying into these lies of what he needs to do to feel happy and fulfilled. If he feels a sinking feeling of dread, he must've done something wrong, 'cause obviously the Empire itself is without fault! If their methods don't work, there must be something wrong with him! So he plays along for their approval.

Luckily, he eventually exits that era and enters his rebel era! Which is when the sarcasm reenters the chat! It once again becomes a criticism of the system, this time the very system he himself upheld. A system he's now becoming disillusioned with and recognizing the true nature of. He's seeing all the corruption and lies. He's realizing conformity won't bring peace and is merely a tool used to keep the people oppressed.

Single-file line to say the pledge allegiance For illusionary freedom A gold star for your achievements keep you blind They'll sell you on American dreams But you have to be asleep If you wanna believe it's not a lie It's your fault you're so depressed Up your meds and do your best Suck it up and hold your breath Work 'til you're dead Punch the clock, cash the check Ooh Keep your head down and follow the rules Get a job and stay the fuck in school If that's all we gotta do Then come and talk the talk And I'll let you take a walk in bloody shoes If we're all just getting further Why the fuck we drinkin' water? Take your Adderall with coffee Just to spike our cortisol Overstimulated, underpaid, and not appreciated Guess I really fuckin' made it God bless the USA Thoughts and prayers won't save us here So save your tears Ooh Keep your head down and follow the rules Get a job and stay the fuck in school If that's all we gotta do Then come and talk the talk And I'll let you take a walk in bloody shoes We did what you told us to do We took all the tests and followed all the rules Raise your hand, shut your mouth Be a man, quiet down There's no sun underground And you can't take your money with you Yeah Keep your head down and follow the rules Get a job and stay the fuck in school If that's all we gotta do Then come and talk the talk And I'll let you take a walk in bloody shoes Ooh Keep your head down and follow the rules Get a job and stay the fuck in school If that's all we gotta do Then come and talk the talk And I'll let you take a walk in bloody shoes

I have so many other songs for him, but this is getting a bit long, so I shall stop for now zhshd gotta wind down for sleep

Augh I just want so badly to ramble about songs that thematically remind me of Kallus :C

[heartofspells]

I’m still obsessed with 5SOS5, so I want to focus on Bad Omens for the Marauders’ era. It can even apply to platonic relationships, like Lily and Snape because we canonically know that Snape was hurling slurs at other Muggleborns and Lily was justifying her friendship with him to towers (“It’s too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends—you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?”), so Lily ignored the signs of what her best friend had become until she no longer could (“Can't help the way I keep ignoring every omen / Every omen / Heaven knows I should let go / It's nothing that I don't already know”), that song is ridiculously fitting for the backdrop of the war and how it’s tearing apart every relationship (romantic relationships [like Jegulus if that’s your ship, Wolfstar where Remus and Sirius canonically distrusted each other, but probably tried to ignore the signs until they had to acknowledge “there’s a spy, and I think it’s the man sleeping beside me right now”], platonic relationships [Peter and the Marauders where none of them realized his betrayal until far too later, Lily and Snape], familial relationships [Sirius with his family depending on how one views his relationship with them in the years before he left.]) People who tried to keep their relationships, hoping that eventually they’d go back to the way things were if they just ignored the warning signs, but eventually they were no longer able to pretend and had to acknowledge that this was irreparable.

Also, unrequited love (“I cried in your dark brown eyes for the thousandth time / 'Cause you love somebody / I died when you left that night for the thousandth time / 'Cause you love somebody else”) fits great, so Snape/Lily from Snape’s perspective in Seventh year, where he utterly destroyed his friendship with her but still is in love with her, and then watched her fall in love with James. Unrequited relationship set during the first war are honestly perfect for this song, because it’s got the distrust element and the “watching the person you love be in love with someone else” aspect; 5SOS decided the First Wizarding War was the theme of their 5th album (note, this is a joke, they have not made any comments regarding Harry Potter, the album just has great vibes for it)

It's fine, I'm not hyperventilating or anything.

Look, I've actually listened to this album (at least the songs i like from it) a lot since it was brought to my attention after its release. And as I've said before, I've never been a follower of 5SOS. I think before someone actively began passing me their songs, I'd listened to one by choice and knew it was them, and that was only because I came across it on the radio one day.

But it's like they really did craft the perfect album here for the First War years within HP, and I love that so much. I could rant on and on about several of these songs in relation to headcanons for that era/ships/characters, but Bad Omens is a BIG ONE. It's actually become one of my favorites, right up there with Caramel. And then I was guided to the music video, which was admittedly a trip, but it was also so very perfect.

I think in my initial review, I compared it to Wolfstar (also Jegulus), but I think I remember saying it gave me strong First War vibes in general, and it definitely does that. It can honestly apply to every relationship during that time period, whether platonic or romantic, no matter what side of the war someone fell on.

I love your comparison to Lily's and Snape's friendship and how it fell apart. I have...some issues with Snape that I try not to vocalize to often in a serious way, mostly sticking to joking headcanons that don't amount to much, the him watching Lily slip away from him and fall in with James, fall in love with him as he stood back and was forced to watch must have hurt so badly. I think Snape was too obsessive to a degree that any relationship between him and Lily couldn't have been sustained for long, regardless of his meddling with the Dark Arts and who Lily considered to be bad people, but the song fits so well because of that and everything else.

The whole Peter betrayal thing as well. None of them saw it, not a one. Peter was that good. He blended into his surroundings that well and was so easily overlooked that no one had the slightest idea of what he was truly doing. But you can't tell me that somewhere in him there wasn't guilt. There are numerous substantial reasons to dislike JKR, but the fact that she never once even tried to explain why Peter did what he did will forever be one of mine. Those were his best friends all through school and beyond. No, we don't know what happened, how they treated him, and maybe it's a fandom thing (though i don't think it completely is) but I've always thought James cared a lot about Pete. I think he kept Peter close because he liked him. They must have liked him, otherwise why stay his friend? Why trust him enough to give him the responsibility of keeping your family safe?

Say what you will, but they loved Peter, and he must have loved them at some point. It makes no sense why Peter would have betrayed James of all people. Sirius, maybe. That actually lines up because I think Sirius was cruel to Peter when he wanted to be, had little patience for him overall, so him framing Sirius is sort of like his just desserts. He didn't do anything to Remus that we know of, and I think that's because Peter likely always idolized Remus just as much as he did James and Sirius, but Remus was always far kinder to him in the grand scope of things. So something must have happened at some point to make Peter think that betraying James and essentially being the cause of his death was warranted. Was it because he drifted away, focused on the war and his family more than his friends? I don't know, but I'd like to, because there are gaps there.

(sorry. that was a tangent i didn't initially intend. oops)

Back on the main point, Peter must have had some sort of guilt for what he was doing and what he did. You can't be that cruel after spending half your life with people you claim to like/love and then blow everything up with one action and decision. So relating this song back to him and the way everyone circled around him and never focused in on his true nature is so very fitting.

I could write an entire ten page essay on this song in relation to Wolfstar. I've been thinking about it a lot and trying desperately not to do so, because I know the more I do, I'll want to write a fic about it. And that's the very definition of been there, done that repeatedly, not just myself, but the Wolfstar fandom as a whole. The entire Remus/Sirius distrust, slipping away from one another but still clinging on out of desperation has been done so many times and I'm trying incredibly hard not to add more to it unless it just won't leave me alone.

What I really want to talk about with this song is Jegulus. And I'm no expert. I'm only just pushing my toes into the water with it, trying to acclimate myself with the whole thing because I actually really like it in a way I thought I wouldn't we I jumped back into fandom and found it to be this large, growing thing that I'd never even seen mention of back in the day when I was writing before. It was a bit baffling, but...I dunno. I'm coming around to it more and more. But my point is don't judge anything I say to harshly because I'm only going off of the small amount of things I've seen/read.

But just think about their relationship in relation to how we know canon goes. James gets tired of chasing after Lily, falls in with Regulus somehow at some point, possibly before he gives up the ghost. Maybe it's Reg that makes him see reason and that James is being a knob, I don't know. They gravitate to one another, fall in love, but it's never the most stable of relationships because it can't be. Regulus is still a Black, James is exactly who he is in every way, that golden boy, head in the sun, pure to his core no matter what you want to say about him bullying (which has two completely different sides, but that's not the topic at hand here). Regulus is a Slytherin, James a Gryffindor. Tensions are mounting higher because of the growing war. They're constantly being tugged apart, in different directions, but they try so hard.

They ignore the signs when they can, they focus on one another as much as possible, but it's never enough to avoid the outside world circling around them like vultures. Regulus takes the mark and James can't sit by and watch his life go up in flames because of his decision, so he finally says enough and pulls back. He dives into his Head Boy duties headfirst, sways Lily to him in the process, but maybe him and Regulus continue to drift to one another because they can't help themselves and James still holds onto the hope that he can convince Regulus to turn his back on his choices. It doesn't work. James finally says enough, sets off into a life with Lily instead, fully committed, and Regulus can't tell him why he has to stay where he is, why it's so important, but he goes after the locket for James, to try and make it easier to put an end to the war. And we all know how that ended.

[portraitsofguilt]

Congrats on 500 Moss!!

Can I do a matchup for a valorant character?

Preferably Female! For describing myself im 18, around 5'6, female, pretty chill tbh, alot of my friends describe me as the "baby" or the "sunshine" of the friend group because i genuinely cant be mean and im a pretty soft person. Im really into music, cooking, baking, and makeup. Ive got black hair that goes down to like my mid back, ive got brown eyes and im black. also have a few tats lols. INFP and a leo <3

your match-up and star messenger is . . .

FADE / HAZAL EYLETMEZ (istp) !

you are the golden retriever and black cat couple

you might think that your bright, sunshine-like personality could lose some color and that your baby-like personality might be jeopardized by hazal's darker one. you two might not be the most naturally fitting for a relationship but it is rewarding if both of you are mindful of how you approach each other.

your soft, gooey, and emotional approach might seem like it bothers hazal, it does a little, but don't worry, she is there to help you out with being more rational. especially when someone is coming onto you, trying to insult you, she has got your back, standing up for both of you.

such things as music, cooking, and baking seem to be helping hazal with her nightmares. a string of wholesome events followed by cradling you when you successfully sneak into her room seems to be the perfect solution for her sleepless nights.

fade tries her hardest to keep her prowler away from you since they are nothing but trouble to be around. if it would ever get to you she would never forgive herself because the dark creature is mostly the cause of her nightmares and abilities, she wishes no one to see what she deals with every day. she already thinks just being close to you will dim your lights and cause your intact mental state to decline.

some aspects of your relationship would be:

doing each other's makeup! while fade wears only a little makeup, she is pretty good at it and isn't afraid to go to town if you'd ask

lot of late-night dates !!! be it as special as going out to a fancy restaurant or so little like grocery shopping, it is achieving the same thing- the two of you together

when hazal has a particularly bad night where nothing works to help her to be cradle to sleep, she traces your tattoos with her eyes or fingers, depending on how easily you wake up

she might look and act all tough and strong, but hazal needs her cuddles and hugs on a daily basis, she needs all the comfort she can get

MEETING EACH OTHER !

version 1

after detaining hazal you were the one interrogating her, taking her statement about why she blackmailed the agents and accusing them of taking away a "him" from her. for both sage's and viper's luck, you could get some information out of her, some more you bargained for but at those times either sage or someone else would cut in, scolding her for getting off of point and trying to scare you.

"you and I... if i scared you, please, have my apologies."

version 2

you were wandering around whatever shop, picking up some makeup that you had run out of the previous day and just this morning. a headphone on your head, humming the music quietly under your breath, completely unaware of how loud it really was until she appeared. you looked confused as she waved at you, pointing at her head then yours before you finally connected the dots, and with a small chuckle, you pulled your headphones down.

"like the music, mind if i ask what is it? i'm hazal by the way, or fade, take your pick."

YOUR SONG IS . . .

cigarettes out the window by tv girl !

[pastorfutureletthembe]

People don't normally do this. And by this, I meant people don't take THIS AMOUNT OF TIME to recognize patterns and such. Of course, it is a cognitive phenomena depending on our personal experience as well, as in our personal knowledge and habits as internet and culture consumers. We recognize the signs haha.

What this post is about is something else, deeper. It is meant as a joke and I personally have this experience with each of my fandoms.

The vast amount of time and the addiction are key terms here.

When I get into a fandom, I need to know everything. And I do mean everything. I think about it all day, all night, I make 10hours playlists, I wanna see all the fanarts, read all the theories, and even when I read the novels, watched the animated adaptations and know the movies line by line, it is still not enough. I have a craving for more. I read fanfictions to quench my thirst and when that's not good enough anymore, I write stories myself only so I can feel this twisted feeling on demand and the way I like. When I work I literally feel like my time could be better spent in creative stuff and I suffer from not having enough TIME.

Why Link Click more than others?

Because what got me was not the plot or the doomed gay. Shocking, I know. It was the Post-Modernism approach. It was the interactive part. The fact the merch, the songs, the promotional artworks, the official twitter itself sometimes were all showing a story not told in the narrative itself yet. It all fits together. It's a treasure hunt. It's like a game.

Some media just get us engaged more because they are built this way as well.

The parasocial aspect we have with our characters is more developed than before because we, as generations who grew so connected to the world and information through the internet, are more involved in our day to day life. For example, we are all raging about the Yingdu Chapter so the official social media is publishing about it, like, "we see you, we know, we can't give you what you want but we are actively working on it".

Link Click will push you to bleed money for newer and cuter and sexier merch every few weeks. That's also addictive, this collectible aspect.

And finally, I'd just say that there are so many new cognitive phenomena that we don't know yet because we're just creating them everyday through our personal relationship with media, internet, people, that it's hard to keep track and generalize the effect of something specific.

Just read a thread on X regarding the fact I'm a Link Clicker, and therefore, I am the victim of the Tetris Effect.

Don't mind me while I use this "mental illness" of mine to provide you with a very important information.

Do you see it, now?

No?

Tetris, you say? My dear friend, I'm a master at this game, don't try me.

(this post truly unlocked a new wave of obsessive interest for LC in me, im gonna kms)