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lovebirdgames · 2 months ago

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In the end we got 36 likes so here are 36 random facts from Band Camp Boyfriend!

1 - Most people probably know this one, but it’s a good spot to start. The majority of names in BCB are music/instrument puns. Tom, trombone, TOMbone. Peter, trumpeter, trumPETER. Susie sousaphone. You get it.

2 - Cadence's dating history. She's already had her first kiss (which is why she doesn't make a big deal out of it), but not her first love, which is far more important. <3

3 - Initially Olive’s name was Angryphone, then Francis (for French horn) as she grew into a bigger character, then we finally settled on Olive (for oboe).

4 - Peter was the first character conceptualized and the first boy we asked Flora to draw. Don't tell him, he will get a big head.

5 - In this background, the football goalposts are missing because Blue Mountain High School is having them replaced…just kidding it’s because we the devs did not realize we forgot them because marching band is all that matters.

6 - Mr. Wiley has some of his roots in a Hunger Games OC I made in college. Namely the name, hair, and glasses…and the fact they both go crazy. Hunger Games Wiley had a much grislier fate though.

7 - Peter can’t remember his first kiss because he went around kissing all the girls when he was little until his mom gave him a stern lecture on germs.

8 - Tom is the only one allowed to ride in Peter’s car (which he got as a graduation gift) but he’s not allowed to bring food in.

9 - This one's right out of my old fact doc: Clark got bullied a lot as a kid for being a teacher’s pet. Got called names like tattle-tale, four-eyes, Clark eats tanbark, Clark the narc, etc. but who graduated top of class & got the good citizenship award from the Principal? hIM.

10 - Samuel was a super quiet kid, but somehow extremely popular. His fellow children craved his approval for some strange reason. Got good grades but the teachers got on him to participate more and be more outgoing. Of course, he didn’t. He just did his own thing.

11 - Poptart’s albinism affects his depth perception, making marching a little bit harder for him.

12 - Doug’s least favorite food is black olives. Also he drives an old clunker truck to practice (when he can get it started) and gives an illegal amount of kids a ride every day (namely the whole drumline). He makes everyone duck if he spots a cop.

13 - Leon has an older brother, Buck, who lives in the woods and owns a possum named Beauford. If they ever met, Beauford the possum and Bandit the raccoon would have been rivals.

14 - Susie’s a dog person. Her family owns a fluffy Newfoundland named Benji.

15 - Felicity was initially going to be a “mean girl,” until we decided her being a “pick me” was more realistic and less stereotypical.

16 - There’s an easter egg for our next game, Heartbreaker, in Band Camp Boyfriend, and vice versa. Players already have the concept and names of the LIs, they just don’t know it.

17 - In the end, Garth lands the leading role as Harold Hill in The Music Man musical and no bitches needed to be cut.

18 - As a child, Doug wanted to be the Kool Aid man when he grew up.

19 - A lot of stuff in BCB is inspired by our real lives. One of the craziest things is that our college marching band had a man auction to win dates with the guys. I showed up with $40 trying to summon the courage to bid on my crush at the time.

20 - Aaron has OCD and used to tap his fingers on everything, but drumming has helped him get a lot of his nervous energy out.

21 - All of the Drum Corps named in BCB are parodies of real life corps.

Red Angels = Blue Devils Yellowjackets = Bluecoats Tennessee Tiara = Carolina Crown Space Cadets = The Cadets

22 - You can find song motifs from Gustav’s Holsts “Planets” hidden within the BCB soundtrack. For example, Mars hides within “Run Like Hell” and Venus is in the romance theme, “Venus and Mars.”

23 - Drum and Drummer were the last characters to make it across the line into spritedom. Next up would have been Erin and Cornelius, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.

24 - The Warden is based on Mr. Friendly from Lost.

25 - All of the band directors have a clever name theme. Wiley, Craft(y), Knowles (Knowledgeable), Savage (Savvy), Brighton (Bright).

26 - Initially Tom was going to have a Triforce on his shirt, but we switched it to hearts because it’s more generic and fits with multiple games. Also we joke that you can either fill up his hearts or let them run out!

27 - Sabrina is an orchie dork and plays violin 2 in the orchestra.

28 - Marian, Garth, and Sabrina are all choir kids. Felicity is a former drama club kid.

29 - In my head Eugene resembles Eugene from The Walking Dead so…yeah his sprite definitely low-key has his look haha.

30 - Alex came up with our little heart trumpet logo. She used to draw it everywhere in high school!

31 - The original Higurashi anime was definitely an inspiration, with it’s cute-on-the-surface look and darkness waiting in the wings.

32 - There’s always a kid with a nickname in the band and it’s used so often you have no idea what their real name is. Poptart was the first thing I blurted out so that’s what we went with.

33 - The story of Rebecca was told to me when I was at camp in 5th grade. Still surprised our principal told a bunch of 10-year olds a story involving matricide and suicide. I made some modifications for BCB but…who knows…maybe she’s real.

34 - The rock in this background marks the grave of Rebecca and her family.

35 - Doug was originally going to carry the smallest bass drum for comedic purposes, but then we had a reality check.

36 - Some names that were suggested and didn’t make the cut: Clarence (Clark), Fleur (Felicity), and Gordon (Garth).

Bonus: Ms. Craft's maiden name is Kim.

#band camp boyfriend

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mimi-tada · 2 months ago

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My thoughts/notes on akayona chapter 264

I really dislike the dragon gods after this chapter however I can sort of understand them, in that hiryuu was gone for like 2 thousand years, didn't return to heaven and did who knows what in that time span. So it would makes sense if the gods were driven to insanity because of that, additionally, wouldn't hiryuu have know the gods personalities and guessed that they may have gone insane because of of him leaving. Oh and pointing out the next question, what did he do in those 2 thousand years if he didn't go to heaven, it seems sketchy kinda like the other dragon gods.

Especially to the point he reincarnated without any of his memories, like after 2000 years he choose to do something 💀so this could mean that he apathetic to some degree like the other gods or his powers are limited (makes more sense to me)

-yona's powers being limited makes sense because in this whole chapter she basically had no power and had to argue with the other gods, and they only let her argue because they liked her or well hiyruu

-also I know people were theorising on the last chapter if the food yona ate in the chalice might have weakened her or is a parallel to the greek persephone myth and I think it has some value cause it would explain why she and hiryuu are weak compared to the other gods

Next dragon god, ouryuu, where is he? I know he's trapped inside zeno but why has he not joined in with the other gods. To me it seemed like zeno had ig some sort of power? in a sense because the gods asked yona to kill him, it doesn't make sense unless they couldn't kill him them selves. So is it a loophole where only hiryuu can kill him and any other god that does is messing with ouryuu jurisdiction? ig or is it again telling us that the dragon gods powers are severely limited that they can't kill zeno themselves.

Also the other 3 dragons acted as a hive mind like they all had the same desires and stuff. What if it's all an illusion or just one god acting on the behalf of the others. This could also just mean that insanity drove them to have one single desire/thought? Idk

More into the dragon gods, when they shapeshifted into Hak it really drove home how much they didn't understand humans and emotions in general that they can't differentiate between romantic and platonic relationships. It just shows how they only understand yona in a basic level like when they shapeshifted into the dragons, they didn't understand she liked their personalities.

Also the gods treated their descents like they had no agency or more like they disliked them and it makes sense with how most of the dragon warriors treated their powers as a curse, like it would make sense for the gods to act like this if for centuries u heard ur power being called a curse and would explain partly why they are so apathetic/hold a dislike towards humans.

Onto the dragons, it felt like what the gods promised was too good to be true in them being humans like there has to be some kind of side effect to it, like a version of the crimson dragon disease or them being reincarnated (essentially leaving Hak and su won alone unless they want to deal with kids), I just really don't trust the gods to be kind and follow through with it properly.

Wider effects on kouka, I think 2 chapters before we were shown the natural disasters happening there just because yona came into the chalice so it would probably continue if yona is going to be in the heavens. It shows how apathetic they are towards humans and sucks for su won.

Also poor Hak and the dragons, their reactions when they find out what happened to yona is going to be devastating 😭

-I really liked the flower motif in this chapter, its been prominent throughout the story but I liked it because I'm pretty sure yona's name means lotus and su won gae her a lotus hair pin so it could be a parallel to all that symbolism especially with her drowning in those flowers. I just really love that detail.

#akatsuki no yona #yona of the dawn #yotd #akayona #yona of the red dawn #yotd spoilers #akayona spoilers #yona spoilers #Akatsuki no yona 264 #akatsuki no yona spoilers #I'm sorry that im rambling about this but I have so many thoughts on this and I know this isn't very articulated #But I hope this gets my points across

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sp00ky-scary · 6 days ago

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Writing down ideas for a Monster High, not au or rewrite but I guess my own G4? Idk it's just vague ideas rn and entirely copy pasted from my notes app so if there are spelling or grammar errors no there's not :]

There's a lot so I'm hiding them

Monster High - Established as a high school (boarding so almost all the students live there) in the USA for teenage monsters to have community, complete their education (or get one if they never had one) (or just get one like a regular person if they're a monster who's born not turned/created), and learn more about the monster world.

Plot (kinda) - No specific main character but Draculaura, Clawdeen, and Frankie are equally important, Draculaura is president of the student council (both the oldest and youngest to be, she's over 100 but she's only a sophomore) and Clawdeen and Frankie are new students arriving during their sophomore year (Clawdeen already did her freshmen year at human highschool and Frankie was homeschooled for a year and has been put with their approximate age group). Plot mostly consists of school shenanigans and travelling places (except that's either school relevant or done during the holidays for the most part no travelling to Boo York like a week into the semester or anything like that). Also no high schoolers dealing with generational beef and all that, just focusing on school life and adventures with the occasional crazy plot.

Lagoona Blue - purple, blue, black, Latina and Asian (Japanese? Some of her g3 dolls have Japanese food and it gave me the idea, idk though), creepy cute, sharp teeth and huge eyes, always looks drowned/like she just got out of a body of water, gyaru influence, eats fish and other sea creatures IS NOT a cannibal it's simply how the food chain works, very go with the flow, lives with her mum whilst her dad and siblings are in Japan (assuming I keep that idea) (they aren't divorced her mum just had family stuff going on in her home country and Lagoona wanted to go and then somehow ended up at Monster High)

Spectra Vondergeist - 2000s scene queen, popular on MySpace before she died, died in a car crash probably, antagonist, desi (half, other half is white, also the half where she got the German last name from), purples, very monotone, runs an popular undead gossip blog that's mostly just rumours and lies and she feels no guilt over it

Howleen Wolf - into scene but is about 15 years late to it, total Spectra fangirl, pink, blue, orange, neon, childish, paw prints on everything, would be a kemonomimi if it weren't for the fact she is already a werewolf, she rly leans into the wolf thing though, Clawdeen's little sister

Clawdeen Wolf - fashion designer, rly into retro and vintage, specifically the 1990s, rly into thrifting, animal print, furs, browns, purples, gold, orangey pinks, plays with hairstyle a lot, sorta looks like she came out of a 90s magazine or music video, needs glasses to see (imagine being a werewolf and still needing glasses), played soccer as a kid

Cupid - skeleton from the 1950s, she's not literally Cupid or connected to the gods she's just really into romance, still runs a radio show, entirely vintage style down to like her hair and makeup routine (how does she have those when she's a skeleton? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯), is Cupid even her real name? who knows, pink, frills, red, white, rose gold or bronze idk, 40s-50s, hearts and feathers (still keeping some angelic elements)

Frankie Stein - not literally the child of Frankenstein but a scientist couple recreating Victor Frankenstein's work in order to create a child of their own (infertility? gay couple? incompatible species? idk), frazzled style, a little punk, school uniform vibes, black and white with pops of colour (blue and yellow, maybe pink, occasionally green), lightning/electricity motif, covered in piercings, tall and square

River Styxx - doesn't attend Monster High, pastel goth but also decora, would use whatever the monster equivalent of 2010s Tumblr is, not really bound by time

Toralei Stripe - British, desi, 1970s punk, singer, orange, black, clothes very torn and shredded, lots of layers, leather and plaid, thrifted, when she starts dating Clawdeen they do clothing diys and such together, temporary antagonist

Iris Clops - really 1960s-70s hippie type, flowy, greens and browns, a little bit of purple, swirls and psychedelic vibes, also a little mod, (keeping her g3 body type)

Draculaura - black, pink, white, the occasional yellow or pastel purple, gothic, lolita, sort of stuck in the Victorian era but with modern elements, skins pink because idk vampire weirdness or from her illness, dyes her hair (maybe IWTV vampire hair logic? then she'd be redying it frequently but that works to explain how it's always changing), her backstories to long but from late Victorian England, almost died of disease, Dracula turned her and then adopted her, her mother is missing, (she's still Taiwanese but very disconnected from her culture, more connected with Romanian culture as she lived there with Dracula for a few decades after her turning), she likes hats and umbrellas, puffy, bows, frills, short and round, in like every school club ever, except the gardening club, not that one

Cleo de Nile - from ancient Egypt but only entered the modern world recently, threw herself into modern clothing, very with the trends but keeps elements of ancient Egyptian culture, heavy makeup, golds, blues, aqua, orange, occasionally bronze, lots of accessories, sheer fabrics, shiny, highest of high heels, wears wigs, has bandages but clothes also mimic bandages, feels the need to prove herself and her wealth and status

Elissabat - turned in the 1980s, trad goth mixed with romantic goth, ran into Draculaura in the 1990s, purples and black, lacey, flowy, long, very covered, big boots, tall and pointy, elegant, did some acting as a human and vampire in the 80s and 90s under the name Veronica Von Vamp and developed a slight cult following before disappearing in the 2000s (attends Monster High after they accidentally find her on a drama club/class trip to Hauntlywood?)

Robecca Steam - steampunk, another one from the late 1800s, desi (kinda, she's a robot but she was designed to theoretically be because Hexiciah is), browns, blues, copper and bronze, metal and leather, harnesses, frills, a little masc, googles, hats, less rich Victorian, more working class

Venus Mcflytrap - literally just G3 Venus idk what to tell you

Honey Swamp - not too different from G1 but she's a MH student from the start, and her outfit is cuter (nothing against her G1 design she's one of my faves) cottagecore, flowery, pastels, greens and purples, into cinematography and gardening (in the gardening club with Venus? Dating Venus?)

Deuce Gorgon - finally a boy, punk mixed with grunge, almost the average alt teen boy in the 2000s but cooler, sunglasses, browns, oranges, greens, leather, snake skin (fake), spikes, metal but idk what metal, return of the snake mohawk, not actually the son of Medusa just the son of a female Gorgon, maybe she can be called Medusa anyway and it's like a joke that she's Medusa but not THE Medusa

Viperine Gorgon - Deuce's cool older cousin, makeup artist, not a student at Monster High (plot she helps out as the makeup artist with the drama club?), retro, boho, hippie, pinks and baby blue, a little yellow/cream, more snakey than Deuce because she's older, all her hair is snakes, paisley patterns

Skelita Calaveras - just G3 Skelita tbh, maybe not the magic though just because I don't really feel like incorporating magic

Heath Burns - that guy who wears branded sports wear all the time, orange, yellow, black, blue, burnt, fire, lava, yk that one concept art of g3 Heath, buzzed but with fire hair, fire elementals have regular hair and fire hair, his regular hair is shaved, I don't think this makes sense to non Australians but his outfits would kinda have eshay vibes, he's not one but he'd dress like one

Clawd Wolf - you know Troy Bolton? Like he does basketball and theatre basically, and it's like a little bit of a conflict but only because his schedule clashes often, ripped jeans, varsity jackets, t-shirts with musicals on them, basketball jerseys, sneakers like all the time no matter the occasion, sorta always looks like he just came from basketball practice or drama club (because he probably did), Clawdeen's twin

#thoughts #monster high #monster high g3 #monster high au

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mdhwrites · 4 months ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/everysongineverykey/709979889023008768/the-owl-house-was-really-like-oh-yeah-by-the-way-a?source=share

Thoughts on this post?

So my immediate thoughts were two things: One was that I always feel awkward responding to other posts because I try not to shit stir most of the time. Two though was that I just agreed with it. The reality of the Hexside kids is purely played for laughs despite being horribly traumatizing on pretty much every level. That's just true.

Then I saw the tag saying it wasn't a criticism.

So was it okay for Hexside to be treated like this? Wartwood had a similar rebellion and it had its own silly things like a themed food Friday and people still being their quirky selves. It works there however because while dealing with what life throws at you is a theme of the work, trauma specifically isn't really. It's there, I've talked about how smart Amphibia is with it to keep its tone consistent but that subtlety also makes it so that not dwelling on it is fine.

If I were to give TOH S3 a theme of some sort... It WOULD be trauma. I don't think it does this theme well, at all, but it is a consistent motif. Hunter's trauma about Belos, Luz's trauma about... Fucking everything if I'm frank but her core trauma is resolved at least once in each episode, technically twice in the finale. They graft on trauma out of nowhere for Willow. She's never dependable Willow, soft spoken and never complaining at all times, but now she is so she has some sort of trauma to deal with while also dealing with Hunter's new trauma of losing Flapjack. One could even argue that Belos has it running throughout because his desperation is potentially fueled by trauma of losing his brother and having his world shatter around him by his brother betraying what ostensibly would have been both of theirs core beliefs. You even have the Collector going through his shit with having been trapped alone for so long.

And then you have Hexside where no one cares about how traumatic all of this has been... Except Boscha. And Boscha is played subtlely, much closer to Amphibia, rather than the capital t TRAUMA that the rest of the cast is going through. As such, most people who watched didn't give a shit and just saw it as a half baked redemption arc rather than continuing a theme because yeah, why would you? What does she even have to say about trauma? That you'll get kicked even harder while you're down and the only option is to move on by yourself and just pretend like it didn't happen?

And that's honestly a problem with the theme in general. So much of the answer to "How do I deal with this," for TOH is to go "I'm awesome and amazing and fuck you for ever thinking otherwise!" It's the conclusion for Hunter's trauma with Belos, we don't get a conclusion with Flapjack really, it's the statement that Luz makes for her character finish of just how much she wants the entire world to recognize she's a bombass nerd -_-, and it's even how the series wraps up with only Luz getting the Titan's power and only her, while she quotes her favorite books, actually attacking Belos. This is your reminder that all the co-op attacks with King and Eda were done far away from Belos, fighting random slime for literally no reason besides the fact that both Luz and the show got lost for about a minute. Willow is the only one where compassion for needing to actually, you know, process your pain and be supported and helped with it might be the answer but again, it's not a core trauma to the character. It's a clumsily grafted on element that also has Willow force Hunter to confront his trauma with Flapjack which IS the answer for him so it's also contradictory. It's not given nearly the same weight as the stuff with Hunter and Belos or ALL OF LUZ where their answers are just 'deal with it'.

(Bonus points to Luz's core problem theoretically being that she was WRONG about Philip and at least two of the endings to that trauma, with her friends and with the Titan, are her being told "You're wrong for worrying," like that would help at all.)

So then you have Hexside where their trauma is ignore and played for laughs so you can just do normal fantasy rebellion stuff mixed with teen rebellion stuff. It's not bad when measured that way but it's contradictory to many of the points that the whole abridged season is trying to make. It's an element that conflicts with your core theme. It's akin to how we're supposed to take Hunter leaving the EC seriously and as this grand pain of his... And then also have people mocking Lilith for it and even having her go "I'm realizing I was bad at my job" back in S2 because fuck her and her trauma I guess.

And don't tell me it's because it's a kid's show. Boscha could have easily been the surrogate for all of Hexside and then you kick out Miki and just have Boscha to deal with. Focus the episode around getting her to open up, be defenseless, maybe almost get turned into a puppet for it as it seems her fears were justified... Before she looks up to find she's behind one of Matt's pillars and everyone is coming out to help protect Boscha. Because the only reason they've gotten through this is together and while they're happy Boscha has actually helped them despite her pain, she shouldn't be dealing with this alone. All of them will do better if they share this pain and so we get them kicking the ass of one of the Collector's hunter stars and the plan be to ride it up to the Archive for the main crew before they get snatched off of it. It has more to say about the complexities of trauma and how you can't just power through it, allows an acknowledgement of what this world has done to these people, all while still allowing the rest of Hexside besides Boscha to be silly and upbeat because they've been doing what they need to handle all of this.

So yeah, I think the blog itself is correct. I think calling itself not criticism though means ignoring what all of these conflicting elements mean for the season overall. Yeah, it's a cute segment as is but when you have a show like TOH that is trying SO HARD to say something... Shouldn't we be critical of when it's failing to do that or even muffling it's own voice?

Because the hex on this side of the Isles could have been used to do something more but instead was treated like a cute charm to fill time. That's not okay. See you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

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talleyuh · 6 months ago

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i don’t think anyone was waiting at the edge of their seat for descendants: rise of red, but i feel like the premise had a lot of potential and a few small changes could’ve made the movie a lot better.

1. if the movie started with a cold opening with red causing some trouble around wonderland with a few friends, it would’ve shifted the tone of the movie to set it apart from the past descendants movies. we could’ve seen red, her friend maddox, and a few other people all acting like a version of robin hood and the merry men: thwarting the queen and causing minor chaos as rebellious acts. we could’ve seen that red has a desire to be good by stealing food for the poor, creating diversions to get people away from the guards who plan to execute them, or even releasing prisoners. that way it would’ve shown that even though she thinks of herself as good, she doesn’t have the most noble methods of carrying out good.

1.5 i think if they made the queen of hearts actually care for red deep down would make her more dynamic. even though she’s extremely controlling over red and wonderland, it would be to prevent red from ever experiencing humiliation or insecurity like she did.

2. by establishing that red has friends, being sent to auradon alone by her mother to take over would’ve cut off her emotional support system and be essentially forced to do what her mother says or be stranded in a strange land alone.

3. before the orientation day ceremony, we could see red and chloe butt heads while moving in their dorm or something. red is obviously in a very tormented place and one theme they tried to explore with chloe is performative kindness, so red could’ve seen right through chloe and ignored her.

4. when they eventually go back in time, we could see the nuances in the older characters and not everyone being as perfect as they seem. for example, ella could’ve been going to auradon on an academic scholarship instead of paying for tuition like everyone else, so she really tries to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. she only befriends bridget out of pity, since she’s either ignored or outright bullied by everyone else. bridget could struggle with forgiving people or moving on from being mistreated even though she’s naturally peppy.

i think charming’s character could’ve been a bit of a player (cliche i know) which is why ella originally rebuffed his advances, but then have him genuinely pursue her. also it would’ve been so fun if ella asked fay to help her with her outfit and have her hesitate to talk to charming at castlecoming since she has to go home at midnight and then they played “so this is love” to show the moment they fell in love. plus we’ve never seen someone’s fairytale play out on screen.

5. i think that we should’ve gotten a get ready montage for castlecoming, specifically with chloe and red finally getting along as they got glammed up for the dance. they should’ve both been in ball gowns (not the high low ones we kept seeing in the earlier films). the costume designers could’ve even added purple motifs to show how the two characters were coming to finally get along and see each other. like chloe could’ve worn a dress in a lavender-periwinkle color, or a deep royal blue that looked a little indigo. red could’ve worn a red-fuchsia to show her coming to a common ground with chloe with the purple and a pink to show her growing closer to her mom.

6. i think the prank at castlecoming should’ve played out, so we could see red, chloe, and ella be there for bridget. i think it would’ve made more sense if bridget was pranked at castlecoming and ella wasn’t there for her bc she was hanging out with charming, and after that bridget was angry so she stopped being friends with her. that would explain why she hates her so much all those years later.

7. as cheesy as it would’ve been, we should’ve gotten a scene where they supported each other and bridget stood up for herself against her bullies and that’s when red and chloe went back in time to see the changes that they made.

*the movie wasn’t all bad, i liked that they gave chloe a more nuanced view of goodness after spending time with her mom who did not grow up with as much privilege as she did. i feel like they could’ve had a scene where red learns that she can’t cause chaos because she thinks she’s helping. i think we should’ve gotten more from the villains, especially malifacent and hades. also if we saw red’s internal struggle between good and evil more (aka her wants vs her mom’s wants) and how that affected her relationship with chloe.

#descendants #rise of red #descendants rise of red #princess red #chloe charming

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chickenstrangers · 2 years ago

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Photography in Aof's Series

I have been thinking a lot about cameras and queer visibility since @dudeyuri's tags on this post and @miscellar, @respectthepetty, and @telomeke's following discussions. In Bad Buddy and He's Coming to Me, the motif of the camera plays with the ideas of public vs private aspects of the character's relationships and how open and visible they are able to be. I think this is very true in BBS and HCTM, but it is also a recurring theme in Aof's shows.

Bad Buddy and He's Coming to Me

I am not going to delve too far into these shows because I think @miscellar and others have already written brilliant posts about this linked above. @miscellar makes a wonderful point about photography being seen as a hostile act in most of Bad Buddy because Pat and Pran are trying to hide their relationship, but the context changes when Ink is taking the photo: "ink's camera sees them for who they really are, and more than that, it affirms their relationship." Who is taking the picture changes its meaning, which I think can be extended to discuss queer media more generally, how directors using a queer lens will portray queer stories in more nuanced and/or realistic ways.

In He's Coming to Me, we have the theme of public vs private queerness with Thun taking a selfie with Mes but Mes is of course not visible. Not sure if I have anything to add here, but I do think this fits into the many other scenes where Thun does absolutely nothing to hide the fact that he's talking and hanging out with a ghost. They're hiding in plain sight but no one else sees what they do. This could be a comment on how often people overlook queer relationships or devalue them.

Dark Blue Kiss

In Dark Blue Kiss, Pete photographs Kao a lot, and he doesn't do this in secret. Unlike Pat and Pran who aren't even supposed to be friends, Pete and Kao have that act to disguise their relationship, so they are able to do some parts of their relationship in public. In episode 3, Pete takes Kao's photo in front of a horse and buggy ("You said you like taking photos of views." "You're in every view I see." "Smooth."). Right behind them we see other people also taking photos, including someone taking a photo of two people who look to be a couple, contrasting Pete and Kao with the visibility that straight people get to enjoy.

But while we do have public photography here, because their relationship is hidden and Kao isn't out to his mom, he hides the photographs. In Pete's room, there is a photoboard with lots of photos of the two of them or them separately. Pete doesn't have to hide the relationship in his own home because he is out to his dad and his dad is incredibly supportive.

Kao, on the other hand, primarily has his room decorated with posters about math (this is yet another Aof show where a character has 1 interest and it becomes their entire room décor). But he does keep all the photos, even if he can't display them.

He reveals them at their anniversary surprise when he decorates a whole room with pictures of them together. This moment shows that even though Kao isn't able to be completely open about their relationship, he still wants to put in the effort to show his love, even if it is only possible in an empty school room that no one else will see. While this moment is sweet, there's a thread of sadness behind it because being open to the world is such a huge point of concern in their relationship for the whole series.

Moonlight Chicken

Heart and Li Ming take photos together multiple times, and their comfort with this I think speaks to @telomeke and @waitmyturtles point about how this show is about generations and their different experiences of queerness (x), and so it is an important counterpoint to Jim and Wen that Heart and Li Ming are fairly openly affectionate with their friendship and then their relationship, within safe spaces. For example, they ask Wen to take a photo of them in the food court (Wen who acts as an observer throughout most of the show), and in this interaction Wen sees that there is more to their relationship than friendship. In this way, I think he acts in a similar role to Ink.

I also think it is noteworthy that Wen and Alan have so many photographs of each other, and then their break up scene takes place right in front of the photoboard that is a monument to the good times of their relationship. Wen starts with his back to the board, facing away from that history, and then the framing moves to have the board in between them. The traces of the past are literally acting as a wedge between them as they fight over it. And then that board remains in the apartment, with the photos taken down, as a continued reminder of what used to be there. The love that no longer remains.

There's an interesting parallel between Jim and Wen's conversation on the pier and the scene I talked about before in Dark Blue Kiss. While they discuss the Marina Food Court, there's tension between them, with Wen's guilt in his role in the project affecting Jim's diner and Jim still putting as much distance as he can between himself and Wen. In the background we see a two people, potentially a couple, taking photos. They are wearing almost the exact same colours as Jim and Wen. Their happiness in this scene seems like a direct contrast to the sadness Wen and Jim are expressing, hinting at what they might have when they get past this disconnect. And then once they do get together, Jim and Wen take their own photo together at the beach.

Our Skyy 2 x A Tale of a Thousand Stars

In these special episodes, as the brilliant @wen-kexing-apologist has discussed in their incredible essays (x, x), the main journey of the special surrounds Phupha becoming more comfortable being a partner to Tian in public and being more open with Tian in general, working through a lot of internalized homophobia. This is once again demonstrated using the photography motif.

Phupha takes photos of Tian taking photos of the food in the café, a date during which he is initially uncomfortable with how public they are. He is slowly getting used to how this feels to be so open. But he does push past the discomfort because he knows that this is important for Tian, and important for himself as well.

The next stop on their date is to a photobooth, which an interesting liminal space between public and private. Inside the booth they are alone, but it's still in a very public space, and anyone walking past could see them coming out together, or could look at the photo strips as they're printed out before Tian and Phupha have a chance to collect them. The public and the private are slowly becoming enmeshed.

Tian and Phupha then take a photo with Ink, Pa, Pat and Pran after the play. This is the most open they are with photography, Tian's hand resting on Phupha's shoulder, standing close. This is also an opportunity for Pat and Pran to be in a photo together publicly, like the play itself. Like I talked about regarding the play, it's important that all the people in this picture are queer, and that this creates a safe space to blend the boundaries between public and private sides of their relationship.

I also think it's important to consider when talking about photography, the role that the camera plays as a stand-in for the audience. We are getting this glimpse into the characters relationships, both public and private, and the cameras we see within the scenes can often reflect queer media and queer visibility more generally.

#made my own post bc this got long #he's coming to me #bad buddy #dark blue kiss #moonlight chicken #our skyy 2 #a tale of a thousand stars #i have not seen zero photography yet so assume there is even more there and hope that someone can speak to that!#i have probably gotten details wrong and missed stuff because i'm working from memory #a tale of thousand stars #thinking thoughts #taking any opportunity i can to talk about moonlight chicken some more #bad buddy meta #he's coming to me meta #dark blue kiss meta #moonlight chicken meta #a tale of thousand stars meta #our skyy 2 meta

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thiccowlladylife · 1 year ago

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Oh shit, Mammon episode dropped! Time for some spicy thoughts!

Good:

-Mammon's design is... Okay? Not exactly the best design of a fat person, but I like that he's not red (he even goes through different clothes like a real person, holy shit!), and this is probably the only character where the chaotic details work well for his whole clown-theme

-it handles issues of stalkers and exploitation in entertainment with a modicum of respect (not that it does it well, exactly, but it's an effort, which is more than the show's done for other touchy issues)

-A decent-ish relationship conflict between Ozzie and Fizz? Still blowing Moxxie and Millie outta the water right now

-SIGN-LANGUAGE IMP KID (all things considered, the show is handling physical disabilities surprisingly well!)

-Not Fizz being relatable with his anxieties and sense of impostor syndrome (I'm pretty sure someone else wrote this episode because Viv has never handled topics like this well on her own)

-Spider Mammon? Spooder? SPIDEY??? Noice.

-Awesome Fish-Twin designs; they're nice one-off villains

-Better musical numbers in this episode than the last few ones combined

Bad:

-whyisheaustralianWHYISHEAUSTRALIANWHYISHEAUSTRALIAN (I do not care for his voice; it is the shittiest most stereotypically bad accent I've ever seen)

-I'm seeing some more toxic, possessive traits of Ozzie coming out (looks like no relationship in this show can actually have conflict without being exploitative)

-Mammon has a low-key spider motif going on? So, he's fat, a bug, and overindulges in everything (food included) to the max...? Why does he seem like a better Beelzebub/depiction of Gluttony than Queen Bee/the show's actual depiction of Gluttony?

-Blitzø feels extremely shoe-horned into this episode... Also, he's not one to talk to Fizz about how Mammon talks to him, considering his whole... Thing with Stolas

-speaking of Stolas, I know the whole Ozzie revealing his love publicly (as sweet as it was) is totally gonna springboard more Stolitz shit in later episodes...

On an unrelated note, apparently Wally Wackford ain't Mammon like I theorized... My next best guess is that he's Satan's imp-sona. Not that I care enough to keep watching!

That being said... I'm done. Not exactly a highlight to end the show on, but it certainly ain't a complete shit show like the rest of the season has been. But I ain't watching anymore. I'll keep an ear out for info on later episode drops, but it's hard to be a fan, even critically, when the quality is this bad, and the only positive side of the fandom shreds apart anyone who critiques it.

If anyone needs me, I'll be playing with my OCs and AUs like dolls on here, and waiting for Hazbin to drop next year!

See ya later! Byee!

#helluva boss #helluva critical #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva criticism #helluva critique #helluva boss critique #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical

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i-guess-im-into-this-now · 9 months ago

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The Apothecary Diaries

S1E10 First Watch

Here's where I watch The Apothecary Diaries for the first time and give my thoughts, analysis, predictions, and occasionally I stumble into a joke.

To start at the beginning:

Episode 1

My character/location cheat sheet

Lady Ah-Duo - Pure Consort, one of 4 top concubines

Garnet Pavilion - Lady Ah-Duo's residence

Fengming - Head LIW at Garnet Pavilion

Xiaolan - Maomao's servant friend

Lady Lishu - child bride concubine

Lady Lihua - the consort who was poisoned by powder

Jade Pavilion - Lady Gyokuyou's residence

Luomen - Maomao's physician father

Sir Kounen - Jinshi's older acquaintance who died

This episode fought me hard. Like, I struggled a lot with it. I'm more lost than I've ever been in this show. And forewarning, much of this episode's blog is me spinning wild theories, since I couldn't actually figure out what is happening.

And full disclosure, I had to watch this episode twice. I watched it once while I was tired, and could not figure out a lot of it. So I slept on it, let the mysteries roll around my head all day, and then watched it again and I'm still confused about many things! But I had some insights about a couple things, and added some more notes to my initial watch responses. Enjoy!

Cryptic opening. A person sits drinking alone on what appears to be the walls of the palace.

Palace gossip! The girl who drowned used to serve at the Garnet Pavilion. Word has it that she's the one who poisoned Lady Lishu's food. Could she have done it because Lady Ah-Duo is at risk of losing her place as one of the top consorts to a younger concubine?

At age 35, Lady Ah-Duo is so, so old. She's practically geriatric. Way too old to be a favored consort, even if she has been married to the emperor since he was the crown prince, and bore him a child that died.

And the math is funny when you have to consider child brides, but there is a possibility that if that infant that she bore had in fact not died, that they would be a young adult right about now. Right around the age of Jinshi a lot of young men in the palace. This possibility isn't my leading theory, since the show has already implied that Jinshi is the emperor's brother, but it's a good back up. For what it's worth, Lady Ah-Duo has the right coloring and look to be related to Jinshi. Also, I have no idea how old Jinshi actually is, but Gaoshun keeps referring to him as a young person, so I'm guessing young 20s or late teens. Which means there is an age gap between him and his brother the emperor who we now know is 34.

I'm starting to notice a motif. Maomao describes the Rear Palace as a garden, and the concubines as flowers. I remember her talking to Lady Lihua about how one could not compare a peony to a bellflower. And now she says:

Even the most beautiful flowers wilt eventually. And those unable to bear fruit no longer serve a purpose.

The ladies of the Jade Pavilion prepare and host a tea party for Lady Lishu, which is fraught with politics. The party is attended by Lady Lishu's food taster, who is terrified of Maomao after the events of the Garden Party. But even so, it seems Lady Lishu is still being bullied by her ladies.

Of note: Maomao is dressed up for the party, and doesn't have her freckles on.

The ladies of the Jade Pavilion won't let Maomao help clean up and they toss her out into the hall claiming she needs to rest, but they may have ulterior motives, because a certain palace manager is waiting for Maomao there.

Jinshi wants to know about the tea party, and Maomao realizes that he may have had a hand in organizing this event. I assume he wanted Maomao to observe Lady Lishu with her ladies in waiting to determine if the bullying is still happening, which is a noble intention. Why he does these things without simply asking Maomao to help, I don't know. She doesn't appreciate being maneuvered, and her natural curiosity and desire to help usually get her involved anyway, so there really isn't a good reason for him to continue operating this way. But things have been weird since Maomao became despondent after the servant girl drowned. He's retreated to old behaviors, which include manipulating Maomao. And the mask of the enigmatic palace manager is back. He's all sparkles again.

Maomao tries to brush him off.

Jinshi: I am far from being done with you.

Understatement.

Maomao: Funny, I'm more than done with you.

A lie.

But she may be done with him in this moment. When he's sparkling, he's manipulating, and she knows it.

They are bantering as they always do, but this isn't honest or fun. And he's put his hand on her shoulder. She has asked him before not to do that. She slaps it off as she did last time. Nothing has changed. What she said before is still true. His status makes anything between them impossible, and he shouldn't be touching her.

His tone immediately changes, signaling his sincerity as he wants to talk about the servant girl who died. He's not convinced that it was a suicide. He's heard Maomao's thoughts on this before, and he believes her. He also doesn't want to give up on finding the truth and getting justice for that girl. And... I just love that.

We see Jinshi through Maomao's distorted lens so often, that it can be hard to see that he has heroic qualities. When we first met him, he seemed to be almost an antagonist to Maomao. He was using her in his machinations, trying to seduce her to more firmly control her, and keeping information from her. But his role in this story, is not that of an antagonist, he's the love interest, and he's got to be worthy of the hero. As we've moved through the story we've caught glimpses of his better nature, and we can read between the lines to see what his motivations and actions have been. He's got some growth yet to do, no doubt, but fundamentally, he's a good person. And here, with his pursuit of justice for the murdered servant girl, we get a good example of him becoming a hero in his own right.

This also demonstrates the impact Maomao has had on Jinshi. I do believe he cared about justice before Maomao arrived in his life, and I think he would have pursued this case regardless, but this case in particular has extra meaning to Jinshi, because of Maomao.

The woman who died is a servant girl, just like Maomao. Someone targeted this woman and murdered her, because she was expendable.

Maomao: I am but a lowly commoner. My life is easily taken away over the slightest error. [From episode 9]

And that is unacceptable to Jinshi.

He saw a despondent Maomao, and listened to what she had to say, and in the moment he had no idea what to do. And he still might not know what to say to Maomao, but he does know that servant girls don't deserve to die when they become an inconvenience to someone in power.

And servant girls shouldn't have to live in the palace feeling like their lives are expendable.

Maomao: We wander through life, never knowing when it's our time. That's fate. There's no way of resisting it. [From episode 9]

No. Not okay. Not to Jinshi.

He might not be able to escape the obligations of his station or be able to take off the mask he needs to wear, but he can at least use his power for this.

He saw Maomao at her darkest moment to date, and it threw him. He has pulled back a bit but as he said he's far from being done with her. Jinshi never gives up on Maomao. Big male lead energy.

And so Jinshi asks for Maomao's thoughts, as he always does. He always wants to know her thoughts, her conjectures, and he believes her. As he did with the drowned servant girl. Now he wants to know if she thinks the servant girl could have done what it's being said she did. He's not sure himself, but he trusts that Maomao will have some insight. Just as Jinshi's support and encouragement helps Maomao to solve mysteries, Maomao's careful analysis and even unfounded conjectures, help Jinshi make sense of the cases he's call upon to handle. They work better when they work together.

Jinshi has heard her thoughts about the servant girls death before, but he has to ask again:

Jinshi: Do you think she really committed suicide? Maomao: I've already told you that's not for me to determine.

And if Jinshi is back to masks, and sparkles, then Maomao is back to conjectures shouldn't be spoken out loud and "a mere lady-in-waiting wouldn't know."

Jinshi: She was a common servant girl. What reason would she have for attempting to poison Concubine Lishu? Maomao: I don't know.

The walls are up. The communication is down. Jinshi makes a frustrated sound. He tried asking her earnestly, and it got him nowhere. If Maomao is going to retreat to old behavior, so will he. It's time to ✨sparkle.✨

Jinshi will get to the bottom of this case goddamnit, even if he has to maneuver Maomao to do it. She's been sent to the Garnet Pavilion to help out get answers. She acts like she's upset at being sent, but don't listen to her. She wants to solve this case as much as Jinshi does.

That's... a hell of an intro for Lady Ah-Duo. She's going to be someone important isn't she? See wild theory above.

Caught it on the second watch, but the person on the wall was Lady Ah Duo. Her guan and hair style are the same, and when Maomao pictures her riding a horse, it's the same outfit at in the beginning.

Which begs the question, what was she doing sitting up on the rooftop drinking and staring at the stars?

Lady Ah-Duo is getting the kind of starstruck reaction usually reserved for Jinshi. And Maomao is wondering who Lady Ah-Duo reminds her of. Don't tell me my off-the-wall theory was correct? Shit, I'll have to rework all my other theories if that's true...

Everything at the Garnet Pavilion seems... nice. The servants work hard, and the head lady in waiting is kind, and approachable, different from what we've seen before with Lady Lihua's and Lady Lishu's servants. Maomao isn't sure what to do. She didn't get any specific instructions from Jinshi, and she's not sure where or what to look for. She's considering all of the angles though. In fact those thoughts are keeping her up at night. A servant girl who used to live and work in that very pavilion, was murdered. And someone did try to poison Lady Lishu. Maomao knows there must be a clue somewhere. It's driving her crazy.

This show just casually drops in commentary about the role of women in society.

She's (Fengming) well past her prime, but in another life, she would have made a great wife. I wonder if she ever considered marriage? Or if she chose to serve Concubine Ah-Duo for life?

I wonder if Maomao considers this her fate as well. Will she ever consider marriage? Will she choose to serve Concubine Gyokuyou for life? Do servants even get a choice? Do their desires matter at all? What about the concubines? Do they get a choice? Do their desires matter at all?

Lady Lishu shows up to the Garnet Pavilion acting weird as hell. Looking all around like she doesn't want to be seen. And she only has her one food taster with her. Strange for someone who may have been the target of an assassination attempt from the Garnet Pavilion.

Something about this doesn't add up. Why is she hiding her visit? Is she hiding from her own ladies? Is that why she only brought the one? Or is she avoiding someone else and didn't want a large retinue that would make her more noticeable. And why visit the Garnet Pavilion? What is the connection? She had the weird reaction to honey at the tea party she attended at the Jade Pavilion. Does this have something to do with honey? I really don't know. Maybe there will be some clues later on.

When she's done Maomao reports back to Jinshi, who... is acting very strangely. I think he's trying to seduce Maomao again. But, why use methods he knows will fail? Just what the hell is going on here?!

Maomao: And what's with his casual attitude recently?

Maomao thinks it's weird too.

He starts by lounging suggestively across the couch. Maomao finishes her report of the facts, and Jinshi asks her to go on... and I think I've figured out what he's up to. She's still holding back, not willing to share her thoughts and theories with him. He's pushing her. He tried talking it out before, and it didn't work, so this is plan B.

He pushes her with a pointed question, and that works! She tells him the facts she knows, her reasoning, and her opinions. Gaoshun and Jinshi share a look. Everything Maomao said aligns with what they already thought about Fengming.

The honey. Does the fact that Jinshi brought it mean anything?

Maomao: Given the way he's lapping up that honey, he must have already suspected her (Fengming).

I actually don't know how she gets to that leap of logic. Does she think he went to request a pot of honey from Garnet Pavilion to investigate himself? Maybe he or Gaoshun really did do that. Maybe that is how Gaoshun discovered that Fengming has a bandaged arm. I don't know.

What does he already know, before Maomao even gives her report? We know he knew about the bandage on Fengming's arm, but didn't tell Maomao about it. She noticed it and figured out it's significance on her own. She realizes that he already knew everything that she reported. So why bother to ask her?

My theory is that he's not sure, but he trusts Maomao's judgement and wanted to hear it from her to confirm his own thoughts, or see if she had any additional insights. Maybe to see if she can tie in any of the other mysteries. Or maybe he is seeing if she is a good spy. Perhaps he will use her this way again in the future, since she performed so well.

For what it's worth, I think he would like to be able to ask her opinion and have it freely given. And they may reach a day where he can simply consult with her, without her pulling away. But that day is not today.

There are also the mysteries of who tried to poison Lady Lishu, and why the servant girl that worked at the Garnet Pavilion was murdered. I think both Jinshi and Maomao would like to know if any of those things are connected.

Jinshi then does something so deeply weird... it's... he.... he tries to put his fingers In. Her. Mouth.

He offers her a pot of honey. An expensive luxury, with medicinal properties. It's something she probably would be willing to accept. However:

✨Jinshi✨: This is for you. Good girls should be rewarded.

She declines, completely freaked out. So he dips his fingers in the honey and corners her. What the absolute fuck Jinshi?!

Maomao: Offer it to someone who wants your fingers in their mouth!

Back the hell off with your honeyed words and your honeyed fingers!

Jinshi: Don't be so modest.

Is he doing this because she smacked his hand off of her shoulder earlier?

Maomao yells for help from Gaoshun, who pretends he can neither see nor hear what is happening. Holy hell. Don't these guys remember her story about nearly being assaulted? What the hell does Jinshi hope to achieve here?

Maomao is pissed at Jinshi, unnerved, and uncomfortable, but she's not triggered into having a trauma response. I think she must know that Jinshi would not force her. Even with the honey, I think he would stop shy of forcing his fingers into her mouth. I think, he thinks he is teasing her (it's harassment as Lady Gyokuyou says when she comes in). Maomao considers fighting. She considers submitting. She considers fleeing, but before she can decide what to do, she has an insight, which is what finally stops Jinshi.

Maomao has a moment where she thinks through some earlier events, like Lady Lishu not wanting to eat honey, and having had an allergic reaction to fish. She draws a connection that Lady Lishu may also be allergic to honey. Then she thinks about the servant girl who was drowned, about Lady Ah Duo, the servants, and Lady Lishu acting shady. And... I'm not sure what connection they have to honey, but I'm glad Maomao was able to connect all of the events. I knew she could do it, even if I can't!

My hero, Lady Gyokuyou walks in and Jinshi is caught honey red handed. And he runs away, like the guilty asshole that he is. Did I say he had heroic qualities earlier? I take it all back.

Gaoshun calls Maomao "Xiaomao" and tries to make excuses for Jinshi, calling this a prank that went to far. And barf. Fuck that excuse. And boy do I think there is some commentary happening here about sexual harassment and rape culture, but I won't digress into it.

Maomao: Since it was nothing but harmless fun, next time you can do the licking for me?

So, what is the point of this scene?

I've thought about it, and I'm swinging in the dark, but I think Jinshi is acting bizarrely because he is getting desperate. We've seen him slowly unraveling for awhile now, as he struggles between craving authenticity, and living up to the expectations of his status. To be clear, what he did is way across the line. It's certainly across the line in Maomao's eyes. It's also crossing the lines of propriety which is why Gaoshun pretends not to see, and why Lady Gyokuyou reacts so strongly when she sees it. But I think Jinshi has even crossed a line of his own that he normally wouldn't. So what would compel this usually composed and calculating man to behave in such an unhinged way?

Well I think it comes down to a few key events that happened recently.

Maomao left.

Jinshi has gotten rather used to having Maomao around. Being able to call upon her whenever he wants to take advantage of her incredible mind and unmatched skills. Or if he just wants to tease her or banter with her. She's the one who sees him. The one who makes him feel like he's a person, and not like he's just filling a role. So when he shows up and she's just... gone. Well. Jinshi did not like it.

He thought he lost her to another man.

Not only was she gone. She was gone with another man! Hadn't Jinshi been clear enough when he gave her a hair pin? How can she prefer Lihaku?! Also, doesn't she shrink away or cringe whenever Jinshi tries to touch her? How could she allow herself to be with Lihaku?! It turned out she wasn't physical with Lihaku, but for a moment there he saw what could happen. Jinshi did not like it.

Maomao's despair

That the machinations of the palace could tangle Maomao and get her killed, and that Jinshi would be powerless to stop it, well... This is intolerable to Jinshi.

Mix these feelings of loneliness, jealousy, and desperation and we get a Jinshi that is irrational. We've usually seen Jinshi in control of himself and everyone else around him. He's the mastermind, who knows how to move the pieces around the board to produce the outcome that he wants. And if he feels some way about what's going on around him or inside him, we usually have to guess, because he doesn't have anyone that he can talk to about it. So to now see him behave without thought, or reason, just from a place of desperation, of wanting to connect with Maomao, who just won't let him in, no matter what he does. Well, it's really weird, and inexcusable, but also kind of sad.

Whatever the case may be, Maomao uses this opportunity to ask Gaoshun for a favor. She's put the pieces together and now she needs evidence. Gaoshun accompanies her to visit Lady Lishu. His presence implies that the visit is sanctioned by Jinshi, which it is not. Maomao feels he owes her this one.

She wants to ask Lady Lishu about honey. Things are starting to come together for Maomao but I'm lost. I haven't figured out how exactly the conspiracy works yet, or what connection Lady Lishu has with the Garnet Pavilion. In any case, Lady Lishu had a dangerous reaction to honey as an infant and was told to never again eat it. And when Maomao asks about Fengming, Lady Lishu looks downright terrified. I'm also remembering that Lady Lishu was the child bride of the former emperor, and was mother-in-law to Lady Ah-Duo. That little tidbit probably wasn't dropped into this story for no reason. Just what is the connection between Lady Lishu, Lady Ah-Duo, and Fengming? Whatever Maomao suspected she didn't share it and now I'm starting to understand how Jinshi feels because I also want to force her to tell me what she thinks!

Gaoshun may not be a fan of JinMao but he is becoming quite a fan of "Xiaomao." He's giving her cutesy names and doing her favors with no reward. He has seen the way her brilliant mind works, her passion for protecting the powerless, her composure under pressure, and her superior competencies. She's earned his respect. When she asks, he searches through the court library, without question.

Wait a god damn minute. Honey. Lady Ah Duo's child appeared dead because they gave him honey. Of course they did, they have honey in abundance at the Garnet Pavilion. Then when the doctor was called he... took him out of the palace to safety? No that doesn't sound right. If the baby were a girl I would say yes, and that the baby was Maomao. But if that were true and we assumed that the emperor was her father, and we assume that Jinshi is the emperor's brother, than that would make Jinshi Maomao's uncle. Lol! Perfect. Absolutely perfect. But I don't think that's right.

So I've thought some more and I'm reminded that someone said the Emperor and Lady Ah Duo were foster siblings. I'd like to know more about that scenario, but regardless, I wonder if they truly saw themselves more like siblings than as spouses. I wonder if they didn't have physical relations at all. It would explain why they never had another baby in the many years they have been married. But then how did Lady Ah Duo end up pregnant you may ask. Well, there are not a lot of named male characters in this show that could fit the bill, so with my limited information, and a shot in the dark, I'm going to guess Sir Kounen. He was around in the palace with access to the imperial family, which we know because he had an impact on young Jinshi. Was he friends with the Emperor and Lady Ah Duo? Did Lady Ah Duo used to ride horses with him, then sit under the stars? Was that why she was drinking while stargazing at the top of the episode? Was she toasting to her past lover? I don't know. I don't really have any evidence at all.

So then what is with Fengming burning secret communication sticks? Well, if we consider that Lady Ah-Duo sneaks out to go horseback riding or meet up with her fellow who isn't the emperor, then maybe those communication sticks are for setting up secret rendezvous.

When Maomao was figuring out the connection of honey to every as yet unsolved mystery, she thought about how honey can nearly kill an infant, she thought about the servant girl who was murdered, and of Lady Ah-Duo, and if Jinshi is that baby, and honey was used to feint his death, then maybe the reason the servant was killed, was because she found out that the baby that was born was not the emperor's, or maybe that the baby lived. Or maybe she found out about Lady Au Duo having an affair, or maybe she saw Fengming using the secret communication sticks. Hmmm, could be a lot of things. There are a lot of secrets to keep in the Garnet Pavilion.

But how does Lady Lishu tie in? Am I way off here?

So I guess I'm now leaning towards Lady Ah-Duo's baby being Jinshi. Was Sir Kounen actually his father? And that would make Jinshi 17. He seems older to me. With all of his responsibilities, that makes me very sad to think he's so young.

There were two baby boys born around the same time, the baby of the emperor and the baby of the crown prince. Was there a baby swap in the palace? Did the emperor's child die? And they replaced that child with the Lady Ah-Duo's baby? Therefor removing Lady Ah-Duo's baby from the line of succession, since the child is a bastard and isn't actually of the imperial bloodline. That would kind of fit with how Jinshi is treated.

But you may ask, if Jinshi were Lady Ah Duo's baby and honey almost killed him at an infant, how can he sit around lapping it up now as an adult? Well, babies' deadly reaction to honey isn't due to an allergy, it's a rare infection. So even if you have a reaction as a baby, that doesn't mean you can't eat it as an adult. Will this be relevant later? Is that why the storytellers made such a spectacle of the honey scene? So we would remember it later?

Also, Maomao thinks it strange that the current emperor only had one concubine while he was still crown prince. That's even stranger if that one concubine was his foster sister whom he didn't have a physical relationship with. Did he also have a secret lover on the side? In the annex maybe? Perhaps someone that it wasn't appropriate to make into an official concubine? Perhaps Maomao's mother? Do we even know any characters that could fit this role? Fengming, maybe? The emperor comes to visit Lady Ah Duo, but he's actually there to see her head lady in waiting? Is Fengming actually using the communication sticks to set up a rendezvous for herself with the emperor? Did the lady in waiting find out, and the emperor's people had her killed? But Fengming is quite a bit older than the emperor so that's probably not it either.

Ahhhhgggg! This episode is too confusing! I give up! I want to threaten Maomao with some honeyed fingers and make her tell me what's going on!

I am really sorry to the people who read all of this. I have nothing good to offer you this episode. Just a ton of really wild, conjectures. Maybe I should take Luomen's advice and keep some of those to myself. Or maybe put them to use in writing a fanfic. lol.

If you want to start this blog series at the beginning:

Episode 1

Next episode:

Episode 11

#the apothecary diaries #apothecary diaries #maomao #jinshi #jinmao

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shallowseeker · 2 months ago

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hi shal!!!! long time no see it seems like.... i have a favour to ask… im doing a school project about media in the early 2000s and how they treat women and minorities, and i want it to be centred around supernatural. ive been looking around spnblr for essays about this, but the most on-topic i could find were meta, and i want to look at the context in which the show was created instead and use the show as evidence, yk? do you have any recs or nah? thank you for your time ily forever

That is.... so very cool. Despite dabbling in what you kids call meta these days, I'm not super great at calling up this stuff in my head. I think you could look through @drsilverfish because there are some era-specific motifs and @cassierobinsons has some meta that might be helpful.

Dashfam, please make suggestions! ❗

Off the top of my head, one of the things that struck me growing up in that time is how my peers were so disgusted by the Jessica Simpson weight fiasco of 2009. I had peers refer to her as a cow and other derogatory insults. Just two years after that, 2011 and the Leviathan season hits the air with a lot of fat-shaming. There was one scene in season 7, I think it was REPO MAN, where Sam is sitting in a library and there is some shame heaped at the female librarian there to me feels very of the era. I remember laughing at the time and thinking, "Oh, like Jessica Simpson."

This was the "viral" photo btw:

EDIT: Yes it was Repo man.

Yes, the "Lucifer" in the show is basically the thoughts Sam has and is unwilling to voice, so it makes a lot of sense that he's so judgmental about weight (and women) at this point, especially in light of his perfectionistic obsessions with weight and food. Sam/Lucifer is weird about not just the librarian "chubby" but also the mother of the kidnapped boy (Nora) "stupid cow."

It's still incredibly of the times the way it's written.

#asks #fat shaming #mid and early 2000s #what a cool project

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gascon-en-exil · 2 months ago

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Ranking the Jock Studio Love Interests, Take 1

The first demo for BLits's Jock Studio has been out for over a year. Now there's a second demo on the horizon slated to release before the year is out, one that promises to show off more of the distinctive mechanical features that are helping it to stand out from the crowd of the numerous gay dating sims that go light on gameplay in favor of focusing their efforts on interesting and clever writing and/or hardcore porn.

The demo we currently have though is very much focused on hooking players with those two elements, something I have to say it does fairly well. Based on that, in this post I'm going to be talking about each of the six love interests and what most grabs my attention about their writing and...other assets...in the first demo. As we get more prerelease material leading up to the full game coming out whenever it does (2025, hopefully?), I'll surely be revisiting this topic. But for now, here's the love interests ranked according to how personally engaging I find them. I also have my opinions on the two featured NPCs in the demo, as well as on (shockingly) the main character himself, but I feel like we need more info on them and what they're going to be doing in terms of the naughty stuff before I can really express my thoughts on those.

Note that while the pics in this post are SFW, some of the opinions are decidedly not.

#6. Leo

The twinkiest of the love interests which already doesn't do an awful lot for me. His explicit content calls attention to his feet which is also not something that gets me going. Personality-wise he's unfortunately rather bland at this point, being rather sunny (sun motifs are all over this guy) and maybe a little too involved and eager to please for his own good. His storyline will almost certainly feature some level of burnout and needing someone - the MC and/or the other jocks, because that's supposed to be a thing - to get him to focus on himself for a change. Again, not really a sexual vibe that interests me, nor is it likely to be character development that wows me.

I don't hate the guy...he's just the one that catches my attention least. Kind of a shame too, because unless NPC Jacques Laurent gets a bunch of unexpected development related to his being French and not just having that name because it's turned into wordplay to make the game's title Leo's the character who's most likely to be culturally relatable for me.

#5 Yuuto

He's hyperactive, makes weird non sequiturs, and is Japanese. That sums Yuuto up pretty well, to the point that he can feel a little exhausting while oddly being not that interesting if you're not into the "exotic" vibe of his theme instrumentation, food preferences, and uh...underwear. (This game taught me what fundoshi are.)

I do like that his zaniness includes a casual nudist streak because that's always good for some silly sexual situations, and also that his masturbation scene in the demo actually plays with his hyperactivity by having him cum too fast and then needing the MC to coach him through taking it slower for the camera. Generally speaking, I like that the demo emphasizes a different professional dynamic between each love interest and the MC when they're making their videos.

#4 Zayne

Insincere, self-assured playboy vibes - flirts with and possibly sleeps with a lot of people (women and men?) but is surely going to have to be taught the meaning of love. Not really my thing, nor am I really into his various piercings including studs on his dick although I'm sure those would feel interesting. It's a little hard not to compare Zayne to Claude from Fire Emblem Three Houses minus any sort of political angle, because he's got the same gimmick of being casually friendly and flirty coupled with the sense that he's hiding something and more guarded than he appears.

How that will play out in his storyline remains to be seen, but as with Claude I find it tougher to get into characters whose biggest draw comes from how mysterious they are. Here's to hoping that will translate to some fun stuff in bed...or on the filming couch, as the case may be. Basically, he's a character I could be really into, but I'll need to see more before I can make that call. It's possible too that something could be done with his apparent bisexuality, as he flirts publicly with his many female admirers while turning on the charm just as much in private for the MC.

#3 Avan

The imperious, overworked student council president...even though I'm not entirely certain that US universities even have student councils, and that this isn't just a carryover trope from anime. But anyway, that angle will hopefully play into the academic and student life sides of gameplay that prerelease info has been touting, to say nothing of him having some level of oversight on the game's titular club. Avan's definitely going to be busy during the special seasonal arcs that were part of the game's many stretch goals; getting him horny and relaxed is no doubt going to be on the table.

Twunkier than I'd normally be into, but his assured, slightly bossy vibes can be fun and could go a number of ways in sex scenes from power bottom to the uncommon twink/twunk top.

#2 Derek

Has the soft Dom energy I most often end up sleeping with in real life, and obviously a treat if you're into muscles and big dicks and probably total tops although with as much as this game is promising it wouldn't surprise me if every guy turns out to be at least a little vers.

More than that though I like Derek as a former adult film star with clearly mixed feelings on the industry even as he's getting back into it. Like Full Service, another dating sim I've covered, Jock Studio is ripe to explore the world of sex work (and male sex workers specifically) from the perspective of its participants, which is naturally something I gravitate toward and something that I hope gets handled with finesse. Derek in particular is an established professional working with a bunch of guys just getting into the industry, so I can see his storyline being something along the lines of his mentoring role getting subverted by the MC discovering he has some hidden baggage about his former work that he doesn't want to share with anyone else. Good stuff all around.

#1 Bryce

Oof. Bryce is already a polarizing character, and while evidently I'm a fan of what it looks like BLits is doing with him I've got a case to make here for putting him in my #1 slot.

BLits's earlier games, Camp Buddy and its sequel, exist in a world where men just aren't straight and it's basically never remarked on that literally every guy ever gets horny for other men. That's great for wish fulfillment, but it can get rather ridiculous at times. Jock Studio, by contrast, is going for a very different tone right from the start, with Bryce being a homophobic gay4pay frat boy who swears very loudly by his heterosexuality. While I understand how this could be very off-putting, even when you know from what kind of game this is that Bryce isn't really straight, I appreciate it as new territory for these developers. Internalized homophobia is a goldmine for character drama, and as with Derek there's also the opportunity to comment on elements of the gay porn industry: in this case, the fixation on "str8 acting" men and on porn scenarios involving "tricking" or "converting" straight guys into having gay sex. There's a lot that could be dug into with Byrce past his abrasive surface.

Additionally, of the three larger love interests Bryce is the one that comes closest to appealing to those who like softer/chubbier builds, even if he's still got the big glam muscles that Zayne and Derek have. His explicit scenes - and the MC's goofy intro to him - call attention to his sizeable pecs and ass (also armpits if you're into those), so that's fun. A lot of people are looking forward to Bryce turning into a big needy bottom...which would indeed be quite entertaining.

#Jock Studio #BLits #Gay dating sims

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striderthefrog · 1 year ago

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Scratch McGee and repressed trauma.

First off I’d like to preface this by saying I am not an expert on mental health this is an attempted analysis of a cartoon character through the lense of mental health for the purpose of entertainment.

TW: Discussion of mental health/ptsd

Scratch has been one of the most complex characters in tgamm. He starts off as a grumpy hermit, but as the series progresses we begin to see that he has a softer side. However he is trying to escape a traumatic past and is scared of forming attachments.

In scaring is caring it is revealed that Scratches worst fear is losing Molly. Although they’ve only known each other for a few months these two have become the closest of friends and we see that Scratch is deeply afraid of losing her even though he shouldn’t have to be worried about that.

Then we get to season two, this is when we really start to see where the possible trauma originated. In A soda to remember we see Scratch and Molly try to get a soda he had as a kid to help him remember his past. This could be seen as a trigger for his trauma, something related to it that starts to bring up those feelings/memories.

Scratch confesses to Molly that he is scared of his past, he doesn’t know if he wants to remember, part of him wants to forget it for good. He ends up deciding that not knowing is the worse end so he takes a sip and we get a peak into his childhood.

Here we see that Scratch had a friend that moved away. We hear a sad version of the friendship motif which has been used with Molly and Scratch’s bonding moments. Scratch looks up from the soda directly at the screen showing the most raw emotion we have seen of him yet. He does not tell Molly about this for a while.

Finally we get to All in the mind, an entire episode delving into Scratches past memories and trauma. The form of these memories coming back takes the form of bubbles fizzing up. A fitting way to show that he can’t hide from his trauma forever. Now Scratch seems to be depicted with some form of ptsd/cptsd albeit a more simplified cartoon version. These can be triggered by very small things sometimes seemingly unrelated however the brain usually has come to associate some things with the traumatic memories causing it to trigger.

It seems possible due to the correlation with Adia that being around Molly is causing Scratch to remember things and face his repressed trauma. The better he gets to know her the more he feels a connection similar to his one with Adia.

Once we dive into Scratches mind we see many things such as childish cardboard ship in a bottle of the same soda. And we also see many food related things. Including a taco “of his past.” In his mind we see a brief scene where Scratch is in a chair across from a monkey very clearly like he would a therapist. Scratch clearly has something mentally going on.

Later in the episode Scratch is finally able to stop running for a bit, he talks through it with Molly and although still scared he’s going to try and confront his past. We get an even deeper look into his mind and see him and Adia discussing their plans to travel the world, while in a cardboard boat.

We get another look at the scene of Adia moving away but this time we see scratch look down at his hands where the soda is.

Scratch has begun to dig up his past trauma although it seems we have yet to see the source. At the end of the episode we see a massive bubble come up with Adias face in it distorting the end music and the logo.

Scratch still has his biggest traumatic memories to deal with.

It’s been confirmed that Scratch would have been about 9-10 in the flashback scene we got. When someone goes through trauma they often will act in a way reminiscent of the earliest time they had before said trauma. We consistently see Scratch acting like a child, throwing fits, and talking about things like a 9-10 year old would.

All this seems to point to Scratch having un processed trauma and memories. The show seems to be leading towards the final straw being something happening to Molly as Scratches biggest fear is losing her, like he seems to have lost Adia.

On that note I’d just like to add that trauma takes many forms, and many different things can lead to childhood trauma. One persons will not be like someone else’s necessarily and traumatic experiences happen much easier when one is a child as the brain is still forming. Please feel free to critique anything I’ve said. Hope this has been interesting.

#scratch mcgee #tgamm scratch #tgamm #tgamm spoilers #trauma #molly mcgee #tgamm adia #mental health

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justinspoliticalcorner · 9 months ago

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Stephen A. Crockett Jr. at HuffPost:

I’ve always been stunned at former President Donald Trump’s physical prowess.

I mean, who can forget when his White House director of communications, Anthony Scaramucci, gushed about witnessing Trump throw a perfect spiral through a tire? Or his claim that he’s seen the confirmed thousand-aire at Madison Square Garden in a top coat at the foul line swishing free throws? And despite all of us knowing that the former president’s diet relies heavily on fast food, that didn’t stop his White House physician, now Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), from praising his genetics. “Some people just have great genes,” Jackson told reporters in 2018. “I told the president if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200.” So it has been quite the show watching the gymnast-like contortions of the former president to avoid getting to know, or actually court, Black people to support his campaign. Earlier this month, in his latest episode of “See? Black people like me!” the president stood during an obvious photo-op at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A while smiling Black workers appeared to pose while taking his order. Trump reportedly ordered 30 milkshakes and some chicken, dealing out fast food for free publicity before heading to a high-dollar fundraiser in a largely white neighborhood.

A Black woman in the restaurant said, in her best untrained actor voice, “I don’t care what the media tells you, Mr. Trump, we support you!” I later found out the Black woman was in fact Michaelah Montgomery, a conservative activist who had arranged the entire scene. To her credit, the bigger story was supposed to be a conversation between students from nearby HBCUs and the presidential candidate about conservatism and possible inroads with the Black community. The moment became a meme. As with most Trump moments. Because what Trump and those around him don’t understand or care to involve themselves with is that Black people, more specifically Black women (also known as the spine of the Democratic voting bloc), are three dimensional, alive, actual human beings.

In Trumpland, Black people are caricatures of all of the worst stereotypes that have ever been imagined. They are rapists, thieves and murderers who want to terrorize… wait, no, that’s immigrants. But the point remains: The idea of even possibly courting Black voters never moves past stereotypical ideology. Which is comical when you consider that in 2024, the year of our lord Dawn Staley, an actual presidential strategy for winning the Black vote was… wait for it… sneakers. In February, Trump unveiled his $399 “Never Surrender High-Tops” at SneakerCon in Philadelphia. Trump didn’t just premiere the gaudy gold high-top decorated with an American flag motif, the sort of faux patriotism that’s truly become Trump’s signature brand, he actually went to the event to help hawk the ridiculousness that was an attempt to capture not just youth culture but ... well, I’ll just let Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo say the quiet part out loud. “This is ... connecting with Black America. Because they’re into sneakers. They love sneakers. This is a big deal. Certainly in the inner city.”

Arroyo got bashed for his take, as he should, but his take was a glimpse into how many Republicans, especially Trump, see Black people as sneaker-loving, inner-city dwelling and easily swayed by shiny, expensive things. It’s Republican typecasting in which a Black person remains the villain/magical negro who serves only to further the white protagonist’s storyline. And make no mistake about it, in the story of Trump, as told by the narcissistic narrator, the former president is always the hero.

Which brings us to Blacks 4 Trump (aka Black Voices for Trump), you know, that hodgepodge group of Blacks (mostly men) who have proclaimed their allegiance to Trump and who stump for him despite his lackluster attempts at any tangible metrics with the Black community. Don’t act like you don’t remember Michael Symonette, Maurice Woodside and Mikael Israel (these are not three people; it’s one man who has gone by three names), more commonly know as “Michael the Black Man” (his name for himself, not mine) who magically appeared behind Trump at a 2017 rally in Arizona. Always strategically placed in the camera’s view wearing a shirt that says “Trump & Republicans Are Not Racist” or “Blacks 4 Trump.” The funny thing is that the group Blacks 4 Trump didn’t ever seem to really do anything other than allow their Blackness to be co-opted for the then-president’s political gain. The group didn’t have an agenda or a political manifesto (at least it never presented one) that noted how Trump could actually earn the Black vote. They just showed up and allowed their images to be used to sell a product.

Because, never forget, Trump is always in the Trump business. Which leads to arguably the most disturbing attempt by Trump’s campaign to court Black voters, which Trump’s camp openly admits they need to win over in the upcoming election: Insisting that because Black people have been the victims of an unjust criminal system, they relate to Trump more because he, too, is a victim of the Man.

[...] Trump acknowledges that there is discrimination and, more important, that Black people have been discriminated against. This means nothing to him, of course, as that only serves to get him to his second point, which is that he can relate, which therefore makes him more relatable to the discriminated class. He doesn’t want to fix the problem, he only wants to leech off of the sympathies related to it. It is in this brushstroke that Trump ― who has been charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Black woman; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Black man; and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Black woman ― that he, too, is a victim of systemic racism.

“When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is number one,” Trump said. He added that the Black population “embraced it more than anyone else.” He also said: “I’m being indicted for you, the Black population.” First, the obvious. I’ll just let President Joe Biden’s campaign spokesperson Jasmine Harris explain it. “The audacity of Donald Trump to speak to a room full of Black voters during Black History Month as if he isn’t the proud poster boy for modern racism. This is the same man who falsely accused the Central Park 5, questioned George Floyd’s humanity, compared his own impeachment trial to being lynched and ensured the unemployment gap for Black workers spiked during his presidency,” Harris told The Washington Post.

“Donald Trump has been showing Black Americans his true colors for years: an incompetent, anti-Black tyrant who holds us to such low regard that he publicly dined with white nationalists a week after declaring his 2024 candidacy.”

Stephen Crockett Jr. wrote in HuffPost that Donald Trump's attempt to court Black voters is based on stereotypical traits of Blacks from a conservative POV, including by claiming to relate to being victims of an unjust criminal system that Black folk face.

#Black Americans #African Americans #Donald Trump #2024 Presidential Election #2024 Elections #Black Voices For Trump #Raymond Arroyo #Trump Mugshot

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nuevo-city · 6 months ago

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can i have. oc infodump please im genuinely so curious

HI HI OKAY HI.

some background info on this world; ~700-1000 years in the future. cyberpunk dystopia. almost all of the world is a desert, with only one city of mutated humans remaining. nuevo. these humans main survival adaptation is their ability to survive the slight remaining radiation from the nuclear apocalypse that happened, as well as their ability to drink saltwater, but they have powers too. the city has been divided into three “levels”, all built vertically on top of each other.

the lower levels are a cyberpunk undercity type place, with crime both violent and harmless running wild due to the lack of the hero society’s influence here (i’ll talk about them in a seperate post, but unfortunately to convey it simply, imagine the heroes from mha if they were basically the fbi and the cia at the same time and also even more corrupt and like. paying off the villains to kill people)

. the middle levels are basically solarpunk aesthetic with none of the e benefits of solarpunk, vaguely-futuristic nyc. think spider-verse earth 1610 for what daily life is like, just a lot more future-y.

upper levels are where the hero society mainly influences, the city in the sky. the RICH people live here. generally if you’re up here you’ve got ties to the hero society or the government, or you just work here and live in the middle levels.

NOW. this is my precious son leo grayson arnaud. vigilante name red noise. bisexual transmasc disaster/professional enabler older brother/part time wannabe wine aunt. he is sad and pathetic and here for a bad time, not a long time. (*cough cough* leo-grayson-arnaud.carrd.co check it out if it still works)

he’s a vigilante!!! he’s awesome!!!! he’s a boyfailure!!!!!! he’s cool as fuck!!!!!!

some info: he’s deaf! his powers let him control sound waves, so he uses them to be really fucking loud so he can utilize noise to electricity to electrocute people with the power of punk rock, but uh…. (garfield meme here) you are not immune to power drawbacks. safe to say, he’s lost most of his hearing. he was also raised the cyberpunk equivalent of a catholic lol? but it’s more akin to like,,, the legal religion from the silt verses than anything. he’s also got an AWESOME boyfriend

(the cowgirl in the second image is @the-lonelyshepherd’s oc shay. if you’re reading this and don’t know her, check her out!!! she’s cool and shep’s stories are so awesome)

this is sam pines. my BOY. fellow disaster tboy, professional hunter noceda relater-to. absolute poor little meow meow. he’d probably like mother mother but he doesn’t even HAVE a mother mother, carrion bird motif, “my guilt does not purify me” ass.

(the flower clasp is only part of his design while he’s in the cult.)

anyway he’s a born and raised lower level kid. he was abandoned by his mother (DO NOT THINK SHE WAS BAD FOR THIS. it was her only option) and grew up in the foster system until he was nine. at that age he was roped into a cult known as the sentinels. (ill go more in depth with them in another post too) they promised him food and shelter, and he needed it, so he took it. over time he was made to be a soldier for them.

he’s basically a prophet for the sentinels? of sorts. it’s very confusing and strange because it’s a Cult and that’s how they are but yeah. he does get out eventually but it’s more “outcast as a heretic and hunted down and almost killed and then saved by the leader because she thinks he’ll be useful if he still has some devotion left”

bonus info: he’d probably like will wood and jhariah tbh. he lost an arm to his own powers (if i had a nickel for every time power drawbacks showed up in my main ocs if have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice). he feeds stray cats. he falls asleep in the weirdest positions. chronic pain haver (the haverrrrr). all i can think of as basic info rn but im working on making full refs and posts for the rest of the team

#nuevo city #asks #leo arnaud #sam pines #the sentinels #barely mentioned here but still

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good--merits-accumulated · 10 months ago

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OK, SEVERELY rambly post incoming but - Anderperry Stardust (2007)/ The Little White Horse AU, anyone?

Rundown: I think many of us are familiar with Stardust, originally a Neil Gaiman book but also a great film, starring Claire Danes as a falling star and That Guy Who Plays Daredevil as the lad who promises to bring her to the girl he's infatuated with. The Little White Horse is, to the best of my knowledge, more unknown, but equally very good (for sentimental reasons, I think of it much more highly than Stardust). Published in 1946 by Elizabeth Goudge, it tells the story of thirteen-year-old orphan Maria Merryweather, who moves to her cousin Sir Benjamin's Moonacre Manor in the West Country, where she finds a) a thriving cosy community and a long family history, b) the little white horse of the title, c) a longstanding family feud cutting off Moonacre from the sea, d) her imaginary best friend Robin, real and in the flesh, and e) some of the most deliciously-described food that has ever been or will be. It's a great book even past the rose-tinted glasses of my childhood. Go read it. (The one (1) marring is that you can't find a bloody edition that doesn't have a JK Terfling quote pasted onto the cover, because apparently it was one of her favourite books, but fuck OFF, I'm reclaiming it now. Thou shalt not keep the cosy low fantasy from me.)

Anyway even though I mention Stardust this isn't really part of the AU I have in my mind, except for the bit with the Star, because Todd as a main character who thinks he's a very forgettable bland boy-in-the-corner until he finds out he's a star is a great thought to me. Particulars on /how/ he's a star to be fleshed out later! (I only thought of this AU about two hours ago, lol.)

In my mind this is how it goes - nebulously Olden Times setting (TLWH is set in 1842, so perhaps then). Todd is around seventeen/eighteen and Geoff has just graduated from university, and gone off around Europe, accompanied by their parents. Months go by. Something happens - he's never given the liberty of knowing, but Geoff and their parents stay in Europe, and the townhouse in London is sold, and Todd is packed off to stay at a distant relative's - Keating, as it turns out. It's a blessing in disguise, because Todd is finally away from his family for the first time in his life and around people that appreciate him. He begins to bloom under this new care - but there are strange family secrets only now being revealed to him, and dark forces beyond the valley which threaten to disrupt the haven he's found...

The rest is very cosy fantasy, featuring Mr Perry as the local uptight vicar locking horns with Keating at every opportunity, Neil as his withdrawn but friendly son just longing for a rebellion, and more! (Read: Charlie is here and he is Outrageous as usual. Read also: Pitts as a sailor because I think he'd like it.) Right now I'm thinking of adding an equivalent of Monsieur Cocq de Noir for a villain (Mr Perry is NOT the villain), and Cameron can play a part there so I can give him a good redeeming! Here are a couple of extracts from TLWH to show the kind of mood/tone we're working with:

Thematically, I REALLY like the idea of Todd as a star because it allows me to work in a very fun trope, of "not of the rose but near the rose" - when a character perhaps is shy and a little quiet and reclusive, but inspires other people around them to brilliance and greatness. (Honestly I do think this kind of goes in with the film, where it's not just Keating's teaching but Todd's reaction to it and his presence that galvanise Neil to continue.) This ties in really well if Todd's a star and adds to the overall self-confidence journey - plus I was really thinking about the sun/moon motifs! They're very prominent in TLWH (Maria is a "moon" Merryweather and Robin is a very sunny boy), and I really want to implement them here with slight twists. I think of Todd as a sunny moon; yes he's warm and caring and cheerful but once you go a little closer it's more of a luminosity rather than a blaze, there's a coolness and quietness to him I like. You know, a quiet character doesn't always have to be quiet because there's something "wrong" with them, sometimes they're just like that. For Neil it's the opposite, he's a moony sun; under the thumb of his father he's polite and decorous and demure but somewhere under all of that there's a very loud and booming laugh and a healthy sort of ruddiness. I don't know, I just like sun/moon motifs!!!!!!!!!!

(On a more personal note: this AU, which I already love very much despite not having known very long, would be above all a careful love letter to the West Country. It's been lovely living around here almost all my life and by this time in September I'll be hopefully up very far north at uni, so I'm pre-emptively kind of :') about it. Mutuals who are at uni/college how on earth did you cope?)

#story time! the little white horse was actually the first book i ever read #all by myself in english. i'd only just learnt it #and a friend's grandparents gave me a copy as a present - i must have been four or five #thanks phyllis and peter. i miss you :(#anyway i revolved around that book for the better part of a year #even years and years later sometimes i walk home from school #down the big hill that looks over the valley with the lightning-burnt tree stump at the bottom #and when it gets green and bowery in the summer #and the little hollow at the foot gets very thick with cow parsley i always think i could find the entrance to moonacre #in it. if i really really looked #:')#maybe i will write this over the summer #anderperry #dead poets society #dps #tristan writes #ah. can you tell i'm feeling so so sentimental.

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