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simping-on-the-daily · 4 years ago

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I have to yet to fully develop them but boom boom bitches did you think I would stop making Dream SMP OCs? Hell nah

They both be a combination of Tales of the Dream SMP characters and actual Dream SMP characters

They're all canon and they will eventually have their own bios, but this is just a place to hold my notes basically

Toastie

Slime hybrid

They/she

Full name is Toastie Rickroll (based off the last names generally being memes)

I listened to Hamilton while making her so that helps

Fought for L'Manburg during the Independence Arc

Eventually joined Schlatt's cabinet for Manburg, but later resigned and helped join Pogtopia

Also became part of the Butcher Army

Currently apart of no faction

Respects tradition very well

Their family has fought and died for their respective countries for years

And Toastie carried on the tradition

Without something or someone to fight for Toastie kinda feels useless

They're so used to fighting that peace is basically a foreign concept to her

It doesn't help with all the wars

Toastie does what they do best: protect

And with L'Manburg gone, they now have someone (or a few someone's to care for)

Very fond of their old cabinet and her Butcher Army friends

Despises Techno and Dream for destroying L'Manburg on numerous occasions

Phil is very close to also getting on their negative list

Their most precious item is their enchanted Netherite axe, the Mindbreaker

Toastie confirms it's a family heirloom you get when you learn how to hold scissors correctly

It basically has the blood of people who fought against the country Toastie's family decided to fight for and were either killed or tortured with it

Toastie wants to try and guide it and herself on a more peaceful path, but they always end up going to violence

It's kinda engraved in her

Since she trusts Quackity due to experience, they give him their axe daily as long as he brings it back

They're unaware that Quackity's using it to torture Dream

Very protective and dedicated to fighting for those they care about

Tends to learn towards fighting as her first option and runs her mouth a lot

ThEy'Re BoUncY-

They can jump really high

Really likes swamps

If they ever get injured, the injured part can turn into miniature versions of themselves similar to tiny slimes and they'll attack their opponent

Absolutely despies Magma Cubes and will attack them whenever she can get the chance

Whisp

Wolf hybrid

But they're also a ghost!

Their real name is Whisper, and their full name is Quiet Whispers

She/Her

Large grey ears on their head

Long tail that can fade sometimes due to ya know, death

Really fun to chew on bones despite the fact that she doesn't need to eat them and she can't even digest them

She can bond with other people and she can track the people she's bonded with

Can bite really hard, has enhanced speed and strength, and they also have a pretty pogchamp smell and eyesight

Despite the fact that's she pretty powerful, Whisp is a strict pacifist who only hung around L'Manburg due to having numerous friends there

Somehow the only ghost to have a decent fucking memory of her life

Remembers good and bad, though she sometimes wishes she doesn't

Red sweaters boiiisssss

Very forgiving and kind

But a really giant people pleaser and self-sacrificial

Her self worth is based on what people think of her

Tries her best to get on everyone's good side

It breaks her if someone dislikes her

Grew up in a really shitty household where Whisp was basically ignored

So she grew up trying to gain the affection that her family never gave her

Really fucking touch-starved

Just pretty bad self esteem, even when she's dead

Please just tell her that she means something outside of other people's opinions and that she's an amazing human being

Absolutely adores animals!

Has numerous pet cafes

Like, so many gosh dang cafes

There's one for cats, one for dogs, and then there's a giant miscellaneous one

They're all part of the same building and that's also another part of it which is basically her house

BFFs with Ghostbur

Please protect her and tell her that she's amazing she really needs it

Sunny

Full name is Sunny Wholesun

Last name is a pun off 'wholesome' and 'sun'

Very proud of it

She's an angel boissss

She/her

Very simliar to Bad in terms of personality

They're both very sweet and will help anyone

Isn't a part of any countries

She just pops in when she wants to,,,,,

Conflict freaks her out

Optimsitc pal that just chooses to look on the bright side of things,,,,

However-

She wants to desperately try and be her own person outside of 'Bad but angelic' but she keeps getting compared to him

She feels like she keeps being in people's shadows despite being a literal creature of purity and light

Feels like a side character honestly

Good friends with Phil, but disapproves of his title, most notably due to it having death in it

Said to know Dream XD and the other gods of the server

Absolutely understand very dirty stuff, but chooses to ignore it

Also can understand war and sadness

Sunny just kinds chooses to keep holding her head up high

In her own words "If you always keep thinking of sad things, you'll always be sad"

And now the TOTDS ones

Lady Venus

From the Masquerade timeline

Ghast hybrid royalty

Berothed to Sir Billiam the III since birth

Very much married and in love

She's pretty kind for a royal

Or at the very least more nicer

Treats her servants well and gives them pay as well as vacation days

However, she lacks empathy and is somewhat insensitive

Doesn't understand that some people don't have the same social privilege's as her

So she can piss some people off

Her main butler was Ryan and he was basically her best friend outside of Billiam and Ranbutler

However, Ryan got angry and ended up assassinating her

Spear in the chest

Felt incredibly betrayed since Ryan was one of her few friends and died feeling fear and shock

Billiam ended up executing Ryan

With the death of his lover, Billiam aligned with the Egg due it promising to bring Venus back if he swore alliance to it

She remains a ghost, but neither Ranbutler, Billiam or anyone else can't see her

Venus absolutely despises the Egg for corrupting her family, but at the same time, truly believes it can bring her back to life, so she needs it

Her spear ridden body is in the same room as the Egg, therefore corrupting her body, and therefore her ghost, which is connected to it

Whenever Billiam or Ranbutler go down there, it ended up motivating the two further in order to bring Venus back

She clings to the hope that when the Egg brings her back to life, she can reunite with her husband and adoptive son once more and forget the Egg

She know it won't happen but hope is kinda the only thing she has

At the Masquerade, she was only able to be seen and talk to Karl due to him being from another time

Truly felt bad about his death, but didn't stop it since she wanted to live again

Without her being able to produce a heir, the Ghast royal family basically went in shambles and they all eventually died, making the Ghasts a free place with no government or hierarchy

I really love Venus as she's a very fun character to do and also very sad

Supports Ranbutler rights

Meanings

From the Village That Went Mad

Morals' ancestor

My friend compared her to that Chris girl from Carrie and I love it

She's a complete and utter asshole

Like, a full on fucking dick

Horrible person to be around

She's a villager, but absolutely everyone wanted her dead due to being a full on bitch

Jimmy theorizes that this is because of her mother also being the Enderdragon and either feeling like she's on top of everyone because of it, or that she feels inferior because Meanings isn't her mum so she acts like a dick to cover it up

It's either one of those two options

Just a full on fucking dick

I also love playing her because she's a really fun character

Horrible person, yes

But absolutely hilarious to play as

Maggie/Michael

From the Lost City of Mizu

I don't consider Mizu to be the official future, but rather an alternate reality, so bear with me in mind for that

I feel really smart with her name

It means Pearl, and you know

Mizu being an underwater city and all that?

Michael means 'who is like God', which refers to her best friend's......love for a past figure

They're genderfluid! Mostly goes by she/her, though on some days, they go with he/him

Her relationship with Ranbob is very similar to the one between Morals' and Dream

Since I don't see the story as a possible canon future but instead another alternate reality, she's not a descendant of anyone

And you know what? You wanna know what?

She's a cow hybrid now

Why? Because I said so

Remove Ranbob's very yandere personality and their friendship is friendship goals

Heck, even with it, it's still friendship goals

I will defo have more but those are the only Tales of the Dream SMP episodes I've watched, so-

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jamiebluewind · 5 years ago

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Pok The Nightmare King?

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@skysfallingbaby proposed an interesting concept. "Maybe Pok Gukgak is the Nightmare King". And while this theory make a lot of things a lot more messed up (like trying to use Riz in a sacrifice), it got my theorist senses a tingling.

So, without futher ado, let's get started.

***

First off, What is Pok exactly? We can assume that the Nightmare King doesn't just look like a goblin as he doesn't actually look like any one race when people have tried to describe him. We could guess some kind of magical effect that alters his appearance, but the Nightmare King was also banished (a spell with no time limit outside homebrew rules, unless the spell is not held for a minute or the creature is banished while already on their own plane) and seeing as Pok lived on the material plane for years, he couldn't be the Nightmare King... technically. The thing is, the Nightmare King doesn't have to be there to be there. Ragh's mom was piloting a clone of herself in real time while her real body was unconscious and housed miles underground (possibly in the molten core of the planet). A goblin suit could be piloted by the Nightmare King using the same principles. Even a direct connection to the Nightmare King is established in game via his corrupting influence constantly leaking from his plane of existence into the material plane (specifically in Silvar).

The next question that comes to mind is Why did Kalvaxus eat Pok if they were allied? and to that I say Do we know for sure that he did? What we do know is this...

Kalvaxus taunted that he ate Pok, but he did it in the middle of a battle to throw off Riz.

Kalvaxus would have eaten Pok while bound. Barring being able to enlarge/reduce Pok (and even then, he would only shrink to about the size of a cat), it would have taken a 6 to 7 foot tall dragonborn a WHILE to eat someone 1/2 his height and 1/5 his weight, bones and all (and dragons and dragonborns don't even have the established voracious appetite goblins do).

Riz and Sklonda were told Pok died at sea until Kalvaxus said otherwise.

Pok and Shadow Cat/Calina worked together

Shadow Cat/Calina was absent at Pok's funeral and never contacted Sklonda or Riz afterward.

Shadow Cat was spotted immediately after the battle with Kalvaxus (making it possible that she was given a heads up about Kalvaxus' plans).

So, using this information it's not that hard to theorize that Pok might not have been eaten or was eaten under the orders of the Nightmare King. Reasons to taunt might have been something The Nightmare King told him to say once free or just something he said to rattle Riz knowing it couldn't be proven. Reasons to ask to be eaten could have been to dispose of a clone he was piloting without risking leaving a magical trace behind (which could have been done regularly for one reason or another, but if Kalvaxus got caught red handed, they would have had an established story set up and a witness to it happening).

There's also a few things that happen during the Shadow Cat/Riz dialogue that take on a whole new meaning. I'll link the dialogue below, but one exchange really stands out. She said "Pok Gukgak. It's a good man" and when Riz asked what went wrong between them, she said "Nothing went... wrong between us" immediately followed by her offering "a little information swap" and to answer a question about his dad in exchange for answering her own. This was despite Riz previously saying "I wanna know where the crown is. I wanna know where Fabian is. I wanna know why people are coming for us in our sleep." and thus already knowing what information Riz would trade for.

Finally, let's look at Riz.

He is the son of Pok and Sklonda Gukgak.

He is an inquisitive rogue and on more than one occasion has been described as being "one with the shadows".

He has always has issues with sleeping, often avoiding it or just not getting enough of it.

He has always been able to see Shadow Cat and has met her at least once.

He was going to be sacrificed on an alter by a Nightmare King controlled Fig to complete some kind of ritual.

He was not attacked in his dreams when he failed his throws, the first time getting Baron while awake and the second time pounced on by Shadow Cat while asleep (while even Ragh was attacked in his sleep and got up while already under dominate person as Adaine watched).

Shadow Cat knew a lot of stuff about Riz, including current stuff ("I know that YOU only do things to kinda distract yourself from how DEEPLY sad you are that your dad is gone, I get that. The maidens and then you find the maidens and then it's on to the next thing and the conspiracy board and you don't sleep and you're digging digging digging- it's like when you were in that palimpsest. You will dig until your own hands are bleeding...").

Shadow Cat's first offer to get his intel was to answer a question about his dad if she got to ask him a question in return (followed by saving Fabian despite that being one of the things he asked for).

Some of these wouldn't hold water alone, but combined they paint a very interesting picture. Shadow Cat being so familiar with Riz makes more sense if she has been keeping an eye on the son of her boss off and on for a long time. It also explains why Shadow Cat immediately offered to give him intell on his dad in exchange for answering a question and clicking her tongue when he turned it down like he did. Riz being the son of the Nightmare King (maybe only a tiny part or an infused thing due to how it happened) would mean he's probably immune to some Nightmare magic and skilled with others (like how half-elves are immune to Sleep, but can't trace), which explains why he has yet to get attacked while dreaming and his natural stealth skills, perceptiveness, and sleep issues. The Nightmare King trying to use Riz in a ritual sacrifice instead of just some guy on the street might mean his son is required for it.

This all leaves me with so many questions.

Considering how strategic the Nightmare King is, why exactly would he pick Sklonda?

Could Pok have fathered Riz specifically to sacrifice later, as a backup for something, or as a cover for being around certain people?

Why did Pok leave and was it planned?

What was Pok really up to during his life as a spy?

Is Riz required somehow to bring back the Nightmare King?

Does the ritual actually require Riz to die and if so, could they revive him without causing the ritual to fail (like if it required a lethal amount of blood from Riz or a mortal wound)?

What will Gorthalax reveal once he's freed (which will most likely happen once Ayda learns Plane Shift and has a slot free to use it)?

Could someone in the party potentially question Kalvaxus (maybe with the help of Gorthalax or a specific spell)?

***

Special thanks to @skysfallingbaby for the bardic inspiration for this tinfoil time. I honestly hadn't considered the possibility until you mentioned it, but the moment I did I just HAD to follow the logic to see where it led. It really surprised me how many pieces fell into place the further I went. It really was an absolute delight to research. Thank you ^_^

***

Original Post

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #pok gukgak #riz gukgak #calina #shadow cat #fantasy high live #fantasy high spoilers #tinfoil time #theory #d20 theory

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vickyhugo · 5 years ago

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okay so i thought long and hard about this and discussed it with multiple people in length and came to the conclusion, that there is one valid answer.

first of all, ask yourself what you want out of your quarantine house. do you want to have a good time? do you want to have good conversations? do you want to fuck? how much annoyance can you take?

my answer is this: i want to fuck as much as possible while also having a good fight. i can busy myself for most of the time but i need some human contact and i’m also super horny atm because testo can be that bitch. i’m also an aries and i need a good fight every once in a while.

so. we can eliminate most houses as valid options pretty quickly. house 1 has a few iconic authors and i’m sure oscar wilde would be a good fuck, but brecht wrote die dreigroschenoper which i am still angry about as it sends me right back to school and weird adaptations of seeräuber jenny. is brecht an icon for letting jenny rejoice over watching men die? yes, but he is also annoying and probably super full of himself and that’s just too much for me to take.

house 3 has arguably amazing authors, would ayn rand not be there. as much as i’d like to see maya angelou take ayn rand out, the combination of plath’s and kafka’s depressed energy and shirley jackson’s mystery shit would be too exhausting. i want to have a good time not bummed out by the three of them while also being intimidated by maya angelou. i’d probably turn out to be the ayn rand of the house and i really don’t want to live long enough to see myself become the villain.

house 4 offers some interesting interactions because hubbard and pym would totally clash while stein, mccullers and baldwin would probably get along great and offer amazing gay energy (don’t @ me, mcculler’s best friends were tennessee williams and truman capote and that’s....... gay). at the same time i feel like i would fade in comparison to the others tho and wouldn’t get to experience stein’s top notch strap game (also i’m pretty sure our top energies wouldn’t vibe).

house 5 is an interesting option. dickinson would probably never be seen so we can leave her out. audre lorde is a great argument to choose this house as she probably is the warmest person to be quarantined with. also it offers the opportunity to tell ts eliot about cats (2019). nevertheless, we have nabokov who i heard was pretty much an asshole, and garcía marquez, who arguably is a great author but has been ruined for me because i read all of john green’s books when i was a teenager and associate garcía marquez with my cringy teenage years now. would probably be irrationally pissed at garcía marquez and start a fight the first day which would leave me with too many enemies.

house 6. i would fight james joyce and ernest hemingway every day, and i’m sure zora neal hurston and dorothy parker would gladly help me. i’m also sure that although i’d fight hemingway he’d still find the jokes i’d make about finnegan’s wake hilarious. at the same time, i’d probably drink wayyyy too much because these dudes just can’t reel it in, and i’d end up fighting mailer because he killed his wife and i’m way too much of a gentleman to leave that unpunished. after a few days of intense fighting and alienating half of the people in the house, i’d probably end up in bed with definitely dorothy parker and probably zora neale hurston, but would be too exhausted to properly enjoy it.

so let’s return to house 2. we have two incredibly annoying (but easy to dominate) men, fitzgerald and carniege. and we have a trifecta of powerhouse women. this house has it all. someone to let out all your frustration on who is easily to offend when you remind him that zelda was never truly interested. someone who offers self-improvement advice and would probably give you free therapy in order to be liked, only to be shut down by woolf when he becomes too annoying. the ultimate fuck-for-clout, everyone’s favourite problematic fave, virginia woolf. jane austen who i could finally introduce to the pleasures of queer sex (it’s what she deserves and needs). we might even have a little hate-fuck after i tell her i love her stories but can’t stand her writing. susan sontag vibing in her analytic and pretentious way. theorizing about covid-19 and its metaphors. the thing is, both jane austen and virginia woolf talked about the importance of having your own space so you’d still have time for yourself (especially if you tell carniege you’re meditating or something idk). fitzgerald would just cry after like 1.5 days but might come out at night and crawl into your bed, craving some sort of intimacy and validation 20 years of marriage and even longer of a homoerotic friendship with hemingway couldn’t give him, being happy to get pegged by you. susan sontag knows how to party like fitzgerald and how to contemplate death like woolf. jane austen knows how to long and yearn for tenderness which is coincidentally one of woolf’s strengths, too. the erotic tension would be off the charts. the chemistry, once the hierarchies are established (w carniege and fitzgerald at the bottom), would be incredible. the house offers endless opportunities of deep talk, orgies and parties. it offers a space for you to take care of yourself in every sense of the way. it is clearly the only valid choice.

thank you and goodnight.

#i should be reading mbembe rn and my thesis isn't gonna write itself #literature #quarantine #thank u nele i'll credit u for saying u'd fuck virginia woolf for clout it's valid af

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rex101111 · 6 years ago

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She-Ra Reboot is Good for a lot of reasons (character design, writing, animation etc), but one thing I wanna point out is the very lovely dynamic between the trio of Catra, Scorpia, and Entrapta.

Namely, how each of them is smart and dumb in their own unique way and how that makes every scene they share such a treat.

Firstly, Entrapa. She is, without a doubt, the most brilliant scientific mind Eternia has ever seen. Her brain works a mile a minute, she can build machines that pretty much have no equivalent on either side. She bounces back from failed experiments without missing a beat while learning from her failure straight away and improving every time.

Hordak is this alien asshole who considers Eternia primitive and backwater and starts spouting and going on about concepts (like portals) that Entrapta has only heard theorized before and yet after a bit of thinking she manages to wrap her head around concepts that are easily decades ahead if not more of the current level of technology on her planet.

She also has all the social skills and graces of a sea clam. A hyper active sea clam. She barely listens to anything anyone tells her, when we first met her she got so into her research that people thought she went missing, she is in a room with Hordak. who is screaming his head off at her, and all she can think about is fixing his shit because he was using the wrong wires. Girl couldn’t finesse her way out of a paper bag without blowing something up.

Scorpia is probably the most emotionally mature and intelligent of the three. She is very perceptive to people’s feeling, manages her shit way better then most in the main cast (Catra especially but we’ll get to her in a bit), and is overall probably a pretty good boss too, acting tough but without pushing as we’ve seen.

She sees through Catra’s angsty nonsense after Shadow Weaver scarpered and didn’t hesitate to try and give her as much comfort as she thought she needed. And she wasn’t scared of Catra’s reaction, because her bestie was sad and that would not stand no sir, not on her watch.

And she’s...oh God in heaven I love her to bits but she’s such a space case. She has no sense of personal space, has an overactive imagination, has a crush on Catra she is either unaware of or doesn’t know how to deal with (or some awful combo of both oh baby I’m so sorry), no organization skills whatsoever, barely any leadership skills either (Lonnie was holding on to that last brain cell in that fortress with all her might bless her), and overall is just kinda...ditzy when she doesn’t have a She-Ra to punch. I heard the term Dumb Butch Lesbian somewhere? If so then yes, she is and we all love her.

And, finally, Catra. A strategic genius. A master manipulator. Acrobatic, quick witted, sharp tongued, mind like a steel trap that’s our Catra. She was playing Bow and Glimmer like cheap kazoos the entire time she was a “prisoner”, she grabbed Shadow Weaver’s power and position right from under her feet, she’s so good and pulling Adora’s strings and pushing her buttons that it’s not even funny. (Though its actually kinda lowkey funny sorry Adora.)

She’s the youngest Force Commander in the Horde, has some pretty banger organization skills (Paper work is hard guys take it from someone who has been dealing with it for 4 years now), a competent trainer without being overtly cruel about it, and has managed her leadership of her squad pretty well so far...baring a few screw ups.

And speaking of screw ups, Catra is a goddamned disaster. As the song goes, her shit’s not in order. Has not in anyway dealt with her feeling towards Adora...or Shadow Weaver...or well, anything well at all. She’s chaotic and can barely stop herself before she does something impulsive or indulgent or petty because she’s angry or she’s sad and she wants some damn satisfaction damn the consequences.

She’s her own worst enemy, she pushes Glimmer just a bit too far and gets punched in the face (not to mention the whole “Adora ran away from you not the Horde” bit she didn’t see coming and get her be defensive as shit), she has no grip on her anger at all, and overall has the emotional maturity of your average edgy anime rival. The amount of times Catra could have just won if she stopped playing with her food (Adora*cough*) and got on with it is staggering.

She’s like a cat if you gave it emotional trauma, her Ex-girlfriend has an 8-pack now and wields a sword how can anyone expect her to deal with that?

My friend @imbeccablee called her a “Disaster Lesbian and that paired with her chaotic nature is just the Worst combination” and honestly that’s makes her one of the best antagonists in recent years, animated or not.

so yeah any way these three smart and stupid and I love all three can they leave the horde? Like not even join the rebellion just like go back to that arctic base for another vacation and bond they need it.

#she-ra and the princess of power #Catra #Scorpia #Entrapta #yeah had this thought in the middle of work and had to share

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historicfailure · 6 years ago

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What do you think of being able to summon ninja cats? And why do you like Yamato?

Another time to theorize and make up some more headcanons :D

Ninja cats… I think they are pretty cool as summons! They can pretty much

get into every building they want

gather information by just hanging out around some suspects, purring and enjoying the sun

their scratches are nasty

a whole pack of cats… terrifying T^T

they are responsible for dealing weapons, apparently ?? lots of shinobi weapons

the big fat cat out of one of the Naruto fillers (Nekomata?) would be a horror to fight against

he can also use gen-jutsu! Damn versatile cats…

damn sneaky. Silent. Assassinations are no problem, they can just throw themselves in front of their enemies when they try to walk down the stairs…

There are probably a few more uses and tasks for ninja cats which won’t come to my mind now, but in itself, alone the small “house” cats are powerful allies. Without a doubt, bigger cats like maybe leopards/lions/gepards etcetc are even more frightening, more vicious enemies and summons. And if they are treated just right, then they will also probably hang out willingly around their summoner to just get some cuddles and some catnip ;)

And boy, oh boy… Yamato…

So extra. Why come in with one jump when you can do it in three?

But seriously, Yamato is such an interesting character in itself. He is an orphan, raised in Anbu Root, trained to be a tool for Konohagakure. Only through a meeting with Kakashi during a mission, he started to change bit by bit. He questioned the morale of the Root, started to think for himself. Then, his Kekkei Genkai, which is not his own. Orochimaru did tests with him and combined his DNA with Hashirama’s. His first years were spent in a tube, only rescued by Root because he had these powers.

Yamato spent his whole life one way or another in Anbu, cut off of any real connections but the one to his teammates and captain, Kakashi. (That’s why I believe Kakashi is actually his one and only true, consistent friend.) He has in theory no name to call his own, his powers are not his own, it’s never even mentioned how or where he lives!

Despite all of that, he’s still able to make jokes, maybe sometimes a bit serious, hilarious at times (his scary face, please!), dedicated, loyal and a true friend and mentor to his freshly assigned Team 7. His dreamworld in the Eternal Tsukoyomi is to be accepted by Team 7 as their new teamleader. It’s that simple. He’s constantly overlooked (as seen as people take his houses on a mission for granted!)

What I personally like though, is the potential of a character Yamato/Tenzo/Kinoe is. His past, his personality and his wish to be accepted by someone and belong somewhere (understandable, if you take his past into account) make him such an interesting character to write and enjoy! :D

And he’s a damn snacc, that also helps ;3

#Naruto Shippuden #ninja summons #ninja cats #YAMATO #captain yamato #tenzou #tenzo #yamato tenzo #Kinoe #ask #ask answered #anon #anon love

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sanrionharbor-blog · 6 years ago

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Thoughts on Sansa S8 Endgame

Speculations galore! Long post ahoy!

Let’s run through every possibility I can think of for the end of show-Sansa’s story (and yes, there will be many more possibilities besides these because GOT is layers upon layers, man, I’m still new to the fandom, and there’s probably a lot I’ve missed).

At the very least, let’s do this categorically.

Dead, Alive, or a Fate Worse Than Death?

1. I’d bet money that Sansa survives the whole dang thing

2. But if she does die…it could be A) Sacrifice to save Arya, Jon, and/or Bran, B) in a possible collapse of Winterfell, C) after ensuring the demise of Cersei or a similar threat, D) something worthy of a song

3. Crack Theory: Sansa Becomes the Night Queen?

Shipping...

1. Let’s start with the most popular ship: Jonsa. While I’m not personally a Jonsa fan, I neither hate it nor see it as a complete impossibility. And while I’m not personally a Jonerys fan, I neither hate it nor see it as a no-brainer. Jonsa makes sense practically (uniting Targ and Stark, North & South; they already trust one another; cousin marriage isn’t considered incest in-universe, etc.), though I’m not entirely convinced if the show goes this direction that it would be the most romantic ship ever. The best I see is that it has vibes similar to Ned/Cat when they were first married to one another; they didn’t love each other romantically at first, but it would come with time. As for political!Jon Theory making this ship possible, while I wouldn’t completely put it past the GOT universe to make Jon that cold, it honestly doesn’t jive with what I think is at the core of Jon: which is a hardscrabble sort of nobility, decency, honesty. I mean, if he was politcal!Jon, wouldn’t he have come up with a smoother way to handle Cersei in their first meeting? Anyhoot, the ship isn’t hateful. I think the biggest obstacles are the fact that, even though they are technically cousins, they were raised as brother and sister. You don’t just erase that. This is somewhat “remedied” by the fact that they were never close and Sansa pretty much treated him as a whole-lot-less-than-a-brother for most of their childhood. But GOT has never shown incestuous relationships (again, I don’t really consider historically based cousin relationships as incestuous, but it is a close family bond never-the-less) as a good thing. At all. The Targ’s went mad; Dany’s brother was creepy as fudge; UMM Jaime x Cersei dear Lord; Craster and his Merry Brood, etc. (But this mainly just spells doom for Jonerys, IMHO). So, as with anything in GOT--it’s possible, it’s also not possible, there’s undertones, but there’s undertones for the complete opposite thing happening, etc. Lastly, as for the “romantic framing” of S7, I think it falls under that same maybe/maybe-not. I LOVE Jon and Sansa’s dynamic, even if I don’t see it as romantic, even if does or does not end up romantic. It is certainly one thing: intimate. And the framing (forehead kiss, bittersweet reunion, worrying for one another’s safety) supports that at the very least. If they don’t end up romantically, Jon is the last real strong male relative that Sansa has. That’s not to diss Bran, but D&D have made him a remote magical old man stuck in a teenager’s body. In some ways, he’s dead to Sansa too (as Meera said, “You died in that cave.”). The poetry, the irony, is that the people Sansa had the most problems with in her family (Arya and Jon) are all that Sansa has left now (yes, yes, I love Bran, but again he’s acting more like a solo unit than a family unit at this point)--and she realizes how much they’ve always meant to her. Jon, and Arya for that matter, are different sides of Sansa, just as she is a different side for each of them. The parallels are lovely, and this ship could very well set sail.

2. My personal favorite: Sanrion (Sansa x Tyrion, Tyrion x Sansa, whatever the preferred parlance is). Yes, I’m biased, so this entry will be the longest--BUT, let’s remove my shipper goggles. This, to me, is just as possible as Jonsa. That is, I don’t see it as guaranteed at all, but there’s plenty to read from the text. Let’s get the trouble spots out of the way: 1) the build-up has been few and far in-between since S4 (though they did throw us a bone in S7). 2) the 50/50 chance of Tyrion dying in S8 (no, I’m not basing this on “leaks,” interviews, or what-not--I’m just using this as a baseline guess, given that this is GOT and given that Tyrion is at the center of a very dangerous web of relationships), 3) the show possibly not wanting to ask a twentysomething actress and a nearly 50-year-old actor to act out anything deliberately romantic (however, I don’t expect an on-screen ship to be anything but unconventionally romantic--I very much see it being done with subtle dialogue, color theory, ambiguous looks, an epilogue, etc), and 4) Tyrion may or may not be in love with Daenerys. None of these trouble spots spells doom for me. The greatest “doom” is simply Sansa ending up alone (thematically possible) or with someone else (also thematically possible). Let’s break down counter-points to the trouble spots, then I’ll list my reasons why this ship could sail. 1) Almost all relationships in GOT are troubled and/or unconventional, built up over one season, hidden underneath layers of symbolism, or suffer from the fact that one or both partners are either dead or seperated (by this same token, Sansa’s other popular ships, Jonsa and Sansan, also suffer the same dearth of “development” or copious screen time. Arguably, Jonsa’s foundations were mostly built over the later seasons), 2) yeah, Tyrion could die (and I would be heartbroken but not blindsided) or Tyrion could live (but I would bet money that Sansa lives through the whole thing), 3) the show already put them through the most awkward phase of their “relationship” (i.e., their wedding night, though it was toned down compared to the books) and they can still sell this relationship in any number of ways (again, dialogue, color theory, looks, just holding hands again geez Louise), 4) Tyrion’s “love” for Daenerys is incredibly debatable and may only be used as fuel for a soap opera plot that I really hope doesn’t happen, but even the director of the S7 finale said Tyrion’s main concern was political and Dinklage proposed the idea that Tyrion only “think he’s in love” with Dany, that what most people feel for Dany is awe (I’m neither a Dany fan or hater, but it’s hard to deny that she’s shocking, enthralling, powerful, attractive, a force, for lack of a better term). Now, on to the practical/thematical reasons why I think this ship would work. Let’s use letters for this, haha. A) Fairy Tale parallels/Turning Tropes Upside Down: It’s easy to read inversions of fairy tale archetypes into Sansa’s storyline, as that is what her character is naturally drawn to: songs, princesses, true love, beauty. So far in the story she has learned that looks can be deceiving; life is not a song (though I wouldn’t be surprised if GRRM turns this on its head again, and Sansa simply learns that all great tales involve sorrow and darkness as well as joy and light--i.e., bittersweet vs. simply sweet); people are not black and white (Tyrion shows her that the Lannisters aren’t necessarily all evil and Littlefinger shows her that allies, even someone who loved her mother, are not necessarily all good); etc. Just some of the fairy tales/tropes that play into Sansa’s personal storyline and the subtext of Sansa x Tyrion include: Beauty and the Beast, Psyche and Cupid, Hades and Persephone, The Princess in the Tower archetype, and many, many more (I’ll meta about it one of these days--and there are already many excellent posts under the Sansa tag that expound on these). B) The Queen Elizabeth Theory: So Sansa has parallels with two remarkable historical Queen Elizabeths: Elizabeth of York and Queen Elizabeth I. Since this has been said by so many before, here’s a quote and link to the article as summary: “The show is based off the War of the Roses, the real-life family feud between the Lancasters and Yorks that ended with the two broods combining their houses. Since the storyline happening at the end of season seven is extremely similar to this moment in history, we can infer that GoT will follow that path...” Link C) Character Actions Written Especially For the Show: Just to name a few: GRRM purposely changed a moment in the books to where Sansa hands Tyrion a cup instead of him having to crawl underneath a table to do so; Tyrion remains loyal to his wedding vows (and this is probably inspired by his trauma for having killed his father and lover as well) even when it was very possible that Sansa had left him high-and-dry and the marriage was, in Tyrion’s own words, a “sham marriage”; Sansa and Tyrion both stick up for one another’s character, etc., and D) Also, aren’t they technically married? :-p [There’s a lot more, but again, I’ll save that for a future meta]

3. Sansan: While there may end up being a slight possibility in the books, I don’t think show-Sansa and show-Sandor are heading in this direction. However, the same fairytale motifs play into play here: Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, etc. Also, bridge4 over on Youtube has a fabulous analysis of the “unKiss” over on his channel, which I think could pop up in some shape or form in S8. Here’s the link

4. Sansa Alone: Also supports the Queen Elizabeth theory. Specifically, Elizabeth I “the Virgin Queen.” This would a different form of poetry/irony: Sansa, the one who wanted most to be a queen consort and be married to a handsome king and have babies, ends up as a queen (full-stop) but leverages her power as a single lady. Not my favorite ending for Sansa, as I’m Teh Unabashed Romantic, but it’s plausible, thematic, pragmatic. Only time will tell!

The Fate of the North, Night King, Direwolf Theorizing

Just spitballing various takes:

1. The war is “won” (as in mankind survives), but Winterfell or possibly the entire North is compromised. As in, perhaps they have to trade the North to the Winter King at the promise he won’t invade the rest of Westeros. Or Winterfell explodes, so the North and all of Westeros is saved but the Starks lose their home

2. The Starks deliberately blow up Winterfell, for any number of reasons. Perhaps a bunch of wights or what-nots ended up there. Perhaps the dead in the Crypts were resurrected, and this was the only way to neutralize that threat. Or something deeper and darker lurks in the Crypts, something worse than the Night King. In fact….

3. Maybe the true enemy ends up being something awoken within the Crypts of Winterfell, and the Night King is not what he seems….

4. The old gods play an unexpected role

5. The godswood is burned or ends up in splinters or is used to create a new throne (ending the age of iron, fire, blood and making this a “time for wolves”)

6. Sansa’s direwolf Lady is resurrected (of course, poor Lady is headless…) and manages to wound Cersei (if she gets her arse up north, which seems unlikely) before Cersei’s killed by whoever the heck the Valonquar is

7. Speaking of, could Ghost be the Valonquar? I mean, he was the runt, the littlest brother of the brood. Eh, dunno. I just don’t expect the Valonquar to be anything close to what we think he/she/it/them is.

8. I like the idea of parts of the ocean being permanently frozen over because of something the Night King does. Dunno why. I don’t think there’s any foreshadowing to that in the show; it just sounds cool, and represents a permanent consequence to the land. Because I do not expect there to be zero consequence for the landscape of Westeros itself. The Greyjoy’s are already kinda sorta doomed (with eunuch Theon being the last male of that line, unless Euron’s got a kid somewhere and he ends up surviving to take the throne and not be a dick about it), so it’d be a bit of tragic poetry if their islands, their seas were frozen and lifeless but thanks to their efforts the rest of Westeros is safe and their people will have to make a life on land

9. One or both remaining dragons are frozen for all timez

10. Sansa becomes Queen in the North or Queen of the Seven Kingdoms (is there really an in-between?)

Bonus

Lastly, here’s just an observation on an important part of Sansa’s storyline and character development: Arya Stark. I believe Sansa and Arya adopted different pieces of the original storylines in GRRM’s book proposal outline--not that I put much stock in the outline. Sansa was created, at first, to add tension to the Stark family. GRRM says he was surprised by Sansa’s developments; he also says he empathizes with whichever character he is currently writing, so I think he just naturally found things that he liked in Sansa that made her more than a complication device. Because his original vision included Arya as the sole Stark daughter, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sansa and Arya aren’t the result of this once singular character being developed into two very different ways. The archetypal Amazon Wild Child and the Princess in the Tower. Two sides of the same coin--or, in Ned’s words, Sansa is the sun to Arya’s moon and vice-versa. For this reason, I don’t put it past Sansa to continue developing her personal brand of Brave Northern Lady and Arya developing her personal brand of Brave Northern Lady. Because that is what they both are: brave, northern, ladies. Will Sansa find herself at the center of a love triangle? I really, really hope not, but at this point if it is gonna happen I find it much more likely with Sansa than with Arya.

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housmania · 6 years ago

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In Defense of TJLC

A response to this Slate podcast and to general misconceptions.

Hello! Call me soe. I like cats, BBC Sherlock, and friendly online communities. I hope you do too.

I also blog about TJLC. So, when a Slate podcast came out this week portraying TJLCers in a jarringly negative light, I was dismayed. What I heard was not the community I know.

This post’s aim is to tell the other side of the story. I’m writing both for people who support TJLC and were shocked to hear of the podcast, and for people outside TJLC whose initial impressions have been skewed by the podcast or other outside sources.

I’ll address four of the most common arguments against TJLC through the lens of the argument presented by Willa Paskin, the podcast’s creator:

TJLC, as a theory, is “far-fetched” and merits no serious consideration.

TJLCers are dogmatic, ideological, and close-minded.

TJLCers have hated on people outside of TJLC to an unusual and appalling extent.

TJLC has brought more harm into the world than good.

I intend to refute these points. In the process, I hope to represent your run-of-the-mill TJLCer: not a hateful extremist, but rather someone who supports a theory, enjoys discussing it, and is happy to let those who don’t live their happy lives.

It also means adhering to the standards of a good TJLC meta writer: going through the podcast thoroughly, addressing Ms. Paskin’s correct insights as well as her failings; reading and acknowledging critics and downright opponents; citing all sources; and remaining civil and open-minded. I wish Ms. Paskin had afforded us these privileges.

I genuinely believe that Ms. Paskin meant well. Nonetheless, the biases of her sources, combined with several misconceptions and imperfect research, result in a piece that portrays TJLC inaccurately.

To understand what the podcast got wrong, we first need to cover:

What is TJLC?

TJLC is the theory that the characters John Watson and Sherlock Holmes will end up in a canonical romantic relationship on the BBC show Sherlock. People who support this theory are called TJLCers. TJLCers write analyses of the show, the Sherlock Holmes stories, and numerous other sources known as “metas”.

TJLC is short for “The Johnlock Conspiracy.” I must immediately clarify that this name is a joke. It began humorously and is always, always used tongue-in-cheek. Keep this in mind: Many misconceptions about TJLC arise from the fact that we take very few things seriously, as I’ll discuss later.

What isn’t TJLC?

TJLC is not the same as Johnlock.

Johnlock refers just to shipping John/Sherlock—thinking they’d make a cute romantic couple, without necessarily having any expectation of that happening on the show.

More fundamentally: Johnlock is about creating transformative, creative content. It’s about making something new. In essence, it’s fiction.

TJLC is about analyzing evidence that’s already there. It’s nonfiction.

Ms. Paskin frequently blurs the lines between the two and mourns TJLC for not having the same level of creativity. She explains, for example, that fandom reads into tiny elements of a show to create a transformative space. But TJLC is not transformative. That’s Johnlock.

Neither is TJLC based on wanting the show to “bend to [our] desires”—i.e., Johnlock shippers projecting wishful thinking onto the show. I’m happy to serve as a counterexample for that! I actually didn’t ship Johnlock at all before discovering TJLC. Rather, I found the theories plausible and loved the idea that a show centered around deduction and analysis could also be the subject of deduction and analysis.

Of course, people who already ship Johnlock are more likely to be attracted to TJLC. But the basis of TJLC is not to “see in the story that you have, the story that you want” (46:40)—that’s shipping—but to analyze the story you already have.

I cannot stress this enough: TJLC is analysis, NOT shipping.

TJLC and the “Great Game”

As the podcast explains, TJLCers aren’t the first analyze Sherlock Holmes. Fans of the originals have been analyzing the stories since the 1880s. These early theorists actually gave the name to two kinds of fan analysis: Watsonian and Doylist.

Watsonian fans played the “Great Game,” treating the stories like a real world. Doyle didn’t exist, so every detail had to be explained in-universe rather than attributed to author techniques or error. They’re closer to your modern shippers, creating headcanons to fill in gaps.

Doylist fans acknowledged that (no duh) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a real person, and therefore analyzed the stories as works of literature. They are essentially literary analysts and critics, the kind that wind up on JSTOR.

TJLCers are Doylists. Obviously, someone made the show. That means we analyze character arcs, cinematographic techniques, and rhetorical devices in the dialogue like a researcher in film studies or literature would.

Ms. Paskin warns that in the Watsonian Great Game, people kept “tongues planted firmly in cheek; TJLCers, not so much.” And yet, that’s the point! You wouldn’t expect a literary analyst to go “lol maybe The Great Gatsby criticizes society but like who knows” any more than you’d want Watsonians to really believe that because John Watson’s wife called him James, his middle name is Hamish (Scottish for James) rather than acknowledging that Doyle just forgot. A ridiculous premise entails a humorous approach. A reasonable premise entails a rational one.

TJLC isn’t quite the same as highbrow analysis, however, for three reasons:

First, we use our analyses to speculate about the future of the show. We don’t have the privilege of analyzing a complete work. In that sense, the closest analogy I can think of is that of political analysts: examining what’s already been said and done to predict what will happen next.

Second, we evolved from a fandom space. That means that the barrier between TJLC and Johnlock, between nonfiction analysis and creative fiction, is never as solid as it would be in academia. Furthermore, a significant number of TJLC meta writers also engage in fictional fanworks, making it more difficult to distinguish where hard analysis ends and transformative work begins. I’ll go into some of the nuances of meta in a bit.

Third, the people in TJLC are generally queer women and often young. And we can’t discuss biases against fandom and TJLC without acknowledging sexism and homophobia. When a film critic writes a theory, it’s deep; when we do, it’s ludicrous. Paradise Lost is fanfiction just as much as AO3, but only the former is treated as legitimate literature. Theories about straight couples are plausible; ones about queer ones are suddenly delusional or fetishization. Adult fanboys are mature content creators; fangirls are hysterical.

Conversations about the implicit biases in media depictions of fandom aren’t my focus here. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to bear in mind that highbrow criticisms of fandom that focus only on its ill effects and ignore the complexity, depth, community bonding, and social change that fandom (analytical and transformative) creates often denigrate fans as immature and delusional without considering whether that accurately represents even a significant minority of a fandom. It’s a bias that we should all keep in check.

As progressive as Ms. Paskin may be, the podcast also falls into this trap. In particular, she emphasizes sensationalist depictions of TJLC theories—highlighting far-fetched theories and glossing over deeper points—and the contemptible actions of very few TJLCers while glossing over the far more plausible mainstream theories and kindness of nearly all TJLCers. As a result, we naturally look hysterical and delusional.

So let’s tackle each of those issues: TJLC as a theory and the behavior of the TJLC community.

TJLC as a Theory

If you don’t support TJLC, I’m not asking you to be convinced by a few paragraphs. The aim here is simply to explain why TJLC is plausible.

Ms. Paskin asserts that (1) TJLC is completely unsupported by the original Sherlock Holmes stories, (2) that romantic coding in the show is simply “a knowing wink,” and that (3) TJLC “is based on an unfalsifiable premise: that the creators are lying to you.” In fact:

1. TJLC is supported by the original stories.

The Sherlock Holmes canon contains significant, documented evidence of queer coding similar to other works of the same time period. It’s also reasonable to theorize, based on biographical data, that Doyle himself was bisexual.

The extent to which the stories were deliberately coded is a matter of debate. Yet Ms. Paskin simply asserts that “Conan Doyle wasn’t trying to create a homosexual subtext when he wrote the characters, but he did write a deep and committed friendship.” As @one-thousand-splendid-stars put it:

How on earth can anyone possibly know if the homoeroticism was intentional or not, when ACD could’ve been persecuted for admitting it, or making it more obvious?

Ms. Paskin’s assertion, which does not acknowledge any evidence to the contrary, again conflates Johnlock shippers with TJLCers. Johnlock is about transformative fiction; TJLC is about nonfiction analysis.

Ms. Paskin also suggests that TJLCers are “queering” the text, except that queering generally implies a queer theory approach to something that wasn’t queer to begin with. Our whole objective is to reveal that the text was originally queer.

2. The basis for TJLC is the show itself.

Ms. Paskin supposes that TJLC is “is based on an unfalsifiable premise: that the creators are lying to you.”

But TJLC isn’t based on anything the creators have said. It’s based on analysis of the show itself.

There’s a whole lot of analysis; good summaries are here and here. Essentially, we argue that given the level of coding on the show, the most probable outcome is that there is deliberate subtext meant to foreshadow that John and Sherlock will become a couple. Elements like Sherlock being indifferent to women, yet “romantic entanglement would complete [him] as a human being” suggest that the subtext isn’t just a “knowing wink,” as Ms. Paskin asserts: it would be poor writing (not to mention queerbaiting) to complete such a setup and not follow through.

3. The creators

Ms. Paskin finds it alarming that TJLCers believe Moffat and Gatiss are deliberately lying when they say that Johnlock will not become canon.

And normally, I would agree! Except that Moffat and Gatiss have a long history of lying through their teeth about plot developments. For example, they vehemently repeated that The Abominable Bride would be a stand-alone episode completely independent of the show, but it turned out to be a drugged Sherlock’s theorizing about Moriarty’s plan. And before Series 4, they said that Mary would become a long-running character, then killed her off in the next episode.

So it’s not a stretch to think that they could be lying about one more thing, particularly when TJLC relies on independent evidence from the show itself.

In fact, Paskin argues that TJLCers, like Watsonians playing the Great Game, base their theories on a “contradiction”: “On the one hand the author might as well not exist, but then on the other hand, this person who doesn’t exist has made this perfectly explicable logical thing.”

Except that unlike Watsonians, we do acknowledge that the creators exist. We analyze the show as a work of fiction, with narrative techniques that can be analyzed just as much as plot elements.

Furthermore, the fact that the creators lie constantly doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to what they do say. They have large incentives to keep upcoming plot twists secret, but that doesn’t mean they can’t reveal their motivations and influences. A lawyer questioning a lying witness can still gain information from what they do say.

Take a closer example: Say I went back to 1897 and asked Bram Stoker if there’s queer coding in Dracula (which is now well-documented). He would probably respond along the lines of “I’m not a sodomite; also, what???” But he might wax poetic about homoeroticism in Walt Whitman’s poetry and mention that his charismatic but domineering idol Henry Irving was the basis for Dracula.

So no, there’s no contradiction between analyzing the show and the creators’ influences while still believing that they don’t want to reveal upcoming plot points.

The Behavior of the TJLC Community

How Theories Work

Ms. Paskin rattles off several far-fetched TJLC theories that make TJLC as a whole sound ridiculous. Furthermore, she implies that TJLC is a monolithic community with a “dogmatic” belief in all of these theories, such that criticism and discussion don’t exist.

Guess what? I’m in TJLC, and I don’t believe half the theories she mentioned. That’s because TJLC is much less uniform than its detractors would believe. Furthermore, the general level of confidence that people have in a given piece of evidence depends on its strength. In other words, the more evidence for something, the more likely that TJLCers agree on it. The less evidence for something, the more likely we are to treat it as just something cool that could turn out to be coincidence.

We can divide TJLC meta into five basic categories:

1. Foundational meta

These are well-respected analysis of character arcs, dialogue, and other clearly deliberate plot elements such as this one. Pretty much all TJLCers agree with them. These are your best-researched, most widespread meta; they form the true basis of TJLC. Here are some examples. And yet they hardly show up in Ms. Paskin’s discussion, because they don’t make TJLC sound too far-fetched.

2. Circumstantial evidence

TJLC can stand on foundational meta alone, but there’s also secondary evidence to support it. This includes the “drinks code” (the theory that beverages serve as symbols on the show, supported by subsequent creator remarks) and similar theories that can’t hold up TJLC by themselves, but do provide extra evidence and add nuance to theories about character arcs and plot development.

3. Accessory meta

These are analyses of elements that could well turn out to be coincidence due to scarce evidence. If true, they allow us to establish character arcs in greater depth, but it’s perfectly possible that any given one is coincidence. These include the theories on wallpaper and lighting that Ms. Paskin reports as though they were the pillars of TJLC. They’re theories that I read and go, “Hm, interesting; maybe.”

4. Spinoff theories

These are theories that deal with specific paths the show might take. They generally have groups of supporters within TJLC, but each spinoff theory usually only has a smaller group of supporters within the larger TJLC community.

It’s important to note that many major theories don’t have to do with Johnlock at all. Take M-theory, the idea that Mycroft and other characters are under Moriarty’s thumb, or EMP, the idea that some episodes take place in Sherlock’s mind palace. If, as Ms. Paskin asserts, TJLC is about wishful thinking and wanting Johnlock to be canon, what would be the point of these? Furthermore, if TJLC is monolithic and dogmatic, why do we constantly discuss and critique these theories in constructive discussions? I had to make a whole table of theories after Series 4 because everyone’s opinion was so different!

5. Crack theories

These are usually clearly labeled “crack” and are never meant to be taken seriously. Again, TJLC contains a lot of humor. So sometimes, we goof off and write theories like this one that are clearly ridiculous, usually with an exaggerated conspiratorial tone, to have fun in the spirit of the Watsonians. Unfortunately, some people outside TJLC think we actually take these theories seriously and accordingly treat us as crazy people. Guys… Ctrl+F “crack” first.

To summarize:

TJLC contains theories with varying levels of evidence that are treated with corresponding levels of seriousness.

TJLCers are far from dogmatic. Different people have different views, and that’s OK.

TJLC is founded on criticism and discussion (here’s an example). By disagreeing on meta, we gain better insight into the characters.

Addressing Ms. Paskin: The theories she dwells on are EMP and M-Theory (40:04 and 10:37), both spinoff theories. They do not form part of the main body of TJLC, and fans are far more flexible about that stuff because it’s not nearly as firmly supported as foundational meta. She cites a clip analyzing Mycroft’s theme in the score, which is accessory meta that could well turn out to be coincidence. (By the way, I have serious doubts about all three of these theories. And TJLC is perfectly accepting of that!)

She also talks about loudest-subtext’s meta on the 2009 BBC queer representation report, whose objective was to demonstrate that it was possible for TJLC to happen from a production/permission standpoint, not to prove that TJLC was happening on the show. In that sense, it’s closer to circumstantial evidence.

She also fears that TJLCers “try to find order and logic and reason in every detail.” Again, sane TJLCers treat less solid evidence as less likely to be true. Caveat: Some TJLCers do go overboard. But they do not represent the overwhelming, sane majority.

TJLC Culture

Confidence and Criticism

Ms. Paskin finds it alarming that many TJLCers regarded TJLC as far more well-supported, even certain, than “an opinion or a possibility” or “just one ship among many” (14:50).

And yet, in an academic setting, isn’t it normal to think that the theory you researched and support is correct? Again, we hit the boundary in how the public perceives highbrow research and fan analysis. TJLC was not “just one ship among many” because (again) it’s not a ship, it’s a theory based on research and analysis. So naturally, we had a higher level of confidence in TJLC becoming canon than a shipper with an unsupported ship would.

Ms. Paskin implies that this confidence led directly to TJLC being unable to take criticism and therefore hating on people outside the community, since “denying [TJLC] was denying the truth” (14:55). But—first off—confidence does not directly lead to thin skins. Again, we debate everything. If good meta writers couldn’t change their minds given new evidence, TJLC wouldn’t exist.

Yet even when some TJLCers were more certain about TJLC than could be reasonably expected, the overwhelming majority was perfectly nice. We can, in fact, agree to disagree with others.

But this brings us to the most painful part of the podcast:

Fandom Toxicity: The Broad Picture

The podcast, having painted TJLCers as delusional, dogmatic crusaders, goes on to argue that TJLCers hated on people outside TJLC to an unusual and deplorable amount, such that TJLC’s main effect was to increase toxicity in the Sherlock fandom.

For starters: Yes, a few TJLCers did fit this despicable mold. I universally condemn people who went out of their way to attack people outside or inside the community. They are an insult to TJLC’s values of inclusivity and rational debate. And my heart goes out to the people who suffered as a result of them.

But guess what? All the TJLCers I’ve talked to agree with that. Because the fact is that awful people form an incredibly small minority of TJLC.

Most of the TJLCers who listened to the podcast found this to be the most insulting and painful part. They’ve reiterated time and again that the community as a whole is not a toxic place. @artfulkindoforder put it best:

So many TJLCers were never mean to anybody.

You can think we’re unrealistic, immature, delusional—fine. But at the end of the day, the overwhelming majority of us stuck to our circles of courteous people and just had fun.

In broad terms, there were several inconsistencies between the podcast and what I found. First, the podcast attributes toxic behavior to large swathes of TJLC, when in fact it tended to be a small group of repeat offenders, many of whom would attack people inside TJLC as well as outside it. loudest-subtext, a longtime TJLC blogger, discussed this here.

Secondly, the podcast makes absolutely no mention of the hate that TJLCers—often perfectly civil ones—received, which makes it easier to paint TJLC as engaging in vicious, one-sided attack. TJLCers, especially at the beginning, received shocking quantities of anonymous hate. Like attacks on people outside TJLC, I’m sure that the attacks on TJLCers were also due to a tiny minority of toxic people. But to gloss over them entirely is to paint an incomplete and biased picture. As @one-thousand-splendid-stars put it:

I’m not going to pretend that there was never nasty behavior from TJLC, but I’m also not going to say her description of us was accurate. She presented the TJLC fandom like it was a toxic cult.... She talked about fandom bullying as though we were never on the receiving end of it, and weren’t ever ridiculed, or called stupid, or sent anon hate, or harassed. To imply that tjlcers were only dishing it out is just flat out inaccurate.

The anonymous attacks on TJLCers had several results. First, TJLC developed a culture that stresses avoiding confrontation with outsiders: leaving other shippers be, unless they seek out TJLC posts. For example, some of the first things I learned were to misspell other ship names on TJLC posts so they wouldn’t show up when people wanted content promoting that ship, and not to reblog posts from outside shippers’ blogs with TJLC-related comments. Far from attacking outsiders, the whole point is to let people who disagree with TJLC do their own thing.

Second, the vast majority of TJLCers despise anon hate because they receive it unusually often. I’ve never seen a community with so many posts reminding people never to resort to it because they’ve seen how it hurt TJLC bloggers.

Third, a handful of TJLCers who got repeated and unwarranted hate did get more combative. But when looking at their later behavior, it’s important to understand that many of them became less willing to compromise on TJLC because they’d seen toxic fans remain unwilling to compromise or debate with them. And most of the conflicts I’ve seen as a result came from anti-TJLC people coming specifically to comment on TJLCers’ posts, not from TJLCers going out of their way to fight non-TJLCers.

Specific Incidents

I didn’t want to rely on secondhand knowledge about hate to write this response. In the spirit of TJLC, I wanted to be fair and impartial. That meant looking through the blogs of people who had received hate inside and outside TJLC. So here’s what I found out:

First off, it was awful. I was looking 4-5 years back to find the worst instances of hate in the community, and I wasn’t used to it because the bloggers I interact with are universally inclusive and civil.

Ms. Paskin discussed three specific incidents on the podcast: top/bottomlock, the 2015 221BCon incident, and post-Series 4 anger.

When top/bottomlock came up, I was baffled. First off, that discussion is ancient. It’s so old that by the time I joined TJLC in late 2015, it had practically died out. More importantly, a “debate” that Ms. Paskin describes as “very specific and dogmatic fanon” was—as I’ve understood—never taken seriously. Again, TJLC is not a very serious place, and people outside it are bound to misinterpret inside jokes. 99% of TJLCers saw top/bottomlock as nothing more than fodder for crack theories, and yet Ms. Paskin’s sources on this issue—none of whom are actually in TJLC—describe it as a debate of monumental importance.

The 2015 221BCon, on the other hand, was a serious conflict. As far as I can tell, people like Emma genuinely suffered, and the fact that neutral fans received anonymous attacks is shameful. But the results of this stretched to TJLCers as well as people outside TJLC, something that the podcast conveniently neglects to mention.

The end of Series 4 disappointed people throughout the Sherlock fandom. I’m not talking about Johnlock: plot inconsistencies, weird characterizations, and plot pulled from a horror movie resulted in its lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating ever. TJLC is too small to have that kind of clout, so to say that TJLCers were the only ones disappointed is clearly inaccurate.

Ms. Paskin claims that Series 4 “seemed straighter, not gayer, than before” and yet John telling Sherlock that “romantic entanglement would complete you as a human being” is uh…pretty gay. For many TJLCers, the problem wasn’t that there wasn’t Johnlock; the problem was that the quality of the show seemed to have drastically decreased.

TJLC immediately split into two groups. One group left TJLC, believing that Moffat and Gatiss had been queerbaiting. Many of them began constructive anti-queerbaiting discussions. Unfortunately, a few took their anger out on the creators.

The resulting hateful messages do not represent the views of the vast majority of former TJLCers, let alone people who still support TJLC. The fact that Amanda Abbington received a death threat is disgusting; and yet in TJLC, she’s always been regarded as a sort of beloved “fandom aunt”. In addition, Ms. Paskin cites an article that claimed that fans “dampened [Martin Freeman’s] enthusiasm.” But that interview has already been revealed as a clickbait-seeking misinterpretation—by Freeman himself.

The second group—those remaining in TJLC—were a bit desperate, and I’ll be the first to admit that several theories with scanty factual basis became more popular then than they would have in calmer times. The Apple Tree Yard theory, for instance, is clearly ridiculous in retrospect. But even I was willing to consider it. (Not my finest moment.) As a side note, however: the far-fetched “China cancelled Johnlock” theory she mentioned is by someone who’s not only outside TJLC, but also notorious for hating it

But regardless of the quality of these theories, 99% of the remaining TJLCers were certainly not hating on people—because who was there to hate, if there was no queerbaiting?

Ultimately, the podcast’s descriptions of hate related to TJLC are one-sided, distorted, and do not reflect the conduct of the overwhelming majority of TJLCers.

Podcast-Specific Errors

There’s a reason why the podcast comes off so different from reality: its research is seriously flawed.

For a podcast about TJLC, Ms. Paskin interviewed a whopping one (1) actual current TJLCer, whom she apparently interviewed after building much of her argument. Every other interviewee was outside TJLC and specifically disliked it. That will hardly make for an unbiased final product.

As a result, she culminates with several remarks that are genuinely insulting. She likens TJLC to “any other standard conspiracy where you have a Judgment Day,” suggesting that we’re irrational and fanatical. She summarizes the entire community as “people being cruel to one another because they disagree about how a fictional TV relationship should turn out,” combining every misconception of (1) TJLC being a ship instead of hard analysis, (2) blaming every TJLCers for the actions of very few, (3) TJLC being a silly fan thing rather than a starting point for meaningful research into queer representation and literary analysis, and (4) ignoring TJLC’s vast contributions to TJLCers’ lives while overemphasizing those who were harmed by it. Both remarks are in keeping with standard media portrayals of fans as irrational and immature. I expected better of her.

Ms. Paskin says that she “had a dream about…digging deeper, talking to more people, ones who could perfectly explain the allure of TJLC to me.” She had the opportunity to interview more actual TJLCers, but didn’t take it.

But the offer still stands! Come talk to us! Learn about what we’re actually like! Criticize our theories, if you think we’re dogmatic. Ask us what we think of TJLC, if you think it ruined our lives. Our ask boxes are wide open!

What the Podcast Left Out

Swimming in descriptions of TJLC as a source of hatred, the podcast glosses over one tiny little detail: that TJLC genuinely improved the lives of the vast majority of TJLCers.

I came out because of TJLC. I learned how to analyze literature because of TJLC. I discovered new parts of history and the queer people who have always been part of it. I found a community of curious, passionate, funny, and kind people who I could talk to.

And I’m just one person. I know people who found lifelong friends because of TJLC, wrote books because of it, became students of gender and sexuality studies, found a community of support when they had mental health, financial, or other personal problems, and had a blast theorizing about the possibility of landmark LGBT representation. Heck, Rebekah of TJLC Explained filmed hours of people talking about how much the community meant to them. And I even know former TJLCers who, though disappointed with the show, still appreciate how much it taught them about queer theory, queer history, and themselves.

Evaluating TJLC as a whole, it’s not far-fetched, dogmatic, or primarily a source of “darkness.” It’s a legitimate theory, supported by debate and rational analysis, that improved the lives of far more people than it ever hurt.

You’ve read this. Now what?

If you’re in the media:

This Slate podcast is now the #1 result when I search The Johnlock Conspiracy. Thousands of kind and logical voices on Tumblr and other sites are immediately silenced by well-known publications. So yeah, I care what the media thinks. Few voices have widespread effects. I want people trying to find out about TJLC to get a well-researched, less biased view of it.

Please, take your research seriously when discussing fandom. Interview actual members of the community. Be aware of the public bias of fans as unworthy of serious attention and unable to construct rational, legitimate arguments. And fight against it.

If you’re inside TJLC:

Researching for this meant a trip into the darkest parts of TJLC. We need to acknowledge that not everyone in this community is nice to everyone all of the time, and this resulted in incidents that seriously hurt some people. Remaining civil, especially when faced with disagreement or outright malice, means we keep this community friendly for everyone.

If you’re outside TJLC:

Thank you for taking the time to learn about a topic from someone you don’t necessarily agree with. We need more of your open-mindedness in the world.

If you completely disagree with me, please don’t send me anon hate. Constructive criticism is cool. Anon hate is lame. Be cool. But I welcome questions, comments, and constructive debate. My ask box is always open.

Thank you for reading.

-soe

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

@thesaltofcarthage @devoursjohnlock @waitedforgarridebs @one-thousand-splendid-stars @garkgatiss @shinka @witch-lock @jenna221b @sarahthecoat @inevitably-johnlocked @the-7-percent-solution @artfulkindoforder @warmth-and-constancy@marcespot@whtboutdeductions@tjlcisthenewsexy @bluebluenova @heimishtheidealhusband @tendergingergirl @sagestreet @ebaeschnbliah @221bloodnun @marcelock @watsonshoneybee @victorianfantasywatson

#tjlc #slate #johnlock #sherlock #bbc sherlock #soe #slate podcast

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vegalocity · 7 years ago

Note

I hereby ask the reasoning behind Minako Aino and Shiro being a good couple.

….....

Let the record show I warned you people

Okay -cracks knuckles- Let's do this.

General speculation as to why Sailor Moon and Voltron could exist in the same universe and why Sailor Venus and Shiro would make a p. good couple

An essay by Vega

So first off, I need to go on a brief tangent in defense of MinakoAino, else this won't make sense.

Despite being the most developed character out of the four inners,Minako has a tendancy to get the short end of the stick as far asfans are concerned. She's always either 'knockoff brand Usagi' or'bimbo' people look at PGSM's Minako as some kind of strange anomaly,but in truth, she's exactly like Minako, if Minako had to be inLeader Mode all the time.

Minako is a deep character with a lot of facets to her, Ipersonally like to divide them as 'Mina' and 'Venus', makes thingseasier, ya know? Now, neither of these persona's are more 'real' thanthe other. The both of them are as Minako Aino as they can get. ButMinako, for all intents and purposes, is a master ofcompartmentalization. Mina is the bubbly persona that people know heras. The excitable Idol crazy dweeb that at times has the same idea asUsagi to the point where they might do the exact same thing in a'drift compatible' kinda way. Venus on the other hand, is the leader,the Senshi, the one that was born the day she first became V,culminating in killing a boy she had a crush on, because heapparently wasn't human. Venus is the one whose learned how to kill aman ten times before he hits the ground, the one who has everyone'sattacks and just what they can and can't do memorized. Venus is theleader of the senshi (that the Manga overtly stated but the Anime forthe most part ignored until like... that time Minako and Pluto wereon that solo mission)

Granted Takeuchi's thing for Viscera, Minako's been exposed to themost fucked up shit of everyone here (except perhaps Pluto and thecats) She kinda NEEDS the Venus Persona to press everything onto soMina won't be weighed down. She's clearly a master of analyzingsituations too, how often in the series has she adapted the fastestout of everyone? Pluto was right, the Outers don't really have aleader, so Minako was gonna be the one to unite them all if she wenton without her.

But this post isn't about me defending Minako Aino until I'm bluein the face so we'll cut that thread off right there. You guys knowwhere I stand on Sailor Venus, and that'll make the rest of this alot easier to follow.

So for timeline purpouses, long before Voltron existed as the reincarnation it is, I’ve seen the Silver Millenium as falling a solid 10,000 years ago, bc the popular thousand years ago is still long within written records and people would have fucking noticed a kingdom refferred to as a Golden Kingdom getting wiped off the fucking map in 900 CE. It would have needed to exist before written language so when the moon kingdom fell the Golden Kingdom could get wiped off the map as well in Metallia’s wake.

Which Ironically, also places it around the same time as the Fall of Altea. And in the ten decapheebs since Altea’s fal the Galra empire has run rampant, much like how in the time after the silver millennium, nothing happened in this solar system as Galaxia began to build her collection of Sailor Crystals

So, timeline makes sense, thanks to the Galra empire for being so well removed from Earth.

There are many different kinds of energy and magic inthe world, Sailor Moon as a show did shit like that a lot (usually intheir beach episodes) While Voltron...not as much. However, it'spretty easy to combine the two. The Sailor Moon Fandom has longtheorized just what 'energy' the dark kingdom harvests really is, and if ithas any stance in powering the various magical items of the series,more intently, if it powers the Starseeds. However in Voltron,there's only one specific form of energy, quintessence. Quintessenceis something that exists in people to an extent, but also exists incertain mythic things such as Voltron, and entire planets have hugefucking landmines of the stuff. Sounds like something that could pretty easily power Starseeds.

Huh, the world of Voltron could really use some Sailor Senshi,almost like there was someone right before the Galra came thatsystemically stole the Sailor Senshi from every planet they drewnear, taking their Starseeds for themselves and leaving no place forthe people's energy, or rather, quintessence to go besides into the planet itself.

But that would be crazy, it's not like there's a villain in SailorMoon who specifically boasted her adeptness at collecting everySailor Crystal save for the few in a backwater area of the Milky wayshe'd otherwise ignored at that point

….oh yeah. Her. And isn't it also implied that the Sailor Warwas a time before the Silver Millenium? Also placing Galaxia as oldas fucking Zarkon? Half of the planets in the Voltron world arefalling apart at the seams, similar to how the Starlights describedKinmoku after their princess fled from Galaxia.

It really wouldn't be out there at all to say Galaxia and Zarkonhave a sort of treaty, where Galaxia clears through all the planetsyet to be taken over, destroys their Senshi and takes their Starseedsfor her own ends, handycapping their government and overall weakeningtheir defenses, then the Galra Empire comes in to reap whatever'sleft.

Then Galaxia couldn't get past the senshi for Earth. The Galrahowever weren't all that interested in this solar system, they'd justbeen tracking down where they thought the Blue Lion was.

But hey, this was the place Sailor Galaxia cleared out a couple ofpheebs ago, right? It should be easy to take the Blue Lion! Hey,where has Sailor Galaxia been lately? We haven't seen her AnimamateCouriers in a while... oh well! She must be busy, I hear she's headedfor the Starseed Cauldron next.

Too bad the Galra were only in the system for a scarce minutebefore blue took them off planet, else the Outers would have giventhem a goddamn invitation to fuck off.

So that's the way it works on a universal scale, but what about apersonal scale?

I actually have a couple of stories behind why they could firstinteract, but the fact is that that's not really what matters,crossovers can happen with any number of handwaves.

Here's what does matter, they'd first meet on professional terms.Whether it's Minako getting marooned in deep space with no way tocontact the girls, or Shiro Post-Voltron (both assuming and hoping hedoesn't die for some reason) coming back to Earth for the Paladins tomeet Earth's Magical Guardians finally.Let’s go with ‘Breif Voltron Sabbatical to Earth for Voltron Coalition things’

Most fans like to think that Shiro's actually rather in touch withhis heritage, some people even saying before the Garrison he grew upin Japan. So it wouldn't be a stretch to say he was well aware of theSailor Senshi, maybe even a fan. Either way he'd have done hisresearch first. Everything that needed knowing about these peoplebefore they talk of the Voltron Coalition has been looked over twice.

And Venus is both everything and nothing like the reports say. Thereports on her in specific had always put her as the true leader ofthe Senshi, not Sailor Moon. So it was decided that while Allura andKeith discussed the more general terms of the coalition with SailorMoon, Shiro would get down to the nitty gritty with Venus.

She'd been described as anything from a bubbly attention starvedglory hound, all the way to a dead serious soldier who could easilyslit a man's throat without a second thought. And in some weird way,as Shiro talks with her, it becomes evident that those are notmutually exclusive things. An idea that Shiro is familiar with by now(clip to Lance flirting with Sailor Jupiter)

Either way granted the nature of either of their jobs they'd firstestablish a professional relationship, Something I personally findreally necessary. See there's this whole thing with Shiro, both inthe fandom and by the characters, where he's got this almost...untouchable feeling. Shiro is always right, and when he's wrong it'sthe whole point of the fic.

And the thing is, with Minako, she's the second most opinionatedperson in the entirety of Sailor Moon, Second only to Rei. Ifsomething is bullshit, or she doesn't agree with a strategy, she'sgonna immediately say so. And honestly? That seems to be the waythey're going with Keith already, but since Keith is so reluctant indoing so, I feel like Minako, someone whose been leader from momentfucking one, would be a pretty good thing for him. Keith tends toclash with Shiro only when things get hard, only when he has to, yaknow? Minako would do it basically every time.

She's someone that would by nature make Shiro think more deeplyabout his decisions, call out his bias', and overall challenge him.

They'd need to work together, and Minako's willing to work withhim, but he needs to work with her too. They're two leaders with onlysometimes complimentary views. I can already imagine Usagi talkingabout being uncomfortable with just straight blowing up some Galraship with conscious beings on it, and while Shiro's insisting thatthey're at war, they have to, Minako just folds her arms, thinks fora moment, and then makes a plan of how to spare the lives on the shipwhile taking them out as a threat.

And then the more messed up parts. Minako killed a man when shewas thirteen. She fucking obliterated him with only a paltry comfortof him 'not really being human'. But he was to her. When Minako wasfighting alone there was a lot of murder. The beings she foughtdidn't turn into monsters before she struck them down. There's areason she's all too willing to take Usagi's generally softer sidewhen she joins the team.

There's a lot of shit that Minako never really dealt with, and youcan see that in everything from mercilessly killing Queen Berylherself, all the way to being the one everyone could see stillfighting after being the last one standing.

Shiro was lost in space for a year he still doesn't fullyremember, he was tortured and experimented on, he was tormented withpossibly killing a bloody pantheon in his wake, earning himself thetitle of 'champion'. He only god a single day to rest from it, beforebeing thrown headfirst into a war. His only comfort in said war, hisbond with Black, immediately being thrown into question not only byZarkon's lingering bond but also by Keith piloting her so easily.Possibly being off on some stray planet or astral plane somewherewhile a clone takes his place and slowly fractures Voltron from theinside, using the way people seem to blindly follow him to drive awedge between everyone and the few people that did question him.

They both need people to talk to about this, but Minako's afucking martyr and would never ask that of any of her girls (savingmaybe Artemis, but granted he was the one to drag her into this life,she probably wouldn't talk to him about it) And Shiro's so precededby the leader title and in Keith's case the big brother title andprobably feels like he can't talk to anybody about his issues. Istill find it interesting how his issued with worthiness and beingafraid of turning into a monster were addressed in Crystal Venom sospecifically, yet never given any screentime addressing it afterward.

They both need someone who they can see as an equal and feel asthough they wouldn't be burdening them with their problems. Minakohas enough that once she saw through Shiro's crap she could easilyget that idea out of his head, and Shiro would probably vow to do thesame for her when she needs it.

They'd be pretty good confidants for each other in this regard.

Minako's unabashed sense of self and mastery of self love would besomething that she'd be relentless in trying to teach Shiro. There'snothing wrong with letting your team members know you can be silly,they already respect you, something like that would just remind themyou're human.

It would be hard to look at Shiro allowing himself to be silly ona more regular basis as anything but a step forward. And while itwould be more difficult to spot for anyone else, Artemis has longsince noticed the new lightness in Minako's step.

And when Voltron has to leave the Solar system again, Artemispresented the Paladins with their own communicators to link to the Senshi. Artemis claimed it was for the sake of morale, Pidge Hunk andLance had families that had missed the hell out of them, and thiswould make the distance far less wide. Luna claimed it was so shecould coach Allura in handling her burgoning Senshi abilities. ThePink Paladin being the first Sailor Senshi to return to the worldoutside the milky way would be quite the symbol to the peoples whohad to watch their worlds crumble without their Senshi. Sailor Alteawill make her debut in a matter of time, but she had the advantage ofnot needing to learn on the job. Shiro's is synced up with Minako'sto leave messages if not available.

Long distance relationships aren't the easiest, but Minako Aino isnothing if not determined. And after a long mission, it's nothing ifnot a balm on Shiro's nerves to see the orange button flashing,promising anything from a mundane story about playing espionage andsneaking Usagi into her boyfriend's classroom without the professornoticing all the way to an epic yet victorious battle he could seethe results of smeared along his girlfriend's cheeks.

Tl;Dr they're both meme loving fucks who let Minako in Shiro'spresence, now they're dabbing ontop of a crashed Galra ship who letthese two freaks of nature be leaders?

#Anonymous #Minako Aino #Takashi Shirogane #Shiro #Sailor Venus #crossovers are neat #Sailor Moon #Voltron legendary defender #BSSM #V:LD #vega speaks #Holy shit this was long #it took me liek four hours to get everything in order

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abundantchewtoys · 7 years ago

Text

Hiveswap ‘17-09-23: Stairs & wares

So, after a couple days' break, time to continue the combination bingo we were on! And then, onwards to new places!

--- The only thing remaining before we break new ground in the house, is to see what the combinations prompt at the end of the hallway, near Jude's room. TREATS + CABINET : Actually, the cabinet's stance kind of reminds me of the animated furniture in Beauty & the Beast, so unlike the narration that calls her out for it, I don't think this is that weird of a choice! :P POGS + BOX : "Flashlight tomb", "cardboard crypt"? Heheheheh, that reminds me of the B2 Kids' land. "Land of Flashlights and Tombs" though - LOFAT. Hahahahahahah! POINTES + BOX : An "extra" pair?? Does that mean these are just her home exercise pointes, not the ones she wears at school? But one of the earlier prompts we saw thought it was weird how they were stashed away like this. Since, even if they're an extra pair for home use, we know she uses them a lot... POGS + LITE BRITE : Heheh, I would imagine shooting some pogs at the thing is sure to be a good way to break the lights sooner. POINTES + LITE BRITE: The second time Joey evokes 'goodness' in close proximity. The first time was for POINTES + BOX, in which she starts actively thanking goodness for having found the pair. POGS + JUDE'S DOOR : Pfffff, she slid some under the door as a reminder to Jude she has his pogs. That would actually be a good brick joke, Joey losing the others somewhere during Hiveswap and at the end, Jude going into a little mental breakdown for having lost his pogs (even though losing his sister for the duration of the game is much worse). TREATS + JUDE'S DOOR : These would agitate Jude's pet, so I figure it at least eats them? So I think it's a vertebrate, if not a mammal specifically? Time to continue onwards! I think the point of view may change to looking out onto the stairs and the landing, as well as part of the ground floor. That would be what we saw in concept art. I'm eager to get a better - and especially closer - look at those family pictures! Also, I wonder when we're going to have our first strife with one of the monsters, now that Joey's armed - errrr, I mean shoe-ed. --- Ah, Blaperile's right, the frame to the right probably fell during the chase in the intro- there's a spot wher it used to hang on the wall. And are those tiny Care Bear figurines? That paper flower thing I recognize from the playground when I was younger. Yup, there's a lot of the pictures I remember from concept art, and also a few I don't! It suddenly came back to that we got Ms. Claire's first initial before, I seem to remember Blaperile theorizing 'Anna', as another Pony Pal / Homestuck reference - I like! The picture of young Nanna/Grandpa was something I hoped for, but I wonder what it'll reveal - not much, since it could serve to confuse new-time fans with more details than necessary for the plot. Though I think it's still meant to show that Joey & Jude have at least some things in common with their father figure - he was a half orphan, and had a sibling and a white derpy dog, too. Of course he abandoned his sibling, so that might be another reason for Joey to dislike him. (Also, he was accidentally responsible for the orphaning, even though no-one might even know about that - but that does raise an interesting question about what happened to Ms. Claire.) Still, the picture shows how much Jude resembles young Grandpa. I like how all the old frames - the wedding picture, the signed picture and the picture from the early 20th century - are all faded, sepia/brownish, while the other ones of Jude and Joey are much more vivid. The hunting picture turned Santa Claus (presumably by Joey, since she would hate it) is faded too - something from before Joey & Jude were born, perhaps? Also, I wonder why Grandpa's been vandalized here but not in the wedding picture - perhaps because Ms. Claire is also in there, or perhaps because the frame is just too high for them to reach. :P The older pictures all have heavier frames than the more recent pictures, too, showing how photography has become much less of a luxury these days. I will never not be slightly creeped out by Grandpa-with-eyes, though. He kind of looks more like a doll in the wedding picture than when he was standing stuffed in front of the fireplace. Also, he really just starts to look like Jake wearing a fake mustache, hahahah. I wonder if Jude still has that little alien doll tucked away somewhere? It might be a present from the sitter too - it's probably locked away in his room, not in the treehouse. The different backgrounds in Joey & Jude's school-type photograph, in the center, might be to show their opposite interests - nature vs (pseudo)science. Of course, there's the fact that Joey's avatar has the laser background too. Heh, the moon is showing outside now. Maybe the farther we venture, the more only the darker parts of the evening sky are visible from the windows. Time to click on the clickables! Ooooh, a closer look at the pictures. So, the top frames of Jude and Joey seems to show their corresponding shirt colours - green and tealish! Does that mean pinkish muave is Ms. Claire's colour? That would bring her even closer to resemble what adult Mom looks like (since Mom also sports black lipstick & a lush hairdo), as if she got inspired by her! It seems like Joey is trying to climb a cat in that picture there, though... Does that mean Ms. Claire had a greyish cat? It definitely doesn't look like Mutie! Also, with the way Ms. Claire has her head tilted in that frame, I'm reminded of Jesse of Team Rocket. That sneaky Fisher Price toy phone in the photo of sitter, Jude and Joey though. :P What kind of bugs me is Halley's tail in the bottom picture, it looks like there's a hole in it and sand is pouring out. :P Also, I wonder in what discipline Grandpa (whose real name is dropped here!) was Ms. Claire's biggest fan? ... Knowing Jake, it might have been every one, he doesn't really differentiate. I wonder how he wooed her, though, since he was the fan and she the star, and this isn't a universe where makeouts on top of a vulcano are all that likely to happen?

Ms. Claire: This is the first mention of her mom where Joey has sounded this silly and happy. 'Glamnifique', heheh. Bottom picture: Good dog, best friend. :) Funny, Blaperile thinks Tess' tongue looks green in this picture, and in the picture on Joey's room, I thought it looked as if her belly did, too! (She's not an alien dog - aka lusus - now, is she? :P) Top-middle three pictures: Joey tried to compose a group photo, since there aren't any pictures of her, Jude and Ms. Claire together. I thought it was odd Jude was that old in the picture while Joey looked like a toddler. More proof for the crack theory that Jude was the meteor baby, it's him. :P Diptych : I didn't even know that's the word for this kind of frame, I thought it might mean 'parody', but no, these were actual school pictures taken for them! So the autumn backdrop is as fake as the laser background... And maybe that means Joey's avatar is this year's school picture! ... I think Joey's burn might have to do with how you can rearrange the sounds in diptych and get 'dipshit'? Maybe, it's a stretch. Blaperile has a good point, both Jude & Joey's expressions in these pictures can be attributed to them having to smile on command for the picture. Bottom frame: Oh, so Joey actually knows ziltch-squat about Nanna. Welp, Grandpa's not that big on talking in this universe, either! Something he apparently only got over with Jade, in trying to teach her the thrills of the hunt. No, Joey, you don't have a second cousin... yet. Your first cousin (Dad) is very real though... And you'll never meet him, presumably. I got to admit, it makes me wonder whether we'll learn anything at all about Ms. Claire's family. I doubt it, since it would just feed the fandom's need for canon pictures of them getting drawn. Blaperile came up with a good point that gave me the idea for an AU: AU where Grandpa and Nanna remained close, and not Mom but Dad is Jude & Joey's babysitter. Picture of Mom with Joey & Jude: So, Joey never really thought of her as a sister, but she did once see her as a role model... before she started seeing her flaws. ... And yes, like Joey, I would very much like to know more about her family - or, at least, her upbringing, if she grew up in the Skaianet lab. ... Maybe Grandpa discovered her in a crater and, rather than raise her in a normal house like Sassacre tried to, he wanted to observe her and run tests on her. That would actually be a pretty good reason for her to start drinking, not having had a normal childhood. Though it wouldn't explain why she'd look after the man's kids of her own volition, and with such gusto. Wedding picture: Pffffff, oh are you kidding me, Joey's thought pretty much reflect my own! Also, they're hilarious.

Yes, Joey, he actually did spring into existence wearing those dorky spectacles. They're kind of engrained into his DNA. Top left picture: Joey laments the fact that Grandpa started hunting, and asks herself whether it might have been due to being betrayed by Halley. I highly doubt it, there's just a difference between a pet and wild animals, and Grandpa's lust for adventure set him off to start shooting the latter. I mean, he DID come into this universe guns blazing, you know. :P Of course, it might be he turned to collecting hunting trophies to fill the gap in his heart left by when Halley died, but I doubt it. Hunting picture: Eeeesh, Joey feels her Pa really didn't look after her in the most literal sense. Maybe that's more proof he just couldn't bear to look at her because she reminded him too much of Ms. Claire. Not that that should excuse his behaviour. ... I'm just hit by the startling realization that of all the people in Homestuck, the one that must understand how Joey feels the most is... Gamzee. He had an absentee father figure too. His 'old goat' was out a lot too. Dear god. Heheehhe, there's only one response to be had when using the items on the wall - we're railroaded into taking a closer look. :P 'Appreciate the fine art, dagnabbit!' And so we do. Onwards! (Downwards!) Okay, this is part of one big level, like the attic stairway. The first landing is between floors and looks out on the tree tops or bushes outside the house, not much else to see. Oh wait, no, a new level loads now. Point of view switch! ..... IS THAT A FREAKING ABRAXAS STATUE????? Snake body, demonic head with feathers!!! Oh. God. It MUST be. It's half-erect and its tail is coiled in much the same way we see the Denizens and the browser icons. Well then. It kind of has a liony maw, which makes for a nice thing it has in common with Yaldabaoth. Oooh, and the tail looks like it has feathers too. ... The prompt raises a good point. Grandpa got this statue from SOMEWHERE. So, what, he already knew about the Frog Temple and made a few trips to the Medium even before Jade was born? ... Of course, why would there even be an Abraxas statue in the B1 session in the first place. Never mind, it might just be an original Native American statue, but it just struck a chord with Grandpa, since it's his alt-universe's Denizen. POG + STATUE : That would actually be a good way to solve a puzzle! ... If the pog was a stone chip and the statue was still in its original temple or tomb. But here, it renders nothing. :P CHERUB KEY + STATUE : Having a motif in common sadly does not mean things go together. This is a text-book case. Of course, they have more in common than Joey knows, they're connected through Jake. Jake 'golgothasTerror' English, with the cherub entry item and the feathered snake Denizen. And of course the cherub BOSS HONCHO, or whatever Caliborn called himself. POINTES + STATUE : "You cleverly dodge the statue", the prompt says. Ah yes, Joey, way to dodge an inanimate, immobile object. :P As we move and the coat of arms come into view, we decide to end our play night here. But oooh boy, that's a nice family coat of arms - crossed blunderbusses and a devilbeast on an emerald field. I like how the beast's eyes are kind of missing - they might have been there first, meaning it was originally meant to represent Halley, but now it's more like Bec! --- After the almost scientific, frigid combining of items of our past few playthroughs, it was nice to make some more headway into the house.

#hiveswap #homestuck #upd8 #reaction #spoiler alert #hiveswap liveblog #joey claire #grandpa harley #ms. claire #anna claire #jude harley

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countingstarsrp-blog1 · 7 years ago

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member groups

LEVELS & FAME

fame is a tricky thing. depending on how you find it, it can either be the best thing or the worst thing. at counting stars morality does not play into the scheme of the fame thing. as we try to apply it to the real life structure, a person can be famous for just about anything. the garbage man could have coincidentally wound up in the background of the right shot. or the broadway hopeful from piedmont south dakota could finally receive their star turning role. the point is, here at #csrp it's not so much the occupation that drives the fame, it's about the opportunities that one must take to take it to that next level. our member groups are levels within themselves and just because your character start out at one doesn't mean that your character has to stay stuck at the same group forever! remember to play up to that accordingly!

UNKNOWN

well we all gotta start from somewhere right? regular joes and janes who have no claim to fame at all and absolutely no interest towards it will be known as the unknowns. depending on how you look at it, they might be the luckiest or unluckiest of the bunch. they get to live their lives without worry of their dirty deeds being broadcast all over god's creation. they can do what they want and go where they please and no one gives a damn about what they look like while they're doing it. they have everything to gain but nothing to lose. typically, people who balk at the idea of fame and celebrity and all the glorious perks that come with it will be happy to be unknown.

real life examples: me. you.

FADED CELEBRITY

fame isn't always cut out for every one. it's a hard lesson that some learn the hard way, by getting a little fame and losing their minds completely with it. for anyone who has ever been famous at some point but now not so much is a natural fit for this particular group. ideally, the formally famous who resides here have never made it above idol level because they couldn't maintain that longevity or the strength to keep striking that fame iron while it was hot. to be here isn't particularly a bad thing. it's all about perception. take jonathan taylor thomas for example, this 90s mega teen idol seemed poised for a career of lasting adoration and success. as far as teen idols back then go, it got no bigger than jtt. with a prime time tv show to be featured in, not to mention a slew of featured films with his name above the title card to his name, it didn't seem that there would be a period of time that jtt would ever fall off. but he somehow did. he's probably made a crap ton of money to last him several lifetimes so he's probably off somewhere enjoying it in utter peace.

real life examples: vanilla ice, mc hammer, william hung, kevin federline

15 MINUTES (OF FAME)

andy warhol said it best when he famously theorized that everyone will receive their fifteen minutes of fame. in this social media savvy culture, it's incredibly easy for a regular any one to come up with the right hash tag or receive an unprecedented amount of likes despite their faces and names not being world wide known. these are the real attention seekers who aspire to be real movers and shakers later own down the road. for now, they will happily set the timer off for their fifteen minutes. individuals featured on commercials or guest spots in tv shows or films, or even producing and performing their own short videos to broadcast on instagram or you tube will be considered best for this member group. they are not quite known but might be instantly recognizable should the right person be browsing imbd.com. in the world of acting in all medias, these people will be the bit players. in music, these will be the one hit wonders. in sports related media, these might be athletes who had one decent season and then couldn't quite match the hype -- but still comfortably coast on the boost of their public profiles. being in this particular group does not mean that your character's celebrity profile has peaked, with the right projects ( achieving steady work is key ), and a continual raise in celebrity profile, it's incredibly easy to ascend to higher and higher levels of fame. just look at the kardashians.

real life examples: grumpy cat, chris crocker, rebecca black, internet celebrities, sweet brown

CELEBUTANTE

when you combine the words "celebrity" & "debutante" you get the word celebutante. is historically a person ( usually a young girl ) from an upper class family who has reached the age of maturity. now as she ( or he ) is eligible to be married, the debutante is introduced formally into society in front of eligible bachelors from likewise financial backgrounds to marry possibly marry. debutantes are known amongst their social circles and almost always have a featured spot in the new york post in some way or another. they like to throw parties to show off their wealth and it's always a guaranteed fun time to be there front and center when they do. the phrase 'famous for being famous' should be rejected immediately, however, if any particular group fits it would be the celebutantes. a celebutante doesn't have to be a woman because men are just as capable of being a celebutante too. just look at brody jenner.

real life examples: olivia palmero, paris hilton, nicole richie, ues socialites

RISING STARS

maybe to be fixed -- what is the one thing that separates an individual worthy to be placed in the rising star group and an individual who is beginning their fifteen minutes of fame? a little bit of longevity. risers, otherwise known as community fanbase, are celebrities who have made the most of their fifteen minutes so far and have racked up a building community of other people who enjoy what they do. though internet celebrities will more typically be considered in the minutes group, there are a select few who have produced forth a considerable amount of effort to remain relevant. youtube vloggers who have broken records, the delightful people behind how to tutorials, gaming people and etc will be a great fit for this group. ideally, risers will be any one who has stuck with their claim to fame long enough to receive a little notoriety for it. they are not unknown by any means, but they aren't household names yet either. there's little doubt about it, with one bad ( or exceptionally good ) media move, it's easy for a person to skip this level and become known for more things than just their talent. but those who have made this far and achieved a rising star will be set for life. they already have the love and attention and can grow to great heights with the very people who have been there for them since day one. their fans. just look at justin bieber. justin is arguably the most famous celebrity to have gotten his start on social media.

real life examples: jenna marbles, local newscasters, gotye

FAMESQUE

ideally, individuals who are considered to be famesque are on the same fame level those who have household names. the only minor difference is that famesque individuals might have caught a really lucky break, in one way or another, and those with household names have typically taken the time to build their careers, talent and fanbases. famesque refers to an individual who has achieved a definitive level of fame but not for their respective fields that they seek fame for. meaning, all of those women who became famous for being the mistresses of politicians. or it could even mean a musician, actor or athlete who happen to be blessed with some amazing genes and are more or less known for their physical attributes. famesque individuals have often done something to get tongues wagging. ideally, famesque people are more or less known for all of the wrong things. they are box office losers but winners in the media, because it's true what they say. bad press is still good press. just look at anna kournikova as an example. she's a decent tennis player. a better doubles player than she was in singles competition. and although she's a professional tennis player with a few doubles titles under her belt, she's more widely known for being extremely attractive in a marketable way. early 2000 was rife with sexy anna kournikova images for the whole world to see.

real life examples: sienna miller, monica lewinsky, balthazar getty, jessica simpson, brandi glanville

HOUSEHOLD NAMES

all that hard work has paid off. to be considered for this group, it means that a certain individual has really earned his or her stripes well enough to be considered really famous. on the flip side, anyone who has the right surname or lucky enough to be born to the right parents might have a fast track to being considered a household name. either way, people who are considered to be household names means that they are widely enough known for what they do, at least known enough to be considered appropriate water cooler conversation. actors and actresses who star in their own tv shows ( or even those who have popular enough characters ) will be considered household names. musicians with a few hits under their names will be considered household names. athletes known for their prowess on the court or on the field can even be considered household names. businessmen ( and women ) who are changing the world with their products are good for it too. famous families and activists might also be considered house hold names. the kennedy family is a great example of this because while you might not be able to list them all by first names, you definitely know a few famous names to attach to the surname kennedy. household names are likely to remain as such for a long long time. individuals here are scratching the surface of what it means to be truly famous.

real life examples: ian somerhalder, the kennedy family, russell wilson, cameron diaz, dr. oz

TEEN IDOL

a teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fanbase. most teen idols these days have enormous crossover appeals, but some are still are names only young people might know and anyone over 25 might have to scratch their head on. teen idols are mostly musicians, but can be actors, models or even athletes. the only two main requirements to be considered a teen idol is to be within the appropriate age demopgraphic as his or her's target audience and to be massively adored by said demographic. expect lots of teen magazine covers and screaming fans left speechless by their mere presence. a teen idol can reach legend like status of fame, but it is guaranteed to never last. eventually teen idols get older and either start seeking more adult roles or fade away completely, either way, it's important to note that just because a teen idol is popular now doesn't mean it has to be the beginning or end. most teen idols are formally child stars too. ariana grande is a prime example of such teen idol. she'd gotten her start on a popular teen oriented nickelodeon show, now she's one of the most bankable pop superstars around.

real life examples: miley cyrus, one direction, zayn malik, demi lovato, hillary duff

IDOLS

just like that thing that separates fan basers from those beginning their fifteen minutes, all idols are pretty much household names but true idols contain that longevity in their careers to sustain that level of fame that comes with it. idols can be long term rock stars who have inspired legions of artists or actors who have won over numerous awards in addition to hearts. additionally, idols can contain a bit of that 'it factor' found in it boys and girls that keeps hearts swooning. idols can be physically attractive specimen tailor made to titillate or franchise princes and princesses who are constantly in the public eye serving up more of the character(s) that the public loves so much. they can be super heroes on screen but in real life, they are real life heroes to many. they inspire and invoke a level of worship. they are not quite super stars because their claim to fame might be a bit narrow, it would require a person worthy of being considered an 'idol' to get their hands dirty and step outside the box of what ever their claim to fame happens to reside in. idols can also be models or activists who became more than just their cause.

real life examples: chris evans, mia hamm, gloria steinem, adriana lima, tyra banks, religion, mary kate & ashley olsen, tom brady, taylor swift,

SUPERSTARS

superstars have it all. the fame. the money. the accolades. probably even some major awards under their belt. they are nearing the top of the fame ladder and for a lot of superstars, the ride is far from over yet. idols are almost as famous and renown, but idols tend to fall within a particular category of which they are famous for. true super stars transcend genres. they are basically baby legends. super stars are the go to guys and gals who get the first pick often times and are often looked at as real money makers. they've been in the fame game a while, typically honing one skill over another but make no mistake about it, true talent separates super stars from the rest of the pack and it's that talent that stands the test of time. superstars are hot right now. they are iconic. they are not going away any time soon. or so it seems. look at scarlett johansson for example. she came along in the late 90s / early 00s right along the same age as some majorly famous contemporaries. unlike the rest of them, however, scarlett has managed to build an awesomely impressive career playing an amazing collection of characters showing off her impressive acting range. in addition to her acting skills, she's also a renown vocalist.

real life examples: scarlett johansson, john cena, beyonce, mark whalberg, cam newton, lady gaga, leonardo dicaprio, justin timberlake,

#countingstarsrp #jcink #rpg #member groups

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writingmaniaa · 3 years ago

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Death Note review~

Okay so before we get into the review, I just want to warn you guys that I haven’t written many reviews so don’t be surprised if this is a disorganized mess. I’ll try to gather my thoughts the best I can but I can’t make any promises.

Anyways, I finished Death Note last weekend and I thought I’d share my thoughts! Death Note is a very well known show, and I’d heard of it before I ever got into anime. The concept seemed pretty interesting to me, but my judgmental idea of anime combined with my absolute loathing of subtitles stopped me from ever getting around to it. I finally caved in and watched it, and I’m so glad I did!

I’ll include a brief explanation of the plot as well as a spoiler-free section in case any of you haven’t watched it. After that I’ll get into some of my more spoiler filled thoughts later.

Basically, one day a bored “god of death” named Ryuk drops a magical notebook into the human world to see what will happen. This notebook, known as the Death Note, will kill anyone whose name is written inside. The notebook is found by an average high school student named Light Yagami. It doesn’t take long for him to start using the notebook’s abilities to do what he believes is the right thing. He decides to use the notebook to kill criminals and create a crime-free utopian world. The story follows Light as he tries to evade being caught by the police, led by his father and a detective named L, while enacting his plan.

This show does a really good job of twisting the plot in directions I wasn’t expecting. As I mentioned before, the concept of a killer notebook seemed interesting to me, but I was skeptical if the show could keep its intrigue for 37 episodes. A couple episodes in and it felt like Light was already caught. However, the close game of cat and mouse between Light and L is what kept me hooked for so long. I was always on the edge of my seat, waiting for Light to slip up one too many times and be caught by L. Another thing I found very interesting was Light’s descent into madness as his god complex grew as the story progressed. Light went from being an average teenager to a serial killer frighteningly fast, and I loved watching him struggle to keep his “normal kid” persona intact.

Another thing I liked about the show was actually something that made me hesitate to watch it in the first place. Anime is known for being over dramatic at times, and I’d seen people point to Death Note as an example of this. Many scenes, particularly the potato chip scene (you probably know the one even if you haven’t watched this show), seemed tiresome at first. I absolutely adore them now, and I think that the intensity and drama of scenes like the potato chip scene really add to the show.

I can’t really go into depth about the things I didn’t like about the show without spoiling some things, but I’ll try to sum things up the best I can. The later episodes did seem to drag a little bit, and from what I’ve heard many people agree with me on this. That’s not to say that they were awful, but there was definitely a drop in quality for the last twelve or so episodes. Another thing I didn’t like was the female characters, especially Misa. Her entire character revolved around her obsessive love for Light. All she seemed to do was get manipulated into doing his bidding. Overall, it felt like she was just in the story for fanservice, and her obnoxious personality was rather irritating at times. One of the few other female characters, Kiyomi Takada, also had a similar problem. Her entire character revolved around her loyalty and adoration of Light; she seemed to have no story of her own without him. I’ll go over more things I disliked in the spoiler section, but that’s all for now.

Other than those problems, the show was pretty great! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes intense shows like this. It’s on Netflix if you haven’t watched it, so go check it out!

Now I’ll be getting into some spoilers, so proceed with caution!

As I mentioned before, there definitely seemed to be a change in quality around episode 25, namely due to L’s death. He was always my favorite character, and when I realized that he was going to die I was somewhat disappointed. As for Near, he felt like a cheaper version of L. He wasn’t completely awful, though. I liked seeing him succeed in places that L failed, but it almost seemed like the writers regretted killing L and they wanted to bring him back in a way. There was a point where Near said something along the lines of “there’s a 7% chance that Light is Kira,” and I actually had to close my computer and take a deep breath because of that (is it normal to feel such a burning rage towards a fictional character?). Despite how emotionless L was at times, Near was much colder and calmer than him, which is why he was able to catch Light in the end. His character wasn’t completely awful, but he felt like a cheap addition to the story at times.

I want to talk about the ending and the last episode, because I have a lot of thoughts on that. From episode 1, I could tell that Light was going to die at the end of the show, so it was no surprise when he actually did. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how undramatic his death scene was. For a show that overemphasizes mundane things like eating chips and playing tennis, I was expecting some grand monologue from Light accompanied by him dying in the most exaggerated way imaginable. I was definitely not expecting him to die silently in a stairwell from a heart attack, though it felt very poetic that Light was killed by the Death Note in the end.

In regards to the actual events that lead up to his death, I really liked how one tiny slip up on Light’s part led to his downfall. It really made me think about how differently the story would have gone if small details had been changed early on. Would Light have never been caught or would he have been discovered much sooner? Intriguing questions like these are why people are still theorizing about this show fifteen years after it came out.

There were a couple other thoughts I had on the last episode. First, I absolutely loved Matsuda shooting Light like ten times in a row (though I still don’t understand how he was able to run away after being shot so many times). It was great to see him stand up against Light and his reaction seemed very natural for the situation.

Speaking of reactions, I feel like we should have learned what happened to Misa after Light’s death. Her entire life was centered around him, so obviously that would have been a big deal for her. The most we got was those shots of her sitting alone on a train during the credits, but we were never told what happened to her after the story ended. I would have liked to see a little bit more of her, especially toward the end of the story, when it felt like she was just written out of the plot.

I really loved Ryuk’s final words as he writes Light’s name in the Death Note, along with him ending up being the one to kill Light. Ryuk never really seemed to care about Light, he was just hanging around because Light had the Death Note, but with Ryuk’s final words, it did feel like he enjoyed spending so many years with Light and that he would miss their time together once it was over. Like I said earlier, it felt very poetic that Light was killed by the very thing that started the story in the first place.

I’m not the type of person who cries over shows and movies easily. There have been times where I forced myself to cry over a certain character’s death, but I rarely genuinely cry over these things. However, if you slap a sunset in the last episode of a show, I’m going to tear up. There’s something so final about sunsets. To me they represent the end of an era, as well as a bittersweet sense of longing and regret. When Light was running from the warehouse, I did start to feel myself tearing up. Everything from the quiet swelling of the music, to the flashbacks to the first episode, to the sounds of Light’s panting and crying just really hit me in the gut. This scene was so great to me because of what it didn’t have. There was no monologue, no haunting chorus or intense music, no dramatic action shots. This scene conveyed the regret and longing that Light felt in his final moments through the visuals of the sunset, the quick flashbacks, and his body language; as well as the subtle yet emotional music and Light’s desperate panting. I think it’s a great way to close a great story.

Despite its flaws, Death Note excels at telling a memorable and captivating story. That’s why you see clips of the show being used as TikTok audios a decade and a half later. Everything from the characters, to the plot, to the soundtrack and animation add up to make a great show. I’d probably give it four out of five stars. I had some issues with the show, but overall it’s definitely something I’ll be rewatching in the near future.

#death note #light yamagi #l lawliet #anime #review

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purrcraze · 6 years ago

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20 Facts That Show How Incredibly Friendly Maine Coons Are

It is pretty common knowledge that Maine Coons are one of the friendliest and most likable cat breeds in the world. Touted as the “dogs of the cat world,” they possess a unique combination of cat-like behavior with a dog-like temperament.

For those who have owned a Maine Coon, the following outline that showcases a Maine Coons friendly tendencies will not come as a surprise. Read on to discover our 20 facts that emphasize the friendliness factor of this furry feline!

1. An Office Companion

Almost as if they know how bad you really wanted to be working (wink wink!), Maine Coons love to accompany you at your desk. Not that it takes a whole lot to distract most of us from working, but the Maine Coon really goes the extra mile on this front.

This big kitty is not shy about disrupting the drone of your workday. From walking in front of the computer screen to pouncing on the keyboard, they will creatively hinder your productivity with ease!

2. Gives Good Morning Greetings

As any best friend is prone to do, your Maine Coon is sure to deliver that good morning vibe, enthusiastically and on time.

Since they are not particularly proficient with the newest in technological advancement, they won’t be shooting you a text either.

You can count on this wake-up call to be in the flesh, up close and personal. Every morning like clockwork you’ll become accustomed to attention-getters like:

A brush of wiry whiskers from your cat’s nose

The lick of a coarse tongue across your forehead

Purring and pawing (not necessarily in that order!)

3. Book Buddy

We can neither confirm nor deny the comprehensive reading skills of your Maine Coon, but we do know one thing: he/she thoroughly enjoys a good book break.

No matter what kind of books you are into, expect that your large kitty will enjoy it just as much, if not more than you do!

Reading together will serve to strengthen the bond you have, just make sure you have enough room to enjoy each other’s company comfortable. A spot on your lap or a double wide lazy boy will do just fine!

4. Loves Head Bumps and Nose Rubs

When you are going about your normal, everyday business, your cat will make sure you don’t forget about the most important part of your day: them!

As you walk by or sit around, they absolutely love to give your leg a good bump with their head or rub up on you with their nose and whiskers. This affectionate gesture is driven by a desire of your cat to leave its scent on those who are important and loved.

Pierre´s Maine Coon, Maze, On His Desk

5. Welcomes You Home

If you are like a lot of us, you have the unfortunate duty of working outside your home and leaving your family and fur babies at home while you are away.

However, they didn’t coin the phrase “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” for no reason! Whenever you do arrive back home, get ready for an excited barrage of greetings including:

Purring and trilling

Head rubbing and body bumping against your legs

Brushing whiskers and arching their back into your petting hand

6. A TV Tagalong

You may not be aware of this, but your Maine Coon can be just as fond of your television set as you are.

Just flip on your favorite show and prepare for an evening of binge-watching with your best feline friend. They make a great and cuddly movie night companion.

Perhaps the best part of all is that they won’t even fight for dominion over the remote control! However, they will insist on having the best seat in the house, which includes your lap or chest.

7. Dog Whisperer

Not only are they known for exhibiting similar traits and tendencies as a puppy, but they are even extremely tolerant of dogs as a part of the family.

Unlike most other breeds of cats, Maine Coons don’t often go on the defensive around their canine companions.

Although the exact reason is not known, some theorize that their large size gives them a dose of confidence and keeps them from feeling threatened the way other cats might. Who says you have to be a cat OR dog person?!

8. Kid Friendly Feline

Consistent with their friendly attitude and caring nature, these cat companions are absolutely wonderful for children as well.

Their laid back and content attitude mean that they can keep their cool and handle the sometimes rough and unintended play of small children.

They are extremely gentle and are not likely to lash out, scratch, or play too rough when confronted with kids. This is a great benefit in kid-heavy households. In situations where other cats would tend to become defensive or aggressive, a Maine Coon responds with grace and patience in the face of:

Being carried around

Being tripped on

Rough play

9. Great with Other Animals

Just as they are naturally wonderful around dogs and small children, Maine Coons can get along great with just about any other member of the animal kingdom.

They are independent and confident, which makes them easy-going and more or less apathetic in regard to the presence of other pets.

If your other animal family members are up for it, they will even make a great playmate. They absolutely thrive on fun-loving and playful banter and are gentle enough to restrain themselves so as not to unintentionally harm other creatures.

10. Food Fight Free

What’s the ultimate test of a pet’s temperament? It’s behavior and attitude towards food and water, particularly how they react when they perceive a threat to these beloved resources.

It is common with other cats and dogs to react with “food aggression” that causes them to be extremely protective, even resorting to threatening behavior or sometimes violence.

With most Maine Coons, this does not become an issue. To make sure your cat does not develop an issue, make sure they do not need to compete for food. This can be as simple as having separate dishes and locations for each pet’s food.

11. Loves Leash Walking

It may seem a bit strange to think of a proud and majestic Maine Coon strutting its stuff at the end of your leash, but this is actually quite common. Even though it is not a required activity, you may choose to walk your Maine Coon for the following reasons:

Great form of exercise for both of you, especially if it is a strictly indoor pet

They can accompany the family on trips to the park or the beach

A change of scenery and excitement for your cat

12. Can Learn to “Go Fetch!”

Hand in hand with walking your cat like a dog, many Maine Coons also enjoy the classic game of playing fetch.

While many cats are apt at chasing or playing with objects such as balls, strings, sticks, and the like, few cats are likely to return the object to you once thrown. Maine Coons seem to have this instinct naturally and catch on rapidly to this entertaining play.

13. The Talkative Type

One characteristic of many best friends is that you feel comfortable having a casual conversation with them and may even sit and talk for hours about everything (or nothing!). The Maine Coon is no exception!

They love to chatter, albeit in the language of purring, trilling, and other cat noises. Interestingly though, they typically refrain from the “meow” sound that is so closely associated with cats in general.

14. Sharing the Spoils

You may have heard the phrase “spoils of war” at some point in time, which refers to the acquisition and distribution of a defeated enemy’s belongings by the victors. All members of the victorious group benefited from such spoils.

In the mind of your Maine Coon, you are perhaps akin to the battle commander. Anytime your gentle predator catches its enemy, such as a snake or mouse, you have the distinct privilege of getting a share of the prize!

15. Is a Real Life “Feline Follower”

If you keep up on the modern means of social interaction, you have heard of the term “followers” to describe people that take an active interest in your online activity across various social media platforms.

By contrast, your Maine Coon is an original, real-life “follower.” Fond of being ever in your presence, they will constantly seek out your affection, and you’ll often find them right on your heels as you go through your day.

16. Is Always Ready for Nap Time!

Needing to take some time in the middle of the day to rest and recharge? No problem! Maine Coons are always down for a great midday nap session. This is one area where the blending of dog and cat characteristics is very evident.

While the high-energy affection of a dog often keeps you from experiencing an impromptu nap when you get home from work, your Maine Coon is happy to participate inactively!

17. Enjoys Belly Rubbing

In another instance of behavior that mirrors actions that are more common among canine companions, Maine Coons enjoy the infamous belly rub.

If you are not sure if your fuzzy friend is fond of this, don’t worry because it will be obvious if they are. If they fall to their side and roll over as you pet them, that’s your hint to go for the gut!

After all, why should they strain to reach “the spot” when you are perfectly suited to reach it for them?!

18. Is Friendly at Bath Time

For most house pets, bath time is terrifying and unpleasant. If you have ever tried to bathe a typical cat, you know that it can be a dangerous endeavor.

Given the large size of the Maine Coon, you may be thinking that a bubble bath could turn to a blood bath in an instant. You’ll be happy to hear that this is not the case!

Their gentle manner and kind personality do not change just because you put them in the tub. In fact, many Maine Coons are actually fond of water and are even known to be skilled swimmers.

19. Keen on Providing Comfort

Typical of many pets, Maine Coons also have an uncanny ability to catch onto and interpret human behavioral clues.

You may have noticed that when you are in a bad mood, your cat seems to pick up on this and know how you are feeling.

When they notice you are down, it is common for them to attempt to comfort you and improve your mood through a variety of actions. Common comforting behaviors include:

Extra purring

Soft trilling sounds

Rubbing their snout and whiskers on you

20. Loves Company

While some animals are focused on protecting their domain from outsiders and are less than friendly when dealing with visitors to your home, Maine Coons are a naturally good host to company.

Rather than become defensive and aggressive, or disappearing to a hiding spot until outsiders vacate the premises, they can often be found greeting everyone as they come in.

They absolutely love to “make the rounds” and ensure that each and every guest is happy and has been attended to. This frees you up to provide the delicious and mouth-watering snacks! Put some hustle in your step now, chop, chop!

Conclusion

For all these reasons and more, you can understand why Maine Coons have earned their reputation as a friendly and fun-loving feline. I may be biased but owning Maine Coon is truly like picking the best qualities from typical house cats and merging them with your favorite dog qualities.

If you are looking for an incredibly friendly companion that loves and appreciates your presence, take the chance on a Maine Coon and discover the lifelong friendship they have to offer. I am confident that it is a decision you and your family will cherish for years to come!

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