#and sometimes they do the exact opposite of that

[zonatcannibalism]

The huntrix/saja boys ships are very interesting to me, narratively.

The saja boys prey on insecurity. We see this in their lyrics and their whole persona, really. They make the listener feel special, while reminding them they wont get that feeling anywhere else. Their songs are never about themselves like the huntrix songs are, theyre about the listener. The fans. How the fans are special to them. This is because their goal as a band isnt actually to make music, but to take away the power huntrix have. But its also a parallel to irl boy bands like that. These type of bands, made of young hot men, are made to be desirable. Theyre meant to fulfill every fantasy their audience, usually teenage girls, has. This is why fanfiction about these bands is the most popular type of rpf- the marketing of these things is meant to make the target audience imagine a fantasy world, where they are desirable by these hot dreamy guys. It objectifies the band members, and lets the listener turn them in their head into whatever they want. But this fantasising comes with being confronted with the fact that this is not realistic, and irl someone like the saja boys will never fall in love with you because they saw you in the crowd. The relationship between the saja boys and the listeners is one that makes the listener fantasize about a life without the things they dislike about themselves, a life where they can be someone the saja boys fall in love with. Compared to girl groups that target the same demographic, like huntrix, they are polar opposites. Sometimes they talk to the listener, but most of the time their lyrics are about themselves. Boy bands are meant to be desirable, but girl bands are meant to be relatable- often in an empowering way. Huntrix's songs are always about how cool and hot and powerful they are. Every huntrix song is a self empowerment anthem, and this is their appeal. Sure, they have more valnurable songs, but they always lead on a positive note about embracing your flaws and shit like that. Huntrix songs are meant to make you love yourself and your flaws, saja boys songs are meant to make you imagine a world where your flaws do not exist, or are desirable and socially acceptable. Huntrix, as artists, are all about loving the things in yourself that everyone else dislikes but the saja boys are all about imagining a different reality where they are liked. The saja boys make you dependent on them, huntrix make you feel like you dont need anyone but yourself.

And this is so fucking beyond perfect because the whole movie is about insecurity, and mainly about how huntrix ARE insecure. Rumi is a whole fucking mess that we know of, but zoey and mira also struggle a lot with insecurity. And the thing that helps them most IS huntrix. Being a part of huntrix helps them embrace themselves and get over their fear of being disliked. Before huntrix started, zoey and mira were in the same place that rumi was during the movie- hiding themselves, ashamed. Huntrix is the thing that helped them become confident in their own skin.

But insecurities are never really gone. Even though zoey and mira are doing well because they unlocked their self love arc earlier than rumi did, they still struggle. And thats EXACTLY what the shipping of them with the saja boys is all about. Because the saja boys are not just targeting the fans insecurities- they are targeting zoey, mira and rumis insecurities. The rumi and jinu pairing is pretty obvious- hes a demon, shes insecure about being a demon. Mystery is literally all about being someone that is ridiculously quiet and dosent have a big personality- what zoey wishes she was. Romance abd abby are fun and kinda feminine and cutsy, which are the exact things mira was always told she should be. The girls pairing with each saja boy isnt accidental, its meant to put them in the same place as the fans- wishing they were someone else and feeling like their self love is dependent on the saja boy.

This is why the saja boys succeed. They arent just taking away the fans, but targeting the thing that brings huntrix together- their self confidence and love of the parts of themselves that theyre told are undesirable. This is why the saja boys manage to get underneath their skin, by taking away their self assurance and making them dependent on the saja boys's love, just like their do to their fans. Anyway yeah short analysis

[thatswhatsushesaid]

sometimes the thing you think you have written is way less interesting than the thing you have actually written.

[brenatto-apothecary]

Molly telling nott he didn't listen to her opening up and that he doesn't care about her past is so awful like im sure for him that sounded nice but he somehow managed to pick the worst possible thing to say to someone in her position

[houseswife]

yeah your boyfriend peeled you an orange but would he fake his death to make you his afterlife? would black flowers blossom, fearless on his breath?

[herearedragons]

I love you detectives wrestling with cosmic horror I love you government agencies in a futile pursuit to contain the supernatural I love you academia and bureaucracy strugging to quantify and codify the otherworldly I love you systems and habits desperately trying to hold the line against the chaotic the unclassifiable and the unfathomable.

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[son-justdont]

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

guys if you were worried at all about thunderbolts, don't be. they did our boy right (and everything else was great too)

that scene in the trailers where Bucky's blowing up the cars is even fucking better in the film. it's not even his introduction, he's in several scenes before it, yet it's framed as an entrance with the most epic music of the entire movie. and they were right to do it.

(while it was happening, I'd personally described it as "the music is really sucking his dick right now" and my friend said "and they're right")

the climax/resolution of the movie almost made me cry (positive), and what a good fucking villain. and the movie does great with depictions of/metaphors about mental health issues and depression, specifically with feelings of loneliness

the action is great, there is a noticable lack in cgi and when it's used it's very minimal (or very discreet, and i didn't even notice!)

i can't waaait till clips are posted online omg. i need gifs. i need refs for art. i wanna watch that car blowing up scene again.

[thegreatyin]

9. worst part of canon 10. worst part of fanon

for whatever fandom(s) you want but xiv and fl are two we immediately recall we're both into

9. worst part of canon

for ffxiv: the way heavensward handles the infamous "bloody banquet" sequence from the end of ARR is like. GENUINELY atrocious. like a complete failure in every conceivable way. it's dragged down the entire expansion for me, that's how unbelievably bad it is. it's by far the worst piece of writing in the entire game bar none, i hate it, every day i wish they had just had the balls to murder nanamo in cold blood and be done with it

for fallen london: Why Is The Third City Written Like That.

-

10. worst part of fanon

for ffxiv: ehhhhhhhh.... i may get a few tomatoes for saying this, but maybe the hype over haurchefant??? i feel like ysayle's death was infinitely more impactful and it's honestly really lame that everyone tends to overlook her in favor of Some Guy that- while he did die tragically and excellently- tends to be heralded as just. the gold standard sole standout example of characters that have died over the course of the story. i just wish my girl iceheart got some more love, y'know. she deserves it. she deserves it mayhaps even more than that elf does. what i'm saying is stop giving your WoLs passionate tragic flings with haurchefant and swap him out for ysayle to create the doomed yuri i KNOW that girl deserves

for fallen london: this one is hard, because i honestly feel like there's not much about fanon stuff in FL that really irritates me personally...? and it's such a small fandom that saying anything specific feels weirdly mean on behalf of the guys that actually like that particular fanon trend. like. the ffxiv fandom is so large and so spread out that i feel comfortable more intensely bullying it, but FL is like a small town where everybody knows everybody else and idk maybe i'm overthinking this single question way too much. um. people occasionally blatantly ignoring themes and subtext is kind of annoying, i guess. like all of the liberation of night discourse threads on reddit that are just full to the brim of guys saying the judgements are, if not strictly good, at minimum correct in enforcing laws and light and just generally being little dictator god bitches? it's like. Bestie. Bestie That's What The Scoundrel Would Say. Bestie. Bestie For The Love Of God You Do Not Want To Have The Same Opinions As The Scoundrel

[astro-moved]

John Dory: Wait wait look in this bag.

Clay: Wha—

John Dory: [takes out his hand and does 👌]

Clay: … STOP IT. YOURE NOT A 13-YR-OLD BOY! IF I WANTED TO DEAL WITH THAT SHIT, I’D HAVE A TEENAGER OF MY OWN! KNOCK IT OFF!!

[naggingatlas]

i love how before i got diagnosed i was convinced i had autism for the longest time even tho im kinda like. the exact opposite of an autistic individual in so many ways.

[light-wrath-paradise]

Me when I have plans but my head looks like a trashcan on fire and like 3 separate "mes" are arguing with me about said plans

[helenwheelsridesagain]

How did I deal with the stress of this week today so I didn't explode?

Simple!

I wrote 6k worth of pure glitra filth, like a very normal person does! :)

[tewwor]

😶

[bolasmasivas]

man ... dave is such a good brother and it's really interesting to me knowing how bro was ...

[phagodyke]

ykw actually I am angry + disappointed w them. I've been pushing how I feel aside and trying to make it my own fault so it's all contained but I think theyve just been mean. and they really should know me better ik I try to pretend I don't expect more from them so I feel less hurt when they do things that upset me but we've been friends for years by this point. like come on.

[talentforlying]

thinking today about constantine and the various personas / disguises he wears as a con man!!

when he wants to make people underestimate his intelligence (and/or get under some rich snobs' skins) he has a tendency to thicken his accent, play hard & heavy with aphorisms, and adopt an overly-cheerful, affectedly blasé attitude. (a great example being his introductory "morning squire! nice day for an orgy, eh, wot?" when he got himself invited to that high society fuckfest to scam england's upper crust with some bullshit magic.) he'll get much more touchy-feely, gets up in people's spaces more than is socially appropriate, and really plays the fool, so when he turns around and reveals the trick, he gets to enjoy all the gobsmacked reactions.

when he wants to fit in with high society or get something out of someone by making them feel important / respected / bonded to him in some way, the scouse doesn't disappear; his voice just gets lower, slower, and has smoother, crisper enunciation. maybe a touch of RP if he's really laying it on thick. this version of constantine has got tailored suits and cufflinks, avoids touching and being touched like the plague, mirrors behaviors to make connections, makes eye contact like he's playing chicken with everyone he looks at, and offers hook-ups to all the vices known to man, as well as the ones known by those well beyond humanity. he makes a point of establishing himself as a useful and reliable contact for anything and everything, so that if he ever needs an angle on someone or a little extra cash, he knows exactly where to get a little lucrative material.

the common thread between the two is that he makes himself memorable, be it in a positive or a negative way. he makes sure people not only see him, but take note of him; that they leave with a memory, so if their paths ever cross again or they ever need his particular skillset, there's a chance to turn a profit later on.

[babsaros]

How did you know you were gay?

ah, couple reasons i guess. some that only became obvious with like 15 years of hindsight, and only after pulling myself out of the deep dark pit of compulsory heterosexuality.

like. classic symptoms of lesbianism include shamefully staring at the floor when you pass the women's underwear racks in the department store, even though you're not quite sure why you're uncomfortable. that sort of thing.

i have memories from early elementary school of accidentally glimpsing down a girl's shirt at recess and then bottling up that feeling and refusing to think about it. any time i had a crush on a boy, it was from an extremely idealized and safely non-actionable distance. the one time i did have a boyfriend, it was just my guy best friend from middle school, we dated for barely a school year before i ended it and the most physical intimacy i was ever comfortable with was holding his hand when we walked to class. i went to a different school's prom because a guy i was kind-of friends with asked me, and spent the whole night uncomfortably avoiding eye contact.

basically i started questioning my sexuality towards the end of high school, when i noticed myself getting like. jealous about my guy best friend's girlfriends?? like. i wanted to date them. i wanted to steal them from him lmao. i thought girls were pretty and soft and nice and cute and i was too afraid of being a predatory creep to do anything about it besides have far-fetched daydreams, but there was no heterosexual explanation. like, i hugged a girl i thought was pretty one time and it did things to my brain. that memory got locked in for life.

i identified as ace/pan early on, but again- compulsory heterosexuality. the idea of being with a guy romantically or sexually was never actually appealing. i had just been told that was what i was supposed to want my entire life, and the movies do a great job of selling that fantasy. but really i was just a lonely depressed helpless romantic teenager that wanted to be loved lol.

a large part of why i identified as asexual was because i was so sex-repulsed by the idea of penetration, honestly? (which i have since gotten over, but specifically Only with girls. the idea of having sex with a man still icks me out, and my preference is definitely femme-presenting ppl) a bit of it was probably also because i hadn't unpacked gender yet either. it made it very difficult to actually imagine myself having sex with anyone ever lol. this is gonna sound so cringe to say, but reading gay smut did awaken things in me.

in conclusion, tldr, i just like to think about tits and kissing women sometimes, idk. thanks for coming to my tedtalk.