#and the rest of the wonderful cast

[hideandsqueek]

Should we talk about the Scottish Play? Yours truly has been privileged enough to see both runs of the DT/CJ led production. And I wish I were able to explain how it affected me. I’ve seen lots of Shakespeare. I’ve seen David Tennant do lots of Shakespeare. But in a way that sounds like I’m exaggerating but I’m totally not? This one changed my life. It’s complicated, it’s deeply personal. It’s hard to put into words. But what a perfect, beautiful, intensely moving piece of theatre (1000% totally worth flying across the world for twice). I don’t think I CAN put it into words that would do it justice. So have pictures.

Last year the theatre was much more strict about photography during curtain call. I guiltily dared once and I have one almost usable picture that proves I was there. And okay a really crap one but I love the blurry smile and the stark blood on the stage (the Pinter run didn't have blood at the end, i missed it).

Turns out, my pictures this year aren’t much better. Even with a house and production that was totally cool with photos and videos during curtain call. But I tried. The last time I saw it (13 Dec), you can just see the bandage on DT’s wrist from his new tattoo. My favorite thing is how relieved both he and Cush look after they’re done performing. I think even these kind of not great pictures capture that.

Just... look at them.

Bonus. A wee video from the penultimate night of the run. Cheering for wee middle child for his last performance. Bless him.

I guess I’ll do a separate post of stage door photos? I have... a few. They're a little clearer than these without stage fog and Birnam Wood lighting. And long post is long.

[c1trvs]

what yall say fuck me for?

[seyaryminamoto]

My latest completed commission may have been a bit ambitious... because I went wild with it. But I certainly relished in doing so :') Combining my favorite ship with my favorite-ever Disney movie is, uh... a dangerous concoction :'D

The commissioner specifically requested for Azula as Mulan, Sokka as Shang, and Xin Long (my OC dragon from Gladiator) as Mushu. The rest of the cast was up to me to choose, and I pretty much went wild rewatching this movie and picking out some of my favorite moments to recreate them in my style, with these characters. I came up with a lot of correlating characters between both ATLA and 1998's Mulan, but I couldn't hope to draw EVERYTHING, unfortunately. Still, if you want my reasoning for the cast correlation... check out the Read More! Beyond that, feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to commission me, or if you want to join my Patreon!

The Herbalist as Mulan's grandmother might feel arbitrary but she honestly felt like the ATLA elderly lady with the most similar personality to Grandma Fa. Fickle, with a unique connection with a seemingly perfectly ordinary animal, old and sassy? Figured it fit! So for once, the Herbalist is Azula's grandma! xD strange notion, I know, Azulon/Herbalist is not a ship I ever thought I'd accidentally put out in the world but there have been wilder ships than that in this fandom...

Momo became Cri-Kee, I wasn't 100% sold on it but when I considered that Avatar features soooo many hybrid animals... I figured he could be a hybrid cricket-lemur. Weird, I know, but eh? Better than nothing xD

Aang as Chien-Po was a no-brainer. He's the only character I settled on instantly, never even considered anyone else for the role. Their personalities line up really well, and Chien-Po's tendency to be OP and resolve things that are outside of other people's reach sounded like he was prime Avatar material! So, while their dietary preferences are an obvious difference between them, I decided to go for it nonetheless considering all their other similarities!

Kino (another Gladiator OC) is Ling, and he actually did give me a ton of trouble to choose. I considered many characters for the role right up until I realized that Kino's personality actually lines up fairly well with Ling's, down to being a class clown type (who ABSOLUTELY would have cut gym class!) and breaking out in song about the hypothetical woman he'd like to fight for? Yeeeeah that's right up his alley xD but there's another reason why I picked Kino...

... And that is my likely unexpected choice for Yao:

ZUKO.

ZUKO IS YAO.

YES.

I'M NOT EVEN SORRY.

(For the uninitiated, Aang, Zuko and Kino are best friends in Gladiator, very often together, and they make a really good team, so that's the extra reason why Kino became the obvious choice for Ling aside from having really similar personalities, definitely closer personalities than, say, Jet, for instance.)

People have likened Zuko to Shang a LOT since ATLA aired. This is the main reason why I'm even making this huge note! I suspect it's primarily because of the aesthetic, let's be real here, and because he becomes Aang's teacher, but people have exaggerated Zuko's alleged similarities with Shang, or taken them out of proportion, in many ways. I actually remember an AMV ages ago with "Be a Man" and it was Zuko "training the Gaang"?? It... didn't feel right to me. Obviously, someone might rebuff with "well, how does Sokka make MORE sense than that, though?" And believe it or not, I have arguments for that... (when do I not...?)

Not only is this what the commissioner specifically requested (and it obviously lines up with the ship we love!), but let's examine the actual reasons why Sokka as Shang adds up:

Sokka actually had to train a bunch of toddlers who weren't paying any attention to him. You know. Kind of how Shang had to train the unruly soldiers who weren't getting anything right. Sokka has a positive relationship with his dad (Zuko, ofc, does not). Shang also has a positive relationship with his dad! And not only this, but there's a military component to both relationships, specifically with Shang wanting to follow on his father's footsteps and aid him in the war... so much like someone else I know, who jumped at every opportunity to rejoin his father in the war, even wishing to join him as a child until Hakoda tasked him with protecting their Tribe instead (kinda like Shang is tasked with training soldiers rather than joining a battlefield).

And the final cherry-on-top that I'd loooove to hear Zuko fans try to argue against... is sexism :') didn't Sokka get characterized as a sexist guy for four episodes, which made people decide that this was his main character trait even if it went away that quickly? Um, yes, that happened. Shang literally sings the memorable song that's a crazy ode to masculinity, including the rather sexist line of "did they send me daughters when I asked for sons". Shang outright abandons Mulan once they discover that she was a woman all along (while, admittedly, choosing to abandon her rather than KILL HER, which as we saw from Chi-Fu, he was NOT supposed to spare her!)...

So, is this REALLY what Zuko fans, who willfully believe their boy is a feminist king (... why? beats me...) are trying to compare their unproblematic blorbo to? :'D Me? I have no problem linking Sokka with Shang due to Sokka's beginnings and due to the fact that both Shang and Sokka have similar growth when it comes to accepting femininity is as valid as masculinity, and as they both learn to respect women as fighters and potential heroes! (I simply do not believe Sokka's ENTIRE tenure in ATLA was about that, though, and that's what I continue to clash with the fandom over...) So... all this is why I've reasoned that Sokka is a VERY solid choice for Shang, in fact, better than Zuko could hope to be.

... but this isn't all.

Maybe some might accept my arguments for Sokka-Shang. And then, they might ask:

WHY ZUKO AS YAO, THO??

... And the truth is it took me long to see it, myself, but HOLY SHIT, DOES IT FIT!

What is the primary thing we remember about Yao in Mulan? This guy is constantly itching for a fight, to prove himself, surely riddled with insecurities that he exteriorizes through overcompensation of masculinity. He's funny as fuck, but he's taking himself 100% seriously as a manly man all the time, and he's always ready for violence. But there's one more thing...

He treats Mulan as his RIVAL.

And more often than not? SHE SCREWS HIM OVER. Intentionally or not.

What does that sound like? Why, yes, it sounds a LOT like Azula and Zuko's sibling relationship!

The fact that Yao is a temperamental dude who lashes out easily at things (oh, something he has in common with Zuko!), that he specifically resents Mulan (in this case, Azula, just as Zuko does!) and is either constantly looking to defeat her and prove his superiority over her (... wait, just as Zuko with Azula??), that he has a black eye perpetually across the movie, and it's his LEFT EYE (just as Zuko's scar is on his left eye! :'D), that he's friends with a pacifist he has basically nothing in common with, personality-wise (just like Zuko and Aang!), and that he pretty much has a REDEMPTION ARC in which he goes from a bitter, asshole rival to Mulan to treating her as a friend and ally, to the point where he was disappointed to leave her behind and THEN joined her at once when she says she has a plan? :') I have always been critical of Zuko's redemption arc, goes without saying. But if ANY of these characters redeemed himself in any significant way, it certainly seems to be Yao to me, and with people gushing NON-STOP about Zuko's redemption? Why, he ought to be the character who goes from bitter rival to loyal friend, right?

So. I'm not even sorry. Zuko is Yao. And I'd dare say that he should be flattered by the comparison, even, because Yao ends up being cool as FUCK!

I don't really talk about this much nowadays, but Mulan was my favorite Disney movie growing up, it ABSOLUTELY had a formative influence on me as a little girl, and Mulan was my favorite female character for a looooong time. Thus, any excuse to rewatch this movie makes me happy as heck. With the wisdom of age I know, of course, that it's not perfect, it's not what China wants, it's not the most thoughtful depiction of Chinese culture or the most faithful adaptation of Mulan's poem (... but I'd also dare bring up that the 2009 Chinese adaptation ISN'T all that faithful either...), but it has a kind of magic in it, a solid storytelling flow, so many memorable moments one after the next, that I could hardly choose which scenes to depict... Disney has never again seen the storytelling heights it reached with Mulan in 1998. I don't even care if that's a controversial opinion in any way... this is their best animated feature for me, and nobody can change my mind.

So... depicting Azula, my beloved, in all these scenarios as this character I adored and idolized as a child, was so damn fulfilling for me. While some might think that, personality-wise, these two ladies don't have much in common, the fact that Mulan is sent to a matchmaker who basically tells her she looks good but is going to be the worst wife ever...? Our girl Azula, with all those insecurities about being unloveable and a monster, probably would relate big time to that.

Mulan is also an INTELLIGENT soldier rather than a brawny one, which is how she starts to make progress in the army, it's how she manages to overcome the huns with that avalanche... and Azula's primary difference with most other antagonists in ATLA is that she's smart as fuck. She is very strong, no doubt, but a LOT of that strength comes from her intelligence, from assessing situations in unique ways, from planning and strategizing. The way Mulan finds the most unexpected solutions that still pay off reminds me a lot of how Azula achieves unexpected feats through rather unorthodox means, capable of taking over a city with basically no bloodshed while her nation has spent 100 years trying and failing to do so through major army incursions and who knows how much senseless violence. Obviously, I'm not saying what Azula did is GOOD and it's kind of dumb that we always have to point that out... I'm merely comparing the magnitude of the feats, and the fact that they both come from ladies who use strategy and intelligence to achieve their goals rather than muscle and physical power.

And while anyone would rage at me for the comparison between Fa Zhou (her dad) and Ozai, the truth is the dynamic between them CAN be compared, if loosely: Mulan literally goes to war to keep her father safe. Azula goes to war under her father's orders. Hell, she makes herself BAIT in the Eclipse to make sure the Gaang won't get to her dad?? While it's very much possible to say that both characters have different personalities and attitudes in life... I'd also bring up that their contexts are evidently completely different. I wouldn't say for certain that Azula, had she been raised outside a Royal Family, would be EXACTLY like Mulan... but they might have more similar traits than one might expect. Ultimately, though... I love them both. And this opportunity to swap their places was pretty much a dream come true!

Alright, that was plenty of rambling xD ultimately, I had a blast doing this commission, as I'm sure is obvious by now. So! If anyone wants to commission me, feel free to check out my prices right here and hit me up if you're interested!

[hamable]

I fully stood up jumping like a kid on Christmas watching the older versions of the kids as Luz starts wild magic college, getting to see how the Isles is adapting after a few years of reconstruction, HOW EVERYONE AGED AND GOT NEW LOOKS IM A SUCKER FOR CHARACTER DESIGN ASDHFLGLDH!!! All the kids got matching Flapjack tattoos did you see did you see did you see!!!!!! Magic slowly coming back as King grows older, Alador and Darius finding a way to remove the coven marks, Eda starting a wild magic school, Luz being a BAMF and majoring in everything. God all the kids looks were so cool I can’t get over them.

AH AND LUZ’s TITAN FORM!!! SHE SAID DAUGHTER OF THE HUMAN REALM, STUDENT OF THE DEMON REALM, AND WARRIOR OF BEASTS!!!!! SO UNBELIEVABLY COOL!!!!

Edit: ppl are saying she said Warrior of Peace, that sounds more right, my b

ALSO ASIDE FROM THE EPILOGUE STUFF THE WHOLE EPISODE WAS ALSO REALLY GOOD IM JUST PROCESSING IN REVERSE ORDER.

[frameconfessions]

I wish other characters in Warframe got as much detail and lore as The Hex. Still waiting on that Ordis quest that Steve teased so many years ago. 😔

We're still waiting Steve- or rather Rebecca. 👀 https://fxtwitter.com/sj_sinclair/status/1035662678147166208

[onesizedgirl]

Naur because why the costumes in r*p are so horrendous good god what was the budget? Three peas and a leather boot?😭

[minweber]

I kinda find it interesting that up until now all Dragon Age protagonists, as well as most companions for whom being of a particular age (usually older that the rest) was not a part of their characterization, were essentially all the same age - that is, a part of the same generation.

It's been noted that Inquisition's cast is generally older that that of Origins and 2, but we do also meet them about ten years later, which squares quite nicely - the cast of the games set in 9:30 starts out in their varying 20s, while the cast of the game set in 9:40 is in their 30s and up.

But the Veilguard crew seems to be another matter - by 9:50 you are either squarely in your 40s and 50s (which most of the companions and, by extension, Rook, don't really seem to be) or were born significantly later than previously mentioned characters.

I think that when I started writing this down I was leading up to some kind of joke about millennials and gen z, but now I am just thinking how fascinating it is that the narrative of the franchise has gone on long enough for there to be characters who probably grew up among the consequences of the earlier games' events, the ones for whom the world-changing events of the Age of the Dragon are the norm, if not already history. How cool is that! I really hope the writers of Veilguard found it as compelling an idea as I do and it gets explored a bit in the game.

[amyriadfthings]

"the bromance, dude" well, the love however is real ("He´s the future of cinema, Paulie is" 🥺)

(It´s so funny bc before tonight I hadn´t seen the term "bromance" come up in these interviews so much, it was more about "chemistry", but now it´s suddenly everywhere, lol)

[carpe-mamilia]

The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream starring Mat Baynton as Bottom is coming to London at the end of this year!

[sincerely-sofie]

Cave-in: A comic starring Darkrai, Dusknoir, and an unconscious Twig on an expedition gone wrong.

(Note that this takes place after the ending of the fanfic, and people have settled into having Darkrai in their lives... for the most part. Dusknoir still hates his guts and doesn't trust him whatsoever.)

[starlightmeissa]

I really liked the new chapter of Fluffy Clouds! It showed up on a Monday of what's going to be a very stink week at work (they are restructuring my job to oblivion) so it was a great distraction and I've read it three times. I think the thing I like best is the difference between how Seiko thinks of herself and how others do when we get their POV. Like, Jiraiya has all the official files talking about 'prodigy' and 'leadership' and Seiko is all "welp. Gonna lose my legs so I better save up)

i'm glad i've given you something fun to do during a bad week! i really hope that the restructuring isn't too awful.

seiko is absolutely a flawed pov, mostly in reference to how she thinks of herself. not that it's super negative, she tends to be right about the level of her capabilities, but she is so much more. normal and pragmatic about everything compared to everyone else.

none of what she is doing is about being a good leader or being prodigal to her. she doesn't care about that. great leaders and prodigies die all the time, and if they're lucky they just lose a hand or something. she doesn't perceive herself as being more special than anyone else, other than having a much higher than average intellect and being reincarnated. which she is wrong about! she's extremely fatalistic, which comes out as being very reasonable in a world as violent as naruto.

jiraiya in contrast looks at her and sees orochimaru, which im glad people have pointed out in the comments! orochimaru, a once in a generation genius. orochimaru, the third hokage's favorite and a brat that's been just ahead of jiraiya his whole life. jiraiya is also flawed in his perception of seiko, because it's heavily tinted by his own experiences. he's only really known one genius who was seiko's age, so that's the first guy he thinks of. he's trying to fit kushina, minato, and seiko into a more understandable mold.

all this being said, these two are gonna have a fun dynamic for sure.

TY FOR SENDING AN ASK! i really love talking ab this fic its the furthest ive ever gotten with planning out one, and im excited that so many other people like it!

[chronicowboy]

getting rid of anirudh after keeping the fucking transphobic nun around for a whole season for literally no plot purpose whatsoever in the end is actually vile. like fucking ridiculous.

[hellishgayliath]

Epic the musical ranking master post

I thought it fitting to do a whole personal rank list of anything epic related since it’s finished (WEEPING) and no surprise by my YouTube recap that it was the most listen to thing for this year with Jorge as my top musician xD I thank my sis who got me into it and I didn’t pick up on it until after the Circe was out. So songs overall, sagas, the songs of a certain saga, favourite voices I latched onto the whole shebang.

Epic Sagas in order:

1. Vengeance Saga

2. Ithaca Saga (honestly this and vengeance could swap places)

3. Thunder Saga

4. Underworld Saga

5. Ocean Saga

6. Cyclops Saga

7. Troy Saga

8. Circe Saga (love her voice but Circe just doesn’t do it for me, Hermes gave it that edge)

9. Wisdom Saga (it felt rushed and could be a lil more polished)

Epic Saga songs ranked:

Troy Saga

1. Just a Man

2. Horse and the Infant

3. Warrior of the Mind

4. Open Arms (personally so tired of this line being overused over n over again sorry Polites)

5. Full Speed Ahead

Cyclops Saga

1. My Goodbye

2. Polyphemus

3. Survive

4. Remember Them

Ocean Saga

1. Ruthlessness (the first song I got obsessed with, call me a simp for this man idc)

2. Keep Your Friends Close (Ody’s sleep induced state is my fav part of this]

3. Luck Runs Out

4. Storm

Circe Saga

1. Wouldn’t You Like

2. Done For

3. Puppeteer

4. There Are Other Ways

Underworld Saga

1. No Longer You (Mason had one song and he ATE 👏👏👏)

2. The Underworld (the one that made me cry //sobs)

3. Monster

Thunder Saga (aka the Carl Wheezer Saga I CANNOT UNHEAR HIS VOICE DAMN YOU JORGE)

1. Scylla

2. Thunder Bringer

3. Suffering

4. Mutiny

5. Different Beast

Wisdom Saga

1. Love in Paradise

2. We’ll Be Fine ( I WISH THIS WAS LONGER)

3. Legendary

4. God Games (still can’t stand Apollo’s voice 😔)

5. Little Wolf

Vengeance Saga

1. Dangerous (I literally have it as my ringtone I love it so much)

2. Six Hundred Strike ( Steven’s singy screams scrumptious👌)

3. Get In The Water

4. Charybdis

5. Not Sorry For Loving You (YouTuber apology ass)

Ithaca Saga ( THIS ONE IS SO HARD TO RANK THEY’RE ALL S-TIER SONGS)

1. Hold Them Down (GOD HIS VOICE IS SO GOOD)

2. The Challenge

3. Odysseus (the gradual music rise when Ody sings the opening lines I fucking love)

4. Would You Fall In Love With Me Again (PENELOPE’S VOICE HEAVENLY)

5. I Can’t Help But Wonder

All Epic Songs Ranked

S-tier Category (these all shift)

1. Scylla

2. No Longer You

3. Ruthlessness

4. Dangerous

5. Six Hundred Strike

6. Get In The Water

7. Thunder Bringer

8. Hold Them Down

9. The Challenge

10. Would You Fall In Love With Me Again

11. Odysseus

12. I Can’t Help But Wonder

A-Tier Category

13. The Underworld

14. Suffering

15. Wouldn’t You Like

16. My Goodbye

17. Keep Your Friends Close

18. Love In Paradise

19. Just A Man

20. Luck Runs Out

21. Polyphemus

22. Mutiny

23. Charybdis

B-Tier Category

24. Different Beast

25. The Horse And The Infant

26. Monster

27. Survive

28. Remember Them

29. Done For

30. Warrior Of The Mind

31. Open Arms

32. Full Speed Ahead

33. We’ll Be Fine

C-Tier Category

34. God Games

35. Puppeteer

36. Legendary

37. Not Sorry For Loving You

D-Tier Category

38. Little Wolf

39. Storm

40. There Are Other Ways

Aaaaand last but not least my most favourite voices overall (that aren’t Jorge cuz c’mon we all know he’s great)

Poseidon

Antinous

Penelope

Tiresias

Hermes

Scylla

Hephaestus

Also also whoever voiced Melanthius had such a nice voice

[r0semultiverse]

Should have posted this sooner but Netflix leaked the date of The Amazing Digital Circus episode 4 back in October

Back when episode 3 had just launched on Netflix like a whole minute before the Youtube premier (since it had a count down), Netflix showed this on the mobile app.

A placeholder image for Episode 4 of Pomni in front of the digital turkey from episode 1 and text that says "Coming in December."

I screenshotted it because surely there's no way this was true given the spacing between release dates of the last 2 episodes (two & three) and sent it to my partners and a server I'm in dismissing it as just Netflix being Netflix and putting out misinformation as streaming services are known to do quite often. Seeing as Netflix just acquired the rights to have it also shown on their platform, it was even more likely it was just total misinformation as GLITCH hasn't been that transparent with us before about this series and there was no word on episode 4 in any official capacity.

Editing this after having written the initial post: Apparently it was also supposedly leaked on the Netflix website too with a more specific date given.

Cut to yesterday when we got this image of seemingly promotional material for the next episode from GLITCH. I was shocked, it's coming soon then? Maybe this is just to tide us over for a few months, the Netflix leak was probably not even a leak. (This is the best quality I got, I don't have a twitter and I'm sure the instagram image compression is as bad as the Youtube community post.)

Ah yes, this man is super charitable with his 57 cents. 😂 (inb4 North America public service job moments with the two gunmen NPCs on the loose.)

AND THEN TODAY THE TRAILER DROPPED TELLING US THAT EPISODE 4 WILL DROP ON DECEMBER 13TH! I am shocked, I am in awe, and fuck Netflix for leaking the general date (even if it's just the month) that the next episode would come out as that wasn't official information that we were probably supposed to know. Also here's a banner showing something new going on with Gangle.

Having said that though I enjoy little leaks like this personally, whether it was coincidental and misinformation on the streaming service's part or not. CHECK THE NETFLIX PAGE AND APP RIGHT AS EPISODE 4 DROPS OR WITHIN THOSE 24-48 HOURS I GUESS! MAYBE THEY'LL DO IT AGAIN! 🤯 Netflix just can't stop leaking things I guess, from entire shows to release dates of shows.

Another edit: Apparently Gangle's VA said somewhere in this live stream that it was coming out in December, but I haven't watched all of it; so, I can't confirm if that's true.

[sillyslayer6]

the rest of teyvat when natlan got a huge fucking abyss flower over it

[constellationclarke]

Dónal Finn as Orpheus is a fucking revelation, hands down my favourite orpheus I think