#bc it really does not take more than that to recognize what they're doing in this movie
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aethersea · 10 months ago
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I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.
it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"
plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.
anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.
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gaspshichat · 1 year ago
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extremely long pearl appreciation post except this time i'm maintagging bc i want her to see this. she deserves to see this
she is the kindest soul ever. every bit message, every sub message, every gifted sub, and as many chat messages as possible are read. she genuinely doesn't want anyone to be left out
pearl had a rough start to stream today with a bunch of bots saying really weird things and someone revealing private information of hers which is weird. i have choice words for them but i'll keep myself pg for this post
it resulted in her having to turn on sub only mode which she said upset her. what did chat do?
they gifted probably around 200-500 subs to the community
pearl kept saying how bad she felt that she was practically forced into turning on sub only mode but she also said she didn't want her community gifting so many subs bc of an awful situation. they still did
i will always say that pearl is the nicest person ever. anytime smth bad happens to someone in chat, she's sympathetic and kind and gives them a message. anytime smth good happens to someone in chat, she's very excited and happy for them
it takes someone who is genuinely kind and selfless to do that. pearl does not have to read every bit message and sub message. but she does
her community reflects this kindness. i got broken up with two hours before valentine's day and told chat [bc streams for me are 6am-10am]. chat was so kind and gave me ideas on what to do with the flowers [which i did what they suggested!]
i've been in fandom communities for almost ten years now. pearl's is the kindest. there are so many people in chat i recognize [secret agent, sapphicwhimsy, kawaiitron, voxkeys, cardmoney, etc] that i look forward to seeing in chat. usually i dread seeing what happens in twitch chat's
not hers. hers are so full of kindness bc she is full of kindness and it just radiates and spreads to her community. yes it's fairly no nonsense, her deleting any weird messages, but that's to make sure it's a good place to be
i've been having nightmares and flashbacks recently due to reasons i wish to keep private. very few youtubers/streamers are able to help me sleep without those issues. pearl is one of them. her community is genuinely safe
i tell everyone interested in mcyt to watch pearl. i've been spreading pearl propaganda [/silly]. she deserves so much more than she has. pearl deserves the world
this is an extremely long post but i need to get my point across to her and anyone else, whether they're a pearl fan or not [yet]
pearl, we all love you and are proud to be part of the community. you are such a genuinely sweet person who deserves all the kindness in the world. i'm so sorry you had to deal with that bullshit [pardon my language]. it does genuinely suck but i hope the ~300 subs helped make you feel better hehe 🫶🫶
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acowardinmordor · 4 months ago
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while taking a short break from the absolutely insane deadline I'm trying to hit for this project that just got the rug pulled from under us, my brain was thinking about how much we love having Steve captured by people. Usually with Eddie bc unknown bat venom magic or whatnot.
Has anyone captured Steve and Dustin though? I'd normally jump to this post S3, where the russians have Dustin's name, and Steve is there too, but consider if it happens after S2.
Dustin is the loudest human on the planet. Says something or was recognized by someone lab-adjacent. They can't find El, but they know that this kid knows her, and look at him, its not like this child is going to be all that resilient to pressure. They grab Steve with him, as an accident more than anything else. Steve was taking Dustin to do errands, or something. Dustin took too long, Steve came to complain about the delay, Steve ends up in the back of the van too.
And these lab guys would, lets be honest, have killed Steve once they got back to their base bc what do they need this random guy for? Its the kid that knows about the girl.
However, the combination of Dustin never knowing when to shut up, Steve needing to protect Dustin, and the Lab Dudes being vaguely uncomfortable with actively hurting the kid... By the time they're back to wherever they're taken, Steve is the target, and he's actively encouraging it. He's never met El, but he has heard some stories in the last few weeks, enough to make it seem like he knows her. And hey, bonus! He can't actually tell them anything important about her because he doesn't know anything!
Dustin telling Steve to stop talking just ensures that the lab dudes think Steve has valuable information.
It's rough. Vaguely shaped like Steve and Robin with the Russians. And if he was protective of Robin? Yeah, no, there's no way he's going to let them hurt Dustin. he's only known the kid a month or so, but even when Dustin was essentially a stranger, he was down to risk his life for him.
Dustin isn't entirely left alone, but they're not really hurting him beyond incidental stuff. Kid is also smart enough to realize that he does know things they want to know, and that if he tells them, they'll find El, and have no use for Dustin or Steve at all anymore.
For the sake of a plot, lets say that there's a chance for an escape. Its been a month, they're being transported somewhere else, something something, Dustin gets out, and finds the closest cop he can, tells them to call the Hawkins PD, and put Hopper on the phone. He gets back home, and manages to tell El what to look for before Claudia wraps him in a hug and won't let him out of her sight. He can't even pretend he's upset about that btw. Yes, he's scared for Steve, but it was horrible and he's a child, and he's falling apart about it.
And again, plot armor. They're gonna find Steve. He's alive, they get him back. It's been at least another month though. Add in two weeks in a hospital, and two more weeks of recovery at Hopper's place, and... yeah, Steve's not graduating that year.
His parents, who assumed he'd run off with some money and his car since its not like he was going to get into college anyway, sorta wash their hands of him when he comes back. Its not like he can say that a group of G Men kidnapped him to find out what he knows about a little girl with psychic powers. He came back looking like a drug addict to be honest, and they can't be bothered. He's 18 already, so that's that. They're out.
Dustin would be - God. He'd be devastated by that part. Yes, by it taking so long to find Steve, by blaming himself for Steve getting taken too, for how long it will take Steve to recover, for Steve repeating his senior year, but Dustin Henderson finds out that Steve's parents were only back in Hawkins for a couple days to handle paperwork? That would be a gut punch.
I don't know how much he tells his mom, not everything about the monsters, but that the Lab was shady and they thought he and Steve knew something, and tells her that its his fault Steve got hurt, and that Steve kept him safe.
Obvs. That is now her brand new son, Steve Henderson.
And All THIS means that there's not really a fall from grace for 'king steve' He was bruised to hell at the end of Fall semester, and just didn't come back in the spring. Then there were rumors, then he was back, but not in school, and eventually, word went around that he was repeating.
By April, he's recovered enough to be applying for summer jobs. Not sure about Starcourt yet since I don't think I'm cruel enough to torture him twice, and maybe this requires a Steve With Powers situation, but all of this means that the start of the new school year creates an absolutely insane dynamic for Steve and Robin and Dustin and Eddie
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oh-no-its-bird · 1 year ago
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Half Hatake Tobirama where he took after his mother really strongly instead of his father, while Hashirama took after their father and not their mother.
Ok but now give Hashirama imposter syndrome about it.
He's technically Hatake too, but not "enough" to be recognized by the clan while for some reason his brother is
He's wild like the trees, not the wolves, and they can smell it on him
He's not one of them, even if he does have the same amount of their blood in his veins as Tobirama, and no matter how badly he might want to be </3
Hashirama living vicariously through Tobirama's stories of visiting the clan, and Tobirama is going out of his way to ask questions and do things while there he knows his brother will like hearing about
Idk I just think there's potential there. A lot of half hatake Tobirama fics will directly mention that they're full blooded siblings but then not go into how Hashirama might feel ab Tobirama's closeness to the Hatake while he's apparently either not afforded that same closeness or had never tried to reach for it
Which ofc is a valid take and makes things easier writing wise but like !!! I wanna see him have thoughts about it !!!
The Hatake join the village and Hashirama got weirdly emotional about it (bc this might finally mean he can interact with his mother's clan) and no one can really understand why, except Tobirama who's kind of the reverse of him with being too Hatake for most Senju. But even then it's not the same
Play with it some more, say he did inherit some traits and habits from the wolf clan, just not enough for them to really recognize him. But enough for some of the Senju also kind of side eye him sometimes.
He's too Hatake for the Senju but too Senju for the Hatake.
He has to mask any Hatake traits he has to make people more comfortable when around others, but then doesn't know how or what to try and exaggerate to get the Hatake's approval
Picturing like, when the boys were young and there mother was still alive. And their aunt, the Hatake clan head and their mother's sister, coming to visit.
And she spends time with both Hashirama and Tobirama, then when leaving tells the boys that Tobirama is welcome to visit the clan lands once he's of age
And Hashirama kind of pipes up and asks if he can come too and she just sort of pats him on the head and says something about not thinking it was really "for him"
And later that night Hashirama approaches their mother and asks why he couldn't visit either, and why their aunt seemed to like Tobirama so much more than him.
And his mom has to struggle with how to say "The Hatake are a very private and protective clan, and you aren't not Hatake enough for her to let you into her home" in a way her like 9 year old son can understand while still being nice about it (she tries her best but years later and that one conversation is still one of Hashirama's strongest and saddest memories of his mother. He has a lot of conflicting thoughts about it)
But yeah !! Give him cultural imposter syndrome and jealousy of not being enough to count as one of them
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real-fire-emblem-takes · 2 months ago
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hiiii 👋✨️ drag anon coming off anon bc as soon as we get to a certain character ppl will definitely recognize me lol
anyway as promised. Awakening time. ‘would they do drag?’: first gen edition
Chrom: sort of. I think Lucina&Kjelle, Lucina&Morgan, OR just Cynthia (very dependent on who his kid is) would bully him into a dress for fun more than once. now thats not really drag, and I dont think Chrom even likes it, but he still does it for his kids every time without arguing so… yknow. lowkey keeping my eye on her. i mean him. who said that
Fredrick: Yes and he would absolutely serve cunt HOWEVER ☝️️ the setup has to be it's for the good of Ylisse in some way.
Vaike: kicked ass in a skirt once and is super proud of it. like…. has told the story one too many times. i'd imagine he thinks it makes him an #ally but im not gonna be the one to tell him thats not how that works lol
Virion: No, but on the other hand, Cherche is forcefemming him as we speak.
Kellam: he'd serve in those looks that use a lot of sculptural elements since they're similar enough to armour for him 2 be comfortable. also someone get this girl those 10 inch platform heels or whatever because you know she'd love feeling tall.
Lon’qu: lmao absolutely not. imagine him spooking at his own reflection though.
Donnel: Has done it for a village harvest festival as an old traditional thing. he had like one of those wreath crowns made of twigs and vegetables n shit and wore like a plain linen dress anyway very #cottagecore very cute. i imagine if this was modern day his Ma would have taken many photos.
Ricken: no. I personally think he's too deep in the toxic masculinity soup (which is fair hes a kid). however if chrom transitions we might be able to save ricken by proxy.
Gaius: YES oh my god he can and has and will do it again. He’s a comedy queen who takes candy as tips and puts em in his bra.
Gregor: Also yes but not recently. he used to serve cunt ocasionally in his twink era but now he believes he's too old for club. gregor family man now. at least it does mean that if hes a girldad he's gonna have a great time playing dress ups with his kid (I like him as sev's dad for what that's worth)
Libra: No. I think Libra is tired of gender. I think Libra needs a nap.
Henry: He IS putting on a skirt and going spinny while he murders things but it's not drag. I don't know what it is but neither does Henry. lowkey 'might be nonbinary but i gotta go kill ppl so idc about that rn’ energy. also, just putting it out there that when he and sumia swapped bodies i dont think henry let it keep him up at night. sumia, however,
Basilio: Serving queen cunt realness every damn day are you kidding? next question!
Priam: already pretending to be related to Ike soooo 🤷‍♀️
Walhart: He's done it but for the life of me I can't say when or why. Or even if he liked it. I just know he served at some point..... like........ via divine prophecy. maybe thats how he managed to conquer valm so fast? decimated the continent via the power of slay (?????)
Yen’fey: hasn't done drag YET. strong case he could be convinced given the main plot is him being blackmailed. specifically i have a mental image of excellus bein like ‘and now you WILL wear the dress or your dear little sister gets it’ and yen'fey is like ‘.............’ next chapter you see him and he's dolled up & serving. like in that scenario i dont think he'd enjoy it but he IS doing it so it counts.
Gangrel: I don't want to picture him in drag because I think he’d be good at it and that scares me.
second gen charas in their own ask later bc this got too long 🙏
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royhasissues · 13 days ago
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Werewolf Torbek AU
The release of the Crooked Moon one shot for Witchlight reminded me of my werewolf Torbek AU that I literally only shared with one person lol (@mariusrenathyrs-crashout <3)
It's a human AU (I know, sorry) and set in some nondescript time in the past. There isn't really magic in this world, but there are elements to it.
Anyway, the party lives in a small town and they all already know each other. At some point, late one night, Torbek is bitten by a wolf and through his Torbek brand of luck, survives. He doesn't bring this up to the others because it wasn't a big deal (to him), but later on, he actively tries to keep it a secret.
Not long after he's bitten, weird things start happening to him: waking up in strange places, losing chunks of time, odd tastes in his mouth, etc... Eventually, he catches on to what's been happening and keeps it a secret from the others bc he thinks they'll hate him for it. This is in a time where people would hunt werewolves with prejudice. Most people have heard tales of the beasts and how they're senseless killers, so Torbek approaches it with this lens.
Our story begins with Frost trekking through the woods late in the evening. He's gathering herbs and plants for food and medicine and other such things. This is something he does often and he knows the woods well. He's out later than he normally would be because he was caught up earlier in the day, but decided it didn't need to be pushed back until the next day.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?), he's waylaid by a wolf. It doesn't attack right away, but he knows it will. It looked malnourished and he knows that wolves usually lurk deeper in the woods. He weighs his options and realizes there isn't much he can do. However, he's saved when a large, dark figure crashes out of the trees and takes a swipe at the wolf. There's a brief scuffle and the wolf runs off. Frost is not relieved, however, because it looks like something much larger has decided to eat him.
The creature looks back at him and Frost is startled by what he sees.
Torbek's "wolf form" is fairly similar to how he looks in canon because Torbek's design always reminded me of the classic Wolfman. Obviously, there's no Witchlight canisters or tubes, but he's pretty much the same, if not a bit more wolfish. He's semi-bipedal, so he can run on all fours but also stand on two feet.
Glowing magenta eyes stare at Frost and he's once again shocked to see something akin to recognition in the creature's eyes. It disappears into the trees and Frost stands there frozen for a moment longer before going home.
When Torbek turns, he goes into a bit of a fugue state and becomes more animalistic. However, he still can recognize his friends and won't attack them. He doesn't always remember what he did the night before and he's always worried he might have killed someone. He can speak as a wolf, but it's a bit stunted.
Frost becomes fascinated with this creature and wants to know why it saved him. He figures it has a higher level of intelligence and wants to know more about it
Torbek wakes up in a clearing dazed and confused, half naked and injured. He picks himself up and shuffles home. He remembers saving Frost and is terrified of him find out. He tells himself there's no way Frost would recognize him, he looks totally different!
That morning, Frost goes back to the woods where he was attacked and follows large tracks that lead off deeper into the woods. He follows them into a clearing where they abruptly disappear. Perplexed, but with nothing else to go on, he returns home.
Within the next few days, Frost notices that Torbek has been injured. It's the same arm that the wolf bit that creature, but he doesn't make the connection yet. Torbek gets oddly shifty about it, but after some prodding, promises to go see Gricko.
Frost isn't an idiot, so he decides going out into the woods at night isn't a good idea and will stick to collect him ingredients during the day.
To be continued :)
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marimeeko · 11 months ago
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Thinking lately about Izuku(a civilian now) getting caught up in some Villain shenanigans(think like a random hostage situation or heist/robbery)(he is literally at the wrong place at the wrong time) and the possibilities of what could happen.
The possibilities of the civilians recognizing him and hoping for him to save them? Him doing his best to keep them all together and calm?
The possibilities of whether or not the villains recognize him or slowly start to figure it out? Do they know he's actually Quirkless now and try to take advantage of that? Or do they think he still has powers and immediately try to restrain and overpower him?
How Izuku either fights back or tries to thwart the villains? How he stays quiet at first, but is observing and analyzing the crap out of them and their Quirks?(while it's technically illegal for him to act as a hero, he also wouldn't stand down if the villains were threatening to harm any of the hostages)
If he has an actual altercation with them? And what if he gets injured? (I imagine he can hold his own reasonably well in a hand to hand fight! He still trains and is in shape, maybe even spars with Kacchan, and he has that extremely high pain tolerance! But he still gets clocked especially if he's trying to prevent them from doing harm)
And what happens when GEMG DynaMight gets to the scene. And does Katsuki know before hand that Izuku is involved of find out afterward when Izuku is released with the hostages? Or when he busts in to stop them and sees Izuku himself??
Or do the villains know enough about Izuku and Katsuki to make Izuku their primary hostage and hold Izuku hostage for some sort of ransom or deal with DynaMight?
And do they know enough to know that that's pretty much a death wish for them?
How about Izuku being just cool as a cucumber even though they're threatening DynaMight bc he knows enough about these suckers now to know that they are no match for Dynamight....much less when he is ANGRY.
Or how bout Izuku actually trying to talk them out of their dumb idea (full on teacher voice activated) because he knows they're petty criminals who are acting this way for a reason, but they shouldn't add kidnapping to their rapsheet.
DynaMight busting in and busting them, of course, and putting the fear of god into the villains whenever he is aware of Izuku being involved. He takes it personally, maybe hitting the guy holding down izuku a little harder than the others before arresting them.
What about when Katsuki gets Izuku out of there, he fusses endlessly over Izukus injuries and bloody face, and refuses to let Izuku go home by himself(he needs to be monitored for a concussion, that's all!)
I MEAN WHY HAVE WE NOT THOUGHT MORE ABOUT THIS ASPECT THERES SO MUCH POTENTIAL HERE.
If this is a fic already I really want to read it... Daniart already made an art to this theme and I saw it today, meanwhile I have definitely been pondering it for a day or two *bkdk brainmeld*
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that-left-turn · 4 months ago
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Regardless of zabel and his messy editing, what do you think was going through carol's mind when she said "it's a little more complicated than that"? E.g. what Melissa might have thought.
I'm confused by it bc when she says it, it's while didi thinks that carol is isabelle. Did she just mean "it's complicated bc I'm not isabelle"?
Short answer? No 🙃
It's hard to isolate one line of dialogue because you need to look at the whole scene and consider the arc(s) it fits into as well. This post is sort of a peek into how I parse a scene in its larger context, so my exhaustively long answer is behind the cut. I'd suggest a beverage of choice and a comfy seat while you read.
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When you analyze a scene, you need to look at the actors' business (i.e. what they're doing) because it's a deliberate choice. It's never a random 'they can hang out in the kitchen while they chat.' Prepping the mise en place is as much a part of the narrative as what the characters are talking about. While I think Zabel has the men hunting for car parts and the women are stuck in the kitchen with female chores, the kitchen also tends to be the heart of the home where historically women of different generations gathered and talked. Shared wisdom.
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All the episodes of DarDix have song titles and the potato chopping scene has the title song “Paradis pour toi” playing in the background on the very old-timey gramophone. (The song, sung by a British actress, is about Tahiti and problematic in its 60’s take on the ‘island of happiness’ where everyone's a fisherman and nobody has a home.) The scene opens on an insert of the record playing, which is a visual cue that the song is a key element of this scene specifically, in addition to being the episode's theme. The theme of the whole French arc is illusion and make believe.
The color scheme of the scene is warm and earthy with lots of browns and greens. Some oranges. Kind of drab looking. The lighting is darkish. This isn't some island paradise, it's more of a throwback to occupied France of the 40's.
As the scene progresses, we'll see how disconnected Didi is from her own reality. The entire sequence with Didi and Theo emphasizes the illusionary bubble of the quaint village life they've built for themselves which will inevitably burst. We recognize that in how the walkers are fenced into their own backyards after the neighbors have passed. It's only a matter of time before the illusion, their false sense of security, shatters.
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The opening gambit of the conversation is important in establishing Carol's headspace in the scene. Most of the children she misses never got to grow up and fly the coop. Sophia, Lizzie, Mika and Henry are gone and in a real and terrifying sense, Lydia, Judith and RJ might be too. There's no guarantee that the plane will make a successful return journey, or even that Ash will still be where Carol left him. It's a tough reality check for her and she doesn't know if Daryl even wants her here.
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This is the sucker punch that sets the trajectory of Carol's thought process. What wouldn't Carol give to have Sophia and Henry with her again, even if only for one day. But, it's only the first of the hard-hitting 'truths' Didi delivers in the scene.
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This is the switch to Midwestern Bakesale Mom. Melissa's face does most of the heavy lifting in this scene—look at her eyes and her mouth in particular, but when Carol looks at Didi and the angle at which her head turns are also choices that Melissa has made. It will tell you a lot about how Carol feels about the lies she tells and how Didi unwittingly keeps sticking her foot in her mouth.
Carol has assumed the role of Sœur Isabelle, but if Didi really believes that, why would she speak English to Isabelle when they're alone? She doesn't have to be inclusive of Daryl because he isn't there. Carol also isn't very convincing as a nun (e.g. we see her take the Lord's name in vain in one scene) or as a French woman. The few phrases she says in French have an unmistakable accent that identifies her as American and the line above is very culturally coded. The only way it would've sounded more American would've been if Carol had said Laurent was an 'awesome' kid.
So, does Didi really believe Carol is Isabelle or is that just another illusion she tries to uphold because it's a prettier, less messy version of post-apocalyptic life? This is a woman who lost both her children and her grandchildren, and she might just want to believe in fairy tales despite evidence to the contrary.
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Laurent is a child. He wants a normal life with a mom and a dad. We see that in the way he fixates on the Eiffel Tower in S1 as a representation of his dead mother and before Daryl, there was Père Jean. Laurent idolized the priest who delivered him, so Daryl is more or less a replacement role model. Being raised by an order of nuns, Laurent doesn't have any experience being around men, so he's imprinted on Daryl. He was encouraged to do so from the moment Daryl arrived at the convent.
Carol's face is pensive during this beat. Daryl has been standoffish, so she doesn't know how the puzzle pieces fit just yet. This is a woman who (on the flagship show) plays 4d chess while everybody else is playing checkers. There's not much that passes Carol by (even though Zabel has more or less retconned her intelligence/perceptiveness in the spinoff) and this is her first opportunity to gather intel... because Daryl won't level with her.
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This is the moment when it really hits home for Carol that Daryl is tied to this child, not necessarily out of his own choice, but because Laurent needs a caretaker and a role model. He doesn't have anyone else and who better than Daryl? He 'did more for Sophia than her own daddy did his whole life,' he watched over Henry at Hilltop and he's loved, fed and nurtured Judith since the day she was born. In Carol's mind, there isn't a better man to care for a child.
We can see that she's torn in this beat between her genuine praise for Daryl and what that might mean for her and their joint family unit back in the CW. There's some lovely chiaroscuro on Carol's face to reflect the emotional dichotomy going on inside her mind.
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The narrative insists that Laurent is perceptive and insightful in the worst case of ‘tell, not show’ I’ve seen from a pro screenwriter. (The boy is naïve and spouts trite reflections on life and the world in the same way a middle-aged white man with serious Elmer Fudd energy would speak.) Didi is well-meaning, but the words have a different kind of impact on Carol. Will Laurent, once she finally meets him, see right through to the rotten core of her and recognize that she's not good for children?
Carol goes from looking at Didi to turning away, not really looking at anything. There's a brief break in her chopping too; Didi's line is punctuated by a louder sound from Carol's knife when she cuts another potato. She's made the decision to stop beating around the bush:
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There's a little bit of irritation, social politesse and trepidation fluttering across her face during this beat. I admire Melissa's awareness and control of her face as a tool to convey so much of the story—this is as close as you get in a visual medium to the insight a novel gives the reader, where you're in a character's head, experiencing their thoughts. The reason why Melissa's castmates are always so profuse in their compliments on her acting is that they know how hard this is to master and also, how rare a command it is to possess. Most actors are nowhere near as good at non-verbal storytelling as Melissa is.
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I'd like to draw attention to the change in angle here. The closeups have all been from the opposite direction, focused on Carol, but here we move over to Didi, leaving Carol's face in the frame but out of focus. Why? After this line we move back over to Carol again, but we don't get a good shot of her initial unguarded reaction to this revelation. The scene would've been shot all the way through with a camera on Carol, so this was a choice made in post.
It's a strange one to me because how this line lands is the important bit. Didi's delivery isn't, because she's just the messenger. There are no emotional stakes for her in this beat. My professional opinion is that they're trying to hide the parts of the story the EPs don't want the audience to focus on, but it's also shooting themselves in the foot because it thwarts the audience's emotional engagement with the story.
Daryl told Carol that he loves her and then he left her. It's a pivotal moment and any showrunner who's halfway decent at their job would want you to have a good look at Carol's face. This is 'the money note' equivalent of a TV show. It's a massive plot point in Caryl's emotional arc no matter how anyone sees them: soulmates, siblings or whatever. It's also an equally big moment in Carol's emotional arc and anything that lessens the impact on the viewer is doing your show a disservice. (Not to mention that it comes off as an amateur mistake.)
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We go back to the original angle, where we can see Carol processing, but she's also aware that she has an audience and that she needs to school her face. The character is almost as adept as the actor of keeping track of her facial expressions (and knowing what they convey to an onlooker). I love how cleanly Melissa balances that character ability with simultaneously needing to show us where Carol's mind is at. There are a few "hm"s in this scene—which isn't good writing—but they're all different from each other in Melissa's delivery. Each one says something of its own. There's a certain amount of resignation at the end of this one, a 'but of course...'
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Finally (💀) we get to the line you asked about. Probably the only thing you were interested in and you had to sift through paragraphs' worth of nerdy shop talk before I managed to get to the point. In my defense, all of the above matters in how to parse this line.
The major theme of the French arc is the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day, whether that's believing you're a young adult in Neverland or living in a village farmhouse, pretending it's still the 1940's. The old man who provides a car for Caryl may suffer from dementia, but Didi and Theo are willfully deluding themselves that their countryside paradise won't end. "It's a little more complicated than that" intrudes on the fantasy that you can pretend your problems away, or your responsibilities vis-à-vis your family/community... fellow human beings.
On a superficial level, yes, Carol acknowledges that she isn't Isabelle, but the people whose interaction Didi has observed and is commenting on is that of Carol and Daryl:
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"It's a little more complicated than that" also suggests that maybe there's more to the backstory of Daryl leaving Carol after having told her that he loves her. Remember Carol telling Daryl, "it'll be good for you, for us," in the series finale? That line didn't make any kind of sense and I assumed that either the connective tissue had been cut (because that's never Gimple's priority) or the line was added to a late draft as a handwave justification for Daryl's solo departure (because Gimple doesn't prioritize cohesive storytelling).
Regardless, Melissa knows she said that line and it's part of her job to make shoddy writing work somehow. It's an actor's job to break down each of their character's emotional beats in a scene and as mentioned earlier in this post, Caryl's goodbye in the CW has already been alluded to in this conversation. It would be on Carol's mind. Tie in her telling Daryl over the radio (when he was in Maine) that, "you never have to worry about me," and the picture that's being painted of Caryl's post CW rebellion relationship is intriguing.
Melissa would've stitched together an narrative for her character that's organic; usually, an actor decides on a headcanon of sorts, but sometimes, it's a series of possible scenarios: if/then. The latter approach makes it easier for the performer to pivot if the writing changes direction or gives a different explanation for something.
If Zabel were a halfway competent writer, I would've expected him to make use of all these elements and give the audience a trail a breadcrumbs to follow.
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We don't get the first reaction of how this line lands on Carol either. We just get the transformation into Carol's cookie lady persona:
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It's safe to retreat into the illusion she's woven to protect herself and to dupe potentially hostile strangers. Her face says she doesn't know how to respond even if she wanted to and this is the point where she changes the topic to Didi's relationship instead, after that forced little uneasy smile.
The idea of things being 'rare' runs throughout the Didi and Theo arc: the truffles, seeing young people, love, etc. Carol knows how precious the emotional ties she has to Daryl are—she flew across the ocean after the world has ended and had no leads to where he might be in France (which is about the size of Texas). But, to reference the song playing on the gramophone, Carol has no idea if Daryl's found 'a country where happiness is king' and whether Laurent is his "reason to keep living." Maybe her own fantasy is about to crash because Daryl has finally found his happy ending and she isn't part of that.
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craving-for-chaos · 3 months ago
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Some thoughts on Mel and Ambessa from Arcane :)
Anon this one's for you (I was originally going to put this in my answer to your ask but it got longer than I expected so here we are lol)!!
I LOVE Mel. And not just because I'm a raging lesbian ☝ She's genuinely a really well written character. She's so intelligent, not to mention manipulative (especially in s1), and it's so impressive how she utilizes that to get what she wants. I didn't really care for Jayce very much in s1 either, so whenever Mel convinced him to do what she wanted I was just sitting there like "yes queen play him like a fiddle. 😍" That aside, she genuinely has a good heart, and I appreciate that the writers let those two facets of her character coexist without defining her by one or the other. I also really enjoyed her getting more agency in s2 (or at least in act 3, I suppose, since she was effectively taken out of the game so to speak for the first couple acts)—and her actions/success became less dependent on Jayce as well which was nice. Her fighting with Cait against Ambessa was SO good omg
Speaking of Ambessa...she's also such a cool character. I can't say I like her as much specifically bc of how she took advantage of Caitlyn and her grief + status in s2, but at the same time, it makes total sense for her character and that doesn't make her any less of a great villain. In fact, that's a large part of WHY she's such a good villain. But her extremely tactical and planned takeover of Piltover aside—she's a cunning warlord and just as manipulative as Mel, but she's also a MOTHER, and words cannot express how much I enjoy the fact that that's treated as an integral part of her character instead of an afterthought. She isn't depicted as weak because she's a mother, and while she personally does feel weakened by her children (particularly Mel), it's only out of her love for them. Plus, at the end of the day, the final battle showed us that even her love for Mel wouldn't impede her lust for power, so her role as a mother doesn't cheapen her ruthlessness either. FANTASTIC stuff. Side note, but I also loved her bond with Rictus.
Ambessa's also honestly really similar to Mel. If you switched out Mel's softness/morals for an extremely strong love of family, you basically get Ambessa, and I think that's part of why they clashed the way they did. They're both incredibly intelligent, and so so skilled at manipulating any situation in their favor, influencing others, and taking power, and I imagine those are shared qualities that Ambessa loved and Mel loathed for a long time. Meanwhile, Ambessa's unshakable principles (eg. Fox vs. Wolf mentality) simply didn't allow her to fully accept Mel's empathy, just as Mel's empathy for others made Ambessa's cruelty seem intolerable to her. But they still loved each other to the end, and I adore that. Mel holding her mother as she died because of her, Ambessa finally recognizing Mel as what she deems to be the perfect leader in her dying moments....ohhhh they're so complicated.
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humorisstoredinthetits · 8 months ago
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Poly Heathers & Veronica and Headcannons
This is mostly just gonna be some random HCs plus some demographic information
Sorry this one is late, it was supposed to be last week's, but after certain world events I kinda lost all motivation to do much, but I'm doing better now then I was a few days ago
Heather Chandler:
Her birthday is on February 24th
She's 5'5 which is only ever so slightly taller than Duke, a fact that she never fails to remind her about
Everyone thinks she's the tallest, but that's bc she wears high heels 24/7
Mac is actually the tallest Heather, but she refuses to wear heels bc of how much they hurt her back, so it looks like she's the shortest
She's Pansexual but has exactly 0 interest in any man, especially after what happened with David
She is white as can be, specifically with French ancestry, her family is super racist and would disown any member that married someone of a different race
(For all of them, I hc that they look and sound like the off-broadway cast, so Veronica looks like Barrett, Mac like Elle McLemore and so on)
She doesn't know much French but she'll insert what little she does know into her speech, making her sound like Ms.Piggy
For example, "If you'll excuse moi I'm going to bed"
She tried learning more French but it frustrated her so much that she just gave up
She's an atheist, after seeing all of the things her mother did in the name of God she is convinced that there is no higher being
She is 100000% a bottom, she might be dominant irl but in the bedroom she just melts
She's one of those people who cannot function without coffee, if she doesn't have some first thing in the morning she will be even more bitchy than usual, which is saying something
She likes hers with a shit ton of creamer and sugar
She actually hates the taste of coffee but recognizes that without it she is basically a zombie
Chandler loves cats
She loves their mischievousness, the ways their ears move, their adorable little meows, she just thinks they're neat
This made it all the more upsetting to her that Heather Catler doesn't like her
She is the most fearful of her wives, a fact she likes to keep hidden despite knowing that they won't judge her for it
She's afraid of bugs (all kinds), snakes, flying/heights, ghosts/zombies and the like, blood, and dogs
She had a bad experience with a dog as a child and refuses to go anywhere near one, even service dogs
If she sees a dog she will nope out and get the hell outta there as fast as she can
One time a dog came up and started sniffing her as dogs do and she screamed so loud she broke a window before climbing on top of Veronica
She's also afraid of needles and the others have to trick her like she's a child to get her to go get her shots
She cries the entire time it happens and they have to go get ice cream after
Even Mac who is an absolute crybaby doesn't cry when she has to go get shots
She often threatens to kick one of her wives (usually Duke) out the bed because of something they did
Whenever she follows through on this threat she ends up missing them and going to join them in wherever they had been exiled to, which inevitably leads to the others joining them
She's the most mature of the four of them and is the one who has to come bail them out whenever they do something stupid
One time they were at Target and the three of them were acting stupid as usual and a mom came up to Chandler who was facepalming and told her that she understands how hard it is to have three teenage daughters
She only facepalmed even harder
She's tried to get them to act normal but they said "nah I don't really feel like it"
She pretends to hate it but she finds it super endearing
She likes red flavored things, except for Strawberry
She'll take Cherry or Raspberry or anything else, but if its Strawberry flavored she will gag
One time JD pranked her by getting her a Strawberry slushie and after realizing what flavor it actually was she dumped it on his head
She eats at least 3 bags of corn nuts a day, one at breakfast, at least once during the day and one at dinner
They have a whole shelf in their pantry dedicated to fucking corn nuts, BQ obviously
She's a total neat freak
She has a system for things and if someone messes with it she gets very upset
One time Veronica put the paprika where the cinnamon was supposed to go and Chandler was cross with her for the rest of the night
This conflicts with their very messy pets, or at least two of them
Catler's fur gets fucking everywhere, even in rooms that she's never been in before
Every time it looks like she's gotten the last of it she'll find another clump of fur in a corner
And don't her her started on Munchkin
Thankfully his destruction is limited to his room but there are hay and poop and toys everywhere and it makes her die inside when she sees it
When she gets upset she gets fucking pissed
When that happens her wives know to leave her alone and that when she calms herself down she'll come to them for comfort
Her temper is short and uncontrollable and it doesn't take much to get her to the point that she's screaming at the top of her lungs
And she is ruthless when she gets mad, one time some guy was being a sleazebag while she was on a date with Duke and she roasted him so badly that he started sobbing in the middle of the restaurant
She takes forever in the shower, so long that most days her wives get tired of waiting and just come join her
Her red schrunchie was a gift from Mac and when she got it she vowed to wear it every day
To this day she has worn it every single day, even her wedding day
She fucking hates winter and gets cold super easy
It might have something to do with the fact that she wears skirts every single day no matter what
If it is a single degree under 70 she spends all day bundled up under several blankets
She is a blanket hog and will steal everyone's blankets
Some once somehow stole Veronica's even though she was on the other side of the bed with Mac and Duke between them
When she is sick she is awful to be around
She whines and complains and is just really snappy, when it happens Duke and Veronica leave because they would end up losing their tempers on her quick, but Mac has dealt with this much longer and knows that she doesn't mean it
She gets nightmares really frequently but she refuses to let the others know or help her
They know but don't want to push her into talking if she's not ready
She so desperately needs to be the strong one, because if she's not the strong one then what is she?
Heather Duke:
She was born March 17th, 20XX
She's 5'3, making her the shortest Heather
She fucking hates that she's so short
She has a hard time grabbing things on high shelves, people always look down on her (literally), it makes her less intimidating, its just generally annoying
On that first thought, Veronica will literally pick her up so she can grab the thing that she was trying to grab
She'll also put her in the kid seat in shopping carts, which Duke can't get out of herself
She's lesbian, exactly 0 interest in any man
She actually thought she was AroAce for a while, but she realized she was lesbian when she joined the Heathers
She's full blooded Korean, and she can speak the language fluently
When she gets really upset she'll switch to Korean unintentionally and start ranting
She's an atheist as well, but I can also see her being a pagan or Wiccan
Her family adopted Christianity when they moved to America, but they did it mostly for show and to fit in with the American culture, so true belief was never really passed down to Duke
Definitely a switch, leaning dom but is submissive sometimes
She has dyslexia and for the longest time had trouble reading
Eventually she got some glasses to help her, and now that she can read without difficulty she fell in love with it
Duke was worried about how glasses would make her look, but her wives were incredibly supportive
Chandler told her that she thinks that she looks sooooo sexy with her glasses, and that meant a lot to Duke bc she knows that Chandler isn't one to censor herself or lie to save other's feelings
Bc she's so small she can wear the other's clothes without any problems and so she'll often be seen wearing one of Mac's sweaters or Veronica's sweatpants or something
She's mostly gotten over her eating disorder, but occasionally those thoughts come up
Her wives have learned how to read her body language and can tell when she's having those kinds of thoughts, and if they see it they'll all take the day off and pamper her
When she gets upset at one of her wives she'll kick them, and her kicks fucking hurt
One time she kicked Chandler so hard after she made some snarky remark that a bruise formed and she started to tone it down
When she gets mad its a kind of quiet anger and it scares the shit out of her wives
If she starts to get really quiet her wives know something or someone fucked up and know to stay out of her way
Even Chandler will not interfere
She's so petty that she plays multiplayer games like Mario Party in her freetime just so she has the advantage on Chandler whenever the next game night rolls around
Heather McNamara:
She was born on June 22nd, 20XX
She's 5'7, being the tallest actual Heather, but of course Veronica towers over them all
She's a lesbian just like Duke, but unlike her she's known it from the day that she met Chandler
She's also white, specifically from Irish Heritage, but she knows fuck all about Ireland and has no real desire to learn more about it
Mac's not really sure about religion, she thinks that there's some kind of deity or higher power but she's not sure which
The best way to describe it would be agnostic, but Mac doesn't have a label for it
She's decided to just live her life in the best way she can and in a way that works for her and to not sweat about a god or afterlife
Mac is a Disney shill
Despite her cute personality and demeanor, she is a top and takes charge in the bedroom
She loves everything Disney puts out (not so much Star Wars or Marvel, but Pixar, the Muppets and regular Disney Animation yes)
She spends a lot of time watching old movies or shows on Disney+ or trying to convince the others to plan their next trip to Disney World
She is also an avid reader of fanficiton
She normally doesn't like to read, but when it comes to fanfiction she's almost as bad as Duke or Veronica
She mostly reads MLP stuff, but also branches out into Frozen and Pokemon
If chicken nuggets weren't one of her safe foods she would probably be a vegetarian, she loves animals and can't stand the thought of eating them, but at the same time chicken nuggets are really good
She 100% plays with her dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets before eating them and gets sad when they're in her tummy
She has autism and was thankfully diagnosed early in life, allowing her to have many years of therapy to help develop coping mechanisms and understand what sets her off
However there are still some things that can trigger a meltdown, such as abrupt changes in schedule, especially if it involves her wives like one of them having to stay late at work, certain loud sounds (mostly alarms), itchy/uncomfortable fabrics, being forced to be around certain unsafe foods, and crowded indoor spaces
She insists that she isn't cute, and the others have to agree with her there
She's not cute, she's really cute
Her pout can make even the most stubborn person she knows (Chandler) bend to her will, a fact that she uses to her advantage frequently
She cries very easily and often
Usually its not for anything bad, but whenever she feels some strong emotion, be it anger, joy, or fear the tears will start to flow
She hates making eye contact with people and will refuse to do so, even with her wives
She is super strong, not like super buff or anything but she has very well defined muscles
She kept up with an exercise regiment even after leaving the cheer squad so she's stayed in shape
Because of this her hugs feel really good, same with her cuddles
Most nights she falls asleep on the couch and has to be carried to the bed
She's always dreamed of acting in a play, but she's too nervous to go and audition, so for now at least she sticks to singing in the shower and car
She wanted to do drama in high school but Chandler convinced her to do cheer instead, staying drama is where the nerds went and the popular girls did cheer
She has hundreds of stuffed animals, and she's named each of them and remembers all of them
She fucking suckssssss at Math, it is her worst subject by far
She cannot do anything more complicated than multiplication without a calculator
Veronica Sawyer:
She was born on January 16th, 20XX
She's 5'11
She hated being that tall as people would make fun of her for it, but now that she's with the Heathers she enjoys it, as it makes messing them with so much easier
She's bisexual and definitely had a crush on JD when they first met, but now she only thinks of him as a good friend and he's AroAce anyway
She jokes that she's Heather-sexual but none of the Heathers find it funny
She's also white, from English heritage
Sometimes she'll get her monocle on and start talking in a bad British accent
If Chandler sees it she bangs her head against the nearest surface
Veronica is an atheist, but was a Christian when she first met the Heathers
Through some talks with Chandler and JD she became disillusioned with the church and with faith, but this split caused a rift with her parents, especially when she informed them that she wasn't getting married in a church or by a priest
Her parents aren't the "if you are gay you're going to hell" kinda Christians but they were still worried about her soul or whatever
Is also a switch, but she leans submissive
She's a huge history nut and is a walking encyclopedia of historical information
She finds going to museums and shit like that fun, but they bore her wives to death so she usually ends up going alone
She was a straight A student in school, was always on the honor roll and if she hadn't joined the Heathers and had to deal with all their drama she was definetly in the running for Valedictorian
She stays up late at night watching true crime documentaries on Youtube, a habit which annoys her wives to no end
They're trying to get some sleep but the light from Veronica's phone is keeping them up, not to mention the sound
Its made even worse by the fact that she uses light mode for some ungodly reason
Chandler eventually got sleep masks and earbuds for the three of them so they can actually get some sleep
Veronica has insomnia and has trouble falling asleep most nights, that's why she stays up watching videos
She's gone to doctors and taken some meds, but none of them really help
Despite everything being cool between her wives and friends, she still feels guilt over how she ended up married to the biggest bullies in school who tormented her and her friends for years
She likes the weird flavors of things like Sour Cream and Onion Chips or Salt and Vinegar chips
One time she ordered the ketchup flavored Lays from Europe and Chandler nearly vomited from the smell
The Heathers are convinced that she just doesn't have taste buds and eats this weird crap to freak them out
But no, she just legitimately likes the taste
She also has the most tolerance for sour things and can eat bag after bag of sour candy, long after her wives tapped out
Speaking of food, Veronica is like a black hole
She can just inhale food and still be hungry
Whenever they get a shareable food like pizza they usually have to get a whole pizza for just her
She collects records
Her dad gave her his old player when she moved out along with his old collection
Its one of the few things Veronica has that Chandler likes bc it "gives the home character" whatever that means
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xaeyrnofnbe · 8 months ago
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HOW ID REWRITE ANGEL: THE SERIES
(bc i liked the show but i feel like things should have played out VERY differently) (i'm very biased towards certain characters also)
changes start around when cordy ascends to be a higher being and connor throws angel in the ocean
her boredom as a higher being leads to her coming back to earth (on her own accord!!) and giving up her godhood to do so, but retaining outward, physical demonic traits (themed around her brief appearance as a god bc i think the imagery there was very pretty) and this acts as a full circle moment for her character, mirroring doyle in season 1. whereas once she was disgusted by a half-demon, now she is one herself and couldn't be happier. she still has visions and some minor abilities but now she doesn't pass for human and doesn't get to be space-demon-god
connor and cordelia DOESNT HAPPEN. GIRL THAT IS YOUR SON. BOY THAT IS YOUR MOM. PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER
more lorne. idc what happens with him i just want him to be more of a main character
cordelia and angel have some brief awkward flirtations(?) which are super weird and uncomfortable and they conclude that they love each other dearly, but aren't into each other Like That (they only thought so to begin with bc all their friends kept saying it) (but they're buddies :]]])
connor seriously struggles with holt's death, and has to grapple with the emotional confusion of trying to live with and cooperate with the very man he was raised for the sole purpose of killing. but angel investigations really want him to be ok so they take good care of him throughout, even if he is hesitant to accept
uhhhh eventually wesley does get apologetic about betraying his friends. it takes him a while but he does recognize and regret his wrongdoings
i don't know what the big bad should be in season 4 since i'd fully retcon everything needed to make that plot happen. i like to imagine it would be better though
they DO end up running wolfram & hart. since i think it's funny. and spike's arc remains the same with him returning as a ghost, coming back to life, etc etc. he'd be a smidge different though, a TAD less antagonistic. not because i think he wouldn't but because i'd like to see more of the spike we saw at the end of btvs (it'd be hard to justify with buffy not being present, but i still think it's doable)
harmony gets to be more of a character also!!! she and cordy hang out :)) she also takes her job as angel's assistant VERY seriously, but in that way that only harmony could be, which is to say: not very serious at all actually, but she's very determined about whatever the hell it is she's doing
more hints that angel and spike banged when they were evil because 1. i think it's funny, 2. the implications for their characters and dynamic are EXCELLENT. i would also like a few more friend moments for them. and maybe they kiss idk whaaaat who said that. no but seriously the werewolf girl doesn't happen and instead that plot is taken over by spike. imagine. i mean whattt
more of angel acting silly bc he was adorable in the first season and i'd love more of that
fred doesn't die suddenly and horribly. preferably not at all
gunn gets to care about literally anything other than himself in s5. more emphasis on his resilience? his will to survive? and how that makes him more loyal to the people in his life? pretty please? and he hangs out with wes because they were friends once?
with cordelia not gone maybe they could somehow move dennis to wolfram & hart? or maybe cordy has a new apartment he could stay at? idk i just thought he was fun and SURELY there's a spell for that
basically there's road bumps for sure but at the core of the show is a band of friends. they LIKE each other, because i genuinely believe that's where the show is strongest. i never really cared for the dramatic plotlines, im really only in it for the characters i adore and their (ALMOST ENTIRELY PLATONIC UNLESS ITS FUNNY) relationships to one another. and it's at its weakest when everything's all gloomy and dramatic. so let it be lighthearted and let them be FRIENDS
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rookanis-de-riva · 25 days ago
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Excerpt from ch 1 of Part-Time Soulmate, Full-Time Problem
(this is a longfic WIP I'm trying to drum up support to finish; soulmate omegaverse AU that starts with Rook & Illario as soulmates [toxic], endgame Rookanis as chosen mates)
--
Lucanis studies what little he can see of the small child's sullen, suspicious face and wonders how Viago plans to train his fledglings differently than the previous de Riva.
"You don't have to be afraid, topolino," he tells them.
The words are barely out of his mouth before the child replies, tone now rude enough they could truly be a de Riva by blood relation.
"I'm not afraid of you, you're plain and boring."
Teia's entire face sucks inward, and her nails grip the wooden door hard enough to leave creaking imprints.
"Be. Polite." she orders.
"Scusi," the child states. "Thank you, sir. I am not afraid of--"
Teia tips her head back and prays in anguished Antivan. Lucanis does absolutely nothing at all to help her. He's too busy grinning. None of his cousins, save Illario, have dared make a peep out of line for the last month, and it is shockingly refreshing to hear a brassy little chick mouth off again.
"Now you understand what it is like to mind Illario," he says.
"Is he here?" the child blurts. "Did he see me? I thought he was busy up front."
"Oh, is he the one you're interested in?"
"No!"
Lucanis smiles at the obvious crush until the child continues.
"I don't want him to see me. I'm a child."
He's never heard a child insist they were a child before. It's always arguments that they're older than they look, more mature, old enough to do whatever they want. No one ever argues they're too young for something.
Except a child in House Cantori.
A de Riva child, watching them. Perhaps two months ago?
A child who saw Illario then but desperately doesn't want him to see them.
Some people claim they knew from their mate's voice or scent. Even the blind still recognize their own mates, so different sense must be possible, but sight is the most universally common across races and cultures.
And the fear in Teia's eyes before is nothing compared to the panicked realization in them now.
"How old is he?" the child keeps asking, oblivious to the political clusterfuck they could cause. "Is he really sixteen? He looks older."
"He is," Lucanis answers slowly. "Sixteen."
If their grandmother found out Illario's mate had ties to both a de Riva and a Cantori ... at absolute best, she would rip the child away to never see either of them again and ensure "loyalty" only to House Dellamorte. Adults might take that deal voluntarily for love and status, but a child will only know they lost their family.
And that's all to say nothing of what the House Veraldo would do if they discovered the most impulsive young Dellamorte Crow has a vulnerable child-mate that could so easily be kidnapped and tortured and--
Andraste ward this child.
He would pray to the elven gods too, if he knew any of them. The most he can remember is some saying about a wolf guiding lost spirits in the fade. May their wolf walk with this child.
--
more details on this WIP:
roughly 30 chapters / 100k, currently halfway there
trans male Rook, beta, spirit mage but fights like a rogue
Lucanis is also a beta and the son of Caterina's eldest daughter
Illario is an Alpha and the son of Caterina's eldest SON and therefore should totally inherit!! big mad about this
Rook is Viago's much younger cousin; as soon as he realized the relation, Viago stepped up his plans to usurp the previous de Riva Talon and claim the seat as his own, then gave Rook to Teia as a "courting gift" bc she's the only person he trusted to actually love and protect a random child
Teia wouldn't give Viago the time of day until she saw how far he went to protect this child, and then she immediately flips to "Daddy deserves to get pegged. as a treat <3"
Rook was more so raised by Teia (his mom) and trained by Viago (his mentor); neither one of them will admit he's Viago's son until the other says it first so they're just locked in a perpetual passive-aggressive stalemate about it that drives Teia INSANE (:
and yet, Rook chose the surname de Riva. his vallaslin is the one with the diamond directly on his forehead though, as a reference to the famous Cantori Diamond lol
my asks are open if anyone wants to know more!!
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idontmindifuforgetme · 2 years ago
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Hi Cianna, just wanted to say I really admire your study ethic and general vibe on this blog (you inspire me to do better!)
Do you have any advice/tips for good study habits and staying focused? I find that I get some work done, but after a break I can't get back on track
Sorry for the long ask/ studyblr type of question;; what is your favourite hairstyle that you do with your hair! (I also have curly brown hair :)
Have a lovely day also <3
🌻🌻
hi! i touch on a lot of points in this other ask, but a few specific learning techniques i abide by are:
parkinson's law. parkinson's law states that work expands to fill the time. basically if you have an essay that's due in a week, it will magically take you one week to get it done, even if the task itself could've been done in one day. to counter this i just set artifical deadlines for myself--even if an essay is due in a week, my personal deadline has it due in two days.
prime your brain prior to learning. if you need to study a biology chapter, pre-skim it the night before. this is not the time to go into detail--it's the time to familiarize yourself with the overview of the topic, so you should only be making a quick scan of the chapter. another priming method is to make a concept map of topics before diving into a chapter. as you skim write down key terms haphazardly, google those you don't recognize, and draw a concept map linking them together. this is effective bc it requires you to actually put effort into connecting the topics, takes no longer than 15 minutes, and speeds up the learning process that follows. it doesn't matter if you find out you're wrong once you dive in; what's important is you're actively thinking of how these topics coexist, as opposed to mindlessly taking notes or highlighting only to forget what you learned a couple hours later. i'm also a fan of concept maps bc i get to go back and highlight stuff i'm weak in, which is always a plus.
if you like to take notes, use it as another means of active recall. don't just passively take notes as you go along. what i like to do is i read a paragraph, close the book, then try to take down notes based off memory alone. this helps me both phrase the topic in my own words and realize what my learning gaps are, rather than just passively summarize without putting effort into truly understanding/memorizing something. anything i get wrong i hammer into my brain until i can't get it wrong anymore.
take notes effectively. our brain does not learn in sentences and paragraphs. it learns in bullet points, diagrams, and figures--and that's how i like to frame my notes. first i ask myself if i actually need to take notes to begin with, or if there are online notes out there i can use to save time (which, as a stem student, there typically are). if i do decide to take notes, i never mindlessly summarize. i always condense the material into bullet points, diagrams, concept maps, or visual representations. i also like to phrase my notes as questions rather than just passive summaries, so that when i review them i'm already testing myself in a way. most people would not understand my notes bc they're either very low-yield stuff, stuff i'm weak in, or bare-bones fragments of information.
always prioritize weaknesses. if you're weaker at chapter 18 of your textbook vs chapter 1, maybe start with chapter 18. don't spend 6 hours taking notes on chapter 1 if you're already strong in chapter 1. always attack your weaknesses first.
practice practice practice!! so so important. i owe all my As to mock exams, quizzes i make myself, end-of-chapter questions etc etc. imo practice matters a lot more than passive content review.
interleaving concepts helps with retention. an example of this is i like to do biology and chemistry one day, biochemistry and organic chemistry the next day, physics and psychology the day after... i'm not just doing biology all day, every day. another thing i like to do if i'm in a massive rut is i hop between tons of different subjects on the same day, which keeps me from getting bored/helps me understand the subjects better through distinguishing their differences.
retrospective timetable. an example of this is if i find i'm pretty weak in a particular physics topic, the next few days will disproportionately focus on physics over other subjects. inversely, if i just breezed through a biology chapter, the next few days will have less biology than initially planned. i'm constantly going back and revising my study timetable based on my performance of the day, rather than relying on a rigid prospective timetable that doesn't take into account my progress.
less passive learning, more active. spaced repetition is a big one. i love anki for this bc there's an algorithm that dictates how often topics come up again based on how well you answer them. other methods include active recall, having friends quiz you, and trying to teach the topic to others (or the plushie in your bedroom haha). if you find you're struggling to simplify topics and explain them, that's a sign you don't understand them very well yourself.
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paigemathews · 1 month ago
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Melinda deniers are very possibly the worst of the Charmed fandom.
Honestly, I think that they're tied with the Cole apologists/Phoebe haters for me, but both have similar sources of sexism/misogyny! Also, nonnie, I am so sorry because you did not ask for this rant, but you'll be getting it anyways. The one thing that Mel deniers always get stuck on is that Piper doesn't explicitly mention her, but that doesn't actually mean that she doesn't exist! Phoebe doesn't explicitly mention forgiving Billie, but we get the idea with the fact that we see her watching Phoebe and Coop's oldest two daughters. Paige doesn't explicitly mention that the twins are girls, but we can see that they are. Piper doesn't explicitly mention Melinda, but we can see that she exists. I have actual categories for my reasoning on why she exists in fact.
Practicality
Firstly, there's just the element of conservation of detail. We don't see Piper's restaurant because it's more effective to just tell us. In contrast, Phoebe doesn't explicitly tell us that she continues working at the Bay Mirror because they can just show us that she does. Generally the same setup for both sisters but different executions bc of sets they already have and what fans will recognize on screen.
Additionally, a lot of the voiceover is dedicated to the way that the sisters' lives change or stay the same. Both Phoebe and Paige mention their kids because none of them were born during the show's run. Nothing about any of the individual kids are really discussed, as much as it's "I'm a mom now!" (Ironically, Paige shares the most about her kids with Henry Jr.'s name and the girls being twins, but that's still it. (Probably because Paige was forever shafted on storylines, so her entire flashforward is basically the kids and her still being a Whitelighter.) We don't know shit about Phoebe's kids.) Piper doesn't really refer to the kids specifically at all. She transitions into her voiceover by saying that Paige passes knowledge down to more than her own, Piper's, or Phoebes, but Piper doesn't actually talk about her kids literally at all. (Even the Chris and Wyatt flashforward is meant as a general the next generation taking over, not specifically Piper's kids.) Because Piper was already a mom! It's not a change that she needs to discuss.
Also most important, it's pretty well known that the show has some severe budget cuts for the last session. It's why Leo was frozen and Darryl was written off! It's why they don't show us Piper's restaurant, because another set would be more expensive. It's why we don't have a picture of Prue, because allegedly, it would've been too expensive. (Idk for sure on that, heard mixed things about that.) It's probably even why we see Phoebe going into labor instead of her third daughter because another actress would've required money.
But they hired an actress for Melinda. If it was a cousin like some people want to argue, they would have reused one of the other actresses (because she's clearly too old to be Phoebe's last daughter). It makes no sense to have another actress just to be a neighbor's kid (the other argument I see). They very specifically decided to put money in the budget toward hiring an actress for Melinda, even though they didn't for Phoebe's third daughter. No, they didn't show her in the flashforward with Chris and Wyatt taking over, but that was specifically because... well, why would they? None of the next gen kids are shown as adults other than Chris and Wyatt, and while we can easily figure out who Mel is from the scene she's in, it'd be more complicated to add in other characters as adults in that scene. (Plus, while I don't know if they ever seriously considered doing a spin-off, they definitely had to know that it was a popular idea, so it would make more sense to avoid depicting any of the other next gen characters as adults so that they wouldn't have to worry about keeping them for continuity for a spin-off bc obviously Chris and Wyatt had already been cast.)
Thematically
Look, obviously Chris and Wyatt are basically the most known legacy of the sisters because they're born during the show. However, it is really uncomfortable to have the legacy of a (90s) feminist show and empowered female characters be two white guys. (The Morris brothers, however... (As always, love phoebehalliwell's stuff and everyone should go give her love, especially bc Tumblr is being dumb as hell and shadowbanned her.)) But it's kind of unavoidable that Wyatt and Chris are the legacy bc a) Piper is the heart of the family and b) they're the ones we've met. However, at the very least, it's slightly mitigated by having a sister bc at least then the legacy isn't just men.
Additionally: this is Charmed. It has to be a trio of protagonists?? Like Charmed does a lot with trios across the series, it's magically powerful and a key element of the lore. There has to be a third one. Which you can tell they were thinking about in the flashforward bc every sister has three kids. (It's on the nose tbh but eh.) It doesn't really make sense to have Chris and Wyatt be the only ones when they're doing this pretty obviously.
But mostly that it looks less bad if there's a sister also carrying on the legacy.
Character
Okay, so this isn't actually a reason why it's definitely wrong, but it's a reason to want Mel around. Namely, that a) she's virtually a blank slate and b) already has some interesting storylines prebuilt in?? The funny thing is that Mel is actually the one next gen kid who doesn't have an archetype as far as I've seen. Obviously, Chris and Wyatt have canon personalities, but the other next gen kids are all kinda slotted into similar archetypes, even if they're portrayed differently from author to author. (Which, I'm not dissing anyone for that bc it makes sense! And hell, while my depiction of Phoebe's oldest daughter doesn't actually fit the typical archetype for her, my depictions of the other two definitely do lmao. Plus probably the twins.) But every author has a completely different approach to Melinda, which is cool.
Plus, there's the fact that Melinda is the only pure witch of her generation. All of the others are hybrids, so there's the difference in powers and approach to fighting (because if you can just teleport out if you get in over your head, you'll have a different approach than if you have no option of escape without fighting your way out.) Plus, the interesting dynamics that you can play with Wyatt as the Twice-Blessed, Chris as the time traveler (if you want to bring in him having memories or the sisters sharing this), and Melinda's dynamic with both of them. (Mel and Chris having different responses to being the younger sibling of the Twice-Blessed or Mel being the only true blank slate of her siblings with no real expectations about who she'll become.)
Genuinely, part of why it's infuriating is just that it's such a waste of potential. Because there isn't a genuine reason to dislike her as a character. She doesn't have one. But her specific space in the narrative offers so much potential, and people want to waste it bc they want this feminist show to become a boy's club. And they don't even realize it.
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nutterzebutters · 10 months ago
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I have a take to share about cookie run kingdom, now that I've gone through the store and essentially analyzed everything that I can and I'd like to remind ppl of something very important (which means this post isn't a thesis about the update as a whole but a specific detail) when it comes to accepting the gravity of the story, and this is directed at "lily is dark enchantress" deniers.
I better not see another person say that Lily is not dark enchantress, to disassociate dark Enchantress from Lily as De does in the story
De does so bc she sees lily as weak and a failure to her own goals, there is a ton of self-loathing. I genuinely don't think that attitude about these two cookies is meant to be performed by us, the players. That is dark enchantress's job, our job is to recognize that dark enchantress may deny it all she wants but it's still an irrefutable truth. They truly are more similar than what meets the eye.
"you can't completely subscribe dark and chantress's actions to Lily" is something I see a lot and now that we have been presented with the evidence that dark enchantress is truly a vile person here and there's absolutely nothing to glorify about her savior speak I feel the need to remind us all that the entire concept of the perfect cookie stemmed from lily, the purpose of seeking power to use it for her goals stemmed from Lily, regardless of who it hurts even after a countless patterns being told that she shouldn't have continued. It does not take a genius to see that a lot of dark enchantress's actions have parallels to Lily's own, and it's perfectly understandable why somebody might label lily as horrible for this bc shes exactly where it started regardless.
There is no evidence that dark Enchantress was just something trapped inside Lily that seeked to get out (as if it was a completely different entity inside her that happened to take the opportunity of baking its own body in the ultimate dough)
There's only ever evidence that dark enchantress is Lily's "darkness" that has gotten out of control, that has been festering for however long and possibly the exact thing that pure vanilla feared way back in the academy. Which can create another reason that pure vanilla blames himself for dark enchantress's creation, because she proves all of his worst fears about Lily's method of actions true- I feel like we as a community need to remember that just because a character we like does something irredeemable doesn't mean we have to deny it. It's still ok to love them AND acknowledge that maybe they're a little whack and should not be encouraged whatsoever.
I'm speaking from the point of view of watching people at the time of the golden cheese Kingdom update switch up on "dark enchantress is lily" the second that they showed something she should be held accountable for. Conveniently forgetting that she did the same exact thing to vanilla's Kingdom prior and only ever reacting to cheeses bc it held more weight in detail. Yes, I agree that white lily is an excellent but accidental representation of what BPD can be, but I am finding that this is often used as an excuse for comfort more than it is acknowledged and actually looked at- it's perfectly okay to want to have a character appeal to a general audience a lot more, but I don't think we should be changing what makes the character the character in the first place - I will assume you never really liked the true character to begin with
On another note, when it comes to Lily's flaws a lot of them really do relate to silence, being complacent or even avoidant on matters that should have taken more priority or care. Being in her own little bubble all the time contributes to this, as it created such a disconnect between her and pure vanilla alone. Dark enchantress on the other hand, way more direct. This is a very key difference and something that should remind us that yes, there are very big differences. Just as there are very big similarities. The idea of building a perfect world was always something lily wanted, her life spent doing so will obviously shape the actions and thought process that dark enchantress has, aka the thought process of the cookie that was literally born from Lily's own dough and soul. This is not to say she's not on the path to redemption, because I do believe there is room for growth, it's only unfortunate that it happens after it's been too late to perform any harm reduction on the initial impact. I would like to believe her arc with silent salt will pave the way for a better Lily, perhaps even a better relationship with pure vanilla (possibly romantically if we get any substance on the two beforehand to build up to it, as her silence/bystander nature in ever responding to pure vanillas efforts to keep her safe is a big issue as well)
I'd like to believe the arc might bring her out of a lot of the self-pity attitude that she currently has, and make her more active in tackling more complex matters within herself. Remember, as evidence stands dark enchantress is a very current version of Lily, while the Lily that we have is a preserved shard reanimated that was saved from the past and now has the opportunity to deviate and make a new, different future than the one currently belonging to dark enchantress (which is another reason I think it's important to accept that DEs actions can be completely subscribed to lily, and at the very least do not deny that Lily is dark enchantress, because then it denies room for any growth on Lily's end)
When it comes to her relationship with someone like pv, It's possible she did not like her persistent and direct companion at first but whatever the case is he did eventually grow on her and that's an undeniable fact. It's also what happens to make the conflict of being dark enchantress so interesting- because she straight up wants to kill him. I have a small theory that dark enchantress could feel Lily's love even through the transformation, and she seeks to kill that. I believe it's also perfectly reasonable to say that for how strong Lily loved the traits for pure vanilla, is exactly how much dark Enchantress hates them as shown in ep 10. Like how she hates his smile the most, and yet Lily is extremely fond of it, his face and his nature.
That's all I just wanted to rant, the update reminded me that a lot of people can be very stubborn when it comes to their faves which is so damn understandable, but it's also extremely important to know that your fave can be problematic, they can be labeled toxic, and that's perfectly ok! Just like it's okay to like a character that can be all those things as long as you have a good understanding on what those things mean for the character. I love her writing, and because of that I have a love-hate relationship with pure lily as a ship, as I can separate her writing from who she is as a person, which is actually abysmal atm. Like she cares, and it's very clear that pure vanilla rubbed off on her and taught her a lot of the kindness she now demonstrates as she mimics him frequently (admiration ofc)
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bubba-draws · 2 years ago
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Ok I'll bite; in the Radi Vessel AU, what would Hollow's relationship with Ghost be? Would they be hostile toward them, welcoming as long as they don't try and stop them, or protective toward them to try and make up for the past? Heck, I could even see in that case Radi!Hollow trying to keep Ghost at their side at all times and learning to gaslight them into staying with them?
OK SO It took me a bit to answer this because to me the relationship between Ghost and Hollow is very unusual, especially bc of personal Headcanons I have about them
To me Ghost and Hollow were somewhat closer the moment both of them hatched in the Abyss, maybe not 100% attached to each other, but they still did care about the other, up until Hollow was picked by PK and they just decided to go with him, not thinking too much about their decision at that moment bc, well, you cannot expect a kid to take good decisions HAKDHAJD
I don't think Ghost felt betrayed? Just very confused as to why their sibling isn't there anymore? and lonely because there was barely any living vessel down there and the ones that lived didn't want anything to do with them (kinda like when u take a puppy from their litter and it misses their presence)
After they escaped the Abyss and went out of Hallownest, Ghost would eventually forget about Hollow (because bugs that leave Hallownest lose their memories), in the other hand though, Hollow does remember Ghost, and as they grew older they would always wonder happened to them (They were definitely dead, right? Just like the rest of their siblings down there, right?) But as the Hollow Knight they forbid themselves to think too much about it and then as the Radiance Vessel there was no point on wondering, even if they left the Abyss to exist, they could no longer go there, for their light was dangerous to the void and vice versa, if they were dead finding their mask was hopeless, if they were alive they would def try and attack them or hide from them
In the game Ghost comes back to Hallownest bc of Hollow no longer being able to hold on the Radiance, their scream (or rather Radi's scream, though I'd like to think part of the call came from them as well, even if they don't really have a voice?? It's weird ahskshdjd bc to me rather than following the call of the Radiance it was the vessels trying to find the sibling that called bc they're in lot of pain) calling the vessels towards them, if we go by this au, it would be because Ghost would accidentally stumble back into Hallownest, no call to answer, just coming to a kingdom that is far too eerie
At this point I am not sure how they reach their meeting, but I know it's not gonna be a pleasant one. It would take time for Hollow to recognize Ghost, but by the time they do they wouldn't just accept them with open arms, mostly bc I think at this point Ghost tried to pull an Ultrakill in the kingdom AJDJAKFBSKJG so it's a bunch of mixed feelings
But when the anger of their reunion dies down I think the guilt Hollow felt back then would crawl back, the thoughts they stopped from forming many times finally appear and the grief they were trying to ignore comes in waves, bc hey, the sibling they missed was alive all along! But they don't seem to remember them at all and is 100% down to throw fists
So, to summarize: First there's hostility, then guilt and sadness, then annoyance at Ghost's attempts to fight Hollow but also protectiveness because despite everything, Hollow wants to give Ghost the life Hollow wish they could've had (plus if somehow they make Ghost not wanting to attack anything Radi related then maybe they can use that as a case so Radi can let Hollow search for any other sibling that may stay still alive)
All of that could happen if Hornet does not intercede Ghost before they go bonkers in Hallownest HAKDHSJD
Hopefully this answered ur question! If u got any more or any ideas you'd like to share I'm open to hear them :3
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