#because the subject is so multifaceted

[ischariot]

writing an essay on gender and religion but there's so much to say that i don't even know where to begin

[sheolaaii]

My random opinions/thoughts on signs/placements

(I’m bored and don’t want to sleep plus got a driving exam tomorrow) (send your prayers)

I love how flexible and open minded pisces/12th house placements are. They just have this way of looking at the world in very broad lenses. It’s like they’ve seen so much shit as children that nothing phases them anymore. The people I’ve always felt accepted by always had pisces and/or 12th house placements. They are just very sympathetic and non judgmental, it’s a very calming energy to be around in my opinion.

I’m really wondering about rahu ruled moon natives..how are your mothers?

I’m begging for people who have slept/dated/engaged with Scorpio mars (in tropical) men to tell me all about their experience because as someone who only sees them from afar I always get a major ick. I think it might come from the way people describe them on astrology tumblr.

Virgos mercuries/suns are so funny to me. They roast people without even trying. They have this way of communicating with other, like I’m hung up on every word that comes out of their mouths. It’s that mercury in them making them so witty I fear.

I always say I love Scorpio moons and the main reason why I love scorpio moons so much is because of their depth. Even if they don't let me in, even if they don't show me the whole thing I know there's depth and an ice berg and that's enough for me to be interested in them. I also vibe very well with them because they aren’t afraid of criticism and feel so real in my eyes. Like pisces placements, I always feel like they are open minded and really really dark subjects don’t phase them or make them uncomfortable.

I love the concept and energy of cancers. Their protective and loyal nature is so beautiful. Being so guarded and having difficulty letting people in because you value your personal space and home so much is so adorable let me innn I wanna kiss you and cook you a warm soup.

Aquarius placements are so unpredictable. on one hand you have the artsy, emotional, misunderstood, left leaning and freedom is best type of person and on the other you have incel 101, Elon musk is my king, astrology is bs and AI is the way to utopia type of person. Like wow

I wish more of y’all used astrology for self discovery instead of future spouse/beauty related things. The more you know yourself the more you understand how you don’t only have flaws but also strengths. How you’re a multifaceted person who is much more than their looks or than their potential fame. Using astrology only for superficial things is harmful and also…boring. Please dig deeper what are you guys so afraid of?

[diorcities]

⠀   ⠀ ── . 🛹 𖦹 ⋆ ࣪.  dream in college

happy reading. requested. library.

haechan. leather jackets. a different vape every day. smoking in the parking lot at night. he always carries a pair of headphones, wired ones. talks with everyone but lowkey lonely. attends to parties often, he's the guy you'd ask your friend to introduce you to. he's an open book, but at the same time he's full of secrets. if you take away all the jokes he makes, he's actually intelligent. relaxed. he'd probably do well in economics or administration. a first-class heartthrob, flirting comes out lightly and easily. or so they say, because when it comes to you, haechan is just a whole bunch of babbling and gaffes.

chenle. law or finance. he sees himself managing his family's company. no one beats him in class discussions, no one except you. you'd probably start a rivalry that grows and grows until you can't stand to see each other in the same place. expensive cars, elite parties, and a scandal in a hotel room. although his parents have mansions and luxurious apartments all over the world, he prefers the comfort of university dormitories. he doesn't attend parties much, his father cut off his credit card when he gave the whole party rounds of alcohol last time. he's pretty good at the dead stare when someone says something stupid. probably has the appearance of being petty, but in reality he's a moron with a lot of money. has a soft spot for smart girls, that's why he can't stand liking you.

mark. he misses most of the classes, but he's a brainiac. a bit popular but only because he's friends with popular people. doesn't know how he got the girl. architecture or robotics. he doesn't like parties very much but he attends because you're there. loud music on headphones. paper crafts . love letters. if you invite him home to study, you end up watching movies. and then when you fall asleep on his shoulder, he has no choice but fall asleep with you, head over yours. his hand somehow ends up intertwined with your fingers when you wake up. he's definitely not calm when it comes to you. he always shows how much he likes you. you simply don't read his misinterpreted signs well.

jeno. parent's sweetheart. multifaceted. bruises and sweat from the lacrosse team. he must maintain his sports scholarship by getting good grades, so he asks you for help. to you? a four-eyed one? what a horror! he breaks the prototype of a tough boy, he doesn't really know how big and strong he is. sometimes he gets tongue tied when he gets nervous... it happens a lot around you when you ask him big questions. he hasn't decided a career yet, so he takes some basic subjects. you make it look easy, he wishes he could have your brain, but he's satisfied with hearing you talk and talk and talk... he is also an easy sleeper. if he goes to parties it's because he's dragged you with him, but in the end his friends get all his attention and he leaves you at your mercy. his eyes, however, stay on you at all times, and his gaze becomes heavier when he sees you talking to a guy across the room.

jaemin. founder of the group of loners. a pair of girlfriends with one boy. he's always in big crowds but usually because he makes friends with outgoing people, so he ultimately attends to some parties. he's the guy you ask to take care of your drink when you go to the bathroom. physics and engineering. that he doesn't talk much attracts attention, he doesn't realize he's alluring because of that. you always see him waiting for someone on your way home, his gaze detaches from his phone the exact time you alert his presence. you're the last one out of the building. there's no reason for him to be waiting for someone, unless that person has left him standing. but you don't worry much and you continue on your way; perhaps, on another occasion, jaemin will be brave enough to confess that whenever you see him outside, it's him, waiting for you.

jisung. became popular without knowing how. college jackets, non-prescription glasses, karaoke nights. being shy makes him charming to cheerleaders. he's not very good at drinking, so he's always sprawled on a couch neglected by his friends at a party, always in your care out of obligation. quite lighthearted, sometimes you understand why people find him attractive. he'd go for whatever career his best friend chooses, he doesn't really care. he's gets talkative, and affectionate when drunk, telling you repeatedly how much he loves you and that he would choose you a thousand times over anyone. you only asked him if he wanted water.

renjun. painting or sculpture. quiet bus ride. childhood friends. shared headphones. in one way or another you distanced each other at college. now he has new friends, but keep waiting for you after class. don't go to parties much, he sometimes prefers to stay at home, he doesn't really like the idea of seeing you hook up with guys. he tucks you to bed when you knock on his apartment by mistake, and kisses you back even though you're drunk. or maybe you weren't. every time he has to paint or sculpture the model on top of the podium in the middle of the class, his gaze doesn't even pay attention to them, and he ends up drawing you.

[doctorbunny]

MILGRAM Hallucination Booklet Translation pt.1 (Yamanaka and DECO*27 Interview)

Context: This interview was from a booklet handed out at the MILGRAM Hallucination live show on the 21st January 2024 (if you want a copy you can buy it here) This translation was made possible by the generosity of @maxpawb sharing images of his booklet with me This translation is mostly my own, but @maristelina helped me with some sections. Now without further ado:

Q.01 Introduce Yourself. I'm Takuya Yamanaka. I'm the creator/planner/screenwriter for MILGRAM. I'm DECO*27. I work as the music producer for MILGRAM. I like Hatsune Miku.

Q.02 What reactions from the guards have been the most surprising so far? Yamanaka: There are a lot of guards that were born overseas, aren't there? Even though it's created with rather Japanese sensibilities, overseas audiences didn't seem to mind at all. Though the countries and sensibilities are different than what I anticipated, votes have become more multifaceted, it's very interesting, isn't it? DECO: To forgive or not forgive the prisoners what do you do, whether it goes as you expected or the result turns out to be quite the opposite, its fascinating. Maybe your nationality affects the kind of criteria you use to make judgements? I've been thinking about something like that.

Q.03 Is there anything you didn't imagine would happen at the start of the trial? Yamanaka: I didn't write it with a large overseas audience in mind, because from the start I wasn't worrying about popularity at all, I simply didn't think I'd be watching over so many guards. Milgram was developed as a more underground project, but it's popularity is a good surprise, isn't it. DECO: There were more people who got into MILGRAM without already caring about my music than I imagined, it was surprising. I feel like MILGRAM has spread further beyond than what I thought it would. I'm very grateful!

Q.04 So far, what's made you the happiest? Yamanaka: Everything. As a creator it brings me great joy to see a work that existed in my mind, take shape and be enjoyed by so many people. Other than that, because I also love the characters I've birthed, seeing all the guards talking about them and sharing their thoughts, both positive and negative, has to be the best feeling. DECO: It makes me happy to see lots of people analysing the meanings I put in my songs! The theories get pretty close to the truth too, I think... the power of all the guards is really cool.

Q.05 So far, what has been the most challenging? Yamanaka: Because I have to change the script in accordance with the audience's decisions, I can't create the entire story in advance. Furthermore, as of the second trial, there aren't only individual character storylines, the prisoner's verdicts begin to emerge and they influence each other. That is to say, I can't start writing until after everyone's results are out. Willingly subjecting myself to doing something this unreasonable, is what I feel is difficult for me. But because DECO*27 is also going through the same hell, we're holding on to some semblance of sanity. DECO: The story changes in accordance to all the guards' choices, and the music has to be written to match. I think this is harder for Yamanaka-P, who writes the script, than it is for me... But though its tough, I feel its really worthwhile, It makes me really happy to be able to communicate with everyone through my songs!

Q.06 Do you have any regrets like "I wish I had done it differently back then!"? Yamanaka: I've thought it over quite carefully, but there's nothing in particular. I think everyone involved in the project is giving it their all and its a really passionate environment. DECO: Nope! I've been able to put all the things I've thought of into my songs.

Q.07 Which prisoners are the easiest to write dialogue/music for? Yamanaka: If I had to pick one, it'd be Fuuta. He's the type of person that's pretty easy to write because his brain never shuts up. Other than him, Yuno and Shidou are relatively academic kids in theory, so they're easy to write because they're very clear when it comes to what they want to convey. [TL note just because its funny, the idiom Yamanaka uses is lit. "There is barking in the inside [of Fuuta's] head] DECO: It went smoothly for all of them!

Q.08 Which prisoners are the most fun to write dialogue/music for? Yamanaka: Muu's lines were the very fun to write~. I'm fascinated by her approach to life and can't help but envy how fun it must be to behave like that. Yuno and Amane are my runners up. I enjoy writing the kinds of characters who plainly state their ideas and speak eloquently. DECO: Mahiru! From the start writing about the relationships between men and women has been what you might call my forte, its enjoyable to make. I feel like this is also why I find Yuno easy to write for.

Q.09 Which prisoners are the hardest to write dialogue/music for? Yamanaka: Overwhelmingly, Haruka's dialogue takes me the longest to write. I have to use the parts of my brain that I wouldn't normally use to figure out how to not just directly convey what he wants to say. DECO: None of them!

Q.10 What's your favourite combination of characters? Yamanaka: Amane and Shidou. They're on completely different wavelengths about everything, and the best part is that there's no getting around it. My second pick might go to Yuno and Muu. They don't get along at all so their fights are never just superficial squabbling. DECO: I always like the interactions between Es and the prisoners. I'm liking how over the course of the voice drama interrogations, Es seems to be gradually coming to understand the prisoner's humanity. Especially Es + Mahiru!

Q.11 Do you want to be friends with any of the prisoners? Yamanaka: Shidou and Kazui. I like the idea of being friends with professional people. I think that people who choose to go into something specialized, its clear they have a kind of resolve and that's charming, isn't it? DECO: Yuno! I feel like she'd be easy to talk to. She seems like she's used to friends who maintain a good distance from each other. [note: while 'good' here can mean a fair amount of distance, in Japanese relationships the concept of boundaries is also built into the idea of distance, so in English you might talk about someone who is a close friend but still has good boundaries, but in Japanese this is someone who has the 'right amount'/ちょうどいい of distance from you, so this could mean Yuno doesn't have any close friends or that Yuno is just a good friend because she isn't going to turn up to your house unexpectedly and eat all the food in your fridge]

Q.12 Do you want to date any of the prisoners? Yamanaka: I love all of my characters a lot, but, well... how should I say it... I don't think I would date any of them. [TL note: I had to shift the wording to be more natural in English but the Japanese Q is more like 'which prisoner would you want to be your boy/girlfriend?' curse english for not having an exact equivalent to koibito, so Yamanaka's answer is more like 'I think would break up with all of them' its a nominal difference but my friend said to mention it bc its funny] DECO: I'm sorry.

Q.13 What's your favourite line/phrase? Yamanaka:

[Scene from Muu's first voice drama Crying B, TL taken from MILGRAMMER]

Es: Judging from your facial features, are you what they call “half-Japanese”? [lit. haafu/Half] Muu: Yeah… I’m biracial. [lit. daburu/Double]

It would have to be that wouldn't it? I got goosebumps when I wrote it it. DECO:

"It's not my fault"

I think that single phrase was able to represent Muu's character really well, if I do say so myself.

Q.14 Are there any prisoners that you think its good they're in MILGRAM? Yamanaka: All of them. Without these 10 people, this Milgram would be a complete failure. DECO: Without these 10 people, MILGRAM wouldn't exist!

Q.15 Is there anything the guards aren't aware of yet? Yamanaka: Of course, there may be some minor details, but I don't think there are any major points missing. The mysteries have already disseminated, I feel the full picture will be clearly revealed if the theories and wild speculations, which have been shared around the world, come together. As expected. DECO: There are! I hope you look forward to the gimmicks I wanted to put in my songs that will come out in the third trial!

Q.16 Is there anything you haven't been able to do up to now, but you want to try doing after this? Yamanaka: I want to do a stageplay. Every performance would be a different story set in Milgram. If anyone reading this is involved with stage productions, please contact me. [I can't find it now but I swear a while ago Yamanaka tweeted something similar like "I'm interested in doing stage adaptations of Caligula Effect or MILGRAM, if anyone is involved with stage production please contact me" I hope he does it, a MILGRAM stage play would be awesome] DECO: Fortunately, I'm already doing everything I want to do! Writing the trial 3 songs couldn't be more fun.

Q.17 Represent "MILGRAM" in one word. Yamanaka: 『人』 "People" DECO: 『噓』 "Lies" [This one is both simple and interesting so as a preview I'll share how akka and DMYM answered] akka: 『幻』 "Illusions" DMYM: 『信』 "Faith"

Q.18 Give a brief comment about the future of "MILGRAM". Yamanaka: There have already been plot developments that I personally wish I didn't have to write. The guards have all chosen a very intense path. It's frightening. I've also been ready to obey these choices since the start of MILGRAM, so I think we all should enjoy this story that can only be told once together. DECO: I've already started writing the prisoner's songs. It's hell. Please prepare yourselves. Q.19 A message for the guards. Yamanaka: Thank you for always looking after the prisoners. Milgram is a work that involves the participation of everyone, including yourself. The thoughts you had, the actions you took, the joy, and resentment you felt towards this prison, all this became a part of Milgram too. I would like you all to please live healthily in your realities alongside Milgram. DECO: Thank you for your hard work as guards. Although MILGRAM is full of troublemakers, we would be grateful if you could continue to watch over us for a long time to come. We will do our best to meet your expectations.

[A link to part 2 will be posted here when its ready]

(Japanese transcript under the cut)

Q.01 自己紹介を。 山中拓也です。 ミルグラムでは企画・原作・脚本をしています。 DECO*27です。 MILGRAMのサウンドプロデューサーを務めています。 初音ミクが好きです。

Q.02 これまでの看守たちからの反応で驚いたことは？ Yamanaka: 海外にもたくさんの看守が生まれるていったことですね。とっても日本的な感性で創っているので、海外ウケとかきにしていませんでした。やはり国が違うと感性も違うものだと思うので、より多面的な投票がされて、とても面白いですね。 DECO: 囚人が赦すor 赦さないのどっちになるか、と自分で予想していたりもしたのですが、結構それが逆の結果になっていることがあって興味深ったです。もしかして国民性で判断基準が違ってくるのかな？とか考えたりしました。

Q.03 審判開始時点では思い描いていなかったことはあるか？ Yamanaka: 海外ウケ気にしたことないと書きましたが、そもそもウケ自体あまり気にしていなかったので、シンプルにこんなにたくさんの看守の方に見守っていただけるコンテンツになるとは思っていませんでした。もっと、アンダーグラウンドで展開するつもりだったんですが、嬉しい悲鳴ですね。 DECO: 想像以上にDECO*27を知らない方にもMILGRAMを観てもらえたことに驚きました。自分の思っていた以上にMILGRAMが広がったなと感じています。ありがとうございます！

Q.04 これまでで一番嬉しかったことは？ Yamanaka: 全部です。自分の脳内にしかなかった作品が、形になり、たくさんの人に楽しんでもらえること自体がクリエイターとしては大きな喜ぶです。あとはやはり僕は自分が産んだ登場人物のことが大好きなので、プラスでもマイナスでも看守の皆様が彼らについて語って、想いをぶつけてくれいることが最高に嬉しいです。 DECO: たくさんの方に自分が音楽に込めた意味考察してもらえた嬉しいです！かなり正解に近い考察もあって、看守の皆さんのパワーすごいな…と思っています。

Q.05 これまでで一番大変だったことは？ Yamanaka: ユーザーの選択によって、シナリオを変更をするので、あらかじめ制作することができないということです。しかも二審からは個人のストーリーラインだけでなく、他の囚人の結果による影響も出てくる。ということは全員の結果出てからじゃないと制作できないということです。そんな無茶を勝手に自分でやりはじめて、勝手に自分で大変な思いをしています。同じ地獄をDECO27も味わっているので、なんとか正気を保っています。 DECO: 看守の皆さんの選択に応じてストーリー変化し、それに合うように音楽を書くことです。これは僕よりもシナリオを書く山中Pのほうが大変だろうな…と思いますが…大変ではありますがとてもやりがいをかんじていますし、曲を通じて皆さんとコミュニケーションが取れていることが嬉しいです！

Q.06　「今思えばやっておけばよかった！」のような後悔はあるか？ Yamanaka: よくよく考えてみたんですが、特に無いです。制作に関わる全員がベストを尽くしてくれているとてもアツい現場だと思います。 DECO: ないです！思いついたことはすべて楽曲で出力できています。

Q.07 シナリオや音楽の制作がスムーズな囚人は？ Yamanaka: 一人あげるとすればフータでしょうか。頭の中でわんわん言ってるので、かなり書きやすいタイプです。あとはユノや、シドウあたりの比較的理論的で偏差値高めな子たちは何が伝えたいかが明確なので書きやすいです。 DECO: みんなすんなりでした！

Q.08 シナリオや音楽の制作が一番楽しい囚人は？ Yamanaka: セリフを書いていて一番楽しいのはムウですかねぇ~。こんなふうにふるまえたち人生楽しいだろうという憧れすあります。次点でユノやアマネでしょうか。思想がはっきりしてて、弁の立つタイプは書くのが楽しいです。 DECO: マヒルです！自分が元々男女間の関係性を描くのが得意ということもあって、楽しく制作しています。そういった意味ではユノも書きやすいなと感じます。

Q.09 シナリオや音楽の制作に苦労する囚人は？ Yamanaka: 圧倒的にセリフを書くのに時間がかかるのはハルカです。彼が伝えたいことを、伝わらないようにする調整に普段は使わない脳を使います。 DECO: いないです！

Q.10 お気に入りの組み合わせはあるか？ Yamanaka: アマネとシドウ。すべての要素が噛み合わなさすぎて、どうしようもないところが良いです。次点でユノとムウかもです。表面的なケンカにならないだけでかなり気が合わないので。 DECO: エス対囚人の絡みは須く好きです。ボイスドラマの尋問によって段々とエスが囚人の人間性を掴んでいく様が気に入���ています。特にエス＋マヒル！

Q.11 囚人を友達にするなら誰か？ Yamanaka: シドウとカズイ。友達にいてほしい職業の人たちです。なにかのスペシャリストを選択する人たちというのは、何かしらの覚悟が決まっている人だと思うのでそれだけで魅力的ですね。 DECO: ユノです！話していて気楽そうだなと感じます。お互い良い距離感を保てる友達になれそう。

Q.12 囚人を恋人にするなら誰か？ Yamanaka: 僕は登場人物のことを全員最高に愛してますが、まぁ、なんというか、全員やめとこうと思います。 DECO: ごめんなさい。

Q.13 お気に入りのセルフやフレーズは？ Yamanaka: 「その顔立ち、ハーフというやつか？」「うん...…ダブル」ですね。書いてて鳥肌でした。 DECO: 「悪くないもん」 1フレーズでムウのキャラクターを上手に表現できたなと我ながら思っています。

Q.14 ミルグラムにいてくれてよかった、と思う囚人は？ Yamanaka: 全員です。この10人でなければ、このミルグラムになっていないので。 DECO: MILGRAMはこの10人がいなければ成立しません！

Q.15 看守たちにまだ感づかれていないことはあるか？ Yamanaka: もちろん、些末な部分はあるかと思いますが、大きいところだとないんじゃないですかねぇ。既に問題はバラまいたし、世界中に発信された考察や妄想を組み合わせたらきっちり全貌が明らかになる気がします。さすがです。 DECO: あります！第三審で僕が楽曲を通じてやりたかったギミックが出てくるので楽しみにしていてください！

Q.16 今できていないが、今後やってみたいことはあるか？ Yamanaka: 舞台がやりたいです。毎公演、コンセプトの異なるミルグラムで行われる舞台。舞台制作に関わる方が、読んでおられましたら是非山中まで。 DECO: 有り難いことに、やりたいことは全部やれています！第三審の曲を書くのが楽しくてしょうがないです。

Q.17 「ミルグラム」を一文字で表せ。 Yamanaka: 『人』 DECO: 『噓』

Q.18 今後の「ミルグラム」について一言。 Yamanaka: 既に僕が個人的には書かないでいたかった展開が確定しています。看守の皆さんなかなか強烈な道筋を選びました。恐ろしい。自分もその選択に従う覚悟をしてミルグラムをスタートしているので、一度きりの物語を皆さんと一緒に楽しもうと思います。 DECO: 既に楽曲を書き始めている囚人もいます。地獄です。覚悟しててください。

Q.19 看守たちへメッセージを。 Yamanaka: いつも囚人たちのことを世話してくださってありがとうございます。ミルグラムとは、参加する皆さん自身を含めてミルグラムという作品です。この監獄に対して感じた思い、起こした行動、喜び、 憤り 、それらすべてが作品の一部になります。是非ミルグラムと共にある皆さんの現実を健やかに生きてくださいませ。 DECO: いつも看守としてのお勤めご苦労さまです。曲者ばかりのMILGRAMですが、これからも末永く見守っていただける���幸いです。期待に応えられるよう、尽力してまいります。

[theocddiaries]

Knuckles: Do you understand what you need to do? Rouge: No. Knuckles: Really? And then you say I'm the idiot here. Rouge: Because you are. You showed up at my house and asked me if I understand what I need to do. Knuckles: Ah, right… Well, the thing is, I need you to call Sonic and pretend to be Tails' teacher. Rouge: And why is that? Knuckles: See, I advised him-- Rouge: That's all I need to know. Fine, I'll do it. Knuckles: Cool! Here, take this [hands her a wig and sunglasses]: So he doesn’t recognize you. Rouge: Didn’t you say I have to call him on the phone? Knuckles: Yes, but you need to pretend to be Tails' teacher. Rouge, focus. Rouge [sighs but complies]: And who are you, my secretary? Knuckles: I see myself more as the director, but playing two roles at once fits my multifaceted personality. Rouge: Alright then, make me a coffee. [dials Sonic’s number] Knuckles [gestures as if he’s pulling coffee from a machine and hands her an invisible cup] Rouge [pretends to take it]: …Thanks… [The phone rings at Sonic’s house. Tails and Shadow anxiously watch Sonic as he answers] Sonic: Hello? Rouge [changing her voice]: Good afternoon, is this Sonic the Hedgehog? Yes, I’m Tails’ teacher. Is there a problem? Sonic: Good afternoon. Well, I’d like to talk to you about some things that are throwing me off, like, for example, my brother bringing me a test and instead of a ten, it says "you fucking rock." [Shadow rubs his face while Tails scratches the back of his neck, uncomfortable] [Rouge glances at Knuckles, who’s pretending to type in the air as if on a computer] Rouge [hesitates. Clears her throat]: Well, uh… Does he fucking rock, though? Sonic [narrows his eyes]: …Are you Tails' teacher? Rouge: Of course! Sonic: What subject do you teach, then? Rouge: What’s on the exam? Sonic: French. Rouge: Oh, there's been a mistake. I teach History. I'll pass you to the French teacher. [Rouge tries to pass the phone to Knuckles, who gestures for her not to. She throws the phone, and Knuckles instinctively catches it. He clears his throat] Knuckles: Oh là là? Sonic: I knew it… Knuckles, what the heck you're doing? Knuckles: I don’t know any Knuckles. Let me pass you to the Math teacher. [throws the phone to Rouge] Rouge: Um… I can’t take this call, I have to help the math book, poor guy has a lot of problems. Goodbye. [hangs up] Knuckles: Phew, that was close, huh? [There’s a loud knock at the door] Knuckles: Who could that be? [opens the door and finds Sonic. He tries to close it, but Sonic rushes in] Sonic: Explain to me right now-- [gives Rouge a confused look]: What’s going on here? Rouge: Your brother is an idiot. Sonic: I know that! I mean, what’s going on right now! Knuckles: All of Tails’ teachers came here, and they just left. Can you believe it? Sonic: NO! ENOUGH! Tell me the truth! Knuckles: …Fine. I wanted to help Tails with Mason, and-- Sonic: Damn… Knuckles: Let me finish, you rude hedgehog! Sonic: Okay, surprise me. Knuckles: I told him to defend himself, Tails hit him, ripped a bunch of his hair out, and got suspended for a week. Rouge: Well… I see this is a family matter, so… Sonic: Stay right there! And take that off, it’s making me laugh, and I want to stay mad! Knuckles: Look, Sonic, be fair. In the end, it’s your fault for raising Tails to be so obedient. Sonic: … …. [In the next scene, Rouge and Knuckles are sitting at the table writing in a notebook] Rouge: "I will never help Knuckles with his nonsense again"… My wrist hurts, can I stop? Sonic: You’ve only written it once. You’ve got 99 more to go. Rouge: This isn’t fair! I wasn’t even there when he gave the bad advice! And why do Shadow and Tails get off scot-free?! Sonic: Tails is out of school on Shadow's week off. Those two are covered. Knuckles: Sonic, I have a question. Where does Tails have the H? Sonic: He doesn’t have it. Knuckles [whispers to Rouge]: Ugh, I think I’m going to fail. I’m so screwed…

Previous

[superectojazzmage]

I really like the nuance of how the new episode handles Matt’s feelings about and conflicts with the justice system.

A lazier show would’ve portrayed Leeroy as some innocent wittle woobie who never did wrong and suffers for the sake of liberal white guilt and ego-stroking. But instead they didn’t have him as a perfect victim; he’s a snide, obnoxious, ableist, ignorant, ungrateful, and genuinely kinda stupid asshole who probably brought a lot of his problems on himself. But he’s also still a victim of a broken system that doesn’t seem to have any idea how to reform him beyond punishing him harder and harder after each dumb thing he does.

It’s not some easy one-way street thing. Leeroy’s a piece of shit who probably deserved at least some of the jail time he’s been through and the system is failing to do its job. Leeroy’s a dick but not a monster and doesn’t deserve such harsh treatment by the court and the court also isn’t staffed by strawman assholes who get off on keeping the little guy down - most of the people involved are doing the best they can and the clerk Matt meets with even bends the rules as much as she can manage for the sake of cutting Matt and Leeroy a break. Multiple things are true.

And the conversation/debate between Matt and the clerk. He opposes harsh justice and preaches about fixing the system, but he doesn’t walk the talk. He wasn’t reforming anyone by beating bad guys to a pulp as Daredevil, hell, he still can’t do it - he beat the ever-loving shit out of Powell and Powell didn’t change at all or suffer any consequences beyond bruises and black eyes. He was entirely on-board with Bullseye getting life imprisonment instead of any kind of reformative therapy (and he was right to do so in that case since Bullseye was never going to let himself be helped and would just kill again; once again, no easy answers). He shit-talks Daredevil and that whole lifestyle but clearly misses it and hasn’t dealt with the personal problems that got him addicted to it to begin with. He insists on everyone around him putting faith in the system but clearly hates that same system. He’s well-meaning, but he’s also a hypocrite.

Matt recognizes that the system has problems out the ass, but were his attempts to cut the red tape actually doing that or was he just recreating those problems in his own way for the sake of feeling powerful? Of chasing that high he got anytime he broke a supervillain’s bones or terrorized a mugger? What does it say when Matt and Kingpin are both spouting the same kind of rhetoric about beating back the bureaucracy and making a change to the broken government? What DOES it take to fix these complex issues? Because clearly Matt and Wilson’s brute force tactics aren’t it.

It’s some good, multifaceted handling of a subject that most media today bungles.

[12thbiologist]

Introduction by N. K. Jemisin, from 10th anniversary Authority reprint

"To my own shame, I've become a jaded reader in recent years. By this, I mean that my enthusiasm and curiosity, my drive to experience new worlds, have all been damaged by a persistent disjunct between reality and the speculative fiction I most enjoy.

"Is it any wonder? Given the horrors of Trump's first regime, the looming threat of another, a global plague allowed to run rampant, and a billionaire backed culture war on the rest of us. I'm more jaded about everything now. Escapism at this juncture feels like a way to temporarily pretend that everything is fine. And while there's value in taking a break from Hell, it also feels dangerous. Like drinking to drown my sorrows. Nothing wrong with alcohol now and again, but nobody needs a steady diet of oblivion.

"What I've found myself seeking instead are philosophies of entropy and survival. That is, fiction that addresses multifaceted decay and the psychology needed to survive it. At this point, to mangle Audre Lorde, the master has handed his tools out freely after designing them to break at first usage, buying out the only shop that could fix them and the only newspaper that tried to report on the scam, and charging all customers a subscription fee. And these days, it's no longer just us marginalized folks who need our media to acknowledge the slow motion apocalypse we're all trapped in.

"Enter, The Southern Reach books. When I first read Annihilation during the run-up to the 2016 election, it was a welcome breath of fungal, fetid air. Other fiction of the time seemed determined to suggest there was no need for alarm. Things couldn't be so bad. Anything broken could be fixed.

"Could it though? As I watched my country embrace a stupid, incompetent, and blatantly criminal fascist while insisting his spiteful, privileged sycophants somehow had a point—Well, when you're already queasy, sweet smells make the feeling worse. It helped to read instead about the smells and sights and horrors and haunting beauty of Area X. It helped me to imagine that creeping transformative infection warping body and mind and environment and institution. Because that was the world I was living in. It helped to meet the 12th expedition's nameless women who were simultaneously individuals, with selfish motivations, and archetypes, trapped in their roles. The biologist, driven by the loss of her mate and the need to integrate into a new ecosystem. The psychologist, a human subjects ethics violation in human flesh. We are dropped into danger with these women, immediately forced to confront an existential threat with courage and perseverance. And this? This was what I needed from my fiction.

"The second book, Authority, was even more what I needed. As we watch Control slowly realize he's never been in control, and that things are a lot worse than his complacency allowed him to see—it just resonated so powerfully. His over reliance on procedure and the assumed wisdom of his predecessor. His dogged refusal to see the undying plant in his office as a sign of something wrong. There was nothing of 2014's politics overtly visible in the book. And yet, they were all over it like mold.

"I've read and written reviews of these books and it seems to me that there's a common misreading that applies. Namely, that they are "climate fiction," or "cli-fi." This clunky label fits superficially, in that climate change occurs during the course of the book.

"However, Area X, with it's inexplicable reality warping power, is a poor metaphor for human caused destruction. Or even for the surreality of climate denial- talk about reality warping. I think a better analytic is to view the books as postcolonial fiction. Per Caribbean Canadian writer Nalo Hopkinson, postcolonial stories take the adventurous repertoire of science fiction—such as traveling to a distant realm and taming the exotic flora, fauna, and people who live there—and from the experience of the colonizee, critique it, pervert it, fuck with it. The characters of The Southern Reach books are only obliquely marginalized. Their races, ethnicities, class distinctions, and other markers of identity are deliberately downplayed, down to the lack of personal names. But they are all women, which is atypical of pretty much any US government agency. Two of them, the Asian biologist and the half-Indigenous psychologist, are racialized. Biology and psychology and anthropology are often dismissed as "soft sciences," in large part because too many women thrive in them. Or because they've done too good a job of reconsidering racial/cultural/ethnic equity and updating practices and personnel to suit.

"As the 12th expedition proceeds into Area X, on the surface it seems they are reenacting a thousand science fiction novels: going forth as intrepid strangers into a strange land. But for any reader who's familiar with those classic narratives, Annihilation's version feels like a setup. Our marginalized protagonists lacking the privileges and power of stalwart square-jawed white men seem doomed from pretty much the moment they enter Area X.

"So, they are the colonizees in this situation and Area X is definitely fucking with them. But as the story proceeds, it becomes clear that they are themselves fucking with that classic adventure dynamic. The psychologist has wholly focused her skills on taming her fellow adventurers, and perhaps herself. The biologist is trying to solve a mystery of identity: something unquantifiable and scientifically immeasurable, more felt than known, and deeply personal. The anthropologist has no one to study, save her fellow expedition members, and only the surveyor seems wholly focused on Area X at all. Perhaps this is why she later tries to kill the biologist. We see the irony of this setup most clearly with Control in Authority. He is the stalwart square jawed man that traditional science fiction has primed us to expect, even hope for, because he'll have the power to solve the situation, right? But Control becomes the proof that no colonizee can ever tame Area X. At best, they might manage to tame themselves.

"By the end of book one, the 12th expedition becomes the first successful one by a colonizer's rubric, in that they manage to share new understandings of Area X with those outside it and in that at least one member of the team survives with her mind and form somewhat intact. The beginning of book two seems to confirm this, as the story shifts to explore the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the Southern Reach itself. But the expedition members' choices have become the choices of the colonized. Survive or not? Internalize or not? Assimilate or not? They bring these choices to Control, who adds his own familiar, horrifying existential questions. When change seems inevitable and irreversible, can it be controlled to some degree? Can the self remain intact after the mind and body have been "Ship of Theseus"-ed into something unrecognizable?

"This is not to say that climate focused readings are irrelevant to The Southern Reach series. I mean that climate issues are also colonization issues. In that, the worst effects of climate change fall hardest upon the most marginalized. We observe the breakdown of the 12th expedition, an invasive species to this new biome, even as we observe the breakdown of recognizable life within Area X. New configurations of life emerge from this collapse of old structures. Hybridizations, commensalisms, wholesale assimilations. Even our bureaucracies, as evidenced in Authority, form a kind of natural order that can be deconstructed and readapated. Control fails to contain Area X because of another key understanding that the colonized eventually develop: you cannot fight that with which you have become complicit. The best you can do is realize what's happening and hope its not too late by the time you do. Never fear, Area X reassures. Colonization and its associated harms, terrifying and painful as they might be, are not the end—however much traditional science fiction stories might suggest otherwise. Survival is possible if one is lucky, brave, and clever, but it might require a transformation far more nuanced and complex than mere death. And this is a reassurance. Speculative fiction has historically framed colonization as a contest with winners and losers, but its never been that simple. Human beings are syncretic, some element of who and what we were will always remain in what we become. Entropy cannot be stopped but new energy can be added to the system. And those who are caught up in the transformation can claim a degree of that power for themselves. And, ultimately, syncretism means that we are carried forwards regardless, if only in part. Still better than nothing.

"As I write these words, multiple genocides are in progress. I feel no certainty for the future. Half my nation is so enthralled to it's own bigoted fantasies that I neither expect nor particularly want the United States to survive. I do not fear the singularity, sentient AI, or any technological boogeyman. I fear the confluence of greed and shortsightedness and spite that human rights and human consciouses cannot survive intact.

"But new systems emerge, inevitably. After a climate extinction or a natural disaster, ecologies adapt, new entities eventually fill old empty niches, power changes hands, and stories can be deconstructed. Even when the situation is most terrifying, least stable, there will always be those who embrace the change, and perhaps gain new strength from it. It's a bittersweet understanding, but the change is upon us. We're all in Area X, now. If we are lucky, clever, and courageous, we might still recognize ourselves when its all said and done."

-N. K. Jemisin, Authority

[twinsfawn]

(saying this as someone with csa trauma) my main takeaway when watching nosferatu was that it was an allegory for the suppression of desire, and then the acceptance of one’s own desire in the final act. robert eggers does a fantastic job with delivering quality gothic horror because it’s just ambiguous enough that everyone can have their own interpretation, while still having the film confront dark subject matters. there is no singular “correct” way to view it. there were so many little elements that made it deeply complex and multifaceted, i can absolutely understand why everyone interpreted it differently and that’s what i think makes it a great work of art

[pumpkinpaix]

Chapter Spotlight 6:

"Vibe Checks: Chinese Overseas Labor as a Prerequisite Activism to Participation in Anglophone Chen Qing Ling Fan Communities" by Tina Tianyi Liu

Describe your topic/chapter in one sentence/one meme/140 characters.

My chapter is the result of one (1) pandemic's worth of trying to logic myself out of an identity crisis over my "Chineseness."

Was there anything you were surprised to discover while researching?

This was the first time where I realized that I might be more of a labour theorist than a critical race theorist. I'm still having a scholarly identity crisis over it.

If there’s one thing you hope the fandom takes away from your article, what would it be?

Cross-cultural communication is very complicated and multifaceted, and sensitivity checkers within Anglophone Chinese drama fandoms are semi-regularly at each others' throats.

Favorite adaptation, if any?

No competition: MDZS Q. What's better than adorable, unhinged chibis?

If you were isekai-ed into MDZS/CQL, what sect affiliation would you choose and why?

Lan, because I want Lan Qiren as a teacher.

Who's your favorite character?

Lan Qiren is my favourite character, but Lan Jingyi is a close second. I will (and have) subjected poor innocents to impromptu essays on why Lan Qiren is not a bad uncle.

Why am I so defensive of Lan Qiren?

Because I have been brainwashed by this fic and this meta.

Anything to say to potential readers of the collection?

Coming from an academic librarian: Talk to your local librarian to purchase a copy (or 3) of this collection for your community or university :3

(FAQ) (all posts on Catching Chen Qing Ling)

[pearlprincess02]

gemini sun, virgo moon, pisces rising, cancer mercury, cancer venus, aries mars

gemini sun: multifaceted and curious, these individuals know just a little bit about everything. they move through the world as if it's an all you can eat buffet of knowledge, people, places, and opportunities. gemini's are they messengers of the zodiac, so they might be known for their gossiping habits and talkative qualities. they are brilliant and creative minds with a large variety of interests and hobbies. gemini's can have a lot of acquaintances because of their playful sense of humor, quick wit and charming nature. can be great multitaskers and often jump from one thing to the next. they are always mentally active and strive to know everything about everything. gemini sun's can be deceiving and mischievous about their intentions or to avoid responsibility. most are aware that they can lack depth and be superficial in their actions. with how many people they talk to it would be odd if they weren't inauthentic with a few of them, although they still are very versatile. they don't like being bored so they'll take a strong liking to you if you are just as funny, entertaining and mentally stimulating as they are. gemini is a mutable, air sign.

virgo moon: signifies a practical and detail-oriented emotional nature. Individuals are analytical, seeking order and perfection. they may struggle with self-criticism and worry. attuned to helping others, they express care through practical assistance. reserved in showing emotions, they value reliability and intellect, often finding solace in routine and organization.

pisces rising: sometimes they look half asleep. wherever they are, they’re not here. always staring off into the distance. large, emotional eyes. old souls who have already seen too much.

cancer mercury: subjective, emotional and understanding way of thinking and communicating. being biased and non-intellectual, they can absorb information without critical thinking and hold onto these ideas strongly - hence why this placement is most associated with being patriotic (they easily go along with their family or peers). they avoid arguments and prefer conversations that feel intuitive and where they feel connected to the other person. this can be associated with good memory (similar to moon in cancer) and they can enjoy journalling to keep memories. they can also be humorous.

cancer venus: soft feather pillows, a bowl of warm soup, a bubble bath, tears and running mascara, babies and how babies laugh, poetry, "i'll be whatever you want me to be”, hot tubs, hot coffee, teddy bears, heartbeats, soft hands & skin, lotion, bagels and cream cheese, doodling in your journal

aries mars: your will to survive makes you strong. your connection to your primal urges are strong. acting on what you physically crave is strong. you may feel stronger after sex, but evolving from this belief is your ability to grow strength from leading and protecting others sexuality.

(anon ask)

ᵒᵇˢᵉʳᵛᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ ᵃʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ᵐⁱⁿᵉ

[krittikasurya]

Some thoughts on Krittka Nakshatra (originally posted on substack and twitter)

Krittika at its best really understands how to both simultaneously enjoy and appreciate things while also being able to give critical commentary and feedback, and I think a lot of people have a hard time wrapping their heads around this level of multifaceted behavior. In a world where black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking is common and encouraged, people often forget that two things can be true at once. Krittika natives have the creativity and flexibility to understand and implement this “two truths at once” concept into their everyday lives. People think Krittika natives are being insolent or abrasive when the native is just simply speaking on what they’ve learned, gathered, observed and experienced and being straightforward about it…taking the data they’ve accumulated and turning it into something that’s easy to digest. Absolute truths rarely exist, and Krittika exposes the complexities we experience on both a collective and individual level.

Krittika’s goal isn’t to trash things necessarily. I think the goal Krittika natives have is to help themselves and others see things in a different, profound way. Offering refreshing perspectives on many different aspects of life is something the natives take pride in. The Martian influence of the Aries portion of the nakshatra makes one very analytical and strategic. Observing and learning through action and expeirnce, the Aries side of this nakshatra knows how to take things back to the drawing board. They understand that trial and error are some of the best teachers, and that there is always room for change. The Venusian influence of the Taurus portion gives the native discernment and good taste. The discriminatory nature of Venus leaves little to no room for indifference, especially when it comes to connections, arts, and culture. Venus appreciates excellence, and Krittika will accept nothing less. Krittika serves as the bridge between the sun’s (Identity) and the moon’s (Mind) exaltation points, giving both signs vast intelligence that manifests slightly different, but one thing remains the same: The sharp, quick witted nature of the nakshatra that seeks improvement within themsleves and the world around them. In today’s society, echo chambers are growing increasingly common, creating less nuance and mental flexibility, and more groupthink. From arts to politics, the effects of all-or-nothing thinking seems almost inescapable. Mediocrity is the acceptable normal, and Krittika is on a mission to change that.

When not channeled appropriately, Krittika natives can be high strung individuals, hypercritical of both themselves and others while forgetting to appreciate the beauty of life, and the beauty within themsleves. Some constantly feel the need to “shake the table” or say what they believe others are afraid to say, not fully realizing the implications of making ego driven “critiques.” Some “critiques” can be so ego driven, that they are dowright incorrect, mean or hateful in nature. They can be prone to tunnel vision and extreme anger, especially when they feel like their way is the only way. Krittikas can be demanding, exhibiting dictator-like control over their communities which can lead to a “walking on eggshells” feeling for the people around the native. It is imperative that Krittikas don’t lose sight on what’s important: not crossing the thin line between enlightening analysis, and downright negativity.

Krittika natives experience a lot of pleasure from giving critique as well, because they believe that there’s something really cool about being able to get others to think in ways they may not have before, and introduce various perspectives on any given subject. Krittika’s shakti (power) is to purify or burn away impurities, and sharing thier critical thoughts and assessments is one of the best ways to do it in today’s world. If we as a collective are going to consume things, Krittikas believe we can and should evaluate and question what we consume. Things should be questioned more. “Impurities” should be pointed out. The status quo should be challenged in all aspects of life.

Krittika isn’t scared to point out things that are flawed and it infuriates some individuals that Krittika natives don’t just sit and “go with the flow” all the time. Krittika has a burning lust for awareness of the world we live in. Krittika knows that sometimes there will be conflict, they’ll ruffle a few feathers and invoke certain emotions that make others feel uncomfortable, but when done tactfully that has the power to change the world (however big or small you consider your world to be).

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Take this yap card!!

Feel free to yap about whatever in extensive detail:)

:O

for me?

I'll spare you Victor Hugo level yapping on some random subject and instead talk about how the musical adaptation of newsies took something away from every major character from the original.

Now, I've said several times before that I do not have any hate for the newsies musical and I really do mean it. If you've been here for a while you should know that I really do love the uk production and tutsies, but ultimately I prefer the 1992 movie. Really, I just think that Harvey Fierstein ran into the exact same problem in his adaptation that Kenny Ortega did two decades prior: newsies is just too complex a story with too many multifaceted characters to fit comfortably into a two hour runtime.

I think Fierstein tried too hard to make it fit and in the process had to cut important aspects of several characters. Namely: Jack, David, Medda, Sarah, Denton, Racetrack, and Crutchy. (For now we'll skip over the fact that most of the original ensemble was replaced.)

Beginning with the most obvious cut, Sarah and Denton were replaced with Katherine Plumber/Pulitzer. I personally really love Katherine as a character in her own right, but I think the issue with her replacing Sarah and Denton is that she is an attempt at combining two characters who serve two very different purposes. And the purpose that I think Katherine ends up serving turns out to be something very different too.

Denton is more than just a reporter who decides to report on the newsies strike, he is representative of all of the real adults who supported and aided the 1899 strike. If you aren't too familiar with the history of the 1899 strike, the newsboys' rally at Irving Hall was literally sponsored by the NY state senator, Timothy D. Sullivan (who by the way had once been a newsboy himself). The newsboys (and girls) had a lot of support from adults, and Denton in the film is helping the newsboys not because he's itching to further his career but because he truly believes from the start that the strike is an important story worth writing about. Yes, he gets reassigned and 'betrays' the strike, but he never stops encouraging the newsies to fight for their cause even when he feels he himself no longer can.

Denton is also very important in David's development as a character because Denton's betrayal (which comes before Jack's) is what really forces David to lead and to stop relying on other people to speak for him.

Sarah's purpose is to connect the strike to the other child workers (though admittedly, this isn't very well executed.) Sarah is the one who, in the aftermath of Jack scabbing and in the middle of her brother's anger, discovers Denton's article and becomes a catalyst for the Newsies Banner. It is she who realizes that the strike is so much bigger than Jack and her brother and she who understands it's impact better than anyone else because she's seen both the impact of child labor (being a newsie was actually a pretty good occupation in comparison to the jobs and working conditions of other kids) and the passion that Jack and the strike inspires first hand.

Again, Sarah's role in the film isn't as fleshed out as it should have been because so many of her scenes were cut, but when you fill in the blanks with context clues or by looking back at the scripts and what was cut, the purpose of her character becomes clear.

Keeping all of this in mind, Katherine isn't an adult like Denton and she isn't a child worker like Sarah. Katherine is very different from the both of them and brings an entirely different purpose to the story simply because she is her own character. And this isn't a bad thing by any means, but the meaning that Denton and Sarah brought to the story is lost by not including them. Katherine doesn't really 'replace' Denton and Sarah. So, to get the most out of Newsies, it shouldn't be Denton and Sarah or Katherine. It should be Denton and Sarah and Katherine.

Moving on to Jack and David, what these characters lose in adaptation is pretty similar. Jack visually loses his cowboy hat and bandana which might not seem like a big deal, but it is when you consider what these things represent. Jack's dream of Santa Fe in the film isn't about Santa Fe at all and Santa Fe itself is simply a form of escapism. It's a child's dream. The idealistic dream of a boy who's lost his family and is running from both his past and his fears. Jack also loses his moral ambiguity. In the musical, Jack isn't lying about his name or his family. His family hardly ever comes up and he freely tells Crutchie about his dad. In a way, the musical doesn't let Jack be a child. And not just because he's played by a grown man.

The musical sets Jack up to be misunderstood, he stole food and clothing to help his friends and dreams about Santa Fe because he wants something more out of his life. Yeah, that's fair. That's actually really darn reasonable. Jack isn't a scared little boy anymore, he's a young man who acts with a degree of maturity and clear moral intelligence. I don't like that change.

To me, Jack is seventeen and he feels trapped. He feels like he's suffocating. He has no family and he's left vulnerable because of their loss. 'Cowboy' is a façade to hide his fear. The musical just doesn't portray this as well as the original did.

David also loses a kind of childishness in the musical. Musical David (or Davey) scolds his brother for not wanting to go back to school/thinking being a newsie is better than school. Meanwhile in the film, Mayer Jacobs scolds David for expressing a similar sentiment. Maybe this change was simply to compensate for the exclusion of Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs and somebody had to say that David and Les were going back to school for plot reasons, but it's still at the expense of David. David isn't a parent. At the youngest he's fifteen, and at the oldest he's seventeen. He should be allowed to be selfish. He should be allowed to daydream about leaving school behind and doing something significant, or of being the 'man of the house' like his father. David should also be allowed to get angry and the musical robs him of that opportunity. Katherine's 'betrayal' doesn't effect Davey the way Denton's did and from what we see Jack's betrayal didn't effect him much either. He's disappointed, but he's not allowed to lash out. He's level-headed and reasonable and he knows that the show must go on. He isn't allowed to be impulsive, he isn't allowed to make mistakes, and he isn't important enough for other characters to have to earn his forgiveness.

Now you might be wondering how Medda's character loses anything from film to musical. First, we have to agree that there are really two Meddas. The first Medda is 'Miss Medda Lark[son/in] the Swedish Meadowlark' and the other Medda is the lady behind the stage name.

When Medda is on the stage, she's simply putting on a show. That's her job, after all, and we see this in both the film and the musical. What changes is the Medda we see in between her performances. Both Meddas very clearly care for Jack and the newsies and they are both given moments to show this. However, like the loss of Denton, the musical doesn't give Medda a moment where we see the injustice of how other adults treat the newsies in comparison to Medda. There's a heartbreaking scene in the original film where Medda, in the chaos at the rally, slaps a thug who's attacking Racetrack before she's dragged off the stage and out of harms way. "He's just a child! Can't you see that?" she screams. It's a case of an adult defending the newsies and shows us that these other adults are in the wrong. It's a small thing, but we just don't have an equivalent scene in the stage adaptation. Medda very clearly supports the newsies, but she's never given a scene that lets her directly challenge the adults who are actively harming and silencing the newsies, and I think that's a loss.

Finally, Racetrack and Crutchy(/ie) are both watered down. Racetrack's snark and serious side were projected onto the stage character Albert, leaving Racetrack himself to be mostly portrayed as comic relief. His older brotherly attitude towards Les is also lost.

Crutchy also looses his snark. His is more subtle, but it was still important because Crutchy isn't just a happy-go-lucky ball of sunshine. Remember when Crutchy snarked the Delancey brothers? Remember when he spat in Snyder's sauerkraut? Remember when he told Snyder to make friends with the rats? He also loses the line "I don't want nobody carrying me. Never, ya hear?" It's so important that Crutchy had pride, that he didn't want his friends to pity him or treat him any differently because of his disability. It's so important that his friends respected him and never did, even if they were just trying to help out of love for their friend. It's so important that Crutchy was defiant, that he fought back in his own ways.

There's just so much that wasn't included or explored in the stage musical in regard to the primary characters and it leaves them with less of themselves.

[marshmallowprotection]

i'd love to hear your interpretation of the day 8 call ("You don't give up do you?") on Saeyoung's route! that has to be my favorite call, especially the end lolol

I mean, if anything, this is a representation that goes against the idea that Saeyoung "suddenly becomes a big meanie in his route and he's not playing games with me anymore, he's such a jerk! The time we've spent with him in the apartment is awful because he isn't the silly guy on the game previews!"

I really don't care for people who talk about him that way. If you only value him because he's silly, then you don't actually value him at all as a person. That's why you drive right into the bad ending, figuratively and literally. If you don't value his emotions and allow him to come to terms with what just happened to him, then you don't like Saeyoung.

Saeyoung just realized he sold his life away for NOTHING. Rika and V promised him that Saeran would be safe, and now he's just learned it was a lie. It was all a lie. His brother isn't safe, he's suffering in horrible ways that Saeyoung can't even begin to imagine because every time he closes his eyes, he wants throw up at the thought of Saeran being forced to learn how to hack and hurt others.

He traded his autonomy away to give his brother a chance at a free life, and not even a perfectly free life, a life that could be as free as he could have been given the circumstances. Saeyoung did it because thought the sacrifice would be worth it and threw away everything for nothing. It was for nothing because his brother has no nothing but misery. 

Can you imagine what it must feel like to sacrifice everything and realize it was for nothing? Do you think anybody in his position will be silly and goofy? No. That's not even the entirety of his being. He is not just some guy who likes to play pranks on people. The RFA is his family, and he’s accepted they’ll be the only family he’ll ever have because he can’t be with Saeran. So, he looks over them and does all kinds of things to lift their spirits. 

He got Yoosung into LOLOL. 

He runs Twitter bots for Zen. 

He hangs out with Jaehee and lets her vent about work. 

He’s aware that Elizabeth’s collar has SENSITIVE INFORMATION on it, and is constantly pressing Jumin to up his security. 

Sure, he plays around and pokes fun at everybody, and yes, that’s a part of who he is. But, if you only believe he's a silly prankster, then you have spent no time reflecting on why he's wearing a mask and settling it in the first place.

Saeyoung Choi is a multifaceted person and he isn’t just a joke. He's a compassionate man who will do anything and everything to take care of the people he loves, he loves going out for drives, he loves working on robotics, he can make up a story on the spot about the stars, he loves cosplay and cross-dressing, he loves so many things and he could spend three hours explaining his love of language and linguistics to you if you ASKED.

He is serious and if he's trying to piece together a plan, he's going to have a contingency ready for his contingency. He's ready for anything you throw at him. He can hold a conversation at length about any subject you throw at him and he will enjoy it far more than you think he will. 

He's stubborn to a fault. He can be clingy and paranoid at his worst. Sometimes his anger gets the better of him and he says things without thinking. But, that's what makes him human, with all his faults, flaws, and aspirations. There is so much more to him than being a jokester and if you don't understand that, you're not paying attention to what's happening during your time in the apartment. 

All of this is to say that it's not okay that he's mean to you in the apartment, but a lot of people tend to blow what he's doing out of proportion. If you are actively calling him throughout the day and listening to what he says, it is so obvious that he is lying through his teeth. He may be the best liar in the world when it comes to his work in the agency, but when it comes to you, he is the worst liar I have ever seen in my entire life.

He cannot hide how much he cares about you. When he thinks you're not eating he goes out of his way to make sure he orders every kind of sandwich imaginable just in case you have a picky palette. When you leave the apartment to get something for him, he gets upset with you, not because he's angry with you, but because he hates that you're not thinking of your safety when his brother could have really hurt you even if it hurts him to admit that. 

And, you know what happens in this phone call? He sees you crying and he immediately folds. It doesn't matter how frustrated he is with the fact that his life is built on a lie, he still wants to comfort you because you make him happy no matter how afraid he is to admit that.

When it comes down to it, he's just afraid of letting you into his life because the last time he had somebody close to him that he would do anything for, they suffered. He just watched what happened to his brother all because he cared about him and thought he could trust his brother with people who didn't give him a reason not to trust them. 

The only reason he tries to push you away is because he's afraid of you getting hurt like his brother. He can't stomach what happened to his brother as it is, but the thought of watching another person he loves suffering isn't something he can stand. If you work with him and give him the space he needs, then he'll apologize to you and realize that he can't live his life this way forever.

He can't deny himself happiness for the rest of his life just because he's afraid to make a leap. This call shows he can't lie about anything when it comes to you no matter how hard he tries. He could lie to the rest of the world but he could never lie to you. 

My favorite part is the way his voice trembles near the end of the phone call and he asks you if it's okay to Hold Your Hand despite everything. 

[rivetgoth]

The thing with when trans men express dysphoria about social/gender roles and stereotypes ie. not wanting to be seen as “too feminine” wrt their behaviors hobbies interests etc is that I understand this is a complex multifaceted thing I understand that these are structural issues being enforced from the top down and trans people in particular are subjected to unique torment when we don’t adhere to said stereotypes and I understand there is some level of irrationality involved in dysphoria but at the same time like. At some point you do kinda have to just figure out how to free yourself of it because you only really get so much sympathy from me for being a man straightforwardly replicating the sentiment “men have to be masculine (Sports, Gym, ‘Rock Music,’ Stoicisim) and women have to be feminine (Makeup, Fashion, ‘Pop Music,’ Emotion)” regardless of your trans status. Like you sorta just have to realize that Blue Is For Boys Pink Is For Girls isn’t actually real and get over it.

[journeytothewestresearch]

PSA - Don't Treat JTTW As Modern Fiction

This is a public service announcement reminding JTTW fans to not treat the work as modern fiction. The novel was not the product of a singular author; instead, it's the culmination of a centuries-old story cycle informed by history, folklore, and religious mythology. It's important to remember this when discussing events from the standard 1592 narrative.

Case in point is the battle between Sun Wukong and Erlang. A friend of a friend claims with all their heart that the Monkey King would win in a one-on-one battle. They cite the fact that Erlang requires help from other Buddho-Daoist deities to finish the job. But this ignores the religious history underlying the conflict. I explained the following to my acquaintance:

I hate to break it to you [name of person], but Erlang would win a million times out of a million. This is tied to religious mythology. Erlang was originally a hunting deity in Sichuan during the Han (202 BCE-220 CE), but after receiving royal patronage during the Later Shu (934-965) and Song (960-1279), his cult grew to absorb the mythos of other divine heroes. This included the story of Yang Youji, an ape-sniping archer, leading to Erlang's association with quelling primate demons. See here for a broader discussion. This is exemplified by a 13th-century album leaf painting. The deity (right) oversees spirit-soldiers binding and threatening an ape demon (left).

Erlang was connected to the JTTW story cycle at some point, leading to a late-Yuan or early-Ming zaju play called The God Erlang Captures the Great Sage Equaling Heaven (二郎神鎖齊天大聖). In addition, The Precious Scroll of Erlang (二郎寳卷, 1562), a holy text that predates the 1592 JTTW by decades, states that the deity defeats Monkey and tosses him under Tai Mountain. So it doesn't matter how equal their battle starts off in JTTW, or that other deities join the fray, Erlang ultimately wins because that is what history and religion expects him to do. And as I previously mentioned, Erlang has royal patronage. This means he was considered an established god in dynastic China. Sun Wukong, on the other hand, never received this badge of legitimacy. This was no doubt because he's famous for rebelling against the Jade Emperor, the highest authority. No human monarch in their right mind would publicly support that. Therefore, you can look at the Erlang-Sun Wukong confrontation as an established deity submitting a demon.

I'm sad to say that my acquaintance immediately ignored everything I said and continued debating the subject based on the standard narrative. That's when I left the conversation. It's clear that they don't respect the novel; it's nothing more than fodder for battleboarding.

I understand their mindset, though. I love Sun Wukong more than just about anyone. I too once believed that he was the toughest, the strongest, and the fastest. But learning more about the novel and its multifaceted influences has opened my eyes. I now have a deeper appreciation for Monkey and his character arc. Sure, he's a badass, but he's not an omnipotent deity in the story. There is a reason that the Buddha so easily defeats him.

In closing, please remember that JTTW did not develop in a vacuum. It may be widely viewed around the world as "fiction," but it's more of a cultural encyclopedia of history, folklore, and religious mythology. Realizing this and learning more about it ultimately helps explain why certain things happen in the tale.

[walks-the-ages]

If I didn't mention it, I'll be voting for Jasmine Sherman (they/them) in November, Because they already have Ballot Access in 48 states , as opposed to Jill Stein who currently only has ~23 states with Ballot Access.

EDIT:

Someone has commented to point out that while Jasmine Sherman's website lists out 48 states that they're on the Ballot for, there's no sources given for this information, and right now, while its only wikipedia articles, neither of us can find any ballot access map or list not on their website that confirms that information independantly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot_access_in_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Green_Party_presidential_primaries#Declared_candidates

Jasmine Sherman's own "how to vote for us" section of their website encourages people to use Ballotpedia, they're only listed as being on the ballot for one state , while the Presidential Election 2024 page does not list them at all and neither does their ballot-access tracker at politico:

Jasmine Sherman's website also lists them as being on the ballot under the Unicorn Party.... but I have not seen any list anywhere that list where the Unicorn Party is on the ballot except for their website.

There's also the fact that their website's policy on the Death Penalty not only supports it, but wants it to be either by Morphine Overdose or fucking Firing Squad with only 1 year of appeals??? There's a footnote above it that says their position has changed and they're leaving the original policy up for preservation but like...

.. you can't run for President saying you want the Death Penalty to be done by Firing Squad of all fucking things when people almost universally hate the death penalty (not least of which because it kills so many innocents) and then just leave a note that you changed your mind but not what your new official stance is????

https://jasminesherman.com/death-penalty-policy/ [note at top of Policy page] *Jasmine wishes to inform the readers that this post is being preserved to uphold transparency. While the death penalty contradicts the Green Party’s platform, it would be disingenuous to ignore the evolution of Jasmine’s stance on this matter. Their transition from previous support to a different standpoint is noteworthy, highlighting that a candidate’s position is not solely driven by personal preferences but also reflects the desires of their constituents. [Policy] Purpose: Institute a federal standard for capital punishment. Scope: Encourage states to be more efficient with resources surrounding the enforcement of “Capital Punishment.” Our policy: Capital Punishment – is to be reserved for those convicted of mass killing and serial killer events only. Due process is to take no more than one calendar year. There should be two options available for the execution; morphine overdose or firing squad. All other capital punishment cases will remain as they are or will be subject to incorporation into the Unicorn Party’s “Restorative Justice Treatment Program”. Definitions: Mass Killing Event: A multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered by any means, within one event, and in one or more locations in close proximity. Serial Killing: The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.

So, uhhhhh, yeah. If you want to kill people who are Officially Criminals by Firing Squad I don't really think you can be trusted to be thinking in terms of humane death or punishment. Note how the website does not include what their official new position is at all, when that's literally what the Policy page is for!

If you believe in Restorative Justice and universal healthcare because everyone deserves the right to life .... if you truely believe in that how can you support the Death Penalty at all, let alone by such barbaric methods?

There's also the "Policy" about "Rights of Sentient Beings" that says

"The majority of research does suggest that primarily plant based consumption for humans is ideal. This doesn’t include those with disabilities or health phenomenons we do not understand.

which.... from almost everything I've read out there published by actual medical professionals, unless you're going out of your way to eat very specific things each and every day, you're going to run into nutritional deficiencies and need to take supplements if you're going vegetarian or vegan! In fact, you have to as much as double your iron intake on a plant-based diet because the iron we get from plants isn't as digestible as the one we get from meat. Because. You know. we're literally omnivores for a reason.

SO! After doing some more deep dives into their actual policies (such as they are), and looking deeper into the supposed-ballot access, Jasmine Sherman is not a candidate I will be voting for.

You can advocate for the humane treatment of animals without insisting that all humans except disabled people are perfectly capable of healthily living on a vegan diet, because that's simply not true without supplaments or a vastly increased access to a variety of foods, and if you truly believe in abolishing the criminal-justice system, there's no way in fucking hell you would support the Death Penalty.

Like I said in my longer version of this post (which is still relevant, check out the reblogs), voting third partym eans being adaptable and doing research in pursuit of a Free Palestine , which means, until we can get some independant verification of Jasmine Sherman having ballot access in 48 states, (and an actual proven change on that horrific stance on Capital Punishment!!!!), it is back to Jill Stein for me.

Unlike Jasmine Sherman, Jill Stein actually wants to abolish the Death Pentalty entirely, and has a long list of changes she plans to implement for restorative justice if elected: