#but i really would appreciate a more straightforward writing style

[hongluboobs]

ok i was cooking up another hong lu analysis thing bc i noticed SEVERAL things in his base id art the other day and wanted to share with the class but they just dropped a new one in the canto V trailer and i have some stuff i wanna talk about that one:)

My Hong Lu knowledge and interpretation is very heavily influenced by reading Dream of the Red Chamber, which may not be the best because I don’t know how much Limbus will pull from the book because it’s Long as fuck but I think it’s given me a deeper knowledge of Hong Lu.

Keep in mind this ego is NOT out yet so i could be totally off base depending on what the full animation/corrosion/sin affinities are like and this is totally theorizing but I wanted to have a go at anyway!! And this got totally out of hand so reading is appreciated :)

One of the first things I noticed here is this Hong Lu seems VERY Bao-yu. We still don’t know for sure what Hong Lu is within the context of Red Chamber (i don’t think it’ll be straightforward considering how that book works) but it’s important to note!

He has this little hat on (this is the best pic i can get atm to show it’s not a fancy hair tie, unfortunately the footage we have rn is a little scuffed)

and Bao-yu is ALWAYS depicted with a hat like this.

This could just be because that’s the appropriate outfit for Chinese nobility (I unfortunately have little to no reference point here, feel free to correct me, but from some quick searches hats aren’t ubiquitous and ESPECIALLY not ones of this style.) I think it’s worth noting because it comes up in nearly all modern depictions of Bao-yu.

There’s also the pearl Hong Lu is wearing on his neck/chest area, which is where Bao-yu wears the magic jade he was born with. His jade is translated into Limbus as Hong Lu’s jade eye, but this plus his hat and the abno’s themes REALLY makes me think we are dealing with some Bao-Yu stuff here.

Speaking of the Abno’s themes, now i can actually go over them! All we have for Walking Pearl right now is the MD event (as well as general observation), but there’s a few things that are relevant.

Just based off design, the abnormality seems to be mostly about the precious (the pearl) and the filth (the muck) intermixing. which makes sense with the EGO being named “Effervescent Corrosion” and our holders being Hong Lu and Rodya.

There’s some symbolism around greed/wealth (the offspring filled muck desiring the pearl and fighting for which one will earn it? the muck tarnishing the pearl? ) and I think we should read into that because it’s Hong Lu and Rodya who have this one and they’re both very tied to their financial status. Those two sharing an ego makes me insane for a bunch of reasons but that’s probably for another analysis piece! But duality is REALLY important for those guys and that’s a theme they’re emphasizing here with both the pearl and muck within the clam.

There’s also some elements of shelter/protection/potentially entrapment with the clam’s shell which are HUGE for Hong Lu, especially with his egos so I think those may come up.

But mostly it’s about the mixing of the precious (likely “wealth” here) and the unsavory, which works very well with what we know of the Jia family. The design likely referencing Bao-yu and thematically dealing with the Jia family makes me think each of those individual readings are more likely because they’re deeply tied together!

And now onto the MD event! I did not write this in order so I may repeat stuff here but. I realized I had to cover the design first so here we are!

First thing that stuck out of me is this portion when you choose to sample some of the clam’s slime.

Sibling/family infighting is very Jia family. It reminds me a lot of this line base Hong Lu says.

You could take this a step further because the clam is something that would typically offer shelter from the rest of the world, and even though it protects, its offspring continue to kill and eat each other.

It seems fine, the offspring have this lovely shell for protection, and they have the precious pearl held within, but even as they are sheltered and wealthy. They are still getting killed and eaten by one another! Reminds me of someone I know:)

It reminds me of some bits in the later half of Red Chamber, where family members more obviously start acting behind each other’s backs or turning on each other, some even killing other family members.

Another part of the MD event that I got something out of was the beginning portion.

using specifically jade as the color for the seawater is a Hong Lu thing. I may be reaching with this bc it’s more than likely just flavor text BUT when taking this color with the fact that there’s nothing in the water it makes me think of an important scene in Red Chamber where Bao-Yu is described as an empty shell, so I wanted to mention it. We know Hong Lu has TONS of water motifs, especially when relating to his family (see his base ego)

The main reason I brought up this section of the MD event is because of the question brought up by the last portion.

If you take one thing from Dream Of The Red Chamber into your perception of Hong Lu as a character, it should be the themes of ambiguity, duality, and being between binaries. Because he sure as hell does that a lot!!! (and i’m not just talking about his gender) He is both genuinely curious and sheltered with an urge to learn as much as he can, but he also plays dumb frequently, backpedals and asks a lot of stupid questions on purpose to maintain others’ perceptions of him. He is CONSTANTLY walking the line between truth and illusion and it can be hard to tell which is which and precisely how much is fake or real, which is why I find him such an interesting character to think about.

Tangent about Hong Lu's characterization aside, it's really easy to read this line as about his family's perceptions of him.

Hong Lu (or rather, Bao-yu) can be read as being the source of the contamination in that he is the heir of the Jia family who is just an absolute fucking failure of everything you’d want in an heir for that time period.

The clam containing the filth can be read as Hong Lu’s lies (whether conscious lies or otherwise) to himself and others about the true “filth” of his family. Really good example of this is with another bit of window dialogue, but these lies and half truths come up quite a bit if you know where to look. (what happened to cohort of kin looking to stab each other in the back at every turn???)

We already have Hong Lu’s assorted water motifs (his feet make ripples on the water in his base id, land of illusion has so much water theming and shows the Jia mansion is surrounded by water) so I think this is a reasonable analysis to make :)

There’s some other sections to the MD event, but there’s nothing of note that triggered the Hong Lu sleeper agent in my brain & also this has gone on long enough that I wanna talk about predicting some stuff for the ego!

I am manifesting Gluttony/Gloom/Wrath for this ego!!

Gluttony and gloom are in the MD event’s skill check already and I think tie in nicely with the themes. Gluttony works with the offspring in the muck killing and eating each other and themes of greed with the pearl (plus the ego is primarily green and that’s a pretty good clue) and then gloom comes up a LOT with Hong Lu’s family (Liu Hong Lu, the only one that remarks on his jade eye, is also the only Hong Lu with gloom. land of illusion requires 5 gloom resources and also relates a lot to red chamber/his family) Gloom’s also generally a stand-in for water which exists here.

Wrath in Hong Lu generally manifests in him going “yeah, maybe my family was a little fucked up actually” internally, instead of manifesting as taking direct action about the fucked up things like it works for most other sinners, and acknowledging that his family was at least partially filth and killing and eating eachother (metaphorically. maybe literally) works for that

i am not an expert on sin analysis but i wanted to take a prediction bc it’s fun :)

I have a couple of predictions for corrosion and i’ll be real they are the main reason i wrote this thing because i LOVE when bad things happen to Hong Lu!!

Since this ego seems to be referencing Bao-yu so much i can pull stuff from Red Chamber too which makes it more fun :)

First one I came up with is Hong Lu taking the place of the pearl within the clam and getting locked in there! A bunch of his egos have to do with being controlled/trapped so i think it works and it also can work as a parallel for Bao-yu’s treatment by his family. Bao-yu’s name means precious jade, and he’s often treated more like his namesake than a person, heavily controlled and never allowed to leave the Jia mansion (or, in this case, the clam.) I just think it’d be fun!

My other concept has to do with more Red Chamber stuff, notably what happens when Bao-yu loses his jade. I’m not quite there yet in the text, but from what i’ve heard he becomes incredibly unstable and essentially loses his mind. This sets the Jia family’s downfall into even faster motion and from that point things get REALLY fucked up. Since the pearl here parallels Bao-yu’s jade, I think having a reference to that part of the book would be really fucking crazy for all 5 people who have read 1800+ pages of red chanber to get to chapter 94 where he loses that thing. Also i just want to see Hong Lu lose his mind i KNOW it would be terrifying and chilling. but they may be saving that for his distortion (manifesting)

In my skimming Red Chamber table of contents to find when Bao-yu loses his jade i just found a chapter where Bao-yu’s father admires a pearl but we will just ignore that for now bc this has taken long enough to type already and that is several chapters off. but there may be more analysis when this thing actually comes out!

Thank you for reading this far!! I hope you enjoyed me looking far too deep into an unreleased ego we know next to nothing about for fun! this took WAY longer than expected to type out but i’m glad I did because I loveee telling people about Hong Lu!

There is a very real chance very little of my analysis and prediction is reflected in canon BUT please remember that truth becomes fiction when the fiction’s true and even if this doesn’t turn out to be correct now u know a little more about Hong Lu and the themes he plays with :)

[bucketspammer4life]

☆ how the boxers react to being flirted with ☆

Sorry for dissapearing (again), i was busy damaging my hearing, enjoy my woobification teehee

Glass Joe

- Really depends on how you flirt with him, if its poetic or really straightforward hes gonna turn into a tomato

- hes not giggling, its just your imagination nuh uh

- he def rolls in bed like a rotisserie chicken while thinking about ur pick up line

- hes gonna try to flirt back until its just a competition of who blushes the hardest

Von Kaiser

- actual jaw drop from him, the more poetic the better

- in shock, his brain literally turns off

- has to check his pulse because GODDAMN his heart is beating harder than usual (You may have a heart palpitation, kaiser)

- you live rent free in his head now congratulations

Disco Kid

- right back at you, if youre a bit too straightforward he may need to tell you to slow down

- youre getting a response IMMEDIATLY. And i mean it, fresh out of the oven, thrown at you with some sprinkles on top

- giggling while he calls you cute names like sweetie, honey, baby etc etc

King Hippo

- nice try, HES AROACE!! (GET HEADCANONED IDIOT!!)

- he laughs it off while making it clear hes not into you or anyone

- flattered though, appreciates the fact that you were willing to go out of your way to approach him

- if he was not aroace or only ace, he'd just smile, the more poetic you go with him the better you have chance of making him go red

Piston Hondo

- hes suddenly cosplaying a cherry

- loves poetic rizz, will definitely go back at you until both of your flirting attempts sound like two lovers mailing each other in opposite sides of the world while one is at war

- if youre straightforward he just gets flabbergasted, like what do you mean there isnt a build up for it with 20 poems inbetween??

- cant focus rest of the day, hes internally screaming off a mountain

- the sight of you just makes his ability to focus evaporate

- draws and/or writes about you rest of the day

Great Tiger

- if you use something clever you can get a small blush out of him

- if you're the type to go for poetic lines youre gonna need to call 911 because his soul literally vanishes from existence, tiger dont go into the light stay with us PLEASE

- has to have his clones give him flirting advice because his flirting skills are not there (like 80% of my hearing)

- his flirting attempts are just "damn, are you a construction worker?, because you are a building." no matter how much he tries

Bear Hugger

- he makes his reactions clear, literally emotes while you flirt with him

- if youre poetic or straightforward he literally just says "woah"

- he just turns into that one cartoon wolf im not kidding, literal "ohh mama hubba hubba" from this man

- his flirting style is very straightforward, not "hey babygirl" type but "youre so pretty i would leave all my belongings and change my identity if it ment i could hold your hand" type, do you understand??

Don Flamenco

- replies 1.2 seconds after you, he needs to have the last word here (or last rizz in this case)

- literal mirror, the more more straightforward & atrocious your lines are the more straightforward his are going to be until it devolves into both of you sounding down bad, when they go low, he goes lowER

- poetic lines makes him have a heart attack

- its actually possible to fluster him

- unironically says babygirl to anyone hes flirting with when approaching, it doesnt matter how tall, strong or flirty you are, your gender doesnt matter, he can and will call you babygirl, its a gender neutral term for him, corners you while doing it

Aran Ryan

- evil cackling, if you put a organ over his laugh you suddenly get a scooby doo villain, he sounds less like hes flustered and more like hes about to detonate a nuclear bomb

- unhinged lines, ends up getting restraining orders thrown at him

- brings things he finds cool to flirt, ranging from flowers to rocks (he was a evil crow in a past life trust me his left eyebrow told me)

- cartwheels away

Soda Popinski

- maniacal giggling, even if its not THAT good & ridiculously straightforward

- his pick up lines unintentionally sound like god tier shitposts & end up working somehow

- corners you (in the romantic way) if you're really direct

- has the silliest giggle when flustered, literal "hehe" coming from this man that could snap you in half if he wanted to

Bald Bull

- you think the others are bad at handling flirting?? Then you havent seen bald bull because OH MY GOD HES ABOUT TO LITERALLY FLY OFF THE EARTH

- hes actually fairly difficult to fluster but once you find his weak spot hes gone from there

- cannot flirt back, blurts something dumb out like "sorry im all red pretty people make me nauseous"

- he literally goes (> - <) when blushing & covers his face with his hands

- the more direct you are the closer he gets to passing out

- stutters a lot (omg y/n is that you)

- Bull, this is bottom behavior

- people use the most unhinged pick up lines on him, someone once told him "let me milk you."

- his hands automatically go 👉👈 if hes too flustered

Super Macho Man

- Stop boosting his ego please, he may be flustered but youre kinda enabling him

- dumbest pick up lines

- also another unironic "hey babygirl" user

- if he doesnt know what to do he just throws money & valuables, 5000 dollars be upon ye

Mr Sandman

- oh my god he has the sweetest smile ever (if you dont go too straightforward), he doesnt blush a whole lot but he just chuckles a bit

- if youre direct, his jaw also drops like huh??

- his weak spots are poems & small gifts

- a little bit dense but once he gets it he smiles like crazy

- giggling kicking his feet whenever he remembers that

[beemynumberone]

All The Colours (5/7)

-> In which Idol!Minghao and Actress!OC convey their heartfelt messages through colours.

-> slowwwwburn romance. friends to lovers. no smut.

-> constructive feedback is always appreciated!

All pictures are from Pinterest, I do not own them.

Writer’s note: Hi! I am writing these scenarios to placate my active imagination and hopefully make someone’s day/night. I do not intend to hurt anyone/anything through this fic.

Thank you for picking up my story and happy reading!

Masterlist

*btw, Yile is pronounced as Yi Le (in Chinese pronunciation), it is not supposed to rhyme with Kyle

Part 5: Brown

Brown. It reminded Minghao of warm chocolate on a winter day, the delicate caps of wild mushrooms he saw while trekking in the forest and now, of muddled signals.

Yile had posted on Instagram earlier that day. It was captioned with a green four leaf clover emoji, true to what he wished for - a green sign. However, with the caption came a picture of a play she was reading, annotated with brown highlighter. The quote added was from Charlie Brown. Furthermore, a yellow emoji accompanied the green clover. Was he reading too much into this?!

Yile was growing her fanbase now. Of course he should not expect her to go above and beyond to post an all green post just for him, could he?

But like what Vernon had said, Yile could be sending another message. Minghao didn’t want to risk damaging the already precarious “acquaintanceship” they had by being straightforward, but he didn’t want to lose the chance that she might return his feelings.

“Minghao-ya, would you like to eat anything?” Mingyu tottered into the room like the malewife he was. Minghao had gone over to Mingyu and Wonwoo’s shared apartment to play video games.

“Not really, thanks.”

“I heard that you should eat more when dealing with matters of the heart. It makes you hungry.”

Minghao rolled his eyes. Since when did this situation get to Mingyu’s ears?

“And what do you know about matters of the heart?”

Mingyu smiled brightly. “So what Dino said was true! Do you need help? I heard that boyfriend-style photos are in these days. I’ll love to help you take some!”

Minghao blinked once. Twice. And how on earth did Dino get wind of this? Minghao sighed. It must have been when he and Vernon were giggling on the couch in between filming yesterday. Secret was out, no point hiding anymore, he concluded.

“I’m home.” A baritone voice rang out. “And I brought snacks.” Wonwoo held up a plastic bag. He cocked his head to the side at the odd sight of his housemate and bandmate on the floored carpet. Mingyu was seated in a mermaid-like position while Minghao was cross legged clutching a pillow. “What’s going on?”

Mingyu looked to Minghao for confirmation.

“We were just discussing about matters of the heart. Care to join?”

And just like that, Minghao earned himself two advisors on dealing with his colourful dilemma.

“Can I ask why you didn’t just give her your phone number?” Wonwoo questioned.

“Aiyo Wonwoo, Minghao’s getting there! He just wants to savour the moment and get confirmation on Yile’s side first. It’s the ‘courting’ stage y’know.” Mingyu chided. “Besides, I think it’s really cute that you are taking it slow Minghao.”

Minghao blushed.

“So what do you think I should do?” Minghao asked, trying to steer the attention away from his newfound romantic nature.

Wonwoo answered, instant noodle in hand. “Send a post back?”

Minghao’s stomach growled at the savoury smell. Mingyu was right. He was hungry.

“Okay. But first, food.”

Some instant noodles later:

“So you pose like this and angle your neck like this. Think of seductive in an innocent way. Don’t forget to smile!” Mingyu directed.

Minghao readjusted his gaze. He could do this. Modelling and all things fashion was his forte. But if he suddenly posted this sultry photo, would people notice? It definitely would stick out like a sore thumb among his usual nature-esque posts.

Mingyu, seeing his friend distracted, called out. “Minghao, don’t worry. Wonwoo can help take pictures of me after. We can play this off as a member couple thing.”

Minghao beamed, weight rolling off his shoulders.

Click!

A mini phototshoot later, Minghao was editing and captioning his post. Mingyu had posted 10 minutes ago. He must’ve been a teen girl in his past life, Minghao concluded.

caption: We had one thing going on I swear that it was something 'Cause I don't remember who I was before you Painted all my nights A color I've searched for since

Can I ask you a❓

Minghao chewed on his lip. Were the pictures too cringy? Was the caption too long? Was the emoji too nuanced? Would Yile be able to guess what he was trying to say and not say?

Wonwoo, sensing his internal turmoil, came over to give a hug. “It’s fine Minghao. It’s you. If she can’t handle that, then…”

Minghao nodded, pressing the ‘post’ button and slumping down in Wonwoo’s warm embrace.

Yile’s POV:

She had seen Minghao’s post and her mind was now a flurry of thoughts. She had posted a green emoji to answer yes. But the brown aesthetics might have thrown Minghao off. Was that why he captioned a red question mark? To ask if she meant no?

“Xinhui! He’s asking about my post. What should I do next?”

“We carry out Plan B. That means he’s trying to see if there is more to just your green.”

Minghao’s POV:

Lying on his bed, Minghao opened up Instagram. Yile had shared a story. He clicked her rainbow framed icon open.

But one thing after another Lost in situations, circumstances Miscommunications and I Have to say By the way I just may like some explanations.

~ Question…❔

[kleinblue52]

I just finished the last season of Young Royals, which I adored. Truly one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. It also… kind of made me think of something. I’m sure people have brought this up before but I’ve never really seen this take anywhere, and if you can recommend anyone who wrote about it better than I’m about to I’d be eternally grateful, because it’s something that I find truly fascinating and I’m sure I won’t be able to fully explain what I mean.

What I was thinking is that… openly queer storytelling in mainstream media has never gone through, and will never go through the kind of archetypal, sometimes naïve storytelling that straight love stories often went through up until six or seven decades ago, simply because today’s audiences do not understand archetypes and look for twists and turns that simply don’t belong in traditional cinematic fairy tales.

I recently completed a rewatch of the whole Disney canon and maybe it’s the combination of a modern fairy tale like Young Royals and the recent memory of all those Disney classics that made me really think about this, because what I mean is that something that is as archetypal (maybe naïve) in its storytelling as, say, the original 1937 Snow White has never been made and will never be made about a gay couple.

Of course we’ve had queer comedies and fairy tales. But even without bringing up something like Young Royals, which was always intended to have mature themes and adult situations, you have things like Heartstopper or Red White and Royal Blue which, while generally more lighthearted and romanticized, also don’t shy away from more or less complex psychological themes.

Which is a GOOD THING, because writing something as straightforward and rooted in archetypal tradition as Snow White would not make sense nowadays, unless it’s experimental. I’m thoroughly convinced that each era has its own distinctive storytelling requirements that make sense in the cultural context in which they were developed, even though they can still be appreciated by new generations when understood within that cultural context.

At the same time… I find it really sad that queer stories will never experience that kind of storytelling simply because when that storytelling made actual cultural sense, our stories simply were not allowed to be told.

I’m not saying that that kind of storytelling is better than what we have now, it had its problems both by an artistic and an ethical point of view, even though I think there’s a conversation to be had about how modern audiences seem not to have a grasp on the concept of archetypes and contextualization and seem not to understand that not everything needs to be analysed through the lenses of modern sensibilities.

But at the same time… straight love stories get to have that history. Gay love stories don’t. I don’t want a gay Snow White in the style of the 1937 animated movie to be made now, but I wish such a story could have been allowed to exist back when it was actually culturally relevant, so that we could also have that kind of history behind our modern stories.

I love Wille and Simon. I love Charlie and Nick. I love exploring the complications, turmoil and realistic emotions of their love stories. I wish I could have had those stories when I was a teen. But I also wish that gay people could have been allowed to believe in true love’s first kiss.

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

(2/2) Hector would be quite similar to me in many ways 🤯 I really appreciate him being straightforward with me because I need it & I don't believe it's better to be honest in long terms too!He has a good fashion sense but he likes my style too because since both Issac & Hector always had to dress well in the court, he finds it nice to relax & wear comfortably with me ☺️He would slowly experience soft touches since he never experienced that 😭 We would learn about each other's boundaries & how we would be touched to feel loved 🩵 I also agree that he would still be a hopeless romantic like seeing things in rose-coloured-glasses!You're quite right that I feel the need to be better for my loved ones! Basically, I'm generally clumsy & have problems doing things right so I need to be better to even be decently capable because I usually caused problems for my loved ones instead of being helpful.He understands how I feel & notices how I don't have a high opinion of myself. It won't stop him from constantly reminding me that I'm incredible to him & he's glad to meet me 🥹You're right that the humans who casted him out have so many traits I hate! He thinks I represents the best what humanity can offer & hates how I was almost condemned! He makes sure to never make such a mistake ever again!I do think that would be his MBTI too! He does feel more logical than me so he would have trouble understanding my emotional reactions 😅 I'm glad we can talk it out & it would help him to be more aware & compassionate to other people!I would love to read his book! Just him valuing everything about me as well as a life with him, my loved ones, and an army if undead pets sounds wonderful 😊I'm genuinely surprised that you have so much to write for my match up especially since it's usually shorter! Not only you cheered me up, you really made my day 💗 Thank you so much for putting so much efforts into it and doing my match up because I love it so much :) I don't how to express my gratitude enough to you 🥹 Sorry if you already have this because I don't remember if I sent this already 🤣

(2/2)

Yessss! You and Hector would be great! Like the perfect, happy couple with your army of revived pets!

Your life together is basically perfect because you'd wake up to this^ every morning lol

And thank you so much for all the feedback! It means so much to me! 😊

-Mothmom 💚

[gorgeousgalatea]

You know what I'm trying to finally write again and anywhere is a good place to start so here are some bite sized reviews of my bite sized YA binge (including two other books I read a few weeks earlier):

The Narrow, by Kate Alice Marshall: This was a book I borrowed after skimming it with a strong impression I would enjoy it, and thankfully I was right! The main character is the daughter of two well off but neglectful parents who spend way more time on her deeply troubled brother, to the point where she doesn't find out they forgot to pay for her final year at boarding school until she's already arrived. Fortunately the wealthy parent of a sickly student is willing to cover her tuition, as long as she rooms with and takes care of that student for the year. Pity she's pretty sure she's the reason that student is sick. Oh, and their dorm room is haunted as hell.

The Narrows deals a lot with the subject of abuse--both romantic and familial--while couching it in an atmospheric ghost story. I liked the tone and the characters, and one thing I really enjoyed is that it used its first person narrative to paint a very familiar romantic fiction picture of the main character having no one else to relate to or rely on other than their new love interest who is ~the only one who understands them~, and deliberately made that the product of her own insecurities. The ghost and possession element also explored sense of self and identity in a way that pinged pretty hard with my ozqrow days. Bittersweet ending, but would recommend for anyone into sapphic ghost stories.

Before the Devil Knows You're Here, by Autumn Krause: Ehh this was the mediocre apple story. I loved the summary--the main character's struggling single father passes away suddenly, and before she even has time to mourn, the monster her father has been warning her about her entire life shows up on their doorstep to steal away her brother as well, so she sets out to find the monster and save her brother. I dunno, the problem could be me, that summary had me expecting Guillermo del Toro style Labyrinth--which I am now realizing someone could say "don't you just mean Pan's Labyrinth" and no, I mean the relationship with maturity and sexual awakening where the monstrous is outwardly monstrous--and that's...really not what it was at all. It was "what if Johnny Appleseed made a deal with the devil," which kudos, I have not seen before, but wasn't really into in its execution. I do appreciate a heroine with guile, though, and she does have that.

I Fed Her to the Beast and the Beast Was Me, by Jamison Shea: The premise of this one is pretty straightforward--a talented black ballet student makes a deal with a dark entity to have the opportunity to actually make it into the prestigious Parisian ballet troupe she's been chasing after her whole life, and discovers that being part of a cult with monstrous powers is actually less toxic than being a girl of color in the Parisian professional ballet scene. I really liked this one, it wasn't afraid to have its leading lady be monstrous and cruel and wrong, and it also made it clear which parts of her mindset were just the product of spending so long in a cut-throat industry that spent every moment rejecting her. The ending was a bit too neat for me, but overall the atmosphere was great. Genuinely almost anything with a title like that is probably something I'll end up enjoying lmao

What Stalks Among Us, by Sarah Hollowell: Two best friends get stuck in an evil corn maze! This wasn't my favorite, but I still enjoyed it a lot; the main character's habit of self-censoring even among friends was very resonant with me. The story hits the ground running and has good momentum on exploring the mystery of the maze and how it came to be. The nature of the maze is ultimately rooted in [womp womp] trauma, so that's a major element of the story, and unfortunately there is greater focus on the main character's trauma with her best friend supporting her, but I guess that's to be expected in a first person narrative. It still is ultimately about their friendship! Which is portrayed as valuable as is without developing into anything else.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, by Andrew Joseph White: Ultimately the most brutal of the books but I think that was what I liked about it. The main character is a trans boy in an 1882 London where mediums are a hot commodity but the women are only prized as potential baby makers for male mediums. The main character is caught trying to escape his conservative family and inevitable impending marriage, and sent to a corrective boarding school designed to turn mentally unwell spiritually sensitive women into demure brides. This boarding school is run about the way you would expect, and most of the story is the main character realizing just how bad it is and figuring out what can be done to escape. The exactly one way he's gotten lucky is that he and his future betrothed turn out to be t4t and are really quite cute together, but the main character is an aspiring surgeon and that means the story is not afraid to get visceral. Which really elevated the tone; there's room for a sequel in the ending to this one that I wouldn't mind reading.

[konfizry]

Here's a funny challenge: gush about something from Toarise that you think is brilliant. Like, unironically.

Here's a funny challenge: have some pity on a poor woman who is regularly tormented by an anime video game.

The most straightforward and I believe expected answer would be to wax poetics about Shionne and how significant her character and themes are to me, but such an exercise is bound to invite witless platitudes on my part or even worse, vulnerability.

So we're not gonna do that. Instead I can attempt to convey how much I appreciate the care that went into making the characters as expressive as they are. I do think there's genuine improvement to be had in the uh. body movement/gesturing department?? I mean some of it is good, and like you can definitely tell each character has their own way they carry themselves, pace, tics etc but i find that they're still a little bit too stiff especially if they're just standing around during cutscenes. (and also i can't help missing the cartoonish way characters would sometimes act in older games probably to compensate for the fact that the graphics weren't as detailed and the characters faces couldn't always be seen but i digress. i do understand that more lifelike proportions invite more realistic movement.)

So the part that I DO like in that department: the facial expressions, really? Once again a matter of finding the right amount of expressiveness that blends well with the anime-but-less-so-than-previous-titles, and I think the animators nailed if for the most part.

Genuinely a delight to see the characters faces convey emotions, go from one feeling to the next. It's pretty good, I'm glad. I hope they keep this up for the next installments. The Tales of franchise is heavily character-driven (among other elements i know i know, hush), and nailing their inner turmoils with voice acting and facial expressions can compensate for lackluster writing is a surefire way of having your audience really connect with your characters!

My heart really goes out to whoever was in charge of animating Shionne's eyes, you're a genius.

And she's constantly doing that, too. You look at Shionne at any given moment in the game and there's a 50% chance her eyes are moving with the speed of 2134675 millions of unspeakable thoughts, calculations and impulses. I cannot express with words how much this strengthened my impression of Shionne. In a sense it is purely cosmetic but boy does it do a LOT of heavy lifting here. Ah. How my heart aches for her.

The one issue is I do believe at some point the animation and camerawork ppl got really really invested in the power of extreme closeups on faces in moments of intense emotion so it does get goofy at times

(these shots were not zoomed in or tilted in any way by me this is how they look in the game rngkjegr'gert)

That aside, since we're on the topic of animating the characters. The fights that happen in cutscenes are also pretty well choreographed but you probably didn't need me telling you that. Just look at the confrontation with Vholran right before Niez. It's genuinely hype. I screamed the first time i saw it (multiple times). Same with the duel in Vhorlan's throne room. Like. It's just really really cool.

Oh also if you spam the Swim Faster button while swimming, your character will invent a style that transcends all known laws of physics which is really really what gaming is all about for me.

[thesinglesjukebox]

BEN PLATT - "ANDREW"

"Andrew! Andrew! Andrew! You're gonna love meeeeeeeeee..."

[6.36]

Jeffrey Brister: Platt’s an incredibly talented vocalist, there’s no doubt there, and a good performance can do a lot to elevate average material -- like, say, a pleasant but unremarkable folky song about being sad and gay. His delicate falsetto dancing over top of the guitar, how the chorus blooms with yearning in a name, staying away from theatre kid pyrotechnics -- it’s a laundry list of good choices, and I’m just bowled over by its simple and straightforward beauty and earnestness. [8]

Alfred Soto: Depending on my diet that day I can embrace this unmitigated schmaltz or vomit at the sight of it. Neither the falsetto nor the lyrics have heard of subtlety. I am past the age when unrequited lust wears the drag of lachrymosity, but I hope I'm not callous enough to understand when young adults need it. [6]

Hannah Jocelyn: A friend and I made a list of songs about unrequited queer love, specifically when it comes to incompatible orientations. This is Ben Platt’s entry in the canon, and it’s the best song I’ve heard from him, the first that doesn't sound like rejected tracks from either Dear Evan Hansen or Blue Neighborhood -- it starts off very Simon & Garfunkel, but the more ambient Sufjan Stevens territory on the chorus fits him shockingly well. One problem: the Melodyne detracts from how sincere and pure the writing is (isn't Dave Cobb known for his authenticity?), to the point where Platt sings "if I can't get closer then I am destroyed" and sounds like a Dalek. Normally that would be a dealbreaker, and maybe I would dismiss this if I hadn't, in fact, had an Andrew or five. Cobb's production is gentle and tender enough that I can just lie back and think of all the pretty girls. [7]

Isabel Cole: I do appreciate the concept of this aching little ditty about the specific wrenching futility of crushing on a straight guy, and the idea of “wasting heartbreak” on someone who would never even be able to grant you the dignity of being rejected for your actual self is poignant. I can imagine the teen for whom this hits at exactly the right time, and that’s not nothing. But the first-love adolescent yearning of the lyrics fits oddly with the meandering melody and the folky arrangement (it’s giving Harry Styles Presents VH1’s I Love The 60s), and Platt… listen, whatever you think of  Dear Evan Hansen, no one’s ever denied that the guy can sing. Here, it’s hard to shake the sense that he’s deliberately trying to differentiate his solo work from his Broadway past by avoiding sounding too musical theater, choosing instead to flatten his clear, resonant tone into a dull, nasal drone that feels like he’s playing Barefoot Guy With Guitar in a mockumentary about hippies. It doesn’t really work -- his falsetto sounds grating, and like a lot of stage singers trying to branch out, there’s a certain mannered quality he can’t quite shake -- and the few more vibrant lines towards the end make me wish I could hear a version of this aiming for the cheap seats. [4]

Ian Mathers: As someone who has disliked Ben Platt in everything I've seen or heard him in, I was absolutely prepared to reject this song from its Cat Stevens-ass opening, but then I kept listening and... I don't know, I keep thinking about that classic tumblr post that ends with "I am cringe, but I am free." I listened a few more times and... it's kind of lovely? Something about it reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot? I remember how much songs that seemed to speak to my particular romantic torments meant to me as a teen and I can absolutely imagine the kid who is going to play this on a loop like I did Sloan's "Deeper Than Beauty" or whatever? Don't make me regret this, Platt. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: The frustrating parts of this song have nothing to do with Ben Platt's voice. Whatever his faults in Dear Evan Hansen, Ben has a mellifluous tenor that comfortably floats in the higher parts of his range, allowing certain lines that feel clunky ("what a time-wastin', sweet happiness-takin', self-esteem, mess-making, heart-breakin' shame") to float past so pleasantly that when your own voice begins to sing them, they jumble together in your throat until they all flow out with the delivery of "Andrew." Producer Dave Cobb's helium guitar chords are also not the problem -- they lift Platt's voice and remain so close to it that when they lean back and let him take center stage, they allow Platt to send his melody up and catch it comfortably. The frustrating thing is the drums; they are so thin and yet so rigid that when they enter, the song loses the butterfly subtlety it needed to soar. Derrek Phillips, who has played with Vanessa Williams and Rahsaan Barber, somehow had to anchor the song in a way that would give it heft and keep its light, breezy charm, but instead he reinforces the dull structure of a second-verse drum groove, and all the hard work done by Platt and Alex Hope is squandered. A bolder choice by Platt or Cobb would've been to lean into the acoustic guitar arrangement by adding the bass and keyboards, and maybe the percussion (also done by Phillips) would act as the anchoring factor. Instead, the rigid structure kills probably the second-best thing Ben Platt has done. [7]

Jackie Powell: Ben Platt has had difficulty translating his vocal talents from film soundtrack music (the Pitch Perfect trilogy) and show tunes (The Book of Mormon and Dear Evan Hansen) into pop music. On songs like “Grow as We Go” and “Rain,” he sounded like slightly more adult versions of the characters he played. He’s leaned into motivational songs without any sort of foundation. “Andrew” works better than his previous pop offerings because of the story he paints of falling for a straight (or maybe not) friend who has led him on. A lot of these stories are coming out of the woodwork as of late with tracks such as Reneé Rapp’s “Pretty Girls” and Fletcher’s “Two Things Can Be True."  These stories need to be told and provide a certain type of respite for queer people who too have felt a similar level of pain. Platt calls the situation a “cruel joke” and self-deprecates in a witty but incredibly depressing bridge. He’s not questioning whether falling for “Andrew” wastes his time but rather declares the infatuation as a time vampire that robs more than it gives. What’s less than desired, however, is the Simon & Garfunkel cosplay he attempts in the verses. The Auto-Tune that helps layer his vocals isn’t needed. The folksiness in “Andrew” is a step in the right direction for Platt in his journey to translating better into pop. I just wish he could have paid homage to Simon & Garfunkel in a way that didn’t come across as just another Broadway character he’s playing.  [7]

Taylor Alatorre: I feel the exact same way listening to this as I do when reading the Urban Dictionary definition of any relatively common male first name. [3]

Katherine St. Asaph: What is it about guys named Andrew that inspires plaintive folk songs? Having no longings for any Andrews, I can only connect to these songs through my nostalgia, and thus Platt's is my favorite because it navigates those channels best -- which is to say it sounds exactly like Simon & Garfunkel. [6]

Mark Sinker: Not sure I remember a song where the jump from chest voice to head voice for the high notes feels so extremely foregrounded as a DECISION NOW BEING TAKEN. AND IT'S DONE! I can imagine arrangement where this works with the content: except here’s it’s like literally everything else about the song is funneling your attention to this choice instead, and I don’t think it’s what I’m meant to be thinking about? You have a nice voice mate, sorry your crush didn’t work out, that sucks.  [5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Every time I've tried to write this blurb it's come out too ironic -- couching my appreciation for it in my disbelief that Dear himself could make such a perfect rendering of the version of Sufjan Stevens' music that exists only in the minds of 2014 Tumblr users, things of that nature. But let me meet sincerity with sincerity and say that "Andrew" wrecks my shit completely every time I listen to it, every achingly beautiful guitar arpeggio and breathy note from Platt activating all of my sentimental impulses. Most of all I admire the commitment here -- there's never a moment of performance from Platt or his producers that shies away from the full teenage gay melodrama of the lyrics. Weaker souls would have tried to subvert the maudlin stuff here. I'm glad they didn't. [9]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[elinciarune]

So I have been slowly but surely playing variable barricade and have been able to finish the common route and Nayuta’s route after a couple of months, and now I want to write everything in my mind before moving on completely to Shion XD

Possible spoilers ahead 🙈

.

.

.

.

To sum it up, I have been enjoying this game so much, it is really shaping up to be my favourite otome game! (Sorry Hakuouki you are still special and dear to me, but yeah, I’m being objective here XD)

At first, I was wary and kept my expectations low because the reviews were quite mixed. And I was entering the game assuming it is pure romantic comedy. I won’t lie at the first couple of chapters, the more slice of life-y tone that has some comedy sprinkled left me waiting for the rom-com to kick in Ouran-style, but the moment I appreciated and drilled in the idea that this game is indeed more of a slice of life, character-study kind of story, I immediately started enjoying the common route immensely!

The dialogue is top-notch, the character interactions are so good, and the characters themselves are multi-faceted and feel so real in a good way.

The common route was enjoyable from start to finish, every sentence and piece of dialogue I enjoyed.

Of course, Hibari herself has a huge role to play in this. She was thrusted in a very extreme and difficult situation from her point of view, so every thing she has said or done (including her ‘bratty’ attitude) totally makes sense and perfectly portray a 17 yr old teenager.

Plus she’s cute, really really cute, protect my baby at all cost 😤

So yeah overall I have been hooked😆🤝

Now for Nayuta’s route, I like genki, himbo guys so was looking forward to his route, and it perfectly delivered. I like how in the beginning, Hibari, as a way to work upon making sense of her choice of him, creates this scenario of him being her guardian and acts like a typical teenage girl who falls in love, and despite this shattering because of how oblivious and one track minded he is, her pursuing of him actually caused a huge ripple in his very straightforward simplistic world, where he sets on one thing and clings unto achieving it despite everything else.

That gets me to the fact that he was described as ‘selfish’. Which was a really interesting way to describe him. And yeah that one track mindedness of his and straightforwardness makes him put his own desires first and foremost and in a way he is ‘selfish’. But interestingly, as I said, the ripple caused by Hibari led to him gradually maturing in a way that uses such straightforward and ‘selfish’ thinking in a way that is more balanced.

In fact, I think him being ‘selfish’ is not bad at all! It means that his desires, when being directed towards becoming better and to also be and support those whom he loves, is actually much more better than a ‘selfless’ person who might put societies needs above theirs and would consequently get hurt or even hurt those around them.

So as his route progresses, I liked how he gradually started cherishing Hibari as someone dear to him for personal reasons, not idealistic ones, and he redirected his guardian skills in a way that made him perceptive of Hibari’s needs and compared to the beginning of the route, he became much more understanding.

By the end, the same one track mindedness that is an inherent part of his personality as well as the ‘selfishness’ became the drive for him to fulfil his desire to help Hibari and to be with her.

So 10/10 XD

Now to continue Shion 🤌

[dearreader]

my tldr version of the media around brat v ttpd would be: the media and a loud group of fans are so focused on the potential conflict and drama (for clicks/views) that they neglect to engage with the music as an art form and then everyone is disappointed bc instead of knowing the background that’s needed to appreciate the art they’re just listening so they can dig for gossip that may or may not be there

but maybe you’re thinking of something else, I think there’s a lot to discuss

this is also true! i was thinking more about how we’re in a massive media literacy crisis and more and more people are getting upset when art isn’t easily digestible.

before i start this:

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH LIKING STRAIGHT FORWARD ART!

but what i was thinking was that brat dives into complex emotions but in a more straight forward/simplistic way. that’s not an insult at charli xcx or the album at all! she isn’t going for the same type of lyricism as other artists (think taylor but also chappell roan or flyna boss). it’s all to personal preference. but a big issue with people discussing brat or preferring it is that they’re saying they don’t want to decipher a bunch of lyrics to relate to it, they just want it and can go. which is fine. but it does create a problem of people then misinterpreting other lyrics because they refuse to actually see what is being said or done. i really enjoyed ttpd:ta because im a pretentious english major but i knew i wasn’t gonna be for everyone or it would take awhile for others to understand it, which is fine. but instead of doing that people instead just conflated it all to being bad. which is where ive seen a lot of the two albums being compared to.

i saw people on tiktok (my first mistake was opening the app, i know) saying that charli is actually making GOOD pop music while taylor isn’t. and while ive already established “brat” isn’t for me i was still very surprised by how well recieved it was. it doesn’t seem like what mainstream pop music would want or like, and while charli has her fans and does deserve her praise and roses i was still surprised. i do stand by my statement that i think in 1-2 years a lot of the general public will say brat was an album of the time because it, to me in my opinion, won’t age well to the general public. i can be wrong, we’ll see. but i think people like it because charli is diving into emotions or relationships we’ve all had. sympathy is a knife and girl, so confused are at the top of my head because those are somewhat universal situations we all have been in. and with charli’s writing style she’s more straightforward so people don’t have to think to hard on it. they can get it on the first listen and go. but this is then tying back to what i wanted to discuss with the media literacy crisis.

i’m going to use my favorite album of all time, “the good witch” by maisie peters, to explain this since i think if i continue with ttpd and taylor people will ignore my point. but i loved tgw because it was not only phenomenal on my first listen but the more and more i listened the more details i noticed and the more i saw just how talented of a writer maisie is. history of man is a prime example obviously, but in watch she uses antanaclasis, which means using the same word but in different ways, with the line “I fought it, but I saw it and it sawed me right in half”! this is an incredible line and realizing she did that word play made me love the song more! and the more i listened the more i found stuff like this and became obsessed with it. and this was because i kept going back and listening to it because i wanted to know more. art and literature are supposed to do this, we’re supposed to sit and think about it and find deeper meaning. not all art but we’re supposed to sit and think on what we saw and what that means for us and the art.

another example with a movie is oppenheimer. i remember when the movie came out people were saying not to see it because it was problematic. and one review i saw even said “all biopics are problematic because the director controls the narrative and therefore controls how you’ll view the person” which was the worst take id EVER seen because this person just said they never think critically about any media they consume. they just let the person making it control them and don’t think about the implications. because oppenheimer is a great movie that explores and discusses war and destruction. and it is a good film to watch but i don’t think the guy who made the ATOMIC BOMB is a good guy and was rooting for him. i still think he is awful cause he is awful. but i still enjoyed the film and thought critically on it and what it means for society. like art should be. but not every movie is like that or intends to have that same meaning. another movie i like is bottoms, which is literally about lesbians starting a fight club to get pussy. no one meant for it to have a deeper meaning than that and it succeeds in what the plot is. this doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie but rather the art is doing something different. it’s a silly comedy for wlw to just have fun. and yet, both films are good.

or with books to. ali hazelwood is a fine author who writes cute romance stories and doesn’t go farther than that while RF kaung is writing books that ask you to think and contemplate what she’s discussing which has made people upset. i remember when babel came out a person read it and made a review talking about how she hated it because she thought it would be a fun fantasy book to read before going back to grad school and was instead confronted with colonialism and racism. she said she made this review to tell others it was okay to not like the book while missing the point that the book was literally describing people like her.

this has gotten slightly miss jointed and is all over the place, but my point is that people are slowly gravitating toward more simplistic or straightforward media that doesn’t necessarily ask them to think more on something. which isn’t inherently bad, you aren’t required to always think hard on everything you consume, sometimes you just wanna listen to fun club music or watch lesbians kill football players. there’s nothing wrong with that. but we’re in a media literacy crisis because a lot of people refuse to sit on media that makes them think. they refuse to think about how songs can have deeper meanings and will instead just focus on “the golden retriever line in the title track is stupid.” and ignore that it was intentionally done like that because taylor was trying to show her and her muse weren’t being smart or as tortured as they thought they were, they were just two idiots being high together. but people refuse to think on that and will only look at a surface level example.

which is what i was getting at, brat isn’t bad and if you like the album im happy! but ive seen a lot of people use this album to tear ttpd down and miss the albums are not only doing two separate things but also then trying to create unnecessary drama.

i hope this makes sense, it was why i wanted to kinda wait to post it so i can get my thoughts in order but this was what i was getting at. it’s not on charli or her album but im more so just talking about the general public.

[firebatvillain]

20 questions for fic writers!

As seen on @givereadersahug (x)!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I currently have 59 works on AO3, though some of those are unrevealed or anonymous, so the visible work count is a bit lower.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

105k! Wow. Over half of that has been in the last two years, when I've been doing a lot more writing and taking part in exchanges.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Naruto (7) Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (7) Original Work (7) Warhammer 40.000 (3) Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms (2) Stellaris (Video Game) (2) From there we get into a lot of one-offs that I wrote for exchanges. House MD, Gundam Wing, Good Omens, The Order of the Stick, and many others. Most of the Original Work fics are for particular exchange prompts, some of which are quite fun.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Greatest Weasley [Harry Potter, Ron-Centric, incomplete] - this WIP is my white whale! Ron gets sorted into Slytherin. Only a couple chapters, I should return to it sometime...

Harry Potter and the Independent Path [Harry Potter, parody, one-shot] - This very short parody fic is fun and I'm glad people like it. I actually look back fondly on this genre even if I poke fun at it.

Five Times Sakura Heard the Voice, and One Time It Faded [Naruto, Sakura-centric, one-shot, 2.9k] - This was an fest fic for Fest No Jutsu 2022! I really enjoyed writing this one.

If You Won’t Wait for Me, I’ll Find My Own Path [Naruto, Sakura-centric, drabble] - Wrote this one based on the fandom opinions of my friend @xenosimp. Surprised at its popularity.

Liana and the Labyrinth’s Core [Original Work, Explicit, Het, 2.3k] - I wrote this very explicit fic for an exchange, and had a lot of fun with it! Minotaur/Sacrifice, make sure to read the tags/warnings.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

For exchange fics, almost always. Otherwise, I do sometimes. It's fun to chat with other fandom people and let them know I appreciate their comments, or answer their questions.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually write angsty endings, but The Rules of Reintegration [OW drabble, prompt: military android masquerading as a human] is angsty.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say Four Times Toph Beifong Triumphed [ATLA, Toph-centric, 2.5k words] would be it. It's generally fun! 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not often, though I got one very baffling comment on a fic where someone questioned the realism of it. I'm not in the big fandoms where there's lots of drama though.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, often for exchanges. It typically tends to be straightforward steamy sex. I've got some more kinky stuff posted to anon that I won't share here, heh.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written one, but it's not usually my style for writing, since it's a challenge for me. I love reading them though!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, and I hope it never happens. I don't think anything I've written is popular enough for that 😅

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

My fandom friend and I co-wrote Mist and Shadow, a WH40k AU fic about Eldar escaping the fall of the Eldar empire. After about 12k words, we set it down, but we may return someday.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

This is a tough one! All-time, I'm not sure. But at the moment, I'm basically chewing on Durge/Enver Gortash (BG3) and having a great time with it.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Oof, this is a tough one! There's a very old Naruto fic that I don't think I'll ever get back to... Lost Root. I can't really recommend it in its current state, but it was one of my first plot bunnies.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty decent at paragraph-to-paragraph rhythm, and I am unafraid to try new things.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I repeat certain phrases without realizing it, and pacing scenes can be difficult for me. I also have a tendency to write excessively long sentences. Trying to improve on that last one!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Seems like a hard sell for both writer and reader.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

StarCraft pro gamer RPF. No, you won't find the fic on my AO3 profile.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I'm still in love with Roonil Wazlib and the Goblet of Fire, a 2.8k word Harry Potter crackfic I wrote for Bad Bang V. Is it bad? Yes, oh yes. And it's fun, and so are the comments.

Tagging (no pressure): @xenosimp @vanyalanthirielofmana @chacusha @vampiremonday @uozlulu @miss-ingno @verecunda

[statementlou]

BTW Love the growth from OTB, where it's about reassurance and realization, to BTM, where it's about acceptance and growth. God, Louis' queer-coded lyricism should be talked a lot more also

I sat on this for a minute cause I didn't think I was going to answer it, cause if I did it might just be to say, I don't necessarily think it's that simple, and what does being a grinch add to anything! But I realized I do actually have something to say, although it isn't what you were looking for anon, so, sorry about that. See, what I have been thinking is amazing about Louis' lyricism (and has shown big growth between Walls and FITF) and needs to be discussed more is its versatility, its prismatic blank slate qualities even while being so specific. What I mean is: his signature style is to write lyrics that are straightforward and easily understood as telling a clear story (certain trippy dance numbers excepted obv ;). But what's remarkable is that despite their seeming simplicity and easiness to read, a LOT of his songs can be perceived in a practically infinite number of ways, with every different interpreter absolutely confident in the rightness of their read. So yes, I personally happen to believe Bigger Than Me (and some other songs such as All This Time) are in part about Louis' queer experience. But every lyric that I think that about can also very easily mean something else- they can pass as generic radio songs about nothing, or as songs about experiences non queer listeners have had about any number of things, or as being about his career generally, or in most cases as boilerplate love songs. In the lead up to this album Louis talked about how he wanted people to come up with their own interpretations of the songs a lot, which I laughed at because he then kept saying what they meant to him anyway, but I think I get now why he said that so much just now in particular- I think the way it's possible to make almost any meaning from them is something he did knowingly and with great skill (and put hard work into), and deserves to be recognized. Like maybe one thing he was writing about was the queer interpretation, but then he also made them be about the fans generally and his life and love and 5 other things, while shaping them to be malleable and universal enough that all that fits into these extremely simple lines. And I think that people insisting they know what his songs are about and that it can only be one thing actually erases that work and skill that he, I believe, is rightfully proud of, and that deserves appreciation. Also it doesn't fit anywhere but I would like to add two other thoughts: one, sometimes part of a song can be about one thing or be literal but other parts can be made up or from something else sometimes for as little reason as to make it rhyme, and two this is a whole essay probably but I'm thinking a lot lately about how Louis talks about being honest in his writing and how people think that means the same thing as being literal (writing about his exact life) and actually something can be HONEST, like can talk about feelings and thoughts that really happened while depicting made up events (see: fiction/ literature generally), without being LITERALLY TRUE (this is a thing that is exactly how it happened in my life) so just throwing that in here also.

[dynmghts]

TRANSMISSION FROM @beastincidents : 💌 big wet puppy dog eyes TRANSMISSION ENDED / POSITIVITY TRAIN , ACCEPTING .

VIXENNNN it's ur turn now my dude let's do this

what i like about your blog: if anyone tries to tell you that simplicity doesn't fly in tumblr rp anymore, tell them to eat their fucking pants because you don't need to be fancy with fancy graphics and icons and tags and writing to be good. and you are AMAZING. your blog is so easy to navigate, your writing style is phenomenal, and it's so easy to understand what it is you're going for? i appreciate your straightforward writing with your responses for SURE because my silly little brain sometimes gets a little lost otherwise. but seriously. i'll eat whoever says you gotta look cool to be cool.

what i like about your character(s): honestly, i love seeing the way all of your muses interact with each other? not always directly, they don't have to be direct, but like in small instances during a thread where you're explicitly writing one character but mention the other characters inside it - that kind of inclusion! and it's cool to see your specific portrayals interact with each other and expanding on canon. well, what little canon there is for class b. that is an actual travesty (and you're the core reason i think they deserve WAY more screentime than they've gotten. horikoshi at least bring monoma back i beg).

for specific characterisation, i can't go without mentioning your monoma. the silly, the goofy, the myth and legend; he pushes EVERY BUTTON katsuki has in every interaction they have, and it's just. it's so funny. it's like they're destined to never truly get along because of their differences. but then when you keep putting them in situations where they have to, they actually kind of do, mostly out of necessity but because - on katsuki's end, at least - katsuki wants to prove that he can work with monoma despite their clashing. they actually have a complex sort of bond because of that!

that being said, i absolutely want to interact with tokage and ibara more. tokage because she and katsuki went toe-to-toe in the joint training arc, and i'd like to see the two leaders with two very different approaches really learn from each other kinda thing? and ibara, because she's kickass. and katsuki could learn a thing or two from him. namely having patience. (i think the two of them would make some really fun interactions!)

what i like about you in general: vixen PLEASE you are so fun to have on the dash because i think you have an awesome sense of humour, and not to mention i love to see you throw out headcanons that seem very out-of-nowhere, but also make perfect sense for that specific muse? and i know we haven't talked much outside of tumblr either, but the times that we did talk was a lot of fun, and i loved bouncing ideas off of you! overall, 10/10 humour, i think you're a great person to talk to, and i hope to keep writing with you for however long i have katsuki fr

[caesarsaladinn]

Greetings comrade. Any good history books/articles/yt channel recommendations? I would really appreciate it :)

Ur blog is amazing ❤️

Beginner:

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford (great read; given its importance, the details and internal story of the Mongol Empire are often ignored. but they are riveting! accessible style.)

anything by Tom Holland (he’s pretty surface-level and really annoying to read if you know more about the period than him—but if you know less than he does, he’s a very effective communicator. and if you're not sure, give him a try! I think his Roman history books are the best, because that's where his expertise is.)

Intermediate:

History of Rome podcast (disclosure that it was made by a non-expert, and thus has some minor inaccuracies that make it unsuitable for academic research, but if you're not citing it in an essay, it's great. fairly accessible, straightforward linear history, and very thorough. you can listen to it on long walks, drives, or chores, which makes it easy to get through.)

anything by Anthony Kaldellis (somehow both a Byzantinist and a good communicator. he has a huge history of the whole empire coming out this fall, but also a variety of narrative histories (Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood is the one I have) that are well written and very well researched. and a podcast.)

Grant by Ron Chernow. good read on a man who is interesting for somehow being both excellent and completely ordinary, which is a pretty rare combination for a biography. plus the Civil War was filled with weird people who wrote colorful letters and saved them all, so there is very little guesswork and a lot of first-person testimony, which is a welcome change from the rest of this list. also John Rawlins is in it, and I think he's neat.

Advanced:

any of the famous ancient historians. Livy is my favorite, because he writes very vivid battles, but Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, Suetonius, and the like are all good. are they correct? no, not necessarily. but they're interesting for sure. and all these guys have well-annotated English translations too, so you get guidance through the incredible or confusing parts.

genuinely, just google something you're interested in, and read an paper about it. that's where some of the weirdest, most interesting information is.

[ankhlesbian]

Kingohger ep 1 overal thoughts under da cut ^_^ feel free to reply w ur own

CGI-wise: i really liked the feel it brought to the throneroom / castle scenes, very epic and kingdom establishing. But it definitely felt underwhelming and lackluster in crowded scenes like the festival walk/big invasion at the end. I hope they stop going /as/ hard and do dressed up/just blatant japan ground locations for more scenes so it feels more real

The ranger ground fights as a whole felt kinda meh, though tbf they were clearly making the mechha debut the Big Thing TM. Karma for donbros just skipping it half the time/not giving a shit.

Speaking of mecha i thought i’d be into the cockpit rig but it just made the actor parts in there feel kinda sluggish and stiff. Tbh i usually skip/speed thru the mexha fights anyways sooooo doesnt affect me much tbh

Also ngbl the crystal transform thing was nderwhelming. All those armored pieces we gotta see those slap on proper yknow

I jnow it’s the inouepilled brain but i really thought we’d do just a little but if secret identity ploy. But ig thinking abt it more the kingdoms prob know enough abt wach other that cant really have their leader be a secret. Ig they were more isolated initially in my mind. Speaking of inouepill imagine how funny it wouldve been for just one episode for them to be like wow racles nice fight! And for him to go what the fuck are you talking about

Character-wise: Fair enough intros imo, nothing to write home about in particular though. seems like we might do a 1 charrie focus an ep gauntlet at first since yanma was real hyped up. I actually liked him a lot more than i thought i would. Cocky delinquent tch guy

I’m also really curious about Gira, he was much less of a straightforward yells red TM than i thiught he’d be. The whole shaking arm almost in tears to AHAHAHAA I AM EVIL KING scene gave very much theatre kid i am choosing my role vibes. I would love to dig into his psyche. Also while i am all for the whole same actions different reasons foil/well-intentioned extremist villain thing they really did not properly establish racles’ world conquership vs gira’s i will conquer the world thing. This beetle is just showing blatant favoritism their stated desired are like exactly the same. Also please no secret royal bloodline gira thing. Tho i highly suspect it is coming.

Appreciation for racles getting cucked. I love it when a toku guy gets cucked out of transformation

Overall it was a lil style over substance but there’s def some cool stuff happening. Will it be able to follow donbros act? I think there is potential for some goodass character arcs and fun vague politics shenanigans (rebel on the run gira! Allying w kingdoms who make enemy of his home kingdom now!). Realistically i fear it may end up conpletely style over substance but hey im havin fun

[tailsrevane]

[tv review] star trek lower decks 3x01 “grounded” (2022)

there are not a lot of contexts in which "trust the system" works, but starfleet is definitely one of them. i'm super glad this plot got resolved the way it did, although i do have a few notes which i'll get to in a second. but going into the season i had some trepidation that the whole trial/stealing the cerritos and going rogue thing was going to be much more of a long-term thing. i’m glad this really was more of a tng-style big cliffhanger wraparound type deal.

i loved, loved, loved all the dumb little details of our main lower deckers’ shore leave on earth, like tendi and rutherford eating at sisko’s, or the adorable little bozeman theme park complete with one of those dumb signs saying what the wait time is. also that transporter chief grandpa guy was the fucking best.

if i do have one thing to nitpick, it’s that the more i think about it (and to be honest my boyfriend arrived at this conclusion first), given that lower decks is pretty comfortable being extremely straightforward with its commentary, i would have appreciated if all the "trust the system" stuff had been chased with something like "what do you think this is, 21st century earth?" because while "trust the system" is absolutely, definitely a fair take with starfleet and i'm glad they went in this direction, i really do think it needs that chaser as we sit here in 2022 america.

if this were a 100% for serious star trek series, i would take some exception with the fact that mariner’s father couldn’t offer her anything more concrete than “trust the process.” i think it worked okay given that the show is primarily a comedy series, but i’d be ripping him a new one in this review if this were a more serious show. and i think the story it set up between ransom and mariner is worth the price of admission, and even within the context of this episode i love all of the stuff it led to.

plus, like… this episode honestly had a pretty difficult needle to thread to have the proper balance of seriousness and patented lower decks shenanigans. and i think it kind of nailed it? and allowing it some convenient writing shortcuts to get there honestly seems like a pretty fair tradeoff.

a-rank.