#for the record: i don't care if people want to only focus on him being good. good for them!!! i have an AU where i fix him too

[kittyandco]

idk why liking a character as the villain they are and also being optimistic about their redemption because you know about their painful past and want them to heal in some way by no longer hurting others have to be mutually exclusive. you can enjoy both versions of a character... you can want to see them progress as people. you don't suddenly "not truly like" them just because you want to see them improve? that's called fanon, that's called character interpretation (which is unique to each individual), that's called headcanon, that's called playing with the source material which is what this is all about to begin with.

there's a difference between that and sweeping aside what a character is actually like canonically. and in that case, well... what are you gonna do about it? tell someone they aren't liking the character correctly? mad because someone doesn't want to talk about his atrocities and flaws all the time? because someone wants to focus on what this character could be rather than what they are or seem to be? it might be irritating to you but it isn't egregious

you can also continue hoping that you'll see your special guy again at some point in the future and continue talking about it, while simultaneously acknowledging that writers "aren't obligated" to include them in anything ever again 😐 (especially when the few times he IS included, it's not even characterization, it's just as a joke when he was never written to be comic relief and written to be quite the opposite, actually.) no one is talking about obligations. sometimes people are just passionate and believed that maybe it would happen --because, you know, we got teased that it would happen multiple times -- but shame on us, pie in our faces, and even if we were wrong about that, sometimes we want different things and sometimes passion gets ahead of us. so what?

[waokevale]

[For the record, WX-78's relationship with Wagstaff portrayed here is strictly PLATONIC and bordering familial. The similarities of their appearances are intentional]

I swear to God if people focus strictly on Woodrow again while trying to ignore Wagstaff's existence—

Ik people hate him and I'm tired of it, he's just a guy, it's not funny when you're doing it for so long. Max, while under the influence of them did a lot of worse things, and while I don't hate him for it, there definitely feels to be a double standard.

Y'know actually, it's kinda hilarious that whenever people come in contact with nightmare fuel or shadow creatures, they turn into the worst versions of themselves; Ie. William becoming Maxwell, inadvertently ruining Charlie's life, getting her killed and starting a kidnapping spree, trying to take someone like Witherstone straight up out of spite and personal grudges.

Willow burning down the Orphanage and seemingly appearing to show no remorse or internal conflict afterwards (whether there were other kids or not– but let's be honest, realistically she wouldn't have been the only kid in there).

Wagstaff genuinely trying to help people (while also taking secret payment from them, because while they are rich, he's seemingly broke, seeing his apartment and junk.) but he still goes out of his way to save their lives, until he stumbles upon the projector which is filled to the brim with nightmare fuel– I think you get the point. You could easily assume that humans getting in contact with this substance tend to become more callous of the others' general well-being.

Aside from that, it's fun to portray how Wagstaff's and Woodrow's relationship used to be. I always thought Woodrow used to highly admire Wagstaff and think of him as a mentor or father figure of sorts, while Wagstaff definitely was impressed with their skills, and who knows, maybe even cared about them somewhat as well.

People tend to villify Wagstaff while making WX appear blameless and an innocent victim, which is strictly false. I LOVE WX, but they are screwed up and evil, that is no act. I wanted to highlight this aspect of them here, they appear to have good intentions, but they don't care about what his needs and wants are here. They're trying to appear noble by wanting to save him from his awful flesh, but in reality, as soon as he begins doubting them and claims their project is hazardous and needs to be nullified, they immediately turn their back on him and attack him. Of course their plan fails and they end up in the Constant, bearing spite and resentment towards him, as well as a lot of internalized contlict. They don't fully hate him, because to an extent, they were the one who took things too far.

In a way, both of them appear to share the trait of : If it doesn't work, get rid of it and start anew, and whilst this mentality mostly applies for organic creatures in WX-78's case, Wagstaff is more double-sided.

No, but I genuinely love this old man and want to explore his lore, why he is as fucked up as he is, because he's a very interesting and fleshed out character!

[a-bright-comet]

Jade Shadows Thoughts

(NOTICE: I have edited this post after a few days and many lovely replies and tags giving me more insight and opinions, overall my view of this quest has gotten a lot more positive, thank you all <3) okaaayyyy I am utterly rattled rn lmao also made the mistake of looking at tumblr after doing the quest and as expected it seems to be a 50/50 of hating or loving it. so here are my personal thoughts, I am a little scared but talk seems to be civil thankfully. I can definitely agree on the sentiment that this quest needed more time, cause let's be honest the people hating this quest wouldn't be jumping to the things they're jumping to if Jade herself got more screen-time before the big drop, warframe's style has always been vague and never 100% straight-forward and I think that unfortunately hurt it a bit this time, as what they didn't show came off wrong to many people and while I sorta see why I disagree on some parts. I also feel like the quest kinda got a bit *too* hyped both by DE and the fanbase's theories, way too short, it deserved and needed to be a bit longer for it's special narrative. Jade kinda got a weird spot, both being the main focus alongside Stalker but also hardly explored. But let's be honest, most of the negativity is caused by this outside-circumstance alone. Now, what I absolutely disagree with is people insisting that DE was trying to say "bodily autonomy bad" or that Stalker didn't care about her and only the child, thing is I thought it was pretty fucking clear that she *wanted* the child in what little was shown and she was going to die no matter the outcome (thanks to the orokin to absolutely no one's surprise) and Stalker in his guilt for all she's done for him wanted to make sure that he at least kept this one promise to Her, cause She wanted it. she still had bodily autonomy in the fact She wanted this, she wanted the child no matter what. and she wanted stalker to protect her and the kid. And he did, like a true loving partner. DE has a long track record of being very autonomy-positive. A point they make time and time again is that ripping it away is *bad* and horrifying, the quest is a bittersweet tragedy, not a horror. Honestly there would be 0 issue if DE had given us a Jade-only quest before this one, I personally would've preferred it as well, she's cool as hell she deserves it. who knows maybe DE will see all of this and make prequel quests? we can only hope. I do not want to assume the worst of anyone or anything cause that's a miserable existence. Look I personally enjoyed the quest and get the feeling whoever wrote it did it out of some personal experience or sorrow, that's at least the vibe I got. It's a tragedy, but her choice was seen till the end, many women choose to still have a child despite knowing they won't make it, many also don't, that's why choice is important. and she did, she chose her child that she was having while likely forcibly infested and turned into a warframe. (also remember there are women on the team who likely looked at this.) there are some other iffy parts of the quest, (really should've been the drifter instead of the operator if they were gonna do that, but that's personal discomfort.) but overall I enjoyed it and open to explore the implications of a born-warframe-child and Stalker healing as they both grow together. These are my thoughts, and I can understand why people like or dislike this quest, but I think it's fine and just ended up in a very unfortunate spot due to outside circumstances beyond it's control. (sorry if any of this comes off as aggressive it is not my intention despite how riled I am by some folk online, I disagree with you but I do not hate you, I don't even know you.)

Her choice, His promise, Their light.

Thank you for reading my first ever text post about something I care about, not sure I'll be doing this again any time soon out of anxiety lol (Edit: and thanks to everyone responding to this post wonderfully, ya'll are great and have lessened my anxiety and have made me appreciate this quest more <3)

[rainbowsky]

In the last months I was wondering and being a bit preoccupied with GG not having new endorsements and losing existing ones. Also with him staying away from show appearances and now not going on any NY show. But the last couple of days I keep thinking that he’s trying to escape that “traffic star” stigma and keeping it low key. Even though his album broke any record there was ti be broken. What do you think of GG’s “behavior” towards the c-ent this past year?

Hi Karamelina2005 😊

If you're genuinely hand-wringing over GG's career and endorsements, I think that's a pointless waste. GG is doing exceptionally well. While he doesn't have as many endorsements as DD does right now, the ones he does have are dominated by luxury brands and high end products. He's also still one of the top people in the industry in terms of number of endorsement contracts. He's doing fine.

Frankly, when an endorsement of his doesn't renew I always assume it's because they can't afford him anymore. No one - no one - has the power to move goods like GG does. No one is even on the same continent when it comes to sales. Let me guarantee you he's one of - if not THE - most sought after brand endorsement contracts in China.

I don't know how long you've been around, but over time you'll likely come to see that endorsements come and go. It's a totally normal, totally routine part of doing business. Brands are constantly shifting their strategies and adjusting their audience targets, budgets fluctuate, etc. etc. etc. - all of this leading to changes in spokespeople. This is completely normal.

I also think it's important for fans to remember that GG and DD are not social media influencers, they're actors. Endorsements will never be the central focus of their careers, and if anything they're likely to gradually do fewer endorsements as their careers become more serious and more established. Fans should resist the urge to measure GG and DD's careers by endorsement contracts.

Artists in China are also required by the government to be accountable for the brands they endorse. They must only endorse products and services they themselves or close family members are using. Someone like GG is going to be very picky about which contracts he takes on. He's a shrewd businessman who cares about how he is perceived and what he represents.

Frankly, the kind of people who worry about this type of thing tend to be insecure fans who are trying compete to one-up other fandoms for whose idol has the most clout. It's incredibly stupid and pointless.

We don't even know the details of their endorsement contracts, so it's pointless to try to bean-count over them. What would you rather have - 10 contracts valued at $100K each, or one valued at $1 million? The amount of money might be the same, but the amount of work is dramatically different.

So I urge people not to worry about such things. We don't know what's really happening behind the scenes.

As for live appearances, he hasn't done a live NYE performance for years. I honestly don't know why people still insist on expecting it of him. It's obviously not something he's making a priority.

Why? Well, only GG knows for sure, but I suspect there are multiple factors at play. The traffic star issue is a big one I've talked a lot about in the past. Both GG and DD have been transitioning away from that perception and more toward the path of serious actors/performers. But there are other factors as well.

Given that he has his own material out now, and a license to produce live performances, he may want to save himself for a future concert of his own (we can hope, anyway).

Frankly he doesn't need to do things like that. He's one of the top stars in China right now, and scarcity seems to make him even more anticipated by audiences.

He might not want to deal with the stress and hassle of preparing for and doing a performance like that. There is a LOT that goes into those performances, and a lot of stress and unpredictability. The last time he did Dragon TV there were huge audio issues that almost ruined his performance. He hasn't done NYE since. (Before anyone takes that and runs with it and assumes that's why - we have no proof of that. I'm just saying it's a lot of work and a lot of stress and if you don't need to do it, why bother?)

I suspect that control is a huge factor here. He is in a position now where he can pick and choose situations where he has a lot of choice and power. Why would he go back into unpredictable situations?

He said in an interview a while back that he hasn't been doing variety show appearances because he finds dealing with people's expectations and reactions too stressful. It's possible that applies here as well.

He wants to spend time with his parents, relaxing and watching DD on TV. He rarely gets much time off, and I have no doubt that he wants to make the most of it.

In terms of 'attitude toward the industry', I think both GG and DD have been doing their own thing, focusing on doing the kinds of projects and activities they enjoy rather than chasing after every opportunity. Gone are the days when they'd be packing their calendars full of a wide range of activities of varying value and appeal. Their choices seem far more curated and personal these days. I talked about that a fair bit in the past, including recent posts.

GG debut anniversary

DD debut anniversary

DD Exploring the Unknown

GG and project choices

I believe they're both doing their own thing, taking their own paths, and working toward having greater control over their careers, greater control over their projects, more time for their private lives, etc. and it shows.

I mean, just look at GG's album release and it becomes obvious that we don't need to worry about his career. The man has - on top of all the big projects he's been doing with top directors and top luxury brands - been developing and recording an album of his own, completely on his own time and with his own money and team, without any of it leaking, and with the few melons about it totally not believed by audiences. That's a pretty big flex.

And the album has been a massive, massive success.

So yeah. Don't worry about GG. One thing you can be certain of is that he will always focus on what's best for him and his career, and he's smart and capable and surrounded by experts whose entire job is to support that process.

[theoneandonlycoralinejones]

Some General Ericson's Kids Headcannons

Louis

Despite it being the zombie apocalypse, he still takes a great care in his appearance. Maybe this could be tied back to his insecurities, but he generally just finds comfort in looking nice. He kept a few colognes from before, and maybe even still has a few hair products. Of course he’d had to be resourceful to make them last this long, probably pours water into the almost empty cologne bottles to make them last longer. He also just dislikes being dirty in general, always wiping down his clothes and typically taking breaks to freshen up. 

He wants to keep the artistic spirit alive, even in the apocalypse, and he really admires people who feel the same. Everyone knows he loves piano, but when somebody actually shows interest in it he can't help but get giddy. He can ramble about musicians and songs for hours and hours and hours, and if you ever found him some new records or sheet music you'd officially be his new favorite person; ever.

Definitely was an only child; his parents put all of their focus on him, watched his every move. He was expected to get good grades, go to a good college, get a hard well-paying job afterwards. He was definitely spoiled money-wise, but his family lacked in the love and affection department. 

Violet

I’d like to think that if she ever got the chance to, she’d try to give herself a piercing. Obviously it’d be unsanitary and sort of implausible during the apocalypse, but if you think about it, all she’d need would be a needle, the piercing itself, and some sort of disinfectant, so it could possibly happen. If she did get one, probably an eyebrow piercing or a septum. She definitely isn’t the type to care too much about her appearance, but she would feel super cool having a piercing. (She wouldn’t say it though, lol)

Violet lacked any sort of hobby in the game, and this upset me. (Ruby has gardening/being a nurse, Louis has music, Tenn has art, Mitch has weapons, Omar has cooking, Aasim has writing, etc.) I feel like if she had a hobby it'd be something she'd do in secret, maybe poetry or writing songs. She definitely is the type of person to bottle her emotions up, so writing poems about it would definitely be a nice way to cope with them. She’d never share her poetry with anyone though, it's just her thing; she's way too embarrassed of it. 

If she was able to listen to any music she would definitely like indie or punk music. (Pavement, she would LOVE pavement) She’s definitely the type of person to crush on more alternative people, so I could see her trying to get into goth music just to impress a girl she likes. 

Marlon

It's obvious that he's definitely got some hefty mental issues going on, he's the type of person to bottle things up forever till he just blows up. He panics a lot in tough situations, scrambles to fix things himself, but has a hard time making things work out alone. I'd imagine his parents were probably perfectionists of some sort; who pushed a lifestyle he didn't want onto him and he tried hard to succeed for them but could never be enough. Eventually one day he acted out, sick of being forced to live a life he didn't want to live, and then was sent to Ericsons's.

A lot of people hate Marlon, for reasons that are obvious, but I really don't think he was a bad guy. He was simply misguided, and made mistakes. 

Seems like the type to smoke or drink as a way to cope. Did it more often before the apocalypse and when it first started but cigarettes and alcohol are pretty much nonexistent near Ericson’s now so he was forced to quit. 

Mitch

I see many people sort of stereotype Mitch as just this guy who likes carving knives and making bombs, which definitely is true, but I think there’s much more to him. He has a very rebellious personality which leads me to believe he probably grew up in a home where being rebellious was necessary to get any attention from his neglectful parents. They are in the boarding school for a reason, so he probably was the type of kid that almost burnt down his house or something.

Definitely seems like the type to be a big softie once you get to know him. Certainly not the type to be all soft in public, but if you're spending time one on one his more gentle side will show. 

Ruby 

She has such a motherly vibe to her, so caring and sweet. Even hands out some tough love when needed. I think that's one of the reasons why she likes the greenhouse so much, she loves to take care of things; plants included. (Obviously she also liked it because of Ms. Martin, but yk)

She's certainly not the type to accept compliments easily, she just can't imagine that when people compliment her they're telling the truth. I'd imagine that the reason she punches Aasim If you dare him to kiss her is because she thinks he's playing a prank on her or something; she just finds it hard to believe that somebody would like her. (I love her, Ruby is my bae omg)

[leclerc-s]

track two: i wanna taste his lips, yeah, 'cause they taste like you

series masterlist

JEALOUSY, JEALOUSY

"got a pretty face, a pretty boyfriend too, i wanna be with you so bad."

MID 2020

charles leclerc did not get jealous. he had nothing and no one to be jealous of,  besides, it's not like he had anything to be jealous of. he was charles freaking leclerc, there was no reason for him to be feeling the way he was, so why the fuck was he feeling complete and utter jealousy towards oscar piastri? oscar didn't have anything charles could want. charles was the one who was the formula 1 driver, he's the one who was an f1 grand prix winner, he's the one who drove for one of the most historic f1 teams, he was the one people called the predestined. 

oscar piastri absolutely didn’t have anything charles could possibly want, except for her. the one thing oscar had that charles wanted, he couldn’t possibly have. the only thing he could do was watch from the sidelines as she cheered him on and raced alongside him. actually charles wasn’t even sure if they were dating but it seemed like they were. why else would they be as close as they were, if they weren’t dating? people just weren’t that close, maybe that’s why people tended to think he was dating pierre.

“stare any harder and people will be convinced you hate him,” sebastian teased. charles turned to glare at his older teammate, “i do not hate him.”

sebastian laughed, “you could have fooled me. or maybe, it’s her you hate.”

“i don’t hate them!” charles shouted, several people turned to look at them, including inés and oscar. charles blushed before turning around to walk away, “i hate you,” he muttered to sebastian, “i’m glad you’re leaving.”

sebastian laughed again, “no, you’re not. who would argue with mattia for your sake?”

“it is very entertaining.”

“enjoy having her brother around next year."

"max warned me about them," charles whispered to the older man. talking badly about a drivers family seemed like taboo to charles. he didn’t even know carlos or his family and yet here he was, gossiping with sebastian about the.

sebastian sighed, "they are difficult, that entire family is. maybe you'll be the one fighting mattia next season."

charles huffed, not satisfied with sebastian’s answer, "but why are they so difficult?"

"sainz. sr is not used to coming second, to anyone," sebastian paused, "it was known between several of the drivers years ago, when max and carlos were toro rosso drivers, that their fathers didn't get along, hell even the media caught on at some point. sainz sr and jos hated each other, rumored it almost came to blows several times. so when max got promoted to red bull mid-season, sainz sr. lost it. carlos was put on a loan to renault, his contract didn't get renewed so he moved to mclaren. i don't think any of his children are used to coming second, especially not with a father like him. everyone talks about the difficulties max faced with jos as his father but i imagine sainz sr was just like him with carlos.”

“but what about inés?” charles question. sebastian sighed, a frown on his face, “a daughter being a racer is not what sainz sr wanted. he wanted her to focus on her studies, carlos was supposed be the one to carry on the family name in motorsports, not her, never her. every time he’s almost given up on her career, inés has proved him wrong. vice champion in two consecutive series, that’s no small feat for a woman. it’s- huge for her, it also helps that she has fernando in her corner backing her.”

"inés seems to be content with being second to piastri," charles pointed out, referring to sebastian’s earlier statement.

"she is a girl in a male dominated sport. if she comes in first or second, she still breaks records. she's not coming second to anyone charles."

"you're wrong," charles muttered, "she comes second to carlos."

sebastian sighed, "trust me, i know," sebastian paused, choosing his next words carefully, "just, be careful next year charles. you don't want to make an enemy of the sainz family."

charles rolled his eyes, "i'll be a good kid, i promise."

"charles, this is serious," sebastian argued, "the sainz family is not someone you want to cross, ever."

charles stilled for a moment, processing sebastian's words, "okay, i swear."

sebastian moved to walk away and charles stood there for a moment, trying to convince himself that maybe, just maybe he didn’t have a weird infatuation with inés. because the way he say the situation, it was weird, he was 5 years older than her, they had first met when she was a kid. granted they only ever held a few conversations, with inés taking a liking to his younger brother more than him. it made sense though, arthur was the one racing in the same series as her, he was the one closer to her in age. charles jumped when her heard someone snickering, he turned and came face to face with fernando alonso, f1’s resident menace.

noticing his startled expression fernando looked at him, and charles was not ready for what was about to come out of his mouth, "eres un idiota."

now charles didn't speak spanish but he sure as hell knew fernando had just called him an idiot. charles was not an idiot, most of the time. so why the hell had he just stared at fernando and only muttered a "what?" and looked like a complete idiot?

"i said, you are an idiot, she is too, and him."

"him?" charles questioned, "who's him?"

fernando chuckled, "use that brain of your leclerc. as checo says, te lo dejo de tarea."

"what does that mean?" charles asked as fernando turned to leave. fernando shrugged as he left, leaving charles just standing there confused. before charles could follow after him he was met with the sight of carlos, the spaniard smiled at him and charles returned it. he looked around trying to spot the older spaniard but couldn’t find him anywhere, charles would have to later ask him how he disappeared like that. before he could even think about leaving carlos struck up a conversation with him forcing him to stay put.

HEARTBURN

"and tell me why does my heart burn when i see your face?"

when oscar first saw charles leclerc, there was no doubt in his mind that he was an attractive man. which left him feeling confused, why the hell was he thinking that about a man? oscar wasn't gay, at least he thought he wasn't, oscar wasn't quite sure. it's not like he ever had the time to discover if he liked boys as much as he liked girls. one thing he knew for sure was that he liked girls, he had girlfriends in the past. all oscar knew was that charles leclerc was an attractive man. and look, oscar had kissed a few guys on a dare, namely his best friend logan sargeant, but those kisses never meant anything. he never felt anything after those kisses and it's not like he'd had what many called 'a gay awakening'

oscar wasn’t even sure if he was just supposed to wake up one day and decide if he liked men or not. were there rules to that? was he supposed to talk to someone? was he supposed to talk to him mum about his feelings? was it supposed to be one of those moments in books where he went oh, oh, and realize he liked men and women? what the hell was he supposed to do? 

“mate,” logan whispered, “you’re staring.” 

oscar shrugged his best friend off, “i am not.” 

“you absolutely are,” frederick chimed in. oscar turned to glare at the dane before huffing out, “i am not.” 

before frederick could reply, inés joined them, “who are we staring at?” 

“charles leclerc apparently,” logan joked. inés laughed, “are you three finally realizing that charles leclerc is the poster boy for pretty faces in formula 1?” 

“wouldn’t that be your brother?” frederick questioned. the dane looked like it had hurt to say that, everyone one in their friend group knew about the rocky relationship inés had with her brother. inés made a face at that, “no, trust me, it’s charles leclerc.” 

“what about my brother?” arthur chimed in as he too, also joined them. inés smiled at the youngest leclerc boy, “who you do you think is the poster boy for pretty faces in formula 1. i think it’s charles, fred thinks it’s my brother.” 

“definitely lewis hamilton,” logan chimed in. the four of them turned to look at oscar, waiting for his response. the australian blushed, “off the grid? jenson button. on the grid? daniel ricciardo.”

arthur laughed at the australian, “i think it is red bull sebastian.” 

inés gasped, “why didn’t i think of that!” she paused for a moment, “but i agree with osc, it’s gotta be jenson button.” 

frederick snorted, “yes, it’s 100% jenson button.” 

inés sighed dreamily, “i love him, i could marry him in a heartbeat.” 

arthur elbowed the australian, wiggling his eyebrows, as if to say, “you wish she was saying that about you huh?” oscar rolled his eyes at the monegasque but it’s not like that had stopped arthur from making fun of him before. 

“he’s twice your age,” oscar pointed out, “not to mention married and a father.” 

“he could be your father,” logan joked. 

inés rolled her eyes at both of them, “age is just a number boys.” 

“and prison is just a place,” oscar muttered. frederick who stood beside him, giggled softly. arthur leaned over, “your jealousy is showing oscar.” 

oscar harshly elbowed arthur, “shut up.”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

later that night, when oscar laid in his hotel room, staring at the ceiling he found himself asking why he felt butterflies in when he had met charles leclerc's eye. that had never happened before, and he had met the older leclerc plenty of times. perhaps it was time oscar actually talked to someone about his feelings but who? he couldn't talk to his mom because that was an embarrassing conversation waiting to happen. he couldn't talk to mark about it because for some reason the older australian put charles leclerc in a box with sebastian vettel. not that mark still hated sebastian, he had been very clear about that, but to oscar it still seemed like it hurt mark to talk about him or anything related to him.

oscar sure as hell couldn't talk to logan or fred about it because all the two blondes would do is make fun of him. not that they didn't do that already but oscar was NOT going to sit through another conversation with them so they teased him relentlessly. besides, oscar was like 98% sure he was just going through a phase. but it couldn't be a phase, there had been that boy in primary school that oscar had thought was cute, then there was that short time period where he had a massive crush on sebastian vettel, much to mark's disappointment. oscar could remember him muttering, "why couldn't he crush on jenson instead?"

which, oscar could admit, he also had at one point, but he could never remember feeling that way towards charles leclerc. he had met charles plenty of times, that's usually what happened when you were friends with someone. arthur had met his family and he had met arthur's family. none of that explained why oscar felt stupid little butterflies whenever he made eye contact with charles leclerc.

then, there was the inés sainz of it all. oscar was sure he had a crush on girl, actually he knew he had a crush on her, he had since before they met. it was part of the reason as to why logan had gone up to the younger girl all those years ago. teasing oscar had always been logan's favorite past time, it still was to this day. what oscar couldn’t understand was how he had developed feelings for two people at the same time.

what was even more confusing was how he had developed feelings for people who seemed like complete opposites. he didn't know what it was but the two just seemed like they would never get along (oh how wrong he was, not that he knew that yet) so there oscar sat, confused not only about his own feelings but why he felt the way he did.

liked by, isahernaez, aidan, lilymhe and others

ines_sainz we go back to racing this week!! i will no longer be rotting in a hole somewhere. (edit: oscar is demanding for joris' rights. 📸 joris_trouche)

view all comments

maxverstappen33 you're literally in my spare room watching criminal minds?? when the fuck did you take these??

ines_sainz when we were in australia for the race that never happened?? user01 traveling during a global pandemic?? what the fuck is wrong with rich people?? maxverstappen33 we're in fucking austria for our jobs your moron ines_sainz i'm quarantining with max because apparently i can't be left to my own devices fernandoalo_oficial you nearly set your apartment on fire with a candle.

aidan come back home??

ines_sainz i have a job?? aidan and?? so do i?? alex_albon you're an influencer 💀 user02 you cannot convince me that those guys actually like aidan

oscarpiastri wow, no credits for me??

ines_sainz YOU DIDN'T TAKE THE PICTURES?? JORIS DID?? arthur_leclerc why are you hanging out with joris?? ines_sainz do i have to remind you that our brothers are coworkers arthur?? or did you just forget that?? oscarpiastri wow, no creds for joris?? ines_sainz you're annoying, go away.

louieee baby gorl you are stunning

ines_sainz thank you baby gorl logansargeant THIS IS YOUR FAULT! SHE WON'T STOP CALLING PEOPLE BABY GORL AROUND THE PADDOCK! charles_leclerc it's true. i've never seen sebastian turn so red and we drive for ferrari landonorris glad to know i'm not the only victim. ines_sainz puh-lease norris, you wish i called you baby gorl. i only reserve that for the babiest of baby gorls. alex_albon glad to know i'm in that category. lewishamilton that actually explains so much now

user03 knowing this girl is about to make waves in f3 fills me with joy.

user04 right? absolutely killed it in f4. i can't wait to see what she does later on user05 oh those sainz racing genes go hard

joris__trouche i am being forced against my will to ask for my picture credits...free me

ines_sainz you let a koala of all people bully you into doing this?? joris__trouche he is very good at getting people to do what he wants ines_sainz trust me, i know. i'm still bitter about my tim-tams...

carlossainz55 shouldn't you be training right now?

ines_sainz ximena allows 15 minute breaks ximena.gomez i'm your manager kid, not your trainer ines_sainz same difference

user06 she looks so pretty

user07 right? girl is so fucking happy to be back to racing user08 i, for one, am so fucking happy we're back to racing, i missed seeing 20 grown men go vroom in odd shapes for 90 minutes

charles_leclerc why are you hanging out with my best friend?? without me??

ines_sainz joris said he needed 5 minutes away from you joris_trouche it's true, i did. charles_leclerc i don't want you too hanging out again. you're mean to me when you hang out. ines_sainz you're not my dad. you can't stop me. charles_leclerc i'll tell your dad fernandoalo_oficial you're daughter is being mean fernandoalo_oficial that's my girl charles_leclerc oh-

user09 so is it not a joke that fernando is inés' dad or is it?

user10 at this point no one can fucking tell. like even laura and will are in on the joke. user11 that man is more of her father than her actual father is. i've never once seen that man at an f3 race cheering her on. fernando is always there. user10 it's worse when we know sainz sr is at races because he gets featured on sky or f1tv but he's never at her races. user12 oh my god you people are being so dramatic and for what? he clearly doesn't have the time to see her race in lower categories. user11 but clearly he can attend free practices for carlos...

patriciooward you have to come watch me race at least once this season hermana

ines_sainz let me have time and i'll come to at least one race patriciooward and that'll be?? ines_sainz until at least mid september patriciooward BOOO!!! your job sucks ines_sainz patricio, there was this thing called a global pandemic, you might remember what that was patriciooward i remember you pestered me for hours to play animal crossing with you. ines_sainz and the sims 4 because none of the losers i know wanted to play

user12 inés sainz playing the sims 4 with patricio o'ward was not something i knew i needed.

user13 someone tell arrow mclaren to get pato to play the sims 4 user12 just don't include mods or pato might combust patriciooward what are these mods you speak of?? ines_sainz STOP! NO ONE TELL HIM! user14 uh-oh, i feel like i'm to blame and i wasn't even involved in this. patriciooward oh i'll figure it out eventually. user15 where the fuck were you people when inés was documenting the sims 4 chronicles?? user13 clearly not where ever these chronicles where being documented.

BONUS: THE SIMS 4 CHRONICLES

¡taglist!

@minmira95 // @lesliiieeeee // @vroomvroommuppett // @prongsvault // @justtprachisblog // @scuderiadevils // @cataf1 // @chezmardybum // @formulaal // @lilsiz // @norstappenvibes // @ironspdy // @nikfigueiredo @hinamesgigantica // @niniluvsainz // @matchaverse // @fakeikeastore // @theseus-jpg // @six-call // @81folklore // @emppusofi // @luvsforme // @nichmeddar // @loloekie // @luvpedro // @donttouchthegnote // @nothaqks // @inferiusreggie // @mochimommy2002 // @rach3164 // @clove08 // @clove0 // @lillysbigwilly // @jenxjar // @blupblupfish // @thereadinggremlin05 // @meowiarty // @magical-spit // @camdensreg // @laneyspaulding19 // @ocyeanicc // @yelenasloverrrrr // @percervall // @blushmimi // @spilled-coffee-cup // @michelleyw81 // @yeanoskrrt // @greantii // @ietss

¡not taggable!

@ashlovestoread1411 // @books-thingys-andstuff // @nothanqks // @ale-522 // @aandreea_2005 // @Katness1 // @mgmoore // @Scott-McCall-could-lift-mjolnir // @xxx-betty // @ririyulife // @landonorizzz // @moldyshorts1997 // @itstimeforutogo // @yar16 // @em-andemm // @killjoycra // @angelxxrose

¡leclerc-s speaks!

this whole thing is almost 3k words, which is a lot for me. thought it was finally time to give you guys part 2 for the mini series i have going on with this story. i actually don't know how to write someone struggling with their sexuality all the well so i hope it was at least decent. (any pointers anyone has would be great for future reference)

¡disclaimer!

this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[daeneryspilled]

someone sent me an anon ask about the anti rhaenyra agenda most rhaenicent shippers have and like a dumbass i accidently deleted it so i'm just going to try my best to re-answer it here (yes i wrote a whole spiel about it and now it's gone forever and i'm upset.)

from what i can tell there are only two reasons as to why people can't stand rhaenyra but love rhaenicent; and it's because they either have some heavy internalized misogyny OR that's the only way to continue and keep their uwu sad lesbian alicent headcanons semi-tethered in reality. alicent is a character that has next to no positive interactions with other characters, least of all any women. she has a 'good' (and i say that lightly) relationship with rhaenyra for 2 episodes in hotd, and then they are adversaries for the rest of the show. the only other women we see her interact with are helaena and her lady in waiting talya ( who regularly spied on her for mysaria) and minus talya, those are the same female relationships she has in f&b. she doesn't really have a good track record with anyone.

in the book she terrorized rhaenyra from aegon's birth up until rhaenyra's death. rather than teaching her son to rule and raising him to be an upstanding prince of the realm she instead spent her time calling rhaenyra, a literal child, a slut, she accepted criston into her service as her own personal protector in spite of his predatory behavior towards rhaenyra (which she acknowledges), and continuously tries to have rhaenyra and her sons disinherited and killed due to her own spreading of the bastard rumors. not to mention that she was eighteen when she married viserys to rhaenyra's nine. there's really nothing romantic about it. in the show almost everything is still the same except for her being the one to arrange helaena's marriage to her known degenerate and rapist son (in f&b viserys is the one who had them marry) and most likely told her the same rhetoric of rhaenyra killing them to secure her claim that she told her sons from when they were babies up until the coup. with rhaenyra she still antagonizes her because she (lemme check again, told alicent she didn't sleep with daemon and got otto fired because he was working against the crown to install his grandson as heir over her). don't even get me started on the villainization of rhaenyra in order to uphold alicent's constant victimization storyline. alicent is the one who abused rhaenyra, not the other way around, and the age changes in the show (which are so stupid omg) only serve to make alicent more sympathetic and rhaenyra an apparent privileged brat who doesn't understand what it's like to suffer because of the men in her life and therefore deserves her fate (i can literally see the entire galaxy with how far back my eyes are rolled rn.)

if the show wanted to include or focus on two women who were torn apart by the patriarchy and the men around them, helaena's blank character was right there for the taking (and would've been even juicier with the sister vs sister, queen consort vs queen regnant debacle.) she has no personality in the book or any relevance besides losing her children in violent ways and going mad, they definitely could have made her a more present character on screen in a manner that adds an actual emotional connection to her but alas, rhaenicent is top priority. furthering that, if the show wanted to include queer representation with their leading lady, laena had more hints in the text for that type of relationship than anything the show has given us for the rhaenyra/alicent dynamic, even with how hard they're trying to force it down our throats.

the entire relationship has made the story go completely off kilter because the show won't just let it be, and it's affected almost all of their other relationships. they're not going to convince me that rhaenyra cares about alicent more than her own children or even vice versa (though in an entirely different manner) and that reconciliation is possible in spite of aemond murdering luke. it makes both the characters and the writers look like delusional idiots. there's absolutely no reason for these types of glaring mistakes in a series where characterization and the relationships that revolve from them are the reason it's so popular amongst the masses. this lack of proper relationship building has caused hotd to feel a lot more shallow and lackluster than what you'd expect with how massive it's budget was when they created it, the amount of talented actors they casted, and the literal blueprint laid out of what not to do that got season eight is. someone should have taken accountability for these dumb decisions and realized how quickly they're streamlining straight towards what ruined game of thrones in the first place.

[restinslices]

Could you do the Earthrealm champions being invited by GN!reader to dance with them in a video?

If you need song ideas for this request, I got you covered:

Bet y’all ain’t know I like K-pop. Expect the unexpected. My internet is being dumb asf and I cannot add gifs so you’re getting dumb pictures I found on Pinterest

Johnny Cage

“I’m a star sweetheart, I don’t have time for silly videos”

*Proceeds to dance with passion*

Johnny cannot take shit seriously so if you think he’d be too proud to do a little dance for a video, you’re smoking 

He probably wears something way over the top for the video as if he’s actually performing for a crowd 

I don’t think Johnny is a natural dancer but he makes do. He probably practices to make sure he doesn’t look stupid and you’ll have to record the video multiple times until he’s satisfied 

“I don’t like that one or that one or that one or-” “I’m gonna find a new partner. Oh my gosh”

Honestly I think he has more fun than you

“I think I should add ‘dancer’ to my lists of talents”

He probably asks to do it again

Idk if I see Johnny being into K-pop but the interest would start here and spiral 

I also feel like he enjoys dances from girl groups more than boy groups. I once again don’t know why I think this way but it makes sense in my head 

Likes more simple dances. It keeps the focus on his pretty face and outfits 

“I think I’d be fantastic in a girl group” “Ok Johnny”

It’s giving “nurse! He’s out again!”

He has a new hyperfixation now. I hope you’re proud of yourself 

Favorite thing to dance to is Cupid by Fifty Fifty 

Kenshi Takahashi 

Only does it because you asked him to, and even then he doesn’t really want to 

He doesn’t hate dancing but he just doesn’t do it 

Considering he escaped from the Yakuza, him being in a video with you isn’t the best idea. You can call him paranoid. He calls himself careful. 

When he finally agrees, he's wearing the most obnoxious get up; hoodie, sweatpants, a hat, glasses, a mask and gloves. It's so no one can know who he is, but who in the Yakuza is randomly watching dance videos?

He won't change his mind though and wears it all.

You have to do an easy dance otherwise he'll sweat himself to death 

I don't see him going out of his way to do it again. It was alright to him. He's not big on dancing so learning a dance then doing it wasn't the best way to spend his time. Also he was extremely sweaty so he's not tryna do it again 

He will if you ask, but he won't bring it up first 

He's trying to not be noticed but people can't help but notice him 

I feel like he favors boy groups only slightly. Favorite thing to dance to is Still 24K by 24K but only the chorus because once again, sweat and heat. And YES I picked 24K because I'm never letting their name die. I miss them 

Kung Lao

“I have better things to do, like training new recruits at the Academy” “If you're too scared of me dancing better than you, just say that”

He learns the dance that night 

He's competitive so what's supposed to be a sweet couples thing, turns serious 

Wants to do a hard dance just to prove how great he is even if it's stupid 

Legit is angrily typing “hard kpop dances” and picking one at random 

He has you ask the audience to comment who danced better or do a poll

If he wins, he's ecstatic and wants to continue showing off. If he loses, he's bitter. The vote was rigged. Real “Stop the count!” type shit 

If he loses he wants to do it again so he can do better. He legit can't let it go. The problem is he keeps diving into hard ass dances and refuses to start simple 

You have to pry his hands off the keyboard and help him pick something simple 

Once he stops being stubborn then you two can actually have fun. Dancing can become a regular thing, but he's gonna keep making it a challenge 

In his eyes, he always wins 

Idk if he has a preference for boy or girl groups. I'll say his favorite thing to dance to is Monster by Exo because I feel like he'd want to do Chanyeol's jump 

Raiden

I think he'd be shy at first. Super Shy if you will 

He doesn't wanna fuck it up, yk? After being told it's not that deep and it's just for fun, he agrees 

Besides Johnny, he's probably having the most fun. I feel like he enjoys spending time with the people he cares about and this is doing just that 

Wants to do it again because it's spending time with you and it makes you happy 

Before I even end this, he's a girl group stan and I'm standing on it

Idk why but I think he'd like 4Minute and I'm not changing my mind. He'd be bummed they're not together anymore 

Honestly, his favorite groups have probably all disbanded or are on hiatus. He's not having a good time 

“I like 4Minute” “disbanded” “2NE1?” “disbanded” “Miss A?” “disbanded” “CLC?” “I don't think they're disbanded but they're doing their own thing” “I hate my life”

I just feel like he'd have bad luck 

Dancing becomes a new hobby though. He can't always be getting rid of threats. 

Mainly does it with you 

His favorite thing to dance to is Whatcha Doin’ Today by 4Minute. Honestly I can see that being his favorite song which is a real shame cause I think his favorite would be Jihyun and she got like, one line (I'm projecting)

Liu Kang 

Big problem with your plan. He has glowing eyes and shades hardly dull them. How's he gonna hide that? 

With TWO pairs of shades of course 

I think he'd be reluctant to make the video because his existence isn't supposed to be known by random people 

He'd be willing to dance with you alone, he's just not sure about the video and he won't be sure until you come up with a good idea that'll get rid of that problem 

You can post it on your close friends though. They make sense 

I feel like he'd like dancing to some random ass unknown group from the 80s or 90s. Who even are these people?

He did watch as civilization grew so he's seen tons of groups form and disband so I guess it's not surprising he knows smaller groups. 

Idk if he'd have a preference for boy groups or girl groups. If it's good music, it's good music 

I don't think it'd become a new hobby for him. He's not reluctant about it like Kenshi, it just doesn't interest him as much as you'd like 

He makes it known he's doing this for you. Not in an asshole way, but in a “I really like when you're happy” type of way 

I'm NOT looking up old ass groups just for this so imma say his favorite thing to dance to is Kard in general. Why? Idk. I’m spreading an agenda

I wanna write more MK1 intros but I’m brain empty. I’m miserable This was also short. My bad anon. Everyone has around 230 words

[thezombieprostitute]

Tech Tuesday: Jonathan Pine

Summary: Jonathan Pine is very nice to work for but you've been fooled before.

Warnings: Implied age discrimination, Implied smut. Please let me know if I missed any!

A/N: Reader is 40+ years old and female. No physical descriptors used.

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Previous

True to his word, Jonathan saw to your pleasure all through the night. He was attentive to all of your needs, including aftercare. His tenderness was such a foreign experience and you never wanted it to end. Both of you were grateful that it was the weekend. Jonathan didn't want to stop showing you how much mean to him and you weren't sure you'd be able to walk for a while.

While the sex was everything you could have wanted, and more, you really appreciate the time between rounds. Jonathan's voice was pleasant to listen to and you found yourself enjoying the conversations. He was so attentive, quick to provide the comfort you needed. Even just holding each other was often enough to make you feel safe and cared for. As much as the two of clicked at work, it seemed your personal lives just might work together as well.

"At some point we will have to talk about how this will affect our work," you sigh as you're cuddled together.

"Very true, my Rose," he murmurs. "I suppose this means you won't be taking up Mr. Levinson's offer?"

"I probably wasn't going to do so anyways," you confess. "I'd be living where I work, kept in the background like a dirty secret. I'm not interested in that."

"In that case, we should probably set up a meeting with Romanov. Being upfront with HR, and the department."

"Well, we don't need a big announcement or something. Let the department figure it out, or ask. But I do agree that HR should know. I'd hate to be a stain on your employment record."

Jonathan maneuvers so that he's on top of you, his deep blue eyes capturing yours. "Being with you will never be a blemish on my record. If anything, the fact that it took so long to confess my feelings should be my true shame."

The sincerity with which he says that has you emotionally reeling. So many years of feeling less than, feeling unlovable, and here this gorgeous, intelligent, gentleman has pulled the rug out from under you. Tears start forming and his eyes soften as he caresses your cheek. You wrap your arms around him and pull him in for a deep kiss, ready for another round.

The meeting with Ms. Romanov was scheduled sooner than expected. Jonathan insisted you both be there and you were grateful that he was still treating you with such respect.

Some of the people in the department had noticed the moments of PDA between you two but would only ever smile and leave it be. Clearly they trusted the two of you to be professional and not let your relationship affect their own work. Syverson actually congratulated the two of you while saying it was about time.

As the two of you explain your situation, the reason for the meeting, to Ms. Romanov, she raises an eyebrow.

"Strange. I thought you'd be here to discuss Drysdale."

"May I ask why?" Jonathan started. "His behavior and professionalism has greatly improved the past few months."

"Yes, but I have reason to believe he's looking for other work," she responds.

"Are you allowed to disclose how you know?"

"Our department received a phone call asking if a Hugh Drysdale was a current employee of ours," she explains. "Legally all we have to do is confirm or deny the employment, but it's a standard phone call when an employer is investigating the background of a potential employee."

"I see," Jonathan frets. "And we are not to say anything to him or ask him about it, correct?"

"Correct," she affirms. "Now, back to the two of you." She turns to focus on you. "As Pine is your superior, you are going to be more my concern. My primary obligation in this company is avoiding law suits so, if at any point you feel he's abusing his power over you, report to me. If you feel you are being used, let me know. If he ever puts you under duress, you tell me."

"Of course," you nod. You hate to think of Jonathan doing any of those things but you know how relationships can change with time.

She turns to Jonathan. "At the same time, if you ever feel she's using you for your higher standing in the company, tell me. If she ever puts you under duress, talk to me. Abuse can go either way." Jonathan simply nods in acknowledgement.

"Now, I'll have some forms for the two of you to sign indicating that you're aware of the intraoffice relationship guidelines, and other formalities."

The rest of the meeting is spent with the paperwork. Occasionally you and Jonathan would exchange smiles, winks and giggles.

Next

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Tagging @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @ellethespaceunicorn; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory;

@late-to-the-party-81; @lokislady82; @ozwriterchick; @peyton-warren;

@ronearoundblindly; @stellar-solar-flare

[curio-queries]

I think AYS definitely found its flow post-US trips. Compared to the later trips, you can tell their time in the US really was more spur of the moment, less thought out. I think that's probably why the editing and filming were better in the other places and they had product placement. I wonder if they originally had something else in mind for the content, such as making it just a bangtan bomb kind of like some of the solo adventures we got during chapter 2 (like jungkook's camping vlog), but then they decided to do more trips or pitched it to Disney or something so they put more money and effort into it.

About the behind the scenes content, I do think whatever was kept out of the main episodes was primarily for pacing reasons (despite the fact that I don't think the pacing was super great until Sapporo) and/or some content that was kept for the purpose of making money off the behind the scenes package. Weirdly I don't think bts cares at all about 4th wall breaks. I saw another blog complain about this a while ago, about being able to see staff in the background and ruining the vibe of AYS or messing up the illusion from a production standpoint, but I think bts themselves never try to put up that 4th wall. Obviously the content is supposed to stay focused on them, but the boys have never had a problem talking to their staff on the other side of the camera even during things like run episodes and even in AYS, the last night Sapporo, jikook are sitting around the table drinking and talking with their staff. Beyond what takes focus off the members or respecting that staff aren't public figures, I don't think the members ever care to create that illusion that they aren't filming something or surrounded by staff. I remember reading parts of bts' book and jungkook talks about jikook's trip to japan in 2017 and mentions how the company was worried about their safety if they went and when they arrived in japan, staff was already waiting for them. Even in a private trip that was meant just for the two of them, because of who they are staff were involved and they don't try to hide that.

Also side tangent, but their book was more interesting than I was expecting based on how I'd seen people talk about. A lot of it is summarization of events with bts' thoughts thrown in throughout, but there were some interesting tidbits I didn't know. Like jimin listening to Army sing-along of Young Forever and that's basically what made him come out of a dark place regarding the band's future and contract renewal tensions. Reminded me of Wembley when he cried and said that song had helped him a lot. Also the book and reading things as a timeline really emphasized how much jikook helped each other through that dark period from 2017-2019: the japan trip when they needed to get away from everything, then jimin showing up at a bar for jungkook and them both crying together (the crying together seems to be a theme for them LOL).

Anyway, back to AYS. For the title cards, we can see in Sapporo that they already edited most of the US trip, so the title cards were probably an idea they thought would be good when editing that, but then they didn't really fit as much in the editing of the other trips. Like the Sapporo vibes are just different from jimin's silly little title card recordings.

I really hope we get more AYS when they come out of MS. I expect group activities will be back in full swing, but since they seem to really enjoy traveling together, I think it'd be nice if we got to have future seasons. Its obviously still work, but I do think its on the more enjoyable end of work for them. I want to see them in Montana, US on a ranch riding horses, or in Venice, IT doing a romantic gondola ride, in the Australian outback where jungkook can finally fight a kangaroo.

Hi anon,

You definitely hit on many of the points we'd been discussing here through these posts so it's nice to see I'm not the only one with some of these thoughts.

After seeing the I Am Still documentary though, it's do feel more confident saying that this team's production engine likely gives very little control to their distribution partners. Again, I still need to do an album watchthrough of most of the Disney documentaries but for now, I'd wager that Hybe fully completes their product and then only sells it for distribution. Maybe there's some back-and-forth if there could possibly be any content censorship for brand cohesion but BTS content as a whole is already very low-risk on that front. I'd even go so far to say that the product placement sponsors had more of an impact on the actual end result of the content than Disney did. But that's purely supposition on my part.

Regarding the 4th wall breaks, I don't think i worded my viewpoint very well previously and I don't think i have much better to say here but I'll try. While I agree that BTS's content isn't trying to shy away from the fact that they have staff around them, I do think there are very specific methodologies behind how they've approached it in the past and likely will continue to.

Take Run BTS for example, at the beginning, they attempted to rely for more in on-screen graphics and having the members themselves deliver the necessary exposition. But...I've said this before and I'll say it again, their production actually really sucks at delivering content that needs to be informative. In my opinion, they realized they weren't doing a great job of this and it was a lot more effort to try to mask, when the episodes that they left in a disembodied staff member explaining didn't have any noticeable drop so they decided to just go with including it.

I know i haven't really talked much here about the Run Jin episodes (as I'm likely going to do review posts as well once I'm done with Run BTS) but one of the main things I've been keeping my eye on is how they're compensating for there only being one member. It's seemingly to fall into relying on guest cast and the staff to give Jin the necessary foil, sometimes successfully and other times less-so.

Anyway, back to AYS, it seems to me like they were absolutely still trying to find the line of staff inclusion. Honestly, I wonder if there was a version of the edit where them watching the first cut of episode 1 would have been only included in the bonus content. Without it though, that episode woukd have been much shorter so I think they kept it in the main release purely for time. It fits so well with the overall tone though and I'm so glad they included it.

Again, wondering about the future. I'm sure they will try to revive this show again after military service and I genuinely hope they try to stick to the format of several mini-trips compiled into one 'season'. It will take a skillful team to be sure there's cohesion though. These episodes worked because there is the overarching tjmeline of their solo projects as they prepare for their service that ties the little trips together. I still think my idea of scheduling trips while they're on tour could work but again only if the tour schedule is a little more relaxed than it has been in the past.

It's all theoretical at this point! I would love to see our guys traveling around to some of the less-dazzling destinations as well. I am from a very rural area in the western US and could not even comprehend what it woukd be like for BTS to even be aware of some of those places, let alone actually visit. That was some of the charm of the USA section. They were out in the middle of nowhere seeing just a little bit of Americana. (But I also completely agree with you and want to see a JK / Kangaroo moment as well!)

I'm remembering now another point that I'd wanted to delve into a little more with AYS, which was how they balanced luxury vs the simple life for this show. It's definitely something I noticed shifting over the episodes and I think that had more to do with those sponsorships as well as wanting to give JM and JK some comfortable experiences prior to their enlistment.

Sorry, i went on quite the tangent anon. If I didn't respond to any of the points that you'd like to further discuss, please point them out in another note. I've already rambled far too much for this one!

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

before this goes any further, I want it on the record that you all asked for this.

my first and most petty point: Midnight Mass gets basic details about Catholicism wrong, such that even I (not a Catholic) twigged them. The big one is that Catholics DON'T HAVE MIDNIGHT MASS FOR EASTER - it's a Christmas thing - but since the priest holding the mass is also a vampire, I can accept that he's going off-book. I have a harder time with them holding a PICNIC for ASH WEDNESDAY, aka THE DAY LENT STARTS, aka the day everyone starts fasting and are therefore not snacking on a potluck. It's a minor thing, and normally I wouldn't pick at it, but since this show ostensibly revolves around Catholic doctrine, it bears mentioning.

on a writing level, not one single character in this show talks like a human being. or acts like one. I couldn't give you any information about who these characters are as people, because they're not people, they're mouthpieces for Flanagan to impart his ideas to the audience. He is both deeply in love with his own writing and entirely unconvinced that his audience is smart enough to Get It, so he has his actors turn to the audience and lay it all out. Not only is this bad writing on a character level, it brings all plot and tension to a screeching halt whenever it happens. The most unintentionally hilarious instance of this has to be when Annabeth Gish comes to the sheriff to tell him that the church is being run by a vampire and her mother is aging in reverse, and his response is to start rambling about where he was on 9/11. Like. Nothing about this makes sense, and also why should we care when it has fuckall to do with the story?

(as regards the sheriff character: I, a white Quaker, am not the person to critique this show's handling of Islam. But I will say that Flanagan doesn't seem to have a clear idea what he wants to communicate: the overarching plot is antitheistic, in a very r/atheism sort of way ("WHAT IF THE SACRAMENT WAS VAMPIRE BLOOD" ooh wow didja cut yourself on that edge there, buddy) but Flanagan has no idea how to balance that with the precepts of any religion that isn't Christianity while also maintaining his broadly liberal bona fides, so it all sits very uneasily next to the church plot. I'm not advocating for the show to go full Christopher Hitchens, but I am saying that if Flanagan wants to posit that faith is a mass delusion and a net detriment to any community formed around it . . . he needs to either focus only on Christian characters or be willing to engage with how other religions function in society, because as is, the storyline with the sheriff and his son just peters out into nothing.)

but the thing that made me angriest - that took me from "this is so boring and pretentious and badly written" to "oh FUCK this guy and the horse he rode in on -" was the titular midnight mass. It is very overtly inspired by the Jonestown massacre, which a lot of horror media does, but what it fails to account for is that the members of the People's Temple did not voluntarily kill themselves. I know "drink the kool-aid" has entered the popular lexicon as shorthand for "blindly following a leader," but extensive testimony from Jonestown survivors - not to mention the death tape, which is available online if you really want to ruin your day - all confirms that the people who died that day were forced to drink poison at gunpoint, after years of brutal abuse from Jones and his inner circle. And even after all of that, people fought back. And not outsiders - people who had been in the Temple for years and wholeheartedly believed in the mission that had lead them to Guyana in the first place. (Christine Miller was a fucking hero and she deserves to be remembered for it.) Jonestown was not lemmings going off a cliff, and any serious take on the story would involve reckoning with that - that these people believed in a higher power and also believed that they had a right to live despite what Jones told them. But that would contradict Flanagan's point of "religion is dumb, WAKE UP SHEEPLE," so instead he borrows the iconography of a truly horrific tragedy and disrespects the victims by implicitly representing them as dumb, brainwashed cult members who eagerly toss back poison because they think sky daddy wants them to. He has so little respect for the subjects he's portraying, and the real people whose deaths he is copying for shock value, that he doesn't care about the inner lives of anyone whose beliefs might demonstrate that faith is more nuanced than his screed would have you believe.

There are good horror properties out there that are critical of religion and society - The Medium, which we posted about a few days ago, is one. The Witch is another. So is The Sudbury Devil. Hell, you could go back to the sixties with Witchfinder General. Religion - especially socially dominant religions like Christianity in the west - can and should be critiqued. But Midnight Mass is too sloppily written to be a critique of anything besides, accidentally, how far Mike Flanagan's head is shoved up his ass.

Anyway, that's why mod L doesn't like Midnight Mass. I did warn you.

[myunghology]

walk me home — hellovenus

project sekai boys and how they love.

— akito, toya, tsukasa, rui x gn! reader (seperate) got this idea from a post user @/akiitos tagged me in 🫶🫶🫶 ALSO FASTEST WORK I'VE EVER MADE WITH 4 CHARACTERS? I DID IT IN ONLY AN HOUR

✦ akito shinonome

he's a bit passive aggressive. but you know he loves you dearly.

he loves by telling you aggressively not to overwork, just because he seems distant doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. and then when you don't, he lightly scolds you, calling you stupid for not listening to him, but even after all that, he still takes care of you.

he loves by looking out for you. telling people to shut up because your sleeping— telling people to fuck off because you're getting uncomfortable and because he knows you're too nice to say anything.

he loves by treating you sometimes with his own hard earned money. akito wants to take you out with his own money. not anyone else's. refuses to buy anything for you unless it's with his money.

he loves by being attentive. you send a chat that you're tired, and he reads it immediately. you might think he ignored you but 7 minutes later he's outside your house with some snacks so he can help you with whatever your dealing with. he walks in before closing the door with the spare key you gave him, going inside your room saying, “i heard someone was stressed.”

he loves by being an asshole. you were so sick of him that you say, “why are you always such an ass to me? what the fuck did i do?” and he replies with “I'm 'such an ass' because I'm in love with you, you fucking dumbass.” that was basically how he confessed.

✦ toya aoyagi

toya is an interesting person, it's hard to tell what he's thinking, but besides that, you still love him.

he loves by being considerate without you asking. one time, he heard you were having difficulties with an exam. so he came over and studied— even if he was tired, he's still considering you. motivating you even though your also tired.

he loves by giving you gifts as appreciation. we all know toya has a habit of literally winning a lot of stuff in arcades, so most of his winnings go mostly to you. you know, your plushies have their own bed now because of him.

he loves by reassuring you with anything and everything. telling you even when you're stuggling, bad times and good times, that he's still in love with you, even in arguments. tells you he'll still love you as you are whenever your too shy. tells you it's okay to make mistakes.

he loves by doing what he dislikes the most just for you. even if you never asked for it. you could say you love piano covers and suddenly he sends you a recording of him playing your favorite song on the piano even though it brings him unpleasant memories, he knows you'd never do something he doesn't like, but he can't help but do it for the person he loves.

✦ tsukasa tenma

tsukasa is a very, very energetic person. which makes him hard to get along with especially if you're an introvert.

he loves by making you smile almost always. how he goes the most goofiest shit just to see you smile. the lengths he goes just to see you happy. wxs calls him a simp, but who is he to deny that? even before you both start dating, his focus is always on you. and saki

he loves by showing you off / flexing you. you just laugh it off, but he really likes doing it. he always goes "oh my god their so amazing how could I get so lucky" etc. people give him weird stares, but he says everything he says is true.

he loves by helping with your social skills. if you're anxious, of course. he isn't afraid to introduce you to his other friends, encouraging you to talk, even if you don't want to, it's okay. he'll talk for you, no problem.

he loves by always spending time with you. he's always with you to the point that when you two are seperated, something went wrong. but really, he's just really busy. even if he is busy, he always makes time for you, checkin up on you everyday, and gets worried when you don't reply.

✦ rui kamishiro

rui is also an interesting person. you question him sometimes, but you still love him.

he loves by flirting with you. will stop if you're uncomfortable of course, but if you aren't, pickup lines are daily. and it isn't those weird cheesy ones. it's the ones that come out of no where. when you say something— he always has a pick up line to say. it's a 6th sense at this point.

he loves by listening to you. when you tell him to eat and stop being picky, he's pouting while eating vegetables. listening to you also means while you're sad. he's all ears. giving advice there and then unless you only want him to listen. and he's greatful that you're willing to share with him.

he loves by always willing to help you with anything. especially with robotics if you take it. he's really smart, you know. but he just.. doesn't use his smartness well if you know what I mean. if you two listen enough in class, then you two are definitely passing.

he loves by always noticing you when you're left out. he sees your trying to talk but other people keep interrupting. suddenly his voice gradually gets loulder when he says "ah wait [name], what were you trying to say?" always considering you even in moments like these, and you always appreciate it.

©myunghology — all works written are made by ©myunghology. DON'T steal / copy my works. if you do see someone stealing my works, please report them :).

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 428: This chapter made me annoyed and yet it was still somewhat better than I expected?

Himichako. I like it, it's a good ship- not one I'm crazy about, but the vision is compelling. I mean, the loved girl on hard times who admires honesty but represses her feelings + hunger motifs, and the formerly wealthy and rejected girl who's honest to herself but masks her sadness from others + drinking motifs? Being so similar at their core from selfishness, bleeding love, admiration and imitation? Yeah, why not, sign me up, it looks fun.

(plus Ochako needed a subplot that would shy away from Izuku because oh boi her writing is messy-)

Then the ending annoucement happened and I immediately went "oh no" when I remembered that tidbit. But. Yesterday, I remembered this page from 424, which in hindsight makes sense:

Shoto moving forward and choosing to not dwell on his past anymore, because he wants to know the man he wants to become alongside his family of choice.

Spinner feeling so much grief for Tomura inside his room, his extra Quirks add up to it. Further gut points as it was all because of AFO, but the wrong person is getting the blame.

Ochako looking lost and dissatisfied, not really saying anything about Himiko's status; then her hidden injury which left a scar that'll never go away, nothing can change that.

And then, well, a sky with a chance to fight for a "bright future". Which is the most ambiguous you can get for anything, really, sequel or not.

(sidenote: is it me or the panel where she's touching her stab wound looks like a tangent line?)

Okay so, I went into the chapter, with Pikahlua's translations. It was A Chapter alright-

If it wasn't the antepenultimate chapter, the "filler" would've been welcomed. But I guess it means we should focus on the smaller details, I guess? Like that 1st year saying Izuku filled him with courage and Izuku immediately thinking of Spinner's pain? Yeah he hates himself and that people call him a hero, when he considers himself a murderer, and will never forgive himself for failing Tenko, therapy for him and everyone in Class 2-A please- yeah it was a fun detail. Also the throb of hiding your pain of "defeating" someone you wanted to save but in the end everything is miserable but everyone else is happy and you don't wanna be a bother. Fun.

Also I wasn't the one to point the out, but looking at the uniform (U.A. uniform blazer for boys + the tie with a dot for girls), the student who's a Izuku fan is probably trans/gnc, which I appreciate a lot :D (Damn Izuku attracts so many queer people I wonder if that's a sign- /hj)

Also, I guess Class A stating "[Bakugou], Midoriya and Todoroki were at the heart of it all" then focusing on Ochako is good foreshadowing on how her own battle wasn't fully recorded? It's like saying in the end her fight didn't matter, but the other ones went "well", so she's trying (and slowly failing) to keep her sadness at bay because, well, everyone's happy, so who cares? Another "throb".

I thought since the Todoroki family issues are out in the open, didn't they record the whole thing? Then I re-read it, they only saw the family stopping Touya from exploding. So they didn't see Shoto trying to talk to Touya, which means none of the LoV were humanized. Fuck's sake.

After that, I get focusing on the first years and civilians wanting to help and all, but it feels like a repeat of everything seconds before Jakku, so I assume it's a way for them to pretend things are normal? But not-quite-quoting Katsuki (<- which I will point out for my sake is very much alive and well and- oh boi LFtR will kill me) and Edgeshot here because it made me smile:

"Will you...go back to the way you were?" "I plan to attain something greater than what I was originally!"

So, yeah I suppose he'll be fine eventually. (Best J. really loving Edgeshot even as a worm, honestly, goals)

Again with Izuku remembering saying "[He'll] bring it all back" and apologizing for "not keeping his promise" and others telling him to not blame himself and they can reconstruct as many times as it takes. Again, gave me a little smile, but not for long-

Finally, Ochako pretending things are fine. Hello there, Sports Festival/Provisional License!Ochako I missed you- /hj (I miss the dorms era in general, actually.)

So... *sigh* Full disclosure: I wasn't looking forward to Himichako as we were getting 5/10 pages for the "conclusions" in the previous two, I thought Ochako would be off about Himiko being depressed about the League. But since she's MIA, red flags are now red herrings, and it's better than the dead outcome. If Ochako got another person dying in her arms that'd just break her character.

A blood transfusion takes hours, she couldn't been doing that for more than 20min, if it was gonna kill anyone it'd be Ochako. Either Himiko ran away or got arrested, and Ochako feels guilty because she doesn't know if she's dead or not. Not great, but until I see a corpse she ain't dead. Besides: Touya, Shoto, Edgeshot, Katsuki, Toshinori, Ochako herself, all physically hurt unlike her, and yet they live.

And then we have Izuku showing up. I'm upset he used OFA embers for this, but eh, it's Izuku, do I expect anything else?

Rolling with the assumption Himiko died (like our POV characters), Izuku would need to face his own failure in Ochako- Failed to save two people like she failed Himiko, but it'd be so. Empty. Ochako was true to herself, while Izuku gave nothing but "I want to save that crying kid" while fighting Tenko. The most they can do is bond with "failing" and "this isn't what we fought for". This is not really a moment where he can be a shoulder to cry on, it'd come across as hypocritical /neg.

The only way it could make sense it without being shallow on Mr. Control = Repress Your Heart's part (as he didn't open up to the two people who died in "his watch") is Ochako telling how Himiko loved yet seeing him repressing this part of his is idiotic? She likes people who are true to themselves, which Izuku hasn't been for ages, leading to him realizing something. I thought it'd be through a DvsK3 but. I'll take it, two chapters left, I just want his thoughts (and for them to talk but that can happen in the last one).

They only recorded Shoto stopping Touya from being a suicidal bomb, Ochako floating a bunch of Twice!Himiko clones and Izuku entering a coccon, popping out armless, getting them back, punching Tenko to death. The "I want to save [them]" wasn't registered, it makes sense they're (well, Izuku and Ochako mostly) weirded out about this, dissatisfied like most readers are (sidenote: why when it comes to the trio either Ochako or Shoto get sidelined? So much could tie their stories together and yet-)

It's still a tough pill. I'm not a villain stan, just wondering if those fights were for nothing- the humanity of Tenko and Himiko? Can't be proved for anyone else, since they weren't recorded.

And I don't know if anyone saw the same thing, but those "city lights" look like the bubbles from Ochako's awakening, maybe we'll get a Blackwhip or Entrance Exam callback? Maybe it's what the tagline meant by "hidden feelings", since she unlocked it to reach Himiko and doesn't think anyone would understand why. I hope it's just a nice visual though.

If Himiko is truly dead though... You know, I headcannoned the characters were telling the story through confessionals/recordings to register it to the world so they'd learn from that, but I guess the interviews Aizawa was talking about seemed more likely, which. Well it's something, but I thought it'd be everyone instead of just Class A. Idk. The idea the LoV didn't change anything, or that they did change things but don't get to see it, is bitter.

So uh. Yeah, those are my thoughts. I'm not sure how to feel about it, on one hand I want Izuku to finally open up but on the other, it feels like it'll be at Himiko and Ochako's expense by involving him in something that's theirs now. And there's a chance we'll get the "nothing is fine" from Ochako- god I'm fearing the discourse next week already :DDDD

... Man, and this is a bad timing to be in the fandom, considering the LFtR episode airs this Saturday (which will be yesterday by the time this post goes up and I'll be crying about that instead-), so uh. Yeah, this fandom will be emotionally devastated for two reasons XD

Okay, so I'll try ending this on a more optimistic note: I think Himiko is alive, and Ochako just doesn't know it, which is why we're getting 0 confirmation and a breakdown. Izuku's confrontation with her can make or break this plot, but as long as 1) we acknowledge the emotional, different stakes between the Himichako fight and Tenko vs. Izuku one and 2) it doesn't end in a confession (and let's be real, it won't), then we're probably good (sadly, if you disregard the LoV status). I still think it's an ass pull for the camera battery to go out though.

But no matter how this goes: C'mon, two chapters left now, this one was wasted on the first years, smh, let this sequel hopium be a reality I wanna know who's the 425 guy, not the poor first year who's gonna replace Shindo Yo in fanfics- /hj

[silviakundera]

Underrated aspect of A Journey to Love is how the ensemble's perspective is being widened & complicated by their experiences. Intro talks about a war that just ended between An and Wu. An are assholes, going around kicking everyone's ass for $$

First the spy squad from Wu country just want to complete 1 stupid doomed mission, in order to clear their sworn brothers' names who fell in the final battle. No real agenda or deep thoughts besides this personal obligation and Employee Following Orders. Avengers assemble! Our FL Ren Ruyi is on the run and was a Scarlet Guard spy member from enemy country An who are holding the Wu emperor hostage... but the Wu spy chief ML does only a spot of mild torture and basically tolerates this secret because (a) he's determined to retire and (b) she is retired (c) her identity doesn't match any know big enemy of his spy org and the state. But he doesn't want her around.

... record scratch: He compromises. Ok. I do want her around. I won't get attached but ok, she's helpful. I'll even trust her to mentor the princess as we travel to rescue the Wu emperor.

She is only a tutor, though! Won't get her involved in his country's buisness.

Yet then she joins a battle and risks her life to save a bunch of theirs. Ok, ML widens his POV again. She can be their partner!

Everyone loves the mysterious friendly & feral assassin.

Then the squad finds out her identity and tries to kill her. His defense of her inclusion in the group has expanded: (a) her identity doesn't match any known enemy of his spy org and the Wu state, (b) she saved our lives, and crucially (c) she Isn't Born in An Country [isn't truly An] + (d) she was working at the command of her superiors just like we do, a cog in the war machine, and also only killed shitty members of our spy org we don't like

Ok. Now she's on the team. ML & FL are dating now and all the kids ship it. There is 1 (one) Scarlet Guard enemy county spy they accept and support.

But at the same time, she's begun to care about them in return. And we're really IN IT now.

Let's mentor the princess and throw shade on the Wu emperor, considering how our actions matter & how powerful people affect the average person. Caring for the citizens of Wu. They deserve better than their ruling class.

Being generally supportive & respectful of Ren Ruyi's love for the fallen An empress and RR's quest to avenge her.

The Wu delegation willing to (tentatively) ally with RR's former disciple, a marquis of An.

An marquis revealed to have gone against orders to respectfully bury the bodies of their Wu soldier friends, because in his view all loyal soliders deserve it.

The Wu delegation digging up the bodies of their dead friends, to give them a final send off, and mastering their grief to wrench it back from turning into hatred of the An people - focusing their rage and hate on selish & war hungry leaders, not the soliders and generals ordered to fight.

The focus of their resentment now turned to the right direction, expands their thinking & their plotting to have a consideratiom for all the residents of An and Wu, a care for humankind. An citizens are no longer the automatic enemy. ML tells the emperor of Wu to go fuck himself, directly to his face.

Caring about injustice done to some Scarlet Guards and wanting to save active !! "innocent" Scarlet Guard lives. (So far from the starting point! No background check to validate that X, Y, Z don't apply to these people. No rejection of the ML by the delegation or threats for daring to care about a random Scarlet Guard's life or death.) I sure hope the An emperor pays big for being bad at his job, but we gotta be careful about how we deal with him and not mess up An for the nice jewelry makers & brothel workers who live there.

"Having compassion doesn't mean irresolute."

[not-goldy]

Jokers are just jk biased dimwits if they care about jm you could have seen them taking stance for jm, his achievements are being stolen and given to jk we ain't telling you to post stuff against jk we are telling you to stand for jm, you are using him for fantasies atleast give some support to him in return too

Thats fair but I don't think anyone can steal JIMIN'S ACHIEVEMENTS. They certainly can try.

HIS MERE EXISTENCE IS AN ACHIEVEMENT

He is the most hard working idol in allllllllllll Kpop.

Undisputed. Unchallenged.

When he says, THIS IS JIMIN- HE MEANS THIS IS YOUR KING BITCHES. PARK FREAKING JIMIN! ROOKIE BIBLE BEAUTY GODDESS DANCE KING.

He knows WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE TABLE.

NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM HIM.

His mere existence is a work of art and everything he does is just- perfect.

He's a trailblazer. Pace setter. And He sets records.

Sure that record can be broken and has been broken by him and other artists so what? HAVE YOU SEEN HIS COME BACK???

Watch out for his come back.

You think people would move heaven and hell just so they can say they beat his record if he hadn't set the record so high????

He is the standard. He will forever be the standard.

Personally I admire whoever tries to beat his records because I know it's no small feet.

This is his playground and you better slay or go home.

Look what he did with the little budget he has.

That's what makes him great. That's what makes him an excellent achiever. NO ONE CAN STEAL THAT FROM HIM.

The boys from BTS are the best in the game- every single one of them and they bring the pressure. They were great before the fame before the resources was thrown at them and they are great without those resources.

Park Jimin certainly holds his own.

I'm sorry but he's not losing.

I take offense at that.

I'm looking forward to his comeback. If this is what he can do with little investment and company backing he will bust the crust open if he gets the resources.

He has proven worthy of every single investment and I know he has investors lined up. He can only go big from here.

I don't want to bring Jungkook into this but with all the money thrown at him be better prove to investors he is worth it and my God has he proven that!!!!

Investors don't care about achievements. They care about turning a profit on their investments. The bigger the risk the bigger the reward.

I think hybe should TREAT THEM EQUALLY. give them an equal budget and equal company backing. If they are discriminating against certain members and playing favoratism they don't need me to tell them that's wrong. They know they deadass wrong for that.

And it would make so much sense for the members affected by their blatant favoritism to drop them. They made hybe hybe. They can take their large following and social currency to the millions of companies trying to poach them.

Jimin is worth the investment. It's a shame if anyone can't see that. It's a shame hybe doesn't treat him like he is worth the investment.

My job as a fun is to focus on supporting his music his career.

I fail to believe a company that's exploited his image his body his sexuality and pushed him to produce some of the masterpieces of all time, visually vocally and performance wise- I'm talking Promise, Filter, Serendipity, Blackswan- that this same company is underestimating him.

A company that knew to tell him to expose his body to screaming fans, who take pride in the fact he bruises and bleeds through the pain rehearsing for hours, starving himself singing till his throat hurts- that this is the same company telling him someone else is worth the investment not him.

We either don't know the whole story and can't see the full picture or Jimin is stuck in a Stockholm syndrome dynamic with that company.

I like to think Jimin is holding out for after MS to go full on global domination mode. And I like to think hybe is saving up for him for after MS when he does a proper comeback. If not hybe has a lot of explaining to do because it's glaringly obvious they've put more resources into other members than him.

That's a fact. We can cry about, rant about it, send trucks- it does make a difference because it's better to let hybe know we on to them and won't tolerate this discrimination if it's deliberate on their part. The truck sender stans are so on point for this. It's the most effective way of holding hybe accountable.

The rants and buzz is also great in creating awareness to the situation and having media sites pick up the story will put enough pressure on hybe.

But do we have to be toxic while doing so? Mentally abusing a member is not standing up for anyone. It goes against everything Park Jimin stands for. Especially since he himself gets traumatized by other stans and over the stupidest things.

Be a good human. How about that accountability? Who's gonna hold us accountable for being a shitty human beings? We should care about our stans but we shouldn't lose our humanity in the process.

I just like to wait it out to see what the end game is.

I'm here. Gathering reciepts for the day of reckoning.

[myobsessionsspace]

Delulu anon here:

I completely understand where you're coming from in regards to letter on face. I guess, for me personally, face ended with Set Me Free pt. 2 and signified his journey ending in this both triumphant but also angry way. Very poignant. It felt less like a "Oh, look, I'm magically better now" and more a "fighting is the only thing I can do now, I tried nice and look what it got me". To me, it signified the fact that healing isn't linear nor pretty, nor does it always end in a neat bow. It's his chrysalis moment, and also one of the best songs in the BTS catalogue.

The English version of Like Crazy and Letter are more an encore or addendum, in my personal view.

I'd contrast Face and its structure with D-DAY (whilst also flipping out over the fact that every album BTS has delivered in Chapter 2 has been an absolute experience), which ends on the very much softer note of Snooze and Life Goes On. Especially LGO (Yoongi's Version) feels exactly like how you interpret Letter.

In all honesty, both of us are probably right, and I'm usually someone who doesn't subscribe to any of the theories claiming a BTS song is about another member. It feels a bit cheap, because BTS are individuals with a lot of complex emotions that exist outside their relationship with others. I've seen people claim all sorts of things, and Letter is that one exception where I don't disagree.

Initial Ask

Hi lovely,

Ugh, yes, yes, yes! I agree with what you’re saying, so beautifully put! I too feel like set me free was the ‘end’ leading into MUSE’s ‘Rebirth’. And ‘Letter’ like an addendum, yes!

I think that’s why Letter isn’t on streaming platforms and a hidden track. That in itself is so telling. It’s not really part of the flow of the songs. To me (very simplified):

FACE

Face-off : Jimin kinda internalising his ‘issues’

to

Dive: being submerged in the overwhelming emotions?

to

Like Crazy: using unhealthy coping mechanisms and the push pull battle of not caring and caring too much?

to

Alone: the consequences of his ‘like crazy’ actions or realisations setting in

to

Set Me Free: overcoming, f*ck it attitude, leaving the sh*t behind, shedding the ‘filth’

MUSE

Rebirth: self explanatory?

to

Showtime: he’s ready to take on the world with his new outlook on life, himself and people

to

SGMB: in love with love, love of people, his members, his fans, happy and want to be people’s happiness. In love and what’s people to enjoy love too.

That is a very rough & shallow summary (many have done interesting and thought provoking theories & analyses of FACE) but to me ‘Letter’ is more like ‘I can’t not do this for someone who’s been there holding my hand through this journey. I want to thank them, acknowledge them and continue to promise to them. They were a hidden part of this journey, an undercurrent’ his letter to him, his song to him, shared with us but not in the same way as FACE & MUSE. Not on streaming platforms for any and all. Memorialised in hard copy only. The lyrics needing extra scrutiny to read them, embossed not with ink. Embedded deep but still not straightforward to see.

I totally get you when it comes to always having their work attributed to the ‘ship.’ I don’t buy into a lot of it either.

BUT Letter speaks for itself. It’s not like ‘I wonder’ where Hobi collaborated with JK for them to make a lovely song. It’s not like how JK is their go to guy for guide recordings to be used by a different vocalist later on. In my opinion.

I like the way you think anon! I like that you are able to look at other members work and the topic as a whole, many focus on the two and the two only but I appreciate people who look at things wholisticly 😍 Yes I get you with the ending on a more mellow note like Yoongi’s DDAY with snooze and his cute version of LGO. Definitely

I really really really don’t like when anything and everything is brought back to their relationship and their relationship only. It’s demeaning. It’s like if anything a woman does was always brought back to her husband or her boyfriend you know? They have worked so so hard for very long to be whole, rounded, talented INDIVIDUALS. The experiences and stories they have to tell are not just one thing, their relationship. They don’t pick every song for their careers, every outfit, every prop, every scene just to highlight the man in their life. Honestly that would be scarily unhealthy and I’d suggest therapy.

I think a lot of the connections people make are what I like to call ‘cute delulu’ and what are these sites for if not to have a little fun with our chosen spaces/communities/fandoms. The majority of the time it’s just for fun and I enjoy it with us (even though I’m bad at instigating it😅).

It’s if people completely refuse to appreciate the actual art and intent and only want to use it for ‘ships’ that it’s saddening.

Thank you so much for the folllow up. It was lovely and I enjoyed it

💜