#i hope ppl find this funny and not offensive oh god

[ghostblogging]

ok hope this isn't butting in OP, just wanted to add some thoughts on this rather minor point & a little of my thoughts on the game! specifically because I think exploring this question is a really neat way to explore Jupiter's character! adding a cut for the sake of dash & also spoilers. there is a tl;dr lol

all of this prefaced with like. protestantism is an extremely diverse grouping of various theologies that originated in opposition to catholic dogma. protestant is a word that says more abt what it isn't than what it is.

so yeah, as a former catholic I find it quite funny--WKTD was the first time I saw something and immediately went, "oh. this feels specifically Very Protestant" and it also somehow hit far closer to home than anything else I had seen before.

I have actually run into this question a couple times before, and ppl seem conflicted on it. interestingly enough, we can have a pretty good guess at where this ambiguity comes from. Aevee Bee, the lead writer, has an extensive array on writings on Medium, one of which talks about her worldbuilding in relation to religion and mentions her growing up Episcopalian despite her parents being a lapsed catholic and former religious experimenter. she also talks abt not taking theology literally, which I am immediately about to disregard, because I think turning to the author is a boring and easy answer sometimes.

I'm note alone in thinking WKTD seems protestant, nor is the asker: it is the most popular guess on the denomination of WKTD--though again, not universal.

some of this Very Protestant is Cultural, I think, which means it is a bit harder to pin down and also where I may be full of shit, but--protestants have more of a focus on Appealing to Teens, catholics loathe co-ed anything and try to gender segregate as much as possible, there's a focus on grand religious spectacle in deliberately focusing the kids to confront the devil that has protestant airs, and also there is a... consistent aura of lameness to it all (no offense to protestants. catholic shit is less lame but pays for it by being lethally boring).

some of it though, is more theological, which is where it gets interesting.

a lot of the direct evidence ppl use for WKTD being protestant comes from Jupiter's monologue in her ending, yeah--to start with, the fact that she mentions what sound like pretty major changes to doctrine within her lifetime is Very protestant. though the catholic church is capable of change, this often happens excruciatingly slowly and to much controversy--in comparison, protestant groups are significantly more prone to splinter, change, and syncretize suddenly.

then specifically is the change she speaks of--from salvation being based on acts ("as long as you do good things, maybe you can one day be good") to being based on something internal ("it’s only what’s in your heart that matters"). all things considered these are some pretty vague statements, which I personally love and think is amazing writing--she really feels like a kid struggling to interpret the consequences of complex theology/doctrine in in her own life, in terms she can understand, in the all-consuming question of "am I, personally, going to hell?". that said, vague as they are, they do seem to reek of predestination, a calvinist idea, and a broader protestant idea of righteousness.

put very roughly: predestination means God has already selected a few guaranteed heaven, and the remainder to be damned. righteousness means that it is belief/faith rather than actions that saves us from our sinful. in other words, Good is not something that you do: you either are Good already. Or, you believe in Good things in your heart, which makes you Good.

so you have Jupiter. she's a good kid; she wants to be a good kid. she is very willing to listen--as good kids are--when someone tells her something is right or wrong, even if it disagrees with her internal compass. she is also queer.

more than that, really, since she wants not only to kiss girls but also to hit, slap, choke--and receive the same. she is well aware of her desire, and on some level well aware that it will never go away. she has been quite thoroughly informed that this desire is evil, perverted, hurtful--sinful.

however! she is also told that she can make up for this evil in her by her actions, and being the good-natured kid she is (and also very much afraid of going to hell for all eternity) she goes ahead and resigns herself to spend the rest of her life in self-sacrifice to make up for it. she struggles a lot. she's almost certainly fighting a losing battle, really, between constantly pushing back her own nature and desire welling up and exerting herself to be uniquely good on top of that. at some point, she clearly has started to rely on self-harm through the hairbands as a form of conditioning, and even that seems to be failing, but she still tries.

and then one day she is informed that, actually, we changed it. it is already determined who goes to hell and who goes to heaven, and it all has to do with what's in your heart already.

maybe it's predestined, and god has already determined who is wicked and righteous, and Jupiter, she knows she's not righteous. she knows her queerness, and she knows it is wicked, and she knows it is how she was made, and so perhaps she has that creeping feeling that she was made specifically to be damned, to be a Devil. so what was all that for?! she continues to try, clearly, hoping that she might still be saved, but this belief that she is doomed to fuck up has already started to sink in by the time the game starts, as evidenced by the greenhouse scene and also the whole thing when she fucks up the radio channel in the True Ending. when the Devil comes for her, she doesn't try to hide it like Neptune nor stays briefly ignorant like Venus: she knows she wasn't born good.

or maybe it's all about belief! and the thing is, Jupiter knows her heart well enough. no matter how hard she tries to, she doesn't really believe in any of the things she's been taught, not fully. or rather, she does believe in these things, but she doesn't really believe that they're right. we see her straight up admit as much in the True Ending--even as she struggles to break out of the mindset that she has forced herself to try and have. God knows her heart really isn't in it though. if her only shot is to truly believe it, then it was never a question. she's the Devil.

frankly, I can see a bit of both? & it's entirely possible both were influential ideas in the designing of her character. these are also my own guesses, tinted by my own experience, and I would love to get some input from protestants on this if any are willing lol.

it's really easy to see how these issues with different theological roots could come to closely resemble one another, though. I meant to write a bit more going into things from the catholic perspective and looking at how jupiter could have those same issues through a catholic lens but this is long enough + I am tired & it was getting too personal...

okay, yeah, I think I lost track of where I was going there several times lol.

tl;dr is, despite the fact that we ex-christian queers face very different issues depending on our denominations, we often end up Fucked in the Head in very similar ways abt it, and can find things to relate in and talk abt even in stuff from different denominations. so you are not discredited! but also, trying to understand specifically what theology the characters are coming from is a neat way to try to get in their heads and a fun lens for analysis.

also I really liked your article! I do not know a lot abt orthodoxy and even less abt Gnosticism and its modern so like, it was super informative and a really cool new perspective on the game to think about! now that it's been mentioned, I also can't help but wonder if the authors deliberately incorporated Gnostic ideas in the game. especially with the whole Devil on the Radio scene, that is eerily dead-on.

I don't mean to be That Guy, but I just started reading some of your pinned essays (they're really good, by the way) and I noticed you referred to the camp in WKTD as Catholic, when I'm reasonably sure it's meant to be Protestant (what with the focus on "faith" over "good works" (as seen in Jupiter's speech in the Red ending, re: "it's only in your heart what matters") (also in this Protestant context "I wasn't born good" is very representative of Calvinist predestination ideas, which is often one of the most yikes parts about Protestantism), among other things)? I hope this doesn't come across as rude, I really do like your writing and analysis, I'm just hoping to inform and/or learn that actually you and a bunch of other people were all aware of some Catholic thing in the game that I missed and actually I was the wrong one.

hey, thank you for reaching out!! you found me out LOL i talk a big game but i actually have an extremely approximate understanding of either the Catholic or the Protestant churches - my only firsthand (and fairly limited) experience is with the Russian Orthodox church, and i think i just kinda absorbed this vague idea of Catholic Guilt™ from hearing other people throw the expression around, but I never got around to fully defining it to myself or figuring out the minute detail of the Catholic vs Protestant experience, and sometimes i do also make the mistake of kind of unconsciously lumping them together in my mind because to me both are equally culturally foreign

so yeah i'm very far from well-versed in the different branches of Christianity, which I hope does not discredit me too much as a Person With Many Words To Say about the Christian guilt complex and trauma and their exploration in media; i really really appreciate your insight, and i will add a note at the top of the essay clarifying this all in a bit :) would you be okay with me linking your ask for credit? and don't worry at all about seeming rude or anything like that, i'm honestly just really grateful you're engaging with my writing enough to reach out and talk to me about it! (glad you're enjoying yourself, too!) if i make any broad assumptions in any other piece of writing you can freely chuck that up to either a lack of thorough and conscious first-hand examination or my brain being a bit hurried and overexcited, so feel free to add any thoughts or corrections you believe would make the conversation more productive overall; but i do also appreciate being given enough credit for you to wonder if i have an actual Good Reason to think one thing over another. i would absolutely always invite any further conversation, and i hope it's not in any way disappointing that i'm not quite qualified to explore this specific one in more detail :) tyvm for sharing your knowledge, & have a good day!

[roxannepolice]

But yah rey as a character is just so frustrating you know? Cause like, yeah sure she could be complex with a powerful arc where shes forced to come to terms with the fact she wasted years of her life on self-imposed delusions in a cathartic way, or she could be a flat piece of marketing cardboard which Disney is banking on vagina+superpowers=profit without having to go through that persnicty character flaw overcoming or the like. Because like you said, hearing shes a nobody (which ngl, her assuming she was a somebody wasn’t really ever supported in tfa, just that her family was coming back and she desperately wanted them to) is apparently the worst thing but it changes absolutely nothing, not her approach, not her demeanor , if vaguely sad is the absolute worse a character is gonna experience in a goddamn space opera then yeah, full offense ill take the l on Mary sue discourse but her character will definitely be a boring ass wash. We all make fun of whiny new hope Luke but him being a kinda nuisance to both the audience and those around him is what made is transformation into full blown Jedi knight so powerful. With Rey so far what weve got is badass perfect cinnamon roll finally get her due as such, which is clearly working for some people, but I fail to see how that isn’t spectacularly tone deaf to make a protag in this genre such. Operas about drama, not patting you on the back. Rey (assuming she remains as is) would’ve been fine as a protag s the only piece of Star Wars media we ever got was a new hope. But rn she a chosen one architype (and I know that bunch of ppl are gonna go but the series ‘but shes not the chosen one, Anakin still is, the new series isn’t trying to make her one!’ but lets not beat around the burning bush, if u got a character that walks on water and the reason why is because god said so, ur dealing with a chosen one trope and if a character is star wars is made ultrapowerful in lore breaking ways because force said so? Yeah were dealing with a chosen one.) when we had both the deconstruction and the reconstruction done. Shes a straight hero when the success of the ot rest on hitting the formula near perfect the first time. What exactly is Rey, the individual character, bringing to the table? What makes her story supposedly so important the a perfectly good ending had to be made invalid to tell it? A bunch of ppl will say heroines’ journey! But if that’s the case I gotta say, wheres all the feminine shit? Im serious, if the heroines journey is reintegrating the feminine and realizing ‘oh shit mom had a point’ there where is both the feminine skills/coping mechanism and the mom? I mean I saw some ppl arguing for leia in a ‘reys Persephone!’ meta (she isn’t, you can make a much better case for ben himself as Persephone to be quite frank, yall are focusing so much on the trees ((girl gets abducted by guy)) that u forgot the forest existed, the actually story ((girl winds up queen on the underworld, well gee whiz which character just took control of that after leaving the world of living and a grieving divine mother behind, it’s a mystery apparently) behind, it’s a mystery apparently) ((but seriously though even if we hope for dark rey does anyone assume its gonna be taking control of a dark/dead coded org at least partially at this point, do you, do you really??). but given the fact she had what, one line of screen dialogue that’s breaking ur arm with that stretch. As far as skills go I guess you could make an argument for scavenging, but if that’s the case dlf did a shit job of conveying that as female-coded. Everything about rey in tfa seems deliberately androgynous, and yeah, she had her hair let down/mascara moment, but that’s tied to her ‘failure’ on the supremacy thus something nw.SPEAKIGN OF FAILURES ON THE SUPERAMCY AND LACK THERE OF. I find it kind funny that bunch of reylo bnfs (you know who they are) are all ‘hur dur fanboys/antis are dumb and don’t get story structure.’ And then going, ‘why are yall asking how/assuming rey fucked up in throne room/climax of her story in the second portion/darkest point of her character arc? Why do you hate women/ur own ovaries so much?’ because it like walking into a prefurnished house and being told by the relator ‘HERES THE LIVING ROOM’ and having no damn couch. It’s a living room, I expect a couch here. And in a movie where it’s the low point of a character arc and they drag puppet yoda out to tell me the movie is about failure, I expect a damn failure in whats clearly the climax of the characters arc for this movie. As it stands now there are three possibilities imo. 1st, rey had no failure, she is the pure badass maid o light ppl want and every inch the boring cardboard she is accused of by fanbros, remains static, and is relegated to an also ran to benlo taking the most compelling character trophy this trilogy in 10 yrs2nd possibility and the one im hoping for, failure speech wasn’t just thematic explanation but also foreshadowing, rey fucks up big and dramatic in a way that makes her manage to stand out as unique with both her contemporaries and her predecessors(last part, if its ever to much lemme know pls im sorry i just gotta get it out) 3rd and most likely possibility, rey isn’t the main character, benlo is and that’s why his failure both moral in the throne room and logistic on criat take center stage for the last third or so of the movie. Rey is merely a pov character to tell the dramatic villain protag story they wanted and have their very marketable unproblematic Disney heroine cake too.

Ok, so this discourse kinda died down by now, but thanks to that it’s possible to maybe have a calmer look at it I’m totally not trying to justify my late response.

Anyway, the good result is that quite recently my brother, who’s not overly taken with Rey - or the sequels in general, for that matter - said something which really stuck with me as a possible crux of the problem: 

She’s neither comical nor tragical. Just bland. 

This neither comical nor tragical really struck me. And the more I though about it, the more it was appearing to me that this qualm really applies to the sequels as a whole. The thing is that DLF are essentially telling a straightforward story that they’re trying to make captivatingly convoluted. And not just make, but keep this appearance over four years. And this is... a narrative teeth crasher. Like, when you’re honest about the endgame (in the context of the most structural meanings of comedy and tragedy), you can maintain a decorum, though you can also play with it, of course, whereas when you don’t want to be honest about the endgame, you end up mixing the styles somewhat messily. You can’t break or discuss with the rules without acknowledging them, so to speak. Because the originals were honest about the happy/hopeful endgame (the first episode is title A New Hope ffs), they could allow themselves deeply tragic moments like Larses’ deaths, Han getting frozen, destruction of Alderaan, etc. Because the prequels were open about being a tragedy, they could allow themselves lighthearted comic relief for the sake of lighthearted comic relief. 

The sequels... badly want us to consider the possibility of FO winning and Ben dying unredeemed while simultaneously insisting we root for those things not happening, while appearing conscious we’re definitely not buying the former and the latter only somewhat. And it’s tiresome. Dishonest. And indeed, bland. If the story is a tragedy it will be a bloodcurdlingly real one, if it’s a comedy it will be a borderline grotesque one. 

But yeah, returning to Rey, I guess as the main character she’s a lens which focuses the above problems. A very bitter tragedy of what her parents did t her prevents her from being comfortably comical whereas whoohooos I like thats and prancing like a husky on red bull over idols and visions because it’s for children so it must be hopeful prevents her from being intriguingly tragical. So I guess the intentioned effect was tragicomism but, from pov of an engaged casual fan that is my bro, it’s neither. 

As far as Rey’s heroine’s journey lacking some of the usual elements, I blame it on Disney being... a bit too ambitious, maybe. I think they tried to make a heroine’s journey that isn’t ostentaciously seeped in traditional feminine/masculine traits, maintains the structure without what could be called accidentals. On the one hand, I would point out that hero’s journey has pretty much desexualised itself over time, we are rather accustomed to “shero’s” journeys, but on the other... maybe Disney set out on a too novel a territory and may crack their teeth on it, alongside trying to out-Vader Vader at redemption. To elucidate, “toxic femininity” in which a heroine is supposed to find herself in the beginning of her journey, in Rey’s case is uprooted from any of our usual concepts of feminine-masculine social roles (it’s space, duh). My interpretation is that Rey’s version of toxic femininity kind of exists in contrast with Kylo Ben’s version of toxic masculinity - and since the apparent focus of the story is the attitude towards the past/parent figures, toxic femininity would mean her clutching onto the past. Which is why I predict that some act of IX will find Rey inebriated with apparent success in masculine world, meaning she’ll be the one rejecting the old gods this time - and I would point out that panel in Poe comic where she shows herself more sceptical towards idolisation of past don’t mind me, I’m just expressingmy trash dreams for a proper sith lady Rey.

Then again, Rian Johnson said she already found perfect balance between Luke’s clinginess and Kylo’s rejection of the past, so... idk, maybe I’m giving DLF too much credit again.

As for the Persephone thing, I guess the rub is that this reylo reading focuses less on the traditional reading of the myth (where Demeter is the actual main character and Kore is a Princess Peach MacGuffin) and more of an interpretation of it as one of the eldest (at least in Europe) versions of story depicting a transition of a girl into a woman, making Persephone more of a protagonist. 

Like, y’know, this Persephone (D. G. Rosetti, source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proserpine_(Rossetti_painting))

I’m no expert, but myths can lose their original meanings because of power relations (anyone still remember about Dionysus, the god associated with excessive drinking, going through a very Christ-like death and resurrection?) and I think it’s possible that this is the case with the story of Persephone becoming a pre-scientific explanation of seasons changing over the year. So teah, that’s how I always understood the Persephone theme regarding Rey.

But yes, I must agree that I’m confused about Disney’s handling of the mother figure, which... Look, SW became a legend of a modern myth because of how epically Lucas handled the hero dealing with his very explicit father. So yes, I don’t understand what exactly is their game with Rey Nobody from Nowhere in this regard. It’s one thing that they had a cool idea with giving her no lineage, another that parent figures are an essential element of archetypal journeys and from symbolic viewpoint the case of a female character the biological relationship is even more crucial than in male’s. And I swear to all the ewoks and porgs in the galaxy, I do hope Disney’s idea of Rey healing the mother/daughter divide isn’t through her healing the divide between Leia and Ben. Again, this isn’t the idealistic sphere. Just... no. 

Anyway, I still maintain hope (this whole meta blog is built on hope) that Rey will indeed turn out to have a proper personal mistake which will make her stand out in the saga. I do have to admit, though, that I find your last theory very likely. I mean, even when I read all the reylo metas going oh, Rey is going to have such an exciting arc in IX, she has so much to deal with though of course it’s not going to compromise her morally, it will be sooo exciting, I just... f*ck’s sake, what you’re describing isn’t a dramatic character only a dramatised role model. It’s great if that’s your thing, but don’t claim it is space opera-worthy, in operas people drown themselves because of cursed sailors, kill over a break up, decapitate over a bad dream and get dragged to hell over a dinner, not persuade their fallen lovers to change their ways, let alone patienly wait for them the understand the error of their ways (and if they do it’s doomed to end in someone dying).

[sagemoderocklee]

gaalee👀

apparently no one else needs to send me the otp asks for gaalee cause i gotta answer all of them now smh i love you

Who is the most affectionate? Lee is the most physically affectionate from the perspective of like other people seeing their relationship, but i think it’s cause all of gaara’s physical affection is very subtle but like he’s always reaching for Lee and casually touching him or trying to get close. i’d say lee is still the more physically affectionate, but it’s certainly not like Gaara isn’t also affection 

Big spoon/Little spoon? Lee is the little spoon and Gaara is the big spoon. you’re a coward if you think otherwise (the only exception is if gaara is like genuinely upset about something and then Lee holds him, but like full offense Gaara is the big spoon 110% of the time) 

Most common argument? Lee not being allowed to open the 8th gate

Favorite non-sexual activity? lee obviously loves sparring and he loves when he actually gets to spar with gaara, but his absolute favourite thing is lazy mornings when he gets to wake up a little later than usual (like instead of 5:30am he wakes up at 6am) and he gets to like watch the sunrise with his head in Gaara’s lap while Gaara cards his fingers through lee’s hair. just time spent together, quiet and soft and intimate. gaara’s favourite is also this, but he likes the before part too--when lee’s still asleep and snuggled against him and fully at peace. he likes watching lee sleep

Who is most likely to carry the other? Lee 

What is their favorite feature of their partner’s? Lee’s favourite is gaara’s eyes and his forehead because it’s perfect for pressing kisses against. gaara’s favourite is lee’s hands (he’s also a sucker for lee’s lil turtle mouth). 

What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other? for gaara, i think he’s terrified. like genuinely terrified because this is not like anything he’s ever experienced before and he doesn’t have any sort of frame of reference for it. so when gaara realises how he feels he kind of... goes inward, becomes really quiet and introspective in a way different from his usual quietness. i think he’s like terrified of lee rejecting him not as a romantic partner but as a friend more than anything and so he starts moderating his actions and the things he says around Lee even more than usual. like he’s already very careful and always very self-analytical but then he has these feelings (which is why i generally feel like he figures it out first), and suddenly he becomes even more so that way with Lee. like “would this be crossing a boundary? would this make him uncomfortable? would a friend say this?” becomes like so much MORE of a concern than it ever was and like it becomes obvious to Lee because he feels like Gaara is acting really distant with him and like maybe he’s done something to upset Gaara. gaara like shies away from touching him and lee is like convinced Gaara hates him because gaara didn’t used to do that, but in actuality gaara is just like “is it okay for me to touch him? will he misunderstand my intentions etc” when lee figures out his feelings he panics--like full on melt down because gaara’s the kazekage and what if he causes some sort of political scandal and also gaara’s never gonna like him back and he falls into this huge depressive slump because he’s never felt this way about anyone before. and everyone’s like “what is WRONG” because he’s soooo subdued and sad all of a sudden. eventually gai-sensei gets it out of him and tells him to follow his heart, besides kakashi won’t punish lee for his love and if he tried to be like “don’t because politics” gai-sensei would make him sleep on the couch forever.  

Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate? none. i can see lee being the type to come up with pet names, but i just can’t see gaara being the type and i feel like he wouldn’t want to be called by pet names.  

Who worries the most? i think it’s really pretty equal. i think gaara is always worried lee will overdo it, that lee won’t listen to him and will open the 8th gate; whereas lee is always worried that someday, something will happen and gaara will die protecting suna and he’ll be powerless to stop it

Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant? they both remember because they are both lowkey obsessed with each other--like healthy obssessed. like god i love you so much how did i get so fucking lucky im gonna remember every little detail i can about you so i can always make you as happy as possible 

Who tops? lmao these questions are so fucking funny to me but fully gaara’s a power bottom and lee’s a service top (he’s technically a verse, but like... for gaara he’s a service top) 

Who initiates kisses? they both do. 

Who reaches for the other’s hand first? it’s really situational. i think on like an average day, Lee does, but on his bad days it’s Gaara.

Who kisses the hardest? Gaara

Who wakes up first? i mean can you even answer this question when one never sleeps????? 

Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer? both of them if it’s a night gaara was able to come home to sit in bed and snuggle with Lee. 

Who says I love you first? i think Lee does. i think gaara has a lot of hang ups about the word love so he’s way more hesitant to say so at first. 

Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?) Lee. he usually says things like “i hope you have a splendid day, my love. i cannot wait for you to return so i can kiss you and i will miss you most achingly while you are away” which is like hilarious cause if he’s not on a mission he can literally just... go to gaara’s office and see him.

Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first? oof that’s so dependent on the situation i really don’t have a set headcanon for this. i think it can go either way and a lot of the times i think it’s less telling and more ppl just... observing it. 

What do their family/friends think of their relationship? Temari like cries because she never thought Gaara would be in a place where he’d accept love like this from someone else; kankurou’s super supportive about it and teases lee a lot; Neji is like quietly concerned because of their past but trusts Lee to make this choice for himself; Tenten is fully supportive and kind of floored that someone like the Kazekage falls in love with Lee; Gai-sensei cries a lot. he doesn’t stop crying. he sees them together, so deeply in love, and he just bursts into tears and goes on about the springtime of youth and lee’s man of destiny 

Who is more likely to start dancing with the other? Lee

Who cooks more/who is better at cooking? Lee. Gaara cannot cook for shit and doesn’t have the time to. but sometimes when he does have time he like chops vegetables for Lee.

Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines? Lee

Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times? Gaara. Deadpan. Nonpulsed. Monotone. they’ll be like at the grocery store and gaara will be like “hmm i think i want to have sex when we get home’ and lee like... breaks whatever he’s holding 

Who needs more assurance? that’s a hard one because they both need a lot of it early on for very different reasons. i think lee is the one who seeks it out more openly, but i think they are both equally in need of assurance in the first year of their relationship. but once they’re settled into it they don’t really need that reassurance anymore 

What would be their theme song? asdlfkasldfjaklsdf god this is SO hard because i have so many songs for them. right now i am really really into No Choir by Florence+the Machine as a gaalee song

Who would sing to their child back to sleep? Gaara. Temari teaches him the song their mother used to sing to her and kankurou, a song from their mother’s home, and he would sing that if they ever had kids.

What do they do when they’re away from each other? i think they go about their days as usual. like they can exist separately from one another, they have a perfectly healthy relationship, so unless it’s like a really long time apart where lee might pine a little bit and gaara might start longing for lee’s kisses... they like aren’t out there being like “oh god my boyfriend is gone i can’t go on i need him back” 

one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart i like... try really hard not to have like headcanons that are sad... which doesn’t mean i don’t have fics that are just.... i generally try to avoid headcanons that would upset me. that being said, lee would be the first one to die because he’d open the 8th gate to protect gaara 

one headcanon about this OTP that mends it i think they have the sort of love that transcends lifetimes, so no matter what they will always find each other (i have like a reincarnation fic idea but it’s like super loose lol) 

[jinnielovebot]

stray kids first impressions!

tagged by: @hyyunjinn @lovelyyhyunjin (hyunjin stan squad comin in hot 😩)

tagging: @hyunjinh @christopher-bang​ @seungchanie @felixeslee @felixsfreckles @bangchant @chuuyo @hyunsungg @scene-stealers @straykids1 (im tryna tag new ppl rn pls lmk if u dont want me to LMAO also idk whos done it so far)

the mv drops in like 4 hours im wheezing 

the date you found stray kids: oct. 6

how: i saw articles of jyp’s upcoming boy group/survival show and me, a hoe for survival shows had to know what was going on,,,,,,,and then the hellevator mv showed up in my youtube notifications and i was curious abt it so i clicked it and all hell broke loose from there

first overall impression: pls,,,no hate in my inbox i beg im gonna b real honest n genuine when i say this LFMAO: i didnt like hellevator when i was first listening to it, i kinda liked the beginning part of seungmins voice but once it did like a 180 and went to changbins rap i was immediately turned off by it and i honestly thought “ugh so its another bad boy group why do so many groups try so hard to be edgy nowadays” and i wasnt exactly a fan of the vocals or hardcore rap but i kept listening to it hoping it would get better and it did and once i got to the chorus i started warming up to it AND THEN hyunjins rap is when i hit the fkcing FLOOR and then i ended up falling in love with the song soon after lMFAOSO :’’’’)))) 

tldr; i thought they were trying too hard to b edgy but then realized they r a bunch of cute dumplings that i wanna boop on the daily :///

individual impressions ––

chan: "his hair looks fried” - LISTEN OKAY in the mv his hair looked like a pile of hay NO OFFENSE AHDKAS LMFAO but when i heard that he was a trainee of 7 years i was like holy shit?? my respect for u?? is thru the roof??? to be really honest when i found out he was one of the aussie members and he was the leader of the group i felt kinda iffy because i didnt think he would be fit for that role but i was COMPLETELY wrong after i watched the first few clips of him and honestly i could just feel that he was leader material and w0w i have so much respect for him and also funny story when i first got into them i thought chan and chris were two different poeple i hate myself

woojin: "omfg his neck is thicc af” - LMFASODASDA god i hate myself for that being the first thing i thought of when i saw him AJSDKA OKAY BUT LIKE i forgot which video it was but i just saw him at an angle that made his neck look SUPER THICC and i was like this guy probably has gr9 vocals nd i was RIGHT LMAO i thought he was super cute when he was playing the guitar and singing n oml i love him

minho: “rapper?? singer?? which one is he” - i felt like i was super behind on getting to know him bc i didnt see him too too much in the hellevator mv?? BUT i srsly went heart eyes when i saw him in those cute af circle glasses when he was packing his bundles n not to mention id heard a lot of people rave about his bundles which i thought was SO FKING CUTE and idk when i looked at him he kinda had this like shy smile/look and i thought it was just so precious watching him ;;;

changbin: "why is he so angry in his rapping” - changbin stans pls dont come @ me,,,,,when i first listened to hellevator i started to not really like the song or him after hearing his part because i thought it sounded overly angry and aggressive but after listening to 3racha i honestly started to fall in love with his style more nd more and even know hes probably my fave in 3racha and my luv 4 him grew even more when i saw how cute he was when he smiled and tried to b dark

hyunjin: “IM SORRY BUT WHO ARE U I NEED TO KNOW” - this bih COPPED me of my sanity when i heard his voice in hellevator like it just snapped me awake and made me suddenly 10000% more interested bc i felt like his voice just sounded so idk how to put it but it was like super determined and strong willed sounding kinda like an “watch me prove you wrong” kind of tone WHICH ISNT A BAD THING IDEFK HOW TO EXPLAIN OMG like it just went SUPER well with the flow of the song and i just absolutely fell in love with his voice n then i saw his face and i was like how do u rap like that u have such a cute baby face wtf and then i fking scoured all the possible info on sk to find out who he was and that was when i became a fool™ for him :///

jisung: “wait hes rapping now i thought he was the vocal what” - SIMILAR TO CHANGBIN i wasnt like overly fond of him during the first few parts of hellevator because i thought his vocals were just eh and unnatural sounding until later i realized it was autotunes fault and again like changbin i thought his rap was overly aggressive but it wasnt until 3racha that i started to really really appreciate him and fall in love with his voice not to mention i was SNATCHED by his high note in the hellevator practice perf in front of jyp

felix: “he looks like he has tangerine hair– WHAT THE FK IS THAT VOICE” - o boi even before i started getting into them i’d heard a lot of people rave about how there was an aussie kid w freckles in this group and when i first heard him in hellevator i was definitely impressed with his flow/voice in the song ASKDA and then after that all the moments of him memeing on everything and also his stage charisma just mde me go HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HIM AKSDH he was the first threat to my bias list bc he jus felt like so RELATABLE LMAO and also for the longest time i thought he was the maknae LOOLL

seungmin: “this voice is already a 10″ - goodness where do i start w kim fking seungmin,,,the moment i saw his face i just went heart eyes because he looked like a living marshmallow and his voice?? im dead. seungmins voice has just this warm sounding tone that makes him so easy and pleasing to listen to like IDK WHAT IT IS but i thought the way he sang was just so cute and genuine that i couldnt help but swoon over him ;;;;;; he was and currently still is threatening hyunjins spot on my bias list ASJKDKJAK i actually had a bias crisis around the time that sk went on the busking mission because i would watch hyunjin fancams,,,,,,,,but only pay attention to seungmin,,,,,,,,,,,,,i literally replayed seungmins part in school life like 600 times,,,aHEM anyways 

jeongin: “his eyes are so pointy” - the first thing that attracted me to him were his eyes bc they were just super unique looking?? idk im whack lmao but after watching the episode clips i was just WHIPPED for him bc he looked so soft n smol ;;; AND the part that Snatched me the hardest was when he was singing trot in the practice room and i startedTEARING UP because he was so cute and oh my god i love him

we dead binches after the mv drops good luck my dudes 😔✊

[lannisterdaddyissues]

i’m not even in this fandom but the accuracy of the  *~EssekXCaleb~* formatting hit me so hard op you deserve mad props for reminding me that i have ptsd from how cringe i used to be

I thank god every day that Critical Role didn't take place in 2007 or I would have absolutely made an *~EssekXCaleb~* How to Save a Life AMV or color-assigned lyric poetry made in Word. Now I just shitpost like a real adult.

[dxathstrxke]

okay listen up you punk ass kids!! right here i got my old man wilson, and if you were here since the rpg opened or in it’s earlier days, then you remember when i played slade wilson! so all you kids, sit your asses to the back of the class, i gotta introduce him to the new kids. so shut up and listen ( no i’m not encompassing slade at all rn noooo ) lemme first drop in an say, i know i dropped lyssa for these two basic bitches ( victor ), but let me be the first to let all my lyssa rp partners know you are more than welcome to rp with slade and/or victor! and i really hope those two can make up for me dropping a baby 3 ( wow mipsy that’s rude ) ANYWAYS, under the cut is everything you’ll need to know about slade!:

click me because this is basic rundown of information on slade. i literally made it for myself to remind myself ( tho his age is 50, not 55 ). that’s from my old rpg blog. haven’t edited it since.

THO i wanna tell you something very important: my version of slade is based on a lot of headcanons i may or may not keep from my old blog and various pieces of comic information i’ve used of slade in the comics. new ppl, pls don’t expect this to be right off the page slade wilson. ( tho i’ve been told i get him right, not bragging im serious ) i’ve used comic info, but i’ve also changed things around, negated things ngl, to fit this rpg and to feel comfortable playing him. i love slade wilson, i really do. but i built up this whole idk world of slade wilson from my last blog and i just can’t see myself straying too much from it since i’m so comfortable with it. even after all this time. tho i may change a few things, idk, just get to my footing back.

basically if you clicked and read the link, that’s all you really need to know. that is slade wilson.

golly gee whiz, since we have so many superheroes/the occasional villain, and slade’s fought a lot of people, made alot of enemies, and his intellect is enhanced, and he knows a guy who knows a guy, feel free to assume connections. i pretty much do with slade. he doesn’t know everyone, suprise suprise, but mostly everyone. if nothing else he knows your name, and probs what you are. maybe even your abilities  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ hey, slade’s old ass has dealt with a lot of heroes and villains bs and he doesn’t consider himself either

this is also to say, he’s not a perfect character. he’s just very very skilled, smart, and old. aka he’s had time to hone his skills, so he’s no spring chicken. but he’s still human. and he can still die like everybody else, i think. just think, it wouldn’t be an easy fight against like superman or diana (i love dianaaaaa). hell, batman can take him down too bruh but it’s like a really good fight :)

umm slade’s another loml ??? he’s incredibly offensive and vulgar and rude because he don’t give af about anybody except maybe his best friend wintergreen, adeline, and his squad of murder kids: joseph, rose, and grant. ok they’re not murder kids but it sounds cool so. oh and the batfam he loves to make fun of and bruce wayne. and diana. how could i forget diana ( prince ). 

that isn’t to say he can’t connect with other people, and get close, but it’s just hard. the super soldier serum on him made him violent and aggressive and it’s hard for him to emotionally connect with ppl. it’s not impossible, but it’s hard and it takes time. so pls don’t be offended if slade is rude to your character. it’s all ic. don’t feel bad, that’s how he treats everybody. slade ain’t no ray of fucking sunshine. unless he likes you. even then.

but he is humorous oMG

I WANT TO USE MY COMIC ICONS, but i realize comic!slade seems a lot more serious, calm, cool, and collected but still funny. at least from what i’ve read. he’s hilarious, so i may go between comic icons and jdm icons since jdm is smilinggg. but if i can find pretty slade smiling in comics DEN MY AZZ IS USING ONLY COMIC ICONS CAUSE HAVE YOU SEEN THAT PRETTY MOTHERFUCKER. O MG.

god how can i forget this. i kinda wanna say slade’s been here this whole time he’s just been on the down low, feel me? girl ain’t got time to start all the way over with slade.

if you thought i was nice now, you’re gonna hate me after slade ;) ask any of the og kids ( peeps who remember me as slade)

that’s all i could think of. since my ass has to get up in the morning :( i won’t make his starter until tomorrow. but feel free to hmu if you wanna plot or something with my bb, in the meantime ! okay, onto victor!

[sajdd]

firstyl!!! dont apologise for all!!!!!!! this is exactly what i had hoped for >:)) nothing brings me more joy than talking abt stuff i like especially if its smth someone is just finding out about ^_^ ill also put everythign under read-more so this doesnt get too long long. you can literally yall to me about it whenever!!! also ill dm you the site!!

one request kjnfgbj next time u write a lot plz put paragraph breaks bc my brain gets very lost in massive text blocks </3

yeahh the after-credits are defo worth it, like i said some are just silly goofs and dont rlly add much but there are a couple that make me go AOAOIUEUIUGUGH OUCHH

oh boy if youve already cried in s1 just prepare because this is where shit starts to get real haha. you have no idea what youre in for :D

yessss tanjiro is such a sweet boy :'))

ALSO AYO DONT DISS THE HASHIRA LIKE THAT?? i mean, youll probably change your opinion about them as you keep watching but consider this: you dedicate your ENTIRE life to being a demon slayer, probably had family or friends slaughtered by demons, and you dedicate yourself to fighting this evil in the world. risking your life for this cause and then this random kid shows up TRAVELLING WITH ONE?? like. its an offense to everything they stand for, theyre shown to be the bad guys in the situation but thats only because we're seeing it from tanjiros pov, their reactions are justified from their perspectives!!, they have no reason to have sympathy for a demon or the traitor travelling with it. their reactions are understandable!! this just shows how devoted they are and how much this means to them

sorry i just gotta throw hands for my faves 🔫

YEEEES the demons are so cool, and the backstories are always so :')) also god. yeah. the rui fight? bro that shit broke everyone when the epsidoe came out. i was like, theres just no way the animation gets any more incredible than this. SPOILER: IT DOES!!! like. i swear ufotable has unlimited budget, i havent rlly watched any of their other stuff but theyre known for havign incredible animation quality, its fucking incredible. i cant explain to you how many times ive rewatched episodes and fight scenes. also shoutout to the sound design too its also SOOOO good. there are so many specific snippets of sound that make me oJNDSKFVJNKJNK

but yesss ^-^ its all so amazing aaaa and the characters are all so. full of life man. theyre all so unique and amazing and just aaaa. i dont think theres a single character i truly dislike? like, there are some that had me like "hmmmmm. dont like you" at first (dw i understand ur distate towards the hashira at first, im pretty sure a lot of ppl felt that way at first, its how we're made to see it at first, but once u get to know them, and also consider their perspectives, it defo changes your opinion).

but yess ^_^ im enjoying hearing ur thoughts and if u want to talk more dont hesitate to @ me or dm me!!!!!! whether u want to do a post summarising ur feelings after watching, or if u wanna live-react, im interested in it all AAAAAAAAA i just care abt this show so much and its making me so dofjknvbjgkf

its funny bc ive actually been watching some react channels react to the movie and s2, and then i found out ur watching it too and i was like I NEED TO SEE THIS hehehehe

anyway!! ill do send u the links now

girl...... you watch dubbed anime....... what the hecck

also, the mugen train arc was also turned into episodes. essentially s2 was split into 2 parts. part 1 is the mugen train movie recap, part 2 is the actual new season.

they put the movie into episode format because not everyone could see the movie, but its the same stuff. except the first episode is bonus a bonus episode that isnt in the movie with rengoku to get to know his character.

so essentially, s2: 1. s2 mugen train, episode 1 2. mugen train in movie or episode format (i recommend movie format) 3. actual next arc s2 entertainment district

if that makes any sense?? soryr if i made it confusing

ALSO. there after credits scenes in the episodes, some of them are just silly goofs while others are actually. well, impactful to the characters id say and lets us understand them more. so i defo recommend those.

also i have a website i use to anime that might not exactly be the most legal but it releases stuff on the actual date (altho u definitely want adblock with it bc. yknow how those sites are) so if u want that then i can share

fgjdbnjhgkgjf sorry if i worded this badly, i can re-explain if needed but i hope it makes sense??

HAIIII im going to answer both of ur asks all in one post for clarity HAHA (some spoilers for anyone who wants to read, but the main one is given a warning ^___^)

but yes u do watch dubbed anime ….. im sorry im sorr y i csnt help who i am (flawed fundamentally) 😞 AND OOOOOO THANK U FOR ALL THE CLARIFICATION! glad i saw this bc i was actually going to watch the movie with my friend tmr LOL. so PepoG episode 1 then movie GOT IT! about the after credit scenes, i noticed when watching the dub that the post-credit scenes werent dubbed and there also werent subs so i just didnt watch LMFAO but if theyre important i will definitely take a look later! :O and i do have a website but id love to hear urs jic if u wanna share OMG thank u for offering its very sweet ☹️🤍

AND IVE HEARD SO MANY GOOD THINGS ABT S2 AND THE TRAIN ARC !!!!! i saw charlie moistcritical rate s2 95% on the moist meter like thats insanely good. im so fawking excited to understand the hype AHHHHHHH !!! AND OMG YEAH the art style and animation in s1 is so so cool i esp love the style of the thick/emphasized outlines AND THE FIGHT SCENESSSSS OMGGGGG i usually dont care for fight scenes but the ones in demon slayer are GAURGEOUS and when (SPOILER WARNING FOR ANYONE READING) he attempts to slide rui’s head off and theres all that orange fire, nezukos pinkish explosions and just all that COLOUR ….. i was seriously in awe it was incredible i cant believe it gets even BETTER ….. so exciting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK SO MY FAVS SO FAR: at the top of the list (unsurprisingly) ITS TANJIRO MY SWEET BOY AND SHINING STAR 😭🌟 im sorry i just have so much love in my heart for kindhearted, genuine characters and thats the core of who he is and he makes my heart so warm and soppy and the world both deserves him but also doesnt and hes just so oo o oo o ….. My tanjirogie 😞💚 ANOTHER FAV OF MINE IS ZENITSU! i love his crybabyisms and think hes such a nice mix of sweet and annoying and i always look forward to him being on screen :))) and hes definitely the character im most excited to see the progress of 100%. i also love his lil sparrow such a tiny lil guy eueueueu 😞🤍 also this isnt a specific character but i loved so many of the demons tanjiro faces and fights and i cried so so much watching s1 bc of their deaths. even ones i thought wouldnt get to me bc of their cruelties did and i just ended up sobbing hearing their stories bc its like tanjiro said, theyre such sad and hopeless beings and so often just victims to either circumstance or life as a whole and its just. god. theyre just so heartbreaking and getting to hear their backstories/getting glimpses of them at the end of every fight where they lost and were dying was one of if not my favourite part of the show. anyways because i am hateful here are some characters i hate (not bc theyre poorly written i just am bitter) FIRSTLY: the hashira can go fuck themselves 😒🖕 (shinobu and giyu are excluded from this my scrumblies) i hate their pretentiousness, i hate how they hurt nezuko and i hate how they are all major dicks despite their entire thing being to help people. SECONDLY: fuck muzan! i actually love his character and hes such an amazing villain but i burn with so much hatred towards him it isnt even funny i seriously want his head on a fawking sick 𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖉𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖐𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖍𝖎𝖒𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝕹𝕰𝕺𝖂 . but he also kind of slays and every time hes on screen my eyes are glued hes suchhhh a good villain from the untouchability to the sometimes soft, often violent carefully crafted manipulation Hes Perfect. like i hate him but hes also amazing and one of the big reasons i love the story so much. speaking of the story, I LOVE IT SM! i havent spoken much about it yet but nezuko and tanjiro’s relationship means so much to me and i love getting to see them grow and having to relearn how to get to normal but also how nothing between them has changed at all, and how they love each other the exact same amount and way from then and how theyd always do anything to protect one another. its so so sweet to watch and an incredible motivation for the plot bc i am rooting for them so much too as the viewer not only because the characters themselves are so incredibly loveable and kind (bc they are) but also because its so Believable considering the world they live in and the character building of those two. tanjiro cares about her so much, lost everyone he loved to the guy who also turned his sister this way, and is so genuinely warmhearted like it just makes so much sense why he does all of this and i never blamed him for a moment why he pursues such a daunting goal. because it always, ALWAYS seems worth it. it always does. and making it so ur viewer understands the point and motivations of the mc and plot, now thats good storytelling! I JUST HIT TEXT LIMIT SO ILL STOP NOW HELP ?