#i also like it cause it’s a way to keep the narrative interesting and explain why certain characters don’t just dominate

[kacievvbbbb]

I think it’s interesting characters like Big Mom and slightly even gear five luffy or even Homelander or just generally any superhero from the boys. Who are insanely powerful but find fights difficult or hard against weaker opponents because they lack battle I.q and are easily distractable.

Very might doesn’t always make right.

[octosan]

I've been wanting to find a way to articulate more of my thoughts about what Veilguard ultimately did with Solas and why it feels like they did and did not take him out of character to me, because said thoughts are a mess.

And fair warning that this is going to be critical of Veilguard (and Inquisition a little bit) because essentially I feel like what they did is soft-retconned key parts of the narrative to make Solas both more sympathetic and less sympathetic in ways that are (imo) a disservice to the character.

Let me explain,

Part 0: This is the page I am on

First off let me open by saying that I always thought of Solas as someone who, in regards to his main plans, knew exactly what he was doing. I think it makes the most sense that someone who has been waging a war against vastly more powerful opponents for literal millennia be intelligent, decisive, manipulative, and unwilling to leave things to chance. I think it makes the most sense for such a person to rarely be wrong in evaluating and executing his intended plans, because against someone with literal godlike power being wrong would presumably mean being dead.

I also think it makes the most sense that such a person, who was continually given extremely difficult choices during his years of leadership, to have gained a level of ruthlessness that few other characters in the setting can claim. I think it makes sense that such a character could become horrendously bigoted, as well as jaded, by their own (again, millennia of) negative life experience. I think it makes sense for such a character to become proud to a fault, convinced that they are correct in what they do, even at times when they don't want to be.

At the same time, Solas is also portrayed as being highly principled. At least, I think that was Weekes' intention with the character. You can see at multiple points in Inquisition, through banter and approval, what things he feels the most strongly about and how he does not like to compromise on them. Protecting and nurturing free will, doing your duty to your people, and never doing harm (without a good cause rlly important clause there lmao) are common points suggested with him. Slavery in all its forms is a particularly sore point with him.

I've always thought that Solas' biggest flaws interacted with his guiding principles in interesting ways. That both combined to make him into an extremely dangerous, but understandable (if not sympathetic) antagonist.

I don't vibe with takes that all of Solas' principles are a smokescreen and he's just selfish or just nursing a bruised ego. Don't get me wrong, he says some thoughtlessly cruel things in Inquisition that I can see why the most critical fans feel the ways they do about him. But imo there's a lot of stuff he says and does that is narratively meaningless if caring about people (his people first and foremost, but other people as well) is not a core part of his character. For all his flaws, I personally never got the impression that this was the intention.

Though I also don't vibe with takes that Solas, in his goals and plans to achieve them, is objectively correct either. I think a lot of it comes down to what Solas' actual plan for the veil is and why he's tearing it down in the first place.

Part 1: Solas' Plan (and Lack Thereof)

Veilguard portrays (or at least casts judgement on) a version of Solas who is going at the Veil without much of an actual plan. He is demonstrated as having made a prison to keep the Evanuris from escaping when it comes down, yes, but that's clearly a side concern. He claims he will try to minimize the damage to Thedas, and this is explained to mean that he planned to have spirits intervene to protect people from demons, which is an extremely uncertain method of limiting casualties.

The game refuses to even address what he thinks is going to happen to the elves when the Veil comes down. To go by Epler's AMA response, he seems to just be blindly assuming that all elves will become immortal again when exposed to that much magic, and the game does not suggest one way or the other if that is actually true--the motive to give elves back their immortality is only even suggested in one missable sidequest cutscene.

It's very strange to me that now, with the story finished and the franchise never planning to come back to it, we still don't get an elaboration on what Solas planned. What he was expecting to happen. Unless I missed it, the only explanations we get of what will happen when the Veil comes down, and thus the only thing we can accept as being true, is that the world will be "flooded with demons" and the result of this will be that "thousands of people" will die, and ostensibly the elves will regain their immortality (and command of magic, but iirc even that isn't stated and is just an assumption.)

I absolutely did not think that was the entirety of Solas' plan to bring back the old world. You know why I didn't think that?

Because we heard Solas' original plans in Inquisition.

Low approval dialogue, if you argue with Solas that he should be helping the elves, has this gem of a line:

PC: The man who has lived half his life in the Fade has no ideas? Solas: Not unless we collapse the Veil and bring the Fade here so I can casually reshape reality, no.

At the time, this line is treated as sarcasm or an intentionally absurd suggestion he made because he's irritated with you. But in Trespasser, once you learn the truth about who he is, there is another line of dialogue that suggests that this was actually what Solas intended initially.

PC: What would have happened if Corypheus had died and you’d recovered the orb? Solas: I would have entered the Fade, using the mark you now bear. Then I would have torn down the Veil. As this world burned in the raw chaos, I would have restored the world of my time… the world of the elves.

Isn't this wild?

His plan was actually even worse than Veilguard suggested it to be. It's not that he's okay with some collateral damage to (somehow) restore the elves. He was okay with the entirety of Thedas as being collateral damage. To me it doesn't even sound like the demons themselves would have been the problem, moreso the primordial energy that would spill back in.

And we'll get into what else Trespasser suggested about his plan in Part 2 but the point is that the Veil coming down is portrayed as only being step 1, and step 2 is something that Solas has to guide himself. Even the ending of Veilguard suggests this a little bit? I don't know if intentionally, though. Solas, in the ending where you attack him, has a throwaway line about the "enchantments" needing a "delicate touch" as he goes to finish his ritual, which strikes me as an odd thing to say when the Veil was already falling down and that was the only part of his plan that the game dwelled on. It only makes sense in light of the Trespasser conversation, but I feel like the rest of the game ignores parts of the Trespasser conversation, so I don't know what to think.

Veilguard just isn't interested in exploring what this guidance on Solas' part looks like or what it would actually do to the world. It's content to be vague about it. I am not. I did not want it to stay vague at this last stage of the story.

What enchantments? What are the limits to this reality reshaping he mentioned in Inquisition? How did he intend to restore the Old World? How, specifically, did he think this would be helping the elves? Is there a way that the Veil can come down and not kill everyone in Thedas?

The intelligence of Solas' plan, and therefore his character, depends on the answers to these questions and I never got them! The game won't reward me for making assumptions on them either because the overriding narrative here is "the Veil can't come down, no matter what" so there's no reason to examine what he wants to do with it.

I also think it's weird that they changed it to a comparatively flimsier "thousands of people will die" anyway. I've seen multiple players point out that likely way more people died in the Double Blight that came from disrupting Solas' ritual than the amount of people the characters say would have died if we hadn't. Players who suggest that the resultant disruption to Thedas was so great and the Veil coming down so undersold as a threat that they actually blame Rook not helping Solas with his ritual in the beginning. Which is obviously not the narrative the devs wanted here. If they'd made it clear that Solas planned to destroy all/most of modern Thedas (even if reluctantly) then we wouldn't have this dissonance with players so much, I think.

But in regards to "getting him his goals", I think the intelligence of the plan also relies on figuring out what those goals even are. Veilguard was not terribly interested in those either.

Part 2: Solas' Motivations (and Lack Thereof)

Much like Veilguard evades telling the player what specifically Solas was planning to do with the Veil coming down, it also doesn't really touch on his motivations?

Harding suggests at the opening that he wants to bring back the old world because it is "beautiful". Solas himself claims he has to take down the Veil purely because it is "unnatural", a neutral fact that doesn't address anything, and because it is a "wound" on the world, a negative phrase which is nonetheless not defined. What does it mean that it's a wound? What is happening to Thedas because the Veil is in place? What are the ramifications of leaving it up? I saw little explanation of that in this game, despite previous entries leaving a lot of interesting details to draw on.

We know from the introduction that Solas bringing the Veil up made the elves mortal and destroyed their world, and one of the mural cutscenes suggests that taking it down might give elves their immortality back. So that's another one.

But his main motivation in Veilguard is presented to be simply the fact that Solas regrets having put it up in the first place. In the ending of the game, when he is trying to explain his reasons to (potentially) the literal love of his life who is begging him to stop what he's doing, the reason Solas gives is that if he doesn't take down the Veil then Mythal will have died for nothing. It's the Sunken Cost Fallacy. Yes, he also says that he will "destroy the world [Mythal] loved" but he doesn't elaborate on what this means, just like the "wound" comment, even when it would have been extremely relevant and helpful to his cause to lay his cards on the table here and be honest about what he wants if there is more to it.

So players who have never played prior games are forced to conclude that Solas has no good reason to take down the Veil.

Which might work well enough for Veilguard's narrative of Solas, but it certainly makes his "don't you think if I had another way I would have done it?" to Varric and his "I would treasure the chance to be proven wrong" to a friendly Inquisitor meaningless phrases in retrospect. I personally don't find it more compelling when a heretofore intelligent and principled character breaks their principles for no good reason. I prefer a principled antagonist who breaks their principles for an understandable reason, a reason that the protagonists will have to put in real work to challenge if their goal is to redeem said antagonist.

And I think prior to Veilguard, Solas' motivations were ones that were worth challenging.

Part 2A: Solas' People (and Lack Thereof)

For example, he wants to bring down the Veil to help spirits. There is dialogue between him and the Inquisitor early on that in the days of Elvhenan, spirits were everywhere in the waking world because the waking world was filled with magic. Cole in Trespasser can suggest this too, as a spirit Cole is ecstatic to realize that he "belongs" in the mortal world as much as he does the Fade once they learn that the two were once the same thing. There is an implication that spirits who wish to visit the mortal world become demons because they can't do so without possessing something (unless they are extremely powerful.) Similarly, in Inquisition many spirits were forcibly pulled into the mortal world and twisted into demons in places where the Veil was torn, because they couldn't handle the existential crisis that is a world without magic. The most spirits who show up in Thedas in this setting, do so in places where the Veil is thin, and the Veil is only ever thin in places of great suffering, meaning those spirits reflect that suffering themselves.

Not only does Veilguard never examine this concept as one of Solas' motivations, but they seem to have tried very hard to erase the validity of it from previous games. You would not know, playing Veilguard, that most spirits cannot enter the mortal world without a physical vessel, or that the Veil has been detrimental for spirits. Spirits are all over the Crossroads, and the implication is that they could always go there. You encounter plenty of them in Rivain, Nevarra, and Tevinter, and they are happy, healthy, free, uncontained to a vessel, and even largely capable of retaining their selves under pressure. This is entirely at odds with previous depictions of Thedas and its relationship with spirits. Yes, Nevarra and Rivain have more welcoming cultures and so it makes a little more sense (though not terribly so imo) for you to see more of them around and treated better, but it's not like anyone acknowledges this as outside the norm for the rest of Thedas. Inquisition in particular made a point about how much people hate and distrust them because they're such an unknown to mortals. In Tevinter, they are technically as much victims of magister slavery as elves, at least so Dorian and Solas' banter suggests.

Solas wanting to make the world better for spirits is a particularly important goal for him in retrospect because he was once a spirit, so it's a low blow to his character that it's never acknowledged in this game about stopping him.

But anyway, now we have the whole deal with the elves. This is where I see a lot of the discussion divide. I've seen people argue that Solas should have been allowed to enact his plan because it would end the very real oppression and cultural genocide that elves are facing, and I've seen people say that his plan would not have actually helped the elves at all and so it was a bad plan. I'm not sure how I feel about these takes.

Mostly because I personally did not think that Solas' plan, at least initially, was to end the oppression of elves. I think that if he'd been allowed to carry his plan out, the oppression of elves would end, but only because the entirety of Thedas' oppressive power structures would cease to exist along with its society. I did not think his true goal was to give modern elves their immortality back either, though I guess I can say I judged him wrong on that front in Veilguard. I thought, at best, that helping modern elves became a secondary goal for him later down the line, once he realized modern Thedosians are people--and for a low approval Solas may he rest in retconned peace it was a benefit to help him recruit. In The Dread Wolf Take You, for example, he does have a comment to Charter that the "elves that remain" like her might think his world is a better place when he's done. This could have been a lie to let her think better of his goal, or it could have been the truth and his intention was to somehow spare at least some of the elves what is coming.

The reason I believe that it is only secondary, however, is because Solas for most of Inquisition does not consider modern elves to be his people. He makes it clear he does not identify with the Dalish early on, but even when it comes to non-Dalish elves, which he ostensibly is, he has this line towards the Inquisitor after the Wicked Hearts quest:

PC: I hope Briala uses her position to help your people. Solas: How would helping Briala help… Oh, you mean elves! Solas: I’m sorry, I was confused. I do not consider myself to have much in common with the elves.

PC: Nor should you. You’re not defined by the shape of your ears. They’re not your people. Solas: No, they are not.

This whole exchange can be kind of dfgkdfkgksd ehhh but I think the salient point is that Solas does not identify with modern elves and slipped up when he made this clear.

And yet, he does have people, he isn't just a solitary misanthrope like he tries to shake that off with. He clearly does have people and moreover it is for them that he is doing what he's doing.

Trespasser has this line, for example:

PC: You’d murder countless people? Solas: Wouldn’t you, to save your own?

Consider also that there is an aspect to his motivations that he deliberately refused to tell the Inquisitor at the end of Trespasser.

PC: Why does this world have to die for the elves to return? Solas: A good question, but not one I will answer. Solas (high approval): You have always shown a thoughtfulness I respected. It would be too easy to tell you too much. Solas (low approval): You will survive this day, Inquisitor, and though I owed you an explanation, I will not give you tools to use against me.

I find this exchange so very interesting. There is a reason why the restoration of his world has to result in the end of ours, but he won't tell us because he believes it would give us the tools to stop him. Even on low approval he is comfortable with us knowing that he intends to destroy the world, but not the reason why he has to.

As far as I can tell Veilguard didn't do anything interesting with this. But originally I thought it had to do specifically with his people, the ancient immortal elves, and what he would do to get them back. To bring it back to a previous point, I did not think that it was just in giving the modern day elves their immortality back because I can't see how telling the Inquisitor this would give them the tools to use against him, especially if you yourself are an elf.

I know I saw some people speculate that Solas was trying to bring them back with time travel, as a reference to the Hushed Whispers quest, but even though I could see the Dragon Age devs doing that because the time travel stuff was silly in the first place and yet they decided it was a good plot point anyway I didn't think that was it either? It didn't feel thematically punchy enough.

And as a warning the next section will be getting into more speculative territory, but

Part 2B: The Ancient Elvhen (and Lack Thereof)

So, I don't think it's a huge secret that Inquisition presented the idea that the immortal elves of Arlathan never entirely went away.

We see this in the fact that there are immortal elves, obviously. Solas, Felassan, Abelas, and the rest of the sentinels at the Temple of Mythal are all elves who lived in the days of Arlathan, and yet are still alive thousands of years later, walking about in modern day Thedas. Furthermore, Solas in particular hints to Abelas that there are even more immortal elves than him. Consider the fact that if you're a Lavellan in the temple, Abelas distinctly denies that you number among his people, and in fact if I'm remembering rightly, calls you a shemlen regardless of your race.

And yet when speaking with Solas, he has this to say:

Solas: There are other places, friend. Other duties. Your people yet linger. Abelas: Elvhen such as you? Solas: Yes. Such as I.

Solas who is, of course, an immortal elf. It's even possible that he is one Abelas knows personally, given the importance Solas once had to Mythal. My Lavellan listening to that like wtf :(

Consider also the banter that Solas can have with Cole, if you romanced him and got to the breakup scene after this quest:

Cole: He hurts, an old pain from before, when everything sang the same. Cole: You're real, and it means everyone could be real. It changes everything, but it can't. Cole: They sleep, masked in a mirror, hiding, hurting, and to wake them... (Gasps.) Where did it go? Solas: I apologize, Cole. That is not a pain you can heal.

This banter is never examined in Veilguard! Who is hiding? Who is hurting? The fact that "waking" them is on the table suggests to me that it is sleeping elves, perhaps like the sentinels who only woke to defend Mythal's temple and slept the rest of the time. In the context of Cole trying to explain to Lavellan why Solas broke up with her (and more important, Solas wanting to make sure she does not know this information,) I thought this line referred specifically to Solas' true people, the reason he was doing all of this.

The idea that there are other ancient elves out there, sleeping somewhere, suffering for some reason, as they wait for the Dread Wolf to bring the Veil down and wake them. The "masked in a mirror" part felt especially interesting to me because there's a part in the Masked Empire novel where Briala and Felassan (among other people) come across a couple elves that were allegedly sleeping in Uthenara, in a location they were only able to get to by traveling the Crossroads, which are located through eluvians. In that scene, Felassan gets very upset to see that these particular elves have apparently been killed in their sleep.

It makes me wonder if this is why Solas had to hide this possibility from the Inquisitor at all costs, especially from a low-approval Inquisitor. His motivations for doing all of this are the countless elves, his version of elves, who are scattered all over and currently helpless as they sleep. I can't help but imagine that a particularly desperate modern Thedosian might consider if removing the Dread Wolf's reason to bring down the Veil might not be the only way of stopping him from doing it.

Veilguard doesn't follow up on any of these plot threads. In fact, someone who has never read the novel might even come away from the game with the impression that Solas and the Evanuris are the only immortal elves that survived to Modern Thedas, as even Felassan's role in The Masked Empire is obscured from the player.

It's a shame because if they'd kept this plot point relevant it would have been a major challenge to overcome in persuading Solas not to bring down the Veil. Presuming he is talking about the ancient elves, Cole's dialogue suggests to me that it is the process of waking them, or some element of it, which necessitates that Solas destroy the rest of Thedas.

This brings up an important question, potentially even a difficult choice. Which society do you think is worth saving? Would you be willing to let an entire people sleep and suffer for eternity just to preserve your way of life? Could you convince Solas to allow that? Solas, who sees Thedas as so corrupt and terrible to elves and spirits, who fought so hard to give his fellow elves a more ideal world which never came to fruition?

Also yes the sleeping and suffering to preserve your way of life thing IS ironic because that is exactly what he did to the titans but the game was so uninterested in exploring that too.

And like, to be clear, I never thought that Dragon Age would actually have the player make that kind of terrible choice. Even in Origins you were sometimes given the chance to take a third option that benefited everyone if you did a bit of digging. And both Inquisition and the opening of this game teased the idea of you convincing Solas there was another way. I guess what that third option actually looked like would have depended on more specifics. Mainly, why waking them requires that modern Thedas be destroyed.

Ehh I wonder if any of this was even on the table when Trespasser was written. Maybe I read it all wrong.

Edit: crying and screaming because I apparently DID NOT read it wrong and Veilguard did intentionally retcon that plot point.

-----------

All in all, I personally did not really have a problem with what Solas was willing to do in this game. But when it came to the "why", I found myself really struggling with it after thinking about it for a while.

At the very least, I feel as though what I speculated above would have made Solas' motivations more understandable, even if, again, it did not ultimately make them sympathetic. Going just by what is shown in the game, Solas' actual motivations in Veilguard are not nearly as understandable to me, especially because not even a single elf or spirit is shown as wanting him to do it dfkgksdfk.

And clearly that is what they wanted for this narrative, but I can't believe it makes him more compelling as an antagonist in the franchise as a whole. I like him as a classic trolley problem dude.

Also he literally ignored Mythal when she told him not to do it in the regret mural and yet it's Mythal telling him he doesn't have to do it later that finally makes him stop? I guess Flemythal didn't realize the code word was "I release you from my service" or smth

Also,

Idk man. Thinking about it and I'm still so sad the ancient elves were a dropped plot point. I guess it's possible, with all the racism already shoved offscreen in this game, that onscreen racial tension between even these two different factions of elves was too tall an order.

[thearchercore]

how rbr socials are trying to control the public narrative around charles (a short essay)

as you may have noticed, rbr socials started posting charles in an oddly increasing pace recently. and there may be more behind it!

you could notice the first big feature of charles in singapore, when they included a video of max and charles with a lestappen sound on an ig reel (carlos was also in that video but not mentioned in the post). then, a few weeks later during the triple header we got max doing the inchident challenge on tiktok. max is known for not enjoying tiktok trends so his input on their tiktok is mostly trivia and challenges because they keep him entertained enough to do it. that post, however, caused a certain inchident renaissance. the old moment between them was already explained in their early f1 years and wasn't really full on brought up after that. HOWEVER, red bull has decided to bring this moment to light with that tiktok.

ferarri, being the reactive masterclass (sarcasm) managed to respond to red bull a day later with another inchident meme (joking about the front row in brazil). over that time, both ferrari and red bull were interacting with each other (for example the old sticker war between the two) and ferrari engaged with charles' paddock endeavours that included max.

the last social post that seemed to include max on the ferrari socials was the infamous "charlie i have some space for you" ig story (which is really funny in handsight). after that, ferrari stopped posting any content with max and charles and has not interracted with red bull in any way. red bull has tagged them in all posts that included charles, but no response from ferarri. which we could see as the first switch.

then, back at it with rbr. charles and max are basically glued to each other in las vegas, they reposted the joint sky interview they did, and kept posting charles throughout the week as if he was their third driver. during that time, charles and max are asked not once, but TWICE about their karting days, and get pretty personal with their answers. during those, inchident is referenced once again.

it seems like red bull wants to highlight max and charles as a pair, not exactly as rivals as they were always painted to be. they may be rivals on track, but they seem more than friendly as of late, so there's no point in saying they're not getting along -- what if rb put this old moment from their karting days in the spotlight bc it highlights their entire childhood dynamic. it seems to me like they want to create a public narrative of max and charles being friends with long history instead of the classic rivarly, and ferrari clocked it before vegas and banned anything from their own socials because of it. it may also reflect the stage of negotiations between charles and his possible contract renewal with ferrari / possible pre-contract with rbr. because this is the exact process of how to soft launch a press announcement: organically drop hints -> create speculation for engagement -> ignore the speculation but continue pursuing the hints to spread the speculation narrative further -> proceed with the process and let the speculation die down right before the announcement -> drop the announcement

i'm not saying that they're cooking something major, they could be, but it's definitely interesting how they're trying to twist the general public's opinion on max and charles as a duo, a pair. and ferrari's sudden silence on their interactions with red bull/features of max on their instagram makes it even more suspicious.

[nabi-unveiled]

Heavenly Happenings in Heesu in Class 2 (Ep 2)

Ep 1

We left episode 1 of Heesu in Class 2 with this fantastic frame. For the record, I am assuming Seung Won is end game here. I don't know for certain, but that's what my spidey senses and years of drama watching tell me.

I loved this frame so much. There's so much meaning conveyed. Hee Su is in the middle between Chan Young and Seung Won. Chan Young is behind him just like his crush for Chan Young will eventually be. He's really at a turning point in his life, and he's turning towards Seung Won. However, Hee Su doesn't know that yet. He doesn't realize Seung Won is going to steal into his heart just like we can't see Seung Won's face clearly in this frame either.

So where did we go from here? To my personal heaven. It is going to be incredibly difficult to keep within the image limit. Because there is science. There is great dialogue. There are multi-faceted characters. There is a solid narrative structure and set-up. There are themes that look like they may actually be properly explored. There is tension that feels natural, and I'm already emotionally involved with more than one character. Did I say I'm in heaven? 🫠

So what heavenly happenings occurred during Episode 2?

#1 - The universe references didn't get dropped!

Hee Su may claim he doesn't know what he likes, but he definitely likes science and poetry. He thinks in poetic science metaphors all the time. I can relate. We start the episode on the cusp of confessing and believing in the possibilities.

But Chan Young flashes a new couple's ring, and Hee Su crashes back to Earth and his reality. His "I'm not the main character anyway." about broke my heart. You can tell that Hee Su has built his life around Chan Young in a lot of different ways often at the expense of himself. He deserves to be his own person and not just the person who films and holds stuff for Chan Young. But for someone like Hee Su, it will take something external to make him realize that his own interests have value. Unfortunately, this is true in real life for a lot of people that hold the "counselor" role in their circle.

We also have a universe reference regarding Ho-sik (our friend on the fringe) getting a confession. For now, I've decided that these negative comments about Ho-sik aren't something to be worried about on his behalf. He gives as good as he gets, and it's really just giving friend energy instead of mean girl energy.

I do particularly love that this line happens right before Hee Su literally falls into Seung Won's arms. The universe is giving you a sign.

#2 - We've now added even MORE science to our dialogue, and it's used both literally AND figuratively.

This episode was all about the supermoon, and I couldn't be happier. Because they actually TALKED about the science. At perigee (when the moon is closest to Earth), it does have an impact on tides. And people DO tend to have a misconception about it being associated with earthquakes. It's like the misconception about toilets flushing in different directions due to the Earth's rotation. Somehow it's seeped into people's collective consciousness even thought it's not accurate.

I also love that Hee Su was apparently the cause of the misinformation. It happens more often than you'd think that the science friend is actually the one that spreads the falsehoods. Sometimes it gets spread intentionally. For example, Hee Su may have said this when he was younger and didn't know it was false yet. Teachers tell you a LOT of incorrect stuff in science class. But sometimes it's unintentional as well. It's quite possible that Hee Su explained it accurately, but that Chan Young and his sister didn't understand the nuance of what he was explaining. Yeah, I've been there. I've had that face Hee Su gave his sister when he asked who told her that. "I did?" This chance goes up if he was mixing it with metaphors.

My only qualm - this line of dialogue isn't accurate.

Supermoons are very predictable. You can look them up and know when they'll be years into the future.

#3a - The confirmation that confession is particularly risky because this universe isn't a Thai BL bubble.

I grappled with a bit of the dialogue in episode 1. But episode 2 pretty much confirms that @daemondamian and @watchthisqqq were right in that the show was trying to convey the difficulty of confessing in a heteronormative world. I still disagree with the implications of the original dialogue, and I hope they address moving on after rejection (sister maybe?). But it is VERY true that this universe is not the bubble of our Thai BLs.

Seung Won thought that Hee Su couldn't have been getting ready to confess when he realized Hee Su was talking to Chan Young.

Hee Su automatically assumes that Seung Won's crush is a girl.

We had also had the conversation between Hee Su and the girl in the skatepark during Episode 1. There is an additional risk in confessing when you're queer. Especially in a conservative society.

We saw a lot of the confession theme build in general. Hee Su repeats the dialogue from his sister showing again where he's learned his facts about dating.

The dialogue is also building on this idea that being confessed to feels good. We see Ho-Sik's reaction to his gangster girl's love box. And Hee Su calls it feeling like he's been "upgraded" when he reads the messages on the anon message board. After all, he's normally only approached as a way to get to Chan Young 😞. A sentiment and feeling that Chan Young actually reinforces in both episode 1 and 2. I just haven't decided if it's purposeful or being an unaware teenager on Chan Young's part.

#3b - We've now started exploring that the risk isn't only in the confession.

Beyond confessing, we're now building in new threads. There is always the threat of a break-up. Hee Su has actually advised people to break up. He knows it's true. Isn't it better to just stay by their side rather than risk a rift?

Once he considers the possibility of breaking up, Hee Su becomes much more reticent about confessing.

After all, is dating really worth it?

(Side note - It's interesting that the physical heights of the three boys align with their "social status" at school. Hee Su sees himself as below Chan Young in a lot of ways, but you can tell he thinks he's above Ho Sik. It's not malicious. It's a teenager's mind at work.)

#4 - There's a thread starting about what is actually required in relationships.

There is discussion about what attracts people in the first place. I agree with Noona. Looks are important...to some of us at least. It's not the only thing and it's not everyone's thing, but it'd be a lie to say it didn't matter to me.

But more importantly, we're now exploring what it means to be in a relationship. If you can't disagree. If you always go along with the other person. If you always do what they want. Is that really a relationship?

Noona says "that's an acquaintance". I may not have loved the fact that noona is playing break-up games with her man to straighten him out, but this line does ring true to me. It's really true for any type of relationship - friendship or romance. If you can't express your thoughts, then the other person doesn't really know you. Relationships are a two way street. It's a lesson I learned the hard way. It's also a lesson that Hee Su will need to learn. While I do think Chan Young knows some things about and responds to Hee Su, that relationship definitely has energy flowing primarily one way.

#5 - There are parallels that add meaning and depth.

Hee Su implies that Seung Won must be close to our musical mystery girl if he lends her a book. He's practically sitting on top of Seung Won while he says it which is an interesting play on physical vs. emotional closeness.

And later on, our musical mystery girl does indeed lend a book...to Chan Young. A book that holds a lot of personal meaning to her.

I looked the book up. The reviews are mixed, but the plotline may have some parallels to this couple.

There are also a TON of parallels used to display how actions that are used to convey someone likes you may not mean anything of the sort.

The carrot juice gets mysteriously left on Hee Su's desk to indicate someone likes him. But it also gets given by Chan Young just because he doesn't like carrot juice. It gets given by Ho Sik as a thank you.

The girls may want to hold Chan-Young's belongings while he plays sports, but he gives his shirt to Hee Su. However, Ho Sik ALSO gives his stuff to Hee Su to watch. BOTH Chan Young and Ho Sik feed Hee Su/share food in the cafeteria. After all, sharing is caring. So just like what Seung Won is really asking Hee Su outside the convenience store, what comes after the gift? There's got to be more than just buying the drink to demonstrate romantic feelings.

Now, there IS a different feel when the two friends do these things with Hee Su. It's part of what fueled my initial dislike of Chan Young. I initially felt he probably knew Hee Su's feelings and was playing him to a degree. And he still might be doing that. However, after this episode, I'm beginning to think that the difference in feeling is because we're experiencing it from Hee Su's perspective rather than an actual difference. Hee Su feels different about these actions when they come from Chan Young compared to someone else. And if that's the case, then Chan Young is at least an oblivious jerk instead of a manipulative one.

I also really liked the tteokbokki parallel. Seung Won asks Hee Su what he ate yesterday. But Hee Su makes his choices based on Chan Young. It's not what HE actually wants.

Which makes it interesting that he immediately says he doesn't want to eat tteokbokki with Seung Won. Because I don't think that it's just that he didn't want to hang out with Seung Won. He says he's busy, but I doubt comforting his sister would've stopped him from going out with Chan Young. The supermoon would have been later that night and not impeded tteokbokki time either.

Furthermore, Hee Su offers to do it at a different time when he realizes that Seung Won may like tteokbokki. I just think it's a sign that he thinks of himself when he's around Seung Won. He doesn't see Seung Won as above him. Is it possible that he doesn't actually like tteokbokki? That would be a fun detail if it came true.

That said, I felt bad for Seung Won here. This reaction would have felt like a soft rejection which brings us to another running theme in this show...unintentionally hurting others.

#6 - The theme of unintentional hurt is explored in more nuanced ways.

Episode 1 started exploring this idea with the comments about Chan Young's thoughtless comments. And Ho-Sik doubles down on that this time by pointing out that what Chan Young does "is a crime" and that he gives all the girls false hope.

But Chan Young wasn't the only one hurting people's feelings this episode.

Ho-sik hurt our Gangster Girl's feelings in the cafeteria by thinking her gift came from someone else and talking loudly about another girl.

And in his interactions with Seung Won, Hee Su is actually doing a lot of the thoughtless things that Chan Young is accused of doing. For example, he touches Seung Won a lot. As a person who isn't touched much, Seung Won is going to notice every time it happens. It's going to cause all kinds of emotion every time Hee Su is thoughtlessly doing it.

And you know that it's got to pain Seung Won when Hee Su offers to help him get a girlfriend.

We can easily hurt others even if we don't mean to do so.

#7 - Chan Young gained a few layers this episode.

To be clear, I still think Chan Young is a jerk. A teenage jerk who likes indie music. But a jerk nonetheless. He's annoyed that a girl he agreed to go out with wants to wear a ring. (Note: It's not about the ring which was a bit much. It's about how he's talking about her.) He antagonizes Ho-Sik by asking if he was sure the gift was really for him.

And the moment that clenched it for me - he threw my boy Ho-Sik's knitting project right after Ho-Sik said to be careful with it. Grrrr.

I don't think he's malicious. I think he's a teenager. One who frequently seems to do things that he doesn't actually WANT to do for reasons that are worth exploring. Regardless, he inadvertently hurts a lot of people.

I'm still debating where he stands in his relationship with Hee Su. I do think he might be a bit possessive with comments like thinking Seung Won was meddling by reminding Hee Su of a club meeting. If nothing else, it's apparent that he relies a lot on Hee Su (ex. wanting him to join the same club). But based on his reaction to our musical goddess, it's not romantic feelings.

The feelings I do know he has? Insecurity. Feeling second-best to his brother is eating away at him. I'm the older sibling, and my brother was always very up front with me that it sucked to be compared to me all the time (by teachers/community; not by our parents). The brother seems to recognize that feeling is in play.

With that in mind, I do wish the brother had just put his own medals away. If you know it's a problem, then take care of it. Why make Chan Young do it? Even if it's Chan Young's room, it's your medals. That said - I did get the impression that a lot of the problem stems from issues with their parents rather than the brother himself.

I also found it interesting that Chan Young's bedroom is noticeably smaller and more cramped than the other bedrooms we see. I first noticed it, because I was jealously eyeballing the bookshelves in Hee Su, Seung Won, and music girl's rooms. But if you look back, there's a lot of stuff/junk cramped into a space behind Chan Young's desk. Knowing that he moved from where Seung Won lives now to here makes me wonder....are financial issues in play too?

And then we saw his reaction to our musical goddess. I found their interaction hilariously funny. Why? He says he doesn't know her name, but she is wearing a nametag. So that means one of three things - either he really IS a very oblivious person, he was trying to "look chill" after her stalker comment earlier, or he was using it as a way to get her to open up to him. Maybe a combination of all three.

I should also admit that this interaction is probably more amusing to me than most, because it is very much how I introduced myself to my husband. I decided not to wait on the formal introductions, walked up to him and said "Hi! I don't know you. What's your name?" We were wearing nametags. He pointed down at it and slowly enunciated his name like I was an idiot. Was it socially awkward? Yes. Did it work though? Also yes. Just like it seems to have worked for Chan Young. Difference being, Ji Yu definitely knew Chan Young's name already. I get her. This jerk's going to grow on me probably as we see new sides of him.

#8 - Families are an integrated fixture.

Chan Young's brother wasn't the only new family member to our mix. We also met Seung Won's mom. It's obvious that she cares but isn't really there. I get the feeling that she works a lot. However, I did find it interesting that she talked about "college isn't everything".

It's actually something that has come up a lot about Seung Won in the first two episodes. The other students talk about Seung Won valuing college. Hee Su says he's the "AI of college admissions". But you know who HASN'T mentioned it? Seung Won. He actually asks Hee Su who says that. Does he actually care about college? Or is this just another area where he's misunderstood?

And we continued highlighting our fabulous sibling relationship between Hee Su and his sisters. Their relationship is everything to me at this point. Much like Babe and Teerak in Your Sky, a strong sibling bond is going to get me every time.

I particularly loved how - even though Hee Su thought his sister was "embarrassing" with her panda eyes in the street - he immediately jumped up to put his arm around her and walk her home. I also love that, while Hee Su is often shown taking care of his older siblings and doing things like washing the dishes, these interactions don't read like they forced him to grow up or he was required to be the responsible one. It really just feels like part of his personality.

#9 - Seung Won may be the actual "stalker", but I will defend him with my last breath.

They described Ho-Sik's actions as being a stalker in the last episode and Chan Young's actions were described that way in this episode.

But our real "stalker" is Seung Won. You know that he was waiting to leave the house until Hee Su left. That's why he was late too. But I approve, and I will defend any stalker tendencies he may have. I already said in episode 1 that I was adopting him. Hee Su may talk science and get my mind, but Seung Won has my heart.

The "stalker" term is used a LOT in dramaland discussions, but most of the time we don't mean the characters are stalking literally (excluding SCOY and SCOY: Mame Edition). In a lot of ways our use of the term echoes the theme that was started last time - how do you approach someone? How do you build a relationship? Because steps must be taken to "approach someone naturally" as Hee Su advises.

Seung Won knows this. Asking the boy you like to go to a hip-hop concert with you isn't easy. You can't just jump straight to it. The show has already told us this too. This is particularly true if you are often misunderstood. Get ready for self-projection here. Introverts who are not shy, observe people, and are confident in their skills are often misunderstood. Particularly if they come across as more "robotic" or tend to maintain direct eye contact (Seung Won does both). Notice how everyone seems to be a little scared or intimidated by Seung Won. Has he done anything to deserve that? No. Not that we've seen at least.

Muenfah suffers a bit of the same issue in Your Sky, but I feel like the show forgot he was supposed to have that personality fairly early on. It was a bait and switch for him in some ways (that's a whole different post though). It'll be interesting to see how Heesu in Class 2 handles the "softening" or opening up of Seung Won. I'm really hoping he gets to keep a lot of his personality like Sang Woo did in Semantic Error. Because us introverted but not shy, unintentionally intimidating robots...we exist. But many shows try to erase a lot of those traits as the narrative progresses in the name of "growth" or "being fixed" by love. (Note: I'm not talking about tsundere characters here.)

#10 - There are natural triggers to motivate actions.

There have been a lot of things I've loved in this show so far. But I'll end with the fact that the writing is solid (so far). Many times in dramaland characters do things for the sake of the plot. We go into empty basements with someone who is mentally unstable to advance the plot. We randomly decide to go on a trip because we need to stumble across a plot point. Plot armor is a thing. But so far, all of the actions in Heesu have developed from natural triggers.

For example, Hee Su goes to find Chan Young at the academy. And it makes sense that he might have taken this action. He's been pondering his science metaphors as he looks at the supermoon. It's very similar to him running to confess in episode 1. He's someone who takes action when his heart bubbles over with emotion. So far that has always seen him running towards Chan Young.

But then he sees something he can't ignore. A side of Chan Young he didn't know. He KNOWS how Chan Young normally responds to girls, and this isn't it. That smile was his earthquake. It destroyed his world and the possibility of hope far more than the couple ring at the beginning of the episode. Which leads us to one of the most selfish actions Hee Su has taken so far, he decides to try and eliminate his competition by trying to pair her up with Seung Won.

Throughout the first two episodes, he kept telling people to let things happen naturally or to approach people naturally. Most of his "advice" hasn't really fallen into matchmaking territory. But now...he's decided he will be the supermoon. He's going to make things happen. Because what's happening naturally, he can't allow that to happen.

[whump-galaxy]

I've been thinking of getting into Magnus Archives... give me your thoughts... worth it? (You might be biased but I need to know-)

This will be a little disorganized, I apologize!

From someone who tried to watch it before, the first 15 or so episodes feel kind of slow. When you don’t have a big picture yet, these episodes don’t feel like building blocks.

However, as the series goes on, this view is fundamentally shifted and you realize that every episode, every name, every creature is important in some way or another.

From a writing perspective, all of the characters are extremely interesting. They evolve overtime when dealing with these insane new circumstances. I think the most visible changes are in Tim and Jon’s demeanor after the S1 finale.

I also love the intertwining narratives that talk about how we view people through what we’re told. We’re set up to absolutely hate a character, but find out they weren’t some evil asshole all along. Or another character that we assume knows very little, we find out they’ve been setting up and tricking others the entire time.

It can be complicated to keep track of. There’s a lot of names, a lot of locations, a lot of creatures, but often the characters will explain themselves what they think is going on.

There are some episodes that can be a little hard to make out when you have an auditory processing disorder like me. Anytime the tape recorder gets muffled, I generally have to focus on the video more to understand what they’re saying. But that doesn’t happen often.

If you’re looking for horror, whump, monsters, angst, etc it’s got it all. The main character struggles with his identity in this new world he’s been exposed to and it’s wonderful to listen to. He gets his ass kicked basically every other episode after S1.

The voice acting is top tier. Gertrude is a particular favorite of mine cause she just sounds exactly like what I pictured. But all of the VA’s have incredible talent, especially Jon.

I recommend this show highly, but only if you’re in the mental state to handle it. When I first tried to listen, I was not on anxiety meds, and it did cause irrational panic. Now, however, I am on anxiety meds and able to enjoy it fully.

I believe there are content warnings from episode to episode, but skipping episodes is a little difficult when 3/4th the episode may be a statement and 1/4th is the Archive characters talking.

Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I think everyone should try listening to it at least once. It’s easy enough to put on in the background while gaming or doing work. S1 was relatively slow, but S2-3 has caught me like a fish on a hook and is reeling me towards the end.

So go out and listen to it. Heed the content warnings. Take breaks if you need. And enjoy it!!! It’s good!!!

[year2000electronics]

Ford is such a fascinately flawed character, If he not keep in check he unintentionally brings ruin to everyone around him.

this is literally how i feel talking about ford. ^

because dont get me wrong at many times i am a ford defender when people slander him for the wrong reasons, but also a lot of the time i will be like "YOUR HONOUR HE DID THAT SHIT AND I THINK HE WAS HOT WHEN HE DID IT" and then at other times i will be like "YOUR HONOUR HE DID THAT SHIT AND ISNT IT AMAZING THAT SUCH A COMPLEX AND FLAWED CHARACTER IS NOT DEMONIZED AND VILLAINIZED BY THE NARRATIVE BUT INSTEAD GIVEN A CHANCE TO GROW". so a lot of the time i just end up walking in circles rotating him a lot because i end up wanting to play devils advocate from like literally every angle of "so how much harm did ford do Really"

but i think when you look at ford in the show, hes a very interesting character, specifically because he's this very "loadbearing" character. he's the author, so he has to be the driving force behind the mystery, but he also has to have met and have ended things badly with mcgucket, so we have their falling-out as a tease to the mystery. we need him to cause conflict in the show thanks to his arrival, so he'll do some unlikable things like punch stan and demand his house back and offer dipper the apprenticeship. but he cant be TOO unlikeable because this is a member of the family stan has fought for 30 years to get back, and he also needs to be integrated as Officially A Pines in the VERY limited time we have with him on screen. not only that, but you have to explain his entire backstory in one episode where he harms and is mean to a character who has had two seasons' worth of love behind him SEVERAL TIMES. but you also need to make us feel for him, and you have to make stan's part of the conflict sting too. and THEN! ON TOP! OF ALL! THAT! YOU ALSO NEED TO PAY-OFF THE SETUP YOU HAD OF BILL CIPHER AND THE AUTHOR'S MYSTERIOUS RELATIONSHIP!

and so a lot of the time what i end up thinking is yes, ford is flawed. yes, he can be really callous and unfeeling at times. but i think because he's constantly needing to carry like 10 different plot elements on his back at once, constantly needing to drive conflict along, he ends up being really divisive to people- especially since he has no time to just goof off like everyone else!

so i circle back to this idea of ford as the "ruin-bringer". i think about that wording most meticulously. because that walks this VERY delicate line between saying something about fords character, his flaws, his backstory, and dipping right into "omg lets blame ford for EVERYTHINGGG!" but you think a lot about ford and his self-isolation and his EGO and the way he lifts himself above others both out of pride and out of shame.

ford is almost doing that to himself, really. making himself this common denominator black hole that people keep getting sucked into. because he is of the opinion that there are Special People who need to rise above, he ends up either isolating himself or isolating others to Join Him on the Path. and obviously that in and of itself is a gesture of companionship, of reaching out, because he says "i see the same greatness in you that i do myself"! but of course there IS no secret hidden greatness! so its all inherently flawed! you cant be rising above simply because youre "special" and you "deserve it"! but "special" is the only thing ford knows how to be!

ford is deeply hurting i guess. he seems deeply hurt the way that stan does to me, where everything he does just BLEEDS his trauma. you can see it staining everything. stan's need for companionship and ford's self-isolation. ford's hurting and he needs a healthy outlet but he has a path of destruction in his wake. and that just makes it so much crazier

[sweetvoidstuff]

Hi, how’s your day going ? I wanted to know if you could do Cha Hyun Su x Thick Black fem or Black Fem reader , they are in a relationship since high school (season 2) after Hyun su left/turned his self in reader thought he was dead but he was watching over her and their son (he thinks it’s a random child) but one day reader is in danger (monster , creeps , honestly up to you ) and Kong (son) cries which Hyun su (and ah yu) hear and follow only to be met with a kid that looks like he’s on fire as he’s cracking a guys neck causing him to burn up and reader who’s trying to calm down son

Reunited II Cha Hyun Su x Reader Request

Summary: After Cha Hyun Su, thought to be lost, secretly watches over his love and their son, from the shadows, a perilous night unfolds.

Disclaimer:

Life ist good, work is stressful but fulfilling. I hope you have a nice day as well.

I must admit, writing for a specific skin tone has proven to be quite a challenge for me, so I've intentionally left it vague to ensure that readers of all backgrounds can enjoy the story. It's a delicate balance, and I want everyone to feel included in the narrative.

Additionally, I want to express that delving into the topic of teen pregnancies is something I don't feel entirely comfortable writing about. I appreciate the request to explore various themes, but i had to acknowledge my own boundaries. Despite these challenges and reservations, I sincerely hope the story resonates well with you. Writing can be a journey of growth and learning, and I hope readers appreciate the request and my way of storytelling while staying true to my comfort zone. I'm grateful for the opportunity to try something new.

Hyun Su had always admired the strength of your character and the resilience of your skin. He often whispered sweet compliments about your enduring beauty, leaving you with a blush that betrayed the turmoil within his own heart.

After losing his memories, he turned himself in, leaving you with the heavy burden of grief. Upon regaining his memories and taking care of Ah Yi, he distanced himself to keep you safe. Unaware of his fate, you believed for a while that the love of your life was lost forever, carrying the secret of your unborn child.

Unbeknownst to you, Hyun Su kept a vigilant eye on you and the son you both shared, Kong. He observed your lives unfolding from the shadows, a mix of pride and pain welling up within him as he saw you evolve into a strong, capable mother in this unforgiving world.

One fateful night, as you and Kong walked home, danger lurked in the shadows. Unseen scavengers closed in, their intentions sinister. Ex-military individuals with a dangerous interest in a young mother and her child.

Kong, sensing the impending danger, began to cry. As cries echoed through the night, a fiery presence emerged. Hyun Su and Ah Yi, on one of their nightly walks, heard the commotion close to where Hyun Su expected you to rest for the night. They followed the screams, only to witness a scene that defied explanation.

Kong, surrounded by an otherworldly flame, held a man who had threatened you. The assailant's neck cracked, and he burned up from the inside.

You stood nearby, attempting to calm Kong and your own racing heart down, having seen this sight once before. The flames surrounding him subsided as he looked up, his eyes mirroring the intensity of the fire—too angry for such a young child.

"Y/N!" Hyun Su called out, his voice filled with a mix of shock and relief. "Are you okay?" Hyun Su asked, his voice filled with concern as he approached. You were surprised to see him, but also sooo very relieved.

"He saved me, Hyun Su. Say hello, Cha Kong," you explained, still processing the surreal events and nudging your son to be polite.

After reciving a short shy nod from the boy Hyun Su looked at Kong, a mix of confusion and realization crossing his face. "Cha? Is that... our son?"

You nodded gently, "Yes, Cha Hyun Su. This is Cha Kong."

The weight of the revelation hit him, and he knelt beside Kong, embracing both of you. The family was reunited, and though the circumstances were bizarre, Hyun Su was grateful to be back with you.

"I'm sorry for not returning sooner," he apologized, his voice choked with emotion. "But I'm here now. And I won't leave you again."

As you held onto each other in the midst of the unexpected chaos, Hyun Su showered you with compliments about your enduring beauty, vowing to protect both you and Kong from whatever dangers lurked in the shadows.

[alyona11]

Ok time for my big Hadestown hot take and that’s that West End Hadestown doesn’t give you a 100% Hadestown experience. It’s still ridiculously good and 100% worth seeing, don’t get me wrong (I used my opportunity and saw it twice and will likely see it again if I’m in London), but it kinda made me realise a couple of things about OBC production that will always be my Roman Empire and make me deeply upset Broadway is too greedy to give us an OBC proshot.

So, here are some of my thoughts and reflections based on seeing Hadestown live on West End + seeing different versions (including London National theatre proshot) in boots. I think you can pretty solidly say that in Hadestown there are 2 main stories: Orpheus/Eurydice and Hades/Persephone. And even though arguably Orphedice is the main most important story, it my opinion it also wins from Hadesphone story being strong. Which works perfectly in OBC due to Amber Gray and Patrick Page delivering a very deep nuanced performances as their characters.

I think part of the success of Hadestown when it works on its fullest is how it creates a very deep emotional journey. And I feel that regardless which pair of Orpheus and Eurydice you have (if we take Broadway/tour/West End take on the characters) it’ll still work! Like you need to try really hard to mess up orphedice the way people wouldn’t root for Orpheus or wouldn’t empathise with Eurydice because they are so relatable and cute. You instantly love them, they are so so lovable. So orphedice part is one thing in Hadestown that imo works if not always then in 99% of the cases.

Hades and Persephone’s part of the story in the contrary is VERY hard to nail on 100%, in my opinion, and this is literally driving me crazy. Maybe seeing Amber Gray and Patrick page in professional recording awoken some feelings in me, I don’t know. I will state straight away that I also do enjoy other actors’ takes on characters and I do see some very interesting character moments there and there. However, I keep returning to the thought that Amber/Patrick’s characterisation works SO WELL for the main narrative. I’ll try to explain why I think so. Consider it my love letter to the OBC.

First and foremost, I feel like Hadesphone story has a very fine dynamic that the actors have to nail, so you would feel that: 1) these two still love each other; 2) these two are buried under their problems and see no way out, only a miracle (aka Orpheus and his song) can save their marriage.

And if the first one usually works at least due to Epic 3, the second one, imo, often (at least partially) falls victim to acting/directing choices which can cause troubles with point 1 as well. I think one big thing I’ve noticed is that often Persephone’s alcoholism gets forgotten in the acting performance. Like yeah sure her choreography includes drinking from a flask but in comparison to Amber you never get a feeling that she is absolutely wasted. Which, is in my opinion something that you should feel when you’re watching the show and something I was constantly forgetting about when I was watching the show on West End. I feel in Amber’s performance you can constantly see that her Persephone’s feel good attitude is a façade of a broken person who knows that her marriage is going to hell in front of her eyes yet she is too passive and hopeless to try to make an active change (well, she does try in Chant and nothing happens), so her only way is to chase the sense of normality that the “medicine” gives her. But when she is alone, if you get to catch a moment when people are not looking at her, you can see a deep sadness under her positive front and her memory of the old days when everything was more simple. Nevertheless, the main point that the lyrics literally say is that Persephone is blinded by the river of wine. And this is crucial to her character and her relationship with Hades because the story states that even though Hades is a problem and he is an active actor in creating more problems, he is not the only failure in this relationship. Persephone needs to be woken up from her apathy almost as much as Hades does and this is something that we see during If It’s True.

From Hades’ side I feel like it’s not a good decision to make him a total villain because when he is irredeemable you don’t feel like the whole “song that will fix the world” has any chance of working long term. I think Patrick nailed a deep antagonist very well. His Hades is weird and lowkey creepy and alien. He does objectively bad things but when you look at him you can’t stop thinking that he doesn’t operate in regular human logic or morality. When I look at him in Chant, it feels to me that his words about building stuff to impress Persephone are absolutely sincere, and I can absolutely see that his Hades doesn’t understand why she is so upset about it when his intentions are so so clear. Maybe it’s my vision but even before Epic 3 when he is so far gone and buried in his projects and messed up ideas I don’t have a single doubt that Persephone is a single motivator and goal of Patrick Hades’ life and that he literally doesn’t need any other being to care about. And tragically this fixation is what makes him blind to all other things he does even if those things ruin Persephone’s life (and other people’s but tbh I don’t think he cares).

I feel like by removing Persephone’s Chant 2 verse Hadestown created more problems for Hades and Persephone part of the story making it a much harder job for the actors to prove to the audience that Hades and Persephone have a chance to make their relationship work. Like I get that maybe it was a necessary things to do (even though I think the show is much better with it) but it made it so much harder to empathise with this particular part of the story unless the actors use the choices that work in the narrative. Because for example when I was watching the show on West End part of me was wondering “what is Persephone’s deal in all of that, what does she win by staying with Hades?” With the verse, and with Broadway Previews or London 2018 in particular this part was clear: Persephone still loves Hades and believes that he has the opportunity to change and become a better man he used to be. Without the verse, however, the actors should give you the same idea during the show which is a hard task considering Hades and Persephone have only 2 big conversations together (Chant and How Long). So apart from those songs there are only subtle mostly silent moments they get together through which the actors have to convey the same thought which is hella difficult and probably hardly will be appreciated by anyone apart from the people who sit closely.

So, maybe because in the actor combo I saw (Zachary and Lauren), I got a feeling that even though they were great separately, I didn’t feel much chemistry between them as a pair. I think, Persephone seemed pissed and tired of Hades all the time until How Long and I didn’t feel that she still believes in his willingness to change. And Zach Hades despite being entertaining, kinda gives the impression of Hades who has other options, he is not into Persephone enough. The only sparkle appears between the two in Epic III which is still cute but I’m not sure if it works just as well if that’s the first time you see the show? Also considering Zach Hades gives more malicious intent in His Kiss, The Riot it seems that he is not even slightly interested in Orpheus having any opportunity to succeed with his quest. Which is not bad, don’t get me wrong! But in comparison to Patrick who is deeply self projecting into Orpheus to the point where you could see that even though he doesn’t want to let him go, part of him does because it would prove he too could succeed in his challenge of waiting for Persephone, this take seems a bit lacking. And overall because of His Kiss, their promise in Wait For Me doesn’t seem as giving much hope that the story won’t repeat itself next Sunday. Which in its turn makes Orpheus’ sacrifice feel a bit… worthless. If on Broadway, when Orpheus turns, but spring comes again you feel like it is the start of something new: hopefully a kinder and softer time. On West End the show also wants you to feel it but when you think about Hades and Persephone you feel…less certainty that this sacrifice will have a long term effect?

I guess the creators wanted to concentrate on Orpheus and Eurydice more and forget about Hades and Persephone by making them more secondary story or maybe there was a lack of director’s involvement to give the cast some hints on how to make this particular part of the story work better, but it feels to me that in its current state the show works in its 85% power which is still great but once you know there is something missing you can’t stop thinking about it and wishing the show would give you those 15% you crave.

[quinnydoll]

You should watch Eureka Seven

So there's this neat little show I watched before I turned 10 when I couldn't understand a goddamn thing, and it caused me to think about the cool aesthetics of giant robots flying around stylishly on boards as naturalistic trails flow behind them.

I rewatched the show recently with my lovely nesting partner, because I wanted to revisit its world, and I was offered so much more than I remembered. Yes, the show is absolutely what I just described in the previous paragraph/run-on sentence(fuck you this isn't a school assignment) but it's also SO MUCH MORE.

I'm not going to beat around the bush, there's a singular gif I can show people that usually convinces them to watch it with the added info that this isn't just a super highlighted moment, it's just what the show looks like:

(side note: if you haven't seen this show in its entirety, do not, I repeat DO NOT search for gifs of it on this site, never have I ever seen such a dense wall of spoilers)

Still with me? I'd hope so after that display! Also, for non-mecha fans, PLEASE I am begging you to still give the show a chance, it's so worth it!

So we need to start off with this show's worldbuilding. The giant robots can wait, because first we have to address the most glaring thing: everyone seems to have access to these boards that seemingly allow them to levitate and travel in midair on these almost fluid-like trails. These are explained as Trappar Waves, and not much is explained about them early on. I'm going to keep my explanation brief, because it's way more satisfying to watch the mystery unravel through the course of the show.

Basically, the planet this takes place on is full of these waves, and that's one of the main things that everything relies on, and why we can see effectively airships that are just perpetually suspended in the air without need to refuel constantly. This is what allows them to stay up. Also the reason why we see characters with their nifty little boards. Oh yeah, the giant robots have those boards too.

That's the main thing I wanna address about the world of this show, because explaining the rest would genuinely spoil so much of the show, and the experience would be extremely reduced by me explaining. Just trust me, it's really good.

Now, the format of the show is actually masterfully done. The first arc involves the immaturity of the main character, and the format of the show reflects it heavily in the very slice of life format as our main character is enchanted with the conditions he's been put into. At this stage of the series, it's not very serious, and its stakes are pretty low.

As it progresses though, it eases you into a far more coherent overarching narrative in a way that feels really natural and well done. You'll never really "notice" the point at which "shit gets real" or anything, you'll just find yourself way more interested in the bigger picture of what's going on, because the show puts a larger focus on it.

There's a romance story in it too, and it's actually really well done, which is something I haven't really seen effectively done in a lot of action anime, but I think in this case it's because they don't really treat it like a "subplot." They do a really good job of tying it into the main story, and they make it feel pretty real as a romance, and by the end, the payoff is the most satisfying one I've seen of really any romance plot that isn't necessarily the actual main focus of a story. I genuinely feel like they could've conveyed the story they did without the romance plot, but something truly impactful would've been lost had they gone that route.

I think it's not unfair to compare this show to Neon Genesis Evangelion, but at the time, it would be doing both stories a serious disservice. Evangelion is a really effective exploration into nihilism and mental illness, but Eureka Seven feels like a direct response in the way it delivers its story. It feels like it did a Better Rebuild™ before the Rebuild movies even came out.(let it not be said that I don't like the Rebuild series, it's legitimately in my top ten.) Early on, they communicate a lot of the same themes, but then Eureka Seven diverges hard with how it explores the intricacies of interpersonal relations and how people will strive to do better and how people can genuinely be better to each other. I feel like the way it delivers that is genuinely way more effective than even the extremely cathartic conclusion to Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0.

Seriously though, if you're not interested in watching this show, I don't know how to convince you. It's truly a fantastic show, and it's honestly taken the spot of "favorite anime" in my book. I am no longer a Gundam fan, but an Eureka Seven fan who also likes Gundam. You're going to love this show, even if you're not into mecha anime.

[mcclainwilla]

JJK 271 spoilers under the cut!!

So, with the leaks out and the series (un)officially over, I wanted to offer an alternative (NOT optimistic, but accepting) perspective to how things ended...

...specifically with Gojo.

I am a Gojo lover. I am a tragedy enjoyer. And I believe that both the (implied) return of both Sukuna and Kenjaku and Gojo's shitty posthumous treatment by the rest of the cast boil down to the same themes that have defined Jujutsu Kaisen from the start.

Jujutsu Kaisen has a punitive narrative. When a character fails to honor their goals, retribution is swift and severe. Itadori failing, continuously, to guide people to proper deaths. Nanami failing to keep his juniors safe in Shibuya. Geto failing to follow through on his own ideology. Jujutsu Kaisen also has a circular narrative. Its characters' storylines are defined by the generational curses that haunt jujutsu society. Gojo and Geto were thrown at missions like grenades until Geto finally went off. Ten years later, kids are still being exploited for their talents. Itadori, for all rights and purposes, died in the juvenile detention facility. The Shibuya task force was like, at least 50% high schoolers. Nothing has changed, despite Gojo's dream of fostering strong and capable allies who will overturn the system.

Now, about that. Gojo stated his intentions multiple times throughout the manga. He wanted to break the cycle. But that panel showing Sukuna's finger? Not surprising at all. He failed to break the cycle. Why?

Because without concerted effort, there will be no true change.

That is the point of Jujutsu Kaisen. It always has been. We ended up right where we left off - with the looming threat of Sukuna in the form of a surviving finger - because no one made an active effort to step off the tracks; instead, everyone combined their forces to push back against the train. Sure, the train stopped - Sukuna was exorcized, mostly - but trains have engines, and when jujutsu society grows complacent, the old order will begin to creep back into place.

There's another way of saying this. We ended up right where we left off - with kids as cannon fodder - because Gojo failed to consider that he couldn't dismantle the system from within the system. And the worst part is, he figured it out, right before the end.

Too late, Gojo realized his plan of a peaceful coup would never come to fruition. He realized he would have to take tangible, violent action in order to have even a chance of guaranteeing his students' futures. But because he was too slow to realize this, the hammer dropped, he failed, and died. And now, his kids might get to live to see another day, but they live to see another mission, too. And another Sukuna finger, and another Kenjaku. No one's efforts were focused enough. Like Yuki said, they were treating symptoms, not causes.

What's interesting is that this 'concerted effort' clause can also explain Gojo's apparent insignificance to the surviving cast. After Geto left, he leaned into the role of the Strongest, because there was nothing left for him to be. He took missions. He automated Infinity. He only started teaching so that the next generation wouldn't be lonely - he mentioned nothing of how that revolution would impact himself, presumably because it was of no importance to him. He'd already given up on having the very thing he tried to build for his students.

You can, actually. You can ask a flower to understand you, but you would be insane to do it, because it won't, obviously. So why would you bother?

Gojo never bothered. He let his loss haunt him for the rest of his life and never tried to put it behind him (or if he did, he did a shitty job at it). Instead, he let it motivate him, guide his choices, hollow out his heart. And in his death, he reaped the consequences of refusing to reach out for companionship: by making himself into a weapon, rather than a person, he was used, rather than mourned.

(But even though he knew he would die in the fight against Sukuna, he still wanted Itadori to keep going, to have hopes and dreams! It would be better if the world no longer revolved around 'the Strongest,' because that way, no one would have to be alone! What a nice dream. What a shame he only fought 'til blood at the end - first the higher ups', then his own.)

It's not comfortable to look in from the outside knowing that, after all that sacrifice and loss, nearly nothing was gained. But imo, it's not the thematic reach some say it is.

Jujutsu Kaisen was never about curses. It was about consequences.

[firwhorl]

i saw encanto again and i still like it so muchh

firstly it was such a good choice to push mirabel's character arc beyond 'she learns that she is special and valuable even without a magical gift' (presumably she went through that whole thing sometime during the timeskip), and have her already be trying to live based on that while other people aren't willing to budge from the established dynamic and explore her dealing with that

another thing was how there was this one idea - that people here are expected to be special and perfect and useful -, and it's overarching and pretty thoroughly explored: how this would manifest in different family members in different situations and with different personalities, in people outside the family, how this situation came to be and how it reinforces itself, what sort of person it takes to break that dynamic, etc.

(for me it's way too common to take a while to warm up to a new story and be interested in what's happening, even if it's something i end up loving. and an obvious concept like that being explored and tested in different situations did a lot to keep my attention)

then the 'house = family relationship/dynamic' motif(??) is so satisfying. both ends of it logically hold up because the house is literally magically connected to the family relationship, and lots of details regarding it tie up really nicely, like:

sometimes not everyone sees the cracks, like mirabel was the one to see them when she was being left out because she knew that it's not right, but when she tried to point them out to everyone else and they didn't see anything even mirabel couldn't see them clearly anymore (but sometimes the rift in the family is so obvious that even outsiders see everything)

bruno the scapegoat keeping the house functional by fixing the cracks behind the scenes

mirabel pointing out the truth causes the house to collapse completely (but it actually being a needed thing, despite it being scary and even dangerous in the moment - it has all those cracks, it's structurally unstable!)

then even beyond the house that event opened up a crack in the mountains that beyond providing safety in the past also functioned as a firm wall too keep a traumatic event of her husband being killed out of abuela's mind, and the other family members were never physically there = never knew the (emotionally) real version of what happened, and revisiting that was needed

the only major thing that didn't really work for me was the ending, technically all the right things happened, like the house being rebuilt, everyone regaining their gifts, mirabel seeing herself too, but it just didn't really land emotionally for me

oh another thing that i really liked was that it was never explained why mirabel didn't get a gift. i think i saw some theories when the movie first came out, but none of them felt as satisfying as shrug, sometimes random stuff happens in life and nature for no real reason and people are left to deal with that and tend to attach their own narratives and judgements to it.

[monkeycharles]

I think there should bé a fic where anyone from the grid would be third wheeling Landoscar, like, have you seen how these two interact.

So, I lack the ability and the time of f1writingbyme and LestappenForever to make this idea into a proper work like they did for "How (Not) To Third Wheel Lestappen" (check it out on Ao3 if you haven't already, definitely worth it) BUT BUT BUT, I can tell you how I think most of the grid would react in third wheeling Landoscar!

1) I feel like we should spare Checo, cause honestly this man has had enough as third wheel of Maxiel and Lestappen, I don't wanna give him extra traumas, SO –

2) Logan Sargeant: this one I really feel guilty about. Cause I like the narrative of him and Oscah being besties and still I cry over the sad edits of Logan just left behind. I think Landoscar with Logan has the most space for improvement?? I forgive Oscar even tho he definitely ghosted the poor Logan for the whole honeymoon phase with Lando (it's been almost two years, Osc, get a grip). I have a feeling Logan will speak up at some point and this would shake Oscar a little, so maybe he would be the more aware and more involved third wheel, possibly? They'll end up doing triple video-games championships with Lando and Logan mocking Oscar's gaming skills, mark my words.

3) Carlos Sainz: my man how does it feel to know you've wasted your chance (multiple chances, lets be real) for good? I have mixed ideas about this one, cause I think it would probably being more like Lando struggling to keep them both as close as possible resulting in Oscar being rightfully jealous 👀👀 so the third wheeling situation would be like Lando trying to involve a very annoyed and confused Carlos in their things (safe for work, ofc). I don't really see a way out of it.

4) Daniel Ricciardo: I mention him but I can't really explain cause honestly my idea of Daniel third-wheeling Landoscar is either him babysit them around Australia and bonding with Oscar over weird aussie habits OR OR OR something very NOT SAFE WORK so ( ... )

5) Max Verstappen: I love to think he'll remain an unbothered king, you know? Like he's well aware and a bit upset that his crepes companion invited someone else (beside from Daniel) to their dessert dates and that the two of them acts like lovebirds even without an actual physical contact. He'll probably send SOS texts to Charles and Daniel until a topic of (his) interest comes out and honestly at that point the power of maxplaining will win over pretty much everything and everyone. At the end of the day Landoscar turn out to be the real victims.

6) George Russell: poor thing was originally invited for a golf morning from Carlos (Landoscar were already supposed to attend), but Chili called off last minute so Georgie ended up with just the others two. LET ME TELL YOU he jumped off the golf cart cause he saw Lando placing a hand on Oscar's thigh and feared for his life. It took several minutes for them to notice he was aggressively walking behind. He was also hit by a golf ball because Oscar distracted Lando for a second too long, I guess you can figure out the rest.

7) Special mention to the PR and the McLaren team in general who's main job rn is having them to SIMPLY F O C U S outside the pit for like interviews and debriefings. I can picture Lando losing it after hearing a single compliment like "SO YOU THINK I'M PRETTY", cause ✨babygirl✨ energy hitting here and there, even tho he has tried to be somehow a model for Oscar, at least for what concerns work. Indeed I pity trainers and strategists bc ofc Oscar listens at them, but image them trying to explain a concept to him just for Lando to get there and rephrase it in the dumbest way possible and Oscar going like OHHHHH NOW I GOT IT, COULDN'T YOU EXPLAIN IT THAT WAY?

8) This is mostly a guilty pleasure but do we all agree they torture the entire f1 group chat with their subtle flirting?

IDK if this was what you had in mind but I really REALLY had fun writing it.

So let me know what you think in the comments down below, if you agree or if you want me to make it longer and/or more detailed or just to focus on a specific one in particular?

Again, my dms and box section are open to discussions, requests and any sort of (respectful) thing!

PEACE OUT 🤌🏻❤️

[sepublic]

Vee has the parallels with Luz that make her reconsider the choices she made, while also foreshadowing for the Day of Unity, and so forth. And I think Vee has the additional narrative function of complicating the idea of Camila just moving to the Boiling Isles, too; As uncomfortable as she still is four years later, Camila’s a supportive mother so fans naturally figured she’d make the sacrifice of moving to the Demon Realm for Luz’s sake, so Luz wouldn’t have to worry about leaving her mom behind. But with Vee’s introduction, it’s not that simple; Because Vee is someone who really wants to stay in the human world and even has her own friends there. And Vee is family, she’s Camila’s other daughter so she can’t just leave her either.

In a way, Vee is like the extended family Camila and Luz would have in the human world, that would deepen the ties they still have with it. Though I would’ve loved to explore their Dominican heritage via their biological relatives and other aspects, to emphasize what’s connecting them to the human world… That said, with Yesterday’s Lie being written after the crew learned of the shortening, I can see how the writers settled for Vee serving that purpose, because she already pulls off the other functions I mentioned before; It keeps things concise when the show’s runtime led to established setup like the Bat Queen’s owner or half of the coven heads being left unexplored. ‘Creepy Luz’ had already been introduced in S1, so there was a prior obligation to explain something already connected to the Nocedas.

And I can see the ties to Vee adding to Luz’s guilt, because in addition to Vee’s existence suggesting to Luz that she never needed to leave in the first place (which is of course a logical fallacy, but her trauma-riddled brain understandably isn’t being rational), it also makes her feel obligated to stay in the human world. Because Camila obviously wants to look after Vee too, and Luz wants stay with her mom, which means all three Nocedas might have to stay in the human world to make that work, since they aren’t certain about there being a new, permanent portal to normalize travel.

There’s now a new layer to her conflict; Luz wouldn’t want to force Vee to lose her own family again (first her fellow basilisks, then Masha and co. when Luz reclaimed her identity), because she doesn’t feel right making that decision for somebody else who she’d tell herself has had it worse. As for Vee, I wonder if she felt obligated to find her fellow basilisks back in the Boiling Isles, and hoped to invite them to the human realm to stay together… At which point, at least Vee can have it both ways, to Luz’s relief. And after her guilt in helping Belos, for Luz her sister would’ve been almost an excuse not to go back to enjoying the Demon Realm.

Because doing so means allowing herself to try being happy, it means letting herself pursue her dreams again, whilst forgiving herself. And in her repentant state of mind, that would’ve been difficult for Luz to accept; That it’s okay for her to keep trying to be happy and consider what she wants. It means facing her guilt by moving on, and taking risks by allowing the possibility of mistakes again; She’s allowed to make mistakes, and Luz shouldn’t have to fear them because of repentance for whatever harm she might cause.

And in the end, the Collector helped to create a new portal; And because of that, everyone could be happy. Vee didn’t have to abandon her new friends and home, but she didn’t have to lose her new mom and sister either; Similarly, Luz and Camila wouldn’t have to forsake a fellow Noceda, as well as everything else about the human world they still held dear, such as their culture.

On Vee’s end, she can also be reunited with her Basilisk family, who now live at the University of Wild Magic! So Vee could still have her own ties to the Demon Realm that she’s allowed to keep, and not be the only Noceda sister interested in maintaining contact; Her siblings still seem fond of the isles, so they too have it both ways with family and their home. In that case, the entire Noceda family —Manny, Camila, Luz, Vee— really is a family of immigrants navigating two worlds at once! Luz might not have been so alone in her dilemma after all, which is another thing for her and Vee to bond over, and a reassurance for her wish because Luz is understood not just by her mother, but her sister as well… It was always available for Luz to work with Vee about what they wanted once the situation had settled.

And finally, Luz can still explore the Demon Realm and hang out with her friends there, while studying its magic; Her quincenera having both families of both worlds, mixing in aspects of her Dominican heritage with the Boiling Isles’ take on things, perfectly encapsulates all of this. None of this would’ve happened if Luz hadn’t let herself go to the Boiling Isles again to help, because she was needed to speak to the Collector, after all, and they helped reconnect the worlds. And she wouldn’t have kept visiting after returning to the human world had Camila not helped Luz forgive herself for loving the Demon Realm.

[kattitude130]

the hakuchiori essay

Notes: i don't really subscribe to dynamic ordering of ship names, this is just the name i'm using. suggestions welcome for fun names like paperfish or [term]shipping. obviously i ship them romantically, but i am also heavily invested in the platonic and friendship aspect of their potential (queerplatonic OT3 perhaps? helllllll yes.)

let us begin

Intro: i didn't mean to get so invested in this OT3, in fact i deliberately tried not to until more of this arc was done, but i failed. miserably. it's taking over. i can't stop thinking about it. so now i'm taking all of you down with me (if you feel like it). hakuhiro is already so popular and rightly so, and i believe the addition of iori would multiply the cuteness and pulls at my heartstrings in a way an OT3 ship hasn't before. this is truly my One True 3airing (yeah? yeah)

The Parallels: this part of the post kinda doubles as normal character analysis and comparison-contrast, but i think it's important. any level of reading comprehension would hopefully reveal the narrative parallels between these characters, which always adds points to a ship for me. the most obvious are their relationships to their respective fathers and the importance of these relationships to their character development throughout the story. where they contrast is their level of closeness and the ways these relationships have (fatally) concluded, especially with iori's currently being up in the air. chihiro had a great relationship with his father and a pretty stable (if nontraditional) upbringing, until he was violently ripped away, now following a path of vengeance into hell which may only reveal his beloved father's hidden flaws. hakuri was once "loved" by his father, until he couldn't meet his expectations, leading to years of rejection and abuse, and a fatal confrontation. iori seemed to love her father, who loved her in return, but traumatic experiences and guilt have lead them to be separated; will she learn of her father's sins as chihiro has? will her father need to be stopped as hakuri's was? it's easy to see how her circumstances, while still new and interesting, can be related back to the other two; she may even exist in the middle of their venn diagram: her father as an antagonist who must be stopped, but genuinely tried to give her the best life he could. the emotional turmoil this causes in her is heartbreaking yet compelling to watch unfold, and having relationships (platonic or otherwise) with chihiro and hakuri who have had similar experiences could help her (and us, the audience) make sense of it all.

Chihiro x Hakuri Angle: knowing how popular they already are in these spaces, do i even need to explain? i'll talk more about the dynamics between the three of them as a trio and how it may affect the hakuhiro angle in a later section.

Chihiro x Iori Angle: on the surface, it may get dismissed as typical "ohh he's the male protagonist, she's the damsel, how basic" but let me try to explain it further. iori has so much going on besides just being a "damsel"; sure, she can't fight (yet?) and needs protecting right now (remind you of anyone?), but everything going on with her memories of samura and whatever the hell is going to happen between them is keeping me on the edge of my seat. there is incredible potential here as chihiro vows to keep her safe, but may have to take down her beloved father. it's tense! we've seen a few conversations between them now which acknowledges their similarities (and differences) and how chihiro feels on the matter. he cares about her and her agency in this situation, which i believe she appreciates. he also believes they are too different, restating his self-damnation; iori may even feel the same, as she is obviously not used to the violence chihiro engages with so easily (at least, in her amnesiac state), and does not want to be a part of it for any longer than she has to ("i want to go back to school"). however, i get the feeling she also cares for him. her asking "are you scared?" still gets to me. if she only saw him as a completely unrelatable killing machine, i don't think she would be interested in how he feels about all of this. she still sees the humanity in him despite everything he tries to say to deny it. she feels scared and helpless, but has complete trust in him. i think she feels sorry for him as well. chihiro wants what's best for her and can theoretically make that happen, but what can iori do for him? right now, she's a reminder of everything chihiro is not. i admit it's not a very happy situation right now, but who knows about the future… a shipper can dream, can't i?

there's a sort of "in another life…" and "the damned x the innocent" dynamic they could have going on as a ship that i think many would find compelling, and although as previously stated may be dismissed as "basic", yes, the "guardian/hero x damsel" as well; vowing to protect someone at all costs does add something to a ship, i must admit. but i am more partial to the other interpretations in which they help each other, not just one-way. and if you caught on, i do believe there are chihiro x hakuri parallels here. she's not immediately head-over-heels like hakuri was, but still! chihiro wants to be strong for her, too. i wonder if chihiro will again seek iori's opinions when it comes to what should be done with her father in a similar way he hesitated killing hakuri's family members until they fought kyora together. will he once again be subject to that hesitation, which he called weakness, now that he has gotten to know her? maybe iori will overcome her fears and find motivation and strength in chihiro's example the way hakuri did?

Hakuri x Iori Angle: HURRAY SPECULATION! a lot of this hinges on iori keeping her memories, whatever happens to hakuri next, and if they'll even meet… but others have shipped over less.

with the various parallels previously discussed, there's a lot here too! their respective dads left them for very different reasons, but they're both sad about it, and i think they could understand each other. hakuri's willingness to turn against his family for the greater good (and his own greater good as an abuse survivor) sort of mirrors iori's willingness to abandon her father's memory (good times mixed with trauma) or possible turning against him if she can't accept the man he has become.

i'm desperate to know how hakuri would react to iori in general. there could be some tension if hakuri comes to hate or be strongly against iori's father; he would never take it out on iori, but iori might be uncomfortable by it since she still loves her dad-- which hakuri would understand! despite all the harm, he wished desperately for his father to just acknowledge him. despite everything samura has done and that iori may learn about, she might still wish to be his daughter again. having familial attachment mixed with traumatic memories towards someone is a really hard thing to go through. hakuri may be able to help her through these feelings, especially if the decision to stop samura by killing him arises.

their traumatic pasts are another point of comparison. hakuri went through a lot, directly because of his family and the evil auction they were running. we don't know how much iori has been through yet, but it was definitely something scary, and at a very young age as well. her father may not be entirely at fault the way hakuri's family was, but he seems to feel pretty guilty about whatever she went through. i believe something very traumatic is being hidden in her memories that may be revealed soon. it's hard to imagine what could "top" or match hakuri's trauma, but it's not really about that. it's about being able to further understand each other, and maybe even comfort each other through recalling similar experiences.

iori's ability to still see chihiro's humanity despite his path to hell may apply, too. despite me laying out their similarities, hakuri might agree with chihiro that they are just too different from the innocent normal people, like (amnesiac) iori and her peers. hakuri may not have killed as much as chihiro, but his upbringing was far from peaceful, and he seems dedicated to following him in damnation. additionally, if chihiro vows to protect iori, he would too. iori and her guard dog boyfriends is something i'd kinda want to see, i must admit to you.

a lot of this has been the sadder/hurt-comfort part of their possible dynamic, but there's definitely room for fluff and sweetness. they're good kids! the way they would hypothetically behave while harboring a crush or developing feelings for each other is too much for my heart to bear!! please help!!!

Effect of Adding Iori to Chihiro x Hakuri (The Anti-Suicide Glue) this section is thanks in part to @trans-hakuri (aka blinkeasy). to quote: "I'm curious to see how much she matches their freak re: putting yourself on the line for others. She's done it once already when she was fairly certain the Hishaku wouldn't kill her, but she doesn't seem to carry the same self-worth issues that Chihiro and Hakuri do (as far as we know) and it would be nice to see her as a voice of reason for them sometimes. She should participate in the mission just as much as they do, while modeling how to be less suicidal about it." iori being the glue that keeps them from killing themselves for the sake of others is admittedly a bit darkly funny to me. chihiro x hakuri is great partly because of how messed up they both are, and throwing in a (to be fair, also somewhat emotionally messed up right now) civilian girl who at least sort of knows what "true" normalcy feels like into the mix might just be the missing ingredient they need. although iori may not come out of this completely "normal" anymore, she would still have that perspective to offer. (and while chihiro had a relatively peaceful childhood, he believes he must abandon that life forever, and iori may be able to bring him back to reality somewhat.) it's true that i enjoy thinking about all the ways chihiro and hakuri support each other through the madness, but an extra (un-bloodied) hand can't hurt, and i do think there is some significance to gaining a friend their age. (for the AU lovers, i can also vividly imagine the close friendships they could develop in a more peaceful world (like high school AU) if canon is not meant to be.)

lastly, i want to highlight trans-hakuri's quote "She's done it once already when she was fairly certain the Hishaku wouldn't kill her" to state once again that iori is not just a damsel. she's scared and feels out of her depth, but she can be strong and brave too. that being said, i believe she also symbolizes normalcy and innocence/ignorance, which she may soon lose; if so, i do hope chihiro and hakuri are there to catch her.

[moongothic]

It's so funny to rewatch pre-timeskip OP now that I have Terminal Crocodile Brainrot, because like. I don't think I ever really realized how the man just HAUNTS the narrative after Alabasta all the way until he's "reunited" with Luffy in Impel Down. How he keeps on being mentioned time and time again, the story never letting us forget about him like so many other villians Luffy had defeated thus far

Aokiji mentioning part of the reason he let Luffy escape with his life was because Luffy had dealt with Crocodile

That revolutionary explaining to Dragon how Luffy had gained a large bounty after causing not just an incident in Enies Lobby but also was the one who took down Crocodile

Blackbeard targetting Luffy and then bringing in Ace because he wanted the vacant Shichibukai seat from Crocodile

Kuma arriving at Thriller Bark to talk to Moria about the incoming war and how the Government was concerned about him fighting Luffy when Luffy had been the one who took down Crocodile

And let's not forget Miss Goldenweek's cover story during the CP9 Saga, letting us know ahead of time where Crocodile was heading

Not to mention the whole build-up to the reunion during Impel Down. Like the way we cut to Ace and Jinbei a few times and get to see Crocodile('s hook, primarily) as a little tease, and then there's also the few times he gets name dropped by other characters, constantly reminding us that He's Here (like Domino, who mentioned Crocodile taking the traditional 200 Celcius Bath at the prison's entrance like all new prisoners do without batting an eye, or Iva-chan who mentions to Bon-chan that their former boss was being held at Level 6 with Ace). But then there's my favorite, more subtle thing, where Impel Down essentially does a Baroque Works Countdown to reuniting with Crocodile. At Level 2 we reunite with Mr 3, Level 3 we reunite with Mr 2, Level 4 we get to see Mr 1. Skip ahead to the final level and there he is, Mr 0 himself. Like that's a fucking countdown, and it's so cute to me lmao

I dunno man, the way Crocodile haunts the narrative pre-timeskip is so cool in hindsight to me, the way Oda never truly let us forget about the man. And it really makes the way he kind of disappears from the narrative after the Summit War until the Final Fucking Saga so interesting. Like yes, we do get Two Whole Glimpses at the man in total during Dressrosa and Whole Cake (and there's minor stuff like in Punk Hazard when Luffy, Smoker and co are captured Luffy compares it to the time they were "held captive in Alabasta"). So he did keep on haunting the narrative. But it got far more quieter, those regular reminders that Crocodile exists are almost gone. And that's facinating, 'cause during pre-timeskip he was in fucking prison. Like he wasn't up to anything, nefarious or otherwise, 'cause he was behind bars, and yet the story would not let us forget about him and his impact on the story. Post-timeskip the guy's a free man, and yet we heard nothing about what the fuck he had been up to UNTIL Cross Guild happened.

I dunno man, it feels like a lot of weight to put on a character if he's not meant to become actually important to the plot

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

MDZS – Prologue thoughts + analysis

"Great news, Wei Wuxian has died!"

(In was, in fact, not great news)

Jokes aside though, what a great way to start your novel – it immediately intrigues you, especially since you likely know WWX is the main character from the blurb at least*. It also introduces one of the main themes of the novel right off the bat, ie scapegoating and mob mentality – not a word is wasted. And I love how it clearly lays out all the things that will be explored/contextualised/proven false in later chapters. In order:

Jiang clan 'adopting' and teaching WWX (proven false/contextualised) – they did take him in and teach him, but it wasn't a full adoption, he wasn't of equal status. Though it is true that he'd be living on the streets otherwise. Part of the reason rumours are so hard to distrust is because there's a grain of truth in them. Also, it's cool how apart from his death, this is the first thing we hear, and the first flashback also takes place in this period!

WWX defecting (contextualised) and leading to the Jiang Clan's near-extermination (proven false i'd argue, at the very least heavily contextualised). It's interesting that they seem to asociate the fall of Lotus Pier, which happened a few years before, with WWX's ('evil') actions now, though it does make sense – but also I wonder how did people came to that conclusion? Did they just make associations themselves (WWX is evil –> WWX was taken in by the Jiangs –> Lotus Pier was destroyed a few years ago –> WWX was there –> WWX caused it)? Did JC mention it to people deliberately, since we know he blames WWX for it? Did people hear JC mentioning it more privately (expressing anger, he does not hold it in) and spread the rumour themselves?

WWX's 'demonic' (ghost) cultivation being the reason for him turning evil and his eventual downfall (proven false, there are some great metas on how guidao isn't actually corrupting. See: how WWX keeps using it in his second life and is completely unaffected, and how in his first life he was suffering from way more stress and a lot of trauma – especially SunShot era – which could easily have explained the seeming change in behaviour during that time. Same for Qiongqi Path and Nightless City)

WWX massacring 3000-or-5000 people at Nightless City (heavily contextualised, reasoned with a little during the Second Siege. I have more to say on this but we'll get to it in time).

And then various other things, eg emphasis on how necessary it is to cultivate the righteous path or else – despite the discovered irony of 'righteous' cultivators besieging and killing 50 innocent people, while the 'demonic' cultivator is the only one protecting them – along more information about WWX's death (most of which is confirmed by passing words/thoughts of WWX) and the destruction of the Yin Tiger Tally.

But the things listed above are said first, which is quite important. MDZS is very much a mystery story, both for WWX, LWJ and often the Juniors uncovering the clues about the missing body parts – but also for us readers, as we find and piece together the missing knowledge and context WWX's past, and the full story hidden behind it. And it's so cool how MXTX lays out what we'll explore (our leads, if you will) so clearly, within the first moments of the first chapter of the book.

(If you want to go there, just like how WWX found his first lead/motivation to investigate within the first few (relative) moments of being brought back to life, with the hand at Mo Manor, but I might be reaching a little too far... anyway parallels in MDZS narrative structure I love you so much)

Other details in this chapter:

I love how this comparison is used:

Having read the book, we know there was a very recent war, so this speed/comparison would be very familiar to everyone! A subtle way of setting up and showing the efforts of the Sunshot Campaign, though you wouldn't recognise it the first time round.

Admittedly we don't know how subjective/exaggerated this POV is, but there is evidence for the fact that hundreds of smaller clans participated (or at least wanted to participate before Nightless City..?), judging by the fact that three thousand cultivators gathered to plan to kill him. Surely that's not just the Great Sects. But on the topic of that, yup, all four sects were involved (I don't think it's disproven later, and all four sects did gather at Nightless City as well**), there's no one 'good one' that wasn't corrupted or complicit.

Even by just reading what the crowd says, it's cool how you can tell that at least some of what's being said is untrustworthy:***

Already, they're contradicting information and exaggerating rumours – also note that later on at the Guanyin Temple (Hatred 2), LXC, someone I trust more, says three thousand when talking about the number of cultivators at Nightless City (even not considering what WWX said during the Second Siege). That contradiction and exaggeration does make you doubt what they're saying a little already! As well as the fact you know there's more to the story due to, again, WWX being the main character.

This is heightened by everyone saying, later, that if WWX returned, 'the cultivation world, or even all of mortal land, would be faced with the most insane damnation and revenge, sinking into nothing but chaos and despair' – something immediately disproven in the beginning of the next chapter, immediately suggesting that a lot of these rumours are much more untrustworthy than they seem.

His death here is made even worse by the belief that (iirc) the state of your body after death affects the reincarnation of your soul...? That definitely contributes to the 'karma' the people mention in screenshot after.

This hurts already, but hurts even more after knowing WWX's fear of dogs due to them always biting him when searching for food...

--

*I wouldn't be surprised if this opening plays a big role in why why MDZS seems to have the biggest following of all MXTX's books. Openings are probably the most important part of the novel, since you start with no attachments that would make you keep reading, and MDZS absolutely nails it. I love it so much!

**Off-topic, but I do wonder how painful being at the meeting at Nightless City (before WWX showed up) was for LWJ...

***I'm curious about this extract, actually – the 7S translations has an extra line/distributes this differently? If anyone knows the original Chinese, I'd love to know which one is more accurate.