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arkus-rhapsode · 1 year ago

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I want to talk about Crimson Flower and 3H as a narrative

So... after FE3H discourse makes the round every other week, I end up thinking about it for a bit until I realize, hey maybe its better to not focus on a 4 year old game at this point and occupy your time with something else. Everything has basically been said about it at this point and you know where you land.

But this time my thoughts were just getting too strong for me to ignore, so that's why I'm writing this both get it out of my system and maybe just be another voice in the crowd that some people might want to listen to on the divisive topic that is Crimson Flower route.

Now I really hate that I have to put this disclaimer up front, but I feel like the well of this discussion has become so poisoned that I have to before I make my piece. I want to say that if you enjoy Crimson Flower, if you love Edelgard and believe she did nothing wrong and this is the right route, if you are a Black Eagles stan and you genuinely do not have any issues with Crimson Flower route as a whole-that is perfectly fine.

This will be a somewhat critical examination of the narrative choices about the execution of CF, which I feel like whenever 3H, specifically Edelgard is discussed, there is often very disingenuous arguments people make. Which I believe can create more defensive fans of a particular aspect of a story that we should be able to criticize freely. Which perpetuates this never ending cycle of discourse of legit criticism and defense against that criticism becomes drowned out by trying to decouple these very disingenuous claims from legitimate flaws. So I at least want to make it known that I am going to try my best to be in good faith with this post about this tricky subject.

I also want to just say, this is also going to be mostly an examination of narrative. The thing that I personally enjoy the most in an FE game, but we need to genuinely acknowledge that narrative isn't the only reason why people may like Fire Emblem. The ability to form parasocial relationships with fictional characters and being able to experience something the genuinely brings you emotional fulfillment is not invalid. Being able to enjoy fighting against establishments or ideologies you in the real world disagree with through the experience of a video game is not invalid. The same way someone who plays this game for the experience of gameplay isn't invalid when their primary enjoyment stems from the actual mechanics rather than the "logistics" of the story. The point I'm trying to make is that everyone will engage in media in different ways and will enjoy it other ways and that you don't want to invalidate those feelings someone had with their personal experience. So this is going to be about me and my experience as someone who primarily enjoys narrative.

I am just one guy with opinions who is going to layout what I had an issue with and how I think for me that could've been improved upon. You don't have to agree with me on that, and I'm not saying my way is legitimately better. This is all opinionated.

Buckle this is a long one

First things first Im gonna say Im not going to be using any information given in Three Hopes that may contradict what Im about to say. As in my opinion Three Houses came first and does not include the content from Three Hopes so I should think that Three Houses can stand on its own merits and the content that was provided.

Next thing is I want to catch people up on what in my opinion are the points I think CF did for me that ultimately left me unsatisfied

The post time skip Fodlan was too different and felt contradictory to Byleth's role

Edelgard's Characterization in CF in comparison to the other lord's in their respected routes

The role of Rhea

The role of Those who Slither in the Dark

SO the first thing is probably the thing I'm mostly going to have to defend if I haven't lost you already, but Fire Emblem Three Houses as a narrative provides us with a five year time skip in the game that depending on the route will change who is control of the monastery at this point in the war, with each route providing a lord the chance the forge their campaign. However, something I don't think is brought up enough is talking about the liberties that CF takes with their time skip vs the other three routes. Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, and Silver snow all paint a post five years Fodlan as one where the monastery territory has been abandoned, Rhea has been captured, the Alliance territory is split between an imperialist faction and an anti imperialism faction, and the Kingdom has been split with Cornelia making an alliance with the Empire to create the Dukedom of Faerghus as the houses of Gautier and Faldarius hold up the Kingdom.

There are obviously minor changes like Dimitri camping out in the monastery in Azure Moon rather than in the care of Kingdom Allies, but for the most part there is a consistently defined world between the three routes. However, Crimson Flower's post Fodlan is much different. With a grid locked Fodlan after five years with just the church territory falling under the control of Adrestia, Rhea wasn't captured and instead made it to Faerghus, The Alliance is still feuding amongst itself, but most importantly than all, Faerghus is a complete kingdom with Dimitri as King and no Cornelia's Dukedom.

So there are two main reasons why this bothers me.

The first is that Three Houses as a game wants to present you with three options at first, with the idea that your choices will effect the outcome of the war when Byleth returns, however there's enough consistency to imply that this is what Fodlan would be like regardless of whose House you would join, with the primary effect being your class making it to the church for the festival which in turn will make the monastery your new territory for which route. However, Crimson Flower decides to do away with the consistency, implying that the effect Byleth had on the situation is far greater than that of any other route resulting in a drastically shifted Fodlan. So this is more of a problem with FE3H as a whole with the consistency of choice. Fire Emblem has never really had a BioWare style choose your own adventure type of game. There's only one real choice you're given in the case of 3H and that's which house you side with, which you are essentially locked into. Black Eagles is really the only route that offers a choice beyond that with choosing to side with Edelgard or Rhea which will effect who the class sides with in the time skip. The reason I bring this up is that it essentially means that you the player are for the most part on rails for a predetermined plot where all the choices for the series have already been made. So the Fodlan post five years being consistent makes some sense as essentially mostly everything that happened in White Clouds was the same with the acceptation of the class. However, the Crimson Flower one not being consistent and being so radically different based on a game with so minimal choice feels more like an act of narrative convenience. That this is what happened because of a writer fully independent from me the player had decided that this is how Fodlan shall be for this story because it fits what they want to tell.

Somewhere I had once read that FE3H shouldn't be treated as one story, but since its a bunch of routes they're all a different universe. Everything might look the same but everything is fundamentally altered that you should accept it as an independent universe. And I can't necessarily say that's wrong as the concept of multiverses is to create a world/scenario that allows to explore familiar characters in unfamiliar settings and you could say that Byleth effect on Edelgard in picking this universe was just so much greater that it would result in such a different universe.

I personally disagree with that which brings me to my second point as I believe this one is going to be a more philosophical point on game design. But I feel like the effort to make three routes so consistent with each other with one so different seems to deliberately undercut the core themes of the game. Offering you a choice that this is who you get to spend your happy schools days with and it is what is going to result in them returning to the monastery one the day of your return. That is the true effect of Byleth on the characters. But as you play through white clouds you can't change what happens to other characters which will result in a brand new scenario. Byleth's presence can never stop Dimitri from going blood mad, Byleth's presence can't stop Claude from discovering the Immaculate One research, and Byleths presence can't stop Edelgard from declaring war. And that is a good thing for this type of on rails route story. Byleth while a player insert who can help their lord in the future, right now everyone is on a path that Byleth can only lightly change. With the characters acting independently of what Byleth and the player desire. And the post time skip Fodlan is a sign of that. Its Five Years without Byleth. This is what these characters would do, that they were always capable of doing and that is why Byleth's return and effect on them is important. This also gives us the ability to observe what a lord is like now after the war, and Byleth's effect on them but also see what a character could be like without that Byleth effect on them. Without Byleth Dimitri stays mad, without Byleth Claude always flees Fodlan, without Byeth Edelgard... well lets put a pin in that.

The only other true choice the player can make beyond the initial one is the side with Edelgard or Rhea which radically alters her. Which honestly feels kinda defeating in a game that has locked Byleth so much on a path and the one time it can deviate actively alters everything. It just feels very hollow as there are parts that make you realize how great the effect Byleth could have on people's lives could be if the game actively wanted to integrate choice with the plot. But it didn't. It wants to make one early choice then lock you in that route for several chapters then remove Byleth and then have their return effect real change on the future of Fodlan. Except for this one route. Its why Crimson Flower feels so much like an asterisk compared to the other route. And I don't just mean the lack of chapters, but this feels like a route that can only exist because it was the one that the developers bothered to create something overly deviating from everything else.

Which brings us to Edelgard's role in Crimson Flower as a whole. Now lets just get this out of the way. Im not going to be talking at all on the morality/realistic implications of what Edelgard is doing. I feel like the "Is she a fascist/authoritarian" conversation is not really helpful to talking about FE3H as a work of narrative and mostly exists to create a bunch of petty beef. This is also not going to be a deconstruction of ever minute detail of Edelgard as a character. This is an examination of her as a character in the narrative that we are presented. This will also involve comparison's to Edelgard and other series lords and I want it to be known that this is not a talking down to the only female lord in the game as being something "lesser" than her male contemporaries. I believe there is genuinely sexism when discussing Edelgard as a character, so I want to say that I am approaching Crimson Flower and Three Houses as a whole in a good conscious that there is not a "right route." That this is a game that where all choices have their pros and their cons. Because that's why we like this entry, right? That 3H would provide us some genuinely complex lords who were all capable of doing great and terrible things regardless of gender?

That's why I had such a long winded discussion about why the change in the post time skip Fodlan is so important both for narrative consistency, but also just generally keeping with the tone, but also it reinforced that Fodlan and its lords while all righteous in their own way can be dangers in their own way. Well that's when I return to the pin about Edelgard. So first I want to go through how the lords are characterized in non devoted routes.

Dimitri in non AZ routes is portrayed as someone so damaged by loss that his who response is to avenge and fight. To never stop making those pay for the damage it has brought on his kingdom as well as any lives lost during the tragedies in places like Duscar and Remire.

Claude in non VW routes is portrayed as a brilliant individual with a lot of charm but seems to be hiding something from everyone. He's a lot smarter than one could assume and that he has some mysterious tie to the kingdom of Almyra that he departs after leaving his land to the stronger kingdom that has come so far, be it Dimitri or Edelgard or the Church.

Edelgard in non CF routes is portrayed as a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Now I want to talk about what happens to those lords as you play them in their routes.

Dimitri in AZ is portrayed as someone burdened by loss and his quest for vengeance has led to a neglect for his own health and his own actions. That his kill everyone attitude will perpetuate more loss of those he loves and that he needs to learn to rely upon others. That is his true responsibility as king.

Claude in VW is portrayed as an individual who is outside of Fodlan's system who has observed it more as a third party and believes it can be a great place if people work through diplomatically. He too is not a fan of inequality and racism and wishes to make a Fodlan that is more accepting and able to work through negotiation. While he still leaves Fodlan at the end, this time he has been able to implement real systemic change and make one that is sustainable beyond that of a ruler.

In CF we find out that Edelgard is a traumatized girl who was experimented on for the purposes of Crest Research. This makes her a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Hey wait a minute, that's the same?

So this is where I get to the most glaring flaw for me in this case of narrative and why I think altering the post time skip so much did a lot of damage. Edelgard is a good character and a fascinating one, but in the practice of her narrative, her character journey in her own route isn't like the other lords. Rather she is "right" from the start of the time skip and with the world altering in ways to justify why she is that way.

Now look, I know right now someone could be saying I can't read, that its clearly stated in the text that Edelgard says without Byleth she may have turned into a complete monster to see her goals through to the end. This is referring to how in non CF routes she is on the backfoot getting beaten back and forced to take more drastic measures as whoever Byleth comes closer to ending her ideals. Unlike Dimitri or Claude there's not really a psychological arc she is working through with her sociological arc. Dimitri's arc is almost entirely hinged on him as a character changing in his route. And while Claude the character is also mostly the same, you get an understanding of how his continued participation in Fodlan's politics is so important as he effects sociological change. Claude also does the less stuff that could be considered questionable in Fodlan. He neither initiates the war nor does he intimate greater conflict that is tied into a character arc like Dimitri. Claude action's through the war are mostly to keep the Alliance fighting against each other with avoids giving one side a greater advantage. The truth is Claude real "flaw" is that by being an Almyra he is from a race outside of Fodlan that is inherently untrustworthy in society so his continued prescience in his expanded campaign is done with changing that mentality.

Now one could look at everything I said about Claude and say "well isn't that Edelgard though? She's not the one who needs to change but rather society needs to and this is you making it a fruition?" And I would agree however, then why did post time skip need to change and not Edelgard? So going back to the altered Fodlan, the Fodlan post time skip we see in non CF routes has what can be argued Edelgard's biggest moment of political conquest, making an alliance with Cornelia inside of Faerghus using her authority and influence to expand and bring over a chunk of the kingdom underneath Edelgard's wing. And this makes sense with what has been proposed before us-Edelgard had released a manifesto to lords that would side with her and become her allies in the war to come. This act of subversion is something that benefits her goals for conquering all of Fodlan. However, this is one of the key alterations in CF's time skip. Faerghus is not broken in half, with Edelgard having not empowered Cornelia over the five years. In fact, you do battle with Cornelia with her as a kingdom general.

So if Edelgard isn't a character who is subject to change, why did the world change? Well there is speculation in universe that perhaps Rhea fleeing to Faerghus didn't give her the ability. But I do believe the most likely reason is that narratively the writers of 3H wanted to avoid a scenario where while Byleth was gone Edlegard may have empowered and individual like Cornelia. One of the most objectively evil characters in the game. Now I won't go into to detail if I believe Edelgard knew Cornelia was a TWSITD or not, but as it is presented to us, she seems unaware. Instead I'll focus on the primary point is where they don't want to discuss that while in her route Edelgard was capable of doing something that would potentially cast her in such a negative light. After all, the point of her campaign is the while the bloodshed is worth it to make a new Fodlan free of crests, she's willing to show lenency to those who bend the knee. Again, an action not unreasonable for her character. However, I feel like this not happening in CF genuinely robs us from exploring the flaws of Edelgard's path/showing us what Byleth's effect on her truly is.

This is compounded by my issues with how CF is the only route in which you have an active choice beyond class. That by choosing to side with Edelgard when given the option in the tomb would result in this much radical history alteration. But also all of Byleth's effect on her not being as much conqueror over the last 5 years was all done pre time skip. That all that change was done at that moment rather than being something that prompted her to return to Garreg Mach where they'd remeet Byleth and then that would get them to claim it as a base of oppositions in their future war. In CF, Garreg Mach is already claimed rather than the formation of the Dukedom with no real progress. So it makes it seem as though Byleth's real effect on altering this lord's path was always possible in the short time they knew them before disappearing over five years. Of course this is again a bit miffling given that CF is the only route this is a possibility. We can't Change how Dimitri will act in the pre time skip. That he will make choices without Byleth even if they feel urged to remeet at Garreg Mach. But in the case of CF, Edelgard has apparently been changed despite the only real difference in white clouds fighting beside her in the tomb and against the church pre timeskip. But that has sociologically altered so much of Fodlan.

And maybe you genuinely believe that one extra change is enough. Perhaps that one extra choice is enough justification for such a radically new scenario. For me personally, I find that unsatisfying and feels more like the writers traded in a level of consistency for this new scenario that greater justified being on the side of someone who is portrayed as a more active antagonistic force in other routes (Reminder this not me saying the Empire route is an antagonist route. All routes are antagonistic relative to which side you are on).

This is where we get my first what I would've done to make it more narratively satisfying for me. Keep the same post time skip Fodlan as the other routes. Keep Edelgard having brokered a deal with Cornelia to establish the Dukedom and have Byleth find out about it. Be some that either Byleth or another character close to Edelgard questions the extremity of. Then have Cornelia do something evil like she's experimenting on people for TWSITD or maybe she's just abusing the power. Then have Edelgard clean it up. Have Edelgard realize that while she still wants to make her dream of a crestless Fodlan a reality she can't just back lords or nobles that are willing to go along with her for more power. She can still keep the Dukedom territory, but instead she'd be now more understanding what it means for there to be a ruler with a noble soul. So she continues her campaign of conquest but has realized that if she's going to be emperor, she can't just empower people arbitrarily.

In my opinion this not only would tie together some more TWSITD plot while also paralleling it to Edelgard's past and how there was no authority figure to step in and help her all those years ago. But now she is that authority figure. And while it doesn't call her method in question and like Dimitri and Claude she can continue her expanded influence over Fodlan, but now we actively see that Byleth has helped show her that her allies aren't just those pledging loyalty, she actually needs to empower those who are good. She gets to have her fight with Cornelia level and this won't stop her from killing Dimitri in the future.

Like I said, this is what I'd do. And in my opinion it would give Byleth's presence in CF more purpose beyond the bond with Edelgard is nice and fun. But also stay consistent with each route. Showing that there are flaws in Edelgard's sociological plan, but not undercutting what her actual goal is. You can still believe her quest is just and the only right one with her taking an active role in not making the mistakes she perceives Rhea as doing.

And if you are still with me up to my third point, lets talk about Rhea.

So Rhea as a character can best be described as a neutral evil throughout White Clouds. She doesn't really do anything but there is a lot of ominous foreshowing and presentation that Rhea may be up to something or at the very least complicit with many of her policies and tendencies. And when I say "evil" I don't mean she's bad (please don't skewer me Rhea fans). I mean that if the crest system is flawed and the church is emblematic of the systems maintenance of that flawed system. Then Rhea as the face/founder/head of that church bares some responsibility even if all she does is passive.

In all other routes, Rhea is captured by the Empire. Imprisoned in their capital. Anytime she is seen after she is characterized as somewhat docile or defeated, having been imprisoned for so long. VW goes a step farther to reveal what she did as Seiros and all of her actions leading to this point presumably all thanks to be imprisoned and rethinking her life over. CF is the only one Rhea is allowed to be an active player, she is now portrayed a ranting self righteous warrior priest who swears vengeance upon Byleth for being the reincarnation of her mother but not being a proper vessel as she intended and fighting against her. Naturally, if Byleth being the potential for the reincarnation of Sothis siding against her is what her drives her mad, that is believable, however much like the altered Fodlan Rhea in this version is not captured. This is now for Rhea to serve as Edelgard's true climatic opponent. With her symbolically killing the representation of the church and the power of crests being slain by Byleth and Edelgard. Its very poetic. But once again we reach my issue of the time skip altering so much in CF.

As stated before, Rhea was presented as a neutral evil, in doing so she's not really a direct antagonist in any route. Except of course Silver Snow. Where she is deployed as a weapon against Byleth. In this case killing the immaculate one symbolically is cleansing the church of Rhea and allowing it to pass into the hands of the new archbishop. However, Rhea in that fight is under control. Rather than be conscious as an opponent, they make her more of a beast without choice. Thus making this less a flawed character meeting their end and rather a forced confrontation by the evil cult of evil. Now Rhea I think being kept a neutral party was ultimately a good choice. We are given enough about her to understand she has done things questionable and should possibly not hold the authority she has. But she also has not instigated any open any hostility. As such Rhea is more a symbolic player. By making her an active player, CF has to make Rhea more domino and more a threat. She can't portray constant neutrality in a war. But by making her the active antagonist, it makes her less of a symbol and more if just a rotten character who Edelgard is justified in wanting dead. And much like Cornelia and the Dukedom, this alteration comes off as an attempt by the writers to never truly challenge Edelgard's plans for Fodlan. That Edelgard has no flaws in her plan and the bloodshed is beyond justified more than just philosophically. Had Edelgard captured Rhea in CF this would lead to some genuinely uncomfortable questions of keeping her a prisoner. And to 3H's credit they were actually willing to make the player uncomfortable already in Dimitri's route showing him as a mass murderer. Once again, I want to express this isn't me saying Edelgard's quest or goals are wrong and the plot should undermine it. This is me saying that for a game that wants to genuinely have nuanced and uncomfortable political choices made by their character, this is the route where they opt to alter the scenario so that Edelgard is the most justified and does less things that one could find objectionable. Flattening a lot of interesting implications this would raise and what Byleth as a force in this route could possibly able to influence.

Now one could again say, well the reason Rhea wasn't captured because Edelgard didn't use crest beasts this time. Edelgard not using crest beasts is a sign Byleth is changing her and thus that greatly alters the future. Once again, I can see that as understandable justification, but again, my issue off only ever being able to effect this lord pre time skip comes in again. If it was possible to get Edelgard to not use crest beasts, then how come it wasn't possible for me to get Claude to have Almyra support? How come I couldn't stop Dimitri before the war? The answer is again as a game the only other narrative choice that could possibly alter the story happens in CF which is the side with Edelgard in tombs choice. And while I'm not against the idea of angry pope Rhea, but I feel making her CF's full on antagonist was almost making a straw man antagonist for your opposition.

As an aside we also know Arundel is still on Edelgard's side and he is Thales so while she might not know his entire deal, I hesitate to imagine he'd stop using crest beasts in the war over the two years Byleth was gone.

If I was going to once again alter CF to be something I would personally find more satisfying. Have Rhea captured and then have Arundel use the same rage stuff he uses on her Silver Snow. This way you can facilitate an Edelgard vs TWSITD conflict AND you still get your symbolic victory of Edelgard and Byleth killing the symbol of the crests and church. Again, Edelgard is able to do what she wanted to originally, but now we are also confronted with the role TWSITD did play in her life and allowing her to rectify it as well as truly killing the old world by getting rid of Rhea and Thales.

And final point TWSITD. TWSITD are bad. They've always been bad. And they genuinely damage the overall story of CF because this is beyond just a narrative choice, its very clear CF as a story wasn't complete. I feel confident in saying that given the numerous chapters missing compared to the other routes, but also the epilogue needs to say "Oh yeah there was totally a bunch of war against them. Totally." I know this point is probably the least controversial when talking about CF, but I still think its a glaring flaw.

So what's the tl;dr?

This is not an "I hate Crimson Flower or Edelgard post" I genuinely have no interest in debating people about characters that like or enjoy. Nor did I want to turn this into a moral argument about the implication CF. I feel like these topics do real damage to any real criticisms one can have for CF as a narrative.

Which for me, CF as a route fails to really mesh with the rest of 3H as a whole. It feels like it takes a lot of narrative ways out to avoid potentially making their lord seem objectionable, despite much of this game wanting to be about how tragically flawed everyone is. Im not saying Edelgard needed a come to Jesus moment of "Are we the bad guys?" No absolutely not. In my opinion we just lack seeing Edelgard change the same way post time skip as others have due to creating an entirely brand new setting that keeping her as a mostly the same character is not questionable. Nor does she have to do anything that could truly be seen as flawed. Things that Byleth's influence may overcome.

Edelgard is a good character and her goals are understandable. I just personally find the narrative bending to accommodate her in ways so different from the other time skips genuinely make it a weaker narrative for me.

If you enjoy CF as it it. More power to you. Please keep loving CF. This isn't supposed to be a dissuading post. This is merely me as one guy who likes a lot of FE because of the stories it can tell sharing why he personally didn't enjoy this one. Maybe I helped put it words for some who might feel similar. But this is just my opinion

If you have something you'd like to add or reply in the replies or tags please flee free, but for the love god, please be cordial about it. There is so much toxicity and disingenuous takes around Fire Emblem Crimson Flower and Edelgard and Rhea in general, that I would like for us to please be able to talk about this in good faith.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #black eagles #edelgard von hresvelg #crimson flower #rhea #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #rhapsode rambles

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rederiswrites · 2 years ago

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Ok, I swear, this one's for the people who DON'T follow K-pop, and only know BTS as some Korean boyband that uses a lot of autotune. Just to highlight some things I'm currently enjoying the hell out of from their careers. Lemme start with some context.

So in Korea, Idol is a job above and beyond just performing onstage. You are meant to be a product. An object for adoration, specifically trained and cultivated to create the sort of parasocial relationship that sells out shows and merchandise. It is fucking rigorous. It usually involves substantial economic hardship unless and until you're one of the handful of groups that makes it big. It's also blatantly predatory, and idols are chosen when they're literally kids, at most 18 usually.

Your contract with the label frequently specifies that you're not allowed to swear, smoke, date, or generally do anything not squeaky clean anywhere you might be seen, which, since they've got cameras shoved up your ass and bolted to your bed, is everywhere. Merely touching a person of the opposite sex can set off a whole scandal and get you (or the poor unfortunate you breathed near) a huge pile of hate. They're also perfectly aware that they're "just" idols, just boybands or girl bands, to a lot of people, and not considered serious musicians, even in their own country.

Idols also have a pretty short shelf-life. Korean beauty standards are, as far as I can tell, even more youth-obsessed than in the US. The oldest female artists are like, 34. There's like, one woman over 30 for every twenty under 20. Men's careers often founder on their mandated military service, which is roughly two years (depending on branch). They've got to serve that by the time they're 30.

BTS got extensions, because they're a statistically significant percent of the entire South Korean GDP. But now the elder members have got to do their service, no way around it. Kim Seokjin (Jin) went in a couple months ago, Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) a few days ago. So the group is on hiatus, there's no helping it.

That was the background. What happens now is the fun part.

The Korean government played politics, bouncing back and forth on "should idols big enough get exemptions" for years, specifically namedropping and using BTS as a political toy. BTS themselves didn't comment on any of it, and played their cards very close to their chest and said nothing about their military service. Then they did a huge concert in Busan, Korea, where they resurrected an old rap cipher which involves chanting "Fuck you I don't care, you can't control my shit", performed it with such fire that it looked like they were legit about to start a riot, and then the next week announced that they were going on hiatus and Jin was entering the military.

Since then, let's see: nearly every member has at least posted a shirtless photo, and the three youngest members have done entire photoshoots (and in one case a music video) shirtless. Jimin released a single titled "Set Me Free"--not terribly subtle--and a photoshoot he made a point of saying he'd designed from the ground up, which is SOAKED in queer symbology. I have to emphasize that these choices are all MUCH more significant than they would be in the US. Min Yoongi put an entire album full of rage and violent imagery and painful intimacy and swearing, and smoked and shot people and performed self-harm in his music videos. J Hope released an album full of dark driving rhythms utterly unlike his previous work, and broke sales records as a solo star at Lollapalooza, even while still singing and rapping primarily in Korean.

Some of the members are quieter, clearly a bit unmoored without the thing that has shaped and dictated their entire adult lives, but they're also shrugging off the idol image with deep relief. Namjoon is philosophizing and being extremely frank about mental struggles and crying on camera. Jungkook is having regular almost uncomfortably intimate lives, where he just sings along with the music or folds his laundry or even just smiles sleepily at the camera for a while. Who the hell knows what Taehyung does. Exactly as he pleases, probably, but definitely while wearing thousands of dollars of fashion and looking like the prince of the dark sidhe.

I was looking forward to this. Not to the military service, of course. As a non-Korean, I'm well aware that it's none of my damn business, but of course I don't like it. But I was looking forward to these guys slipping the leash and having lives and careers beyond the chains of idolhood. And it's been pretty awesome so far.

#BTS #K pop

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kimberlyannharts · 10 months ago

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LAST TIME ON RANGER ACADEMY: Sage is fully committing to the high school life, even if there are some obstacles like bullies, hard classes, her friend's tragic backstory, and the discovery of the Chamber of Secrets.

But there's no time to dwell on that, because it's time for the Morphin Trial, where kids are dumped in a hostile landscape to be color-coded by some weird old alien cult. Sounds legit!

It's Ranger Academy #4!

Before we begin let's take another look at that Katie cameo. Sure she doesn't do anything but drive the bus and I still have no fucking idea how these cameos work when they're appearing in-person vs those inter dimensional tubes but it's at least nice to see her

ANYWAY. Time to drop some children off to die

= So some lore stuff established already is the Bandorian Monks reside on the planet "Chromia" specifically in the "Zeo Chamber" in "Prism Peak." It only opens for a limited amount of time once a year. From what I can remember none of this, except the Zeo Chamber I suppose, was in Eltarian War's established lore, but I guess that can be chalked up to Ranger Academy being its own thing. (And for what it's worth, the Zeo Crystal itself is not in the chamber.)

= yes yes guys we get it you want that video game/RPG adaptation

= This is so valid of Theo but unfortunately for him I know what happens to PR characters with his kind of jokey, charismatic personality

= So are they going to be the book's main romance or not. I'm calling upon protection spells against sisterzoning

= NO NONON ONONONONON NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DON'T DO THIS

= So.....okay. Here it is. Here's the line

So obviously there are colors missing from the Academy and at the very least Theo's dialogue is implying that's on purpose. Which makes me hopeful for my old "Camp Half-Blood" theory that this book will end with more color campuses being added. And obviously, Theo's source isn't telling the whole story or getting facts wrong.

But. Look.

Even if Lindy's dialogue is only saying that Green and Orange Rangers don't exist in the Academy rather than the universe as a whole, the entire concept of certain colors being forbidden or unknown is ridiculous when this is a school that fully encompasses itself in Ranger history. Sage mentioned in a previous issue learning about Jen and why their library is named after her, so their adventures must be part of the curriculum. Even if it isn't, their teachers are Ranger alumni. ONES THAT HAD GREEN RANGERS ON THEIR TEAMS. Their bus driver was KATIE! She can't talk about Trip, her best friend? Crueger never brings up how Green is the third-highest ranking ranger at SPD? I think this wouldn't even annoy me so much if they weren't equating Oranger Rangers (of which there have only been three official ones in the franchise, with others being so-so canon) to Green Rangers (of which there's only been. four seasons, I believe? where there was no Green at all). I know Power Rangers wants Green to be special but it just simply doesn't work because by definition, it isn't.

I think this would only work for me if a) we establish that the present of Ranger Academy is set either extremely far in the past or extremely far in the future, where Rangers either barely exist yet OR it's been so long that the canon we know has been shrouded in legend or b) we didn't have the alumni ranger cameos and we establish this school is completely cut off from the established canon we know. And the last one doesn't work because they clearly want the cameos to be one of the main gimmicks of the series. So idk. It's probably Ranger Academy's biggest headache for me

And just in general I don't know how "forbidden colors" work when the students' color is just chosen based on what the Monks see inside them. It should be unique to them, not based on a criteria that can pick and choose or throw out different options.

ANYWAY. The trio finds Kartyr and Maev and, unsurprisingly, these children are about to die

= what's with Green Rangers having to rescue their rivals that suffer broken ankles. Oops, spoilers

= Sage has only been part of this school for a few months and she's already indoctrinated into their religion

= Kartyr is such a hater for no reason. You should be connecting with your green-haired brethren

= Also I just realized that Kartyr is most likely a Xybrian yet he doesn't follow the naming motif that Trip and the Supersonic Rangers did. I won't hold it against the author as the Supersonic Ranger origin story is pretty obscure but still, it's funny to me.

Though wait if he's a Xybrian shouldn't he know about Trip and how he's a Green R [I am yanked offstage via a giant hook]

= Okay guys I get we're using MMPR theming but are really trying to say Pink Rangers are good pilots? Because what, Kim had flying zords? That's getting a little ridiculous. What's next, Pink Rangers are all amazing archers?

= Maev becoming Yellow was a little surprising since Mathis is already a major character who's yellow, but at the same time I'm really not sure.....what the guidelines are to what color each person becomes. It feels kind of arbitrary at this point tbh. Though maybe it's just because I don't really know Maev as a character yet compared to Theo, who fits the Black Ranger archetype like a glove

and speaking of which

= Lindy not being able to morph genuinely pissed me off like. Again. What are the guidelines here. What about Lindy isn't ranger-worthy. Can I just call the Bandorian Monks racist for denying a Black girl the chance to morph because I think I'll just do that

= SHAME SHAME SHAME SHE HAS THE MARK OF THE DEVIL (her novelty lightning bolt coin turned green, a color that has never existed before this)

#mmpr comic #text #comic recap #RA 4

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zerodaryls · 1 year ago

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For the ask game! 16, 37 and 43

16. have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you didn’t?

yeah usually like cussing out my toxic family members but then i didn't because i realized it was healthier and more effective to just cut them off entirely <3 i could have verbally destroyed my stepdad with a single sentence but i am actually better than he is so instead i just don't talk to him at all lmao

37. favourite actor/actress

idk if i have one, because usually my favorite actors are just whoever play the blorbos of whatever series i'm currently fixated on, so it varies from time to time. and even then i wouldn't say they're favorites because i just like their characters, not necessarily them as a person (side-eyes d*rk and dw*ght) lmao.

hmm, in honor of the origin of my url i'm gonna say Bill Pullman.

he's just so iconic and i'm always happy to see him on screen and he gives me a whole heckin' lot of gender envy lol i have literally taken photos of him to a salon and been like GIMME THE HAIR (he has had the same goddamn hair style his entire career, i dare you to find a photo of him where his hair isn't this same basic style lol like it varies in length but it's always the same cut and i LOVE it)

he's in like. so many of my favorite movies. Zero Effect (blog url inspo), While You Were Sleeping (fave romcom), Brain Dead (fave psychological/existential horror movie), Independence Day (...one of my fave sci-fi/alien movies), Spaceballs (...I wouldn't actually call this a favorite movie of mine tbh but like it's so fucking iconic I can't not mention it), AND there's this super cringe scene in Mr. Wrong (terrifying movie, it's billed as a comedy but it's legit a horror film to me lmao, do not recommend) where he sings Hold The Line by Toto (my favorite band) really badly and it's just. So iconic. almost ruined the song for me. almost. (no one can ruin Toto for me. 'tis not possible.)

43. favourite song ever

oh come on you can't do that to me, i can't pick a fave song ever, that's not a thing, i don't know how to do that :')

but as i mentioned Toto... it's gonna be one of theirs, lol. i can't even choose one goddammit i'll do a top three (stRUGGLING EVEN TO DO THAT... THE 'TISM CANNOT CHOOSE)

gonna put Rosanna first because it's the first song I remember rocking out to when i was like 3 years old in my car seat and telling my dad to turn up the car radio

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next up Can't Stand It Any Longer because EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS PERFECTION, from Joe Williams' vocals to the melody to the beat to the ALL THE MUSIC TERMS I'M NOT EDUCATED ENOUGH TO COMMENT ON IN DETAIL hskjdfhkjsdhfdjksf

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aaand as much as it pains me to only choose one more i'll go with one from the Isolation album so you can hear another vocalist (the amount of vocalists this band has had... and they're all so talented in their own ways and GAWWWWWWD I LOVE THIS FUCKIN BAND SO MUCH I'M GONNA SCREAM),, anyway here's Endless:

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i could literally talk about Toto all day so i'm gonna have to cut myself off here before this becomes an infodump lmao

............actually i'm gonna put one last song because it came up in the recommended sidebar and Joe is fucking adorable in this video and gives me a lot of gender envy and YES THAT'S PAULA ABDUL DANCING,, WHY WASN'T THIS ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST HITS I DON'T UNDERSTAND

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....a..and... um... listen i hate listing 4 things because that doesn't feel rounded out so here's one more to make it a nice rounded 5,, featuring Steve Lukather as a BABY (okay he's like 21 but he looks like a baby) and because I can't list a bunch of Toto songs and not feature any from their 70s era:

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i need those rainbow suspenders.

...okay sorry sorry i was entirely possessed by my autism for a minute there 😅 thus concludes the post. thanks for the asks and for opening up my big chaotic box of obsession lol.

#i am DETERMINED to make everyone who only knows 'Africa' get to know more Toto songs #because yes yes obviously Africa is a fuckin JAM and ya gotta love it #but they have SO many good songs it's almost impossible to even keep track of lmao #ALSO i'm so curious Chio... i hear Toto has/had a massive following in Italy so i wonder if that's still a thing??? lol

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dr-jem-nutcase · 2 years ago

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I got bored so I made some MvA parenting HCs

Susan

Her kids are probably named after their grandparents and/or great-grandparents

From day one, her lock screen and home screen on her computer, tablet, phone, etc. are pictures of her kids

The best monster with babies

Does her best to be really gentle, considering her size and strength

Holds her kids when they cry (no matter how old they are) and puts together/orders their favorite snack if they had a bad day

The type of mom who lets her kids' artwork cover the fridge doors and later keeps them in a box in her storage space for all eternity and only throws away stuff like any food crafts that started growing mold

Lots. And lots. And lots. And lots of pictures and videos

Bedtime stories every night, no matter how she feels. And almost always from a book

If she has daughter, she LOVES styling their hair: pigtails, curlers (for stuff like Christmas pictures), hair clips, you name it

As a former fashionista, she loves coordinating her kids' outfits. But if they don't want to wear matching outfits, she'll respect that

Watches a movie first to see if there's anything she thinks is inappropriate and keeps her own streaming accounts under lock and key (albeit digitally). She wants to protect her kids' innocence while she still can

Handling the other monsters in occasions like their two visits to Modesto (in the movie & Halloween special) gave her plenty of practice for handling problematic kids

The teen years are hard because she's learning to give her kids some sense of independence and just the fact that they're growing up, as much as she always wants to be there for them. Just wait until they graduate high school and leave for college

B.O.B.

Everyone knows he means well but they know better than to leave him alone with a child. It'd be no better than leaving a toddler alone with an actual baby

Has a baby doll or animal plushie instead and takes VERY good care of it...until he gets distracted

So yeah, no different from a three-year-old with a baby doll

Link

More comfortable being the uncle type than a dad

The awkward but fun uncle who lets his nieces/nephews do a lot of the things their parents wouldn't allow like staying up past their bedtime, wrestling, driving his jeep before the legal age, having Twinkies and root beer for breakfast, etc.

He goes into a mild panic when he loses sight of them

He tells the kids embarrassing stories about their parents in their younger years

He'd also teach them "valuable life lessons" like how to give someone a wedgie or actually legit stuff like "follow your heart but for Pete's sake take your brain with you"

Ok, now to the parent part!

NOT fond at all of late nights or early mornings when it comes to babies and kids

Scared to death of holding babies, even if they were his own babies. Like he's gonna accidentally break them or something. Also he's also very uneasy when a baby cries in a close proximity, like he has no idea what to do, like how do you make it stop?

You know what? Be a dear and don't leave him alone with anyone under the age of two, just to save his poor nerves

Rarely calls his kids by their names. He calls them nicknames like kid, squirt, slugger, champ, etc.

Likes to roughhouse with his kids but has to remember not to be too rough. Lets them win in a wrestling match and then denies his defeat, playfully of course

Lots of beach trips and trips to anywhere without cold water. Those kids will learn how to swim before they learn to walk

Lets them turn up the volume on any music. Anything except classical, traditional country/bluegrass, 2000s-early 2010s boy bands, or anything that gets easily gets stuck in your head ("Let It Go" was the worst 3½ minutes of every day for at least 1-2 years)

Mess with his kid(s), and he'll knock you into next week

He would rather have his kids go after sports and athletics than chess, spelling bees, or piano lessons. He says, "how are those gonna prepare them for the future?"

Handles teenagers better than the other monsters. He's a cool dad

Graduations and sports games/competitions? Proudest papa there ever was

Dr C

We already got to see a bit of dadroach in the TV series, but let's add some more, shall we?

Measures their height and the circumference of their heads on a regular basis as they grow up, a nod to Marie Curie and her 2 daughters

Helps out with their homework, that's a no brainer [TV show h/c: Smarty is strictly forbidden to help, as much as he and the kids might try]

Sets curfews, limits their amount of screen time and junk food, works out a nutritious balanced meal plan complete with daily vitamins

Wants everything, from media to pastimes to outings, to be educational and intellectually stimulating but enjoyable, which he has to work on the latter

Posh and elegant upbringing. Girls are brought up as fine ladies and boys as refined gentlemen. Not that they can't be rambunctious or play tough sports or anything, but they're brought up to not slouch or put their elbows on the dining table

In the meantime, he has to try to remember to not be an overly practical parent. As Link says, "Doc, you gotta let a few of their brain cells rot every now and then"

Reads books on child psychology every night, albeit when everyone else is asleep. He's quite thankful for these

Nobody's allowed in his lab [area], not until they're in high school. Though one time 1-2 of the kids snuck into the lab when he was away. He found out about this later; he didn't say or do anything, no grounding or lectures or anything, but he installed security cameras around the area with a big warning note on the entry way

Has a really hard time with teenagers, probably the hardest time out of all the monsters or Monger

Embarrasses his teenage kid(s) to no end. Most of the time he doesn't mean to. The lame "dad" jokes (like "cat's me-wow") and the maniacal laughter are always gonna be the death of them

Graduations? He wants his kids to go on and succeed in colleges and universities but he has had to learn and accept the fact that it won't be the end of the world if they pursue something else besides a degree

(Criminelly! I really need to relearn to draw this guy again!)

Insecto

Two words: Mama Bear

Makes this soft purring sound as a means of comforting

Monger

It's kind of a sick idea to make a 90 y.o. man a father to children, so let's time travel to the 1940s-60s

His kids are early risers, no sleeping in

They wake up every morning to that same bugle wake-up tune from the military

Instills patriotism into them. They stand for the national anthem with their hands over their hearts, know the pledge of allegiance, etc.

Nobody gives an evil eye like Papa Monger

They eat whatever's set in front of them at the table. No ifs, ands, or buts

The upbringing and memories of his Mama Monger are his bible

The only lazy days are Sundays. He holds that old school/southern regard that Sundays are different from the other days of the week (he's not religious btw)

If he has daughters, they're going to get their hands dirty. No sense in get a manicure hours before working in a barn, so prettying up is for special occasions only

His sons are manly men and are taught how to treat a lady

After-school activities other than homework include helping out at the farm and extra PE

Thinks public school PE is inadequate and "for sissies". His kids might as well train for the army or a post-apocalyptic world: chin-up bars, rope climbing, the mother of hopscotch, target practice, survival skills, even parkour, etc.

Takes them camping every summer, and we're talking tents, campfires, etc. No glamping, let alone any electricity (except for flashlights)

The only pets allowed are herding dogs (collies, shepherds, heelers, etc.). They're not just pets; they're working dogs for the farm too. They get to sleep on the front porch, much to the kids' chagrin

Believe it or not, he gets pretty uneasy when it comes to a girl's time of the month. He hides it pretty well though. Shopping for female sanitary items and any food cravings is one of his worst nightmares

Probably the most intimidating dad to meet if someone wanted to date his daughter(s)

Nobody's allowed to use his jetpacks, though he does want to teach his kids how to use a parachute. They'll get one of their own when they turn 18 or 21

On their graduation or wedding day? so proud that he could cry...if he hadn't lost his tear ducts in the war

Invisible Man [my h/c is that he had 3 kids, so let's go!]

Was pretty stinkin excited and nervous about being a dad. He fell in love with it all on the day his eldest was born

His eldest, a boy, is an almost literal clone of him, minus the invisibility of course

The favorite parent hands-down

Waited until his kids grew up a little to take them on road trips or any special vacations because he wanted them to remember those experiences for themselves. "You can't take a six-month-old to the Grand Canyon." He told his wife. "They'll never remember it!"

The type of dad that hugs his kids and picks them up when he gets home from work

Best piggyback rides in the world

Didn't mind it one bit when he carried his sleeping kids to bed, even if they pretended to be asleep

Bedtime stories every night to the best of his ability. Most of the time, he'd ditch the books and create his own stories

The one way his kids could REALLY make him mad was by disrespecting their mom in any way, shape, or form

The warmest his heart had ever been was when one of his sons told him, "I wanna be just like you, daddy". That man was over the moon for quite some time

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komodocomics · 11 months ago

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making my own Tumblr year thing

My cats are probably gonna brawl into 2024 lalala

Thinking bout five nights at freddy's

The god damn aroace chicken run image is for sure my top post ever can someone explain why its such a hit

I need to see my Oc komodo mauled by a tractor on a farm for 2024

FUUUUUUUCK 2014 WILL BE TEN YEARS AHO FUUUCK IM GONNA DIE OF OLD AGE AT THE RIP AGE OF THREE MONTHS AND TWO DAYS

what was popular this year cause I've been living under a rock last time I knew what was popular was 2014 and then the 2019 YouTube rewind can someone hold my hand and tell me

I NEED TO MAKE MORE YAOI AND FURRY ART FUUUUUUCK

can someone show me lizards like anything lizard related I need this always and forever

My Tumblr recommendations ruined cause the fnaf wave o 2023

WHO IS BAD BUNNY WHY IS THIS PERSON POPULAR I LEGIT DONT KNOW WHO THIS IS

What the fuck is doctor who about is it good

The door creaks gently as I go to tuck in my three or more fursuits and kiss their fuzzy foam or paper mache heads goodnight

Im gonna schedule this for lik 9 or some shit so I can hide in my polar bear den under the ice as humans go ballistic cause a ball dropped or some shit

New things that happened this year: I did artfight went insane for a month,my blog reproduced via asexually and made three sideblogs Dan Phil and Sam (look at pinned post for the links) ,digital art,fnaf insanity which I still have to draw fnaf movie art but I had fnaf artblock, gmanweatherreport drew bara komodo after requesting I draw bara komodo,I need more things to get obsessed over that isnt half life or fnaf pretty much,

Does anybody know of a video game which was a survival game and u had to collect food and water maybe medicine, it had snow but Idk if it was a weather changing game, I watched this lady on YouTube I think 2016 era and she found this house that looked like hers and too the right of the front entrance was a dog house like her house and a field was also on the right side and something howled I can't remember if there was a monster or just false jumpscares like howling or something falls off a shelf stuff. The path to the house was a dirt road I think but covered in snow more like slush snow tho almost gone and trees were lined up on both sides of the road. Can anyone find that cause I have tried and have not found it. One of my must find games cause I remember it well and thought it was cool. Oh and I think it was like top of the line Xbox 360 graphics style

#Hi 2024 can u not be a bitch #Seriously what is popular now and what is that game #Gonna put this is my favorite tag #Refrigerator

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revjem · 7 months ago

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Shuffled playlist tag game

Rules: you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to. Put a playlist on shuffle, list the first 10 songs and then tag people :)

Aight, I was tagged by the lovely @crickets-lovely-place so this is for her specifically. I the playlist I chose is the one that I've spent the most time curating, it's called Rule of 3 and the concept is simple, I choose three kpop songs that are Thematic in some way (usually the title itself but it could be a specific lyric, the songs sound or smth else)

It's not the most accurate to what I listen to generally cuz there are songs on here that I don't just listen to otherwise, but again, I've spent a lot of time on this playlist of currently 164 songs.

1. El Dorado by EXO - This song is grouped with Wonderland by Ateez and Atlantis by SHINee. It's such a good song an absolute bop! 8/10

2. Good Lil Boy by Ateez - Grouped with Pretty Boys by the Pentagon Rap Unit and Big Boy by T.O.P (formerly of Big Bang). This song honestly needs to be listened by everyone, it's one of the best Ateez b-sides 9/10

3. Red Moon by KARD - Grouped with Not by the Moon by GOT7 and Luna by Oneus. Red Moon goes incredibly hard, KARD consistently goes hard and because of BM's time growing up in Brazil their songs have some great Latin influences and Red Moon is no exception 11/10

4. Spider by Hoshi (SVT) - This song actually recently lost its place in playlist, cuz it had been paired with Venom by Stray Kids and Pink Venom by Blackpink, but it's been replaced by Sweet Venom by Enhypen. I just haven't removed it yet, cuz it's so good. I'm hoping to find it a new home. Spider is so good, and his performance video is a Much Watch. Ugh he's so good! 9/10

5. Good Love by KARD - Grouped with Like by BTS and After Like by IVE. Ooooh a second KARD song, Lets go! Good Love is a really fun chill summer time vibe, again with nice Latin influences, KARD only has Like 6 minialbums, everyone should listen to their whole discography but I digress. 8/10

6. 100 by NCT 127 - Grouped with 100 by SuperM and 100 Ways by Jackson Wang. One of NCT's least stupid songs, it does start out referencing a 1000cc engine tho so it's still stupid. God I love NCT. 100 is a pretty good gateway song to NCT tho. 7/10

7. DDU-DU DDU-DU by Black Pink - Grouped with God's Menu by Stray Kids and Doom Du Doom by P1Harmony. No intro needed, everyone knows DDU-DU DDU-DU it's an instant classic, a true banger YG give BP more comebacks 10/10

8. CALL by Stray Kids - Grouped with Don't Call Me by SHINee and Call Me by BTOB. This song is so lovely, Stray Kids are so good! They DO NOT MISS. A chill lovely vibe. My heart yearns 9/10

9. Doorbell Ringing by xikers - Paired with Thats a No No by Itzy, I need a third "Dont kill my vibe" song still 😫. MY BOYS! Xikers is just over a year old at time of post, and i love them! They are gonna be at the top of the industry for 5th gen. As of their third mini-album this is a top 5 xikers song! It's legit so good! It does not kill the vibe, it IS the vibe! 12/10

10. Jopping by SuperM - Grouped with Horololo by EXO-CBX and Sorry, Sorry by Super Junior. WHEN WE JUMPING AND POPPING WE JOPPING!!! BROS This song is IT (it being the very beginning of my descent into the madness that is stanning NCT) But fr this is an absolute banger, you will be jopoing by the end of the song, I have no notes, everyone needs to hear this song STAT! 100/10

I'm gonna tag @plaid-n-converse @emperor-xerneas and @freelancerofthetriforcekeyblade

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muppetsfan243 · 2 years ago

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My Two Cents on this whole Thomas Sanders/Sander Sides Situation as an Old Viewer

AUTHOR'S NOTE - Wow, this post turned out to be way longer than I anticipated, so here's the TL;DR if you don't want to read the whole thing. I'd still recommend to do so, but yeah. TL;DR - I think Thomas Sanders and his team are valid for taking a long time to work on stuff like the Sander Sides finale, but I think some criticisms the community has are valid too, and it's nice to see people in the Thomas Sanders community speak up about their criticisms. Alright, as I said in my previous post, I dipped out of Sander Sides about two-ish years ago, mainly because I myself was growing out of the series. With all due respect to everyone who works on the show past and present, I didn't like that episodes were starting to become more story-driven with heavy morals and deep meanings, to me, it was no longer a short light-hearted series about random everyday subject matters with comedy and skits to pace it out. But of course, that's just a me thing, it's clear that the direction Sander Sides went ended up making the series a huge success and I don't fault people for liking the series where it's at or what it's become. If you enjoy Sander Sides, that's great, more power to ya! Anywho, I don't know how or why, but on my "For You" feed, I stumbled upon a post criticizing Thomas for a recent update video he made regarding his content overall, saying he was making false promises and that they are tired of being given these false hopes every year when they never come to be. That post led me down a whole rabbit hole on Tumblr of many users criticizing Thomas on a lot of things, mainly the communication with his fans.

Admittedly, a lot of the posts I've found I have mixed feelings on; I said this in a reblog/repost (whatever it's called on this app, I'm still learning), but a lot of them feel as if they don't understand what goes into making a big project of any kind. You can check out my reblog of Rixitup's post if you want my full thoughts on that matter, but in short, speaking as someone who is a small creator who has big visions for things I want to make in the future, it can take a lot, and I mean a LOT, of time to create something to be the way you envision it. Sometimes it may take a few months, other times it can take a couple of years. I don't know Thomas himself, nor do I know what his thought process for this finale and the series as a whole is, but if he wants the finale to look a specific way, then I can understand why he and the team have been taking so much time to get this finale going. Remember, the world is still opening back up from a pandemic we went through for about three years, and especially given where Thomas and his team are located, I wouldn't be surprised if that has played a big role in halting most of the production on the finale until now.

With all of that said, however, I will say, for those who have, it's really nice to finally see some people in this community give constructive criticism regarding Thomas Sanders as a creator. When I was part of the community, I remember having all these feelings regarding Thomas' work and especially Sander Sides, including how I felt the show has become a bit too serious for my liking and how the show has become less light-hearted. But often, I'd keep my mouth shut because no one else within the community that I saw would ever give out any sort of criticisms regarding them. The only times I would do so was with friends who were into Thomas Sanders' stuff, and even then, I was often frown upon, some saying my opinion was invalid because Thomas works so hard to get this stuff out. And don't get me wrong, I genuinely believe he does! The enthusiasm he puts into his non-series videos seems legit. But it felt like in this community, you weren't allowed to criticize Thomas, Sander Sides, or anything Thomas Sanders related, like Thomas was a god who could do no wrong. That was another reason why I left the fandom, to have your voice not only be unheard but also invalidated, that hurts a lot, especially in a community that's meant to be respectful to one another.

Now in early 2023, to see a slew of people constructively criticize Thomas, Sander Sides, and other things, it feels so....nice. It feels great to know that I'm not alone in thinking or feeling certain things for many years, namely...

The Lack of Light-Hearted Comedic Episodes - Again, I think with where Sander Sides is now, this isn't an issue, but it is something older viewers like me miss a lot. Remember, Sander Sides didn't start out as this story-heavy/driven series with many plots and lore, it was originally just a fun side series Thomas did to discuss different topics or moral thoughts he had in his mind, expressing them with some comedic banter with his Vine characters, plus one original character. That was what drew me into the series and I wish we had more smaller videos like that inbetween the more story-driven ones (and also ones that weren't just simply ads), they're just a good breather from those episodes.

The Need of Communication with Fans - Now I personally believe that Thomas doesn't owe the fans anything in terms of the actual content in question, as at the end of the day, it's up to him of whether or not he feels comfortable with doing whatever he's creating/making. The only thing I would say he does owe to his viewers, though, is just updates and explanations as to what's going on. He doesn't have to say when episodes or stuff are coming out, it can just be simple stuff like "Hey, we're about to work on X and Y regarding this project!" or "Gonna be taking a break from this for a bit." I know the big topic right now is the season finale, but I'd like to point out "A Recipe for Me" and how long that took to get out there. Now I'm not gonna blame Thomas for how long it took to publish the song, I'm sure there's a lot that goes into creating a song from getting musicians, a composer, a company to distribute and handle the copyrights for the song, and much more. My issue is that the music video specifically features a ton of fans who paid a certain amount of money to be featured in a future video. This was at a New York event in August of 2017, and the music video didn't come out until late 2019; Thomas never gave out any updates between then as to what this video was or when it would come out. I don't know, to me, that feels a little bit rubbish; if I paid a certain tier to get featured on something, especially if it's hyped up in an advertising campaign, I'd like to know any updates on how that video is going along. I know there's also some controversy with the Patreon stuff, but I can't really speak on that matter, as I never participated in his Patreon page, mainly because I'm not interested in it.

Character Derailing - This one's a little bit more simpler than the previous two and is definitely an opinion thing, but yeah, really didn't like how some of the characters have been derailed once the show switched permanently to a story-driven format starting with "Accepting Anxiety." Whether or not it's because of the whole "orange side" plot, I personally don't know, but I miss it when characters like Roman and Patton were a lot caring of the other Sides or how Logan had a soft spot for the others but rarely feels comfortable to admit it. I don't really know how to describe this one right now, I've been writing this post for too long. XD

Of course, not all of the criticisms I agree with and some of the posts under the hashtag #tscritism do feel a bit more mean-spirited than genuine criticism, but overall, it does feel nice to know I'm not alone in thinking these things for so long. Especially after being shamed upon for having some personal criticisms with Thomas' content, reading some of these posts made me feel a bit better.

All that said, I'll leave you all with this note. It's okay to criticize someone you look up to, someone you like, no one's perfect, no one's gonna be this god of a person, an almighty being and such. It's important to acknowledge these criticisms as they can be used to further improve someone or something. However, don't go sending hate to Thomas and his team or push them to get stuff like the finale out. To me at least, it's clear that they have a specific vision for how they want this finale to go. Do they have to do it this way? No, they could just do a simple video inside Thomas' living room and call it a day. But that's not what they want the finale to be and that's okay. If they want this to have multiple sets, musical numbers, be four parts, then they do them. At the end of the day, it is Thomas' creation and he deserves to end the season (or series, I can see this being the series finale too) however way he wants to.

That's my two cents, definitely a lot longer than I anticipated. But hey, that's me for ya, I have a lot of thoughts to share on certain things, and I guess this is the first time I let a few of them out here on Tumblr.

#thomas sanders #sander sides #tss #tss critical #tss critic #tss criticism #ts criticism #creator #content creator #creators #two cents #entertainer

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peppertaemint · 2 years ago

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different anon but i feel like i'll die waiting for a tm x jm collab (yes, i'm dramatic) and lately I've been thinking about kai x jm as well. The three of them have been my fav boys for years and now that jimin is (kind of) free, I can't stop thinking about the possibilities, even though I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, especially because I don't remember the last time we saw a SM artist and a hybe/bighit artist interact 👀 and i'm just speculating, but I find it weird how since bts started to open up a bit, they started mingling publicly with artists under different agencies but not a single one of them from SM, not even invited to the JITB party? ANYWAYS I hope this is just me being paranoid and subconsciously looking for drama, because I need some things to happen and I don't have the time for them to play montagues and capulets

Oh Anon, I do think there is probably at least the undercurrent of legit drama somewhere in all of this, but it’s not quite Montagues and Capulets. It’s BTS being isolationist for the last few years that makes it appear that way.

If you look back at old vids, there was lots of interaction between BTS and SM groups, most notably SHINee IMO. Jonghyun praised them on his radio show, and there are cute vids of baby BTS in their orbit and having cute exchanges. Minho worked with Taehyung, too, and they have some cute moments. One underrated gem is SHINee going HAM over a cover BTS did. SHINee really are those ppl everyone stares at like wtf is wrong with them. BTS are performing an old school Shinwa jam and yeah, they like it too much LOL.

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But you want mingling and interaction and collabs. Realistically, unless private social events are shared publicly, we’re only going to see stuff happen at events. I don’t know the full guest list for the JITB party, but I had wondered if Key might be in Jhope’s orbit for a few reasons. The question will be who might be around when Jimin goes on music shows with Taeyang? It would be cool to see Jimin mingling with everyone.

If you want to see recent instances of Hybe artists interacting with SM artists, then look at TXT and Enhypen. They both have shawols as members and there are lots of recent things. I think Nikki reunited with Key just this past year (he was part of a baby SHINee performance as a kid 🥺).

Back to the matter at hand: will we ever see Jimin with Taemin or Kai in public for work or fun again? It really seems unlikely because when was the last time we saw him with that friend group? Obviously he’s still close friends with Ha Sungwoon and he seems to be the person Jimin does the most with. There’s no reason to think they aren’t all still friends.

Remember the dance video of Kai, Ten and Taemin? How cool would it be to have Jimin in something like that? I just see a bit of a problem with this happening. Black Swan was the last artistic dance Jimin or BTS did. It’s been years. And look at the collab choice. This is dance “lite” - I have no idea if Jimin is interested in pursuing a dance heavy solo career. Hybe’s strategy for BTS still sounds very US top 40 to me. The Taeyang collab certainly has some of that. RM’s Indigo was majorly US top 40. And let’s be real. Although SuperM’s sales were fine and they have loads of US fans, their sound so far doesn’t match that. We can argue till the cows come home about how American culture and presence have influenced the Kpop genre as a whole, but I still wouldn’t describe most SM artists as capturing a contemporary US top 40 sound. I think SM has a signature sound (which it deviates from at times) and that they lean toward timeless or classic or even out-of-time with their music. So I don’t know. I can see why artists from labels like YG are a more natural fit for BTS collabs. There’s also a stronger k hip hop influence there.

So will there ever be something of a collaboration? Who can say? Sigh.

#sorry this is a ramble #but realistically they probably aren’t a good match for the type of music #kpop #kpop ask #jimin x taemin #Jimin x Kai

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kylekozmikdeluxo · 1 year ago

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I wanna talk about a song for a minute. It's an older song, at that. I'm out of touch, so I get to do that-

'Mrs. Toad's Cookies', by Klaatu, from the album MAGENTALANE, 1981.

Klaatu, a Canadian rock group that was largely active circa 1973 up until the release of this album, has a fascinating and somewhat frustrating history. If you're into the music of the 20th century and weird pop cultural phenomenons, I recommend reading up on these guys who some dingus on the East Coast posited were The Beatles reunited under an anonymous name... Due to similarities in their music and that of the broken up Beatles', and all these "clues" that this guy thought were indicators... Basically, most conspiracy theories are either dumb or some bored person making up shit. Much like the legendary "Paul is Dead" mythos, much like everything you hear from Fox News or head from Alex Jo- So, this silly little theory in turn blew their record sales up some few months after their debut album - 3:47 EST - came and went in the U.S. in the bicentennial summer. Sales which then plummeted after Americans found out who these three Canadians actually were and wrongly took them to be Beatle impostors. Yikes... Tough crowd, eh? A shame, because they were - to these ears - a legit great group. Their music, I feel, is like an ELO/Beatles/Queen-esque love letter to late '60s pop music innovations mixed with a naive, almost midcentury Walt Disney-ian sci-fi wonderment (they even have an unreleased song called 'Thank You, Walt Disney', to ram the point home) and whimsy.

Anyways, 'Mrs. Toad's Cookies', off of their final album...

If THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and FROG & TOAD were song, it'd sound a lot like this, I reckon. You also got a toad with a tummy ache after gorging on tons of sweets, hey look it's me! I.B.S. problems, ya know?

This chorus is particularly interesting to me:

Ooh good is good and bad is bad As anybody knows But too too much good can be as sadly sad As too much bad you know

Whether it's Mr. Toad eating all the cookies, or Mrs. Crow picking all her flowers, we have two characters getting a little excessive here and facing some consequences for their actions... And in a sort of whimsical way, almost like a moral being softly stated in a children's picture book, we hear "too much good can be as sadly sad, as too much bad you know". It really is a charming picture book in song form.

As a 30-year-old AH-dult, I sometimes struggle with... I don't think addiction is entirely the right word, because it isn't drugs or alcohol. But I have "addictions" of sorts, I'm very bad with time management, and I tend to put too much focus on some things and not other things. I don't balance all of my commitments well, especially when I'm going through things.

I was diagnosed as autistic as a small child, about 5 years old, in the late 1990s. I was never diagnosed as ADHD, but learning from fellow ADHD-havers, it sometimes *can* overlap with autism. And I feel I have A LOT of the ADHD symptoms. One I learned via a YouTuber thru an exclusive video of hers elsewhere, which I think cleared a lot up for me... One thing some people w/ ADHD do is that when something major is going to happen in a few hours, the ADHD-haver *does not* engage in ANYTHING else until that big something happens... This is almost me to a tee. I regularly do this with work, visits, appointments, meeting people, etc. It's like preparation, laser-focusing on this ONE thing but leaving out the other stuff...

And UH OH, I'm behind on making comics, I'm behind on making art, I'm behind on watching the massive Burj Khalifa-tall list of stuff I've never seen, a-GAHHHHHH! And then, as a coping mechanism of sorts, I'm on my computer again! I'm on my phone again! I'm (NSFW topic) again! I'm going on a looooong drive again! I need to balance things, and be better with time management, and be able to steadily commit to all the things I want to devote my time to. Comics, art, going out, handling work well, and living a pretty cool life outside of the house too.

It's largely because I've moved out a few months ago, I feel kind of lost these days because everyone I know or have known is either MAGA or leans right while I'm slowly transitioning into being an enby/genderqueer weirdo, my job that I've had for eight years kinda sucks these days, the job search is T-O-R-T-U-R-E and the rent and other things that cost green paper are looming.

All this, over a song about a toad who needs to book it to the toilet.

Here's the bridge of that song:

Do you wonder will tomorrow be a better place Well that only time can show But if we put our heads into a better space Then maybe we could make it so

I know, Klaatu songwriters... Specifically Jon Woloschuk and Dino Tome... I know... I'm gonna keep trying...

#klaatu #song #music #self reflection #self callout #self care #mental health #autism #audhd #adhd #anxiety #OCD #a shitpost kinda #80s music #rock music #Youtube

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bylightofdawn · 2 years ago

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Alright, I got about 3K written and the next part is gonna be a doozy Jaster's about to get some not happy fun news...hell it's not like it's a HUGE SURPRISE but he's going to find out Montross betrayed him and it's gonna be a s h i t s h o w.

And absolutely no one but Jaster was surprised, especially with the less than subtle hints I've been laying down. So that's going to take a while to write and since it's 12:30 I'm going to be a good girl and call it quits even though I high key cannot wait to write this terrible confrontation.

EDIT: Also, I'm gonna take a sec to edit and interrupt myself. I WROTE 3K WORDS IN ONE NIGHT. HOW FUCKING AWESOME IS THAT? And I've been regularly pumping out that word count which is how I've written like prolly 70K words in like 3 months. Maybe more I need to go back and look and see how much I'd written a few years ago when I started Seeds before my writing urge ran away from me.

Just did the calculation and it's rough but I'd written 11K of Seeds. With chapter 21 (not including 22 since I'm not adding stuff to the master doc until I'm done with a chapter) I'm at 103,000 words. I've written 92,000 words SINCE JANUARY. I can't even comprehend that. Like my brain cannot wrap itself around that large of a number. I get PANICKY thinking of a number that large and wondering how the fuck that happened. I wrote that? Me? It does not compute.

I am allowing myself to pat myself on the back for that accomplishment. I set out with an unofficial New Year's resolution (which I studiously never make because I feel like I always fail) to try and write a little bit a day. Well jokes on me because I've exceeded that expectation and resolution with flying colors. So this is me giving myself some well-deserved back pats and acknowledgment that I am awesome.

I'm not the greatest author out there, I have a lot of room for improvement but I am working on honing those skills, and that deserves to be acknowledged.

OKAY back to blathering on about Hot Toy's displays and diorama shit.

Instead I will write it tomorrow and try to get to bed at a reasonable hour. I want to take a second to blather on about something totally different. I've got three Star Wars Hot Toy's figures, my favorite boys Rex, Obi-Wan and Cody that I've picked up over the past few years. They live in an Ikea display case at the top and I love looking inside and seeing them but man I get so bummed at how shitty my display skills are.

I legit watched a Tested video today and Norm did this amazing customer display of like the new Bo-Katan hot toys figure displayed hanging from the ceiling seemingly in mid-flight descending on Mando. He apparently did it BEFORE he saw Mando S3 and he like a lot of us thought there'd be this huge confrontation between them. Anyway it looks amazing and I know I could never do anything that cool because 1) I lack the skill or experience. 2) I'm not backed by fucking Tested and have access to a $4,000 glowforge laser cutter to make custom acrylic cuts etc. Or a high end 3D printer etc. Suffice it to say that shit is an EXPENSIVE barrier to entry.

I have debated off and on spending a couple hundred dollars on a 3D printer and teaching myself how to do 3D modeling. I think it would be hard but I think I could teach myself how to do it. But it's justifying the price to even start. I have no interest in teaching myself how to do this and flipping shit on etsy with dozens of other people selling diorama pieces or turning it into a business. I don't think there's a lot of money to be had that way to be brutally honest and there's again dozens of sellers already doing that.

So I'd be literally investing a couple hundred dollars just to creatively challenge myself which isn't a bad thing. There's the satisfaction of learning a new skill and in learning. I just cannot justify the price just to satisfy my curiosity. I HAVE debated starting smaller. Like trying to do custom diorama bases all old-school and such. But I feel like there's still prolly a lot of up front money for supplies, prolly need more tools than the simple dremel I have. I don't even own a drill LOL I've been using my poor dremel as a drill for projects around my apartment and that has a very limited size of bits it can fit. Hell I wrestled with justifying buying that years ago, it was like 90 bucks and I've prolly realistically used it less than 10 times in like 5+ years.

I might still try it. I think I'd like to do a sort of desert /Utapau-inspired base for Cody and Obi-Wan.

Cody's figure actually came with a sandy textured base but Obi-Wan's was smooth. I ended up getting some 'action posable' stand off of Amazon which are hexagonal shaped and click together so I could display them together. Rex I'm just using the stand he came with which already has the bendable 'action' pose so he looks like he's flying. In a very lame and totally uninspired way. But we make due with the skills we have until we are willing to put for the effort to sharpen them and improve.

So really, I feel silly even whining about hating my display skills when I haven't managed to even move past the want and thinking stage of trying to improve it. I could buy a premade stand prolly for 50 to 100 bucks but that's a lot of money. Shit people are nuts, they are charging 50 bucks for what is essentially a full color vinyl sticker. Ya'l are joking, I know what that shit costs thanks to my years as being a printer so I could 100% get that made up for like 20-25 bucks at my local sign shop. Maybe less, I'll be honest I've been out of the game for a few years so it could be less or more.

People are charging stupid prices for those cool looking 3D printed ubiquitous Empire-inspired star destroyer panels. Like to the tune of 70 bucks for one panel like 4x12 panel. Which I'm sure is ALSO way overpriced. So technically I guess BUYING a 3D printer and making my own might end up being cheaper in the long run but....bro.

I think I could prolly get my hands on chipboard and maybe glue together a couple of layers and hand cut out the design though I suspect it wouldn't be as neat or clean. But it's cheaper than the shit they sell on etsy. Pffft I could prolly go by a print shop and see if they have some larger sheets. I do have some sintra left over from years ago when I attempted to make my set of Tobirama armor which is way stiffer but I nearly cut my finger off with the cut off wheel on my dremel soooooooooooo I'm very nervy around using the cut off wheel. LOL

I might find a thinner version online the stuff I used was like 1/4 thickness or something meant to be used for signs. Coroplast would be an excellent choice if it didn't have the visible ribbing where the expanded foam channels weren't so obvious. But that easily cuts with an exacto knife. Hmmmn I wonder if there would be a way of covering it maybe with plastic dip or something they use for foam sealant on foam armor? You can apparently sand that down.

That might not be a bad choice for like flat surfaces. And I'd be covering it with a sandy texture anyway. Just don't know if it can be heat formed. I might have to hit up Juan and see if he'd be willing to sell me a couple sheets of coroplast to experiment with. There are also things like paper mache, but ugh that shit is messy and I've had limited success making props with it in the past. Same for foam clay though I think with a couple of layers of plastidip it might not look as bad as the stuff I've done in the past.

And hell that's prolly less than 20 bucks in materials to just play around and find out. I love I've spent 30 minutes just typing up this long, meandering flow of thought. This is totally the quality content I'm sure people have followed my tumblr for.

But again it's post midnight and post midnight Gremlin brian!El is not responsible for the shit she posts. Maybe I should put that as a disclaimer on my blog. :P

Look it's Star Wara tangential. at least.

Of course, the problem with a small town is the only hobby store in town is Hobby Lobby and I REFUSE to give them any of my money so I might have to drive into San Antonio to Michaels to get some hobby crap. Or continue to support Daddy Bezos which I'm also not super hot on though it's become a sort of necessary evil at this point.

Man I wish I could go back to 10 years ago me when I didn't have to debate ethical consumerism cause it kinda sucks and I miss that obliviousness.

#el's random thoughts and hobby talk #what do you mean you didn't sign up for this shit #post-midnight El is unhinged and a Gremlin who was fed after midnight #it is star wars adjacent #and fandom related sorta #now with some much needed self-affirmation #and acknowledgment I have written my ass off these past 3 months.

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