#i recognize the target audience for this is... well... me but that's also true for everything else i post so

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Summary:

Some short character studies on the notes of Madonna classics.

Do you all remember cassettes and tape players? They were so much fun! Oh, man, I must have spent hours rewinding my tapes with a pen. What a delightful experience that was. I should go for a little scavenger hunt in my bedroom and see if I still have a few around!

... ahem, anyway, have something short and fun inspired by my car karaoke sessions to Madonna's Celebration album. Let me know what you think, if you'd like! Hope you enjoy!

[eightstarr]

pacify — sevika.

summary: is it possible to miss a stranger, or does one thing negate the other? maybe you miss sevika because she isn't a stranger, because she stuck her claws far too deep in you and never let go— or just because she looks really fucking good sitting there, looking at you like she's waiting for you to say "hello again".

warnings: mild descriptions of violence, smut (mdni!), pre time jump sevika!

notes: my thesis with this one is that eating out a woman you love will revolutionize you in a way nothing else can and i'm joking but also dead serious. also dear god please me and who… okay bye i love you

・。.・゜✧・. ────

“You know, I’ve always liked this place the best.”

It’s the first thing you remember him saying, blue uniform to match his now slightly reddened eyes, vile alcohol in his breath. You’re at a different bar, not Vander's, the first actual job you ever had if you don't count what came before— the shiny rock of a stranger’s ring in your pocket, another’s gold coins in your bag, all from the quick trips to the city above with your father. “It’s not difficult to steal from a Piltovan,” he’d say, squinting at the engraving on the inside of a sparkly bracelet, a small bounty spread over the kitchen table, “they’re all show, all ego.”

Now watching the smirk on the Enforcer’s face after he downs his fourth glass without taking a breath, a laughable skill for an audience of no one, you find it hard to disagree with your father’s assessment. The well nurtured instinct to wonder what you’d get if you slipped your fingers inside the pockets of his tailored jacket grows loud and tempting in your head, but you shove it away and keep your eyes on the dusty floor you’re meant to sweep, determined to keep this job.

“The drinks are better than up there, I’ll give you that,” the drunk man continued, half empty fifth glass tipped dangerously towards the brooding barman, your only coworker tonight. There’s barely anyone left in the bar at all except a couple regulars. Tension has been brewing through the entirety of your shift, an argument in one of the booths during your first hour, a drink on someone’s face by the third, a wave of tired scoffs when the man in uniform walked in near the end of the night; the last nail on the coffin. In your head, you’ve listed all the possible exits you could use to escape enough times to memorize them.

The man takes a surprisingly controlled sip, thin lips furrowed in a grimace. “Wish it was enough to make up for that fucking stench.”

The air in Zaun is different to foreigners. You’ve never minded it the way they do. It's your air, the first to ever fill your lungs, the one you’re so used to that you can feel the way it shifts— the way it becomes a stench, as he called it, when blood is about to be spilt.

The barman does, to his credit, offer you the chance to leave. Or orders it, morelike, his sharp eyes meeting yours and then a tilt of his head towards the door. Maybe he pities you for the nerves splashed all over your face, or maybe he’d just find it a shame to lose an employee he hired barely a month ago. “You. Out.”

“Out?” the Piltovan repeats, turning his head, his voice grossly high pitched. “Why? What's gonna happen now?” he’s drunk enough that you notice the seconds that pass before his eyes properly focus. You remember the exact way his smirk faded, the deep-set wrinkles between his eyebrows when he recognized your face, a nauseating anger. “No. No, you don't move.”

Enforcers never go anywhere alone. Maybe the man had just remembered this, just now realized the true risk of his cockiness when it's not backed up by two or three of his colleagues. Maybe that's why he finds it easy to target you rather than the angry figures lurking in the tables behind him. Maybe that's why he draws his gun so fast.

“I know you, little thief—”

A woman approaches at the same time he does, and you don't know why exactly you decide to focus on her instead. A plea, maybe. You remember the dull gray of the brass knuckles on her fingers, the thick leather belt hung around her lower waist, the thump of her boots against the old floorboards. You've never noticed her before. How ridiculous it feels to think that she was there all night. How lovely that she could be the last thing you see. There's comfort in her being there, a morbid, sad thing that feels almost like company. At least you’re not alone in the room with the monster, at least there's someone to watch you die. 

Her hand falls on the Enforcer’s shoulder and she pushes him back with little effort, the quickest movement, almost without thought. The man stumbles (blame the well praised alcohol or Sevika’s strength), and the glass that had stayed in his hand shatters against the edge of the bar at the same time his gun fires a loose shot to the wall behind you.

Next comes a blur, a vague memory of hearing the Enforcer hiss in pain, a thread of red spilling down the open palm of his hand.

“You got somewhere to go?”

Her voice is the first and only thing that brings you back, the only sound louder than the heartbeat pounding in your ears. She sounds smooth, clear-headed, not like a woman who just stepped in the middle of the fastest paced violence you’ve ever encountered. Gray eyes move across your face, then the rest of you, and you quickly look down at yourself as if to check along with her that you’re actually unharmed.

Your lips feel awfully dry when your tongue brushes against them, enough air passing through to let you breathe, but not quite talk. You nod your head and remember in a rushed, distorted thought— somewhere to go, yes, home, now.

Sevika returns your nod, small praise, an odd way of saying something like good job. Less odd than the quiet satisfaction you feel for having earned it. She tilts her head towards the door, short black hair brushing her shoulder, her voice the kindest you’ve ever heard to this very day. Perhaps the thing you remember most. “Go on, love.”

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

Years pass, deaths and joys and new odd jobs, and you still think about it. She sits at the back of your head like a softly worded reminder. And then one day, as things go, you find her again. Her making a deal at the back of The Last Drop, you behind the bar serving drinks.

There's a chance she doesn't remember it. What are the odds that she thought about you at all after the incident? You were just a stranger on a random night. It's not often that people fully understand the weight of what they did for someone, the trickle down of an action, of a kindness. There's a chance for you to go home, alone and unchanged. Instead (and not for the first time) you work for an hour longer, unpaid labor for a chance to serve her a drink.

Sevika doesn't come every night. You see her maybe once a week, talk to her maybe once a month. You don't expect tonight to be any different, but—

“You gonna watch me all night?” she mutters it into her glass, swallows the last sip before she looks at you. The are tiny wrinkles beginning to form on the corners of her eyes now, along each side of her lips from her smiles. Watching her is entrancing, the easiest thing you do, as natural as drawing a breath. “What are you still doing here?”

You blink downwards at the washed glass in your hand, continue to dry it like it could ever be half as interesting as being under her spell. “Working overtime.”

“Vander can't afford to pay you overtime,” Sevika scoffs, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smirk. 

You frown, maybe a little flustered. “He—”

“She's right. Why are you still here?”

The man himself stands tall to your left, glaring at this one permanently stained spot on the bar, working at it with a rag like he hasn't tried the same thing a hundred times before. There are dark shadows under his eyes, a purple hair tie on his wrist— Powder’s, if you were to guess. You’ve grown close to Vander since you met him, even closer when he hired you to work here. “‘S not a favor,” he’d said, quickly catching the suspicion on your face. “Just a gesture to him.” Turns out a lot more people knew your father than you thought; Vander isn’t old enough to have grown up with him, but they still found ways to end up at the same places. If he hadn’t been so secretive about who he was beyond the man who raised you, maybe you would’ve met Vander years ago, became friends at some bar in your teen years instead of at a diner a few days after your father’s funeral. But gaining a friend is a timeless thing, it obeys luck, not sensitivities. One day he wasn’t there, and then the next he was.

You spray some cleaning liquid over the spot on the table, roll your eyes as he leans closer to wonder at how the stain begins to slowly fade. “I’m working,” you repeat.

He looks at you from the corner of his eyes, one eyebrow raised. “I ain’t paying you.”

“I know, okay? It's fine,” you cross your arms over your chest, embarrassed to have been caught even though neither Vander nor Sevika seem to know what the real reason behind you staying late is. “It's a busy night, take it as a favor.”

“I can't afford favors.”

“Good thing they’re free, then,” you deadpan.

Sevika chuckles at the banter, forever amused at your unreserve, how simple you make things. It makes no sense to her to be that generous, that open, but it makes even less sense to think that you’d be any other way. Sevika isn’t particularly trusting, but she is loyal— the more you talk, the more watching you becomes addicting, her thing. She fixates on learning new things about you, clings to your words like a cat to its owner’s scent and wonders, over and over and over, if you remember her. From all those years ago. From last week. With you, she’d take anything.

And when she does finally see you up close, finds a good enough excuse in asking you for fire or a refill, there's little you could ask that she would say no to. It's senseless and thrilling and above all, it's true. She feels it down to her bones, painfully clear, like it's written all over her face.

“What do you do, Sevika?”

Sit and wait for you, she thinks, and instead replies, “What?”

“For work,” you clarify, your hand against the bar, leaning slightly forward. “I see you every week and I still don't know.”

You do know what she does, at least as much as anyone else does— too little to run your mouth, enough to stay away. And if you didn't know, you know her enough to be certain that she wouldn't tell you. It's a pointless question. Unless, of course, you’re as infatuated as you are.

Sevika takes another gulp of her drink, her eyes tracing over the line on your waist where the apron ties behind your back, the soft curve that the pull of it forms. She needs a smoke. “Same shit as everyone else,” she answers, and palms her pockets for a cigarette case. “What do you do? Other than this.”

“This is it,” you watch her flick open the case and shrug. You don’t sound particularly sad or frustrated, just plainly aware. “I pour drinks for people who all seem to do the same shit.”

Sevika hums, sets the case down, a click of metal against well worn wood. An unlit cigarette sits between her index and middle finger. “Be honest,” she starts, and it's the same voice that's been talking to you this whole time, but the gruffness still manages to catch you off guard. “Am I just as bad?”

You chuckle, the same addicting shimmer of genuineness in your eyes that she chases everytime you speak. “Just as bad as what?”

Her eyes follow your hands where they go to pull a lighter from the chest pocket of your apron. “The drunks that flirt with you while you do your job,” she lets the cigarette hang from her lips and leans forward.

“Hm,” you hum. The reflection of the flame sparkles in her eyes before you pull it away, orange against gray, odd and pretty. “I don't know.”

You’re not sure if she looks amused or slightly offended. It's a nice view regardless, the way her eyebrows lift and her lips curve downwards for a second before she breathes out, spilling smoke from her mouth as she talks, “You don't know.”

“I guess I didn't realize you were flirting with me.”

Sevika chuckles, a tiny half moon of a smile line on her cheek when she smirks, smugly aware of the way your eyes are looking at her. “You’re funny.”

Sevika is loyal. It would be easy to say that she doesn’t get what this feeling is, that it’s meaningless, that she doesn’t understand it— but she knows. She knows what it is even if it goes unnamed, because she’s the one deciding to keep it, stubborn and tight gripped, close to her heart. It’s in her dreams, in her first thought of the morning, in the disappointment that sours her mouth when she doesn’t find you at the bar. It’s in her stomach, tugging with need, when she looks at your face and realizes that if she asks if you wanna go home with her tonight, you will say yes.

She takes the leap. Parts her lips, names herself yours. “You wanna get out of here?”

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

You rarely pour your own drinks anymore. It’s a funny thing— Sevika doesn’t ask about your preference, which liquor is your favorite, if you’d like for her to do it for you. She figures it out like she does most things, making a study out of it, watching you enough. Maybe a little extra, too. The cork slides up with a pop!, her fingers around the neck of the bottle. The warmth of her still lingers on your thighs, your own fingers sitting restless over your lap now that her hair is not close enough to play with.

It’s been months since the first night she came home with you. You wouldn’t yet say that the newness is gone, or that you’re as quick of a student as she is, but there are things you know about Sevika already. Vivid truths, bright like the visions of her in the sunlight that you dream about sometimes. Reassurance is one of the first languages you learn from each other.

For Sevika, it's almost always about touch— you notice it immediately at the core of most of her silences, the way closeness makes her demeanor shift to something calmer, more true to herself. Slide closer to her on the couch and her arm will find itself around your shoulders immediately. Pat the empty spot next to you on the bed and she’ll let out a heavy sigh of relief, join you in sleep instead of torturing herself about tomorrow’s line of business. Part your lips when she's kissing you late at night with no goal other than to kiss you and she’ll let out a sound that vibrates through you and changes her mind on what was once an innocent gesture; she’ll tug your shirt off instead. Brush your hand over her shoulder when she's resting her head on your lap and she’ll guide it to her face instead, a lazy hold on your wrist while your thumb brushes her cheek. Coming to love her is the warmest science. But it’s not always exact.

You watch her pour you a drink at the bar table that sits in front of your bed— watch the dark hair that sits against the nape of her neck, messy and loose, watch the waistline of her pants sitting low on her waist, watch the bareness of her back. If there’s a reason why you decide to say it now, you don’t yet realize it. The words just spill out of you before you have a chance to stop them. “I remember you, you know."

Sevika’s hand hovers over the whiskey glass before she hums, resuming the movement and bringing it to her lips. "You didn't say."

“You didn’t ask,” you rest your back against the bed frame, watch her carefully.

The air sits still and you see her shoulders lift, muscles shifting as she shrugs, a big gulp of golden liquor sliding down her throat. Her voice comes in a mutter, low and almost shy, "Thought I might scare you off.”

The idea is so ridiculous that it's almost laughable. A startled chuckle dies in your chest and leaves room for aching sadness, your back leaving the frame as you lean forward and pray for her to turn around. "He was going to shoot me. Nobody moved a finger but you, Sev," you shake your head, try to manage your expression from saying too much, from confessing to something that’s been inside of you for years. At the tip of your tongue sits a raw desperation for this exact unraveling, for her. "How could you scare me?"

Another moment passes before Sevika turns to face you, lower back against the edge of the table, holding her drink down by her side. She won't look at your eyes— can't, maybe. You wonder if she's considering leaving, if she's already decided that she will, as soon as this is over. A part of you, small but dramatic and loudly pessimistic, is surprised that she’s entertained you this long. Even more surprised when she asks, "Is that what this is?" a turn of her head and the gray in her eyes finds you in a second, mechanical and unforgiving, the snap of a bear trap. You don't think you could look away if you tried. "Are you here because you think you owe me something?"

Your reaction is something close to a flinch, your frown deepening, feet firm on the floor instantly. "You can't seriously think that."

Sevika feels the regret come instantly. It splatters on her face, the pads of her fingers rough when they're brushed over her cheek to wipe herself clean of it like she does blood, gunpowder, fear. She watches out of the corner of her eye the way you part your pretty lips and can hear it in her head, imagine it so clearly, you asking her to leave. 

She's already reaching for her coat to make quick work of obeying your wishes when, instead of that, you ask, "You wanna know why I’m here?"

Sevika lowers her hand and the glass hits the table with a thud. Her head tilts to make the slightest nod— and that's as much of an answer as you'll get, you think.

“Look at me,” your finger sits under her chin, a touch barely there, the rise of her head more her choice than your doing. “You’re good, Sevika,” she grimaces, feels like she's swimming in gross viscous shame older than herself and barely surviving it. You press your thumb into her cheek, firm but kind, and keep her from being swept away by it. If she used to find your openness sweet, right now she finds it fucking miraculous. How can you call her good and mean it, how can someone else know so deeply that she could be, that she will be, when most days she doesn’t even know it herself? How can she look you in the eyes and deny you that truth? Her face relaxes, grimace replaced by an aching need as she listens to you. “I see it better than most, but they all catch up eventually. Whatever you put your mind to, you’re fucking good at it,” you pause, try to read her expression and find yourself unsure, but calm. How lovely to think that there's still so much to learn. “You don't owe me and I’m not trying to change you… you don't need—”

Sevika rests her hand over your cheek, a warm hum from her throat to acknowledge what you're saying, a desperate shake of her head to say but I do. “I need you,” her forehead falls against your own, in her brain a chant of please.

You look at her through your lashes, nod your head and feel warm, warm, warm. Her hand guides your face closer, a needy pull of her fingers where they press against the back of your neck, your whisper of “me too” spilled into her mouth. Sevika kisses like there's nothing in the whole fucking world she’d rather be doing, nothing that could possibly distract her. She has kissed you in nightclub bathrooms even with someone's knocks shaking the flimsy door, in alleys with her knuckles still bloody from a fight, dangerously close to opening hours with your back against the very bar where she rests her drinks every night. She's hungry, insatiable, and every time you can't wait to part your lips and let her in.

It takes godlike strength to hold on for as long as you do, but there's power in making her wait too, a satisfaction that feels drunk and just as divine as it makes its way down your spine. A few more chaste kisses take seconds or a century, and Sevika indulges them for as long as she can before she breaks, falls to her knees at your altar and breathes, “Please.”

There's nothing you like more than hearing her beg, except maybe what happens after you give in— the relief, the sigh against your mouth, the wet warmth of her tongue and the desperation in the way she pushes her body against you like she hadn't til then realized just how famished she’d been. Her hands wrap around your waist meanly, pressing indents, and you're too busy soothing your own hunger on her lips to realize that she's switched your positions.

You feel the harshness of the table against your back and pull away to look down, catch up, your daze maybe a little too obvious judging by the curl of her mouth. She's panting as much as you are, though, tongue peeking out barely to brush over her lips, tingly and wet from your kisses. “Up,” she says with a tilt of her head, more a warning than a command, her hands already down on your hips to get you sitting over the wood.

Sevika is a sight, pretty and inviting and overwhelming— you reach for her waist and pull, entranced by the way she follows, the way your legs interlock. A thin layer of sweat glimmers over her chest and you've never found so much beauty in the undercity’s humidity, never felt yourself get wet as easily as she makes it, never been so desperate to find some relief from the aching between your legs. Your thighs squeeze into Sevika’s and looking up to meet her eyes feels like a punch, like the sweetest blood, a sea of glazed-over gray barely visible against the black of her pupils. A mirror of your wanting; how the hunger grows when it meets reciprocation this delicious. You lean forward to taste it from her lips and she meets you halfway, a hand traveling up your spine and ending at your neck.

You don't know when you started grinding against her, but you know you want more. And you know Sevika’s holding back, savoring the same power you’d tried before, a smirk against your lips when she feels you speed up, hears you moan from somewhere deep in your throat. It suits her, the way she holds control. Sevika likes to wonder if she’d ever hold on longer, make you really wait. Sometimes she thinks she might, and then (like now) your voice fills her ears and clouds every thought that says anything other than please, god, fuck, let me make you feel good. “Don’t be mean,” you say this time, breathy and achingly sweet. “Please, Sevika.”

The first grind of her thigh against your pussy makes you end a kiss with your teeth biting into the meat of her lower lip, rougher than you intended. “Fuck, Sev—” you say, cut yourself off with a gasp when she does it again. Sevika figures out the angle unsurprisingly quickly, a hand on your hip and another on your ass to guide you back and forth at a rhythm that matches the movement of her own hips, enough fervency behind it that you know she needed this as much as you did. Maybe more, judging by the groans she spills on your neck every time you press up into her.

Full lips kiss at your pulse, open mouthed, her breath cool against your skin when it meets the wetness she left there. Your nails rake over her shoulder, over her scalp where your fingers are buried in between strands of dark hair— and when Sevika groans it sounds raw, a broken noise, her hips moving desperately faster. You can feel her warmth on your thigh and you've never wanted so badly to have her undressed, laid out, rubbing her pussy against you, leaving a mess on skin rather than the fabric of your pants. She's getting carried away, you know it, chasing her high and barely giving you a chance to catch up. You've never wanted anything more than to let her use you.

“You feel so fucking good,” she grunts, wrecked with need for you to pacify when she lifts her head from your neck, her eyebrows furrowed. You watch her get lost on your lips and you can imagine what they look like, how plump she left them, how the pride of that must simmer in her lower abdomen. Her thumb brushes over them once, then again, and you barely register that she's asking for permission before your mouth moves on its own accord to let her index and middle finger inside. It's filling, just what you needed; how beautifully unsurprising that she knew it more than you did, or that she needed it just the same.

You're fully caged in now, your back pressed against the wall, Sevika’s free hand on your waist still steering you back and forth on her thigh. “Too— hm, fuck,” her fingers slide out of your mouth and press wet indents into your cheek as she holds your jaw, traps you in her eyes. She’s far too gone to warn you but she doesn't have to, it's so painfully clear. Her eyes two dark pits to swallow you whole, lips parted, the grinding brutal and so fucking good— she says it until she can't form the words anymore, her head tilted back, thighs stuttering and tightening around your leg as she comes.

Your tongue tastes the skin of her bared neck and you feel yourself get closer and closer, fed by the feeling of her nipple under the pad of your thumb, by the shaking moans she spills into your ears as you keep grinding against her. Sevika must feel it too, in the same way you did, notice the change in your breath or the speed of your hips— because she pulls away and knows to soothe the needy desperation on your face with a messy kiss before she gets down on her knees.

“Shh,” her shushing comes soft and agonizingly kind, your whines barely contained as she presses kisses to the inside of your thighs. “What happened to my patient girl?” she asks, a tilt of her head and a smirk, the meanest angel.

Your palms press onto the table to lift yourself up enough to let her slide your pants and underwear off in one motion. “Spoiled me too much,” you answer, your mind foggy, drunk on the sight of her kneeling in front of you.

It takes Sevika a moment to reply, the pads of her finger pressing into your thighs. Her eyes meet yours and she wants to tell you, how could I not? You’re not trying to change her, you’d said, but you do. These days, she doesn't think about anything else like she used to— I love you prefaces everything. I love you, so I’m winning this stupid fight and making some money. I love you, so I gotta get home alive. I love you, so I think we could change this city. I love you, you should have every-fucking-thing. But Sevika's not really a woman of many words, especially not when you're looking at her like this, especially not when she's this hungry, so she shrugs her shoulders and says (like it explains everything, and maybe it does), "Look at you.”

The intensity of her makes your legs squeeze together, but you barely make it an inch before she’s pulling them apart and hooking them over her shoulders exactly how she likes.

Your face feels like it's burning, heat crawling up your neck, your grip on the table tight. “Please.”

Sevika barely manages to pry her eyes away from where you're open and glimmering, soaking her fingers after just one brush of them against your lips. Her voice comes out strained, drowned in hunger. “Please what?” 

You must sound worse, but the thought barely registers, hardly matters. “Please, Sevika, make me come.”

And she does— pretty nose bumping perfectly against your clit whenever her tongue is too busy inside you, her lips shiny and wet and relentless. Like everything else, she's fucking good at it.

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer and the "i love you as a person" message

skip to loafer general spoilers

one thing that i'll always be very grateful of skip to loafer is really how they highlight so much the "i love you as a person" mindset — and how that is present in all the narrative, not only on shima and mitsumi's relationship.

this is not only important for the story's target audience, but it also opens the door to a discussion about the value of platonic relationships, which are often "denied" because they are not as "important" as romantic love. and this happens not only when mistumi tells shima that she will like him no matter what happens or who he is — the message spreads to other characters as well.

one of the examples i love most is the moment mika confesses to shima. throughout the chapter, all of her insecurities are exposed and she tirelessly hurt herself saying things like how she doesn't deserve to have someone who likes her in any way (a reflection of the way she was treated throughout her adolescence). this dissolves when shima refuses to throw away the valentine's gift she made especially for him and thanks her for all the care she took with it — an affirmation that her hard work has been recognized and appreciated. this shows mika that she is a person who deserves love and to be valued. for the first time, mika understands that she is being seen as a person, as someone who deserves to be treated well and be recognized.

i know that many people must be thinking that there was an intention for a romantic development in this scene and yes, i agree. after all, mika went to him to confess her feelings. but the way in which the scene was handled makes me think that being seen as a valid person to have feelings was worth much more to her than having her romantic feelings reciprocated — and this, in my opinion, comes back to prominence in chapter 54, when nao, once again, recognizes her pain and connects with it (the appreciation of the "self" when you find someone who understands where you’re hurt).

(...)

(this part wasn't included on the original analysis, but later on I decided to add:

oh my god i was so focused on some very specific scenes for mika that this one slipped my mind and i feel so bad for that! this moment is one of the most important for mika’s development and it also highlight the first time she was seen as a person (by no other than nao). since that day, mika holds nao to a very important place in her heart. i feel that she, at that time, said exactly what mika needed to hear to feel validated and to feel comfortable enough to just go back and spend the night with the girls. if it wasn’t for nao at that time, mika would probably go home and regret ever making this decision — and this ties directly to chapter 54.)

(...)

the second character i want to talk about is yuzuki and all the times he had his identity erased thanks to other people's selfishness.

since the opening of chapter 38, yuzuki talks about how she was always seen as someone whose time was numbered: there was a countdown until the day she achieved "true beauty" and began to be an object of desire, no longer a person. this not only happens thanks to the disgusting adult men that surround you, but also thanks to the friends she tried to make in middle school, one of the most important times of a child’s life, phase where they are beginning to recognize themselves as a person.

yuzuki is simply seen as a object of status to the boys in her class, while to the girls, she’s someone who was only interested in "diminishing others with her beauty" — something she never did, but never even had the chance to defend herself. 

Thanks to that, yuzu is forced to grow up without having an identity of her own, but one forced on her, causing her to rebel and refuse to open up to new people. she had her feelings denied, being defended only when there was a sexual/romantic interest in the mix and forced to believe that she was being selfish for denying such a privilege of being "spoiled" and "admired" by everyone, all the time.

yuzu gets her chance to be valued as a person when she enters high school and meets mitsumi and the other girls. she is, for the first time, seen as a person, seen as a yuzuki, seen as someone who has the right to impose herself and be selfish, something she has never been able to be before. her feelings are not diminished or seen as "not valid enough” but most importantly: she’s finally heard. 

and then, i think we have one of the most important “i love you like a person” moment: the breakup chapter. chapter 46 is a huge twist to skip to loafer’s romantic narrative, which i myself appreciate a lot. kind of a personal twist here, but it’s a breath of fresh air for someone like me, a demi girl, who always had a little trouble with understanding love when i was their age — and now, basically ten years later, mitsumi’s words not only reached shima, but it also reached me and other thousands of readers who needed to hear something like that.

but well, let’s get back on track. chapter 46 is one of the first times we see shima talking about his past relationship with other people and going a little more in-depth with his relationship with his mom. the core message of it all and the core line that guides all of his personal connections is very simple and highlight why shima have so many trust issues: no one ever saw him as a person, but only as a status object, as someone who was there to be used for their own benefit. shima was used by his mother when she forced him to keep on acting, was used by his peers in a situation a little similar with yuzuki (ofc not completely equal, because we need to remember that gender roles also have a huge influence on how both stories developed (see ririka, for exemple. i have a whole thread on her as well, but this is another topic), when both felt like they were nothing but puppets to the ones around him. 

when shima is sitting by mitsumi’s side, he starts to wonder if he really deserves all of that, if he really deserves someone like mitsumi near him. he doesn’t understand his feelings as a whole, because he was never given the opportunity to really explore them and try to dissect it all — this is brought up once again on chapter 53, when he starts to discuss with mukai what it means to love someone in a romantic way (and why loving them as a person isn’t enough on society’s eyes). 

he’s not, at any point, using mitsumi or making fun of her feelings. imagine if you were never allowed to think for yourself and then, suddenly, you have the freedom to do so. how does one express something they never had? how does one understand what it means to have a feeling, any feeling, if all they ever felt was guilt?

and that’s when the bigger bomb hits the scene: mitsumi, seeing how troubled he is, shows how important he is and how she values him as a person. it might seem silly to a lot of people, but just hearing someone saying “i will always like you as a person, no matter who you end up being” when all you ever heard in your life was how useless you were, makes you whole world crumble on the spot. he was seen, he was heard, he was understood. mitsumi valued him to the point of assuring him that a romantic relationship wasn’t more important than the platonic one they had. isn’t that beautiful?

to finish it off, i think the conversation the girls have on chapter 57 is also extremely important to the narrative and to the overall message. by not wanting the girls to see shima in a terrible light, mitsumi is, once again, putting their relationship as friends above any other romantic relationship they could have. she shows how much she values him and how much he is important to her — she sees shima as a person, not as an object. 

and then, makoto comes to picture with a beautiful speech about how loving someone (any kind of love, not one or another) is to hope that they are happy, content, being taking care of and being comfortable with their own feelings. by forcing someone to feel anything you selfish want, you’re not valuing them as a person with their own feelings and insecurities, but only seeing them as a way to satisfy yourself.

of course, i’m not here to defend everyone and say that they never hurt anyone. yes, shima did hurt mitsumi and she still not completely over it, but she’s way worried with losing him as a friend than forcing something out of a relationship that both don’t feel very comfortable with. mitsumi herself is also someone who is slowly understanding her feelings and understanding what it means to love romantically — but never putting the platonic side aside, since there is no right way to love someone.

thank you so much for reading!! i hope i was clear about the points i was trying to bring up, but i'm always open to discussion!!! 💛

[autism-alley]

hi originally posted this at the end of a long thread of back and forth, here’s the og post if you want full context but i feel like this needs to be its own post especially bc i keep seeing this argument being made—the argument that the kids (in this case it was annabeth) SHOULD just know the monsters are monsters and who they are and how to defeat them before ever encountering them, that it’s a problem if they don’t.

the problem is not if 12 year olds should recognize a trap when they see one, even if they’re smart 12 year olds, and if that’s realistic. that is entirely beside the point.

the problem is rick riordan wrote a book series whose formula is bringing myths to the modern age and he’s not sticking true to that in the show—percy jackson and the olympians’ Shtick is taking these classic, ancient threats and giving them a new face. these traps work because these kids are not walking into a cave marked with Get Out and getting ambushed by monsters—the monsters are disguised as harmless mortal human beings, in harmless mortal human being places (for the most part) and i think we—and more importantly, the show—are all forgetting the mist, the magic involved here. it’s not just that medusa is a “creepy lady with her eyes covered” it’s that there is ancient magic at work here, magic that, like the systems of abuse pjo exists to criticize, has been evolving and continuing its malevolence for millennia. it’s formulaic, that’s the point. it’s the same trap you’ve learned about all your childhood, the same trap a thousand children before you learned all their childhoods, and still, it works. you fall into the trap. because that’s how generational abuse works. it’s a trap. it isn’t enough to learn monsters exist, what they look like from a second hand story that originated thousands of years ago. if you want to escape alive, you have to adapt as quickly as they do, recognize their face, and ultimately, beyond any individual trap, the game itself has to change. real, generational change.

so. the problem is rick riordan wrote a series with a formula for action that perfectly captures the overarching, systemic conflicts he was commentating on, and then threw that formula out in the show because it was “unrealistic”. i don’t give a damn about realism when it works to the detriment of the story. this is a story about generational abuse, yes, but it’s told through ‘a tale as old as time’ and that’s why it works so fucking well. and when it comes to basic storytelling, if your characters know the threat before they even walk in and you do practically nothing to then make up for the stakes you have removed, that’s a flaw. now you’ve lost the entertainment value for your audience, on top of also lessening your themes.

something else that is so. honestly soul-crushing as a writer and a creative, is that to me this is reflective of the way we are now afraid to tell earnest stories. stories where we care not for listening to the people who want to pick apart fictional, mythical, fantasy stories for not being “realistic” instead of aligning with our target audience who acknowledges reality is not what makes a story. think of your favorite movie, show, book, comic, what have you—has the reason for your favoritism ever been because it is the most reasonable, the most grounded, the most practical out of any you’ve seen? or is it because of the emotion? the way it speaks to you, to your life and the person you are? the journey it takes you on? is the percy jackson and the olympians book series so good because it’s inherently realistic?

the secret to storytelling is, very simply, focus on your story. everything else is secondary. if it’s written well, it doesn’t matter to me that the characters walk into a trap that, to the audience, is obviously a trap. because i can understand how the characters don’t know it, and how the story falls apart if the narrative just tells the characters it’s a trap from the jump. that’s what dramatic irony is—first used in greek tragedies! this is literally a tale as old as time in every sense except for the end—where it’s happy. and it’s not earned if we don’t first see, over and over, the status quo as a tragic trap.

it’s not about if annabeth (or the other kids) is “smart enough” to not walk into a trap, or about if she’s just too prideful to not walk into what she knows is a trap (or any reason that could apply to the other characters), it’s that annabeth, at the end of the day, is a character. she is a storytelling tool for the messages of the narrative. that doesn’t make her any lesser. in fact ignoring it reduces her, because it reduces what she represents. it’s about how rick riordan, or whoever else at disney, has fumbled the storytelling bag so ridiculously hard that they can’t take the simple, effective formula outlined from start to finish (by good ol 2009 rick himself) and adapt it to the screen without answering the most unimportant, derailing, anti-story questions.

[reccyls]

William's Chapter 0 Story

Yes I bought it... And boy, I like where it's going. I went a little more loose with this translation to try and capture the atmosphere better. As always, I make no guarantees about the accuracy.

Also, this doesn't really spoil anything. It mostly covers only the prologue.

---

If life were a fairytale, then achieving happiness would be a simple matter. Keep your hands clean, obey orders, be good and dutiful, and don't stray off safe and well-lit paths. However… if your heart yearns to go down a different road, then would quashing your true desires truly lead to a "happily ever after"? My answer? No.

---

William: "Slice your throat. Drag it out for as long as you can."

Not a single person that Crown has set their eye on has ever escaped. Tonight's target was no exception. The man couldn't even scream as his trembling hand raised a knife. I held in my hand an envelope I had found in this mansion, stamped with a "golden butterfly".

(That I'm seeing this once more means…) (Evil is something that cannot be stamped out through punishment alone.) (Not them… and not me.)

If you asked 100 different people what 'evil' was, you would get 100 different answers. Absolute evil does not exist. Rather, if it did, it would be something that lurked in every individual person's heart. Something that they found unforgiveable. Something that, if they forgave, would be betraying the essence of what made them, them.

(To me, that absolute evil is when one tramples over another's freedom.) (And the worst offender would be this "golden butterfly".)

I had no issues with doing harm so that I may pass judgement on those who commit the unforgiveable. If this were a story, that man and I would be painted with the same brush: evil.

Alfons: Quite a pathetic end, isn't it? Being ordered to "keep your mouth shut" so you can't even scream in your final moments.

Elbert: …It's because we'd be in trouble if his neighbors got suspicious.

Roger: Geez, what a convenient ability. I sure as hell wouldn't want you as an enemy.

William: Ahaha, I'll be sure to mark on my calendar if I plan on turning on you so you'll have ample warning.

Exchanging banter in the way only those accustomed to such sights can, I made my way over to the piano in the hall and sat down.

William: Since this is lying around, I suppose we can send him off with a song.

I wasn't thinking of any melody in particular. I simply let my fingers dance around the keys as they pleased.

Ellis: How wonderful. Now he'll be able to die a little bit happy, at least.

Jude: …Like hell he can. You crazy or something?

Everyone in Crown had their own way of facing someone's death. Those who sympathize, those who empathize, the cynics, the mourners, and those who saw such happenings as purely matter of fact.

(But what they all have in common is that they are all here of their own free will.)

However, not everyone has the ability to go where their hearts willed. At that moment, I recalled that desirous gaze I encountered earlier.

(It would be nice if that girl I met today could take a step towards realizing her desires.)

As the knife dug deep into the man's neck, as fresh blood spurted and gushed from his wound, that was what I was thinking.

--And then, the door to the hall slowly swung open.

Alfons: My, my, to think that we would have an audience.

(…That's…)

William: If it isn't the songbird I met this afternoon.

MC: U-um… what…?

I recognized the panicked woman who had grown pale at the gruesome sight before her. She was that postal worker I encountered earlier.

---

MC: Excuse me, sir, I need to deliver that.

A calm determination had settled in the gaze of the woman who came up to me, chasing a stray envelope.

William: Of course, my lady.

MC: …T-thank you.

William: My pleasure.

MC: …

I had handed her the envelope already, but she seemed to lose track of herself as she continued to stare at me.

(…Another one.)

People who had that look in their eyes almost always had something they were holding back. Things that they think they shouldn't say. I loved the moment when such people made a decision to voice whatever it was they were hiding. When I simply stared back at her silently, her calm gaze wavered slightly. And in that moment, I saw it: a glimmer of desire burning in her eyes. A surge of emotion, so strong that it was taking everything she had to suppress it.

"Lead me to another world." "Somewhere, anywhere."

Though her lips were pressed tightly together, it was as though I could hear her say those words.

(Ah.) (This won't do.)

I didn't know why, but she wanted change. There was desire burning within her, struggling to be set free. And yet… there was something else in her that was suppressing it.

(If she could freely follow her desires… I'm sure it would be beautiful.)

William: You have two deliveries left?

MC: …What? MC: I'm sorry, I spaced out-

William: You'd better hurry. It'll be dark soon.

(It's a shame, but I can't whisk you away.) (Even if that 'somewhere, anywhere' that you desired was the depths of the abyss.) (But… if you, of your own free will, were to take that first step…) (Perhaps we'll see each other again.)

---

(…Still, I didn't think it would be this soon. Or at a place like this.)

Liam: Is she a friend of yours, Will? Does she know about us too?

William: We met on the streets and had a chat, Liam, that's all. She doesn't know a thing about Crown.

Liam: Well, that's an issue. What to do…?

(If I told you to kill her for my sake, then I'm sure you would do it without hesitation.) (Though he'll live with the pain of taking a life even as he does it. What a commendable, lovable cat.)

Harrison: Terribly sorry about the scare, ma'am. But these are just props for a performance we're staging.

(…You never change, Harrison.)

Of course he'd try to give her an escape route. Though he appeared, he was truly strong at his core.

MC: N-no way…

Harrison: …You could have pretended to believe me for your sake, you know.

It was unfortunate, but her last chance to escape had just slipped by.

(Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised) (She came here because she had to, after all.)

Harrison: What do we do, Will?

William: It's obvious, isn't it? We take her to see the "Reaper of the Palace".

Jude: Tch… that's why I told you to lock the damn doors.

Roger: Haha, I didn't think that anyone would trespass into an obviously dark home. You're quite the bad girl, aren't you, little miss?

Ellis: Won't you come closer? It's not like you can escape, anyway.

As soon as she heard the word 'escape', her body stiffened. Her legs began to move.

(Sorry, but I can't let you go.) (You're a witness now, of course. But that's not the only reason.)

That one of her deliveries was to this mansion was surely a coincidence. But that she was standing here now was no coincidence at all.

(Even if the sound of the piano implied that there was still someone awake inside…) (There was no reason for a postal worker to enter an otherwise entirely deserted manor in the middle of the night.) (You chose to come here.) (Even if you haven't consciously realized it yourself…)

She took the first step.

William: Come here, poor little robin.

(Let me see more of it. That burning desire that brought you here.)

At my order, her legs began to walk her forward.

MC: S-stop…!

(Haha, and at last you're voicing her true desire.)

She stopped before me as if she was presenting herself. A splash of red stained her cheek.

(…Beautiful.)

Somehow, the color of deep sin suited her.

(If, of your own volition, you were to be dyed with blood in the future…) (…that would suit you far more than this stain now.)

William: Pardon me.

As I pulled her towards me, her eyes closed in fear.

William: That should do it.

After I wiped her cheek clean and released her, she staggered and collapsed to the floor, as if all her strength had escaped her. Her gaze, once calm and settled, now shook with emotion like a stormy sea. In her eyes I saw fear, confusion… and just a hint of anticipation. Of excitement.

(Yes, you are hiding something inside you.)

Something that made her leap without looking into the dark. Imagining being able to unravel that mystery made my heart race.

(This should be fun.)

William: I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is William. William Rex. William: I'm inviting you to dine with us tonight. Your name, honored guest?

(I'll fill you with love, as much as I can.)

So that you may be a flower that blooms beautifully in the darkness.

[akookminsupporter]

I've always heard that armys are known within the kpop sphere for being particularly uninterested in other groups, but I'm not even sure if that's true. I don't think I've ever heard of an army that will go out of their way to specifically not listen to other kpop groups like 'oh god I would NEVER watch a mv that's not bts.' Having said that, there may be a chunk of army that don't like kpop as a genre and only like bts as a subsection of it. Even so, I'm pretty sure most armys have some baseline familiarity with other groups' most popular songs just from existing in this space. But, while I can appreciate a song from another group, why would I buy it? If NMD hadn't charted at #1 in the U.S., it wouldn't have been another kpop group's song that did, it would have been a western artist's. It seems like they're operating from the perspective that there's a finite number of people willing to listen to kpop out there and bts are somehow monopolizing it, which is so weird bc (1) Kpop's target audience can always grow, and bts grew it, and (2) neither army nor bts owe kpop as a genre anything. Personally, I like kpop, and I think having more korean artists recognized for making good music on the world stage would be great, but that doesn't mean I'm going to buy their music.

Is Kpop a genre or an industry? Or is it both?

All I can say is that we have seen end-of-the-year award shows where many other groups perform, presenting the best they have had that year. For many of us, that has been enough. In my case, I've heard parts of songs on TikTok that I liked, but when I decide to look up and listen to the whole song, I'm disappointed. I'm not saying the group is bad; it's just that their music doesn't appeal to me. It's as simple as that, but some Kpoppies don't want to understand that. Another thing they don't want to understand—and I feel they don't, partly because they don't experience the same with their favs—is the connection with the members. It goes a bit beyond the music; some would call it parasocial relationships, but it's not as exciting as that. BTS is different in many ways from their peers, and it's something that no one has been able to replicate, copy, or repeat. Not even HYBE or BigHit.

The success or failure of other groups is not BTS's fault, and certainly not its fandom. That responsibility lies entirely with each group and their fans. Just as BTS's success is thanks to them and their fandom.

Fans control the charts (I know they can be manipulated, but fundamentally, they are controlled by the fans), so it is the responsibility of the fans to ensure their favourite groups reach the top positions. It is also the group's responsibility to attract a large number of people who want to become their fans and, therefore, are willing to invest time and money in them. It's a fairly straightforward operation, and there is no room for anything else in it.

If BTS's fandom is large and, therefore, has more resources to achieve things, it means the group fulfilled its part of the deal well, and the fandom, as a result, is fulfilling theirs. It's really simple.

It seems like they're operating from the perspective that there's a finite number of people willing to listen to kpop out there and bts are somehow monopolizing it, which is so weird bc (1) Kpop's target audience can always grow, and bts grew it, and (2) neither army nor bts owe kpop as a genre anything.

Totally and I don't understand that mentality.

[chalkchapel]

Vampire Knight: Personal thoughts

I just watched the vampire knight series, so here's my honest review. I really liked it. I guess you just have to be the target audience. Beware of spoilers!

Vampire knight quickly became one of my obsessions lmfao I'm very thankful to my friend for putting me on it. I was crazy about it in 2021 but I never found the time to read the manga. Read tons of comments stating how boring the show is.. For me the first few episodes got me hooked on insanely fast. I was really invested, kept me wanting to watch more and more... It was hard having to control myself to not watch more than 3 eps a day lmfao. Some things aren't explained as well as others, often left me confused and having to pause to think on it. The story is well written and the plot twists were cool. I like that the story takes place in a high school (ignoring the fact that it was pointless). A school was founded with the purpose of fostering harmony between vampires and humans, however, the humans are completely unaware that the students in the night class are vampires?! I guess the explanation is that vampires must learn to not to feed off humans?? Very misleading, but whatever.

I LOVE the art style, it's very beautiful. I didn't quite like how lazily the story progressed in the anime. It felt like 20 filler episodes and 4 eps in which the main plot is actually dug into. At the end Yuki suddenly had to come to her true self, a pureblood princess. It's then revealed that some evil vampire wants to drink her blood. It's also revealed that Kaname is her brother and long destined husband. She had to quickly reconcile with the facts in the last 4 episodes.. The ending really got my heart racing. It's frustrating how Kaname made Yuki rely on him to a large extent, only to suddenly abandon her while she's getting hunted by the evil vampire guy. I suppose he knew Zero had to kill him, but still... What ifff.. maybe only this time there wasnt this unnecessary edging talk and he actually bit her?!?

rip gg

During the whole anime, Yuki was really out of touch with the outside world. She is cherished and protected, but definitely not an independent woman. Very bubbly, happy and in the same time idiotic. All she desires is to uncover the secrets of her past. Kind of plain and boring. Maybe if she wasn't just a walking blood bank for Zero, but an actual useful character the show would've been even more likable. A strong man like zero has 2 powerful guns to protect the day students from vampires... And a braindead kawaii girl like Yuki... got a metal rod?? She's physically incapable of defending herself, let alone protect another. I sympathized with Yuki as she constantly tries to assist my king Zero (u can tell i resonate with him by the way i talk about him lmfao) in overcoming his vampire instincts, but he refuses to confide in her and instead distances himself. He's probably the most interesting character from the series. Born in a family of vampire hunters. Bro's hatred of vampires comes from his parents deaths. Murdered by a pureblood that took his twin brother away. He's also turned into a vampire in the same night. Zero is what he despises. I felt bad for him when all sorts of awful things happened to him. There was no decrease in Zero's suffering as the story unfolded, displaying somewhat of emotional growth and realization while Yuki persisted in her immaturity and sought affection and protection without recognizing her true needs. Zero felt completely shattered and broken over his loss of Yuki and everyone he cared for that when she finally came to him and told him that the old Yuki was eaten by the vampire part of her, he felt like he had no choice but to cling on whatever glimmer of light was left in his world. Knowing he was not her first choice only intensified his anguish. He is torn between adoring her and resenting her, a decision that surely brings him more pain..

Kaname and Zero are simply not on the same level. Kaname is a pureblood with a mission to protect Yuki. He truly loves her. Though I feel like he often manipulates her and indirectly forces her to follow his orders. I get that they're blood related, but it's odd without any context. [as if no one was aware of their relationship at that moment] He frequently disregards her feelings and views her as childish. Zero can simply be a blip on the radar for Kaname. Kaname's like a god. Though his abilities are vague, he just does insane things. Tearing the ground, wiping out memories, demolishing buildings, causing people to explode, you name it. Both were somehow able to help each other. Zero has the duty to protect Yuki. Kaname "helped" Zero break from his endless suffering cycle descending into a level E and helped him understand his powers and realize what hes capable of... Actually, at first I thought Kaname was a bit creepy.. Obsessing over a teenage girl, but now i kinda get it. Maybe it's all a plan of his? Maybe it can all be read inbetween the lines?? He's still a huge mystery to me. His past is also unclear. He's like a book written in a foreign language that I somehow understand. I always feel like i misconceive his intentions. He definitely is the king of nonchalantness.

I also absolutely LOVE the soundtracks. Cherry on top. Making it even better! Really suiting the vibe.

On a final note: These r my thoughts based on the anime only. I don't really care if anyone considers this for some poser shit

[sorryitisandy]

I don't like media criticism that is overly concerned with finding plot holes. It's lazy, boring, and unimaginative. However I do think that you need to take care with your audience Immersion, and one of the worst things you can do is make it painfully obvious a character is ONLY there to serve a narrative function and NOTHING else.

Principle Kobayakawa is just that. It always struck me as exceedingly stange that someone like Shido was concerning himself with who was the principle of a high school. And I think the only reason they did this was so when the Phantom Thieves changed Kamoshida's heart, was so one of Shido's people had proximity to the situation. This is supposed to be our explanation for how Shido's people became aware.

I don't feel any of this was particularly needed. Kamoshida was in the news for his crimes but also was an Olympic gold medalist. The Calling cards would likely have been mentioned there. Also I'm not sure anything really NEEDED to happen on this front until after Madarame anyway. If you'll recall, the initial interview with Akechi didn't happen until after the second change of heart.

A counter-argument might be that. "Well, perhaps they needed a total of three targets to draw sufficient attention". This might be true for the public at large but it wouldn't be true for Shido and company. They are already robustly familiar with the metaverse and would recognize things the average person wouldn't. Following from this, Shido had everyone and everything in his pocket. So they would act if he was concerned. I would have had the initial buzz about the Thieves spread as a bit of an urban legend. There are what? A few hundred students at that school? Word would get around.

Acknowledging Kobayakawa has a part to play in Makoto's story. I think her motivation for getting involved with the phantom thieves could have been a genuine desire to help with the extortion and self-worth issues associated with continued friction with her sister. She is sharp so this would lead her to tracking y'all down. Events could play out as normal otherwise. Makoto's self-worth issues existed well before all of this.

I do understand that some characters need to exist primarily as narrative functions. You can't give careful attention to every single minor character. I'm not asking for the Kobayakawa sympathetic backstory here. But you do need to take care to not show your fingers behind the curtain.

[expertservices11]

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[our-flag-means-love]

earlier this year i made this playlist with the target audience of Specifically Myself, comprised of s1's story and some s2 predictions, but as you may have noticed, s2 has since come out. as such, i think it's time for:

Ed x Stede, as told by The Killers (SEASON 2 UPDATE)

19 songs, 76 minutes in total.

(also on youtube, if you don't use spotify or aren't able to listen in order, which is the recommended way of consuming it)

in addition to adding new songs, i'm also going to be revising my explanations throughout the whole playlist, so even if you read the s1 post, there will be some new stuff to enjoy too!

explanation and lyric highlights for each song can be found under the cut. last time i tried to keep things concise but this time all bets are off. a full paragraph per song.

also! i recognize that an hour and 16 minutes is quite the time investment to ask of anyone, so here is my recommendation for abridged listening, the songs for which i think listening to the whole thing really does enhance the experience: #5, #7, #10, #14, #18, #19, clocking in at 24 minutes. and if you're going to listen to ONE SONG, make it #14.

(lyrics are mostly taken from genius but a few parts are just what i know to be true in my heart if i think genius is wrong)

1. boy

this can be read as either an ed childhood song or a stede childhood song, or both. feeling awkward in your own skin, feeling confined to your hometown and unable to reach your full potential. things i definitely think both of them felt as they grew up.

these streets / weren't meant to house / jet-fueled engine dreams

2. When You Were Young

BANGER ALERT!!! this song is for sure about ed's childhood and religious trauma because i mean come ON.

you sit there in your heartache / waiting on some beautiful boy to / to save you from your old ways

he doesn't look a thing like jesus / but he talks like a gentleman / like you imagined when you were young

3. I Can't Stay

my apologies for jumping straight from the arguably best song on this playlist to the definitely worst song on this playlist. but it had to be done, because this one's about stede leaving mary.

in the dark / for a while now /[...]/ i can't stay / much longer / riding my decision home

4. The Man

this one's about Blackbeard™. despite the title, this is the "myth" and "legend" part of the phrase "the man, the myth, the legend." tall, broad, head made of smoke, nine guns, etc. the terror of the seven seas.

don't try to teach me / i got nothing to learn / 'cause baby i'm gifted

i got skin in the game / i don't feel no pain / i got news for you baby, you're looking at the man

5. Flesh And Bone

another BANGER ALERT!!! and remember how i brought up "the man, the myth, the legend"? well, this is the "man" part, because as it turns out, ed is an actual person too. one who's aging and growing tired of piracy.

but i'm not sure how / this natural selection / picked me out to be / a dark horse running in a fantasy

what are you afraid of? / and what are you made of? / flesh and bone / and i'm running out of time

6. Tidal Wave

they! are! in! love! for the first verse the pronouns could be read either way, but then for the second verse "he" is stede and "she" is ed (you'll see why) bc damnit i'm taking this song from the hets, it's mine now.

you say this life has given you nothing / you got another thing coming

now the story of / forbidden love / has gotta make a stand

7. Andy, You're A Star

on a surface level reading, this song is about high school sports. but if you dig a bit deeper, the izzy can be found. in this song, the narrator greatly admires andy and his skills, but uh oh! andy is prioritizing love over fame and success! this simply will not do!

in a car with a girl / promise me she's not your world / 'cause andy, you're a star / in nobody's eyes but mine

8. Mr. Brightside

is this song overplayed? hell yes! is it also the best song to illustrate stede's feelings about ed and calico jack! you bet your ass it is!

jealousy / turning saints into the sea / swimming through sick lullabies / choking on your alibis

9. Neon Tiger

the law has finally caught up with stede, but ed is determined to protect him from chauncey's wrath at all costs. gonna be honest, this song might be the weakest fit on this whole list. so sue me, idk.

you're far too pure and bold / to suffer the strain of the hand and its hold

run neon tiger / there's a price on your head / they'll hunt you down and gut you / i'll never let 'em touch you

10. Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf

once again, BANGER ALERT!!! who's jennifer? we only know stede bonnet. and ed misses him. he's drinking and depressed in his blanket fort and ready to snap with enough prodding (from izzy, obvs). for the last 10-ish seconds, i want you to picture ed's smile right before he pushes lucius overboard.

before you say goodbye / leave the bourbon on the shelf / and i'll drink it by myself / and i love you endlessly / darling, don't you see? / i'm not satisfied / until i hold you tight

11. Everything Will Be Alright

stede is determined to find ed and do whatever it takes to get to him. he's not ready to believe that they're over. they're just on a break.

i'm coming to find you / if it takes me all night / wrong until / you make it right

you don't need to compromise / i'm dreaming 'bout those dreamy eyes

12. The Rising Tide

in my s1 playlist i referred to this as an angry ed breakup song, but upon further examination, i really think ed is the person the song is about rather than the narrator (although tbh, imagining both the "i"s and the "you"s as ed works solidly well). this song represents his mental health spiral.

before life and the dream collide / 'cause the truth's gonna come and cut me open wide

and the company you keep / well they plan your crucifixion as we speak

13. Rut

now ed's in the gravy basket. part of him wants to give up, but the rest wants to keep fighting, he's just not sure how. this song—particularly the ending, the desperation in the repeated "don't you give up on me"s—is also ed's pov of the eventual reunion.

i've done my best defending / but the punches are starting to land / i'm sliding into something you won't understand

but don't give up on me / 'cause i'm just in a rut / i'm climbing but the walls keep stacking up

14. My List

this and #18 are the songs i couldn't make work on the s1 playlist that i'm so glad i got to include this time. god i love this one so much and it's so perfect for stede's pov of the reunion. the quiet lamentation in the first half. the desperation in the second half. top tier shit. it's so perfectly stede in that scene. move over, kate bush.

and when you come back in from nowhere / do you ever think of me?

when your heart / is not able / and your prayers / they're not fables /[...]/ let me show you how much i care

15. Have All The Songs Been Written?

now the boys need to talk, and maybe stede has some apologizing to do. he knows how much he hurt ed, and he wants to make amends. he wants to win him back over if at all possible.

have all the songs been written? / have all your needs been met? / have all these years been worth it / or am i the great regret?

i just need one more to get through to you / i can't take back what i've done wrong

16. For Reasons Unknown

this is around s2e5. they're on good terms but still insecure, still warming back up to each other, and still taking things slow. full disclosure: i let myself add this song because i was sad about having to cut "bones" and this one i could make fit better.

with one deep breath / and one big step / i move a little bit closer

and my lips / they don't kiss / they don't kiss the way they used to / and my eyes don't recognize you no more

17. Be Still

i wanted to use "bones" for when they fuck. i really really did. but it just didn't fit the tone. stede just killed someone intentionally for the first time, and he's still running on all those complicated emotions as he and ed have some of the sweetest and most awkward sex ever imagined by man.

don't break character / you've got a lot of heart / is this real or just a dream?

when you come back / tell me, what did you see? / was there something out there for me?

18. A Matter Of Time

UNDERRATED DEEP CUT ALERT!!! as mentioned in #14, i'm psyched to include this song. this is their s2e7 breakup. the drama, the conflict. stede laughing with his girlfriends, so to speak, as ed sits in his own emotions. two people trying and failing to make it work.

i see you / laughing with your girlfriends / not a care in the world / not a burden on your mind / it was a matter of time

can't you see that it's tearing me up inside? / look what's laying at our feet / that's the wreckage of broken dreams

19. All These Things That I've Done

one final time, with conviction: BANGER ALERT!!! ed has to come to terms with himself. he must accept the parts of him that can kill and the parts of him that can love in equal measure. it's the only way for him to find peace, and to hold on long enough to retire with stede.

these changes ain't changing me / the cold-hearted boy i used to be

while everyone's lost / the battle is won / with all these things that i've done

if you've stuck around with me for this long, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! hopefully either your brain was already as rotted by this band as mine is or i've indoctrinated you by now. i'm also in the (slow, very very slow) process of making a video edit set to "all these things that i've done" and i'll update this post with the link when (if) that's eventually done!

[ugakei]

Talking the world setting of K

Quote from the DVD booklet(1st season vol.5) interview of Yashichro Takahashi.

>>Let me ask you the first impression when you heard about "K" project.

When I joined the project, it seemed fluffy and wasn't clear what would have started, I just thought that they tried to do some impossible work seriously. At the same time, I felt happy to be join this opportunity as a creator.

>>How did you feel when you met GoRA members first time?

I already knew Miyazawa-san and Suzuki-san each other because we are of the same generation, however that was the first time to work with. When we started working together, they spoke out candidly, that was interesting I felt. Like a business as an author, we don't have a chance to exchange some idea with somebody. So, in this team, I made my role as kind of facilitator to suggest helpful opinion which can be rejected.

>>In the process as like, "K" was created, what the parts did you suggest actually?

I did nothing in main plot (lol). First of all, "K" was suggested by Miyazawa-san with targeting its theme as "Community", story setting in "near future in Japanese style", motif as "King and his vassal" etc., we put flesh on it and created. Even after script writing, same as like this, Miyazawa-san threw us some crazy idea and we discussed "How do we make it work in the story?", "To make the storyline to this, it can be like this...", then filled the gap or digested into the storyline.

>>We just imagine Takahashi-san is the author who create a world with detail view as "Shakugan no Shana"*, and also we think you suggested when created a concept in "K", right?

Yes, I undertook the history of Dresden Slate, structure between King and Clansman, around there. Nobody of GoRA members were going to take the story setting down for a long time, so I became very anxious and wrote. As Furuhashi-san told, they made the story in ambiguity until #7, I rushed to summarize common point of view they set by then and suggested them to add and summarize setting points of the story. But, still nobody sum up without Furuhashi-san. Well, including non-written parts in the main story, I supported minimum rule of what the "K" world is.

>> Which character profile did you created?

Regarding their past of Kokujoji and Weismann, considerably I did. Especially, I submitted all of basic profile of Kokujoji. Decided his name improvise, I think his setting would become pretty interesting. I requested to producing team that Mr. Shozo Iizuka for Kokujoji's voice acting. I never thought it would come true, said whatever I want, now I feel sorry that got it realized (lol).

>>Only the past setting regarding Weismann?

Weismann's profile was originally made by Miyazawa-san, I remember he proposed "Let make him crazy character like ~" in beginning period. After that, all of member denied it turn by turn (lol), argued like "This is better for it ~"etc., then fixed into present profile. I created the part why Kokujoji and Weismann became their relationship as depicted in the main story.

>>What the fascinating parts do you think in "K"'s world setting?

Good point I think is an audience can understand its setting by following the story of each characters. Only come and go within few cities where familiar with trough the story, it alright that an audience do not need to grasp detail of all stages, also those settings are just details and do not request of deep consideration to watch. The strongest one with superhuman power is a "King", other fellows are "Clansmen", a source of their power is "the Slate", to recognize only these will be understandable this content. This story setting is exaggerated, many psychics appear, but its throughout structure is minimum.

>>Many characters come forth, frankly, who is your favorite?

Needless to say, Kokujoji and Weismann (lol). I brought together my favorite personality in them rather than I was deeply in charge of creating their profiles, naturally. Of cause there are many character I like.

>>What the point of your favorite in Kokujoji?

Simply tough, his notable past, importance of his existence for the story frame, and so on. 10min or less that he appeared in the animation, depicted as observing from the edge he is, however this is something emotional arousal point that we can say as "this world was composed by his presence, who knows" (lol). The idea of floating stars was suggested from Furuhashi-san or Miyazawa-san, I'm not sure.

>> I see. How about Weismann?

In a nutshell, he is a trickster. #8 which I scripted, he blew up by own. He was a weird, has been described like a mastermind, but suddenly reversed its role. He is a fulcrum for turning over the storyline. Such as "scratch around" character could be his attractive point.

>>Were there any points to be conscious or to take care when you scripted #8?

Requests from Miyazawa-san were "describe the character attractive" and "insert something be interesting or exciting". So I wrote the scene of explosion just before reaching to the crux of their incident. Put this ending, then composed tactics and chasing scenes for intriguing, action drama for excitement which I prefer.

>>We impressed Munakata's efficiency as an organizer.

As Furuhashi-san told, in #7 he pushed out the strength of Munakata as a psychic, so I intended to push out how is Munakata efficient as a head of his organization. I described it in the scenes through their conversation with Shiro or with his subordinates, giving a order of restrain A.K.Weismann to subordinates when he noted aberration of the airship. Those could be figured out he gave some direction as a leader instead of doing by himself.

>> Where is the highlight?

The scenes of dispatching cool helicopters, and Munakata's tea room (lol). Their communication in silence, atmosphere of Blue team makes me feel interesting.

>>Have you ever written a script for animation?

I've experiences of writing for CD drama and game. Also I've done a direction work for animation on my novel, accustomed to the format of animation script.

>>What is the difference on writing between a scenario and a novel?

Length problem, anyway. We have a tendency to add its description in detail, however on animation writing will not allow it. I've learnt as neither in time, nor be formed. In addition, we have to compromise between actual visualization in animation work and our imagination in our head. In novel, for example, if we write as "million army with disjointed armaments" in text easily, but it will impossible to make movable them in animation. In middle term on scenario writing, we received the advise from the director as "We have a limit of capacity to set actual movement on characters, so please downsize". As novel writer, having a value to describe what we can write, we felt eye-opening matter that was. But finally the director made their effort to move characters in Blue or Red teams who were called mobs. Dryly depicted the members' individuality not only their action but their positioning, it may be interesting point to watch.

>>It might be a new trial that seven authors gathering and work with, how did you feel after you experienced?

This system consign a decision to the person who have close feeling of layer which we are targeting**, those persons are namely Rairaku-san and Kabei-san. Ordinally in this case, authors might get into a trouble who will going to take the lead, but we weren't. It may be the reason for sharing the roles as leader or as decision makers to different member. I'm quite interesting in this composing system, wish to see the efficient until the end.

>> Furuhashi-san said as like, Takahashi-san also feel interest in systematic aspect, do you?

Regarding as system, yes. But also as an author, I feel fun in creating process that everybody mix their ideas and make them into one figure.

>>How did you feel after watching the animation finished up?

If the sales wouldn't be increased, I feel beyond help rather than perplex. It is not good impression on word 'sales', but we set the target who will watch the content explicitly, took conceivable measures for it. Evaluation from the target means success, if our work will be evaluated, we feel happy as creators.

>>From male's point of view, this content also seems attractive.

Suoh seems actually cool from male side. And, like as Awashima's heaping helping of red bean paste in the turn I've scripted, by breaking serious aspect of characters down and rendering to make fun may be acceptable for anyone. Through the season, only Anna and Suoh haven't been broken, I think. After read the novel***, even Anna's character wasn't broken, we feel relieved that "Anna became to spend her normal life". (lol)

>> Please give a message to "K" fans.

I think this content has wide range and many ways to enjoy with the animation which the production staff finished in high quality. You can enjoy the way what you want, think as materials on your cooking, that is our satisfaction.

notes:

* Details of "Shakugan no Shana" -Wiki

** Mainly female, age 10-30 around

*** SIDE:RED

[frostehburr]

I Platinumed Hogwarts Legacy and Here's What I Have to Say About the Game

Alright.... So....

Yes, I am a trans woman.

No, I do not support JK or her views.

Hogwarts Legacy was given to me as a gift for my birthday. The person who gave me the gift was not aware of JK... in general. Like, they have zero idea who she even is.

We're well pass the point of harassing people over the franchise so please remain chill or move on to a different post, please.

Now, Hogwarts Legacy as a game is... mid at best. It's average and does well occupying your time. Majority of the trophies were collection based which my 1990s neuron activated on. What can I say? Everyone who played games in the 90s were hooked on collectathons like Banjo Kazooie, Sly Cooper, and Kirby.

Unless you enjoy obsessively collecting everything and the kitchen sink, you're probably not going to enjoy the game much less going for the platinum trophy.

Really, this is a game made for a very specific target audience and it's a target audience I'm a part of. That being fans of the Harry Potter books and movies. Mostly movies.

See, back in the era where everyone got along because politics was boring old people sitting around smelling their own farts (little changed since then) and no one wanted to get into that bull. Kids to teenagers enjoyed a magical series of stories adapted to the silver screen. And it was in this era collectathon platformers were king of the game industry... until Halo happened.

I think Portkey games figured out what people who enjoyed Harry Potter would have played when JK actually kept her fat mouth shut.

Collectathons! Where the player goes out to gather a set number of items for an award. Which is why a large portion of the trophies are "collect all the _____"

There must've been good foresight at Portkey because the Revelio spell saved me a lot of time gathering all of the stuff. From spells to chests to flying pieces of paper. I had a lot of fun exploring the castle and area outside. But I absolutely recognize not many people will enjoy that.

Exploring the castle and grounds is something the target audience (aka Wizarding World fans) really wanted most out of the game. We wanted to be immersed in the world and point to the screen like Leo whenever we notice a reference to the movies or books. We actively log in to pottermore to get our house colors and shiny new wand with glee. Completely ignorant of the world outside the fantasy. Be honest, you don't want to deal with the crisis the last few years have been. Portkey tailored the game to be our escape for just the few hours we needed.

Adding more to that. We also wanted to see all the Hogwarts houses on the inside... except Griffindore. Gryffindoor sucks.

Personally, the Ravenclaw dorm room was everything I ever wanted. The blue and bronze mixed with marble pillars and statues made me happy. It gave me a few decorating ideas for my own room!

The other houses had to be seen... except Gryffendorm. I was extremely reluctant to go in Gryfindorm. And incentive was given in the form of four separate trophies for each Hogwarts house.

You see, there's one quest that changes for each house. Ravenclaw gets an owl puzzle. I very much enjoyed it, Slytherin feeds toast to a kraken mosaic. Hufflepuff gets sent to Azkaban. and the last one parties with a bunch of ghosts. Three of them were quite enjoyable but my enjoyment came from walking around the other dorms.

While walking around Slytherin's aquatic scenery and Hufflepuff's cozy cottage were delights, I still preferred Ravenclaw's sky view tower with starry ceilings. I'm a true blue Ravenclaw.

Even though I loved exploring the castle and everything, it was quite painful to collect every single item for the collector trophy.

I had finished all side quests, all revelio pages, even the trials and demiguise statues! Yet I was still missing a single collection chest. Really did not help the map showed all chests had been found. The butterfly chests are hidden from the map. So I ended up wiping the entire map clean and tripled check back and forth only to discover that the single chest I was missing was in the back of the swamp terrarium in the Room of Requirement.

That was the biggest frustration out of the entire game. Not a bad trade off for all the fun I had. However, not many people will feel the same. Particularly if they were never invested in the Wizarding World.

Hogwarts Legacy is definitely a great game for a specific target audience. For everyone else, it's an easy passable mild distraction. Whoever wanted to play this game already got it. Despite the hell storm that followed it.

Portkey games did a fantastic job with a hot button title but it's only good if you actually want it. If you're no fan of collectathons, Wizarding World, or wondering around for hours then do yourself a favor and avoid this game. If you do like those three things then go ahead! Just try to be patient if you're going to go for platinum.

[kitkatt0430]

Bangel, Spuffy, and Cordoyle for the ship ask game!!

Bangel

1.) What Made You Ship It?

When I first watched Buffy, I was a teenager and in that target audience range.  I liked Tortall’s Alanna/George and other feminist fantasy ships where the younger woman falls for a more mature guy.  Bangel was the biggest of the age-gaps, but the same appeal was there that the other ships had.  Mainly that I assumed some day I was gonna have romantic feelings of my own and I really did not like the idea of being attracted to guys my own age because the guys that were interested in me seemed to think fart jokes were the epitome of humor, the guys who weren’t interested in me were guys I wasn’t interested in either.  And the guys who were my friends would just be weird to date ‘cause... it just would be.

I... would have really liked to know what aromantic meant at that age, I think.

But anyway, there was kind of a fairy tale, first guy wins feeling for Buffy and Angel and even though I’ve grown to be more critical of their relationship as seen through an adult lens... I still have a fondness for the ship as it seemed when I first saw the show.  Angel discovering his true purpose from his love of Buffy and Buffy having to learn the hard lesson that love does not always win the day.  But in the time they had together, they grew to become better, stronger people.  And not even being apart made their love any less.

2.) What Are Your Favorite Things About the Ship?

Buffy can be the slayer with Angel and he doesn’t think less of her for it.  It’s something that she didn’t have with Riley, who wanted Buffy but as his idea of what a girl should be and not as a Slayer.  Riley wanted Buffy to be strong, but not too strong.  Angel wanted to support her as she found her own strength.  She had a similar dynamic with Spike, which is why I also like Spuffy.

3.) Is There an Unpopular Opinion You Have On Your Ship?

Angel never stopped seeing Buffy as a child in need of guidance.

While Buffy was the slayer and he supported her in that role, as just Buffy he saw her as being in need of someone to direct and protect her.  The first time Angel saw Buffy was when she hadn’t yet learned of her calling, just a pretty blonde cheerleader in the sun... and likely still just fifteen years old.

Angel had a tendency of hiding information from her, following her around when she made it clear it was unwelcome, and making decisions for her without her knowledge or consent.  It’s one thing when he’s hiding the fact that he’s a vampire with a soul.  It’s another thing entirely when he’s randomly showing up from LA and causing her unnecessary trouble by skulking in the shadows instead of telling her what he knows.

I’m really not sure he ever stopped seeing her as that pretty fifteen-year-old bathed in sunlight.  So while I do believe he supported Buffy’s growth as person and slayer... I don’t think he fully recognized that growth when it happened.

Spuffy

1.) What Made You Ship It?

So Spuffy had a lot of the same qualities of Bangel that I liked, but with Spike who was a much more fun character.  And more interesting IMO.  Sorry Angel.

I like ships with belligerent UST - which Spuffy had - and Spike was a gentleman under his rough exterior so he had this vulnerable and sweet side under it all.

I tend to prefer fanon Spuffy to canon Spuffy, however; not least because their relationship in S6 is an object lesson in why safe words are so damn important.

2.) What Are Your Favorite Things About the Ship?

Much like Buffy could be the Slayer with Angel, she could be that with Spike too.  But he respected Buffy as his equal even when she wasn’t being the Slayer.  I think Spike saw Buffy as she was, flaws and all, and loved her all the more for being imperfect.

And in turn, when Buffy wasn’t clinging to the ‘vampires bad, souls good’ paradigm, she could see the core of who Spike was too.  Just a man who loved too well and too much - I think she saw an intensity there that scared her a bit too, though.

3.) Is There An Unpopular Opinion You Have On Your Ship?

Spike didn’t contact Buffy in S5 of Angel in part because of how she treated him during S6 of BtVS.  It was an unhealthy and abusive dynamic for both of them really and he didn’t believe her when she said she loved him in the series finale, so he was probably worried that if he did reunite with her then they might just wind up with a new version of that bad dynamic.  He didn’t want to be responsible for dragging her down again - since in S7 even when they weren’t involved romantically, choosing to have a platonic relationship with Spike still caused her difficulties with her friends. 

With all the baggage they had, he needed the clean break as much for himself as for her.

Cordoyle

1.) Why Don’t You Ship It?

I don’t know actually?  I mean.  I like their friendship and the flirting is hilarious but... I just don’t actually want them to date.  Cordelia was in a really vulnerable place at the time and Doyle was so uncomfortable with himself that he’d already wrecked one marriage... I guess they were just meeting at a time when neither of them were in a good place to be dating anyone, never mind each other.  I think if Doyle hadn’t died and he’d come to terms with being half demon while Cordelia finally really found herself, as she did later that season... maybe then I’d have shipped them.

It’s definitely not a ship I’m avidly against or anything and it wouldn’t be a turn off for reading a fic, but it’s definitely not a ship I actively ship either.

2.) What Would Have Made You Like it?

So if Doyle hadn’t died mid season one, but instead completed his arc in accepting himself as a half-demon with visions then I’d have been more open to shipping him in general.  But Cordelia finding herself on the show was in part because of the visions she inherited from Doyle - seeing the suffering other people went through really forced her to find herself and learn to become a more compassionate and less self-centered person.  She’d have to go through similar character development in order to be in a better place to date, both for her own sake but in terms of what she had to offer as someone else’s significant other. But also S1 Cordelia needed to learn to be her own hero, after being let down by her parents so badly, and having to wrangle with Doyle’s self loathing on top her own struggles with finding her place in the world would have been a bit much.

I think, ultimately, if they’d both made it alive with character growth to S2, then I’d have started shipping them instead of enjoying them solely as friends who flirt.

3.) Despite Not Shipping It, Do You Have Anything Positive to Say About It?

Their friendship was lovely and I really like the impact they had on each other.  Doyle wanted to become more comfortable with himself in part because he wanted to be more honest with her.  And Cordelia felt safe around Doyle to really just be herself, even when Cordelia wasn’t entirely sure who that was anymore.

And I do think that if Doyle knowingly passed on his visions, he meant them as a gift.  Cordelia was, in many ways, in search of a future and purpose for herself in early S1.  The visions gave her a connection to the world that she’d been unable to make on her own and it gave her something of his to remember him by, long after he was gone. A way for her to remember she was loved by a dear friend and that not even his death could take that friendship from her.

[karanseraph]

Recently a child in my family was telling me about a movie they had gone to see with their dad. I had not seen the movie, only the trailers. And as this child was trying to tell me about the experience in a non-spoiler way, I asked if such and such thing I was guessing, based on the trailer, was something that happened or was true in the movie. And they confirmed it was.

But that movie wasn't targeted to me middle-aged adult who has interacted with a lot of media both as audience and writer.

That movie was for the children and this one had enjoyed it and the story made sense to them.

It's fine if some people can guess a plot, whether before they even see a movie or halfway through a book or whatever.

It doesn't mean that work isn't enjoyable or well made.

It probably just indicates some of us humans have enough life experience with stories told by humans that we recognize foreshadowing or tropes or archetypal characters that we can see where those human writers over there were going.

Sometimes even if we predict one aspect, we can also still be surprised or entertained by how it was applied in a specific story.

It's fine to be predictable in this way. It often means our work has resonance with something familiar which humans also enjoy.

that some people respond to any well-foreshadowed reveal with “ugh that plot twist was so predictable” proves bad faith criticism has rotted their brains to the point they think it’s bad writing if they can correctly identify information the writers were intentionally giving them

[kristenbrady]

Are Social Media Influencers Getting Rich or Barely Getting By?

So the Wall Street Journal just put out an article entitled, “Social-Media Influencers Aren’t Getting Rich — They’re Barely Getting By.” They are basically saying that “platforms are paying less for popular posts, brands are pickier about partnerships and a possible TikTok ban looms.”

The article goes on to say that “Many people dream of becoming social-media stars like YouTube’s MrBeast or TikTok’s Charli D’Amelio. But for most who pursue careers as content creators, just making ends meet is a lofty goal.”

So, is this true?

Well, most of us are members here on Medium.com. Are your earnings decreasing? I’ve heard a mixed bag from different writers here on this platform. Some say they actually left the platform because of low earnings month after month, and I’ve heard some say that their earnings are only getting better month after month.

Speaking only for myself, last month I had my highest earning month on record on Medium. But this month, I seem to have hit a brick wall. No matter how much work I put into it, I can’t seem to get the numbers to move up significantly.

I have not been able to sell any eBooks on Gumroad and I lost 3 paid subscribers on Substack last week.

So, what’s going on? Is the competition for an audience growing fierce? Is the content creator industry getting oversaturated, so these platforms are deciding to pay less?

According to Forbes magazine, in 2021, the creator economy was valued at $104 billion, and it is projected to reach nearly half a trillion by 2027.

I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna stay on the content creator train and see how far it can take me. With that said, let’s go over 4 great places for content creators to hang out:

Heepsy

Heepsy is a social media influencer marketing solution made for agencies and brands. Users can gain access to millions of social influencers worldwide, in addition to the tools needed to discover the proper one for your campaigns on social media.

Not only will Heepsy provide the choice for brands to locate influencers, it’ll also introduce the choice of a Marketplace in which influencers may sift through campaigns that are published by brands. There, creators possess the flexibility to pick campaigns matching their interests that have features enabling them to filter based on the network for the promotion, the campaign’s location, the category being promoted, and much more. It ensures that social influencers are able to conveniently find campaigns aligning with their target audience’s preferences, as well as their own style of content creation.

Grin

Grin is a platform for creator management that helps e-commerce businesses construct more valuable brands using the power of content-creator partnerships.

Mention

Mention is a marketing platform that enables agencies and brands to recognize audience perception around social media and the Internet while additionally providing the capability of organizing their campaigns on social media.

By using this social media marketing platform, it’s easily possible to monitor what’s being said on the internet about a product or brand, gain analytics on their industry, as well as calculate the impact of your PR and marketing activities.

Current

Current is a platform for brands that want to maximize their influencer marketing, build their ambassador programs, as well as boost their revenue.

So, which is it for you? If you are a writer here on Medium, how’s your earnings going? Let me know in the comments section.

🍉Kristen is a contributor on Medium. Sign up here to catch every story when she publishes.

Continue reading on Medium

[madhukumarc]

Is Content King?

Yes, content is king, definitely there is no doubt about it. In fact, it is not just a king; it's the whole kingdom!

In today's digital landscape, quality content has become the driving force behind successful online businesses and marketing strategies.

Whether you're a small business owner, a blogger, a content creator, an affiliate marketer, or a social media influencer, creating compelling and valuable content is essential for attracting and engaging your target audience.

So, why is content considered king? Well, let me break it down for you.

“The old marketing adage “Content is King” is still very much true. Consumers are still driven by the thirst for content. But the fast-evolving technology is changing the ways content is delivered” – Convince & Convert

Content is King:

1. First and foremost, content is the foundation of any effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.

When you create high-quality and relevant content that aligns with what your audience is searching for, search engines like Google take notice.

They reward you by ranking your website higher in search results, ultimately driving more organic traffic to your site.

2. But it's not just about getting more visitors to your website; it's about keeping them there and converting them into loyal customers.

This is where the power of great content truly shines.

When you provide valuable and informative content, you establish yourself as an authority in your industry.

Visitors trust your expertise and are more likely to engage with your brand, leading to higher conversion rates.

“Google’s algorithms are increasingly sophisticated in evaluating content quality. AI-written content must meet high standards of helpfulness and accuracy to perform well in search rankings” – Search Engine Land

3. Moreover, great content generates buzz and encourages social sharing.

When people find your content useful or entertaining, they can't help but share it with their friends and followers.

This amplifies your reach and helps you build a strong online presence.

4. Additionally, content allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

In a crowded marketplace, having unique and original content sets you apart and helps you stand out in your niche. It gives you a competitive edge and helps build brand loyalty.

5. Furthermore, quality content nurtures long-term relationships with your audience.

By consistently providing valuable information, insights, and entertainment, you keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

This fosters a sense of trust and loyalty, which can lead to repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals.

Pro-Tip: Utilize AI tools for content creation, ensuring human verification to maintain accuracy, and enhance speed, quality, and productivity.

Different Kinds of Content Expansion:

Super-Tip: In this age of AI, it's essential to recognize that the influence of content is increasingly driven by context and data.

“You might think they already know what you’re about to say. But I guarantee there’s someone who doesn’t and will find your information useful. Every thought leader started with one piece of content. So, take the leap and share your expertise today” – Moz

In conclusion, content is not just king; it's the backbone of successful digital marketing strategies.

It helps improve your website's visibility in search results, drives organic traffic, engages and converts visitors into customers, encourages social sharing, differentiates your brand from competitors, and fosters long-term relationships with your audience.

So, if you want to thrive in today's digital landscape, investing in quality content creation should be at the top of your priority list.

Here's related information that you may also find helpful – 8 Content Quality Metrics To Improve Your Content’s Impact.