#ill actually edit him exactly like that if i end up liking the edits ill share them here with yall

[pixlpxie]

The king of slutty macbook selfies

[kokushibitch]

my dmmd au where mink is actually a brown guy instead of being vaguely yellow and grey. left edit is just a skintone edit while the right contains more natural looking feathers. i also gave him a stronger face

i spent a while trying to pinpoint his nation. unfortunately his design contradicted itself a bit and the slapping of random feathers and dreamcatchers everywhere pisses me awf. i wish that the artists had chosen to stick with one specific nation, and the closer i looked it actually wasn't as bad as i initially thought, but there were still some pretty egregious errors made with his design that could be avoided with CURSORY research, and for a company like n+c, big as they are with the resources to do better research, is unacceptable. to be quite honest, i almost hesitate to even make this post because i really don't want people to run with the information ill be discussing. while i am a native dude that enjoys DMMD, i know so many others that dislike mink, his design, and story because he falls into quite a few racist tropes. also, just because i can kind of glean some information about mink's culture based on his character design/home design, does not mean that it's a 100% accurate portrayal of said culture.

TL;DR: i used to think he was supposed to be ojibwe, but upon further inspection i headcanon mink as navajo/dine and afronative, my reasoning below the cut. im gonna make a later post discussing the nuances of his route and the meta racism in DMMD cause its been a loooooooong time since ive played his route. while im not navajo myself (im tsalagi) i at least have the life experience to tell the goddamn difference between nations lol. i also love the inclusion of a rainbow in his design as a fellow indigenous rainbow enjoyer

note: dine and navajo are the same thing, but im gonna use navajo because thats what more people are familiar with.

the easiest way to start would be with his most obviously unique feature, his locced hair. loccing among NA nations wasn't super common, but it did happen due to the culture & rituals around hair (no cutting unless under specific circumstances, braids/plaits end up "locced" from saltwater, etc etc). to me, however, his locced hair didn't feel like a purposeful design choice. meaning, i dont think the artist chose the locced hair because they wanted to convey something traditional about mink's culture, i think they chose it just because it looks cool, or because mink kind of just falls into the "vaguely brown" category. i'd also be okay with interpreting him as black/native, which i think im gonna do because i know that there are (or was, dead fandom) plenty of black dmmd fans that identify with him

his second most unique cultural indicator is his dreamcatcher. unfortunately, dreamcatchers have kind fallen into that "vague native design" bullshit, but they do have a tribal origin: aanishinabe. again though, due to the sheer abundance of people slapping dreamcatchers onto vaguely native characters, i cant say that this is a strong enough point for me to say definitively that he's aanishinabe. also, you dont fuckin wear dreamcatchers. end of, they're not supposed to be on your body.

THEN there are even more important indicators to me that denote exactly which nation he's from.

just judging base on the patterns used on his traditional tapestries, blankets, and runners, would denote some sort of southwestern nation. now they're not accurate designs necessarily, but i can understand and see clearly where they took inspiration from.

the peace pipe on the wall in both his home and his hideout immediately indicate navajo, a southwestern nation. the fact that he has a strong religious orientation to smoking herbs (im assuming in place of tobacco) is also very navajo to me. the pottery in his home & hideout are also very strongly southwestern, as pottery was a very common art in the southwest. the fact that he has an altar at all is unique because altars are actually not common practice and are usually only found in the southwest, which is actually a good detail point whether it was intentional or not. ignore the dreamcatchers which were, again, thrown in randomly

and of course his homeland contains mountains and more importantly, cliffs and canyons which is another southwest feature. there's also his fuckass cowboy boots which are VERY southwestern

IGNORING the dreamcatcher in his hair AGAIN, he's also flexin beaded jewelry. to me, these are just like regular beads, but you could interpret them as turquoise if you wanted. traditional turquoise jewelry is usually inlayed onto silver bands or pieces as well as strung together like so. his white belt also contains a very southwestern design.

as much as some elements of his design annoy the fuck out of me, i love, love, love, love the inclusion of the rainbow in mink's character design. the rainbow is so important to so many different nations, and mink being a religious person, it actually makes a lot of sense for him to have this sort of draw to rainbows or rainbow colored items. specifically in navajo culture, rainbows are used as Bridges between The Navajo and The Holy People, basically communicating with a higher power. a rainbow is also a symbol of the 7 sacred rituals in navajo culture, one color per ritual. here's a youtube video about it, learn something

i do have some thoughts on mink de-loccing his hair in his good ending, but i think i will have to save that for another post further down the line

anways, ive made my case. mink is navajo

[hauntedrain]

Part 1: For our own Sanity | Alex Turner x Fem! Reader |

social media AU Summary: Alex and reader's relationship turns public after a string of events.

✮▹A/N: So my first time doing a social media AU, so hopefully its okay <3

✰▹Warnings/Notices: Face claim is Sabrina Carpenter, mentions of age gap (Reader is about 25), I used Milo Manheim as an Ex of the reader. Potentially very bad cuz this is my first social media AU. Some old photos used, Not edited.

liked by: milomanheim, Y/Nupdates, & 31,052 others

@PeopleMagazine: Y/N L/N continues to amaze as she and fellow singer-songwriter are spotted together in New York, Only 8 months after her breakup with Milo Manheim with whom she spent 2 years together with. More on this couple and Y/N L/N's relationships and reputation.

View all 12,495 comments

user1: isnt she dating people left and right?

↪ user2: Yes, so for Alex's sake I would run. And look at that age gap!

↪ User3: You guys are actually crazy, Alex doesn't need to run, and her past relationships have ended because of her PARTNERS' stupid decisions.

User4: This girl can't catch a break can she? Yall are on her 24/7.

↪ User5: LITERALLY. They shamed her like a week ago for making an album, it's her job!

User6: Anyways, live laugh love Y/N and Alex.

liked by: milomanheim, Arctic Monkeys, TaylorSwift, & 12,4561,052 others

@Y/N L/N: I truly love coming and performing in New York and I can't wait for next time ❥ Thank you guys for being so kind and lovely. Now onto my UK tour!

View all 9,039,384 comments

User7: I fear... it's a serve.

User8: I need confirmation about the Alex photos or else I might die.

↪ user9: She doesn't need to confirm to anything, it's her private life.

↪ User10: You act as though she doesn't flaunt her relationship like crazy, she probably even knew about or called the paps to take those photos.

↪ User11: Exactly, she's always been the one to get a man and show him and their relationship off for a bit, then break up and make an album. It's giving clout chaser and a form of gold-digging.

↪ User 12: Milo has 2.4 million followers on Instagram. she has 32 million. i don't think she is the one clout chasing or being a gold digger.

liked by 2,059,456 others

@Y/Nupdates: Y/N and Alex Turner both have arrived at the Grammy's Award Show! Both arrived separately but sources say that both are hanging around each other for the most part.

View all 19,389 comments

User13: Both are GLOWING.

↪ User14: Exactly what I came here to say.

User15: So they are dating?

↪ User16: Nothing is confirmed and it's none of our business anyway.

↪ User17: let us have our fun. Both are big in the music industry, so we're bound to get excited. Like, imagine all the new music.

User18: I've seen some people say that they left together after the show.

↪ User19: I need to know if this is true RIGHT NOW.

Liked by TaylorSwift, Y/N L/N, & 1,598,543 others

@Arcticmonkeys: 2/14/24

View all 95,451 Comments

User19: IM SORRY WHAT?!

User20: what the fuck is that last slide.

↪ User 21: IF THATS Y/N IMMA SCREAM.

User 22: On valentines day?! THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD.

Y/N L/N: Cant wait.

↪ User 23: WHAT.

↪ User 24: I swear to god you need to tell us all the secrets or else we're going to go crazy.

⭒❃.✮:▹A/N: I hope this is good and that you like it! Ill make part 2 soon. Sorry for being so inactive life is just getting busy. However, I'm really excited about this one and I'm also excited about other fics too. Other than that, thank you so much, and love you guys! PART 2 POSTED

[rainhadaenerys]

Madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin

I wrote about this before, and I made an edit about this as well, but I wanted to write a separate post just for this topic because I think people really don't understand what "madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin" means. I see many people taking at face value that half of the Targaryens are mad and that Targaryens are ticking time bombs, and I also see other people criticizing GRRM for including the madness theme for the Targaryens, criticizing him for supposedly adding genetic determinism and stigmatizing mental illness. But I think both are missing the point.

The madness vs greatness theme is not about half of the Targaryens being mad or great (this isn't even accurate with what we're shown in the books, as very few Targaryens were mad). The madness and greatness theme wasn't introduced just to add some cool mythos to House Targaryen. The madness vs greatness theme is a commentary on what it takes to be great: madness. And it's a theme pertaining to Dany specifically.

The theme was introduced explicitly for the first time in a Dany's chapter, as something that is said TO Dany, right after she liberated three slave cities:

"I am no maester to quote history at you, Your Grace. Swords have been my life, not books. But every child knows that the Targaryens have always danced too close to madness. Your father was not the first. King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land." - Daenerys VI ASOS

In fact, this is the ONLY time in all the books in which the Targaryens are stated to be mad or great (sure, there are times where the books talk about the Mad King, or say that this or that Targaryen was mad, but this is the only moment in the books where the coin toss and the theme of madness vs greatness are explicitly mentioned). It's not something that is brought up several times or given much emphasis, it's something that appears only this time, and is only said to Dany.

And why is this concept introduced only to Dany, and at this moment? Because it's meant to be a thematic reflection on what she just did. Because what she did was MAD. To think that you have the power to defy an institution as ingrained as slavery, to think you have the power to make such a huge change in the world, and to actually attempt it, it's something that most people would consider madness. Because it's seen as an impossible thing, it's seen as crazy, it's seen as suicide. But that's exactly what greatness is: to do things that most people would consider madness.

And this theme doesn't even start in ASOS, it starts back in AGOT. The only reason Dany is even in a position to attempt to end slavery, is because she did a mad thing in the first place: walk into a pyre to hatch her dragons. And the narrative points this out several times:

"No. He cannot have my son." She would not weep, she decided. She would not shiver with fear. The Usurper has woken the dragon now, she told herself … and her eyes went to the dragon's eggs resting in their nest of dark velvet. The shifting lamplight limned their stony scales, and shimmering motes of jade and scarlet and gold swam in the air around them, like courtiers around a king.

Was it madness that seized her then, born of fear? Or some strange wisdom buried in her blood? Dany could not have said. She heard her own voice saying, "Ser Jorah, light the brazier."

[...]

When the coals were afire, Dany sent Ser Jorah from her. She had to be alone to do what she must do. This is madness, she told herself as she lifted the black-and-scarlet egg from the velvet. It will only crack and burn, and it's so beautiful, Ser Jorah will call me a fool if I ruin it, and yet, and yet …

Cradling the egg with both hands, she carried it to the fire and pushed it down amongst the burning coals. The black scales seemed to glow as they drank the heat. Flames licked against the stone with small red tongues. Dany placed the other two eggs beside the black one in the fire. As she stepped back from the brazier, the breath trembled in her throat. - Daenerys VI AGOT

~

She could feel the eyes of the khalasar on her as she entered her tent. The Dothraki were muttering and giving her strange sideways looks from the corners of their dark almond eyes. They thought her mad, Dany realized. Perhaps she was. She would know soon enough. If I look back I am lost. - Daenerys X AGOT

~

As she climbed down off the pyre, she noticed Mirri Maz Duur watching her. "You are mad," the godswife said hoarsely.

"Is it so far from madness to wisdom?" Dany asked. - Daenerys V AGOT

When Dany says she is determined to conquer Westeros, even though it seems impossible for someone who has nothing, she is called mad:

"I mean to sail to Westeros, and drink the wine of vengeance from the skull of the Usurper." She scratched Rhaegal under one eye, and his jade-green wings unfolded for a moment, stirring the still air in the palanquin.

A single perfect tear ran down the cheek of Xaro Xhoan Daxos. "Will nothing turn you from this madness?"

"Nothing," she said, wishing she was as certain as she sounded. - Daenerys III ACOK

Later, when Dany ends slavery, people call her mad for it, for daring to challenge an institution that is seen as the right order or things:

"I have a gift for you as well." She slammed the chest shut. "Three days. On the morning of the third day, send out your slaves. All of them. Every man, woman, and child shall be given a weapon, and as much food, clothing, coin, and goods as he or she can carry. These they shall be allowed to choose freely from among their masters' possessions, as payment for their years of servitude. When all the slaves have departed, you will open your gates and allow my Unsullied to enter and search your city, to make certain none remain in bondage. If you do this, Yunkai will not be burned or plundered, and none of your people shall be molested. The Wise Masters will have the peace they desire, and will have proved themselves wise indeed. What say you?"

"I say, you are mad." - Daenerys IV ASOS

~

Xaro caught it in the air and took a bite. "Whence came this madness? Should I count myself fortunate that you did not free my own slaves when you were my guest in Qarth?" - Daenerys III ADWD

And we also see people looking at Dany as if she is mad when she approaches the sick Astapori, because this is something people consider to be very dangerous:

By the time Aggo returned with Grey Worm and fifty of the Unsullied loping behind his horse, Dany had shamed all of them into helping her. Symon Stripeback and his men were pulling the living from the dead and stacking up the corpses, while Jhogo and Rakharo and their Dothraki helped those who could still walk toward the shore to bathe and wash their clothes. Aggo stared at them as if they had all gone mad, but Grey Worm knelt beside the queen and said, "This one would be of help." - Daenerys VI ADWD

That's what the madness vs greatness theme is about. It's not about how half of the Targaryens are great and half are crazy. It's about how to be great you have to be mad (not in the clinical sense, like the ASOIAF fandom thinks, but in the sense that you have to do things most people would consider mad). That's the whole point of the theme and it's why it’s been applied only to Dany's character so far: she is an extraordinary person, someone who would DARE to do something that most people would consider impossible and mad. And even GRRM points this out in his interview:

The whole point of the scene in A Game of Thrones where Daenerys hatches the dragons is that she makes the magic up as she goes along; she is someone who really might do anything. (source)

Finally, I just want to mention that Aegon the Conqueror, who is considered to be the greatest Targaryen for conquering Westeros, was also called mad for this:

“A bold plan,” Grand Maester Orwyle said cautiously, when he heard it. Mushroom prefers “madness,” but adds, “they called Aegon the Dragon mad when he spoke of conquering all Westeros.” - Fire and Blood

[heroictoonz]

Wip wednesday!! Sicktmeber? edition (sorta...) [LMK SEASON 5 SPOILERS!!]

“And what about you, young monkey?”  MK looked back up at Xiangliu. “Huh?” “What brings you back to your mother’s temple?”  MK frowned. “She’s not my mom. She’s just… a lady… who created me.” He crossed his arms. “Look man, if anything, the rock is my mom!”  Xiangliu chuckled. “Whatever you say, Xiaotian. But that does not answer my question.”  MK looked away from the beast. His gaze resting gently on everything it touched as he examined the room around him. The walls of paintings, the gold and jade jeweled treasures, finally landing on the statue of Nuwa.  He was almost impressed with how it looked exactly like her. He wondered if the temple was man made or not. He noticed how the older something was made to depict one of the immortals the closer to their actual likeness it was. Things that were made more recently seemed to have a lot more creative liberties to them. He supposed that was just how things like that went.  He turned back to Xiangliu but didn’t look at him. Instead opting to look down at the shards of vase, kicking them back towards the pile of things. “I dunno…�� he mumbled.  “You sure did put on a show to get here.” “Wha—?” Xiangliu sat up and gave an over exaggerated fake cough into his arm before throwing MK a knowing smirk.  “That’s not—that wasn’t—” MK frowned. “How the heck do you know about that? Have you been spying on me?!” MK’s fists clenched angrily.  Xiangliu held up his hands defensively. “Calm down, Xiaotian,” he spoke calmly. “I have much better things to do than constantly keep my eyes on you.”  The way he said ‘eyes’ and how the snakes that made up his hair seemed to look at MK at the word made the man wonder just how many of those eyes Xiangliu really could see out of.  MK shoved his hands into his pockets and gave another kick at the vase shards. “Coulda’ fooled me,” he bit back. He gave a big, dramatic roll of his eyes, letting his head move with them as if the action was heavy enough to move it along with. “You did so much watching after you woke me up!” His voice echoed through the halls as it grew louder. MK could only end his sentence with a glare to the beast.  To his credit, Xiangliu did look somewhat sheepish. He sighed, letting his feet fall back to the floor and taking a gentle step towards MK. “Xiaotian,” he spoke softly. “You must understand, I meant no ill will upon you with my actions.” He opened his arms and gave a grand smile. “I wanted to give you life! I wanted to give you a gift that not even Nuwa had planned to allow you! Give you life experience to make your own choices and in the end choose your own destiny. Not one that she-” he threw out an angry hand towards the statue that quietly listened to their conversation “-predetermined for you!” MK’s shoulders slumped visibly. He looked away from the other and he could no longer hide the sorrow from his eyes.  Xiangliu also dropped his hands, watching the expression on the other and matching his falter.  “I can’t help but think that… maybe I still made the wrong choice…”  Xiangliu frowned harder at that. Now a touch of frustration edging into his expression. “You are missing the point of this all,” he sighed. “Choices are not inherently right or wrong. A decision you make has much more behind it than good or bad. The experiences you had—the experiences I woke you for—guided your choices. You did not have black or white intentions as no one ever does. The human experience is so layered and detailed. Isn’t that wonderful?”  “Not if I’ve just doomed everyone all over again!” MK shouted.

[saltymothball]

my unpopular takes on beetlejuice beetlejuice SPOILERS!! (long post)

(i am a fan of the original pls do not come for me) these are just my thoughts on the sequel :D please feel free to add yours too

context! im writing these notes as i watch so theyre a little disorganized

for reference i also rewatched the original immediately prior to the sequel

not opening with the classic beetlejuice muisic ?? even the stage show opens with that music where is it (EDIT- restarted it and it actually does open w the music, but it is much less fun/campy an and more of a spooky remix so i forgot)

its not plot necessary but i do wish we learned how BJ fixed his shrunken head and death by sandworm

where are the maitlands ???? 0 mention of adam and barbra at the beginning ?

BJ's ex wife intro was a very creative concept but i wish they did it with more sfx props and less cgi/green screen

Astrid is like very boring, theyve done nothing to get the audience (me) invested in her?? disney wish vibes like who is she

call it a headcanon i feel like lydia wouldnt be this fucking awkward of a parent ?? she had good role models ie adam and barbra (even if her own parents werent as active, by the end of the original movie it implied they were now living in a healthy family dynamic

the mother daughter drama feels really forced, reminds me of the out-of-place tension between wednesday and morticia in the 2023 show

all angles are super close up and feel like horror angles. the scene where astrid befriends that boy ?? felt like someone was gonna come up and kill them the ENTIRE interaction (edit i guess that makes sense but it nerfed the scene)

IMMEDIATELY knew his parents are dead btw. not showing their faces is so clearly they are dead. not an ounce of mystery. theory the boy might be a ghost too?

theory astrids dad isnt dead bc Lydia cant see him

the witching hour wrong ?? last i knew it was 3am not 12am. weird thing to get wrong

its like not a silly campy vibe ?? its like uncomfortable.

dont like lydias new man hes pushy and gross

i miss adam and barbra

it doesnt make sense that no one taking lydia seriously ? delia knows she can see ghosts and has also experienced beetlejuice

lydias fiance is a horrid excuse for a partner (how tf did she meet him like did he just walk in bc the plot needed another person to hate lydia

not the dead protester joke :(

the spill-your-guts/pregnancy felt really idk,,, icky??? dont know how to explain it but it uncomfortably long

follow up- a lot of the visual ghost gags felt very gross/gorey ? like in the original movie the gags were inbetween silly/sexual/spooky-but this one feels more like blood and guts instead of spiders and snakes. exhibit A) otho casually shoving corpse barbra out of the way when looking at the closet with delia / exhibit b) the guy with the cigarettes at the end of the original

theory that astrid is going to end up seeing ghosts by the end of the movie

love the "eeee!" noise BJ makes when people say his name

ok BJ with the guitar after lydia tells him off was legitimately funny

i know astrid is an angsty teen but my god she is so hostile towards lydia

calling it at 56mins the boys parents are SO dead bc they deliberately didnt have lydia meet them

listen i have nothing against jenna ortega but it feels like she is type-casted to play exactly one character now, like let the girl play something other than a monotone gothy teen

"they found a loophole and moved on" okay whatever that means

astrids awkwardness w this ghost boy is pretty cute. he is so definitely a ghost though

yup called it hes a ghost

"my mom was telling the truth... shit" lmao

this boy feels very sus bc why are you trying to bribe her w her father

still no info on how lydia and rory met ??

MURDER HOUSE ?? TH BOY IS A MURDERER ??? okay thats a good twist ill give them that

astrid going into the afterlife to see her dad feels very "lydia going to the afterlife to see her mom" plot from the stage show ?

astrid honey you have too much faith in this ghost boy

oh my fucking god delia did you really get poisonous snakes....so on brand for her

Beetlegeuse literally carrying the whole movie

every scene he's in is absolutely giving

william dafoe is pretty good too but adding him just feels like he is william dafoe and not the character hes playing (who is also an actor)

delia correcting herself from saying fuck is really funny like girl was that scripted

okay ok astrd seeing her dad working in immigration was pretty neat

i had actually forgotten abt BJs ex wife until now ? doesnt seem like she actually adds much to the story beyond giving BJ a new reason to pursue lydia... which he was already doing...?

are they all going to end up in the afterlfe wtf

the afterlife desert takes place on the fucking moon of saturn ?? okay

is it just me or is the sandworm not claymation... like maybe its just the way it looks but i swear it looks like they cgi'd it but then cut down the frame rate

damn lydias husband really got eaten by piranhas.. what a way to die oh my god

there was no real stakes to astrid switching her soul? they resolved that so fast like lydia just grabbed her and they ran

oh their husband/dad is back now everything is fixed...? like all that hate towards her mom is now gone bc her mom was telling the truth about seeing ghosts? dad just resolved the only conflict

beetlejuice didnt even help get astrid back he went on a pee break and the plot progressed

love bad cop william defoe

"are you filled with fear and trembling?" "yes im shitting my pants" absolutely gold

BJ on fetchquests this whole movie fr

the soul sucking lady please she ate bobs nametag :(

ok wtf they really solved ghost boy dilemma in 5 seconds, BJ ex machina... like he rlly just got him like that ??? anticlimactic

ok good astrid apologized for being a shitty kid

rory please stop kissing lydias neck

i kind of hate the modern nods like the self securing seatbelt in the priests car, or the influencers at the wedding, really weird unnecessary detail

BJ and Delia wedding crashers my fav

how did Beetlejuice get into the church ? if he is a demon like previously established, shouldnt he NOT be able to step on holy ground

enjoyed the slapstick moment of lydia punching rory, good moment

her red dress omg !! pretty

BJ himself is just too funny, making the priest sing top tier

i still miss adam and barbra :( if they can cgi that dead guy in star wars i think we couldve brought alec baldwin and geena davis who are in fact still very alive and look great

they really didnt make me interested in BJs ex wife other than she is pretty and looks like morticia addams ?

BJ making everybody partake in singing is very silly

everybody dancing at the wedding scene must have been fun to film, everybody looks like theyre jamming

lmao whos dog was that in the hallucinations ?? is that the dog who killed the maitlands

"ghoul squad" ok monster high

oh finally his ex is here

lydia so casually pushed out of the way lmao

why does BJ have more etherial powers than every other ghost?

offering rory to the soul sucking lady is so good

theyre really just gonna sandworm for the plot resolution again ???

his ex wife was a threat for all of 4 seconds

lol the legal marriage loophole was kinda funny

is delia like forever dead ? is she a ghost now? is beetlejuice dead?

i still love delia. "i will find charles and we will haunt you both" good for her

are the influencer wedding guests dead

everything got wrapped up very quickly

good on delia for still loving her husband even though that shark absolutely annihilated him

what ?? astrid is married now???

WHAT ??? SHES GIVING BIRTH ?????

oh ok its a dream

having a second pregnancy bit felt really weird

they alluded to another sequel :(

please remember i am actually a huge fan of beetlejuice !! no hate to the franchise these are just my personal opinions on the sequel. i would love to hear your thoughts as well !!

[aurienneirua]

trying to think about how aurien would take castor’s death since i haven’t really articulated it quite yet . .

i think ill be using how blue diamond from steven universe take’s pink’s death as a bit of an projection onto aurien and inspiration !

well, ill start on how aurien was with solei’s disappearance . since me and @billwasnot actually discussed this before, i feel like i can articulate and word this much more then i usually do . ill also limit how long this is since that’s probably for a whole nother post .

( edit after finishing : wow im a really bad liar )

to put it into simple and hopefully straightforward words, aurien did not process solei’s disappearance at first, and her feelings about it in extension .

when they finally started to bubble up, she shoved them down . they poison parts of her in response, and she’s stuck in a cage and cycle of grief, slowly shutting down mentally and emotionally . even when she and solei reunite, she still has them shoved down .

now, finally onto cas !

for him mainly, id say she feels empty after his death .

she falls into a prolonged period of time where she either feels just . . empty, or all she can feel is pain and grief .

although she openly expresses her emotions now and doesn’t shove them away, she instead wallows in them, refusing to move on because she just doesn’t want to .

the words im referring to starting at 1 : 07 and ending on 1 : 16 being :

“ im sorry . im so sorry . i should have done more . ————— says it will all be over soon . i wonder what you would think . “

also think blue’s tone matches her exactly as well lol . quiet and low .

the words “ im sorry . im so sorry . “ transferring onto aurien in the way of how she knows she failed to save him, and “ i should have done more . “ being how she wishes that she could have, and regrets greatly how in the end, she did not .

also gonna put down some lyrics from what’s the use of feeling blue as well since that can also fit auri . .

“ why would you want to be here ? / what do you ever see here ? / that doesn’t make you feel worse then you do ? / and tell me, what’s the use of feeling, ( blue ) ? /

oh, how can you stand to be here with it all ? ( here with it all ) / drowning in all this regret ? / wouldn’t you rather forget ( him ) ? /

start looking forward and stop looking back, oh “

( formatting style originally by @sotogalmo ! )

ok, first, “ why would you want to be here ? / what do you ever see here ? / that doesn’t make you feel worse then you do ? / and tell me, what’s the use of feeling, ( blue ) ? / “ would probably be about her extreme unwillingness to move on ? and maybe also how as a result, she only feels worse and worse, inflicting pain upon herself because she feels she deserves it .

secondly and lastly, “ oh, how can you stand to be here with it all ? ( here with it all ) / drowning in all this regret ? / “ this one’s a more clear one for me . . she definitely is drowning in regret . another possible thing would be that the lyrics “ how can you stand to be here with it all ? “ can maybe be her actually asking herself that . .

how can she still stand here— why is she still here with everything that’s been going on ? she’s not special . so many people matter so much more then her . why does she live ?

anyways, i wrap it up here . . partly because i don’t think i have anything else to say, this post is already getting long, and im pretty disappointed about how this came out .

i came in with a clear mindset, ( which normally helps a lot when im trying to write things like this ) but it got muddled pretty easily . although i want to take more time on this, im not really patient with myself, and ive been having a lot of trouble wording things lately .

i don’t know how long it’ll take to “ word this right “, but i know it’ll be long combined with some other factors . I think I’ll maybe come back to update or expand on this though . . anyways, any thoughts about my depressed pookie aurien ?

( castor : @bluemoonscape )

( side note : lolol id love to hear your and possibly cas’s ( if he were still alive COUGH ) on this ! also i already have a little au in my head where auri and solei save cas . . and auri shoots and shatters a screen displaying kyo that was distracting cas mizi all in style . . may i know how he would react to this and hold up if they did save him . .

[summerwritesfics]

🌎More Than A Cheeseburger

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Bi-Han Length: 978 Words Rating: Mature Warnings: Modern AU, CEO!Hanzo Hasashi, Employee!Bi-Han, Teenage!Kuai Liang, Homelessness, Boss/Employee Relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Character Death

Meanwhile In Another Universe Masterlist

Notes: Another thing I’ve had written for a while now. Admittedly I am currently working on a oneshot I really wanted to get out before I posted anything else, but it’d been frustratingly slow progress, so I’m gonna edit and post some of these smaller bits today. Starting with this one. Meanwhile In Another Universe is basically an excuse for me to write a lot of little short fics exploring AU concepts without worrying about having to make them a bigger thing. This fic actually started as a much smaller fic, but I ended up adding a bit more to it. This is based on the previous timelines so, no Tomas with the brothers in this one.

Hanzo watched as Kuai Liang wolfed down the cheeseburger, as if he hadn’t eaten in months. Given how thin and sickly he looked, Hanzo supposed that could very well be the case.

He looked back over to Bi-Han instead, the young man glaring at Hanzo rather than eating his own burger. There were so many questions he had. Why was a 20 year old living in his car with his 14 year old brother? Where were their parents? Why had no one helped them?

“I have some questions I’d like you to answer, Bi-Han,” Hanzo started, watching as his employee’s eyes narrowed at him. “But first, I’d appreciate it if you could eat something.”

Bi-Han grunted, but thankfully took a bite.

It would take more than a cheeseburger to get to the bottom of this.

Bi-Han’s behaviour had been suspicious for a while now. Hanzo had noticed him sneaking the snacks left out for all employees into his bag. Initially believing he was just being greedy, Hanzo had scolded him for it. Then Bi-Han had started doing other odd things. Taking toiletries and stationary, getting extremely defensive about his after work plans, generally being snappy and unsociable to everyone around him.

Then, that morning, Hanzo had come in early, to find Bi-Han’s car already outside. It was unusual for Bi-Han to be in at such a time, and when Hanzo finally located him within the building, he found the man with his younger brother in the toilets, washing themselves using the sinks. It was Kuai Liang who admitted that the pair were living in Bi-Han’s car, seemingly much to Bi-Han’s disdain.

He hadn’t wanted anyone to know, clearly. 

“So, how long exactly have you been homeless?” He asked and Bi-Han made a face.

“We’re not homeless,” he replied in an extremely sharp tone, narrowing his eyes at Hanzo.

“We kind of are, Bi-Han,” Kuai quietly added, flinching violently when Bi-Han turned his glare on him. That response didn’t exactly give Hanzo much hope regarding the full situation that the brothers were in.

“About a month after I started working for you,” Bi-Han admitted, turning his attention back to Hanzo. “I haven't saved up enough for an apartment yet, but I’m working on it.”

“Why didn’t you mention anything?” Hanzo glanced over to Kuai, the boy had finished his burger in record time, now licking his fingers as if he was still chasing after the nourishment. Hanzo would have brought him a second burger, but he didn’t want him accidentally eating too much and making himself ill. “If I had known, I would have been able to offer you assistance.”

“I don’t need your handouts,” Bi-Han hissed. He stared down at the burger with contempt, like the very fact he’d even accepted it disgusted him. It was at this moment he seemed to decide Kuai needed it more, passing it over to the boy who eagerly began to cram it into his face like he’d done with the previous one.

“Asking for help isn’t the same as asking for handouts.” Hanzo didn’t know how to explain that to him. Bi-Han seemed like a proud individual, accepting help was likely not easy for him. “How exactly did this happen? Your brother’s still a child, where are your parents?”

Bi-Han paused, his lips tight and straightening himself out. Kuai almost seemed to shrink at the question.

“Dead,” Bi-Han said, voice so void of emotion it made Hanzo himself falter. “Our parents are dead.” Blinking like he was breaking himself out of a haze, Bi-Han’s face suddenly got a lot angrier. “And our foster parents were shitty people.”

That was unfortunate. Hanzo had done his share of foster care, and his priority every time had been those kids. It was disgusting, how some only signed up for material gain. Those kids deserved far better, and Hanzo wished he could take in more.

“I am sorry to hear all that.” It really did put into perspective both of the brothers' reactions to this. Bi-Han’s anger and Kuai’s fear. Both were completely understandable.

“Yeah, well.” Bi-Han shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. “It’s just how it is.”

“I have a spare room,” Hanzo told him, hoping the statement would imply enough. Bi-Han just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “You both would be welcome to stay in it for as long as you need.”

“No.” Bi-Han shook his head violently. “I already said no handouts.”

“Then you could give me some money towards expenses,” Hanzo tried. As much as Bi-Han probably wanted this to be dropped, Hanzo couldn’t, especially not when a minor was in a less than acceptable living condition. “It would be like renting, just at a reduced price.”

Bi-Han’s mouth twitched, like he was desperately trying to figure a way to turn down the offer. His eyes slowly drifted over to Kuai, who was looking at his brother with large pleading eyes. Hanzo prayed that would be enough to convince Bi-Han.

Finally Bi-Han gave a defeated sigh, closing his eyes as he said, “That… Would be appreciated, thank you.”

“Good.” Hanzo knew better than to think this momentary acceptance of help meant that he’d accept anymore, but it was progress. At the very least, it got Kuai Liang into a more stable home. The question of the boy's schooling was next, but he accepted that would be a battle for another day. “We can talk out the details later.”

Bi-Han nodded, looking somewhat dejected. His face lit up a little when he saw Kuai smiling, looking happy and excited about their new housing arrangements. Despite everything, it was clear Bi-Han priorities lay with his brother. Hopefully, that would be the key to helping them, trying to find what was best for Kuai Liang.

It was still early, but Hanzo had hope that things would get easier from here.

[stuckasmain]

Moulin Rouge - movie thoughts and comparison

I mentioned this in my last post but later in the week after seeing the show, we watched the movie. There’s a lot to be said and my feelings are complicated (just as they are the for stage version). It has a lot of elements I love and a lot of issues at the same time so let’s just get into it.

It has the movie advantage. Big budget flash - pardon the pun- spectacular. The huge cast plays to its advantage and its detriment. We get a wide array of weird, wild and wonderful. Body type, ethnicity, etc. You get a well rounded image of what the district is like. At the same time it sort of takes away in that- the focus is on no one. A lot more  bohemian friends (the musical knocks it to the main three and helps develop that friendship a tad more), more people working at the rouge in general and we get less of a look at they’re relationships to each other etc. It’s? I love there’s more , realistically there would be, but it also takes away from everyone at the same time, if that makes sense.

The editing is everything. It’s the silly, whimsical and funny sort of deal. There’s fast forwards/speeding characters up, random explosions of sparkles etc. My favorite things are everyone tossing their hats into the air and they literally go through the roof, the gun hutting the Eiffel tower, Zidler moon. The musical does a similar effect in the opening number(s) with the confusion and whimsy it hits up with.

Period costuming! For the most part! While I can appreciate and understand the musical going the more bedazzled and more 80s route for the clothes… something about it being a jukebox musical and running around and talking in a more modern fashion while dressing completely like it’s 1899 is so good. Something about Christian wearing white tie- looking incredibly awkward in it might I add- and going 🥺 across the room is everything. More of this! Period dramas- period anything! Take note!

Props for featuring the actual can can

One of my leading criticisms however, as much as I am a complete sucker for a montage scene I feel like there’s too many and it starts to muddy what exactly is happening. There’s context lost that the musical later fills in. Here however “she’s dying” *two month montage of her very much doing the opposite* I know it’s to reveal the illness but still. Montage + to many characters = loss of context/gravity

The duke is great. I love a “oblivious man child who gets violent when he doesn’t get what he wants” however he’s also not really a active threat until the last chunk. They keep putting him off and his threats off until it becomes real in the last act— he’s funny but I think i prefer to musicals take of having him more outright villainous and actually taking Satine away for huge chunks of time. Making a good reason for jealousy and fear of her mistreatment.

john leguizamo. I don’t actively seek out movies he’s in but he’s a treat whenever he does appear. That being said the difference between the two Lautrec’s is wild lmao. Similar but the musical has him WAY more focused on his own pining.

Ewan McGregor Christian 💕

I also mentioned this in the last post but I think the play in the movie is weaker however Satines death is stronger as it knows to do the grand celebration before, thus making it hit all the more harder by it simply ending.

[kirnet]

I love ur analysis of dsom. I read it a couple years ago and got so frustrated thinking "this is the book everyone is raving about??" The magic system and world has such potential but the characters drag it down. I remember a scene where Kell is up in his feelings about his whole. Incredibly fucked up "family situation". And Delilah is essentially like "well at least you HAVE a family". And the narrative seems to frame that interaction as her being cool and edgy and the voice of truth or whatever. And Kell is like. I guess youre right :( ill stop complaining. But the story doesnt grapple with that any further??? Doesnt use that moment to build out either character beyond "Delilah is so cool and also right (and an asshole but thats what makes her cool)" and "Kell's complex feelings about this are now solved/set aside after this clap back". Family is one of the themes of the book but even this scene doesnt really explore the concept in depth. I may be misremembering it but that one scene just summed up for me everything frustrating about the character writing and the way the story uses the characters. Maybe the issue is revisited in later books. I wouldnt know, bc very little about the writing makes me want to read any more.

Yeah!! Yeah!! That scene was… argh, you’re exactly right. The main source of frustration for Lila for me is that the narrative frames her as right almost always and especially in that instance. And like, if I’m willing to engage with it, it is a telling character moment of hypocrisy where Lila is lashing out in grief after losing Baron (?? I dont remember his name) and is displacing all those feelings onto Kell. But the way it’s handled, like you said, makes me assume that no, Schwab didn’t intend for it to be that deep. It’s so frustrating because the world and the characters have so much potential! With a few more drafts and edits this could be a really good book! But as it stands it’s a 400 page book with little to no plot, hardly any interesting character progression or arcs, boring flat fight scenes, and uninteresting prose. The masquerade scene is there bc she thought it sounded cool. The elements are there bc she thought atla is cool. The fake eye is there because she likes bebop. There’s no actual substance. I have read books half the length that have succeeded in all of these places. I’ve heard similar criticisms of her pacing in other books from people who did like darker shade so, idk, it sounds like she needs a better editor honestly.

And like, yeah, maybe this is revisited in later books, maybe her writing gets better, maybe the second book is fantastic. I honestly had a lot of the same criticisms when I read the Founders Trilogy, but the difference there was that i ADORED the characters and the world building. They were so solid that I HAD to continue even if i had some issues with the writing style and pacing. This series has none of that appeal for me. If she had ended it on a cliffhanger, if she had actually set up this world to be as dark and edgy as she thought it was, if Kell had to use his wits as a smuggler to survive in a place far from his family leading him to conclude that yes he does love them, if Lila had to fight to survive trapped in white london and then come to grips with her violent nature and that its not actually a positive, then I would be all over the rest of the series!! Idk, other reviews mentioned that they were disappointed with this after reading some of her other worlds like viscous, so maybe I’ll give that a try when I feel less burned.

[catlokis-blog]

do you have any gubby scenarios i am DYING for old men in love and so far you are the only person in this fandom i have seen since 2020 have correct takes on them

(PUNCHING THE AIR IN TRIUMPH) YESSS IVE BEEN DEEMED THE QUEEN OF OLD MEN IN LOVE CONTENT

im actually writing a vampire au fic right now featuring gubby and boomer ... but i wont bring that up until its closer to completion

(right now i have it roughly a third done before i do my final edits, but note that's because i just do basic planning, rough draft, and then final draft. its a pretty simple writing process and its why i dont write chaptered fics)

since you asked for gubby specifically ill focus on them especially considering theres a lot of boomer content out there but no love for the space man and the man who loves space.

read more and a headcanon dump time. you know how it is!

bubby almost DEFINITELY made the first moves to gman. i like to think it was encouraged by coomer after bubby was like btw im polyamorus and i also cant stop thinking about gman can i go ask him out. and then coomer became #1 hypeman and would try and force them into scenarios together LMFAO

gman isnt really ever forced into anything though? luckily for bubby he DID hold interest in the bastard and would go along with coomer very unsubtly trying to have them get some one-on-one time

during tommy's birthday party bubby almost definitely started flirting with gman. something about the atmosphere making even mister money bags space god start to relax and have fun a little was when he decided to make his first moves on the guy despite having eyes for him earlier

The train incident was his first attempt to talk but we all know how often gman cameos around in half life 1... bubby almost certainly took notice of black mesa's Latest Old Man Babe

gman probably barely knew how to process being flirted with at first because he's used to being treated with fear and such, and when he does get flirted with it's usually in a way that's like "oh, you're so above me", but bubby would approach it in the way you'll approach someone at a bar

as in shitty pick-up lines and very overt "you're hot as fuck, make out with me" comments. but the phrasing is more bubby's personality than bar etiquette - he's not exactly romeo.

eventually once gman gets used to bubby flirting with him after a while though the script WILL get flipped on him. because gman is no fool. in fact he is VERY observant. half of the time he spent listening to bubby's nonsense flirting (and, occasionally getting responses he didn't know he was even capable of, like an involuntary "oh my" and a blush when he said a particularly romantic line that was probably fed to him by bubby's personal cupid, dr. coomer) he would be picking up on what made bubby a little more nervous to say, a little more hopeful in how gman would respond, and what he seemed to like to hear from dr coomer

after constant passive reception of bubby's moves on him he'll fire back onto bubby with everything he had observed up to that point. even the little comments he'd whine to benrey, coomer, and even gordon when he was willing to listen to bubby. all those offhanded whiny things like "why can't he just x already" would come BITING HIM BACK.

at the end of the encounter bubby is probably rendered speechless and gman toys with him a little more through baby's first kiss from a god. he and coomer would have their own little mini celebration about this later

( and, a little bonus, despite coomer's encouragement, bubby would never actually ask gman out. he's very stubborn on waiting to be confessed to instead, which is why it took so long for him to get with coomer after literal years of flirting. gman ended up learning this too and had to research how the hell you ask someone out since he had literally never had to do that before - he was usually getting asked out and rejecting people because they were doing it for some kind of personal benefit / he doesn't have much interest in dating randoms in the first place. )

[httpiastri]

hi jackie im back and im here to yap

also this entire thing is really disorganised (just a warning)

pepe’s 187 seems short?? ���😭😭😭😭 also im pretty sure 187 is very recent bc this redbull driver database was updated early this year before the f2 season started (sorry ive realised how insane i must be to know this but i can’t tell if i agree with the measurements because sometimes i think pepe and ollie should be around 190?? minimally!!)

also the girl who edited pepe to guilty as sin is literally so sweet omg 😭😭 ill def make my own pepe playlist soon bc i need it for myself—don’t know if ill ever share it (although i do listen to so much international music from asia, europe, and literally everywhere else so it might be a pretty disorganised mess)

i saw pepe’s pics this morning when i woke up and i ACTUALLY screamed/squealed out loud and now i realise it’s the stubble/facial hair (i kinda think it’s way past the stubble point but regardless of what it is, i love it so so much)

omg also youre so right about liking when pepe shows emotions?? i love him being all soft and sweet but i also want to see him salty and upset and angry like idk i find it so very attractive when i am reminded that he is human?? idk if that makes any sense but i love it when people are raw and so so genuine with their emotions and i also love when he talks about stuff i barely know about because i love intelligence and i love him

and omg feeling guilty about not using the resources you have is so so real 😭😭 my parents are first gen immigrants and im the first child and so i feel so guilty because of how privileged i am compared to my cousins and stuff, especially since i live in one of the strongest academic countries but am still so lazy at times 😕😕 ESPECIALLY since ive had more opportunities than the average student academically because i was gifted but now im there’s so much guilt surrounding not going the mainstream and highest pathway BUT OMG your sport i completely forgot about that but don’t you coach kids or something?? i feel like i have a vv faint recollection of that because i used to follow you from my old blogs but i’m not too sure 🤨🤨 still isn’t it so cool how so many seemingly insignificant things can suddenly turn into such a big part of your life one day?? i find that concept so cool to think about all the time (like in my un-anonymous ask a while ago i mentioned what i was studying and… i used to be so invested in those themes? like it was never serious, i just dabbled in it here and now my career plans kindaaa differ from what’s expected in this field of study but its cool that im getting to experience what i used to imagine for fun and it’s also sort of led me to consider this career path that MANY childhood friends/people who knew me used to think i’d go into, even though i never once mentioned or even considered it)

i believe in karma too!! i think that if you are a kind person and do things with the best of intentions then that will be exactly what is reflected in every aspect of your life. i am also a strong believer that pepe WILL do well for the rest of this season, from this race onwards. i also have such a good feeling about monaco, and it’s not just because of all the pepe content that’s been put out recently… i think 🫣🫣

omg i remember you complaining (?? pls forgive me i have no other word choice rn) about how he didn’t get a penalty, and i also cannot remember if he did end up with a penalty… but i don’t think he did? so maybe he’s just serving unnecessary penalties from last year idk but it’s def his time now!!

and thank you so so much for always replying to my asks!! please don’t feel bad about replying late 😓😓 because it’s vv understandable if you’re busy and you really shouldn’t force yourself to answer asks when you’re tired! take care of yourself jackie, and i’m wishing you a lovely day tomorrow!! 💗💗

- 🪷

hello darling !!! very happy that you wanted to come and yap for me <3

SJDFHDK I KNOW ITS NOT SHORT BUT LIKE 😭 it seems short for him? like to me he seems like suchhh a long boyyo?? thoughhhh im just now realizing that he's taller than my older brother..... but okay let me explain my reasoning: in my head 187 isn't super tall because in the handball world (the world i live in), 187 is like kinda average? the guy i used to crush on is a little over 2 meters 😶 and he wasn't the tallest in the team 😶 but yeah tbh it seems reasonable that they updated it kinda recently. but pleaseeee update the f2 f3 websites ☹️

omg... if you do end up wanting to share it, i will definitely be obsessed...... i have been listening to ☄️ anons pepe playlist way too often to not be super embarrassed over it 😭 but like certain songs come on and i just catch myself blushing on the street because im thinking about pepe and... yeah...... 🙃 and omg don't worry about it being disorganised, a broad music taste is the best one 🥰

yeah it was definitely more than a stubble but am i complaining?? actually not (which surprises even me) 🥰 i currently have a very big obsession with just the thought of his stubbe/beard/whatever... just touching it? don't need to be shaving it? kissing him and feeling it slightly rub me and getting to jokingly complain just to see his cute smile and hear his pretty laughter??? y e s

" idk i find it so very attractive when i am reminded that he is human??" !!!!!!!!!!!! agreed 10000%!!! i love it when drivers have emotions that arent just happy or "well something bad happened, shit happens", and especially pepe. and idk it's something about the extreme contrast abt him? because when he's happy then he's so happy, big smiles and sweet giggles. but when he's upset.... 🫠 and omfg you're SO right about him talking abt racing stuff or yes just stuff i don't really get, because intelligence is SO HOT 😁 i could listen to him talk abt racing for hours and hours and never get bored

ahhhh i see i see !!! i relate to you sooo much... i made it through like all of my years of school just by luck and always managing to get good grades even though i didn't put in a lot of effort? but in my later years, as soon as something got a little hard or i didn't fully like it, i just bailed 😶 even though im so lucky to have all of these opportunities.... :/

but yes i do coach kids hehe 🥺 cute that you remembered 🥺 speaking of that, the fact that i became a coach in the first place was kind of just a coincidence aswell, and now six years later it's one of the biggest things in my life and i'll (hopefully) be studying coaching in the fall and just !! crazy how life works out sometimes 🥺 (the guy who brought me into coaching actually passed away recently and on his funeral i cried much more than i ever thought i would because i realized that i owe him like my entire life... idk what i would be doing today without him..... and he probably had no idea how much he changed my life 😭 idk kinda off topic but also not)... but yes it's indeed very cool!!! and like u said, like when people think stuff of/for you that you don't rlly think about yourself but one day you're just..... oh

yes yes 100%!! i love showing the girls i coach about karma, like whenever we do something kind and then get instant karma for it i'm like "girls look! we did a good thing, now we get rewarded!! 😁" (im making it sound like they're 5 years old when in reality they're 15 oop-), and this one time when i did something pretty bad we all got bad karma all weekend......... 😶 and ik this was aimed at the monaco weekend buT the next race!!!! a good result in barcelona will feel so much better now considering these last few rounds so im okay with this. i know it will happen 🥰

sjdghkdh complaining is an okay word choice because i was upset about a lot of things that weekend 😭 (though mostly during the sunday-) but no i don't think he got one either? it was probs the teams fault so im sure they got a fine etc? but yeah that could be an explanation 😭 100% about to be his time!!!!

thank you so so so much for sending me asks!!!! no but i will feel bad anyway because i do love writing answers but when i answer so late, it seems like i don't enjoy it? when in reality i love it so much??? idk i just feel so guilty and 😭 im so sorry. but thank you again for keeping on sending in asks!!!!! truly makes my day every time <3 take care of yourself too, hope you have a lovely rest of this week ❤️

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

i'm not sure if you've read tsukasa's most recent event too, but just in case, they had met a shy but talented actor named Bakuno Reki there. He had invited WxS to apply to be extras in the movie he was going to star in, which the troupe was accepted for. The original plan was to show up to set, learn more about movie production, be background characters for like two scenes, and then peace out. This is not what happened.

The director ended up inviting WxS to join the team part time as stagehands, assisting with props, set-up, and minor tasks. They decided to accept in order to learn even more about a new style of acting and production.

It was pretty hard work, tbh. The director was quite strict with expectations and it's just hard in general, but they all found the work to be rewarding. Tsukasa and Nene enjoyed learning more about the differences in acting through film (non-chronological, which requires different approaches to displaying growth and emotional connection), and Emu learned a lot about scheduling and administration! Rui wants to learn more about directing, but it's a bit hard to do from the sidelines.

A little ways into the project, the director realizes Rui's passion for directing and drive to absorb every piece of information like a sponge. He decides to accept Rui as a directing assistant for the rest of the project. It's even harder work, but Rui accepts without a second thought.

Nothing really major happens until the day they film the climax. The story they are filming is an adaptation of a novel about a boy, depressed and unsatisfied with daily life, who wants to disappear into the sea, suddenly having his life flipped upside down by a mysterious girl claiming to be his long-lost sister. Slowly, through the light of her joy, he learns to love life, piece by piece. The climax scene occurs at an airport, after the sister leaves with no warning. The boy follows her there and asks why, why would she go, why abandon him after everything? (She has a terminal illness and thought leaving like this would be the most painless way to separate. She hadn't meant to get so attached to him when she first contacted.) It's a pretty emotionally heavy scene- one they can't get right. They tried all sorts of re-directions, edits, angles, but nothing managed to capture the true expression they were going for. The shoot was called of and postponed for the next day.

Rui took it upon himself to try and figure out exactly what's wrong with the scene. He pretty much shut himself in a room with the director to pour over the script (and also skipped a meal, for the second mentioned time this event.) They could not figure it out.

Suddenly, the door opens, and a strange, kinda shady former "friend" of the director walks in. He pretty much compliments the work in a very backhanded, passive aggressive way and acts all chummy towards the director, who is not having it at all. The strange man says something about. something weird. I don't actually remember. but it leaves a sort of impression on the both of them. (Later, the director mentions the fact the strange man is an old college "friend" and current stage director.)

The next day, Rin pops by to check in on the troupe, only to immediately notice Rui Did Not Sleep. He spent the entire night rewatching the current footage, past recordings of Reki's old performances, anything that could possibly help. He didn't get anywhere still.

Emu, Tsukasa, and Nene run up to Rui and hand him a bento box (though it's left unsaid, it's because they know he isn't taking care of himself and want to help him, in whatever way they can.) Emu starts talking about how fun it is they have so many different options for bento, so that everyone can grab the things they like! And, wouldn't it be so cool if they could find a way to personalize each bento to each person!!

Then Rui got it. That's why the scene was off. Though the script works well in the book, it's not suited for a performance. It's not suited for Reki. He runs off to go tell the director his revelation (never having actually accepted the bento offered to him).

Rui explains his thought process to the director, only to find he had already come to his own conclusion. He applauds Rui for making it this far, especially having only done film directing for a short while, but the change that is truly necessary is a step above what Rui suggested. Rather than change the dialogue, he wants to remove it all together. They shoot the change. It was perfect.

The event concludes with WxS watching the initial screening of the movie, really happy with the final product. The rest of the troupe is super impressed with how much Rui helped, even when he feels like he didn't contribute much at all. He wasn't able to fix the scene, after all.

After the screening and WxS's departure, the strange "friend" pops by the theater. He forces the director to show the movie, again simultaneously berating and praising it. He also asks about that "strange young kid you were working with. What's his name, Kamishiro?". He has a feeling their paths may cross again...

Overall, a pretty decent event! Not as earth-shattering as curtain call, but still carries a lot of meaning to Rui's character. It really highlighted his self-sacrificial nature and drive to learn, and how much WxS means to each other. It also sets up a potential new conflict with this mysterious shady guy. Excited to see more of him!

OH MY GOSH, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!! ah this is. wow, yeah, very helpful actually!! i KNEW that guy had shit vibes...

i saw people talking about Rui's "self-sacrificing" nature but didn't know where it had come from until now!! and aww... Emu indirectly solving the problem? there's so much that can be said about how Emu and Rui are a fantastic duo who bring out the best in each other... rotating in my mind...

[doloresdisparue]

Hi! Just preemptively, because I'm sure running this blog can be exhausting: this ask is about whether a half-baked idea I had for cover art of Lolita as a teenager has ever been used on a real book cover-- nothing heavier than that.

So! The Kubrick movie was so bad that as an adult I turned it off 10 minutes in, but I watched the whole thing when I was 17. I don't remember exactly what Dolores' "Midsummer Night's Dream" costume looked like, but it must have had a bunch of leaves/forest debris glued onto the shoulder, because I was very taken with the idea of creating an image where she's in the costume and HH looks normal/is gripping her shoulder, but when you take a closer look instead of a hand he has a talon digging into her shoulder, slightly camouflaged by all the woodland stuff on the costume but readily apparent if you look at Dolores for more than half a second. when I tried watching it as an adult I turned it off after about 10 minutes, but as a teen, I thought a great way to depict the threat of HH lurking in plain sight/barely obscured would be to have him clutching Dolores' shoulder while she's still in the costume for "A Midsummer Night's Dream"-- only instead of a hand, he has a talon digging into her shoulder, slightly camouflaged by the woodland debris on Dolores' costume but easily spotted if you look with even the slightest bit of attention.

Nowadays, I don't support that imagery for the story-- HH's real hand on a real child is far more horrifying, I agree with Nobokov abt how images of Dolores shouldn't be on covers, etc-- but I was wondering if you've found any similar imagery over the course of your research?

(Literally just curious though, so no worries about answering if for whatever reason you don't feel like it. Thanks for sharing such great analysis on here, and best wishes on your thesis!)

Hi! Thank you for the lovely message and the concern - though honestly this blog is helping as a sort of vent space for what I have to work through for my thesis anyway.

I have not seen any cover resembling your old idea! I have actually barely seen any cover that leans into the fairytale aesthetic despite that being a strong recurring motif even outside of the "Enchanted Hunter" play/hotel. There MIGHT be some out there that combine the popular butterfly motif with the little girl and end up making her look like a bit of a fairy but I can't find any right now.

This might come closest to what you described in spirit, though it is not a cover but a flyleaf from a Russian edition that I can't actually find the cover of.

More vaguely interesting editions under the cut

Theres this 2009 Russian edition but Humbert doesn't appear on it and there is no subversion of the romantic imagery

This 1987 German cover for the Enchanter (not technically Lolita) has that aspect of Humbert as a (decidedly human though) monster but it's missing the fairytale aspect:

This Russian edition goes full literal nymph but, again, we are not subverting anything and this is definitely not a costumed little girl but an actual magic creature

Russia again, 2000, (interesting pattern) but this is a costumed little girl, though without Humbert and not her movie costume. Might also be a child bride, not a reference to the play.

Ukrainian. Humbert's "talons" prominently featured. Might have had some impact if Dolly's dress wasn't transparent for some godforsaken reason.

These are the ones with the closest vibes that I've come across. And while you're right in that it's not ideal wrt making Humbert a literal monster that obscures how human he is and featuring a little girl prominently I do think cover artists could do something by leaning into the fairy tale thing in some way. If we allow ourselves the leeway of featuring body parts there might also be something with just showing Dolly's shoulder and Humbert's hand resting on it, fatherly at first glance but digging into her skin and holding her tightly when you look closer. God knows, I'm no illustrator but there are so many options I'd love to see more. Also Stanley Kubrick rot in hell <3

[banduckoot]

About you last head-canon post, can we know anything more about Nina’s mom? because I have so many questions. What was she like? Was she aware that Max was gay? Or that the brothers pulled a switch around in the bedroom? Did she love Nina/the idea of being a mom?What was her relationship like with Dr Cortex, her husband Max and her in laws? How did she die? I’m interested dang it! 😅

I wasn't going to talk about Nina's mom, but since you're so interested... well, why not? To be honest, what I came up with for Nina's mother is still a work in progress, but here's what I have:

Nina's mother was named Nastia, and when she was a child, she was actually a student at Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil, just like Cortex. In fact... Nastia was one of Cortex's bullies. She wasn't really evil, but a good person who had to PRETEND to be evil in order to survive Madame Amberly's school. I can't go into their relationship back then since I'm still working out the details, but they did end up liking each other even back then.

Then, after the two of them graduated from the Academy, they parted ways, and didn't see each other again until they became adults. By then, Nastia had already married Max. She was aware Max was gay, and had married him to get Sharon off his back. They weren't in love at all, but they were very close friends... mainly because Max reminded Nastia of Neo in so many ways, and Nastia had NO idea Neo Cortex was Max's younger brother.

Basically, Cortex didn't know Nastia was the SAME Nastia from his childhood until he arrived at Max's home. He was initially rather upset with her for marrying his brother, and almost left immediately. Max and Nastia managed to convince him to stay, however, and after Cortex had spent about a week getting to know Nastia again, he had fallen in love with her all over again.

As a kid, Nastia was a good person and even better actress who was very good at pretending to be a sadistic bully. As an adult, she no longer has to fool anyone, as she cut ties with her family who wanted her to be evil. She was kind, sweet, empathetic, and loved animals... in many ways, very opposite of what Cortex was. Yet at the same time, her sweet nature was what drew Cortex to her. Basically, she was a source of human warmth Cortex had never experienced before; he was a moth to her flame.

After Nina was born and Max had divorced Nastia, Nastia and Cortex were planning to marry each other. Nastia had even packed her bags to move into Cortex Castle. Unfortunately, she died before that could happen. What happened exactly, sadly, I haven't worked that part out yet either. Originally, I was going to have her die of illness, but that trope is SO old and tired! I also thought that Cortex accidentally caused her death in a freak accident, but Cortex has suffered so much already that I'm afraid to torture him like that!

However it happened, Nastia died, leaving Cortex to head back to Cortex Castle with Nina, where N. Brio was waiting for them. Nina was raised in the castle for the next five years, before she was dropped off at Evil Academy for her private education. Before she got her bionic metal hands, she was turning out just as kind, sweet, and loving as her mother. After she got the hands, she became an impish little brat who was always up to some form of mischief.

Nina has no idea that Cortex is her biological parent, as Cortex is trying to keep that a secret from Sharon. Max still pretends to be Nina's dad, to the point where he occasionally visits with her, spoils her with gifts, and affectionately calls her "pumpkin" as a loving nickname. Nina feels neglected by Max, and Cortex isn't the nicest guy either, so... she may have daddy issues underneath that sassy exterior. Poor kid.

EDIT: AHHHH I FORGOT TO ANSWER WHAT NASTIA'S RELATIONSHIPS WERE LIKE. Okay, so she was very close friends with Max, but she didn't love him romantically. Like... they were besties at best. As for her in-laws, she really doesn't like any of them, and they don't like her much either for being such a softie, but at least they're not as evil as most of the people she grew up with, so it's nothing she couldn't handle.

[my-gf-is-kazuichi-soda]

I admit, a lot of Nagito's actual mental illness traits went over my head when I played the game, and up until now. If I've talked about him in an ableist way before, I'm sorry (and I'll delete/reword any post with something like that if you point it out to me, none of them come to mind atm but I feel like I may have said something like this in the past). I honestly thought he was just a manipulative jerk acting a certain way "for funsies" and if I've called him "crazy" or anything like that, it was in a place I probably should have used the word "asshole" instead, but even that's not a real fix to the issue. Frontotemporal dementia. I only learned what that means today. I'm glad I wasn't planning on having Nagito have much of a presence in my fanfic anyway.

I had to ignore the parts of that post about Danganronpa 3 because I'm still playing it, but one part I read...I didn't notice that Kokichi was wearing a straight jacket. I thought it was just a white suit.

I never would have expected Danganronpa to have a canonically mentally ill villain after the mess with Toko. Like I've said before, I love playing with ideas of this franchise and I love Kazuichi a lot and I like a lot of other characters too (mostly from Danganronpa 2, for now that is my very favorite), but Danganronpa is a poorly written series full of missed potential (/derogatory) and it's honestly mostly sex jokes and murder (/affectionate). Writers can use it as a sandbox and people can get some laughs from it.

I'm wondering if anyone has made a post about Danganronpa's ableism with Kazuichi. The autistic-coded character misunderstanding social scenarios, being constantly called "dumb" and "annoying," showing an ability and willingness to change when told to stop doing something but nobody actually wants to tell her to stop doing the "annoying" thing that they'd rather mock her for, not to mention the lesson she has to learn through all of this. Having faith in yourself is a good lesson, and Kazuichi did need to learn some humbling (they actually could have done way more on this for her), but they really said her biggest problem was that she needed to believe in herself more when she's been pushing herself to being "normal" (and failing at it, because normalcy is stupid and hurts everyone) and making herself miserable in the process?? She deserved to have a character arc where she doesn't have to act like a "punkass" anymore because she feels safer to be herself around her friends, and where she gets a look she's actually happy with (my trans headcanon doesn't have to be canon for this to work, it's just my interpretation out of many ways they could have done this arc for her). It felt like she had a little bit of vulnerability at the end, but too little too late in my opinion. I had a hard time believing most of these guys were her friends in the end, especially Fuyuhiko and Sonia -not saying these charaters needed to be her friends, their feelings were valid, just that Danganronpa's entire "everyone is friends by the end" thing can feel a bit forced at times just to get a happy ending through (I would not be feeling like this if they convinced me in the writing that the characters were believable as friends). Although at least this group felt like an actual group, the first game was way worse at the "everyone is friends at the end" thing! (You're really telling me everyone is friends with Byakuya and Toko after all of that?! It actually made me laugh with the whiplash of how out-of-nowhere-cheesy that was compared to the mood before they met up with the others.)

Too tired to rant any more. I hope my points came across?

Edit: maybe I'm too tired but I'm feeling self conscious about my wording and I'm not 100% sure if their treatment of Kazuichi is ableist exactly, but it felt uncomfortable for me. Maybe using "ableist" for that part was extreme? I'll get back to you on that in a bit