#it makes his arc more satisfying

[bennetsbonnet]

Although I absolutely had a great time at the production of Pride and Prejudice I saw last night, staged by a local theatre group (there truly is nothing like laughing along to some of Austen's dry wit in a room full of people) some of the changes made were quite... startling??? Which was understandably because the bulk of the action had to take place in the drawing room at Longbourn. But still, the more I think about it, the more I'm tickled (if a little frustrated).

It was all going well until Darcy's 'tolerable' comment was only reported on by Mrs Bennet the next day. Not seeing him say it really made such a difference. Then, I was surprised when the first time we actually saw Elizabeth and Darcy interact was at a substitute for the party at Lucas Lodge, except it happened at Longbourn, and they used the dialogue where Darcy asks if Elizabeth wishes to seize the moment by dancing a reel, which takes place later at Netherfield.

Honestly they toned down Darcy so much, he really didn't seem that bad and it was kind of difficult to understand why Elizabeth disliked him so much. The proposal wasn't nearly mean enough either, he insulted her connections once but again, it was difficult to believe she would be so against him.

The first act ended with the proposal and I was honestly having a great time. It featured so many lines that are usually left out of adaptations which I really appreciated, like Caroline teasing Darcy about his mother-in-law and how Elizabeth's eyes will be impossible to capture by any artist. But then, the second act began and it reminded me a lot of this image:

We didn't see or hear the letter from Darcy, just Elizabeth returning to Longbourn and discussing some of its contents with Jane. Then, the narrator explained that Elizabeth went to stay with her aunt and uncle in Derbyshire and encountered Mr Darcy there, who invited her to Pemberley and they found him much improved. But we didn't see it, or hear the good account of him from Mrs Reynolds? Honestly, if I didn't know the novel, I would've been quite confused about how Darcy changed or, indeed, if he even did and perhaps why he even needed to.

Buuuuut I won't be too harsh on anything else because other than those points it was genuinely enjoyable! Mr Collins, Mrs Bennet, Caroline and Mary were particular standouts, and Elizabeth was excellent!

And the limits of the production also amused me in some ways, as they had to come up with creative ways of getting characters alone for conversations. Some highlights included:

Wickham and Elizabeth having their conversation about Darcy at Mrs Phillips's alone in another room while everyone else was playing cards because Elizabeth was?? tired??

Mr Collins dragging Lady Catherine and Darcy off (after they had accepted his invitation to dine at Hunsford Parsonage... pffft) to show them a watercolour he had purchased. Which Lady Catherine abused as ugly and told him off for not consulting her before he purchased it.

Mr Bennet complaining servants had invaded his library with brushes to clean it, so could he speak to Lizzy about Lydia going to Brighton in private.

Overall, it was definitely far more of a comedy than anything else. Which I honestly didn't mind, it worked very well with the audience. Although there was disappointingly little pride or, indeed, prejudice, it was a very fun evening out and it's a novel absolutely intended to be heard aloud!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bonus 12: Beware the Grapes of Wrath.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[anekename19]

Out of all the Hunting Dogs members, Tachihara rly seems to be the closest to Jouno (after Teruko ofc) But why is that the case?

I mean just LOOK at how proud Tachihara looks in this panel after receiving that praise from Jouno! It’s sooo cute I-😭 But why is Tachihara so close to Jouno of all people?

Well I HC that when Tachihara first joins the HD, his criminal background makes him understandably very distrustful/fearful of everyone else. It feels less like the HD are his coworkers and more like they’re just cops keeping an eye on him, just waiting for when he’ll inevitably slip up so they can finally lock his ass away. He just can’t get that criminal-cop mindset out of his head yet.

Jouno was the only person that could understand and relate to Tachihara considering he was also a formal criminal (tho I don’t think he was ever scared of the HD, he still felt that same distrust in his first couple years as well)

And so to make Tachihara feel more comfortable/calm (cuz he’s actually starting to care for the boy getting sick of constantly hearing Tachihara’s too fast heart beat) Jouno decides to casually bring up all the stupidly profitable crimes Tachihara could’ve committed with his ability, going into suspiciously criminal amounts of detail. Most of the heists that he brings up r stuff that he himself was planning to do in the mafia before he got arrested. Jouno talks about this to help remove the whole ‘HD-dangerous-cop’ association that Tachihara has made.

At first Tachihara is very suspicious and hesitant to answer, assuming this must be some sort twisted way to set him up. But then he realizes Jouno just genuinely enjoys talking about crimes as if they aren’t surrounded by Japan’s elite police force. And yet no one ever actually does anything to Jouno, even tho everything he says is so illegal, that he should’ve already gone to prison 20 times over just for even uttering half that stuff lol.

These conversations rly help Tachihara to stop seeing the HD as just ‘cops’ and he immediately begins to open up. Soon he and Jouno r having like hour long conversations, literally just discussing various heists in great detail.

They make Tetchou slightly uncomfortable with their blase view of big time crime so every time they start talking about this stuff, Tetchou just silently walks out of the room lol (Jouno 100% teases him for that, constantly inviting him to join their conversations, to which Tetchou always politely declines lol)

Ofc, to remind Tachihara that at the end of the day, they ARE still just only coworkers (not friends), Jouno likes to end their conversations laughing, saying ‘Of course, if you were to actually try any of this, I would not hesitate to gouge your eyes out and feed them to the dogs’ which always keeps Tachihara from being too casual.

Despite that tho, Tachihara can’t help but still see Jouno as older brother figure. A terrifying brother figure, but a brother figure nonetheless. In some ways, he actually somewhat prefers his relationship with Jouno than that with his actual brother. Don’t get me wrong: he still loves his brother but… unlike with his brother, no one pressures him to be like Jouno; if anything, they actually discourage Tachihara from becoming too much like him lol.

The HD never make him feel like he HAS to live up to anyone. Instead they actually want him to become his own person so he can add something unique to the team. They never make him feel like he’s not enough. And that just means so much to someone like Tachihara, who spent his whole life feeling so inadequate compared to perfection of the dead.

So yeah, that’s how Jouno and the Hunting Dogs became Tachihara’s found family

[diskusaurus]

My biggest issue in Epic the Musical is Odysseus, actually. In this essay, I will....

[herenvibing]

cr3 is gonna end and the pc’s still feel like the same people to me :|

(crcritical content in the tags feel free to skip)

[crow-of-paradise]

THIRD WEEKEND (what day is it) ROOK PIC DUMP!!

I had a long weekend lol with not as much DATV as I would have preferred!

I am loving all the Assan parenting outings, I only expected one!! and since he is now the Only Son due to Reasons 🥲 I have grown ever fonder.

ALSO THE HARDING QUEEEEST!!! I think it hits extra hard when your Rook is an elf. I actually felt the choice where she prioritizes her connection with others and her loved ones to be more compelling than taking on the Titans’ anger so that’s what I chose! I do wanna see how both play out. But also her embroidered inquisition armor WAS SO STINKIN’ CUTE.

As a side note, Harding is Rook’s BESTIE. There are some absolutely beautiful portrayals of platonic intimacy between them that I don’t see as much from the others and I live and die for that shit. So happy BioWare didn’t skimp on the nonromantic affection. I’ve got some gifsets I’m hankering to make!

PEOPLE ARE HOOKING UP ALL AROUND ME AND I LOVE IT. And the way that flirty rook just fits in so perfectly (having nearly kissed them BOTH prior to this!!!) with their dynamic, I will be PISSED if I don’t see some OT3 fic!!!

Solas dynamics my beloved 🫶🏻

[elvhendis]

I think my new pet peeve are Astarion fix it fics

[sweetandsoursaws]

Nothing bad is happening.

Nothing bad is happening.

Envy is in his house, but nothing bad is happening.

With the bag acquired from Merlin, Lark could only hope it'd do what he wanted it to; prevent Envy's influence from slowly leeching back out of every object he magicked it into.

Every bit of influence that Envy fed into Lark, Lark was venting out, "excising" it? Magically infusing it into objects to get it the fuck out of him. At first he thought this only served the purpose of cleaning himself out, but with time and repeated efforts, he could see Envy was getting just a bit weaker.

Obviously, Lark couldn't eat up all of what made Envy themself. He wasn't truly leeching directly from the source, and they could grow their power outside of Lark. But that was why he had to keep Envy happy.

If Envy is happy and occupied, they won't go looking for more. If Envy is here, he can siphon away their power bit by bit into crystals and rocks and pendants made for purpose, and put those into the bag, and then- and then something. Someday. It'll pay off. Just need to keep it together til then.

It was a miracle Envy hadn't figured out what was happening. They knew they were a bit weakened, but they didn't seem to realize it wasn't just a leftover problem from Devang. Maybe the weakness made it hard for Envy to think.

Maybe they were just too distracted.

Envy has decided they like Lark as more than just a face to wear, which is how this opportunity came about. Envy has decided they like him in several different positions, in fact! It's funny, they started out liking him for his sin making him easy to manipulate, and for his proximity to other people Envy was fixated on, but now it seemed they liked him in all kinds of ways.

And they really couldn't seem to stop fucking touching him.

That's okay.

Right now, we're the version of Lark who likes this.

Just play along, let it happen, be the version of Lark that Envy wants until you have a moment to get away. Focus all that energy into an object. Put that object in the bag.

Makes it easier to play that role when Envy knows just what buttons to press, and how to trigger his heat. They fucking built him, of course they know how to play him like a fucking fiddle, when they can cheat through biological tampering.

But it's all okay. None of this is real. Play along, siphon off, tie the bag, hide it away. Swallow the guilt that came with playing along, that felt like cheating on Dustine. It's temporary. Not real. Not wanted.

Lark's in control. This is what needs to happen. He's not sure yet how he'll end it, but he will, balancing Lark Who Likes This and his life outside, spending time with friends and with Dustine, getting his scraps of normalcy despite his honesty stifled under Envy's watchful eye. What sometimes felt like drowning in plain sight.

Just keep going. It'll all be worth it.

When it's over, they'll never fucking touch him again.

[tls123]

Oh my god HOW DID YOU LIKE SVSSS!!!!!

i liked it more than i thought i would but overall less than i might have given the potential of the story, i think in general i really enjoyed the characters (mxtx never goes wrong with characters, she creates them in a way that makes me feel unhinged) and the world building but the pay off to the set up—which i really liked!—felt a bit........ i mean, just alright.

the dynamics too are pure mxtx, personally the bin/gqiu dynamic specifically really was the least interesting part of the whole story. to me!! but individually i loved both characters. my interest was just elsewhere because """elsewhere""" felt way more fascinating idk how to explain it

was very, very happy about the extra with airplane and the yue qingyuan / shen jiu one because that's exactly what i wanted more of in the story itself as well as just more shen yuan/qingqiu interacting with cang qiong mountain

maybe it's my orv brain but like i told jana a while back i think i would have enjoyed svsss way more if it was more about shen yuan (loner; hater; etc) suddenly finding himself among all of these people (disciples looking up to him; sect siblings relying on him one way or another; common folk admiring him; etc etc) and starting to.... live? again?

Shen Qingqiu hadn't noticed that, unconsciously, he no longer considered the disciples around him (...) to be mob characters the novel had described in a scant number of words.

^from volume one, he starts seeing them almost immediately because he's not actually that separate and he genuinely cares. all the time. about everything. even before that we get:

This was only a book, and all the people were constructs, imaginary characters. Logically, Shen Qingqiu was very clear on this fact...but when a character was actually being taunted and bullied right before his eyes, it was just flat-out unrealistic to expect him to be completely unmoved.

like why are you lying, shen yuan (<- svsss tagline if there ever was one)

just the idea of this really lonely detached guy finding a community, i know it's not the story mxtx was trying to tell but again, with the set up i really wanted to see it go in that direction.

there's one line from vol two where liu qingge goes "you fear becoming a burden to cang qiong mountain (...) but cang qiong mountain fears not your burden"

and basically what i'm saying is that i wish the story had been about THAT

(and also ning yingying's lines in that same chapter about shizun always taking on everything himself and why is it always you like that whole moment with the cang qiong mountain almost begging him to see that they care. idek what i'm saying but you know)

(also foaming at the mouth that we only got tiny tiny glimpses of shen yuan's life from before, those handful of times he mentioned his siblings i wanted to take a bite out of my kindle. tell me more!! dear fucking lord tell me more!! keep talking! elaborate!! he really felt very "kim dokja and his fourth wall" at times, sorry once more about the orv brain)

tldr: i guess i wanted a story about shen yuan/qingqiu but mxtx created svsss to be a story about bin/gqiu. and i just have to be okay with that.

[funky-little-archivist]

No but actually though like, as depressed as I am think about what he said.

There’s *no version* of ofmd without izzy hands

So there’s the current version that may potentially end at s2 and this would be technically true

But IF there’s a version where it gets renewed for s3, it would have to be a version with izzy because there’s NO VERSION without him

Right?????? RIGHT???????????

[elminsterbignaturals]

what the hell was that

[orcelito]

i miss akechi goro so much. maybe even enough to finally finish that ladue chapter 3

[captain-noir]

my biggest hot take is that the fandom does a lot of heavy lifting, as fandom wont to do, when it comes to many of the pairings and dynamics in the vc series. fandom perception of a thing isnt the thing in actuality yknow 

[goose-change-in-my-pocket]

Superman: Secret Origin

[lesbianpegbar]

fma 03 i missed you so bad babygirl

[unexpectederawhilesubmitting]

WARNING: DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS EXPLAINING REGENERATION SHENANIGANS

-------------------

okay so I was kind of not on board with the concept of bi-regeneration, mainly because of how it seemed like all of the Sad and the Trauma that the Doctor had undergone got kind of handwaved away? i'm all for ncuti's Doctor being sort of a fresh start/jumping on point for new viewers, but i didn't get how that could work if like, literally 40 minutes ago he was David Tennant being a sad wet puppy dog of a man

however, after rewatching it, i've realized what i think happened there, and it goes all the way back to something introduced with the 4th doctor's regeneration that was never explained: the Watcher

^this spooky guy

so, for those that don't know (or haven't seen every episode of a show that is over half a century old), the Fourth Doctor regenerates at the end of a story called Logopolis (he falls off a satellite dish, but that's not important right now). all throughout the episode, this weird figure, The Watcher, stands off in the distance, and even intervenes slightly by saving the Fourth Doctor's companion. there's not much given in the way of an explanation until the Fourth Doctor regenerates, saying "it's the end. but the moment has been prepared for..."

the watcher walks up, and gets absorbed in a super rad 1980's digital effect (never change doctor who), while his companion just gives us the not-super-helpful-for-lore statement "He was the Doctor all the time!"

then, in a crossfade, the Doctor goes from Four to weird-powder-man to Five

canonically, the Watcher is explained as a future version of the doctor that comes about in sort of a weird overlapping thing with the doctor's timeline, it's very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey.

-------------------------

SO what does this have to do with biregeneration and satisfying character arcs/moving on from trauma?

Well, remember, Fifteen said this, about Time Lords doing rehab out of order:

so, here's the thing: Fifteen is the Doctor AFTER Fourteen (duh, I know?) But to be clear...Fourteen lives out an entire lifetime with Donna and family, gets to a ripe old age, and then, when his lifetime of healing is over, he gets yeeted back through his own timestream just to zoot himself out of David Tennant's chest.

Remember, his first words to Fourteen (after popping out of his chest) are "So good to see you! So good!", not the RTD classic "what?". He greets himself like he's almost expecting this, he then says "does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" which only makes sense if he's coming from a different point in his own timestream (remember, when two doctors interact, memory gets really weird, 10 and the War Doctor don't remember the events of Day of the Doctor until they live through them as 11).

SO TO BE CLEAR: Ncuti Gatwa is playing the Doctor AFTER he has spent years healing from his traumas. His Doctor is fine because Fourteen takes the time to rest and work on himself.

tl;dr: I didn't like biregeneration at first because I thought it looked like this:

In actuality, it looks more like this: