#it was an interesting interview and insightful but also some parts

[shadowslocked]

Look man, maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t be feeling more motivated to come forward about work place abuse if somebody was talking about me on stream in front of a bunch of people I don’t know, saying that I’m being manipulated and having Stockholm’s Syndrome, or worse throwing me under the bus for not leaving or having the same problems but then kept tacking on “don’t send hate” despite knowing just how hateful medias like Twitter can be

Like, maybe that’s just me, but :/

[stewyhosseini-bf]

[mecachrome]

not sure whether excerpts from oscar's book have alr been posted here but i found some of the quotes from the author's exclusive interviews with j.sera & rené quite interesting and thought i'd gather them in one place ❓__❓

i always love hearing insights on his karting days and how his unique rc bg & transition from australian to european karting shaped his racecraft... also notable that Every Single person who ever speaks about oscar is just like "well more than anything... he was SMART" 😭 obsessed with baby oscar already learning to dispense his energy in understated / calculative / strategic ways... more below the cut:

another thing i find quite interesting is how because oscar started karting in a relatively smaller scene that wasn't quite as competitive or talent-heavy as in europe, he was always too young/small for the classes he competed in (as with rc racing). of course he was never quite as egregiously undersized as lando but it's kind of fun that they have very similar karting lore in that aspect. not from the book but self-provided visuals:

also love how much the seras talk about his style, from his smooth inputs and clean driving to how much open-wheel potential he exhibited from the very beginning T__T

as for rené's insights on oscar's time at prema, i also find them interesting because while they corroborate a lot of surface level details about his junior campaigns that we're alr familiar with it's cool to be reminded of his growth from f3 (zero front row starts, winning more off consistency and competitor error than any personal dominant performance) to putting it all together in the second half of f2 (consecutive run of poles/fr wins to end the season).

also interesting to hear that THE most angry rené ever saw him was after his f3 monza penalty, because oscar's demeanor & reactions to adversity get discussed a lot and while he's always been very level-headed and i'd argue his core personality has not changed much if at all over the past 5 years, you can still see how he was just that touch less filtered and more defensive during his junior days. oscar is definitely still someone who refuses to take blame if he knows he wasn't at fault and who will never give credit to others when the work was mostly done by him ("i was the one driving" re: mweb helping him) but there has been a fairly noticeable growth curve from the guy who said he felt Physically Weak at the fr finale because of how nervous he was, who said he was grateful to be in school because it distracted him from his "habit of overthinking" that he was trying to get rid of, who complained extensively at monza about the novalak / beckmann incidents and then said "seems to be quite a common theme with liam if i'm honest 😐" re: continued contact in the press conf, to the guy today who reacts to deleted laps with a dry 👍 and stealthily downplays racing incidents to the point of not even calling them "incidents" at all.

there's also a bit from rené about how close he is to chris piastri and how he traveled to melbourne from italy Solely to attend his 50th birthday party, and basically how the piastris are just Good People and that oscar's demeanor is what sets him apart. which i thought was sweet :')

also bonus interesting media quote from laurent rossi, which i've seen before but don't remember in its entirety — specifically the part saying that the other academy drivers "weren't as curious" and basically calling oscar the only smart one of the bunch.... 😭😭😭 this freaking guy

[cheriladycl01]

Ghost - Oscar Piastri x UnknownDriver! Reader Part 3

Plot: Reader is the first female F1 driver of the century, however no-one knows that as you are a ghost on the grid. You started in 2022, coming in P12 in the championship. You get moved to Red Bull Racing in 2023 with the off year for Sergio Perez.

Standing up on the podium, not being able to do anything as you watched Oscar run off was torture. You had to stay there while your national anthem played that should have been amazing considering it was you, Lewis and Lando all up there together.

And of course, there were no breaks for you afterwards. Everyone wanted you, from SkySports, to F1, to Netflix. Everyone was throwing questions at you and asking how different your achievements feel now knowing that your the first woman to have completed many of them.

You were fine answering them, because like they said. All of your previous achievements were now bigger than they were as Ghost. People could tell that you weren't fully with them, you were a little spacey and sometimes struggled with hearing and answering the questions.

Most of them put it down to the post race fuzz of the win and revealing who you were, but upon getting to the Sky Sports Team who consisted of Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Natalie Pinkham and Danica Patrick questions turned sour.

"So Y/N aside from racing we caught light of Oscar Piastri's quick depart after the reveal, any insight on this?" Danica asks, making you look down.

"I don't think these questions are necessary" Jenson says just as the Red Bull PR manager was about to ask for racing related questions only.

"Yes please stick to racing questions only" the Red Bull PR backs up, nodding before taking a step back. You look back up, straight to Nico who had a soft look on his face.

"I'm just interested, you raced for Alpine last year when he was a reserve driver... for Alpine and you've been promoted to Red Bull this year while Piastri's made the move to Mclaren. Can't help but wonder if its underlying sexism that's made him this mad, you all cant deny he was blunt and rude in his interview with us earlier" Danica pushes and you head snaps up. You feel a hand on your shoulder as if to stop you from what your about to say but you go ahead anyway.

"I've hurt a dear friend. So how dare you stand there and try to victimize me, when he is the one that I've hurt. He knew me as Ghost's assistant and media manager... we were close and I've not been truthful to him for obvious reasons. So don't stand there and try to make him out to be a misogynistic twat when he isn't. I don't know what you experienced in NASCAR Danica but in F1 all I've experienced today is love and support. Just because your sport sucks doesn't mean mine does" you snap, and recoil shocked that you'd just said all of that. She looks at you also in shock, Jenson and Nico were trying to stop their laughter.

"Well, some strong opinions there from Y/N Y/L/N" Jenson says as he watches you turn away and walk off. You were done with interviews for the day. You just wanted to find Oscar and talk to him now.

"Lando! Lando" you shout as you see the curly haired boy ahead of you walking into the Mclaren motorhome.

"Hey, Y/N or should i say Ghost" he smiles before pulling you into a hug.

"I was not expecting that bombshell today, and I will admit I'm sorry for assuming you were some ugly guy... your very obviously not" he laughs.

"Where's Oscar" you ask, you didn't want to seem rude but of course he was your priority right now.

"Y/N, I don't think its a good idea to see him right now. I think maybe just wait for him to come to you. He's upset and" he starts but you look him dead in the eye.

"He upset me too, he just ran off... at my first race win" you say as selfish as it was... but he also ruined that experience for you.

"I know, but you did like lie to him for just under 2 years" Lando says softly not wanting to rattle your already unstable cage of self hatred.

"And what was i supposed to do Lando, tell him a secret that Red Bull had me sign an NDA over and break my contract and risk loosing my seat?" you ask, hoping he would start to understand.

"Look Y/N you really should go..." Lando pushes looking around the area you were currently in. He put a hand on your lower back as to guide you back out, but you planted yourself still.

"No, I'm not leaving till i talk to him" you grunt.

"Y/N I'm telling you this as your friend and your co-worker. You need to go" he says, you'd actually never seen his eyes this serious before and it had your head cocking to the side in confusion.

As your about to ask him why the hell he's being so twitchy, two people stumble out of the next room a little disheveled and both laughing. You eyes lock on them.

"O-Oscar?" you ask in shock, the girl looks up at him confused and his face turns red but also a sour expression comes onto his face.

Before any of them can say anything your turning away from them, everything feels slow motion, all the voices around you blur and your heartbeat comes erratic.

You couldn't understand why it hurt so much, the thought of him not even for a moment being happy for you up on a podium that he come here to be with some other girl ... or was it because in the time you'd spent with him you'd fallen for the racer.

You round the corner, stumbling behind the Mclaren motorhome so that you could just breath. You crouch down, your head leaning back against the side.

"Fucks sake" you say to yourself, once you'd calmed yourself from the initial shock you fully sat down on the metal edging outside the Mclaren motorhome.

"Y/N?" you hear a voice ask, your head peaks up and you spot Alex and Logan.

"Oh, hey guys. Great Race today!" you smile.

"Why are you just sat outside the Mclaren motorhome?" Logan asks raising an eyebrow at you.

"Oh, erm no reason. I just got lost on my way back to Red Bull" you smile standing up and walking to the long strip and turning left.

"Your still clearly lost, Red Bull's that way" Alex says pointing to the right hand side, that you weren't facing.

"Right, yeah i knew that" you smile, turning round and scuttering off the other way.

To say that the UK was the start of something spectacular was an understatement. You didn't go out and celebrate that night, you stayed in with your family.

The next race was Hungary where you proceeded to take the win away from Max in the last 3 laps, being on the fresher tires. They asked you to let Max take the win but you begged for them to let you fight it out. You shared the podium with Max and Lando, in Spa you came second, sharing the podium with Max and Charles and in The Netherlands you came 4th.

Throughout all of this Oscar hadn't reached out to you. You'd kept in contact with Lando, asking how he was and what had been going on. However Monza changed things.

An article came out about an interview Oscar had done about you and how you hadn't spoken to him since. He hadn't spoken very nicely about you when all you'd done was stick up for him. You guys got into a massive argument outside the garages that of course people caught on camera.

You had a really bad qualifying, the car just didn't have pace and your mind wasn't in the right place. So you were starting P14 on the grid, after a cry to Christian that you were so overwhelmed and him assuring you that it was today that really mattered.

You had turned off everything when you got in the car on the Sunday. No thoughts in your head just the racing. On the start you managed to get yourself to P12 overtaking Liam and Nico right of the bat.

"Excellent start Y/N lets keep pushing"

Martin Bundle - I have to say that Y/N is incredible with these races where she starts down in the back of the grid, and she gets those amazing starts where she slips in the middle of the two drivers ahead and is able to confidently get herself up too places

"Okay, and Alonso are ahead, you have DRS" your engineer tells you, and you are able to overtake Yuki who doesn't go as aggressively into the chicane as you do. You have a little spin but recover enough to pull up aside Alonso on the straight, going for the overtake.

"Amazing Y/N, that's P10 right now. Keep pushing"

Eventually you were left fighting Carlos, Max clipped a tire and was now down in 4th fighting with Charles.

"Y/N this has been a fantastic race, from P14 up to P2, Carlos is 1.8 second ahead. Lets get him and bring home a double podium. Max is fighting for P3 right now. 5 laps to go" he advises.

"Tell him to speed up, I'll give him DRS we can overtake Sainz together so its a 1.2" you advise looking seeing the Ferrari behind you. You slow down on the hairpin, breaking early, which Charles didn't expect where he was concentrating on defending from Max. You speed up, watching as he spins out a little leaving room for Max on the inside.

"Okay, Sainz has sped up there's now a 2.6 second gap"

"Copy that" you say, Max was using your slip stream, but didn't go for the overtake, you easily defended from Charles together while gaining on the other Ferrari.

"Okay last two laps, Sainz, 0.3 second gap"

"Yeah i can fucking tell I'm riding his rear end" you say, the minute you get onto the straight you and Max both go either side of Sainz, sandwiching him in as your about to go into turn 11. He breaks early falling back leaving you to take the optimal racing line and get ahead of Max.

"Is Max fighting this last lap?" you ask.

"He's been told is free to fight. Mode push and bring us another win" your race engineer advises, you breeze through the final lap, it was a close call but you came first.

"Y/N Y/L/N winner of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix" your race engineer says a big grin coming onto your face as you flip up the visor holding your fist up as you see all the Red Bull crew cheering for you on the fencing.

"Where did Oscar place?" you ask, you hadnt thought about him up until now. Even as you passed the orange 81 car, it was just another car then.

"Not a good race for Piastri, P12 behind Lawson"

"Okay. Thank you for the great drive today. Thank you Christian" you say before preparing yourself for the podium.

Would Oscar be there?

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle

[summerlinenss]

Continuing the discussion from Twitter about Taika possibly not being straight, I do hesitate to diagnose strangers with 'queer' because it's usually done by utalising stereotypes (like just him being flamboyant or the latest 'evidence' of him being at a Paris Hilton concert, he seems to go to pretty much everything.)

Without getting too parasocial, the everyone's a bit queer quote from before Thor 4 seemed different though, almost like a soft launch? The dumb backlash was unfortunately familiar to me, as someone who poked her head out of the closet, only to be met with a resounding 'we don't want you'. If he was trying to do that, I dont blame him for not trying since, I certainly havent.

Like i don't think he's a closeted gay, theres no indication that his romantic relationships with women havent been real, but he is from a generation that flat out didnt think bisexuality was a real thing. And the fact he's older and has talked about growing up in a toxic masculinity culture probably has more to with it.

I dunno, i know i shouldnt be think about strangers like this, but some things he's said feel familiar to me

(context for those not on the bird app)

i totally agree with not labelling anyone, and (regardless of how he does identify) taika seems very comfortable in his sexuality, which is all that matters. however, there’s also nothing he’s ever done to make me assume he is straight, if that makes sense?

i definitely took his out magazine interview as a sort of soft launch, as you said. especially since he followed it up with a “coming out” joke tweet. but the amount of vitriol he faced for it was absurd, and it’s still so strange to me how people instantly took his comments in bad faith instead of making the fairly obvious assumption that he was just saying “i consider myself to be part of this community.”

a quote i actually think about a lot is from when taika was on the vanity fair little gold men podcast (around 00:59:45) and got into talking about the stereotypical hyper-masculine culture of growing up in aotearoa, and i feel like it gives some insight into his feelings on this subject:

“I will tell ya, I grew up in a — a pretty macho culture and a very macho country. Where it’s like, you know, you play rugby and, you know, you drink beer, and it’s, like… kind of, life is just set out for you, and… how boring? You know? It’s just, like, you know, it’s like — people are like, ‘Well, I don’t want any immigrants here,’ and then complain that there’s only one type of food to eat. And so, it’s like… you know, that you… want to have an interesting life and you want to be able to — you want to expose yourself to art, and to — you know, to various cultures and various types of people. So for me, growing up, I… I was exposed to that from an early age through, like, on my mother’s side, especially. So it was, like… there were a lot of eccentric and interesting and weird artists and stuff in my life. Um, so it wasn’t, like, a later in life, big shock for me. It was always there. But I think I’ve realized that there are so many ways of being a man, and… and to be… just macho and to just want to be, like… just straight. Just to be, like, so determined to be straight, is… so… sad. And, like — and also is — it just feels so tiring. Wouldn’t it be so tiring just to, like, have to hold on to something that no one cares about? So — so tightly? And it’s, like, look, if you just let go and accept who — then we don’t have to have the conversation. We can talk about more important things. But the idea that we still have to talk about all of this is mad. (…) So, you know, it’s like… I would much rather have the discussions around, you know, more intense, more upsetting things that are happening to humanity than, like, who someone’s in love with.”

[darcytaylor]

Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself - and Won (Time Article)

What a great read! Nicola's TIME interview offers a glimpse into her journey from struggling actress to Bridgerton star, while also talking about how she handles the pressures of fame. From her views on the double standards in Hollywood to the ongoing speculation about her personal life.

Nicola is very candid about the pressures that come with fame. While she’s grateful for the opportunities Bridgerton has afforded her, she speaks openly about the uncomfortable scrutiny she faces. The public obsession with every detail of her life, including her weight, is something she calls out in the interview.

This interview also came before her statement about not filming strangers in public (although it is a possibility that they added this to the interview afterwards), when her location was leaked and she was filmed leaving a theatre. The incident prompted her to make a story about in on her Instagram.

It’s a reminder that her boundaries probably weren’t newly formed - they were already in place, and the incident in New York likely pushed her to call it out publicly.

Some have questioned why Nicola responded to that particular incident and not others. But as I’ve written about before on my blog, the specific circumstances in New York - her location being leaked - likely made her feel particularly vulnerable and triggered her decision to speak out.

Another layer that I think could be worth mentioning about Nicola speaking on the leaking of real-time locations, is the issue that Luke had over the summer with his friend group sharing his location in real-time. While Nicola doesn’t directly address that, it’s possible that witnessing how this played out could have contributed to her sensitivity regarding location leaks. Even if she wasn't directly referring to that particular incident, it's likely she felt strongly about it.

One of the most talked about moments in this article is when she discusses her relationship with Luke. I found it hilarious how she worded everything. She praises her “gorgeous friendship” with Luke but strategically avoids confirming or denying any romantic involvement. While she acknowledges their close bond, she sidesteps the dating rumours, offering just enough insight to keep fans interested without revealing too much. This is classic Nicola – it leaves fans room to speculate, but it also reinforces that a deep connection between a man and woman doesn’t always have to be romantic.

(So, my Lukola shipper followers, feel free to keep guessing - Nicola’s phrasing suggests she doesn’t mind the speculation!)

Another part of Nicola’s story, is the influence of her late father. He helped shape her worldview, giving her a perspective on why it's important to speak out. And why she speaks out about the causes she does.

Although Nicola hasn’t explicitly linked the passing of her father to her views on privacy, it’s possible that such a personal loss has influenced her approach to life, family, and relationships. Losing someone so close might have made her more protective of the people she holds dear and more determined to set firm boundaries when it comes to her personal life.

I loved this article and also the photographs that came along with it! Also - The duo have more intimate moments in Season 4 and will also have something else to manage: Polin’s “crazy cute” onscreen baby. YES!!! Bring on season 4 married Polin!

[a-a-a-anon]

appreciation post for Lise Mayer!! she co-wrote The Young Ones (and The Bachelor Boys book, additional material like when they did Comic Relief, etc), which is well known. but she also wrote for other things in the alternative comedy scene like Rik Mayall and Ben Elton's comedy tour (source: BBC Breakfast Time interview)! and, something I didn't know until recently: she co-wrote/wrote for Kevin Turvey! she's not credited in his television appearances, but see below for sources.

i really loved the podcast episode she did with Alexei Sayle about TYO, you gain a lot of insight into her perspective! she also mentions misogynistic treatment like being asked to go make tea when they were doing script readings, not getting invited to a big BBC party because it was presumed she'd be Rik's plus-one, and getting groped at the BBC bar. it pissed me off on her behalf and partly prompted this post.

some specific accolades/accreditation/fun facts:

Rik crediting her with writing/conceiving the Kevin Turvey non-joke "All right, biting political satire: What do Lech Walesea and Menachem Begin have in common? They’ve both got foreign names! What do you mean it’s not funny?" (x)

Alexei Sayle in Thatcher Stole My Trousers crediting Lise with co-writing Turvey: "Lise was, like Linda for mine, a vital part of Rik’s career, co-writing both The Young Ones and Rik’s character Kevin Turvey..."

a 1987 source for Lise co-writing Turvey: "The assumption that women do not write comedy scripts was one with which Lise Mayer, co-writer of The Young Ones television series, has also had to contend. She started writing for Rik Mayall’s Kevin Turvey in the television series A Kick Up the Eighties..." (x)

Rowland Rivron (comedian who toured with The Comic Strip gang and lived with Rik and Lise) in What the f*** did I do last night?: "[Lise] also had the unenviable job of standing at the side of the stage when Rik was performing, and jotting down anything he said that was unscripted. If it got a laugh, it would be woven into the next night’s routine."

the only time i've ever seen a Rik Mayall/Ade Edmondson/Lise Mayer writing credit: for a poem called Distance which was collected in this anthology! Rik and Ade seem to have acted it out (or at least a version of it) in this 20th Century Coyote performance

Rik on Lise writing TYO: "‘She discovers different things: the comedy of embarrassment and awkwardness – she draws out the cheating and stealing that goes on in the house.’" (x) (Lise also says her "favorite comedy was always the comedy of embarrassment" in the Alexei Sayle podcast)

Rik: "... Lise Mayer wrote this great scene where I find a tampon in a handbag and it's my birthday party and I think it's a present because my character is Rick, who is such a git, he didn't know." (x)

Helen Lederer in Not That I'm Bitter, writing about being on The Young Ones: "[Lise] was known to be the brains behind it all, particularly the more surreal elements…"

she and Rik chose the bands (x)

Lise: “We’d have a table read at which point we’d discover that the script ran over an hour long, and then I’d have a sleepless night editing it.” Alexei: “You did that?” Lise: “Usually me, yeah…” (she later explains they'd present the script Monday and rehearsals were Tuesday, Wednesday-so she literally had one night to edit!) (x)

facts from the blu-ray commentary tracks:

Rick's yellow dungarees in Interesting were based off a picture of Lise in a similar pair

Lise wrote an essay about the tampon joke in Interesting so that the BBC didn't cut the scene (though they still edited it)

Paul Jackson (producer) credits Lise with arguing "you are seriously telling me that we cannot refer on television to something that happens to 50% of the population for about 30 years of their life? and we're not allowed to even refer to it" to make an executive back off about the tampon joke in a meeting

Lise came up with Neil's flowerpot covering in Nasty

Vyvyan/Vivian's name comes from Lise having lived in Vyvyan Terrace, Bristol

Lise thought of the cast switching costumes in Bambi (one of my favorite moments!!) (/end of commentary track facts)

this is guesswork, but i've seen Ben Elton and Rik Mayall's handwriting and i'm pretty sure the editing/handwriting on the bottom left on this script must be Lise's, which gives insight into what/how she wrote: (x)

i feel like it's easy for people to overlook or minimize Lise's impact, something that happens to female creators far too often. i hate when women's identities are framed around their association to a man-girlfriend to Rik in this case-which was the norm whenever i saw Lise discussed in articles/books/online discussions about TYO. it's important to know she was a writer and co-creator with her own identity and (underappreciated) contributions. The Young Ones (and Kevin Turvey, and things we don't even know she goes uncredited for) would not have been the same—or wouldn't have even existed—without her!

[ponett]

wait, you could have gotten a follow up with Ken himself? did that go very far or were you not interested? i getta imagine even if you dont like his work, asking the man himself about his days on the comic would be illuminating.

I could have. Part of me was definitely curious, since there's so much we don't know about what was going on behind the scenes at Archie and Ken's one of the few people still interested in talking about it. But it's also like... I dunno, I just like to keep some distance between me as a critic and him as a creator. I can talk about his work, I can talk about things he's said publicly about his work, but I don't need to drag him directly into it. It's the same reason why I've never interacted with him directly on Twitter, even though people loooooooove to get into arguments with him about Sonic shit. As critical as I've been of both him and his work, I have zero desire to grill him in person.

Were I to interview him, there are basically two paths I see here:

Option A: I do a totally cordial softball interview, magically putting aside my well-established opinions on the guy from my decade spent running TKP, and use it as an opportunity to get some more insight into the creation of the comics from him. And then what? I go right back to poking fun at him on my Tumblr blog that has his name in the URL? I'm pretty soft on the guy these days compared to all the Sonic fans out there who think he's The Literal Devil, but still, there's no way for this to not feel like entrapment to me. Like I'm just playing nice so he can give me ammo for when I turn around and continue poking fun at his work and his occasional legal threat. And even if I never use anything he says in that interview against him, since I finished covering his Archie Sonic run for the blog years ago rarely have any reason to even bring him up, my audience will sure as hell comb through every word he says to find more coal for the hate train.

Option B: I'm more critical of him to his face, in which case I'm basically just bullying a kinda pathetic old man, who's already alienated most of his peers and committed career suicide, for writing some children's comics I didn't like 20-30 years ago. There is not a single iota of me that wants to turn into Ken's equivalent of that asshole who paid to be a guest on the BumbleKast just to ask Ian Flynn a bunch of questions that boiled down to "hey so this story you wrote sucked, why'd you write it that way?"

It just doesn't feel right to me no matter how you slice it. Ken's not some monstrous public figure who needs to get held accountable for his actions in an interview or something. At the end of the day, it's just comics. It's not that serious. He can continue making his weird little Lara-Su Chronicles comics and putting his foot in his mouth of his own accord, and I can continue being like "lol remember when Knuckles got called a 'proud man-child' at his own funeral" as a side thing to my own creative career, and never the twain shall meet

[redbatchedcumbermayned]

"I didn’t even know that there was the possibility of a romance option when voicing Heinrix" - Interviewing Chris Tester part 2

We're continuing our interview with Chris Tester, the voice of Heinrix van Calox in Owlcat's CRPG Rogue Trader. In this part we speak about insights into Heinrix's character, how the process of recording voice lines for a video game works, if Chris would romance Heinrix in game, and interacting with his fans.

Part 1 of the interview

Part 3 of the interview

I will publish this interview in three parts over the next week in text form and with the accompanying audio file (the audio quality is not spectacular but tumblr limits uploads to 10MB). If you quote or reshare, please quote me as the original source.

F: So, you already talked a bit about Heinrix as a character. What drew you to the character or what hidden depth did you find in the character?

CT: Well, I hope I found some depth to the character. That contrast between principles or values that you seem to be holding onto and lots of unprocessed trauma going on underneath. Sure, that seems interesting, that seems like a really interesting thing to find. Because you can understand, therefore, the appeal of an ideology, which gives you the answers and it tells you what to do. Essentially, it gives you a role, authority, it gives you status, you completely understand the appeal of that. Just like I find voice-over incredibly appealing and exciting: it gives me structure and authority and the illusion that I know what I'm talking about and what I'm doing. 

And then there's the flip side: you could make him heretical in some way, shape or form. And you know, I love, obviously, the fact that he belongs to part of that world which I'm sort of familiar with. Where a lot of the more interesting characters are the ones that have disavowed this God Emperor kind of like status in one way or the other, they tend to have a little bit more going on. They're not two-dimensional villains, not all of them, not all of the time anyway. Whereas on the one hand he's not going full chaos, there was just an interesting tension there to explore. Also, it kind of reminded me a little bit of the Eisenhorn series, which again, it's an Inquisitor that through his pursuit of different things starts to question and use the powers of the warp for his own purposes. A very different character, but still, there are those parallels that I really liked, that fallibility, that vulnerability to a degree, but I wouldn't say too much because I didn't really know how vulnerable or how much of a journey he was going to have in the early stages. I didn't know that until we were recording, I'll be honest. 

And I didn’t even know that there was the possibility of a romance option, until we were like: Oh, these are romancing lines. And I was like, you what now? So, sorry, I appear to be saying some quite forward things, from his point of view anyway, that's slightly taken me aback. They were like: oh yeah, you're romanceable, you can have a romance. I was like, oh, okay, right. I'll just think back to the five hours or so of recording that we've done up to this point and pray that I've made the right choices. So that was a bit of a crazy ride, but thanks to Olga, the writer of my character, she gave really astute directions. She wasn't in all of the sessions, but the majority, especially when there were big plot beats to explain to me what the hell was going on, however, roughly. She was great. And also the technicians at 3B. I was working with a lot of different members of the group technicians slash directors as well. And they were great in terms of giving me not exactly the bare minimum details, but the bare minimum details that I needed in order to be able to make choices quickly, but strongly and relevant to the game. So yeah, it was quite a trip.

F: Thank you. Since you have been trained as a stage actor do you bring a certain physicality to voice acting? If you embody Heinrix, do you puff your chest? Are you rigid?

CT: Definitely. I think there's the reason why rather than having a small booth, I record in a room is, that I can explore those dynamics as much as possible. And the fact that I was able to record standing and very upright and taking that space was vitally important. Obviously, there's the action stuff that really helps when you're actually making fighting noises. That's one thing. But I think in terms of real subtle differences to be able to, as well as mic proximity when he's speaking under his breath and that kind of thing, that's obviously incredibly vital, but even the subtle things of being able to have that big open physicality because he is so often so imperious because he thinks he's absolutely right. That was a vital aspect to explore and just being able to be upright and expressive in that made such a huge difference. 

And also when, without wanting to give too much away, he's in more constricted circumstances, shall we say, trying to do that just purely through the voice means that it all becomes about the sound that you're making as opposed to the truth of the character's journey without wanting to be, again, too much of a cliche, but focusing on that rather than am I making the right gurgling noise?

F: Were you offered any other character to audition for Owlcat? Or if you could, which other character would you like to voice?

CT: I couldn't say any of the other characters. I do play a couple of NPCs randomly. I think before even I had Heinrix. There's some cockney London geezer in there that is immediately disposable. That was me. That was my kind of guaranteed role. I was like, great, fantastic, because I did the audition for Heinrix and then there was quite a few months before it was actually kind of confirmed. I thought the role had gone to somebody else. As with many of these things, you just don't hear back. If you don't hear back, you just assume it's dead and then suddenly it'll come back up or it won't or you'll see another voice actor posting on Instagram going “amazing session” and you slightly die inside and then you move on. 

But in terms of the other characters, I mean, I've met, at least digitally online, the vast majority of the principal companion cast and they're all lovely and amazing and I associate them with their performances. For better or worse, Heinrix is very much my kind of casting and I loved it. Not because he's pretty in a particularly posh kind of way, but that helps. Sure, I'll go with that kind of slightly emotionally constipated. I'm very well cast, very well done, but I think so is everybody else. Throughout the entire game, it's a bit of a who's who, they might not be all household names, but in terms of for myself, the actors that I know in some big parts and some really small parts, the actors that I know in the UK and in the U.S. voice-over scene, so much talent, so that it was just an honour to be included in that really.

F: So now I have to ask you a question from our discord server. Would you romance Heinrix if you were playing a female Rogue Trader? 

CT: I think that would be a bit weird. No, I'll just watch videos of other people romancing him slash me. Is that more or less weird? I mean, I'm 42 years old. I've spent far too much time playing with myself already. So, let's just draw a line under that, but other people are welcome to. That's absolutely fine. My only thing, without wanting to overstate it too much, is that I was very surprised that there was anything around any character that I've been related to but as with so many of the other companions as well, that's a testament to the writing. Credit to the whole Owlcat team in that respect.

F: Would you like to continue working with Owlcat in the future in another capacity?

CT: Oh, God. Yeah. They've not made me sign an NDA, so I can say, not name a thing, but there's DLC for one of their other titles, which I'm going to be in, and that's in a completely different world. There's that thing of once you've had one really positive experience with the developer and the type of games that they create. The ones that are very story focused, that's the type of games that I'm passionate about. I was brought up on these things like the Mass Effect Trilogy. You know, that absolutely iconic kind of stuff, and so to be a part of someone else's experience to facilitate that kind of longer storytelling stuff is exactly what I would be after. They've got a great process, amazing writers and I also think that the games themselves look fantastic. So yeah, I'm a fan of that.

F: So your fan base has certainly expanded since the release of the game. Do you mind having a female fan base now? Have you noticed that there is a bit of a shift because Warhammer 40k for the totally uninitiated looks like a male hobby and unfortunately some part of the male fans are very aggressive against female fans.

CT: Are absolutely ridiculous. Idiots, essentially. Because my relationship to the whole Warhammer 40k thing is like, I played it when I was really young, and then you put away your childish things. I'm saying that in inverted commas, that's kind of ironic or whatever, and then didn't really get back into it until someone gave me a book and I realised that the lore was actually quite good, quite interesting, and then actually really good and really interesting, and I therefore have done some novels for them and a couple of video games as well. 

But to your question, do I mind? No, of course I don't mind. I'm very happily married and well adjusted, so I definitely don't mind as long as it's all respectful, if that makes sense. Surprise, surprise, female fans seem to conduct themselves with that level of respect or if there is a server which is going into crazy, crazy character scenarios and that kind of stuff, no one's sending me a link to that. And even if it is, it's the character, it's not me, and so that's all quite healthy and good. And I think I'm definitely not in a position where I should be censoring any of that kind of thing at all. I think it's all positive and very, very healthy and everybody that I've interacted with has been incredibly respectful. So, I think that's great. 

And I think being able to portray these characters that offer that level of connection is great. We're in a post Baldur's Gate world, I suppose. Not that there weren't other games that did this, but on that scale and everything. I think the value that the games can offer in that. Rogue Trader is hugely valuable and I definitely wouldn't want to censure any of that at all.

F: Yeah, it was nice. I reconnected a lot with people who have this fandom experience again that I had in the Eddie Redmayne fandom more than 10 years ago when it was small, when you have a rather small group of fans and then a very nice person that you're a fan of, and you can interact with.

CT: So people have contacted me via Cameo, for example. And, you know, they've had a certain particular playthrough and then they say, well, I would like you to voice this letter from Heinrix or whatever.

F: That was me.

CT: There have been more than just you is what I'm saying, but sorry, not to say that I'm a whore and I'll just do anything, but you're not the only person who has come to me with that kind of thing. And that's great. That's a pleasure, because it's continuing to tell the story on a wider scale. But also the fact that you can personalise and make it your own. And that's the brilliant thing. 

That's part of the whole appeal of a video game, as opposed to it being a theatre piece or a film or something else is that it was very much your experience, your playthrough. You can have multiple versions of the thing that you kind of like one but you can really structure your own narrative. And that's a fascinating thing. You get to iterate on it yourself. You know, if one stage of that is also being able to call upon the voice actor to facilitate that, I think that's a cool thing, you know, as long as it doesn't get too weird or too whatever, but you know, whatever two consenting adults want to exchange money for or time, great, fine. I think that's less weird than getting an AI to do it personally. I think that level of storytelling is a great thing.

[lick-me-lennon22]

Beatles X Model!Reader Headcanons

(this prompt was requested by the lovely @sugaredlavenderhearts 💕 hope you all enjoy this one!!)

John

John is incredibly (and perhaps a bit overly) protective of you, always reviewing gigs before you take them on to be sure they aren't exploitative or suspicious in any way

he basically acts as a second agent/manager

your career as a model tends to bring out the jealous and possessive aspects of John's personality

despite this, he really enjoys exploring different aesthetics and getting to play around with art and photography with you

he appreciates your artistic side and loves to collaborate with you on creative projects and experimental photoshoots, adding some excitement to your portfolio

you two mesh very well, your modeling skills blending seamlessly with John's own artistic vision

he also won't pass up the chance to brag about your looks and talent in conversation with the other lads

Paul

Paul takes a genuine interest in your career, offering encouragement every step of the way

he attends every show and photoshoot to show his support - and to see his gorgeous partner in action, of course

he'll often coordinate his outfits to match yours when the two of you go out on dates or to events

he loves nothing more than to show you off and wants everyone to see the two of you together

he can't help but shower you with compliments whenever possible

you're 100% Paul's creative muse and artistic inspiration

he's written countless love songs inspired by your elegance and beauty, expressing his admiration for you through his music

George

George deeply admires your ability to express yourself through fashion

he respects your dedication to your craft and you provide him with a deeper understanding of the art form

he loves to offer his perspective and insight on different shoots and projects you take part in, not afraid to speak up when he feels strongly about a creative decision or idea

during interviews, he often shifts the focus of the conversation to you and your accomplishments, beaming with pride as he speaks about you

he promotes you whenever he gets the chance, using his influence to propel you further into the limelight

Ringo

Ringo would be your biggest cheerleader, attending every show and shoot you book

he enjoys acting as your companion at events, reveling in the excitement and glamor of the industry

he likes to joke around with you between takes, using his humor to get you to lighten up and to dispel any nerves that may get to you

he's fascinated by your experiences in the fast-paced world of fashion, listening attentively to every story you share with him

when you're alone together, Ringo loves to take his own headshots of you, making silly faces behind the camera to get more genuine smiles and capture some candid shots of his gorgeous partner

[solarwynd]

I don't know if you know this but there's this pjm discord community that has this long ass google form you have to fill out where they asked you a bunch of question about Jimin and quiz you and ask for streaming and voting prove and then you have to wait to see if you've been approved before you can join. I'm bringing this up because I feel like the BTS members should be required to pass this process before they're allowed to talk about Jimin because I swear most of the things they say about him are either shallow things that help perpetuate tired stereotypes or are straight up just wrong information.

I remember when that weverse interview with pdogg and ghstloop talking about Muse came out someone said that in one single interview those two praised and said more significant and insightful things about Jimin than some members did over the course of ten years. And while some members can be exceptions (Namjoon will occasionally say some interesting things about Jimin) what this person said is sadly true. And I think part of reason for this has to do with the way the members have become used to talking. I'm referring to how they talk as if they're speaking directly and exclusively to armys instead of the general public. And the way some of them talk to armys can often be very parasocial. The way they talk is like 'We love you more than anything. Everything we do is about you. Only armys and the group matter to us. We're not individuals, we're a collective'. And I think this way of talking really limits what they can actually say and so often they'll repeat generic things we've heard a million times before and end up not really say anything of substance. Meanwhile, people like the SGMB producers don't have the habit of talking like this so they'll say things that are way more accurate and insightful.

And there's also BTS's (and Hybe's) insistence with putting every member in a specific box and only talking about each other in the context of the box they're in and very rarely saying something that shows them to be more than the superficial roles they've been assigned to years ago.

(Yea I know about the discord sever. I even tried taking the test for play play and realized even if I wanted to get in, that’s probably never going to happen)

I very much agree with BTS basically having been conditioned to manitain a specific image of their brand for so long that it has become damaging in a way.

Seeing what Jin had to say about WHO irritated me cause we already have to deal with armys thinking Jimin’s entire existence is BTS and armys alone and that they basically own him. That’s why in hindsight, BTS making armys such a big part of their branding was a double edged sword. None of the members can put out anything without armys feeling the need to relate it back to the group or them. There’s literally no room for individuality and most of BTS themselves have fostered this. MUSE is in the same vein of being personal to Jimin as FACE was. He blatantly said what WHO was about in an interview and never even mentioned armys. The only song on MUSE that is specifically about them is CTT and that’s because it’s a fan song. So why did he feel the need to say that? If he didn’t know what WHO was really about, then why speak on it?

Jin has made it clear that he’s comfortable to wrapping his entire existence as a member of BTS around armys and he can do that. But Jimin has never done it. He has only ever shown fan appreciation. So when he makes something that is personal to HIM, it should stay that way.

[snowflaketale12]

A Brief Timeline Guide to Frozen Books (Part 2) ❄️

Part 1 was introduced last week and covered novels, storybooks, comics, graphic novels, and short stories. Today, I’m going to continue introducing the rest of the books I have 😁

Note: - All the books I'm introducing in this Part 2 are not story-based; rather, they are introductory, guide-based, or making-of books. - It's been a while since I last read some of these books, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. - I only covered the books I've read, but you can check out Arendelle Archive's Frozenverse for a more detailed book list within the Frozen universe, and Annals of Frozen for a more detailed chronicle timeline in Frozen universe.

1. The Art Of + Movie Special

This category consists of three 'making-of' books. Most people are probably familiar with The Art of series. There are two books in this series: The Art of Frozen and The Art of Frozen 2. These books offer a behind-the-scenes look at the films, including character design, environmental inspiration, and the artwork created during production.

Another book I highly recommend is The Movie Special. This book delves into the making of Frozen II, covering topics such as character introductions, music, the color palette, and some hidden details. It also includes several interviews with voice actors, directors, visual development artists, effects supervisors, and more.

Note: - There isn't a specific timeline for these books, as they are 'making-of' books. - If you love exploring the making of films, all three books are highly recommended. - Additionally, if you want to learn more, I also recommend the Disney+ documentary Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2.

2. Guidebooks

There are three guidebooks in total: two for Frozen and one for Frozen II, titled Frozen II: The Magical Guide. All of them provide essential information about the characters, hidden details, and extra character insights.

Note: - Both The Essential Guide and The Enchanted Guide are for Frozen, but The Enchanted Guide includes more details and covers Frozen Fever content. - The Magical Guide focuses on Frozen II without revealing the ending, as it was published before the film's release to avoid spoilers by excluding Act III. It also includes some deleted scenes and dialogues. - The main difference between the Frozen guidebooks and the Frozen II guidebook is that the Frozen books feature movie screencaps (3D art), while the Frozen II guidebook primarily uses 2D artwork.

Another book I’ve categorized as a guidebook is this one, which offers detailed insights into Arendelle Castle. It provides an impressive look at the castle's interior, as well as other locations such as Arendelle Village, Oaken's Trading Post & Sauna, Elsa's Ice Palace, and the Valley of the Living Rock. It also includes Frozen II locations like the Monolith, the Enchanted Forest, the Dark Sea, and more.

Note: - This book was published in 2019, so I believe to avoid spoilers, the introduction to Ahtohallan was excluded.

3. Diaries

Northern Lights: Adventure Notebook is a sequel to Frozen and a prequel to Frozen II, while Unlocking Arendelle: My Treasured Memories is a sequel to Frozen II.

Note: - Adventure Notebook is a book written by Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff during their journey to the Northern Lights, which is mentioned in the novel Journey to the Lights. - Unlocking Arendelle is a book written by Anna to document her journey in Frozen II. This book also includes parts of Iduna's diary. - In terms of handwriting, Anna's handwriting differs between the two books. Elsa's handwriting in Adventure Notebook is similar to that in a letter from the novel Forest of Shadows, though they are not exactly the same. - I highly recommend these two books because I’m impressed by their content; they really are like the characters' diaries. - Additionally, if you're interested in learning more about the Northern Lights journey, I recommend the LEGO mini-series LEGO Frozen Northern Lights. While its content differs from the novel Journey to the Lights and Adventure Notebook, they share similarities in terms of the overall story.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on anything.

I'll make another post about where I bought all of my hardcover books, as many people have asked me about it as well.

Additionally, I'll probably make another post to share the timeline guide for the rest of the Frozen media, excluding the films, such as the podcast and a few shorts, so stay tuned! 💙

[freesia-writes]

TBB S3 Insights [and interview spoilers]

I listened to this episode of Coffee With Kenobi and it featured Michelle, Jen, and Brad answering some questions about The Bad Batch as a whole and season 3 in particular. There are lots of neat things about it, but I wanted to share all the little details that stood out to me about what we might see in season 3.

So... spoilers beneath the cut!

Omega is alone, or apart from her brothers, for a lot of the season.

Omega hangs out with Ventress (I'm stoked about this).

Why does Michelle Ang say it was surprising and shocking that it had to end after 3 seasons? 

They workshopped different ways to end it, and Omega was initially set up with "a large future and expectation", then they went in a different direction that was more bittersweet?!

They talk about DBB voicing a character called “Batcher”… the dog creature? Or what?

Jennifer C: the loss of tech is referred to throughout season 3 as the characters learn how to deal with that hole in their lives.

(side notes from S2) The ice vulture in The Outpost was also voiced by DBB, haha, and they were super intentional with how close the vulture was to the ground throughout that episode.

How the squad embraces or doesn’t embrace Crosshair initially is very true to their characters.

Water dripping from the faucet in Omega’s cell is very intentional to create a sense of time, monotony, etc.

Crosshair feels used and abandoned, and Omega’s optimism is a stark contrast, and we see them learning from each other in new ways.

Regarding Fennec Shand - bounty hunters were a particular part of the storyline; Jen wanted to see her with Hunter and Wrecker.

They asked about favorite characters. Jen’s favorite is Hunter. He carries a lot of weight trying to keep the family together; she’s on board with the decisions he’s making.

Jen calls them Omega's brothers while Brad talks more about the dad batch. He says Hunter’s a classic dad but the dad side of Crosshair is interesting!

Tech was the squad navigator; kept them moving and clear on what they need to do. So now they’re kind of fractured and lost. They deal with the emotional fallout throughout the season.

How does it feel to end the show when it’s going so swimmingly? Bittersweet, proud, on our terms, landed the plane when they knew it was the last season. It was everything Jen wanted it to be.

Apparently there's been talk about Omega’s high M count? All they could say… is nothing. But a lot went into it every single time you hear those words.

Finally, Michelle shared that the entire story arc for Omega, and for her as an actor, all is summed up and finished nicely "in about two lines" at the end. TWO LINES?! dang.

[tamapalace]

Yuri Okamoto Explains Why Tamagotchi Uni is Popular With Adults in Tokyo Walker Plus Article

It’s no surprise that the Tamagotchi Uni has been a huge, global hit since the release back in July, 2024. Yuri Okamoto, of the Bandai planning team of the Toy Division Global Toy Planning Department who was in charge of the planning and development of the Tamagotchi Uni at Bandai provides some really interesting insight into the Uni in a recent interview.

Yuri explains to Tokyo Walker Plus that the Tamagotchi Uni is the first Tamagotchi equipped with Wi-Fi, which achieved the goal of making users feel that Tamagotchi was in line with modern times. We really enjoy the question and answer part of the interview, where Yuri is asked if users can interact in real time on the Tamagotchi Uni, to which she responses that they cannot, and that Tamagotchi data from around the world is collected on the serve, and the Tamagotchi uses that data, users can only see the region of other users.

How many Tamagotchi Uni owners participate in the Tama Arena monthly fans? 50,000 per Yuri! That is impressive. Yuri explains that adding Wi-Fi allows Bandai to send out messages and gifts to users, and facilitate over the air software updates to enhance gameplay.

Yuri explains how the idea of the Tamaverse came about, and how this was to help users feel connected around the world for the global release, and how this really was a theme following the COVID-19 pandemic, connectivity!

Tokyo Walker Plus also asks Yuri what she values when planning new work, to which Yuri provides insight about the focus being caretaking.

Yuri also talks about other models including the Tamagotchi Smart, which she worked on the development of as well. She calls out the iconic shape of Tamagotchi and three button design being globally recognized.

When asked about the ages of Tamagotchi users, Yuri has an interesting response, many of the users are 6 to 8 or 9 years old, but with the Tamagotchi Uni they are seeing users that are in their 20’s and 30’s that have played in the past and since they are familiar with the brand, they are returning to the brand.

Yuri also mentions that the key demographic for Tamagotchi in the first generation was mainly for high school girls, and it became popular with a wide generation including children. When the anime was released, it popular with elementary school girls.

What we really find interesting is when Yuri mentions that the popularity of the Tamagotchi Original overseas in North America and Europe has been really popular and even brought some shells over to Japan.

This article is a good read, be sure to check it out here.

[katakaluptastrophy]

This may be something you have already covered, or considered and discarded, but. Thoughts on Jod being trans?

Because it seemed slightly odd to me, that a AMAB kid going to his grandmother’s house would be allowed to play with his mum’s toys. Especially if they’re “traditionally girly” toys, as opposed to being told to run around or given a ball to do sports.

Whereas a little AFAB kid would gladly be given his mum’s dolls by a traditional grandma and told to play nicely and quietly. Not identifying with the Barbies so much as finding them so pretty (especially compared to the Ken dolls that look nothing like him, which he feeds to Ulysses the dog).

And then, two or three decades later and finding that he is now God. He has consumed the Earth and her siblings and made her anew.

How easy is it to change the bits about himself he never felt were right? To remake himself as God in the flesh? To look upon himself and say, it is good?

"When I was seven, you know, all Nana had to play with in her house was some of Mum's old toys. And my favouite out of all of them..." He gave a long, shuddering sigh. "My favourite was her old Hollywood Hair Barbie," he murmured. "I loved her little gold outfit and her long yellow hair. She was the best. She got to have all the adventures. There was also a Bride's Dream Midge, but Mum had cut Midge's hair into this weird mullet. It was Barbie for me." She looked at him. He looked at her. He added, "Not Hollywood Hair Ken. Mum had him too, but he was a creep. I gave him to Nana's dog to eat."

This is what we get when John is describing the "scraps of id" that lead him to make Alecto look like some kind of nightmarish Barbie. The 'id' is, psychoanalytically, the most instinctual, basic part of the self. If John is being truthful here, then he's expressing something very basic about himself and his motivations in making Alecto.

I'm not convinced that we can infer anything about his Nana's attitude towards what toys a child should be allowed to play with. John is probably born somewhere between the mid 90s to the mid 20s, so it's just as possible that John playing with his mum's old Barbies is evidence that his family was fairly progressive. Or too poor to afford new toys. Or just ambivalent about the toys he played with.

In terms of John and gender, or at least John and masculinity, this interview has an interesting insight into what Tamsyn might be doing with that:

the God of the Locked Tomb IS a man; he IS the Father and the Teacher; it’s an inherently masc role played by someone who has an uneasy relationship himself to playing a Biblical patriarch. John falls back on hierarchies and roles because they’re familiar even when he’s struggling not to. Even he identifies himself as the God who became man and the man who became God.

Though of course, to quote a different interview, this is a series where "readers will end up STICKY and GREASY with GENDER and BIBLE" and where Lyctorhood is "a huge genderfuck".

So I think there's certainly scope for trans readings of John, which shift the framework for the way that John is positioning himself in relation to his masc roleplaying of god. There's a number of elements that would have a very different resonance in such readings, not least putting Alecto into such a specific version of a woman's body, and the tension between his own exercise of bodily autonomy and his utter restriction and violation of others' bodily autonomy.

Personally, my take is that John is meant to be a type of cis man I'm sure many of us have met - one who is at pains to demonstrate his feminism, who perhaps finds the boundaries of masculinity confining to some extent, but who is ultimately unwilling to examine how deeply those boundaries are part of the way he views the world and interacts with others. And with John, this is writ large, quite literally: endowed with godlike power, he falls back on the patriarchal image of god. John may go out of his way to tell us that the maternity problem was important to him, that he played with Barbies, that he *cares*, but at the end of the day that introspection doesn't translate into his actions.

Regardless of how John came to his relationship with masculinity, he's stuck with - or perhaps in context we could say haunted by - a very particular conception of patriarchal masculinity.

[aois-amaterasu-painting]

Interpreting the symbolism of The GazettE - part 2 - The Guitars

When I 1st saw pic1 I thought - it's the Yin-Yang guitars! The way Aoi is holding his makes no sense otherwise. And when I got to read the interview translation from pic2, Kai pretty much confirmed it for me:

"Kai: Aoi is a very skillful musician, he absorbs everything around him, letting it go through himself and then gives it out, without pretence, with his own sound."

Indiscriminately absorbing all the feelings is the most textbook definition of Yin.

Yin is the feeling, the subjective, absorption, the darkness & the negative (and we will get to what negative means further in the article, spoiler - it's not "bad").

And Aoi says things like this: "Actually, I don’t think (*laughs*).  Nah, the truth is I feel." (It's from Guitar Book interview where he is with Uruha and yet again holding his guitar upside down)

The way they are styled - Aoi always in black, flowy outfits that merge with shadows and Uruha always light and flashy. Even when whole band is dressed in black, Uruha is wearing something white or uses a white guitar.

All of Aoi's guitars are black. The snake skin textured one always makes me think of Ouroboros, one of the oldest and most popular symbols of transformation and occult (hidden) knowledge.

Uruha's real name is 広揚 Kouyou. The 2nd kanji is literally Yang and the name translates to something like "immense sunlight"

The rhythm and lead guitar correspond really well to Yin-Yang as well. Rhythm being the darkness that let's the stars (lead guitar) shine.

More from the Guitar Magazine (September 2015) interview translated by @mizmyerz :

"Kai: Uruha is a type of a musician who’s going by touch - he experiences an internal conflict, fixates on it and thus the new sound is born. Reita: I think they both work hard to improve oneself. It’s so interesting to observe how they become similar at one point and then go in reverse at another. Kai: To me, at the very beginning neither of them had his own unique sound, but they were able to find and express it thanks to one another. Ruki: Uruha is very meticulous, prone to theoretical thinking. Aoi is serious and more realistic. Reita: Uruha first thinks of an image and then develops a theory based on it. Aoi's reasoning is very realistic, he always, let me say it, hits the core."

...

But let's dig deeper and talk about DOGMA album.

From the Black B-Pass (2015) interview, once again translation by @mizmyerz (you can find both interviews on her blog and reblogged on mine):

"Uruha: First of all, even though we want to distance ourselves from visual kei, we don’t mind the visual scene itself. We’ve been pushed forward by visual kei, received the impulse, it was like a stencil, so it’s still very important to us, but the current visual scene seized to be attractive. Furthermore, several years ago we wanted to expand our presence within the genre, we aimed to grow and evolve, but at some point it started to limit us, to hold us back, that’s why now we’re moving in a different direction. Of course, it created a solid ground under our feet. Then again, you must bring in something unique to arouse interest. Because of that, when you can’t find a way out, you start looking inside yourself. In other words DOGMA became a turning point for us, since it feels like recently the band itself turned around and changed the course."

The bold part of the quote is best explained by Kenneth Grant in "Outer Gateways":

"There is another faculty of human consciousness, the intuitive or 'inseeing' faculty; one might almost describe it as the fourth dimensional faculty. It is a faculty that appears sometimes in the artist, the poet, the occultist, and in a certain kind of scientist, and it functions also, though rarely, in almost everybody. It is epitomized on the Tree of Life by the third sephira, Binah, the Sphere of Understanding. Not the understanding of empirical things, but that insight into the hidden side of things made possible by a sudden total identity of the mind with its substratum, pure consciousness, wherein all ideas are stored and which under stands, or stands under, the mechanism of mentation.

The faculty of understanding is incommunicable because it has its origin beyond the Abyss, where human laws of logic and ratiocination do not apply. Hence initiation is necessary before the faculty can be activated and utilised. But such initiation is always and can only be self-initiation; all other forms of initiation are false because necessarily inadequate. [..] The Supernals (Binah, Chokmah, Kether) cannot be contained below the Abyss where the laws of Subject/Objects relationship obtain. Initiation denotes a journey inwards and may only be undertaken by each traveller for and by himself. Initiation and intuition are virtually identical in the sense that the journey leads to absolute Subjectivity which is beyond all subject/objects relationships. [...] Those who achieve successfully this penetration of the veils of Binah are thereafter as it were branded with the most ancient and inscrutable hieroglyphics that remain forever undecipherable by those without the deepest Within of Being.

The Typhonian Way is the Negative Way, the descent from the Mother, i.e. the pre-solar source. Its way of attainment is by reflection, shadow, the negation."

DOGMA album starts with Nihil. Nihilism can mean the dissolution or negation of conventional beliefs, structures, or realities, often as a precursor to a deeper understanding or transformation of consciousness. It might involve the rejection of established moral or religious frameworks (heresy) in pursuit of a more profound spiritual truth.

The Dogma lyrics "I deny everything" always make me want to correct them to "I negate everything" and it's rather easy for me to do so because in my native language deny and negate is the same word. I looked up how it is in Japanese and it seems to also be the same - hitei suru.

Yin is the Negative and since Aoi is the Yin guitar I've put the 3 DOGMA songs with Aoi guitar solos (and of course It's the songs that are utterly and completely devoted to the goddess) - Goddess, Wasteland and Ominous in a playlist and listened attentively. The 3 of them really felt like a unit, seamless. A menacing feeling building towards something. The solo at the end of Ominous is the culmination point. It expresses so much pain. Listening to it felt like my heart is being torn open. It almost felt like a physical pain. I snapped out of it and my mind immediately went to the 4 Noble Truths of Buddhism. Specifically Dukkha (suffering) and Samudaya (roots of suffering).

Then I looked at Ominous lyrics:

Sleep…Count me down…Again So I’ll close my eyes As I turn to face you My prayer shattered into ruins Is reflected in your eyes as you spread your wings to fly I see you whirling with nightmares Through a sky thick with darkness Don’t forget That the heart can’t die Don’t forget Really, dreams don’t always mean what they seem True…Dread Sleep…Count me down…Again This cycle of constant change is ominous I fall into the recurring darkness It steals away my formless future and whenever I step forward The sky darkens until I can no longer see I’m killing myself with loneliness and even my screams Won’t bring any rescue Sleep…Count me down…Again"

For explanation of what the mentioned sleep means we are once again referring to K. Grant's "Outer Gateways":

"Ultimate subjectivity contains the seed of sangsar, as deep sleep contains the latency of thought (dream), which appears only when subjectivity objectivises; sleep then becomes dreaming. The final process is one of objectification, which causes the illusion of a waking state in which the thoughts or dream objects are experienced as 'real'. Total absence of objects (as in deep sleep) is thus the total presence of Subject, whose manifestation then appears phenomenally as Sangsar (the Universe). But this fact is lost sight of when Subject objectivises (i.e. dreams), or objectifies (awakens)."

And going back to Buddhism, to quote Thich Nhat Hanh in "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" :

"Contemplation on interdependence is a deep looking into all dharmas in order to pierce through to their real nature, in order to see them as part of the great body of reality and in order to see that the great body of reality is indivisible. It cannot be cut into pieces with separate existences of their own.

The object of our mind can be a mountain, a rose, the full moon, or the person standing in front of us. We believe these things exist outside of us as separate entities, but these objects of our perceptions are us. This includes our feeling. When we hate someone, we also hate ourself. The object of our mindfulness is actually the whole cosmos. Mindfulness is mindfulness of the body, feelings, perceptions, any of the mental formations, and all of the seeds in our consciousness. The Four Establishments of Mindfulness contain everything in the cosmos. Everything in the cosmos is the object of our perception, and, as such, it does not exist only outside of us but within us."

(From the DOGMA book)

The more I dig at The GazettE symbolism, the more I find, it's a boundless trove of riches. It's pretty common for metal bands to use symbols - some dabble in esotericism only a little, others are doing it for the aesthetic or just because everyone does it. For me, as someone who always looks and interprets everything, seeing such an elaborate and detailed esoteric creation is a huge pleasure. The fact that the 5 band members are the ones responsible for every single detail makes it even more impressive.

They are out there on Tool's level when it comes to combining mysticism and music (if you don't know Tool I recommend you listen to Lateralus). By the way I saw a pic of Kai's drum tech wearing a Tool t-shirt, it made me wonder if the GazettE themselves are influenced by them. Somehow I think they are.

I found Kenneth Grant's works (the author I quoted twice earlier) through Tool's drummer's library on his website. And their vocalist uses a lot of Jungian alchemy terms in their lyrics. I wonder if the Japanese fans sort of see the GazettE like the westerners see Tool.

I did not write much about Uruha but let me leave you with these pictures of him being immense light.

Link to my twin guitars - twin goddesses post (pictures)

Link to part 1 of the analysis

Part 3