#it's even true with like the dark edgy media i like now i think about it

[weedle-testaburger]

i saw a video earlier of someone saying happy endings feel wrong to them and respectfully i don't know what the fuck they're on about. happy endings are the most powerful thing fiction can do as far as i'm concerned. so often the real world ends up going in miserable directions so being reminded that yes, good things can happen too is way more powerful for me

[sailorgundam308]

BG3 introspection bit

This one isn't edgy or funny. I just feel like sharing, prompted by seeing how, indeed, BG3 is one of the greatest if not THE greatest pieces of entertainment we've got in a long while. But I know for so many people it turned out to be much more than just that. That includes me. To make a long story short, I've been living a full world away from my loved ones for almost a decade, in a place that is particularly hostile towards me. I'm here out of necessity and choice, since my other option happens to be worse. It's been shockingly lonely, until I grew used to the isolation. Still, I made do. I make do. Around a few years back, and especially last year, things took a turn for the much worse. I've spiraled into a very, very dark place, which in turn isolated me even more from other people - but also from myself.

Being so far away from familiarity and the things I love worn me down, and disconnected from who I am and what I enjoy. To the point I effectively stayed in a limbo, frozen in time, empty, for the past years. It's been way more scary than when I was obviously and loudly sad or depressed, because at least then I had energy to react in some way. As an artist by profession and by passion, it was even more concerning that I could not create ANYTHING - words, images, even concepts. My mind had been simply silent, dead. I quite literally spent the last 3-4 years just existing, going to my job like a mindless clockwork because otherwise I wouldn't be able to make rent and end up getting deported. I knew I was utterly and completely lost, and had no idea what I could grab onto to pull me out. It was as if I couldn't move - I did not really wanted to, somehow.

It happens to everyone, I think, that sometimes a seemingly random thing that you engage with unexpectedly becomes a sort of lifeline. It happened to me once before, during a complicated part of my teens. And now it seemed to have happened again because I decided to play Baldur's Gate 3. I mentioned before, I am a bit older and have played BG1 and BG2, and also DnD and the like. I've always been the nerdy artsy type, and it had always fueled my imagination and gave me energy to keep creating, keep moving, searching, growing.

It was really a struck of luck that I heard the news that BG3 was a thing. I was so isolated I did not engage with any piece of media anymore - I watched no news, no movies, no series, read no books. When I think about it, it's really scary how I felt absolutely nothing, how truly empty of any will to live I was. But it's been wild for a while now. I happened to be on 'vacation' when BG3 got released, and I was sucked into it like I was desperate. And I probably was. I needed anything to take me away from where I was, who (or the lack of) I had become. The game did just that. It's not a coincidence I put 750+ hours in it. I could not stand looking at my own circumstances and somehow I managed to finally escape anywhere else. While I recognize I went to the opposite extreme of (problematic) engagement, I also saw how my mind seeemed to switch on again after a while - as if I was reminded of how it used to be.

Ideas, cohesive thoughts, images, the unavoidable urge to move, to create something - all these things that made me ME started to come back.

I remembered how much I enjoyed fantasy, fiction, having ideas, organizing, planning, making things come true - how much just marking a paper with a pencil brings me joy. How my own mind can be rich and exciting, and how I have the skills to translate those impulses into reality. And that is what made me, all my life. It's hard to explain how I feel after 4 years not creating a single thing, having no impulse or creative idea and watching life pass in a haze, now I feel like I'm finally reconecting to something precious. My doctor even pointed it out, how it seems I'm finally waking up after years, coming out of whatever dark hole I've been in.

While it's been a short while, I'm very aware this is essentially a hyperfixation, but for someone who (even though I tried) could not feel anything towards anything for so long, this seems like a blessing. And I'm doing my best to make a stair out of it - use the momentum to branch out into other things I know I need and miss, the other things that have always been part of my life that I'd let go of.

I'm probably not the only one who clicked with this game, and it somehow pulled us out of strange, scary places. Even though it's a lot of projection on our part, people in such situations need something they relate to in order to project onto, to grab to float. Not everything works, it must be something special to the person at the right time. Lucky me that Baldur's Gate 3 happened when it did, the way it did, and that I was where I was.

I'm really, truly happy I stumbled onto the news of the game, for whatever reason took action to actually buy it, open and play it. When I did, I had no idea it would be the lifeline I'd grab onto. But it's been, and it meant so much to me. That's all of my sad introspective blurb. I have no way of explaining how thankful I feel to everyone who put this game together. While it wasn't the intention of the creators, BG3 gave me the push I so desperately needed and that nothing else had managed to.

I'd still be lost in a very dark place without it.

:')

[cubedmango]

aw thank you again too 🥺 and you're welcome as well, i'm also really happy to know you appreciate my ramblings ❤️❤️❤️ and even though i only just got into it this year and ofc it has its downs and flaws as well, there's a lot to love about kr and toku as a whole, and i can see why characters from the other japanese media i like (i totally get you now, edgeworth) are portrayed as fans of the medium/genre 😅 speaking of that, i forgot to mention what maya's thoughts on build might be - like with edgeworth, idk if build would be her fave kr show, but i still think she'd enjoy it, and while she definitely has some similarities to misora, idk if that would be enough for maya to deem misora her fave character, and for some reason, instead i think either banjou or [redacted] (i'll tell you more about this person once you get further into the show) would be her fave. and i think she'd find sawa really cool in terms of her mysterious multiple skills and would want to emulate said skills, and she might find it cute that sento basically has a rabbit fursona fjgnkwjds

*maya voice* come on mr. edgeworth, you don't have to tell me he's gay when i can literally see he's a rabbit personified and obviously rabbits are gay animals. like duh [1/?]

(rest below)

(though that makes me think that edgeworth might criticize the fact that they cast a skinny prettyboy to play a former pro boxer and then he'd type up a whole essay ranting about how the actor should have been someone with actual beef like will powers instead and discoursing about toei's prejudice against bears in-depth lol) and oh wow i'm also really happy to hear that you actually started watching it!!! :D and you're already on ep. 8... get ready for the stakes to keep rising bc boy does this show do its best to keep its foot on the viewers' collective neck 😭 eps. 13-16 are some of my favorites so far, and ofc no one is ever prepared enough for the shit that infamously goes down in ep. 21 😔 there are ofc moments to take a breather here and there, but there are basically no filler episodes so yeah it can be A Lot jlmdjfjkhs. i'd love to know if you have any theories or speculations for some of the mysteries and questions the show has set up so far, because while i obviously can't discuss them in-depth atm, it's still fun to see other people's takes especially when they're going into build pretty much un-spoiled 👀 [2/?]

and oh really djwdjfnks i guess it's true that i didn't actually talk about the comedic aspects of the show in my previous messages, and the post i linked also didn't give off that impression since it mostly brought up the serious elements, so sorry for accidentally misleading you 😭 but i'm glad to know it's worked out for you so far! :-) i actually really like build's humor for the most part (other than a few things like the previously mentioned uncomfortable aspects of a male character having an intense parasocial crush on misora's mii-tan persona, where ngl it was a bit funny to me at first when it didn't come off as that bad yet but then it just kept going in a very 'why are we still pushing this' way - though tbf to that guy, even though i compared him to larry, i do think he has a lot more going for him in terms of an actual arc and his interactions with other characters can be compelling and fun, he just needs to stay 10 feet away from misora for 10 years and learn to be normal), and the comedy is definitely needed in these first several episodes since well, the show does get kinda dark later on, particularly when it gets to the war parts (though to my knowledge, it's never too edgy beyond the boundaries of what's allowed for ostensibly a kids' show) - like it still does retain humorous moments, but it's generally fairly more sobering compared to the early parts of the show 😔 [3/?]

if i remember them correctly, some of my fave funny moments from the episodes you've already watched include when sento was trying to drive off on his phone bike while he was still in the cafe, banjou attempting to explain his backstory when sento asked but he started from his birth and an exasperated sento threw the visual of baby banjou away, the satou taro stuff (which iirc actually became a popular enough meme in japan at the time build was airing due to the way inukai delivered the "let's eat yakiniku tonight!" part, to the point that non-toku ads apparently referenced it lol), sawa excitedly following around an annoyed sento as build for her news stories, the whole chaining back-and-forth between banjou and misora, sento getting excited at hearing about the bottles misora purified but then becoming sad that banjou figured out a best match before him, sento immediately trying to test out that sword invention thing of his on misora and a 'sleeping' banjou but the latter was actually awake and threatened him instead, isurugi making increasingly dejected facial expressions when the others rejected his shitty coffee one by one in favor of their canned coffees, and the recurring gag of banjou having to put on a silly disguise whenever he goes out in public (shoutout to the literally contextless random clown costume) bc of how he's still a fugitive at large lmao (also not specifically meant to be funny but i cracked up at banjou's first appearance being shirtless in the sewers - i know it's supposed to be a fanservice-y moment but instead it proved to me just how nonexistent those 'sweet pecs' he loves to brag about are 😭) [4/?]

in general i like the whole gag of sento having a bunny ear ahoge that sticks up whenever he gets excited about science, even as a lot of fans jokingly call it a hair boner instead because well. i guess it's not exactly wrong hdjfjnkwjs sento being horny for science is probably the least surprising thing about him though... and a lot of the episode recaps are funny too, like when they explain how isurugi came to give sento his name (idk if you've reached this episode yet though) and when sento loves overemphasizing the way he says the 'genius'/'tensai' part of 'genius physicist' lmao on a side note, i do like how anime-ish many of the fashion choices and character quirks are, like sento's ahoge ofc and also his mismatched sneakers, and banjou's shrimp braids (i've seen a few other people think they look uncool, and while i understand that they can be pretty jarring when you're not used to that kind of hairstyle, i personally have come around to them by now and find them one of his charm points tbh), and in general the way banjou dresses like a delinquent-type lesbian jock in high school fjskjwkajs [5/?]

also i only realized later on when i saw other people pointing it out that it's weird that misora doesn't seem to have an actual schtick or something as an online idol, like singing and/or dancing or even playing video games (and later episodes do nothing to correct this assumption), and when they're not giving her info on what's happening in the country/touto re: things like smash attacks, instead she just. asks her viewers to essentially doxx people 😭😭😭 like even if that was for a good cause in the end and it worked out okay, it's still pretty weird to say the least in hindsight 😭 also let me just say that banjou being a bit of an ass to sento in these early episodes to the point of knocking him out twice to get away with his own plans, plus that part where he duked it out with sento in the nascita basement after the tatsuya incident made me go :O at first like wow okay yeah, i get where he's coming from wrt wanting to prove his innocence asap but also he definitely needed to chill somewhat (and that convo between sawa and misora where the latter was genuinely worried that the tentative friendship between the guys was over for real but sawa said she was sure they would get over it or something along those lines... queen of being supportive hfjsmkws). i'm glad he at least apologized for what he did to tatsuya in the end (also sento making that dragon bot companion for him was really sweet, even if banjou found it annoying at first lol), and the rest of his character development will definitely be cool to watch :') [6/?]

and yeah the range of their acting is amazing hwjsfkrds especially since both of their characters in cm and odt have that anxious and easily startled prey animal vibe 😭 though banjou's otherwise shouty aggressive persona is at least offset by goofy stuff like that running gag of him getting jumpscared by the microwave, and ofc the fact that he has very few functioning braincells (i hesitate to use the word here since it's become oversaturated in the past few years, but i guess you could deem him a himbo) lmao also in general, i think toku actors deserve a raise purely for being able to constantly maintain their composure while doing actions that would be otherwise goofy (e.g. i can only imagine how it looks to be cranking that lever on build's driver belts without any of the special effects added in yet) 😭 iirc inukai actually talked about that at some point, about how hard it is to insert the two bottles when he's not supposed to be looking, so even if he gets the first one right on the first try, he might still mess up the second one, so he often has to do multiple takes and said that bc of that issue, he was planning on buying one of the belt's toy versions so he could practice with it at home (idk if he went through with it in the end though) [7/?]

i'm also happy to hear about how endearing you've found the characters already - that's definitely one of build's strengths imo even if some of them end up not being developed to their full potential 👍🏼 and ahhh i'm so glad you're seeing the narumitsu vision this early!! i knew i could count on you 🙏🏼 if you're liking them thus far, trust that it's gonna get even better - you're gonna see just how much this was practically preliminary training for their later respective bl dramas ^_^ and sento and banjou may not be of the 'estranged childhood friends where one of them was adopted by his dad's murderer and then molded to follow in said murderer's footsteps and the other changed their whole career path just to see the first person again and save them' variety but they end up having quite a few Insane moments of their own later on that i feel are narumitsu-coded too so it makes me go T_T and about banjou's instinctive knack for figuring out best matches - yeah iirc it does appear a few more times after that, though sadly it doesn't figure as much anymore at the point in the show i am now. who knows though, it might still make a comeback in later episodes 🙏🏼 and yep that dialogue between isurugi and banjou... that sure was Something. ofc sento's issues will come into play more prominently as the show goes on, and i'm looking forward to seeing your reactions to how they pan out 👁️👁️ [8/?]

hdkfjskjs i'm glad you like both misora and sawa too!! misora is truly a #relatable sleep-loving icon for threatening to cut people who disturb said sleep <3 and you don't need to worry on the fronts of misora's powers and both women's backstories - they'll definitely get delved into at some point (in fact, since you mentioned being on ep. 8 already, parts of misora's get brought up in ep. 9 iirc)! my main issues are just that certain aspects, or the effects of those aspects on both women, of their backstories and the relationships they have with certain other characters in connection with that, and even their personal friendship with each other (even as i like the content we do get), could have been expanded on - ngl as i'm writing this, i'm getting flashbacks to capcom's treatment of aa female characters like maya and trucy, so once again the aa comparison seems apt here - but oh well, you'll see when you get there. ultimately it feels like a case of 'it could have been worse' considering how too often female characters can get the super short end of the stick in stuff like these, but still. that doesn't stop one from wishing it really could have been better 😔 [9/?]

and oh yeah, i hadn't brought up them up yet because i wanted you to experience them for yourself, but both gentoku/night rogue (that reminds me of the funny scene in ep. 2 where sento was like "the batman..." and he was like "it's night rogue, actually" and sento just snapped back with "i don't care what you call yourself!" or something to that effect 😭) and blood stalk are interesting and compelling antagonists and their cringe evil toxic yaoi dynamic is very fun to watch ngl <3 and about stalk and his drama-loving ass in particular - you're definitely in for a treat re: learning more about his whole deal, i promise 😌 me 🤝🏼 you 🤝🏼 other fans on akaso eiji: what is this man cooking sometimes djfjkahgs. and gah i know, he definitely comes off as smart enough (certainly smarter than the character he plays in this show) to be aware of the implications of saying stuff Like That so like. come on dudeee. and the comment i mentioned him making at that post-series promotional event is probably the cherry on top as the most out-of-pocket thing i've heard him say wrt this show to date (looking forward to both of us finishing this show so we can talk about it for real) like... seriously thank you so much for speaking your truth but also it's a wonder the toei snipers didn't get you in that moment 😭😭😭 also i imagine this is what the build actors felt like reading the script they got with every new episode: 🏳️‍🌈❓ and that was just amplified as the show went on 💀 [10/?]

and i actually was able to find again the video for the first promotional event - youtu . be/OW1y8FNibDU?si=bezKLuvqfYvSSDJq, and akaso starts talking at the 1:02 mark, so you can finally see it for yourself (it's also at this event where inukai jokingly introduced himself as satou taro instead of sento, complete with the 'yakiniku' pose that got turned into a meme, and akaso had to 'remind' him of his actual character lol). and re: this event, this was done for the crossover movie 'kamen rider heisei generations final: build & ex-aid with legend riders' or heigen final as it's commonly abbreviated, which i mentioned in my previous messages in passing, so here you can see iijima (where he looks far more baby-faced compared to his appearance in odt, even though iirc he's only 2 years younger than inukai and also akaso) and the rest of the main ex-aid cast too like i've said before, it's not strictly necessary to watch because it's not really meant to be fully canon, plus other kr protagonists - namely ooo/eiji, fourze/gentarou, gaim/kouta, and ghost/takeru - you wouldn't be familiar with also appear in supporting roles (though tbf to those other riders, since this is generally meant to be a standalone, it doesn't delve that much into the stories of their respective shows, so some cursory reading of their synopses and who these protagonists are should be good enough, but yeah i guess it does contain some spoilers for how said shows end, especially ex-aid since that's the other main rider here). the pros to watching this though is that it apparently shows some nice banjou development, which is still included within the main series but other elements are just elaborated on here, and contains additional foreshadowing for some later twists and reveals in the main series (build's head writer shogo muto was definitely on a roll while co-writing this) - and by that, i mean that the continuity is such that heigen final is technically set in between eps. 14 and 15 of the show, so there are stuff in episodes afterwards that get further set up here [11/?]

so if you don't mind some spoilers for the other seasons, especially if you're not planning on watching those anytime soon, and the fact that this isn't strictly canon, you can watch it on the toku . fun site (since the page i linked you to contains all the spin-off stuff for this show already) once you're done with ep. 14 :-) on my end, i actually started watching it a while back, but i didn't finish yet and i proceeded with my main series watching instead and now i'm 20+ episodes in, so if you're too impatient like me, it's still okay to skip it for now and just go back to it another time 👍🏼 and there's also an interview with iijima and inukai as promotion for the movie that you might be interested in, though you should also definitely only read it after finishing ep. 14 since it contains spoilers for that and a couple of episodes before it, and ofc spoilers ahead for ex-aid too: docs . google . com/document/u/0/d/1gV0D6WhKQiV8Hi3OhOk1XNUD3hB2uF4f9j1tWTYXE3g/mobilebasic?pli=1 [12/?]

also since you got past ep. 2 already, i was reminded of how build does pull the 'dead girlfriend for manpain' thing which is. not a great trope as a whole, and kasumi could have stood to be a bit more developed before her death and even in the later instances when she's brought up by banjou and co., but from everything i've heard, this + how kasumi is shown haunting the narrative is still generally handled with more grace compared to how ex-aid did a similar storyline, so this is definitely a tolerable enough case. and yeah while i don't think it was that many so far, kr definitely has had a bit of a track record of featuring dead girlfriends for men's sad backstories (though tbf, there have also been plenty of backstories here involving dead male friends so there is some equality at least ig??), the quality with which they were written varying, but welp are we really surprised considering how men-dominated this franchise is ofc lol [13/?]

and i do think the mysteries pay off well for the most part, so i'm glad it reeled you in too and ofc i'm interested in hearing your future thoughts and reactions :-) and don't worry about your posts/answers getting long, bc i can assure you that whatever i send to you will almost always be longer fjkhfsws. and feel free to independently liveblog it in separate posts too if you like - you can just tag them and/or put them under a 'read more' so i can more easily find them and your other followers can also filter the tags if they don't want to see those posts, though hey, maybe it will inspire them to get into build as well and there'll be a resurgence in build fans 5 years after it ended?? lol and yeah i think that might actually have been an aa reference fr! (even if he didn't exactly point like phoenix and co. haha) i'm pretty sure it's like the most well-known mainstream franchise involving lawyers dramatically yelling 'objection!'/'igi ari!' in japan atp so i wouldn't be surprised. just another thing to add to the list of aa-build parallels ig! [14/?]

akshfjfkas that's definitely one of the few things adachi and banjou would have in common at least 😭 also i'd definitely like to see any build fanart you might make!! no pressure though, draw them only if you actually want to and at your own pace :-) though that reminded me, have you ever considered redrawing narumitsu (or any other big m/m aa pairing actually, like klapollo, asoryuu, or even langworth) as the 'heated drama between men' picture (since that tagline definitely applies to those duos)? i always thought that was prime redraw material for other media, so it saddened me to see very few actual redraws or edits of it so far 😔 (though maybe there were actually more back then, but since this show aired 5-6 years ago, those are long-buried now or something). no pressure again ofc, it's just an idea so feel free to draw or not draw it hsfjwkflds [15/?]

unfortunately, because this has gotten very long again, once more i'll have to relegate my thoughts on the f/f and canon lgbt+ stuff to other messages some other time... just know the gist that toei has for sure been taking baby steps in terms of the rep, and afaik most of it has ranged from decent to good or at least i don't think any of them have come off as blatantly offensive caricatures, but some other moves they've pulled here and there have also been frustrating, and while it's true we shouldn't actively be seeking authentic diverse rep from these corporations in the first place, it still would be nice to someday get a respectfully written canon gay and/or trans kr protagonist of any gender (though given it's kr, it will likely be a guy anyway) without a single no-homo or "it's up to interpretation" type of official statement you know? 😔 aaand that's all again for now, thanks again, and goodbye and talk to you next time :-) hope you enjoy watching the rest of the show! <3 [16/16]

also sorry to add on to this hours later but i just suddenly got struck with new ideas for other m/m duos in aa to possibly redraw the 'heated drama between men' picture as: the actual toku characters like steel samurai/evil magistrate, or even nickel samurai/jammin' ninja just bc of the engarde vs. corrida drama (even though the characters are actually from different shows and i don't genuinely think of engarde and corrida's relationship as romantic wjdekjfsjh)

anon hi again and thank u again for the asks !!!! sorry for the wait i didnt get to watch much these last few days (only caught up to ep12 now) so i was waiting until id watched enough that i could update u on the live reacting a little bit kajfkdsjgd but its been rlly fun !! the plot twists keep getting me but theres the silliness to balance it out but then the emotions and the stakes oh god oh fuck-

gonna start w misora and sawa again immediately bc 1) i care them So much and 2) WHAT THE FUFCKKFDJFK I DIDNT EXPECT THE SAWA STUFF???????? when they showed her being in kahoots w the weapons guy i was literally >:0 at my screen i was so betrayed i thought that was for It for her...... but then her backstory and how she came clean abt everything and still wants to help the gang out ooughghhg i wamt to give her a hug so bad...... and her friendship w misora too im gonna Cry!!!!!! also speaking of the misora lore is also intriguing (7 yr coma....... i keep saying this smth abt jp medias and their 7 years) and her getting to go out after so long and have fun was so sweet 🥺 the idol thing is still wild tho but u know what. valid bc the concept of a doxxing idol is so funny kdfjkgjkdfjg

also sento and banjou oh my god . I DIDNT KNOW OTHER GUYS COULD BECOME KAMEN RIDERS TOO???? tho when stalk mentioned the hazard levels earlier i had a Feeling but it failed last time banjou tried so i thought that was it but omg what the hell .... the design for him is so cool too im glad he had that chara growth moment !! tho the kasumi stuff is def #manpain flavored so far (did those two only ever meet at that one sakura tree goddam let them have other flashback scenes??) im glad at least they didnt just drop her after ep2 and actually have her death impacting banjou (and sento too w him taking the blame for it himself) and that driving him to work on himself and become more selfless its so [chefs kiss] i do hope she gets mentioned again tho bc that "i hope you can forget me" in the letter was Not helping

also yeag . they are NOT beating the nrmt allegations for me!!! its about the trust and belief babey!!!!!!!! what the shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND WHAT IS THIS . WHY. (for some reason it reminded me of krdc in that one scene in ep5 fkdjksjg)

but seriously the progression of their relationship is so neat to see (esp at the moments they give each other a push to do the right thing those always get me ough) they are becoming Friends!!!!! now im super curious tho what akasos other out of pocket comment mightve been bc canon is already pushing the ship so much how could he have possibly added onto it 😭

as for theories hmmmm i dont rlly have any solid ones rn?? the sawa plot twist already threw me off for a bit and the whole govt/faust stuff is going p standard villain plot-ly so no speculations there...... tho stalk is still confusing me bc hes clearly helping out and he even says it but im gonna assume he has his own goals (tho actually since u mentioned redrawing the heated drama pic i went looking for it again + looking for chara refs in general earlier and uh . i mightve seen a spoiler abt stalk ?? [nervous laughter] ha ha what the fuck 😳 gonna try to forget that in case its real)

also ty for that info on the movie it sounds interesting i didnt know they did crossovers like that :0 still have to reach ep14 so ill think abt if i wanna watch it then or afterwards but looking forward to the banjou content i will take All of it (and seeing iijima again too maybe itll even get me interested in his season jkjdkjg he does look v babie in that vid i almost didnt recognize him help)

the aa/kr crossover potential rlly is there tho im seeing ur ideas abt the aa charas watching the show since theyre already toku fans 👀 i thought abt seeing if theres crossover fics on ao3 or smth but nope im going to learn from my mistake im going to Wait i dont want to get more spoiled kfjdkfjg me making fanart is also gonna have to wait but soon. maybe . if i can keep a good pace to watch and not take one billion years-

[grazer-razor]

just realized something really cool a few days ago.

in the past, for me, discerning games used to be like "does this game have a certain thing? does it have a T or M rating? what does plugged in say about it?".

but then i saw 2 sets of bible verses.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. - romans 6:20-21

you don't get positive fruit from things of darkness. keep that in mind. now for the second set.

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), -ephesians 5:8-9

things of darkness don't have positive fruit, and the fruit of light is found in everything good and righteous.

i think we've found a really, REALLY easy way to discern media.

take shadow the hedgehog and pikmin 4. both are E10+ games with "fantasy violence" descriptors. to the untrained eye, you would expect these 2 games to be exactly the same. but in fact, they are different. unhealthily different, especially considering that the ESRB is supposed to gauge how appropriate games are.

shadow the hedgehog(the game) is dark, brooding, edgy, and full of wrath and anger. even if shadow does choose to abandon his past in the end, he, in numerous timelines, still blasts the eclipse cannon at a city, kills off both the black arms and GUN soldiers, and even whacks dr. eggman. and then you have maria getting killed, and the fact that certain stages feel like old school doom or wolfenstein, ETC... shadow the hedgehog, as a game, bears BAD fruit.

pikmin 4, while about killing a bunch of wildlife and trying to have your pikmin survive in the process, is mainly lighthearted in spirit(C'MON GUYS LETS GO RESCUE ALL THE CASTAWAYS AND SAVE CAPTAIN OLIMAR! PAW PATROL IS THE RESCUE CORPS ARE ON A ROLL!). even if you don't believe me on that, the game is very fun and enjoyable to play. it's a very good game, and so it bears GOOD fruit.

so, media discernment shouldn't be about relying on outside sources or trying to figure out if games have things like magic or ghosts or something(because some games, like pokemon, can still be enjoyable). what matters is testing the media. asking questions like "what is the substance of it? how does it make me feel when engaging with it? what were the consequences of engaging with it(IE; emotional fallout, ETC)?"

if it is good or bad, the fruit will show. and in fact, bad fruit will be especially apparent, as it says here in galatians 5:19-

Now the works of the flesh are evident... - galatians 5:19.

i still have to figure out MG's, invader zim, FNAF, amongst others though so we'll see how this goes

[entoman-created-by-the-tallgreys]

I know what true evil is

True evil is a defensive measure of the brain it's a part of the brain that says something I want and I take joy in doing it even though it's shamed

The feeling of doing evil doesn't really exist it's a psychological self-assessment

There really is no good or evil but ultimately ever feel bad when you doing nothing bad ever feel pure evil when you're doing nothing and you just look like a dork

The feeling of being evil when you're actually pure good imagine being an edgy angel

Imagine being that badass who's actually the hero but you feel evil but your evil good

Opposed to like a reptilian or a politician who is good evil but not in any way good

The feelings of being evil it's just a psychological self-assessment

Now the whole thing to do with darkness is a whole different story that one I have not yet dipped too deep into I tapped into it I need to do an extremely deep analysis on the nature of Darkness

But I'm extremely aware of evil and darkness coexisting trust me it's all through media it's all through the Jak and Dex adventure

It's all throughout anime dark and evil dark is Evil dark and the evil evil is dark evil is black

It got Shadow People you got Dark Angels who have demons I'm all about that stuff you got the negativity and I'm really thinking deep on this stuff because what if someone's being mean and you scream you're a Fucking Asshole you are being negative to negative therefore two wrongs make a Right

[kanohivolitakk]

Going to say it like...One of my favorite things about the Bionicle fandom/community is like. How a lot of us do like looking at the franchise through a mature lense despite being a kids media . And when I say mature I don’t mean like“blood and guts” mature adult television think mature is but rather “dark story with stakes and drama and death in a messed up world” type of mature.

Because like. I noticed that modern fandom culture(twitter spaces especially) kinda have this mentality that if you like a work for being dark and/or edgy you are insecure and don’t understand the source material. Especially if it’s just kids media. And i get it some edgelords can be annoying.But I really hate the idea that if you like something for being dark = insecure and if you like something for being light = true fan that isn’t insecure

For a perfect example of what I mean lets talk about my former main fandom (not going to say names but if you know you know). Becuase like. Said fandom was a longrunning (and still active) kids franchise wihich is rather dark despite being aimed at kids and being basically a glorified toycommercial. But like. The fandom has kinda bad habit of downplaying the darkness and going “ITS JUST A SILLY TOYCOMMERCIAL GUYS DO NOT WORRY TOO MUCH DONT TAKE IT TOO SERIOUSLY.” Its to the point theres basically a meme in the community which is used (mockingly) if someone dared to analyze it. This constant insecurity and demand of people not taking it seriously was one of the main reasons I got discouraged talking about said fandom and eventually became disallusioned with the whole franchise. Because I love overanalyzing and felt the way I personally engage with media wasn’t welcome in this fandom

And what I love about the Bionicle community is that. We don’t really have that? We can just. Overanalyze this silly lego franchise about edgy robots. We can talk how dark it is, how serious and edgy it could get. We talk about the ideas, the maturity. Heck, some of us wish for a darker reboot of G1 that does the story justice while aimed at an older audience and it isn’t laughed at or seen as cringe or stupid..

And like I don’t think the community is insecure or looking at the franchise from a wrong way. If anything, I think the fandom is really secure: We love the series and embrace for what it is. Which includes the dark aspects. The edgy and weird things the series did. We love looking at it from a mature angle but it doesn’t come from some desire to prove ourselves like a “TAKE US SERIOUSLY GUYS” mindset. Rather, it comes from us loving the mature parts of the story and wish they were even better. Our fandoms love of darkness doesn’t come from insecurity and trying to pretend its “darker” than it is , it comes from embracing the story and loving it for everything it tries to do and the little things outside the box it does.

An that leads to a realization I have had lately. What being secure about ones interests mean.

For me Being secure about ones interests doesn’t mean trying to brush the midleschool era edge and act like all the dark adn edgy shit wasn’t great just because you’re an adult now and are way past your cringe and so is everyone else. Being secure about your interests means embracing the dark, embracing the edgy, embracing the cringe. Being secure about your interests means that you love them for whatever reason. And aren’t ashamed of that love

The Bionicle fandom is a perfect example of a secure fandom. We absolutely embrace the darker aspects, not because we are insecure, but because we love the franchise and its dark, complex edgy story so much. In a time and age where fans must love kids medias in a way that isn’t cringe this kind of confidence and passion is rare these days and that’s why I love this fandom so much

[lesbean-zelda]

introducing, Keeping Up With the Links AU

ok it’s probably not exactly as you think but I made a fun modern/family AU with some Links and stuff!! mostly because modern AUs are fun and I’m always craving the Links being happy and having families!! now there are some Links I haven’t done yet, mainly Skyward Sword Link and his fiancée Zelda (and their baby Fi!) and some that I just don’t know how to place into the AU... the Zeldas and stuff are kinda separate so I’ll think about that later....

anyway, here’s what I call the ranch household!

I’ll introduce them in order from left to right!

Palon, Twilight Princess Link, 15 years old: (yes, I know his name means big stick in Spanish, yes it is intentional) Named in the according to the naming scheme used for his grandfather Talon and his mother Malon, he hates his real name and prefers to be called Twilight instead (Twi for short). He’s the generic angsty teen at 15 years old, even though his parents support him unconditionally he believes that nobody, except for one of the ranch’s horses truly understands him. Even though he does enjoy hard music and dresses in an edgy way, he’s really a country boy at heart. He is Timeos’ and Malon’s biological child, and their firstborn

Timeos, Ocarina of Time Link, 40 years old: Timeos is the father of the family, he loves his kids more than anything. He says he used to be quite adventurous in his teenage years, but ended up settling down quite soon after with Malon. His childhood wasn’t the kindest to him, so he is determined to give his kids the best he can do, though he sometimes has a hard time understanding their emotions. He mostly works around on the ranch, and in his free time he enjoys fishing and grilling, you know, the generic dad stuff.

Malon, Ocarina of Time Malon, 40 years old: Malon was born on the ranch her family now lives on, and she’s a kindhearted mother. She loves horses and singing, and is a wonderful cook! she is always there to listen to her kids, but when it comes to work on the ranch she can be quite lazy. Malon was friends with Ilmar’ and Aryll’s parents before their death, so when their grandmother could no longer take care of them, she happily took them in as her own. On the weekends, she offers horse riding lessons!

Ilmar, Wind Waker Link, 7 years old: Ilmar is the adopted son of the family. His and Aryll’s parents died when they both were too young to fully understand what had happened. They were taken care of by their grandmother until she got ill due to her age and could no longer take care of the two. Ilmar is an adventurous boy who loves the ocean, having lived by the beach before moving to the ranch. He dreams of being a pirate when he grows up, and loves reading stories about them.

Aryll, Wind Waker Aryll (duh), 5 years old: Aryll is the adopted daughter of the family, and Ilmar’s biological sister. She follows her older brother everywhere and tries to mimic everything he does. Like Ilmar, Aryll loves the sea, but more than that she loves birds! Malon always has to have seeds or breadcrumbs in her purse when going out anywhere, just so Aryll can feed the birds they pass by. Because of this, the birds around town have grown to know her and fly around her begging for food when she’s around. She’s even gotten to hug the birds, which Malon wasn’t too happy about not knowing where they’ve been..

Valon, Breath of the Wild Link, 2 years old: Timeos’ and Malon’s second biological child. Valon, too was named in the same vein as his eldest brother. Valon is still a toddler, so not much can be said about him yet, other than that he will put anything and everything in his mouth and that he heavily dislikes wearing pants. Even though he is already 2 years old, he has not said his first words yet. Doctors told Timeos and Malon that he will likely remain non-verbal, but will find other ways to communicate.

then..! a not very canon (in AU) name to call them, but I call them the downfall bros!

again, I will introduce them from left to right!

Ravio, a Link Between Worlds Ravio (again, duh), 14 years old: Ravio is the twin brother of Arthur and the younger brother of Reid. He is very talkative and always thinking of sneaky ways to earn a bit of money. He really enjoys cute stuff like bunnies! He and Arthur are identical twins, so to differentiate himself more from his brother, he dyed his hair a dark colour with the help of Reid. Ravio tends to steal Reid’s old CDs, and sell them to Twi. He doesn’t listen to them himself though, because he is scared of the screaming in death metal.

Arthur, a Link Between Worlds Link, 14 years old: Arthur, is short for Art, which is the nickname he most often goes by because of his love for drawing. he is a quiet kid, quite the opposite to his twin brother. He has no idea how to dress himself, which Reid often picks on him for. He enjoys drawing, and is very interested in street art and graffiti. Though, he is too scared to try it out for himself as usually that requires doing something that isn’t allowed.

Reid, a Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, Oracle games Link, 20 years old: Reid is the older brother of Ravio and Arthur. Their parents are often away on work related trips, so the twins get dumped on him to babysit. Reid enjoys exploring abandoned and scary places, such as caves and “haunted” houses. He says he doesn’t take his brothers with him on these adventures because they’d be too scared because they’re such wussies, which is partially true, but really he just worries for their safety, as these places can be unstable. Reid has a large social media following, but not for the content of him exploring scary places. His following is mostly there due to his alternative style and a few one-off videos of him lip-syncing to music he likes. Reid often changes his hair-colour between pink, his natural colour, and his natural colour with pink stripes. His constant teasing of the twins aside, he truly loves his brothers. 

[carewyncromwell]

Okay. Let’s Talk About Victor Ketsueki.

I know it’s early, and there’s still a lot we don’t know about this guy, but I have some initial thoughts, so let’s jump in.

Interestingly, it’s not the character himself I have a problem with. This clearly incredibly insecure Ravenclaw boy who takes advantage of this thing that happened to him that makes him seem super cool and edgy to his classmates in order to get attention is a great idea. And honestly, I get such  “no, I TOTALLY don’t think he’s hot, I’m just ‘fascinated’” vibes from Corey toward Victor that it kind of made me laugh. My issues with Victor instead come back to vampires’ place in the Wizarding World overall. 

Because here’s the thing -- vampires get just about no focus in the Harry Potter universe, in canon. To quote Jo herself on Pottermore, “Although vampires exist in the world of Harry Potter, as shown by the literature that Harry and his friends study in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they play no meaningful part in the story.” We don’t even know how many Muggle stories surrounding vampires apply to Potterverse vampires. Considering how diversely vampires have been depicted over many different types of media, it’s really anyone’s guess. Do they drink human blood? Does sunlight hurt them? Do they suffer from severe blood cravings? Can they not cross running water? Are they warded off by crosses and other Christian iconography? Do they have an obsession with counting? Are they immortal? Can they turn into other animals or mist? Do they have hypnotic powers? The answer to just about all of these things, at least in the Potterverse, would be a question mark. 

Here’s what we do know, though -- 

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, students theorize that Professor Quirrell is keeping garlic in his turban to ward off vampires. This insinuates that vampires are dangerous for humans to be around, and that -- yes -- the Muggle superstition of garlic being able to ward off vampires is true. 

Blood pops are sold in Honeydukes, and Hermione theorizes they’re for vampires. This means vampires do drink blood, but there are other sources of blood devised for them so that they don’t have to attack people and forcibly drain blood. 

According to HP Wiki, there exists a Society for the Tolerance of Vampires, a group that advocates for vampire rights. One could draw from this that vampires are a group that are marginalized in wizarding society, a lot like werewolves are. 

Vampires are studied in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Therefore, they are associated with the Dark Arts and are therefore -- like Inferi and werewolves -- considered dark creatures. 

Gilderoy Lockhart writes a book called Voyages with Vampires, where he boasts about defeating a vampire so soundly that he could only eat lettuce afterwards. If Lockhart was supposed to be seen as heroic for this, rather than despicable, then ipso facto, vampires must be seen by the Wizarding World at large as threatening enough to deserve being hurt that badly. 

A wizard at the Quidditch World Cup boasts about being a vampire hunter to try to impress some Veela, but vampire hunting is apparently illegal under the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Humans, something referenced by Percy Weasley when Rita Skeeter likewise suggests killing vampires. This confirms both that 1, vampire hunting is a thing and seen as something glamorous and appealing, but 2, it’s something that Wizarding law is trying to regulate. 

There was a famous vampire in the 1880′s named Sir Herbert Varney (no relation to my own HPHL vampire MC, Bartholomew “Bat” Varney), which, like the Muggle Jack the Ripper, killed and desecrated the bodies of a hell of a lot of Muggles. He was eventually tracked down and killed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and now appears as a character on a Chocolate Frog card. The only other known vampire to end up on a Chocolate Frog card is Amarillo Lestoat, who published a book meant to lull people to sleep so it’d be easier to bite them. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to conclude, therefore, that vampires -- at least in magical pop culture -- are generally best known for their violence toward humans, over anything else. 

Speaking of historical vampires, the other best known ones include Blodwyn Bludd, who would sing to his victims before biting them; Lady Carmilla Sanguina, who bathed in the blood of her victims; and Lord Vlad Drakul, who yeah, obviously went on to inspire the character of Dracula. Once again -- the best known vampires are known for victimizing humans.

One exception to this rule apparently is Lorcan d’Eath, a part-vampire wizard born in the 1960′s who was apparently fancied by witches -- but even he ends up having a smash hit song called “Necks to You,” clearly a reference to his vampire ancestry. This tells us vampires can apparently have off-spring with humans in the Potterverse, and at least gives some credence to the idea that there are those in the Wizarding World (at least closer to the modern era) who find enough fascination with the dark and macabre to be more interested in than afraid of vampires. 

The Quibbler once theorized Rufus Scrimgeour was a vampire and treated it as a big, scandalous story. If vampires were well accepted by wizarding society, I don’t see why a tabloid would have a field day with such a story. 

At Slughorn’s Christmas party, we meet Eldred Worple, the author of a book about vampires called Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires, and the vampire that clearly inspired it, Sanguini, who is there as Worple’s guest. He’s described as tall and emaciated with dark shadows under his eyes -- decidedly unattractive, rather than anything charming or handsome. Sanguini appears completely disinterested in the party until he catches sight of some girls, at which point Worple shoves a pastry in his hand to distract him (presumably because he’s hungry and Worple thinks food will prevent him from going after blood?). From this, we can guess that some attempts are being made to understand how vampires live (hence why a book like this would even need to be written at all), but that they are still on the outside enough to need a wizard to speak on their behalf, rather than their stories being enough to maintain interest. 

Are you starting to see why I’m a little “ehhhhh” on the direction they went with for Victor yet? Yes, perhaps Lorcan D’Eath shows some wizarding attitudes toward vampires are changing, but overall, we get a picture of a largely victimized group that has been treated like a seductive, violent stereotype for a really, really long time and still has to fight to be treated as beings worthy of respect. This doesn’t exactly fit with this image of the “cool edgy boy” we see Victor being. If Victor ended up getting in any kind of legal trouble, he wouldn’t even be treated like a wizard anymore -- rather than the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he’d be handled by the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, as part of its “Being” division. He wouldn’t even be considered a human wizard anymore -- no more than Remus Lupin was, once he became a werewolf. How is being treated as a second-class citizen “cool” or “glamorous?” I could see people like Ismelda reacting positively to Victor’s change, and I could even see Victor using it to seem strong and to intimidate people, so he gets attention...but the overwhelming positive attention he receives for it seems a bit off somehow. There seems like there should be more backlash, for this whole thing to make sense with what little we can glean about vampires in the Wizarding World based on previous canon.

I don’t mind Jam City taking a different angle with their vampires than I did for my vampire MC, or even for writing Victor differently than how many fans envisioned him -- as I said, I actually like Victor’s character all right, for what it is. It just seems like Hogwarts’s -- and therefore wizardkind’s -- reaction to him in general shouldn’t be so universally positive. But maybe we’ll see more of that negative reaction later on from other sources, even though it seems like Corey would’ve brought up the width of reactions and the general, more negative attitude toward vampires when they were complaining about how everyone’s so weirdly interested in Victor all of a sudden? *shrugs*

[greenhappyseed]

BnHA 322 - Parallels and comparisons

Not gonna lie — the first part of this arc was really rough. Luckily, from 317 onwards we’ve had some jaw dropping, beautiful moments. This chapter came on strong with ALL the feels and ALL the imagery. (I’m not going to post those images because they really need to be read fully in context.) Bakugo and Izuku as their elementary/middle/high school selves, standing on puddles of water instead of submerged in a river, Bakugo bowing to Izuku and addressing him by his real name, Bakugo essentially telling Izuku that he is — and always has been — a hero, Bakugo racing to catch Izuku with both arms when he falls, Bakugo’s war injury bleeding as he “reopens” his childhood wound.

Here’s the most impressive part to me: Bakugo courageously lays it all bare in front of the class without demanding that they “watch him” or be his audience. He no longer cares about being vulnerable in front of them, so if they happen to be there it’s fine, but he’s not apologizing FOR them or FOR him — it’s something he has to do for Izuku. Bakugo may still have his eyes set on surpassing All Might, but damn if he didn’t just surpass Enji. And Shoto fucking knows it.

After such intensity from Bakugo, I highkey love that we DON’T get an immediate reaction from Izuku. Instead, Izuku is inspired to offer his own mea culpa. (As always, Izuku looks up to and imitates Bakugo before thinking about himself.) The class just watched Bakugo apologize for his worst, and now they’ll watch Izuku apologize for HIS worst. I mean, Izuku said, OUT LOUD, the exact thing DvK2!Bakugo accused him of — looking down on others. If Bakugo can get past his bullshit and recognize Izuku’s heroism, Izuku can apologize for hurting his classmates and recognize their heroism. With everything out in the open, Bakugo and Izuku are no longer “proper rivals,” but TEAMMATES. There’s still a long way to go until they’re effective as a team with the rest of the class, but this is where the unity of the team begins. Kamino, the exact place where All Might ended, is now this team’s starting line, as Momo points out.

It’s also good to see the story acknowledge, again, that Izuku isn’t dark or edgy. He IS still the same sweet kid but AFO had him trapped in a loop. He was scared out of his mind that people would get hurt because of him and because of that he couldn’t think of a strategy to find and defeat AFO, but if he accepted help from others to come up with a strategy, then they could get hurt because of him… and around we go. This is the true terror of AFO, leaving no options for a zero-risk victory.

Next we jump to an unrecognizable UA fortified with most intense wall since Game of Thrones (because that wall was so good at keeping out the White Walkers /s). Look, we all know it’s gonna fail, but in the meantime I very much enjoy rat principal building an elaborate cage for his humans.

Also, sounds like we’ll soon see Shiketsu (Inasa! Camie! Hair dude! Meatball dude!) but no Ketsubutsu (Ms. Joke, Shindo, turtle girl). I still want to see Ms. Joke in the aftermath of the war, but I accept it’s probably not gonna happen.

It wasn’t clear from the text leaks, but looking at the images of the full chapter, it does seem Ochako’s going to try and confront the angry mob, which makes my brain think of scenes like this:

Which is to say, I have concerns this will go well. Yes, I know BNHA is a shonen, so the teens will change the world. But even within the BNHA world, suspension of disbelief is required when Present Mic, a popular radio host and pro hero who arrested Dr. Ujiko, is getting shit from the crowd. Of course, “heroes” as a group are at fault for the war, and Mic struggled with the media the last time UA was breached.

(But Mic does take a gentler approach with civilians vs the media.)

If civilians are in such a frenzy that they’re angry at Mic (who DID succeed at something notable during the war raid) and Deku (a child who fought in the war and has been rounding up Tartarus-level jail breakers ever since), then Ochako needs to BRING IT like it’s never been broughten before to make a difference. While she’s never had a major media stumble, and she’s adorable AF, giving inspirational speeches and rallying the class has never been her strength. If she suddenly blinds the crowd with brilliant oratory, it’s a bit of an ass pull for her character. Jiro and Momo have more depth in this space, though Momo’s elite background may not help in this particular situation. Ochako’s become much better at working the bureaucracy, from the entrance exam where she asked Present Mic to give her points to Izuku, to appealing to Nezu in order to bring Endeavor to UA for a confrontation about Deku.

If a crowd speech really is in store for us, then I’d love for it to involve All Might and/or Stain somehow. Both of them have incredible charisma and can inspire civilians to action. And I’ve written before about All Might’s media whoring [affectionate] being its own super power that the pro heroes are ignoring. Nobody in this arc (including Deku) has used All Might as a resource based on his decades of experience with the media OR with AFO. Why is everyone acting like All Might is useless because he’s quirkless and no longer a ranked hero? He's still got his brain and his memories. Does a "hero" need to wear a costume or hold a license to use their brain? As Kirishima says in this chapter:

Or maybe Aizawa will finally appear to defend his problem child, just like he defended Bakugo previously? (Admittedly, my solution for everything rn is “Aizawa” because I’m dying to see him.)

Anyway….I love that Ochako was inspired by Bakugo. Her face before/during/after the apology is amazing. You can watch her recognize his courage in real time and build on it, like links in a chain. Like a power that grows as each person contributes…….huh…….

Also, I think Izuku needs to hear Ochako talk openly about helping the heroes who protect the citizens. He doesn’t really understand her style of heroism yet, and he needs to see the strength of her ideals —especially the power of saving and rescuing — before he sets off to save Shigaraki. She also needs to tell him what happened to her in the war aftermath, because he doesn’t know any of it. How she fought Toga and how Toga cried. How she watched other heroes quit, and how she’s inspired to help heroes who are in pain. It would be great to see Ochako and Izuku bond over a shared desire to save heroes AND villains who are in pain.

Finally, I want to appreciate the Izuku-Iida-Kirishima trio for one more moment. In this chapter, Kirishima skids to a halt catching Izuku, just as he caught Bakugo for the initial escape from Kamino. In both instances, Kirishima’s understated but steady and unbreakable commitment to his friends was CLUTCH. So, so good!

[suituuup]

pieces - chapter one

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca sees her again in the most unexpected place.

rating: M (drug abuse, mention of sexual abuse in later chapters) word count: 2,100

ao3 link

*

“Any messages, Gina?”

Beca Mitchell strode out of the elevator, high heels clicking on marble flooring on her way to her office.

Her assistant rushed to walk alongside her, notebook opened as she handed Beca her second coffee of the day, which Beca took with an appreciative smile.

“Mr. Mendes needs to push back his meeting to Thursday, and Mr. Hozier-Byrne is waiting for a call back, preferably before 2 as he’s five hours ahead.”

Beca rounded the corner to her office and dragged her leather desk chair back, shrugging off her woolen trench coat and draping it over the back. “Got it, remind me what I have planned today?”

“You’re having lunch with Mr. Zimmer at the Plaza to discuss Jesse’s project, and apart from the weekly team meeting at five, you’re expected at Edgy Reggie’s party from 10 pm at the Sapphire.”

A groan surfaced from Beca’s throat and her eyes slammed shut as she plopped down on her chair. “I forgot about that. Luke can’t go?”

Gina winced and shook her head. “Family dinner.”

“Family dinner, my ass. His whole family lives back in fucking England,” Beca muttered before she could help it, throwing her assistant an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Thanks, Gina. Hold my calls until ten, please?”

“Of course, Ms. Mitchell.”

As she did every morning while sipping her coffee, Beca listened to demos over the next hour, forwarding them to Luke if any of those yet-unknown artists spiked her interest enough to sign them into their label.

The rest of the day consisted of two meetings, a dozen calls, countless email exchanges, and not enough studio time. A thick blanket of darkness had veiled the city by the time she closed her laptop and called it a day. She stretched her neck and took a moment to gaze at the lit skyscrapers through her floor to ceiling windows, sighing softly.

It was sometimes weird to think about how this was her life. How the asocial, grumpy freshman from thirteen years ago had made it to the top of the music business and now co-owned one of the biggest labels throughout the country.

Scratch that, throughout the  world.  

Snapping out of her daze, Beca stood and slipped on her coat, plucking her phone off the desk to call herself a Lyft home. She had just about time to take a shower and eat dinner before heading to that stupid party.

*

Beca could think of a million things she’d rather be doing right now as she strode down the wet sidewalk towards the lit  GIRLS  red neon sign in the distance a couple of hours later.

She told herself one drink, an hour tops, then she could head home, put on her pajamas, and finish that true-crime TV show she started yesterday.

“Name?” A dude bulkier than the freaking Rock asked her as she made it to the club door.

“Um, Beca Mitchell. I’m Edgy Reggie’s producer.”

Her artist had privatized a strip-club for his celebration party over his album hitting Platinum, and Beca couldn’t  not  show up, as... well, he was an important client and brought her label the big bucks.

The guy checked his clipboard and nodded, hitching his thumb over his shoulder. “You’re good to go.”

Casting the bouncer a nod, Beca ducked inside the dimmed, crowded club, wincing at the crappy music heavily pumping through the speakers. Three girls in bikinis and heels stood on platforms, twisting their bodies around dancing poles as dozens of dudes reclined back in leather sofas, shamelessly ogling their forms.

Beca’s nose crinkled as she scanned the room for her artist.

“Yo, Beca!”

Her gaze snapped to the left corner, catching sight of Edgy Reggie (he didn’t want to change his stage name, no matter how much Beca insisted) waving her over.

“Hey,” she cast him a tight-lipped smile, tucking her straight hair behind her ears. She nodded at the other dudes sitting around the low table. “What’s up.”

“Guys, this is the girl behind the magic of my album,” Edgy Reggie explained, throwing an arm over her shoulders before Beca could squirm away. “She is  fire. ”

Beca chuckled awkwardly, then pointed over her shoulder. “I’m gonna go get myself a drink.”

Maybe two come to think of it, so she could get herself through this.

She headed to the bar and ordered an old-fashioned, fishing in the inside of her coat pocket for her credit card.

“Thanks,” she muttered when the barmaid (also clad in a bikini that left very little to the imagination) came back with her drink, handing her her card just as the club’s speaker made an announcement.

“Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome to the stage…  Ariel! ”

The crowd cheered and hooted, Beca glancing over her shoulder to see what all the fuss was about.

There was no amount of alcohol that could have prepared her for the scene unfolding before her.

There, on the main stage, strutted in a redhead, only wearing a silver g-string and high heels. Beca would have recognized that shade of hair anywhere, and while the lighting in the club was low, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that this girl -- Ariel -- was her former best friend.

Her former best friend who had dropped from the face of the Earth almost five years ago, without so much as an explanation. She hadn’t just stopped talking to Beca, but to all of them, even Aubrey. She was nowhere to be found on social media and when Beca had tried calling her after six months without news, she found out Chloe’s phone number had been disconnected. It wasn’t like they talked on a daily basis before that. After three years spent living on opposite sides of the country, the texts started coming further in between, their communication coming down to a few check-ins a year and on birthdays, until they eventually stopped.

Fearing the worst, Aubrey had called Chloe’s parents, who assured her she was fine, working as a vet in NYC and in a committed relationship. While relieved, the news stung Beca, as it was clear Chloe had deliberately ceased contact.

It took some time, but Beca eventually stopped thinking about her so much, especially when she started getting successful as a music producer and pouring her time and energy into her projects. She soon won her first Grammys, Gold, and Platinum records featured in notorious magazines and talk shows. She could stop working tomorrow and money wouldn’t become an issue, but Beca didn’t like to boast about her fortune, or fame, for that matter.

Despite being insanely busy, she still kept in touch with the other Bellas in their group chat, but she hadn’t seen any of them in a couple of years, missing the last reunion because of her job.

Beca’s mind steered back to the present, where the once most important person in her life was currently dancing for money. Men were staring hungrily at her as she sensually moved around the pole or bent over with her ass in the air to collect dollar bills from the floor, and Beca suddenly felt sick.

This couldn’t be her dream job, right? Something  had  to have happened for her to settle for this.

Beca grabbed her drink and knocked it back, flagging the barmaid down for another as her mind reeled as to what to do.

She needed to talk to Chloe. In private. Tonight, as soon as she finished… parading in front of these disgusting fuckboys. Only… she wasn’t sure Chloe wanted to talk to her.

“Hey,” she said when the barmaid came back as an idea struck. “How do I get a private lap dance with one of the girls?”

The girl raised a surprised eyebrow. “Backroom, hun. Who do you want?”

“Ariel.”

The platinum blonde let out a curt laugh. “Ariel doesn’t do lap dances, babe.”

Beca’s eyebrows knitted together in a heavy frown. “Why not?”

“Because she’s the boss’ favorite.”

Beca didn’t know what that meant exactly, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out as another wave of nausea swept over her insides. “Is your boss here tonight?”

The barmaid scanned the room quickly, nodding. “He’s the guy over there in the suit.”

“Thanks.” She took her drink and headed over to where the fifty-something dude was talking to another guy. Stepping up to them, she ignored their glares over her interrupting their conversation. “Hey. Are you the manager?”

The dude who looked like he ran a mafia mob turned a bit more towards her. “What’s this about?”

“How much for a private dance with Ariel?”

His gaze flickered over Beca’s shoulder towards the stage, then sized Beca up, unimpressed. “She’s not available, kid.”

Beca gritted her teeth at the condescending tone of his voice. “Not even for ten grand for twenty minutes?”

He slow-blinked, then burst out laughing. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m being serious. Ten grand, twenty minutes. Alone in a room, just the two of us.”

The man’s expression hardened. “And I said she’s not  available .”

“Twenty grand.” Hell, she’d throw half a million on the table if that’s what was needed to talk to Chloe. After a beat, she added, “And no touching. That’s not what I’m here for.”

The manager seemed to consider her offer for a handful of seconds. “You got the money?”

Dammit.  She couldn’t withdraw that much right now, she needed to call her bank. “Tomorrow night.”

He smirked, snickering. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

He turned back to his buddy, leaving Beca grumbling under her breath as she turned around and stalked out of the club. She couldn’t stay. She couldn’t stand the sight of Chloe objectifying her body for money.

As soon as she got home, Beca fired up her computer and typed in Chloe’s name in her browser. Apart from old stuff on the Bellas, she found nothing relevant. Chloe appeared to still be MIA from any social media.

Beca grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, bringing the device to her ear.

“What’s wrong?”  

“How do you know something’s wrong?”

“We call each other twice a year on our respective birthdays and stick to the Bellas chat for the rest.”  

Beca nibbled on her bottom lip. “I found Chloe.”

A long stretch of silence on the other end of the line followed.  “What?”  

“I saw her tonight, Aubrey.”

“Where??”

“At a strip club. She’s… a stripper.”

“What? Did you talk to her?”  

“No. She was performing on stage. But I will. I’m… buying a lap dance from her tomorrow. I figured… she’ll have to listen to me since she’s being paid for it.” Her eyes slammed shut, scrunching up her nose. “I don’t know. It might be a bad idea, but-- I just wanna make sure she’s okay, you know?”

“Yes, of course. Keep me posted?”  

“I will. Talk to you soon.”

Beca shuffled to bed after that, but sleep never came. Her mind kept reeling about Chloe, about what she might say to her once they were face to face, and the possibility that Chloe might shoot her down and refuse to talk to her.

She spent her Saturday trying and failing to make some progress on an ongoing project, willing time to tick faster so she could head back to the club. Mid-afternoon, she headed to the bank to withdraw twenty grand, tucking the envelope in her purse.

“Why does it feel like you’re doing something illegal, Beca?” She muttered to herself on her way out of the bank, slightly paranoid about carrying so much cash on her.

The club was just as crowded when she got there around 10 pm. A different girl danced on the main stage and the manager was nowhere in sight, so Beca perched herself on a stool at the bar, ordering herself another old-fashioned.

“Is your boss around?” She asked the barmaid, a different girl from last night.

“Who’s asking?”

“Tell him the person who wants Ariel is here.”

The girl’s eyebrows shot up at that but she didn’t say anything, nodding before strutting away. Beca sipped at her drink for the next twenty minutes, keeping her back to the stage.

The manager eventually appeared in her peripheral, and he leaned an elbow over the counter, lacing his fingers. “So what’s so special about Ariel?”

Beca slowly set her drink down and fished for the envelope, pushing it towards him while keeping her gaze straight ahead. “I like redheads.”

He plucked the envelope off the counter and peered inside. Twenty stacks of ten hundred dollar bills in exchange for twenty minutes with Chloe.

He nodded. “Follow me.”

Beca finished the rest of her drink, the alcohol managing to muffle her nerves some as she followed the manager towards the back of the club, and down a set of stairs. Her heart pumped hard in her ears and her palms started to sweat as she was led inside a dimly lit room with a handful of sofa chairs and a small stage with a dancing pole, some kind of music that seemed straight out of a porno carrying through the speakers. A spiral staircase was tucked in the right corner, and she guessed that is where the strippers made their entrance from.

Beca wondered how far things usually went in these kinds of private rooms.

She wondered how far  Chloe  went.

She cast the guy a tight-lipped smile and a nod before he closed the door, and paced the room for a little while, eventually lowering herself on one of the leather chairs and wiping her palms on her designer slacks.

The clicking of heels over metal made Beca’s spine snap straighter. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder as the steps grew nearer, digging her nails into her thighs as a new round of nerves gripped her insides.

“Good evening, sweetheart,” the huskiness of Chloe’s voice made Beca swallow, and she felt a hand run over her shoulders as Chloe approached from behind.

Glancing up, Beca met familiar, ocean blues.

[miraculouscontent]

(non-Miraculous asks)

Anonymous said:

Ok this may just be me but I hate deconstructions. I feel like they are always mean spirited and try to be dark and edgy and thinks that every single person is an asshole because that’s “realistic” when no it’s not. This maybe because I like superhero stories and love it when the heroes overcome their struggles.

I can agree for the most part. Whenever I hear “okay but what if it was dArK--” I’m just okay, gonna stop you right there.

Anonymous said:

I swear, nothing bothers me more than people who want Miraculous Ladybug to literally just be Yandere Simulator(with Marinette as Ayano, Alya as Info-chan, Adrien as Taro, Chloe as Osana, Lila as Kizana, Kagami as Megami, and Luka as Budo). It just grinds my gears, especially because they're, once again, framing Marinette as a stalker, which just makes her look bad, AND pits all the girls against each other for Mr. Generic Harem Protagonist, once a-fucking-gain. Just go play the actual game, ok?

All I'm hearing is that now I have to ship Ayano and Budo and write a fic where the ghost girl uses fancy fantasy magic to merge her soul with Ayano and lets her actually have emotions, healing her from being a yandere while the ghost girl (in a way) gets to live a life she was cut short of, also allowing Ayano to be happy and go onto be friends with all the rivals.

Extremely convoluted but that’s the only way we get happy endings in this house.

Anonymous said:

I remember how, when writing Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi refused to bow to older male writers wanted, say, for the girls to be stereotypical manga characters, with one being overweight, one being a stereotypical nerd, etc. But Naoko wanted each of the girls to be beautiful and feminine. While I don't like that they all share a body type, I admire how she didn't listen to grown men when writing for and about young girls. And I can't help but think about how Madoka is the antithesis of all that.

I can appreciate writers who put their foot down to stick to their values. There are limits of course, but yeah, a women writing women probably shouldn’t be listening to a man’s input. I’m sure good advice exists buuut...

Anonymous said:

What is your ranking of the seasons of the year from most to least favorite and why?

Summer - I work best in the warmth

Spring - Always brings images of flowers blooming to mind

Autumn - Things are getting cold and I don’t like it

Winter - It can go choke for all I care

Anonymous asked:

Someone on TV Tropes actually said that the name Feminist Fantasy should be changed because "feminism excludes men the same way meninism excludes women" and actually had the nerve to link that to the "Not So Different" trope, as if women haven't been excluded throughout the history of almost every human society. Fortunately, someone responded to them in a way that technically amounted to "do your damn research" but I'm still facepalming so hard at TV Tropes' "what about the men" rhetoric.

I feel like I lost braincells reading this.

Anonymous asked:

I feel like in fiction written by men there are only three flaws that female protagonists are allowed to have: clumsy, boy-crazy, or ashamed of their flat chests. I hate it.

Don’t forget, “having to listen to the men for how they’re supposed to feel.”

Anonymous asked:

Jatp. Nominated. For. Seven. Emmys. SEVEN!!!! Miraculous could NEVER. Literally.

omg!! Congrats to Julie and the Phantoms!

Anonymous asked:

WHAT ARE YOUR FLASHBACKS TO EVER AFTER HIGH?? I GOTTA KNOW? OMG?

Oh, I’ve seen basically the whole series, though the one I remember most is definitely Epic Winter. It was my favorite one though Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie so I’m biased.

I also like a lot of the “twists” and just--crazy concepts they rolled with, like with Red Riding Hood’s story and how Apple White gets woken up from her slumber.

Anonymous asked:

You're gonna be happy to hear this...I just started watching Cardcaptor Sakura today, and holy shit not only do I love it, but I also love how freaking META it is! I know you said you're not all that knowledgeable about Magical Girl, but this show is AWARE that it's a Magical Girl show! From Tomoyo(the main reason this show is so meta, tbh) realizing Sakura is a Magical Girl and asking if she has a transformation pose, to designing outfits for her(more on that later) to videotaping her(aka literally making a Magical Girl anime out of her Magical Girl friend), it just has fun with itself and plays with Magical Girl tropes without making a mockery of them like all those "dark" male-aimed ones do(lookin' at you, Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna!).

And not only is it hilarious and adorable(especially with Sakura's crush on Yukito, Tomoyo's crush on Sakura, and Touya picking on Sakura, but playfully), but I love how it's riddled with girl power. While watching some of the first episodes I was looking forward to seeing Syaoran(partly because I love male Tsunderes and partly because I can't pronounce his name), and was surprised that he wasn't in the first few episodes, but more importantly I was so happy to see a show that treats its female characters with respect and shows women unironically receiving support from other women and being shown possessing power and authority.

I love Sakura and Tomoyo's friendship even if I hate the trope of "Lesbian Never Gets The Girl"(not that I think she's entitled to Sakura's affections or anything, but still.) and watching her support Sakura in her magic endeavors without being jealous or vindictive, I love that they're allowed to be independent and smart but that the show doesn't forget that they're kids, instead of making them like Manon and Chris, and I love that the show passes the Bechdel test in pretty much the first or second episode, and that pretty much every important and unimportant character we meet that's not Sakura's family members, Kero, or Yukito(plus maaaayyybe the Shadow Clow Card) are female.

Even little things, like all FOUR of Tomoyo's bodyguards in the second episode being female without there being a "reason" or the show making a big deal of it(either in a "yay girl power!" way or a "what but women can't x" way or an objectifying way) fills me with insurmountable joy. Also, I love that the show follows the Magical Girl trend of pretty much admitting that femininity is power, since frilly dresses are stated to be the most "fitting" thing for a Cardcaptor to wear, as without it, they might not be mentally up to the task, and this is an unironic truth rather than a joke(although Sakura is shown to be embarrassed, but it's much more likely that she's simply not used to that kind of gear due to not being rich as Tomoyo is.) or a gag.

I just thought I should tell you this because I know you like Cardcaptor Sakura, and with the crappy episodes that just came out of this show, I think you deserve to read an ask that's about a GENUINE girl power Magical Girl show, instead of yet more Miraculous Ladybug salt or Madoka Magica hate(not that there's anything wrong with either of those two, but it just gets grating after a while.). Overall, I'm looking forward to watching this show, since I've been looking for a Magical Girl show to watch nowadays(I've been meaning to watch Star Twinkle Precure but I can't find the third episode and all of Cardcaptor Sakura is on YouTube now, so.). So excited!

Hey, I’m glad that you’re having fun with it!

Though, just a warning, you might wanna steer clear of the Clear Card arc. It’s a sequel to the original series made waaaay after the original (think the equivalent of Yashahime for Inuyasha, though continuing with the original characters) but omg I hated it.

Anonymous asked:

With the crappy Season 4 episodes that just came out I'm glad I got into Cardcaptor Sakura when I did. Who needs "Marinette needs to make a mistake every episode and learn something from it" when you can have genuine girl power and sweetness incarnate?

Alya could never compete with Tomoyo, I’m just sayin’.

Anonymous asked:

Your comment about white men feeling "disenfranchised" because more shows are about black people and/or women(I say and/or because the two aren't mutually exclusive.), as if there aren't a million other things they could be watching instead is so true! It reminds me of how I was talking to someone recently about the new generation of MLP, in which I stated that we didn't need a male mane pony(spoiler alert: they have one, sadly.), and he claimed that it would be beneficial since many shows aimed at boys at least try to include at least one main girl, and that it would be good for G5 of MLP to have at least one strong male lead so that boys could have a role model and know that the show isn't "girly".

Okay, so far, so good, but this I could chalk up to just unconscious internalized misogyny, especially since he didn't say it in any sort of "way". So I respectfully told him that the scale regarding representation is already not equal and that boys can look up to girls and that a show being girly is not a bad thing and all that stuff that you already know about. Then he responded claiming some stuff about how he keeps trying to pitch stories about straight white male characters and how nobody is accepting his offers and so this means that straight white men are underrepresented compared to everyone else. He even explicitly said, and I quote "White people are actually critically underrepresented in media right now. Especially boys."; I swear to the Goddess above.

At this point I was officially upset as a black girl, to hear this white(and presumably adult) man telling me that he was underrepresented in media compared to me, even saying that the media execs are practicing "quotas and tokenization"(and yes, he repeatedly used those terms for any instance of representation, even when I asked him politely to stop.) by replacing women with men or white people with pocs and are making white men look like incompetent doofuses.

He also kept saying stuff about how shows are always shoehorning people of color in where they don't belong by casting them in settings such as Shakespeare and medieval times when "realistically" there were no people of color during those time periods(which is obviously not true, it's just not what the history books show us.), and made a really insensitive comment about how black children in the USA today don't know the significance of having the first black president because the media supposedly already shows them black people in various professions(despite also claiming he couldn't speak to the "black experience" and yet here he is whitesplaining that shit.).

It got to the point where he was seriously and unironically using the word "blackwashing". When I pointed out to him that white men aren't underrepresented and that it's just his self-centered ego telling him that they are, that the word "blackwashing" isn't a thing, and that mis/underrepresentation in media DOES affect black kids negatively(even citing myself as an example) he went on to claim that I was being tone-deaf and that "blackwashing" is just as bad as whitewashing, and that making Ariel black is just as bad as making Jasmine white.

At this point I had to bang my head on the table and explain to him the difference; his ass still wouldn't get it. Eventually he started saying some really skeevy and hypocritical shite that white men say all the time when whining about how "oppressed and underrepresented" they are: that black people and/or women

(it looks like there might be an ask missing here, in which case, sorry if Tubmlr ate it!)

avor of supporting the commonly believed LIE that "women and/or minority groups don't have as much history worth learning about, so there's no point in focusing on them." He also kept using patronizing, condescending, mansplaining language such as "let me explain it to you" or "you still don't get it do you?", and when he said women had nothing to contribute to society because "oppression" he even had the nerve to tack on "welcome to the unequal society" as if I hadn't been lecturing him about just that.

Because obviously only white men did anything worthwhile or important in history. At this point, I had to block him. I couldn't take it anymore and this was on an MLP site of all places(although I'm probably just as guilty of that part, but at least I wasn't an ass!). I just can't stand white men who "want to be oppressed so bad" but still want to claim that their achievements are more important and deserve to be more prominent. Honestly, so many white men are so fragile the second they're not in the spotlight. I can't help but think that despite all the privilege afforded to their class being a white man sounds like the worst thing ever.

“he claimed that it would be beneficial since many shows aimed at boys at least try to include at least one main girl, and that it would be good for G5 of MLP to have at least one strong male lead so that boys could have a role model and know that the show isn't "girly". “

I might be looking too deep into that but I don’t like the idea of, “Well WE squeezed in a girl and therefore YOUR SHOWS--” like it’s some sort of matter of “fairness” or that boys’ shows aren’t putting in girls out of a genuine like for them but because they “need” one or it’s some sort of obligation.

Also, we need to stop this idea that boys can’t look up to female characters and vice versa for girls. You already said it but yeah.

And yeah, I hear "quotas and tokenization" and I officially tune out of whatever the person is saying, lol. White men are critically underrepresented???? Newsflash, maybe it’s just because others are being represented more??

Just the whole thing about whites being “underrepresented” boggles my mind. White people don’t have some sort of special ability or skill that other races can’t do themselves unless you count the “superpower” of white privilege.

Like, oh my god, all that “whitesplaining” and having to read the word “blackwashing” was physically painful. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I don’t know how they got hold of the technology to communicate with you from whatever time period their from, presumably the Stone Age.

Don’t even blame you for blocking them. There’s just a level of absolute... blindness? Arrogance??? That comes with the territory with them sometimes, I swear. You had every right to be upset; other races come to ask for equality and fair representation and suddenly you have these white men (not all obviously but damn) coming by and crying that they’re being oPpReSsEd. U_U

Like, honestly, my father in particular is absolutely that kind of person so I’ve heard that kind of stuff before. it’s all gross.

On a slightly unrelated note (trying to end this with some positivity), I hadn’t even heard about a fifth generation of MLP until I read this, and just wanted to let you know that I really hope you have a really good time with it! Hopefully the male character isn’t... well, you know.

[revive-the-fandom]

Now you may be asking “Isabel, what’s the point of writing a small essay on a minor character from a kids movie?” and I’ll tell you!  

NoneofmyfriendswillputupwithmybullshitThere is no point!  I just like writing things about things I like!  And I wanna write about

Her.

Because she was a cool fucking character!  With an awesome design!  And I don’t give her enough attention!

And that’s her introduction!  A large, chunky girl wearing a black T-shirt and a pretty pink cardigan looking absolutely murderous.  She’s tough and strong and intimidating.  How often do we get that from animated little girls?  Astrid is all of those things but she’s also tiny, and wearing form fitting ‘tough action girl’ clothes.  Cupcake gets big ole boots and a freaking tutu!  Her hair is messy and nothing she wears matches and she clearly doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit!

I mean,

look how scared these guys are of her!  Pippa and Monty are more timid but Claude, Caleb and Jamie seem like regular old roughhousing tough kids until this moment.  And they’re all scared of a girl in a tutu!  Like, bullying is obviously not acceptable but so much media portrays the bullies as football players or edgy kids who smoke, or a manipulative and condescending queen bee type.  Cupcake is a big, quiet girl in a tutu.

and when she finally turns to the dark side and joins their play?  She’s not suddenly delicate or girly girl.  She chases them with a lump of snow larger than her own head.  And seems so utterly impressed by Jamie’s sled ride through town!

but still has the empathy to be worried when he crashes and gets hit by a runaway sofa

and when the others admit to constant nightmares she shows a lot of empathy and understanding towards the group (Caleb in particular) 

she seems to be able to read people too!  Claude, Caleb and Jamie push each other around a lot.  Pippa and Monty don’t.  So once Cupcake is added to the group she starts pushing them around too, starting with Caleb.

Poor kid.

Time to talk about Cupcake and her belief in the Guardians!

She’s super into unicorns (obviously)

but it’s never confirmed if they’re real like the Leprecaun and the Groundhog (I suppose the Groundhog was necessary since it’s partially staged in Pennsylvania) 

however she is shown to be very well connected to the spirit world, at least unconsciously.  Aside from Jamie and Sophie, Cupcake has the most interactions with the Guardians and the Spirits around them.

She’s the first to be influenced by Jack’s magic on screen (and the only one of the group to experience this)

She’s sent dreamsand and nightmares in one night, plus she’s visited personally by Pitch on the eve of his first attack on the Guardians

She’s also the first of Jamie’s friends to be visited by Jack, she’s the first to get outside and sled with them (indirectly convincing the twins to join the sledding) and seems to have no trouble reigniting her belief in the Guardians and believing in Jack off the bat.

She’s techincally Jack’s second believer, and she’s also the second one to stand up to Pitch and defend the Guardians

She instigates the fight against the nightmares

and overall has the most interactions with spirits.  She’s one of those characters that bumps into the spirit world without wanting or trying to.

And then there’s the question of her home life and her family.  Her home appears a couple of times during the film, though it’s not as intimately known as the Bennett’s home.  It’s easiest to find during Pitch’s introduction here

her room is the one with the blue light.

I’m going to go on a tangent here and talk about her house and it’s location.  Because as you can see here it’s three floors above a shop and next to what I assume is the town hall. 

The shop is visible in multiple scenes, such as the sled ride at the beginning

which means that her house is adjacent to the town hall and the square with the statue

yet another landmark is the petrol station

where the final battle occurs (god Cupcake’s room has the best view for this movie)

... Actually...  now that I’m looking, I’m gonna have to make a ‘spot-Cupcake’s-house’ post bc this is getting ridiculous lol

Now my question is this: how much of the building does Cupcake’s family own?  

There’s a couple of maps (neither are true to the film istelf but...) by Peter Maynez one of which lists Cupcake’s home as a ‘loft’ which implies that her family owns just the top floor or so.  Which is fine... except...

what apartment has a dog door????

So I propose that Cupcake’s family is actually loaded and owns the whole building including the shop.  That way there could be a portion of the ground floor that’s part of their apartment.

Which brings me onto the shop itself.  It’s name is clearest in this shot

Kice’s BAIT & TACKLE

I’m not well versed in fishing terminology but it does appear to be a fishing shop.  Now I have been informed by my dad who has been to the US unlike me, that this would be full of fishing gear and also maybe hunting gear (maybe guns? idk I’m British I don’t know the rules about guns - tho Burgess is confirmed to be in Pennsylvania if it’s state by state?), camping gear or general outdoors equipment so probably a decent amount of income.

Kice seems to be a surname.  I might have gotten the wrong end of the stick here but that’s what I’m assuming for now.   Kice (according to Ancestry) seems to be a Germanic/Slavic last name, which may be Cupcake’s last name?  

Cupcake’s family is also a mystery but we do know that this guy(?) exists

and that he likes to read the newspaper in the morning

so he may be her father or father figure?  They might not even be a guy but they do have a stereotypical masculine figure so I’m going with that?

anyway, weird shot next!

I spy with my little eye three pairs of shoes.  These are three different types of shoes so they may all belong to one person, or they have three other people in the house and these are their current shoes?  I think Cupcake keeps her shoes in her room/next to her bed so 

I would also say that considering the (possible) size of their house it would be easy for her to have siblings living with her (younger so they don’t keep shoes by the door, or older so they could be out all night).

(The heavy decoration in Cupcake’s room also implies that the family has money)

Cupcake/Pippa&Monty/Claude&Caleb/Jamie&Sophie/Town of Burgess

[hopeymchope]

hey, sorry to barge into your inbox despite being a total stranger (and feel free to respond to this privately if you want) but i came across some of your s/n/k critical posts and i just wanted to say i agree SO much. and i wanted to thank you for vocalizing this opinion because i know both i and some others agree with you. i've personally felt that everything after chapter 80 was a mistake (because i thought the whole serum fight over erwin vs armin was pretty fuckin stupid too) and it's kinda funny (i guess) to see the ending 100% validate my opinion completely. i can't believe every character was done this dirty for the sake of a very poorly constructed "both sides are bad" scenario that was also in VERY poor taste considering the explicit allegories to n*zi germany and a literal race war. like what's up with the jews - sorry, the "eldians" - once ruling the entire world via a bloodthirsty empire and also being inhuman creatures? gee, that sure doesn't sound like every antisemitic conspiracy theory i've ever heard. and way to rationalize oppression, too. the entire point of an oppression narrative is supposed to be "hey, the oppressor's prejudices have no rational basis and are literally mistreating this oppressed group due to their own selfishness and cruelty," not "oh btw marley's fear/hatred of eldians kinda makes sense considering eldians once enslaved the entire planet and can turn into giant man-eating monsters." is*yama SERIOUSLY should've just stuck to writing glorified vore lmao.

and while all the characters were either killed, turned into plot devices, or both, it hurts that EMA and the main protag himself suffered this treatment as well. i still think pre-timeskip eren is utterly irreconciliable with post-timeskip eren and the fact that both fans and the author himself try to make it seem like "hey he was ALWAYS a batshit crazy psychopath from the start!" is sort of pathetic to watch. like yeah, lemme just ignore the first 80 chapters of character development for this guy. or lemme pretend that the author didn't spend the significant majority of the decade making eren the most empathetic character in the entire series. or let me also pretend that eren killing those human traffickers to save a 9 year old girl from being a child sex slave is somehow evidence/foreshadowing/etc of him eventually growing up to destroy 80% of the planet. like, what? not to mention he even rebuked himself for recklessly killing those two men like that in chapter 17...so am i supposed to ignore that too?? and don't even get me started on the "eren went insane and accidentally caused his mom's death." bro. BRO. i've watched the entirety of game of thrones yet i STILL have never seen this level of "edgy plot twist for shock value with no benefit or relevance to the story whatsoever" in any media to exist.

well anyway...sorry for ranting in your inbox like this LMAO i really just wanted to tell you that i agree with your opinions about both the series ending and the series as a whole. i doubt i'll ever engage with this cursed manga ever again but at least pre-chapter 80 s/n/k will always be a thing and i can pretend they all got reincarnated into a modern AU where eren and mikasa are happily married and living with their bff armin in a nice condo or something. they alternate between visiting carla and grisha or mikasa's family on weekends. yeah that sounds pretty good. if you made it this far then kudos to you and thank you for reading lol

Thanks a ton for the kind words of commiseration. It feels like there’s a plurality of people who are unhappy, sure... but it comes off as still being a minority, and even among that minority, it seems like most people are still fine with most of the timeskip so long as they stuck the landing. But I think they were much too far off-course pretty fast after the Timeskip started to really correct it very well. It was possible, but the writing was on the wall. The intentions were already clear pretty early on after the skip. 

That said, I try to keep this Tumblr mostly positive and DR-focused, yet I still absolutely had to rant about SNK 139. The more I thought about it, the more I disliked it... and this comes from someone who was already unhappy for a while, obviously, so. Yeah. Of course I was gonna dislike it on some level, but I thought it’d at least provide closure to the Timeskip arc, even if I do think the Timeskip arc feels at odds with everything else the series was for 3/4 of its run.

And HOLY SHIT I literally forgot about the Eldians’ history of apparently being horrible, vicious rulers of a sinister empire. You know why? Because I NEVER BELIEVED IT. I was so 100% certain that it was going to be outed as bullshit propaganda from Marley that I never once thought it was plausible, so I just... pushed it out of my mind as soon as I read it. After all, all that kind of talk about the arch-conspiracy of Jews has always been total bullshit from anti-semetic monsters, so why would I put any stock in this kind of talk being applied to the Jewish race of Attack on Titan? 

But now, at the end of the story... yup, I guess he never DID go back on that! So it was fucking true?! The Jewish people in this WWII analogy were apparently an evil master race at one point?! Oh. OHHHHH. Go fuck yourself with a shovel for that one, Isayama. 

And yeah, Eren... god, what a sad story. He becomes unrecognizable as the same character thanks to the Timeskip, the new characterization is never explained or justified retroactively - it’s just opposite day now, forever - and he dies accomplishing nothing. I don’t know what to say, except I do know how much I loved that character and this series before things went south. I didn’t even mind the backstory for the Titans and the horrible story of Eldians in Marley... because it seemed so obvious that it was setting up a battle against a hateful, technologically advanced foe that was beyond the darkness of anything they’d fought before, y’know? Marley, as it was set up in the flashbacks before the Timeskip, is Nazi Germany if the Nazis had tech and scientific horrors and numbers far beyond what the Allies had. And nobody EVER feels bad for killing Nazis, so this was obviously going to be a final battle to destroy the Marleyan military, with Zeke likely to serve as a Final Boss who has totally 100% bought the propaganda and who hated everything Eren stood for. It was all RIGHT THERE. Maybe it was just too easy to tell that story, because instead, Zeke is suddenly supposed to be a gray character (very hard to accept given his backstory), and we end with the “uwu both sides were bad bc war is hell” message that is really pretty fucked up, as you already correctly pointed out.

[shizukateal]

Madoka Magica Is Not Good Because It’s Edgy, Part 1: Homura and Madoka’s First Conversation. (SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SHOW)

Don’t you hate it when a piece of media you like becomes popular for the wrong reasons?

If you haven’t watched Madoka Magica there’s two options: either you know nothing about it but your friends keep recommending it to you, possibly in between evil snickers, or all you know about it is that it looks cute but it’s secretly fucked up and edgy or “a SuBvErsiOn/DeCOnsTruCTion of the magical girl genre”. A part of the magical girl anime fandom hates this. Anyone who has seen more than 2 magical girl shows can tell you that the genre is not nearly as flat and formulaic as everyone makes it up to be, so to some the popularity that Madoka gained simply by subverting the expectations of the people thinking it was another sailor moon ripoff is undeserved.

Thing is, Madoka Magica is legit one of my favorite animes of all time. I say that as someone who has other 3 magical girl shows in that particular list. So while I understand the complaints from the community I also think some of that hate is somewhat undeserved. It’s not the show’s fault that people on the internet don’t know how to sell it to others except by deriding the whole genre because they don’t respect it. The point of these posts is to highlight some of my favorite moments that I think deserve commendation on account of how well written they are, so if you don’t want spoilers then this is the sign I’m giving to you about wether you should watch it or not: you should, because it is well written and directed.

With that said let’s dive into this scene from the first episode and how it’s crucial to the rest of the show. SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.

If you have watched the whole thing, then you already know about the foreshadowing. The dialogue of the scene is constructed in such a way as to mislead an inattentive, likely trope-minded viewer about Homura’s intentions without outright lying to them about what’s really going on. It gives the first episodes, which are the more subdued so to speak, replay value.

However I also think this scene is important for what it says about Homura’s character beyond what we will eventually come to find out about her intentions, because it also says a lot about her personality.

First there’s the fact that she initiated the conversation at all. On a first viewing this tells us that Homura is proactive, she’s getting to the heart of the matter as quickly as she can. On a second viewing the conversation reveals the hints of desperation in why she wants to do that, but also the tension in how much she’s allowing herself to reveal here. She is certainly trying to be somewhat open to Madoka, both out of the pain of not being recognized but also in a display of sincerity, hence telling Madoka to call her by her first name. Sadly this also introduces us to one of Homura’s main flaws: her inability to properly communicate her intentions and feelings. Part of it is due to her self-imposed façade of composure, part of it is the trauma genuinely forcing her into the façade of composure, and part of it is probably her loneliness. The point is, while Homura knows how to project the ethos of the arguments she presents -”Don’t turn into a magical girl, you will loose everything”- she never quite gets the pathos needed to fully convince the other girls -”I’m telling you this out of concern for you”-. 

There are exceptions, however. In their conversation after Mami’s death, Madoka picks up on Homura’s loneliness when she says that Mami will be lucky to have someone remember her and quickly tells her that she will also remember her. Homura decides to leave aside whatever mixed feelings this causes in her to give her another vague warning, which is a wrong call since something so vague can’t really stick in people’s heads. Sayaka is also perceptive (and at the moment also cynical) enough to get through the heart of Homura’s frustrations when she’s in her lowest moments, but I’ll talk more about that particular conversation in another post. Mami is sadly way up her own ass, no offense, to even conceive of Homura’s true intentions, which isn’t helped by her general attitude, but you can’t blame Homura for not telling her the truth outright considering that she witnessed first hand just how dangerous her frail mental state can be. Her approach of cagey interests really only works to convince Kyoko, the only non-idealist in the rooster. Lastly there’s the moment when she bullets Kyubei in front of Madoka to prevent her making a contract, when her emotions are afloat and she means exactly what she says but still doesn’t trust the situation enough to blurt out the whole truth and also Madoka is too preocupied with Sayaka at the moment to be there for her. It truly is the saddest moment in the show in retrospective.

Going back to the matter at hand, Homura’s desperation is also shown in the timing and change of scenery throughout the whole thing. The conversation only last like, barely a minute and a half. Throughout it we see close up shots of Homura’s angry face, which increase when Madoka starts praising Homura’s name, and also as the scene changes from the warm clear well illuminated yellow of the classroom section to the dark stark cold blue of the hall. The tension reaches its climax and it is also implied that Homura had been walking even faster at this point, given the distance between her and Madoka. Then the tension keeps as Homura asks Madoka if she values the people around her, and it stays dangling while Madoka gives her answer. Finally it eases a bit with Homura’s response, but leaves with a punch with her final warning, which in turn warns us that the conflict, thematic and otherwise, of these two characters isn’t over. It’s a brilliant display of what Akiyuki Shinbo and Gen Urobuchi can accomplish working together.

That’s all I have to say about this for now. In the next post I’m gonna talk about Mami and her three spectacularly written episodes.

[sadsongsandwaltzes]

Hey! So I am so glad I came across you blog as I really wanted to ask for advice about Christianity and certain shows, content that isn’t necessarily good to view. I ask this because I have never felt so strongly about getting to know Jesus as I do right now in my life and I desperately want to start a fresh life / know God and be saved. So I was also thinking about all the things I liked or my interests that I realise used to add to my depression when I think of it so I wanted to eliminate that part of it ... sorry this was long but I guess what I’m asking is are there certain kinds of shows, movies etc that you think as followers of Jesus we should leave out of our life?

Honestly, a lot of it are lines you need to draw for yourself. The basic rule is this: never violate your conscience.

I am not near as strict as some other Christians. I watch shows sometimes that can be pretty coarse. I also love movies like Harry Potter.

I prefer shows that have actual storylines and based in reality, and in reality, evil exists. People do bad things. So I don’t get too hung up on that stuff. However, there is some truth to “garbage in, garbage out.” The more we consume something, the more desensitized we become. So it’s a fine line. If there’s a ton of nudity in something, I’d stop watching. If swearing bothers you, avoid those shows. If watching media with violence is stirring up negative emotions in you, turn it off. If there’s any elements in any shows that have a tendency to pull you back down into sin or depression, then turn it off, no matter how “silly” it may seem. We’re all different, so where we each draw those lines are gonna be a little different. But also be careful never to project your own struggles onto others and condemn them as well. There are certain shows or movies I avoid because they’re troublesome to me, but I would never question the faith of another if they do watch.

Same applies to music. I 100% understand the depression thing. I went through an “emo” phase when I was in my early teens. And for the most part, I just look back and cringe and laugh. Because on a very surface level, I was just trying to be “cool” and “edgy.” But I was actually pretty messed up for a few years. I was really depressed and suicidal and cut myself. A lot of the music I was listening to, some of the friends I had, and a lot of what I was exposed to on social media didn’t help. It kept me down and stewing in that darkness. It glamorized and normalized these things, rather than trying to actually help pull you out of it. So cut that stuff out of your life. If you need to do a complete overhaul, do it. If you can pinpoint certain things that drag you down, then just cut out those things. Listen to music and watch shows that you can get *actual* enjoyment from (and if it’s pulling you down, clearly that’s not true joy nor is it edifying). Follow people who you believe to be good influences for you on your social media. Make friends with those kind of people in real life. And never compromise what you know to be true or right just to hold onto what your flesh desires. You might have to give up that show you’re watching. You might even have to lose some close friends*

This can also even apply to the news. During that time when I depressed and such, I used to have really bad nightmares about death. They were very graphic. Very violent. Well, I hadn’t had one of those since I was about 15 until just this past May/June when all that rioting and stuff started happening. I wasn’t suicidal or anything like that (I just want to clarify that), but it was definitely taking a toll on my mental health. I was staying up until 2 am every night watching the cities burn to the ground, getting notifications of all these people I knew abandoning their homes, and just the general anxiety of the state of this country and not knowing what’s going to happen going forward. All of that just got to me and that dream was evidence of that. So I stopped watching the news. Just for a little bit. It is important that we stay informed, yes, but it’s okay to give your brain a break. We weren’t meant to be bombarded with every bad thing happening in the world at all times. Sometimes you have to turn the TV off, put your phone down, and pick up your Bible. It’s also okay to just tune the world out and engage in mindless, harmless activities. I like putting on music and baking or watching a hallmark movie or something.

Whatever you do, just make sure that, ultimately, you are feeding your soul with Truth. That is what matters.

*it’s okay to have friends that aren’t Christian. But the closest company you keep should be good for you and help you in your walk. If, as a new Christian especially, you find yourself being pulled down by others, you may need to cut them out. Or, at least, greatly reduce your time with them. If that’s not a problem, you can still be friends. And that might actually be a good thing because you can be a light for them. but if push comes to shove, always stand for Truth. Always be their friend even if they aren’t willing to be yours. Do not follow them into the ways of the world. You might just have to let them walk away from you.

What goes into you and who you are is not just the media you consume. It’s your friends. It’s your job. Not just what you consume, but what you create. All of it goes into you. So approach every aspect of your life with great discernment.

And, as simple as it may seem, pray and stay in Scripture. That is our guide for life.

[grlfriends]

giovanna give us your #controversial kpop takes!! you seem passionate abt ***** being mediocre 👀👀👀

omg anon this is definitely going under a read more

ok so it's not that I think they are mediocre but rather that I know how much being from a big company can determinate your success, onces will go on and on about how much jyp was broke before them and how sixteen had a low viewership rate and how jyp was almost "out" of the big3 (a lie bc if that was truly the case then yg wouldnt be considered big3 rn, big3 is about how much influence and power you have on media yes it's related to how rich the company is but not all that matters when we all know that's not even being considered by anyone lmao) but at the end of the day no matter what they were still under big3?? the amount of money they had to even START a show about the group and then to film the like ooh ahh mv was huge man, onces make it seem like they had 10 dollars and a dream when that was definitely not the case, I know I seem bitter about this but bc I'm a fan of a group who was truly in that situation it just seems so fake and attention seeking?? yall know how much an mv like like ohh ahh and cheer up cost?? yall know how much producers and outfits and hair and makeup and studio and everything else costs?? jyp was always powerful and just bc they were in a bad time and bc they got more rich after twice it doesnt mean they were # broke before them, of course luck is a factor in any situation but let's be honest, do you think if a company was that broke and if twice had done that badly in their debut an mv like cheer up would even exist?? it's expensive y'all

also about the mediocre thing: I dont think they are mediocre but rather that no twice track has made me fall in love with them, I do like some songs but that's it, I feel like after their cheer up promotions jyp was very smart and played all the right moves and got them even bigger, they are not mediocre but we all know jyp has a fucked up ear that has rejected THE iu and THE yuju which is now considered top3 best vocalists of the 3rd generation (along with eunji from apink and wendy from rv) and I dont think they have been necessarily giving them the songs that fit their voices the best, some of them are able to adapt better (nayeon) and some are not (ie: momo voice was too deep for some of her parts in more and more), at the end of the day it still sounds nice if you're not listening to the live locals, their choreography is okay but is more focused on going viral than anything lmao, it's not bad but you can definitely see the comeback their team opened their email box and found out about all the emails about onces having to defend themselves bc twice had easy choreographies and SOME members were still not doing okay vocally and then decided to turn up their difficultly level to catch up with the current trend among ggs at the time ON THE TOP OF making them a token gg (along bp) to white gays listen and like bc they werent cute like that anymore and were doing hard choreographies so they were # not like the other ggs and this only expanded twice fan numbers in western countries (I also think that the bigger a group is the more their fans get obsessed with them and stop caring about their song quality and only listen to them bc they're a fan not bc they truly enjoy the music anymore you know?? I feel like feel special was okay but if a smaller gg like idk weki meki (I know it's not their sound but bear with me) or even a nugu gg like pink fantasy had released it it wouldnt have achieved 10% of the numbers it did or even made these groups have a bigger fanbase you know??) so do I think if they were from an actual broke nugu company they would have be as famous as they are now releasing the same songs? no and there's nothing wrong with that, kpop isn't a talent show and it's more about how well known you are with the most basic stuff

once again, I know this is too big of an essay for someone who has said they dont think they are mediocre but honestly that's my opinion and at the end of the day it doesn't matter bc they're still million sellers but that's my opinion ✌🏻 also do I think they're the nation's gg? no that's snsd and will always be

other hot and spicy takes:

bgs should go cute again, where's my fresh and energizing concepts?? astro why did you leave us in the dark?? sm why did you ruin nct dream when you could have made them comeback under another name/unit and make dream remain with the cute concept still

if any bigger gg had released queen by 3ye everyone would have lost their minds, it's the girlboss anthem everyone is looking for and no one knows about, everything from choreography to the lyrics is what blinks think bp is doing in terms of power

I miss gfriend intros so much :(( source PLEASE listen to this poor soul and give us intros, i cant stop thinking about how good the sots album intro would have been with that yuju siren call notes

also about gfriend but ma'am. apple supremacy, this is hands down their best release and best album this year (even tho I'm in live with three of cups and grwm for as long and the songs have been out) and also I wish crossroad had a bigger impact in the instrumental, the guitar should have been louder and it should have appeared sooner, the post chorus (that part they sing about the star) should have something more so it wouldn't feel as flat as it kinda did

↳ and I think that the beginning and bridge choreography should have been not that, specially the bridge..... that arm movement and the walking becomes okay after a while and getting used to it but still, it should have been anything else, let sinb choreograph a part of the title track for a change please

normalize people saying gfriend were robbed in 2016, rough WAS the 2016 soty and no one can tell me otherwise, people were so mad a nugu gg had the catchiest song of the year 2 years in a row (me gustas tu and then rough) they literally boycotted my girls 🤒

CONTROVERSIAL but I dont think rv has the best choreography and bsides in kpop..... their fans are just too used to noise and saying everything is # a concept (but the Russian roulette mini album DAMN it was amazing)

↳ also their title tracks..... it's been a wild ride but the ride is in flames and about to explode

I miss seventeen fun songs, now they're all about being edgy and dark and it's okay I guess but I miss their early days so so much, everything since thanks (even tho it was released close to my bday I have to admit I dont think it's that good either....) has not been it and it made me stop being a fan, I loved them so so much once and now all I have is old pretty u performances and funny gifs of them on their gose eps 😔 svt comeback with the pastel colors I miss those days of your youth

↳ also I cant believe pledis still has trainees when they're probably going to debut another bg when svt enters military years and then will be working in their solos and/or units since a gg wil be boycotted by pledis after 2 years maximum

the loona lore is 100% more about orbits going crazy over anything than BBC actually planning out stuff, their mvs are like any other aesthetic mv y'all

↳ also on the loona topic I dont think they're the powerful dancers people make them out to be, they have beautiful choreographies and are in sync that's all

↳ can orbits please STOP the ch*ves madness, yves is so straight it hurts and people are turning this into a l*rry of kpop almost

↳ when is haseul coming back 😭 people are calling Kim lip the leader for the longest time and it makes me mad seeing haseul forgotten like that.... maybe when she comes back loona will stop having those sm adjacent (derogatory) songs

I cant believe korean people have turned as you wish by wjsn the top end of the year song to enter the new year when dreams come true is RIGHT!! THERE!!! as is just much better by simply being good where as you wish, well, it wishes 😶

↳ ot13 wjsn was the best and their only good releases as ot10 was boogie up and save me save you, yuehua and starship if any of you break ot13 I'm going insane and beating everyone involved

cant believe non stop was the sing that made oh my girl famous when closer exists and they were not problematic yet, non stop is an attack on peoples ears and sucks so bad there's nothing remotely good or even okay about it (actually, their last good song was a-ing bc that's when jine was there 😢 other than that bungee was okay and banana allergy monkey was quite catchy too) also yooa has an annoying voice idk how they chose HER to debut solo