#it's not fair to compare them.

[hanyo-inu-yasha]

(( between Kikyo and Kagome, there is no contest...

literally.... let's not pit them against one another. I love them equally. Inuyasha loves them equally.

[novelist-becca]

Once again, I hate hate hate it when certain people that saw TOH judge Luz based ONLY on how in episode 1 she brought fireworks to school and let loose live snakes and spiders.

And just boil her down to that.

[daemon-is-perfectly-unhinged]

Daemon: Where are the twins?

Viserys: Oh, they went out.

Daemon: ...but they're grounded.

Viserys:

Viserys: Are they not allowed to go out when they're grounded?

[farshootergotme]

Has dick really lost that many people? To make a whole ass list?

Well, let's see... (keep in mind I haven't read lots of comics so there could definitely be more than what I'm about to mention)

- His parents.

- A few (Teen) Titans members like Donna Troy (brought back to life), Wally West (more than once if I'm not wrong, but it'll depend which era you're reading) and Jericho (aka. Joseph Wilson). And there could definitely be more but I couldn't say for sure.

- Jason Todd.

- The people who lived in the same building as him who he was friends with, that's around 20 people?

- Haly's Circus was burnt down twice and I know one of those times at least another 20 people died and 100 were severely injured (remember many of the members in the circus were like family to him).

- Do we count the city? Because even though he wasn't close with every single person, Dick genuinely cares for the people of Bludhaven and Deathstroke killed over 100,000 citizens.

- Bruce Wayne (he was technically dead, even if in reality he was lost in time).

- Damian Wayne.

- Alfred Pennyworth.

- Tim Drake has died at least once but I don't know if it's happened in the main continuity or if his death has only happened in an alternative universe.

And I have a feeling there's a bunch of people I'm forgetting, but these are the ones I can mention off the top of my head. Not counting the Bludhaven Citizens, that's around 50 people or so.

If anyone can add more to the list, that'd be great.

[relaxxattack]

every time someone calls moirallegience just an alien qpr i wilt a lil like YEAH thats more or less the CLOSEST human thing but its also Literally Not That. like a qpr is fundanmentally not romantic and thats not even going into moirails whole Actual Purpose of calming ppl down. its just. aughhhhh pisses me off i see the confusion but, as aformentioned, aughhhhh

OH MY GOD THIS HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME TOO.... but i don't want to get petty at the people in my notes always saying "moirails are QPRs!" because in some ways that is the closest human thing so it's hard to be mad...

i think there's definitely some overlap in some ways. but NOT because moirallegiance and qprs are the same at all really, but INSTEAD because both relationships have unconventional boundaries defined by the people within them.

you know... like every relationship.

like the only reason the two have overlap is because they are both partnerships that emotionally care for each other but can choose to not bang (which is true for any romance anyway, even if it's considered abnormal). they're both just romances* that are unconventional to human norms, which makes people view them as the same thing when they're not.

i think the REAL issue here is that humans insist on using human words to understand things that are just, fundamentally, alien. can't we just appreciate alien romance for being... alien romance?

no, it's not platonic, it's romantic. it's just romantic in a way you aren't quite wired to understand, is all.

*in generalization, most QPRs are not romantic, because they are made up of aroaces who are life partners in a non-romantic way. however i want to disagree with you that none of them are romantic, because that is up to the partners in question.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Again the sickness speaking but here's something that has been going through my mind since forever:

I feel like a good way to mitigate a lot of discontent with the doa arc ending and in general the whole Dazai-being-flawless issue bsd has going on is by comparing bsd to Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Please bear with me for two minutes.

When Sherlock Holmes was being published, people were intrigued and enamoured by Holmes' brilliant and charming, crimes-solving figure. People read the stories for the pure joy of being left gaping at his superhuman wits again and again; they didn't want to see him fail, they wanted to be shocked and amazed by his genius. When Holmes died and then came back, nobody lamented it being unrealistic, because realism was not what people were reading the books for! They were reading to be impressed, to cheer for the hero and then take satisfaction in seeing him turn out victorious. That's the author-reader deal that was made there: to impress and to enjoy being impressed.

As of recently I feel like we've been asking from bsd something it never promised us in the first place. Maybe it's just not that kind of series! Maybe it's more about surprising the reader with how the hero is going to make it and less about highlighting his flaws and insecurities. And like, that's okay! That's why Dazai getting away with it isn't it him getting away with it “again”, it's just how bsd is; in a way, it's what makes bsd bsd.

I think it really clicked with me like it never did before when I watched the last episode of season 5; because the arc ending felt so shocking and unpredictable, very deus-ex-machina trope, a little underwhelming in its lowering the stakes that were there the whole time, and yet so extremely on brand with bsd, I didn't even have it in me to be disappointed. It was so similar to the Guild's arc ending and even more to the Cannibalism arc ending, and maybe it really is just a pattern, maybe it really is what bsd aspires to be, and that's okay too.

Also, I can't stretch this enough: if it's not your cup of tea, that's fine. I can't say it's mine either. But I feel like criticizing bsd now for how it's always been falls quite short, because it really feels like demanding from it what it never promised to deliver in the first place. That's just as far as my current perception of the series goes, though, so feel free to disagree with me on this.

[alyona11]

Ok time for my big Hadestown hot take and that’s that West End Hadestown doesn’t give you a 100% Hadestown experience. It’s still ridiculously good and 100% worth seeing, don’t get me wrong (I used my opportunity and saw it twice and will likely see it again if I’m in London), but it kinda made me realise a couple of things about OBC production that will always be my Roman Empire and make me deeply upset Broadway is too greedy to give us an OBC proshot.

So, here are some of my thoughts and reflections based on seeing Hadestown live on West End + seeing different versions (including London National theatre proshot) in boots. I think you can pretty solidly say that in Hadestown there are 2 main stories: Orpheus/Eurydice and Hades/Persephone. And even though arguably Orphedice is the main most important story, it my opinion it also wins from Hadesphone story being strong. Which works perfectly in OBC due to Amber Gray and Patrick Page delivering a very deep nuanced performances as their characters.

I think part of the success of Hadestown when it works on its fullest is how it creates a very deep emotional journey. And I feel that regardless which pair of Orpheus and Eurydice you have (if we take Broadway/tour/West End take on the characters) it’ll still work! Like you need to try really hard to mess up orphedice the way people wouldn’t root for Orpheus or wouldn’t empathise with Eurydice because they are so relatable and cute. You instantly love them, they are so so lovable. So orphedice part is one thing in Hadestown that imo works if not always then in 99% of the cases.

Hades and Persephone’s part of the story in the contrary is VERY hard to nail on 100%, in my opinion, and this is literally driving me crazy. Maybe seeing Amber Gray and Patrick page in professional recording awoken some feelings in me, I don’t know. I will state straight away that I also do enjoy other actors’ takes on characters and I do see some very interesting character moments there and there. However, I keep returning to the thought that Amber/Patrick’s characterisation works SO WELL for the main narrative. I’ll try to explain why I think so. Consider it my love letter to the OBC.

First and foremost, I feel like Hadesphone story has a very fine dynamic that the actors have to nail, so you would feel that: 1) these two still love each other; 2) these two are buried under their problems and see no way out, only a miracle (aka Orpheus and his song) can save their marriage.

And if the first one usually works at least due to Epic 3, the second one, imo, often (at least partially) falls victim to acting/directing choices which can cause troubles with point 1 as well. I think one big thing I’ve noticed is that often Persephone’s alcoholism gets forgotten in the acting performance. Like yeah sure her choreography includes drinking from a flask but in comparison to Amber you never get a feeling that she is absolutely wasted. Which, is in my opinion something that you should feel when you’re watching the show and something I was constantly forgetting about when I was watching the show on West End. I feel in Amber’s performance you can constantly see that her Persephone’s feel good attitude is a façade of a broken person who knows that her marriage is going to hell in front of her eyes yet she is too passive and hopeless to try to make an active change (well, she does try in Chant and nothing happens), so her only way is to chase the sense of normality that the “medicine” gives her. But when she is alone, if you get to catch a moment when people are not looking at her, you can see a deep sadness under her positive front and her memory of the old days when everything was more simple. Nevertheless, the main point that the lyrics literally say is that Persephone is blinded by the river of wine. And this is crucial to her character and her relationship with Hades because the story states that even though Hades is a problem and he is an active actor in creating more problems, he is not the only failure in this relationship. Persephone needs to be woken up from her apathy almost as much as Hades does and this is something that we see during If It’s True.

From Hades’ side I feel like it’s not a good decision to make him a total villain because when he is irredeemable you don’t feel like the whole “song that will fix the world” has any chance of working long term. I think Patrick nailed a deep antagonist very well. His Hades is weird and lowkey creepy and alien. He does objectively bad things but when you look at him you can’t stop thinking that he doesn’t operate in regular human logic or morality. When I look at him in Chant, it feels to me that his words about building stuff to impress Persephone are absolutely sincere, and I can absolutely see that his Hades doesn’t understand why she is so upset about it when his intentions are so so clear. Maybe it’s my vision but even before Epic 3 when he is so far gone and buried in his projects and messed up ideas I don’t have a single doubt that Persephone is a single motivator and goal of Patrick Hades’ life and that he literally doesn’t need any other being to care about. And tragically this fixation is what makes him blind to all other things he does even if those things ruin Persephone’s life (and other people’s but tbh I don’t think he cares).

I feel like by removing Persephone’s Chant 2 verse Hadestown created more problems for Hades and Persephone part of the story making it a much harder job for the actors to prove to the audience that Hades and Persephone have a chance to make their relationship work. Like I get that maybe it was a necessary things to do (even though I think the show is much better with it) but it made it so much harder to empathise with this particular part of the story unless the actors use the choices that work in the narrative. Because for example when I was watching the show on West End part of me was wondering “what is Persephone’s deal in all of that, what does she win by staying with Hades?” With the verse, and with Broadway Previews or London 2018 in particular this part was clear: Persephone still loves Hades and believes that he has the opportunity to change and become a better man he used to be. Without the verse, however, the actors should give you the same idea during the show which is a hard task considering Hades and Persephone have only 2 big conversations together (Chant and How Long). So apart from those songs there are only subtle mostly silent moments they get together through which the actors have to convey the same thought which is hella difficult and probably hardly will be appreciated by anyone apart from the people who sit closely.

So, maybe because in the actor combo I saw (Zachary and Lauren), I got a feeling that even though they were great separately, I didn’t feel much chemistry between them as a pair. I think, Persephone seemed pissed and tired of Hades all the time until How Long and I didn’t feel that she still believes in his willingness to change. And Zach Hades despite being entertaining, kinda gives the impression of Hades who has other options, he is not into Persephone enough. The only sparkle appears between the two in Epic III which is still cute but I’m not sure if it works just as well if that’s the first time you see the show? Also considering Zach Hades gives more malicious intent in His Kiss, The Riot it seems that he is not even slightly interested in Orpheus having any opportunity to succeed with his quest. Which is not bad, don’t get me wrong! But in comparison to Patrick who is deeply self projecting into Orpheus to the point where you could see that even though he doesn’t want to let him go, part of him does because it would prove he too could succeed in his challenge of waiting for Persephone, this take seems a bit lacking. And overall because of His Kiss, their promise in Wait For Me doesn’t seem as giving much hope that the story won’t repeat itself next Sunday. Which in its turn makes Orpheus’ sacrifice feel a bit… worthless. If on Broadway, when Orpheus turns, but spring comes again you feel like it is the start of something new: hopefully a kinder and softer time. On West End the show also wants you to feel it but when you think about Hades and Persephone you feel…less certainty that this sacrifice will have a long term effect?

I guess the creators wanted to concentrate on Orpheus and Eurydice more and forget about Hades and Persephone by making them more secondary story or maybe there was a lack of director’s involvement to give the cast some hints on how to make this particular part of the story work better, but it feels to me that in its current state the show works in its 85% power which is still great but once you know there is something missing you can’t stop thinking about it and wishing the show would give you those 15% you crave.

[cringefaecompilation]

the violent nosedive of the cr fandom's opinion on ashton is so interesting (negative)

i see my mutuals all the time say "oh wow orym fans all hate/d imogen and think she's pure evil!" and i did/do see some of those fans demonize imogen over the slightest faults (or outright lie about her), for me it was overwhelmingly "ashton is imogen if she was a GOOD character actually!" by laudmoo.res who called imogen an abusive incel lesbian who was going to become the bbeg or "ashton is laudna if she was a GOOD character actually!" if they were convinced laudna's arc was going to be her turning evil and joining delilah.

people adored ashton for being "the only sane man" in the room that gave everyone "tough love" and would defend him for all his actions and say the only reason anyone criticized them was because they were t*rfy imod.nas, which was ironic because these same people would overwhelmingly misgender ashton as a cis man.

then shardgate came along and there was a violent argument with half the fanbase ripping ashton's face off for "tricking fearne and not caring about anyone's feelings but their own" and the other half going "the rest of the team are selfish assholes with hero complexes that refuse to let ashton succeed" but everything cooled down-ish via the feywild sitch and the moon excursion.

and then downfall happened and i guess the latter team that got mad about shardgate grabbed their fucking football and ran with it to make everything ashton said next come off as ludinus worship. even the people that were hardcore defenders started saying he was a fash now and brainwashed by his titan side. i'll never stop being mad at people making posts about how ashton is selfish for not caring about the feelings of the xenophobic leaders.

[mickeym4ndy]

idk if I know how to put this into words but people who actually blame Mickey for everything that went down in season 3 are insane to me like that’s just so unfair. The person to blame for all that is Terry.

It was horrible for Ian to watch the person he loved marry someone else after being kept a secret for so long, and to not ask him to stay and everything obviously. his pain from the situation is very real and justified.

But also how can you watch that and think Mickey ever had the option to do anything different? He even says to ian “why you acting like i got a choice in this?” He never had a choice! He was never going to be able to avoid marrying Svetlana. There was no way out for him. To act like Ian’s pain was solely Mickey’s fault without taking the situation into account is just unfair. Mickey was a victim of the circumstances he was in, as was Ian.

imo it’s kind of similar to blaming Ian for how Mickey was hurt by Ian’s actions when he was manic in season 5. Ian wasn’t in control of himself. It was painful for mickey to experience yes, but you can’t say that was all Ian’s fault as if he did it intentionally or something.

they were both hurt by the others actions and that’s valid but honestly nothing could have changed what happened in either of those situations. it was all out of their control.

[earako]

Hi saw a post about how although Ballister's shorter than Ambrosius he's a lot broader and all I can think of his Ambrosius wanting to do the cute wearing my lovers clothes thing, Ballister attempts to put on Ambrosius hoodie and goes "Uh...love? It's sorta tight..."

Meanwhile Ambrosius is too busy internally squealing about how buff his lover is to care about his hoodie being stretched out-

[tamaruaart]

Hazbin Hotel wishes it was Dante's inferno

[lollytea]

I wonder how many people who looooooved Sarah Lynn on Bojack Horseman are the same people who are clowning on Jojo Siwa

[letteredlettered]

Another post just reminded me of an important PSA

Sokka is a better Ron Weasley and Xander Harris than Ron Weasley and Xander Harris ever were

Katara is a better Hermione Granger and Willow Rosenberg than Hermione Granger and Willow Rosenberg ever were

Zuko is a better Draco Malfoy than Draco Malfoy ever was canonically, but Spike is pretty great, even though yes, okay, we know, Zuko's redemption arc will always be superior

fight me

[krotiation]

My favorite thing to do in sims is to get unhinged screenshots of Jack

[whiskeyswifty]

taylor complying with the guild proposals so she can be added to the interim agreement list so the eras tour movie is in total support of the strikes i loooooooooooove knowing that and love her so much for that.

[shuruzy]

i know how to draw shoes now. by GOD we used to pray for times like this