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bengals-barnesbabe · 2 months ago

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Pairing: Joe Burrow x Singer!Fem Reader

Summary: Venus goes on live after rehearsal and lets her fans take a glimpse into what her and Joe's nights together are like.

Chapter 24: Mr. Perfect

#Track9 Masterlist | Main Masterlist

TW: implied smut, language, haters.

WC: about 2k

Part 1 🖤

₊˚ପ ⊹ ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ꕥ

@musicbyvenus has started an Instagram Live! Come join!

“Hello, all you beautiful people. How are my babes doing tonight? I haven’t done this in a hot minute, so be patient with me. I had a really long day and thought the best way to unwind would be for me to unload onto my darling fans.” The woman chuckled to herself while watching the viewer count grow by hundreds per minute.

Tell us all about your day bestie!

How are rehearsals going?

Are you gonna release the set list yet?

How’s Joe doing?

Where’s Joe?!?

“Wow these are coming in fast. I’m going to try and answer as many of your questions as possible, but thank you guys for just being here with me. I know I tend to go a bit awol with my public appearances, so I appreciate everyone here. Rehearsals are going great, I’m very happy with how the show is looking.”

@MarsOfficial Im expecting a least two Hamilton songs while I’m in attendance

“You always expect so much of me; you’re starting to sound like my mother, Y/Bff.”

@MarsOfficial then maybe you should start listening to me

A light-hearted giggle makes its way into the air as she reads her best friend’s comment. “I always listen to you!”

@MarsOfficial fat liesssss

“Y'all listen; the only reason I am in a relationship right now is because Y/Bff and Riana, two of my best friends, literally pushed us together. None of this would’ve happened without them.”

“What wouldn’t have happened without who?” A deep voice coming from behind her says.

OMG ITS JOEY

Joe said shit i have to work lol

PLEASE ASK HIM TO STAY

ON GOD HES SO HOT

I DON'T KNOW WHY I expected him to walk in shirtless, but I’m kinda disappointed

IS HE COMING TO THE LA SHOW???

“I was talking about how we got together.” Y/n peaks behind herself to watch the quarterback snicker while fishing through their kitchen cabinets.

“Oh you mean when your friends pretended to be my ex to make you jealous? Yea they were a great help.” Joe rolled his eyes while grabbing a snack and a bottle of water. “I’ll have you know, I was fully capable of doing that on my own.”

@Riri.intl24 why is he lying, he had almost two years to make a move and DIDNT

“Riana begs to differ. Can you grab me-“ Y/n’s cut off by her own water and snack being dangled in front of her. “Thank you.”

WHAT A GENTLEMAN

UGH I WANT ONE

IS THAT A CLIFF BAR

Y/n we’re judging you so hard right now

Joe takes a seat next to her but slightly out of camera. “Of course, and tell Riana I was trying to time it right.”

“Ok Mr. Time-Is-Of-The-Essence.” She smirked, then turned back to her phone. “Why are you people roasting my cliff bar?”

@MarsOfficial because you once said it tasted like good dirt then proceeded to inhale one

“I’m going to ignore that. Let’s answer some questions! Yes, Joey’s going to be at the LA show. I am not releasing the set list, but I do have an announcement regarding it. I’ve decided that my show will be about 2 hours long and each show will have 3-4 different surprise songs. I’m very excited about that. If yall have been keeping up on X, then you’d know the first show’s theme is ‘Slumber Party’. Unfortunately I can’t kick anyone out if they don’t dress up-“

ARE YOU ACTUALLY GOING TO PERFORM HAMILTON SONGS?

Is Walk Like This on the Set List

“Fantastic.”

THE NERVE

“You are not anyone, you have to dress up.” She pointed at the man.

YESSS SIS

You should bring him on stage with you!

WALK HIM LIKE A DOG

Joey shook his head and sighed, “I was joking babe, kinda.”

“Uh huh sureeee. Whoever asked about Walk Like This, this answer is 100%. I absolutely love that song and the choreo, ugh amazing. I can’t wait to perform it.”

What song is Joe most excited for?

What songs will you absolutely NOT be singing?

Is ‘The One’ on the no list?

“I don’t even have to ask him which one he wants to see the most. Joey?”

“Crazy for You.” He smiled.

“See, he’s extremely predictable.”

scripted

“Ok hold on, I also like what you did with Tell Me You Love Me.” He so kindly added.

“Why thank you kind sir.”

@lahjay10_ gross

We love a supportive boyfriend

Husband Material

Get married please

ADOPT ME

Not all of Team Shiesty being in the comments

It's in their dating contract

“Yall are too funny.” Y/n looks over at Joe to see him with his head thrown back laughing. “What is it?”

“Your accent.” He coughed out.

“Joey, I don't have an accent.” She pouts.

Nahhh we know a southern belle when we hear one

Someone forgot she’s from Georgia

You’d think it’d get weaker the longer she stays up north

orrrr maybe she still has it because she doesn't actually live in Ohio

“Yes you do, but don’t worry I think it’s absolutely adorable.”

“I can’t with you.” She rolled her eyes, but the smile spreading across her cheeks told him otherwise.

@MarsOfficial I KNEW IT

@MarsOfficial I knew he had a thing for your country shit

“Aight, we are getting off task! Is there a No list? Technically yes, but no ‘The One’ is not on it. And before any of you start, Joseph, please tell the people how you feel about ‘The One’ once and for all.” Y/n turns the phone so the fans have a full picture of him.

“I feel like people have been waiting and praying for this moment.” He chuckles brushing his fingers through his hair.

CAUSE WE HAVEEEEE

TELL USSSS

WE NEED TO KNOW

He raises his right hand. “Ok, everyone listening. I, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.”

“Oh my god.”

“I’m trying to deliver an address here, princess.” He said sternly. She pretended to zip her mouth shut and throw away the key.

Stop making me feel singleeee

“Ok where were we, right. I, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, solemnly swear that Track Nine is one of my actual favorite songs that Y/n has put out. Now all the commotion stops here, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.” As he finishes, they lock eyes and simultaneously burst into fits of laughter.

I knew it wasn’t that serious

We were clickbaited

THEY FOOLED US

Social Media is the devil

@MarsOfficial I tried to tell you

Her next project is gonna go so crazy

Hiiii from Canada

Instead of turning the phone back towards his girlfriend, Joey gently cuffs her waist and pulls her over to himself so she can continue her job. Then rests his hand over her shoulder.

Yoooo if you couldn’t see the height difference then, you def see it now🤭

Ugh they look so damn good together

Yall should do an whole day in the life

What happened to not liking cameras Joey???

“Okay guys, I think I’m gonna take a few more questions then call it a night.”

Noooo

Has Joe seen the entire show?

Booooo

Yes get off so Joe can get off from work and see his real girl

European fans here!!!

What is your ideal date night?

“I know I know, but our dinner’s almost here so we gotta wrap this up. No, he has not seen the whole show. I need my man to be surprised too. More importantly, he has no clue how Crazy for Me is being set.” She smirked as she felt his hand move down to her thigh.

Oh they gon wrap something else up tonight too

“Oh but does my mind wonder.” He bites his lip, no longer able to pay attention to anything but the woman on his right.

Omg the sexual tension is brewing

His hand continues to stroke her thigh until his phone goes off. “Fuck, food’s here.” He gets up and rounds the couch, but before he completely passes her their dark eyes meet and he makes a quick stop.

@MarsOfficial I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, they are literally CRAZY for each other

Dream vacation??

I’m sorry why can’t a man look at me like that

She was right about this not lasting very long

Shiiiiii I wonder how long HE lasts👀

@lahjay10_ yalls comments are getting out of hand

A strong but gentle hand lightly pulls her head back and they smile before he connects his lips to hers for a shy but sweet kiss, then he pecks her forehead and leaves the frame.

AGAIN A MAN LIKE THAT PLEASE

GOD WHOEVER IS LISTENING THANK YOU

That looked mad forced

You make me feel so single🤧

If you weren’t famous, what would you be doing?

Y/n quickly clears her throat before looking back at her comments.

@lahjay10_ oh god, get that off of my phone

She’s so flusteredddd

Girl we understand whewwww

“Uno, go away. Okay um, speed round. Dream vacation is definitely Greece. Ideal date night depends on how we’re feeling, but you can’t go wrong with a nice restaurant then coming home and getting in the hot tub. If I weren’t famous what would I be doing?”

Joe Burrow.

The man right behind you

That one Cincinnati quarterback maybe🤭

regular shit because they wouldn't even know each other

yall are unhinged

Her eyes widened and she looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend setting up their dinner. “Hmmmm yes to the first three.”

QUEEN

@Riri.intl24 Girl focus!

@MarsOfficial Ridiculous.

“Ok but for real if I wasn’t famous I guess I’d be trying to put myself through school.” She shrugged.

“Nope, you’d be in your residency program like you’re supposed to because I’d take care of everything. Now sign off of there so I can have my dessert.” He stated from the background.

“We didn’t order any dessert.”

Joe darkly smiled, “we didn’t have to. Everything I want is already here.”

HOT SHIT

OMG

thats so scripted🥱

I THREW THE PHONE

MSKSKFYCYHC

GIRL GO

“Fuck me.” She says under her breath, then reaches for her phone.

“I’m trying.”

SCREAMING

@lahjay10_ imma clown his ass for this so much

@MarsOfficial Venus you need to move faster

@Riri.intl24 Esa comida no se comerá pronto

(translation: that food is not getting eaten anytime soon)

“Jesus, bye babes. Love yall, and I can’t wait to meet you soon.” She stands, blows the camera a quick kiss, and turns off the phone.

As she walks toward the dining room, he meets her half way and backs her up against a wall. “Fucking finally, I’ve wanted you since I first walked in.”

His hands go straight to her soft waist and his lips meet hers with an intense fervor. Breathless moans are smothered against his lips and her fingers tangle in his hair. “Wha-what about the food?”

Joe grips her ass, his lips pull off of hers, and they begin to suck purple bruises on her neck and behind her ear. “You always say it tastes better after it's reheated anyway.”

He pecks her lips and smiles at his handy work: her lips swollen and red, eyes burning with a dark desire, neck glistening with a shiny magenta hue and knees trembling from the pressure. “You’re so beautiful.”

Her face heats up as she takes in the sight of her lover with a matching set of glossy lips. “I love you.”

“I love you more than anything, and I’m about to show you exactly how much.” He smirks then throws her over his shoulder and takes off towards the bedroom.

“Joey!”

₊˚ପ ⊹ ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ꕥ

a/n: part two this weekend♡

<<< Ch. 23: Tour Countdown | Part Two >>>

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elysianymph · 1 year ago

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🔥 anything about sirius because i am being a little hater towards some characterisations too

i've already talked your ears off about this on discord but i'm happy to talk to about it again bc i fucking HATE new sirius black with a burning passion. i hate him as much as i love my sirius black that marauderstok can pry from my cold dead hands bc i'm not letting him go. i don't know when it happened and why but marauders fans are particularly persistent on taking away any interesting traits sirius had and leaving behind a whimpering pathetic twink that cries when someone looks at him the wrong way. sirius has been scrubbed clean of any morally grey traits he might've had (he's not allowed to care for his family (unless it's regulus) or long for them bc they are bad, he's not allowed to have any prejudices even though he was literally raised with pureblood mentality and taught he was superior to everyone else from the day he was born, he's not allowed to be an asshole bc he's not like his family guys!! and when he is an asshole it's always used to victimize the character he's being an asshole to and sirius is painted as the villain with mommy issues that can only be fixed by getting dicked down apparently)

i cannot stress this enough: LET THIS MAN BE A COMPLEX CHARACTER!! and no, giving him mental illnesses that miraculously disappear when he gets together with remus and making him attempt to kill himself post prank because he feels bad is NOT making him complex! you're just weird. you're just romanticizing mental illnesses and i can't believe you don't see anything wrong with it. giving him bipolar to justify his actions is?? not??? representation??? it's offensive to people who actually have to deal with these issues in their day to day lives and yet here you are using something that will impact their life forever as a plot device for your uwu sadboy mlm fanfic.

and that's what new sirius boils down to. he's a plot device, an accessory to everyone else's story that's never given much depth other than "oh his mom used the cruciatus on him and now he's traumatized". no hate to jegulus but hate to specific jegulus fics that turn sirius into an overdramatic caricature of his former self for the sake of drama and angst.

also, some of these wolfstar shippers... wtf are you guys on?? idk when and why (that's a lie i do but i'm not gonna say it) remus became sirius black in a werewolf costume but here we are. oh sirius was cool and effortlessly smart and handsome and girls wanted him? well guess what? snatches all of those character traits and throws them onto remus they're his character traits now. ignore how it doesn't make any sense for the werewolf child who was isolated from the rest of the world to be a smooth talking alpha casanova who plays basketball actually. while we're at it, ignore how unrealistic it is for a boy who was raised in a family that believed they were superior to everyone else based on blood status, who was raised to be the perfect heir and checked off all the traits needed to be one to be insecure?? and unsure of himself?? and stupid??? and a loser??? i don't understand what the point of flipping the wolfstar dynamic was when you're left with a shallow copy of the original but ok. you do you ig.

to summarize, my sirius is cool and effortlessly smart and egotistical and a complete asshole who thinks he's the best thing ever. is it an act to cover up how damaged he thinks he is because of his family? possibly. but i also fully believe sirius thought he was a god amongst men and everyone should be glad to be in his presence. he talked down to other people because he considered himself smarter, he rolled his eyes when students asked stupid questions and made fun of them when they got an answer wrong. he's a teenage boy let him be a dick with no excuses.

(also i find it funny when people write about sirius getting into a fight with james or remus and crying because they said something mean. as if sirius wouldn't throw hands the moment someone started criticizing him. he's toxic and that's what makes him interesting. that's his purpose! characters exist to make stories interesting, to start drama, not to be your moral guide on how to act. stories become so much more fun once you let go of the need to make every character a good person. also liking a character doesn't equal liking them as a person. i love sirius but i would hate his guts irl)

#i feel like i can never fully write what i want to say and i hate it #wish i could take you guys on a tour of my brain. it's crazy up in here #thank you for letting me talk zandra it's almost like you knew what was bothering me znjzjzj #it's really not that deep (i say after writing an entire post about it)#(it's not i just like to talk to myself and hope someone will listen bc i am very very passionate can you tell?)#sirius black #mwpp #marauders #marauders era #nymph answers #hating hours 🔥#just to be safe #tw mental illness #tw sui attempt

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controversial-blorbo-bracket · 1 year ago

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Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Light Yagami from Death Note vs Edelgard von Hresvelg from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. please be normal in the notes, i will not hesitate to block if you harass people)

Propaganda under the cut, may contain spoilers:

Light Yagami:

LOVE: - "He does some messed up things but have you considered: fucked up protagonists rock :)" HATE: - "this man makes me sick. ive genuinely had manic episodes over hating him. i have trauma from his existence in general. not even because of the murder. because hes a sexist cheater :(" - "My cousin and I frequently debate this. I think despite his 'intentions' he's ultimately a despicable character who cares for nobody but himself. She disagrees and says that he is just trying to do the right thing and making a difference in the world (she still thinks his actions are wrong, but she doesn't think he himself is despicable)" BOTH: - "I mean cmon man"

Edelgard Von Hresvelg:

LOVE: "People either claim she's the hero or the irredeemable villain with no in between. She's also my lovely wife who has never done anything wrong in her life." "I never even finished her route and remember nothing of what happens in that game but I DO remember the absolute warzone the fandom turned into because of her. She staged a coup and overthrew the head of the government/church and I think that's pretty cool of her. "But she committed war crimes!" God forbid women do anything." "I lied in the previous question. I don't hate her or love her in fact I have never even played this game. But I keep finding people making up Discourse™ featuring wild accusations of bigotry towards both Edelgard fans and Edelgard haters so I feel that she belongs here. (Also my friend hates her. but HER friend loves Edelgard. So even in my small social circle there is a clear polarization.)" "ok I don't have any solid propaganda because my opinion of her is more positive-neutral, but. she fits the spirit of this poll. trust me." "[three houses spoilers] Yes she started a war but it was the only apparent way to break the chokehold the church had over everyone in Fodlan. Also she’s the only lord you can gay marry so I’m hopelessly biased" "every time i go into the tag its either "edelgard is perfect no notes!!" or "edelgard is literally a fascist!!!". ive never seen someone with a neutral opinion of her. i yearn for battle." "I know very little about her to be quite honest! But good god. As a fire emblem fan for the GBA and engage. I have NEVER seen such a decisive character like Edelgard. Jesus Christ. I still find stuff in those tags. What the hell!!!" "I don’t even go to Fire Emblem but even I know that Edelgard has never done anything wrong, ever, in her entire life, and that if she did any war crimes they were a SUPER effective use of girl power. source: I am a lesbian. (realtalk I genuinely love a noble-minded extremist revolutionary and think Edelgard is a great character, so it’s kind of a shame that opinion on her seems to simply split down the line of “whether the person wants to kiss Edelgard or Dimitri more.”)"

HATE: "So on the one hand, she's fully willing to kill and burn and murder her way to a "better future" at the expense of the present, but on the other hand she's pretty cool and #girlboss. She's also a canon gay romance option, but idk if that makes her more or less problematic." "I just. I understand why people like her. I really do. And I don't have anything new to say for why I dislike her. Edelgard fans and stans have heard everything. She has great points and motivation, but her methods are wrong. She hitches her ideals to the first good opportunity and never reconsiders her allegiance when things go off the rails. She hates the church for "lying to people" and proceeds to lie to her own populace herself in her own route. She gives Claude an opportunity to live because she knows he believes in her goals. But Dimitri and his Kingdom are too beholden to the church to ever be offered such mercy. She herself acknowledges that the change she wants to see is more quickly enacted through war than subtle and slow societal change. She recognizes the human toll of her actions, but she justifies it through flowery language and an insistence that the change needs to happen now or it never will. I honestly find her so interesting, and I agree with a lot of her thoughts about the need for societal change in the world of FE:3H. But people latched onto her and propped her up as someone who can do no wrong. And that just never sat right with me. I just think she’s a hypocrite who got put in front of a shiny means to her end and was immediately blind to every other opportunity around her." BOTH: - "I dont even play fire emblem but I cant escape people not shutting up about how much they love or hate her" - "You said there were no hate answers for her...and I don't really hate her so it wouldn't be right but I wanted to balance things out some. She's the perfect storm of a character who sounds right and progressive and has a route all to herself that doesn't contradict that...but once you play other routes, it becomes clear she's kind of. full of misinformation. And attacking people who don't deserve it. Also a LOT of the divisiveness I'm willing to blame on the writers rather than her, for having her both be Evil Tyrant we NEED to take down and Sad Uwu Baby who just wants to eat cake and laze around and loves You the Player SO MUCH."

#poll #4 submissions #12 submissions #round 2 #yagami light #light death note #light yagami #death note #edelgard von hresvelg #fe3h edelgard #edelgard fire emblem #fe3h #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem 3 houses

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stormblessed95 · 3 months ago

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Thank you for answering my ask Storm. I appreciate it. I am new to tumbler and have not read everything you have posted mainly focussed on the member dynamics in your masterlist. In your recent post you mentioned that the bullying had happened and that’s how I got to know. I believe in the same post or some posts after you said you were willing to engage in respectful discussions and after much diliberation I thought to myself, that it was ok to send that ask. And it was, coz you answered it so respectfully.

Even if I may not agree with you fully, I do see where you are coming from. Your blog is yours to moderate and that is that.

My gripe with this fandom is that a lot of fans do not allow for a difference of opinion which then just means that we are a cult. The boys are not perfect and it should be ok to call out some of the things they do if it is done in a respectful manner. It is really quite something for people to say that there is a need to police fans/solos or Jikook fans because look want happened to Taekookers. It is too late to make that call because now no fan would be able to take the Gandhian stance of looking the other way. History does define how the present is handled. Yes, it is negative approach but it is what it is.

In any fandom, big accounts have a moral responsibility to ensure that the same energy is given in calling out bullshit but a large number of the ot7 accounts are Taekookers so the same energy isn’t given and this is what has resulted in a whole lot of solo accounts who are unnecessarily hated on most of the time.

Thank you again for allowing discourse. I very much appreciate it.

Having a difference of opinion and not allowing anti rhetoric on my blog is not the same thing. And saying "I have these criticisms of Tae and I think that's fair" is fine, but it also doesn't change that it's the same rhetoric that his antis use against him and it's not something I'm interested in entertaining. I truly couldn't care less if people agree with me or not. That's always been the case. Just as it's always been true that I've held that this space is mine and mine alone. Y'all are here only if you want to be lol. You can feel however you want to feel, that doesn't mean I'm entitled to have to do anything about it nor does it mean I have to hold space for it. Which I think is the problem that occurs when you hit over a certain number of followers. I'm not quite sure when that transition happened for me, but sometimes I miss how my blog used to be 2+ years ago 😅😂

I love Tae. I love him so much. I love his bond with the members. I think there are for sure things we can talk about critically there. Just as there are things I think we can talk about critically for each member and for the group as a whole. Do I think now is the time? Probably not with all that is happening with k media and the harassment happening.

Do I think any of those critiques involve their relationships with each other, including how Tae interacts with JK, no. I think their relationship and how it works best for them, is not something we get to interject on. Opinions about that stem from personal biases and often, also anger about antis and the desire to protect other members from said antis.

I also agree that a large number of "OT7" accounts on Twitter don't give the same proper energy to calling out bad behavior because they are taekookers or diet solos/shippers. But then we shouldn't be calling them OT7 accounts, right? I promise there are really good larger accounts out there that aren't full of bullshit. You just gotta use your block button freely. Because not giving fake ot7 a platform, is a good way to start. But it's hard when it seems like no one else cares. I promise I understand that. I understand the frustration and the pain that brings. As someone who deals with haters who feel protected behind an anon label, I feel like I extra understand it sometimes.

Fandom spaces are going to be what you make of them. All types fandom can be full of so much bullshit. You gotta carve out a corner in it that brings you happiness and peace and do what you can that way. Or you aren't going to have any fun. And that's what fandom should be, something that is fun and brings you joy.

Thanks for replying kindly again 💜

#fandom discourse #shipping discourse

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eri-pl · 2 months ago

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Silm reread 0: the letter to Milton Waldman

(which includes some Tolkien's thoughts +a recap of the whole Silm)

After the FA, a quick break (yet another) for the foreword of the book (at least in my edition this letter is there as the foreword)

So we get into authorial intent. Which is (for me) somewhat less important than what's in the book proper and how I read it. Don't treat all that is said here as "I claim it to be canon", it's just what Tolkien wrote in one letter in 1951. Please remember that as we go along.

A lot of talk about myths and fairy tales and that we don't talk about Bruno religion in them, not directly. For reasons that I still can't fully grasp, but also instinctively it seems to make sense, but also I am insecure with talking about relogion, so…

Anyway, Tolkien does not like machines. Yes, I know, but still, I don't really get him. I don't see what's wrong with tools, even automated tools. Also: oh how the Professor would hate generative AIs.

Fefe gets a lot of criticism: He was greedy, his sons were greedy, this is why the Elves had fallen. also, terrible, bad Oath.

Also, Oath explained: it is against anyone who claims a Silmarill or rights to it. So, no, touching it is etc fine as long as you intend to give it to Feanorians ASAP. Nice to know. Also, the oath is about hatered and revenge against abovementioned people, no mention of reclaiming the Silmarils in the explanation of it.

Yes, the idea of Dadgor Dagoradh is Ragnarok-inspired, of course it is but it's nice to see it in writing.

"Beren wins, Lúthien helps." OK I get it why you need this optics, sir (because Beren is less powerful), and I think I can see at least two reasons why you can't genderswap them, but still, I am a little unhappy with this.

Elwing owns the Silmaril, not Earendil (as we were wondering). Also, Elwing jumps into the sea to save the Silmaril, but I'm not sure whether to read it as "because she wants to save the jewel" or "because the story / "Fate" / Ulmo needs the gem saved so she gets a weird impulse and she follows it". And yes, they reach Valinor thanks to the power of the Silmaril.

M&M steal the Silmarils "enslaved" by the Oath. Huh. May be the translation. And they die. If Tolkien kept this version, a whole fanfic genre would not arise. ;D Seriously, "Maglor gets some kind of resolution" is a big genre, maybe the biggest genre of gen Silm fics.

Speaking of "facts we don't like"; the returning Elves live on Tol Eressea. Only.

Sauron in SA starts with beautiful motivation and slowly falls.

The Ruling Ring could be mastered by someone powerful and heroic, but of course it would still not be a good idea. But Sauron wuld be defeated (and replaced by a new Dark Lord).

The Numenoreans learned Quenya during the War of Wrath, from their allies. So, they speak Vanyarin Quenya, ith the "ty" read as "ch" XD Because, let me remind you prom previous reread part, the Noldor did not participate in the war. (But don't worry, iirc this means that they do have the Lisp)

Tolkien never mentions Morgoth's name (neither of them), which is … I get him, but it does stand out. Also, this is the man who didn't want to use a cup with the Ring Verse on it, because it was too evil, he used it only as an ashtray. Sauron is, however, mentioned by name a lot.

Also, I do have some other quirks, so probably shouldn't laugh at the Professor. Like: I would need a good reason to read the Oath of Feanor [prose version] out loud. Everyone has things they attach weight to, I guess.

Ar-Pharazon was a real danger to Valinor, (because the Ainur would not fight him, I think? but why? they fought against Men during the War of Wrath? Or did the Maiar fight only against uMaiar and mosters?) he could wreck it. Huh.

But also, the Valar did get power and permission to deal with it, So they made the world round themselves, thanks to the extra permissions? Or did they only put the Numenoreans under the mountains? Unclear.

Aman moves to the Unseen World, I don't like this version, I don't think it works, I think that in some places with the Valar, with Valinor, tolkien wants to have things both ways (just like the Elves making the Rings of Power did). He wants to make it both vaguely religious and mythological and it's jarring at moments… IDK, maybe it's just me.

Wait, it's spelled Gil-galad? With a small g in the second word? TIL.

#silm #silmarillion #tolkien legendarium #the silm #the silmarillion #silm reread #gil-galad #and his spelling #tolkien meta #numenor #elwing

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greatestwizardofthisage · 11 months ago

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assigning each of the bad kids a taylor swift era because i am feeling deprived of tswift content now that she's on break from the eras tour

Kristen: Fearless. I can't even explain why, but to me that album is just so sunny and in my mind it fits Kristen perfectly. I think maybe it's because Fearless was one of the first album I ever really loved, then when I was older the rerecording is what got me back into tswift and I can totally see Kristen going through a similar journey with it where maybe she loves it as a kid but then stops listening to it as she distances herself from her childhood/family, only to fall in love with it again later on. Also I feel like the country vibes fit her well. (She would also LOVE betty but she would pretend it's a lesbian anthem)

Gorgug: Ok this feels controversial but he's a Lover stan. I just fully belive that to his core Gorgug is a lover not a hater and he would un ironically love Lover. Like to me that album is all about having gone through some bad shit and choosing to only carry forward the best of it? And that fits with my perception of Gorgug. ALSO the end of afterglow 'I want to be defined by the things that I love, not the things that I hate, or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night' just feels very Gorgug coded to me dont ask me why. However if you've seen any of my other posts about music and the bad kids you know that I wholeheartedly believe Gorgug loves all music so I think he'd be hard pressed to choose a favourite album.

Riz: Midnights. And not just because this kid never sleeps. Bassically I really couldn't decide which album he would listen to because none of them really fit, but then I started thinking about specific lyrics and I think Midnights has the most that he could relate to. I mean 'no one wanted to play with me as a little kid so I've been scheming like a criminal ever since' is about him. You can't change my mind. I do think though that Riz is definitely more invested in all the easter eggs and firguring out which album is coming next over actually listening to her music. Like he would for sure be among the first to figure out all her clues.

Fabian: 1989 and Folklore. I fully to the bottom of my heart belive that until his sophmore year Fabian would exclusivly be listening to pop music, sea shanties, and weird elven music. So obviously he would love the greatest pop album ever made. He wouldn't listen to Folklore until post sophmore character development. Also he would For Sure learn the choreography for the dance in the background of Dress on the Rep tour and recreat it perfectly using his sheet.

Fig: Speak Now. I mean do I even need to explain this? It's the perfect album for Fig. It's the kind of thing she would have loved when she was in her Preppy Cheerleader phase, but it has just enough of that pop punk influence that I feel like she could still appreciate it when she's older. I feel like she would definitly take issue with some of the misogynistic lyrics used in some of the songs, and would be all for the lyric change in Better Than Revenge. Also as I've mentioned many times before, Fig would love Paramore, and would LOVE Castles Crumbling. Like you're going to sit here and tell me that lines like 'They used to cheer when they saw my face, Now I fear I have fallen from grace' + 'Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far, I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart' + 'Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off, And here I sit alone, behind walls of regret' + 'People look at me like I'm a monster, Now they're screaming at the palace front gates, used to chant my name, Now they're screaming that they hate me, Never wanted you to hate me' weren't written by Figueroth Faeth? I also just think songs like Never Grow Up and Long Live would perfectly fit with her not so secret sentimental streak.

Adaine: Evermore and Folklore. I think theres just a sort of elegence to these albums that really reminds me of Adaine. I also think theres so much vulnerability in them and a lot of the songs touch on feelings of not being good enough for others (mirrorball, tolerate it, this is me trying, right where you left me) that I think she could relate to not from a romantic relationship standpoint but from all the expectations placed on her by her parents. I also think that although these are probably the most low key of tswifts albums, they have some good angry songs (no body no crime, illicit affairs, mad woman) that she would definitly love. But yeah this is mostly based on aesthetics. Evermore and Folklore were albums written with a quill and Adaine is the kind of girl to appreciate this.

#ok thats all my thoughts on tswift and the bad kids #thank you for reading #if youre reading all this and thinking 'my blorbo wouldnt listen to that album youre wrong' then PLEASE tell me #i want to hear other peoples oppinions on this please please please #talk to me about my two special interests #dimension 20 #fantasy high #fig feath #adaine abernant #gorgug thistlespring #fabian seacaster #kristen applebees #riz gukgak #ps i know a lot of tumblr people dont like tswift and thats totally valid she is morally a very questionable person #long post

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poisonpercy · 1 year ago

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i would be most intrigued to know the reason you hate nico di angelo

that sounds threatening oh god no im just gen curious

Lol you’re good and don’t sound threatening (to me)

As the self proclaimed “#1 nico fandom hater” that I am, I love this ask. Anyway, that being said, I don’t hate Nico di Angelo. My problem lies with fandom and how Nico is perceived. Before I get into it, here’s a collage of tumblr posts that represent my feelings on Nico:

And my favorite post that fully sums up my thoughts on Nico:

I’m going to be making some generalizations throughout this which I don’t love, but it gets my point across the best.

Canon Nico (specifically in pjo) = good! I like this little boy! Little cutie and a little shit. What’s not to like! (hoo!Nico = eh, he’s ok I guess. He didn’t need to have POV chapters and should have taken on a more minor role imo)

Fanon Nico ≠ not good! Please burn it with fire 😃

FYI: when I talk about canon Nico, I’m referring to the original characterization of him throughout pjo (maybe some hoo, but no toa).

So this problem happens across every fandom it seems like, and I have a dislike for every character that gets treated like this throughout all my fandoms. Not everyone is like that, but I am.

So what am I talking about? It’s the blatant fanonization of Nico to the detriment of his character and others. It’s taking popular fanon takes regarding Nico (behavior, personality, relationships, etc.) and insisting that they’re canon even when evidence shows the opposite.

A big problem for me stems from the solangelo ship. If you like it/ship it, that’s great! I personally hate it… like a lot. To me it came out of nowhere and the inclusion of it in canon has brought in fanon concepts into canon that overall damages the integrity the the wider scope of the riordanverse.

What do I mean? I can’t speak too much on canon since I only read up to The Burning Maze and refuse to read any further in toa or tsats, but generally what I’ve seen from others is that canonical events/their perceptions of them have been skewed in Nico’s favor to put down Percy and other demigods, even when Nico is more at fault. Not saying this is 100% in canon but it is in fanon. And this view is widely spread by people (not all) who like Nico, and it’s very hard to ignore if you don’t like it because it is everywhere.

Saying things like no one cared for Nico when he first came to chb is blatantly untrue and makes me think that if you have that opinion, you didn’t read botl. People didn’t hate him because he was the son of Hades because the vast majority did not know Nico was the son of Hades! He was mostly unclaimed from chub’s perspective. It’s just the people that went on the quest in ttc that knew because of Bianca.

Also like Percy straight up worried for that kid day and night. He felt responsible for Nico even though Percy himself was a child! Nico was the one that was pushing Percy and everyone else away. That was his own doing, though understandable. Don’t push Nico’s actions onto other characters to villainies them in Nico’s story.

Also, for some reason people still blame Percy for Bianca’s death and then come to the conclusion that Nico hates and (still) blames Percy for it. He doesn’t. If you don’t like Percy, that’s fine (but why are you reading the series then?) but don’t spew hate about a character on things that aren’t true. Nico isn’t going to be your bff if you do so.

There’s also the belief that Percy is like abusive to Nico because of that one scene in tlo. Please put on your thinking caps if you genuinely believe only Percy was in the wrong. Percy only lashed out at Nico because Nico betrayed his trust. Also, once again they’re both kids. They’re going to have immature reactions, but you also have to remember the stress of the situation that compounds everything that these characters do.

Ok, back to solangelo. There’s this weird codependent relationship that fans tend to force on Nico and Will. Other ships do it too but solangelo stands out to me. And maybe it’s because I just don’t like solangelo, or have a favorable opinion on Will Solace, or stopped reading toa, but I genuinely don’t think there’s much grounds to Will’s character besides being Nico’s boyfriend. I know he gets some more depth throughout toa (and possible tsats) but that only happened because he was Nico’s boyfriend. Like he was Nico’s boyfriend before he was Will Solace.

And because of this, fans generally tend to make Will this mouthpiece in fandom regarding Nico. He feels like a self-insert and not in a good way. And because of this, there’s a lot of negativity towards other characters in fandom that fans use Will’s “voice” to push in name of defending Nico or whatever. Like babes, you’re projecting. I don’t know Will, but the Will from the limited time we knew him in pjo wouldn’t speak that way/share those views.

Also the weird patient/doctor relationship solangelo has going on gives me the ick. Espresso with how it’s portrayed in fandom. Like there’s this weird power dynamic that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m rambling at this point, sorry. I’m only on 2 hours of sleep right now so forgive me lmao.

I won’t go too much more in depth but Nico also gets infantilized a ton by Nico/solangelo fans which isn’t cool. He’s a kid, but he’s not a fucking baby.

Also making Nico this 1-dimensional emo, sad boi type character is not cool. He’s so much more to him. When you reduce characters to a singular trait, it leads to all the issues I described. Ok I’m just going to leave it at that.

TLDR: I don’t hate Nico di Angelo, I just have a lot of problems with his fans.

#i’m sorry if this makes no sense #nico di angelo #ask #anon #skys post

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myfanfictiongarden · 2 months ago

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My thoughts on s2ep8 “Shadow and Flame”

my hands are actually shaking as I write this

why does the recap alone already make me so emotional…

alright, already the first visual we get of golden light in a dark tunnel is freaking beautiful

wait, so king Durin really fought off all these dwarves by himself? wow (but I’m glad Disa stayed unharmed)

Disa and Durin kiss!!! yay!

ok, king Durin looks actually really scary and possessed by the ring (its a bit weird that he went so coockoo after only a month or two (?) in possession of the ring, but I know its not the writers fault but the simple fact that shows nowadays are only allowed 8 ep per season and you can do only so much in that time)

was not a fan of the Balrog appearing so early in the show, but its design is freaking awesome

not king Durin taking of the ring to protect his son… 😢

SHUT UP ALL YOU HATERS, THIS IS PHENOMENAL! THE WRITING, THE MUSIC, THE VISUALS- I´M ABSOLUTELY SOBBING!!!!!! 😭

good that we have the intro back this episode, because I need a minute after that opening scene…

now back to the Stoor village

“Manwe promised you would come”- not me having recently finished Unfinished Tales and learning that it was Manwe who urged an reluctant Gandalf to join the wizards in fighting Sauron´s rise to power, omg

not really on board with the theory that the Dark Wizard might be Saruman, but maybe if its true they could make it work…?

the White Tree of Numenor in a golden light… I know I’m repeating myself but THIS SHOW IS GORGEOUS

Pharazon framing Miriel of working with Sauron is kinda brilliant (but also disgusting)

the prosecution of the Faithful becomes serious (do you now see what you started Eärien? Yeah, now you’re scared for your father?)

again, the music while the Tree is “crying”, omg

Elendil recievess Narsil from Miriel and I´m crying

now back to Eregion, I’m sure everything is fine here

Yes! Galadriel helping evacuate the survivors!!!!!!

and she’s captured again (at least the other female elves are spared)

no... blood on stone floors… I’m not ready 😩

Sauron just casually shooting arrows into a blood covered Celebrimbor, while still playing the “look what you made me do, dear friend” card…

mention of Gondolin!

Brimby, I can’t, you are the hero we should all aspire to be, omg, you deserved so much better

“But the Rings are beyond your reach. As I should be ere long, for soon I shall go to the shores of the Morning, borne hence by I wind you can never follow!” Badass Brimby

“No, hear me. Hear me! Shadow of Morgoth. Hear the dying words of Celebrimbor. The Rings of Power shall destroy you. And in the end, I foresee one alone shall prove your utter ruin!” OMG

“You are wrong! I am their creator. I AM THEIR MASTER!” “No. You are their prisoner, Sauron, Lord of the Rings.” SHUT UP, CELEBRIMBOR IS THE GREATEST CHARACTER THIS SEASON, AND CHARLES EDWARDS DESERVES ALL THE AWARDS!!!!!!

Celebrinbor´s words and death bringing genuine tears to Sauron´s eyes, omg

I guess we kinda got the Brimby-banner with Celebrimbor impaled into the air on a spear…?

And Sauron is already sauroning with Glüg and the orcs- sorry, uruk

Lol, glad for the bit of humour from Theo and Isildur after everything up till now, love their brotherly bond!

also, Estrid and Isildur kiss!!!!

oh, nice, Kemen is placed in charge of Pelegir, completely dismissing Theo as their leader

did I already mention that I hate Kemen?

back to the forests of Eregion- why is Adar kneeling face away like he is praying…?

… wait, Nenya on his HEALED hand, omg, omg, omg

“When last I looked like this, I was known by another name.” “What was it?” “A meaningless name. A name I was given. Adar is the name I earned.” - guys, there is now room to fully headcanon him as Maeglin and I will do it!

DID NOT SEE THIS COMING, wth?!!! Adar, no!!!!

The parallel of Adar being stabbed by the orc like Sauron was before…

“My children…” “They are no children anymore.” - dang, Sauron knows what’s up and how to use it

The Galadriel- Sauron confrontation is here and I’m not ready (also, Sauron immediately focused/in love with Nenya, completely ignoring Galadriel for a moment? Perfect characterisation)

“I do not wish to harm you.” “Do you wish to heal me?”- dang, what a burn girl

not Elrond ready to give his life to save the books and scrolls of Eregion 😭 (also, Arondir is alive!)

the sword-crown fight is pretty cool

Omg, Sauron fighting her while changing from Annatar, into Halbrand, into herself, then Celebrimbor is beyond brilliant writing- he is literary presenting himself as a mirror to her!!!!!

“I see you, I know your mind. The door is still open.” “The door is shut!” GIVE IT TO HIM GIRL

“I would have placed a crown upon your head.” says Sauron while he stabs her with his own crown

The dwarves came to help!!!!!!!

“You wish to heal Middle-earth? Heal yourself.” Now, if this isn’t the most badass equivalent to F-yourself then I don’t know what could be

Galadriel and her ring escape, Sauron is pissed and Glüg pays for it

Yay, Gil-Galad and his healing ring to save Galadriel! (Her “injury” of the body and soul reminds me of Eowyn in LotR)

Also, Elrond using her ring to help heal her after such disdain to the rings 😭

Poppy sharing wisdom Mr Burrows once gave her while we witness again the ruin and devastation that has just spread everywhere… 😭

the Stoors calling Stranger “Grand-Elf” because they don’t know the difference between giant, human and elf is literary how Gandalf came to his name in the books

Nori and Stranger taking separate ways is sad but also makes sense (I bet they will meet again)

Grand-elf found his staff!!!

“Gandalf. Thats what they are going to call me, isn’t it?” YES IT IS 🥰 (also, Tom and Gandalf simply sitting by the fire, drinking tea and singing is the most wholesome Tolkien thing ever)

Come let the song begin, let us sing together 🎶🥰

Alright, so the drama with the dwarves will continue next season with the Lords of the Blue Mountains as well as Durin´s brother staring up trouble

Gil-Galad dissing Galadriel moments after she wakes up from a terrible injury is how you show love to your family 😂

“What is this place?” “A sanctuary, protected by the Elven Rings.” Rivendell?

Galadriel para-quoting Celebrimbor´s speech about Light overcoming Darkness is my everything (also, this is definitely Rivendell!!!!)

Galadriel in a simple white tunic THE FUTURE WHITE LADY OF LOTLORIEN!!!!!

Also, Arondir, Galadriel, Gil-Galad and Elrond posing on the cliff overlooking a new sunrise is just epic

What do you mean I need to wait now two years agin for the next season? Although, for such quality its really worth it

#guys I´m not okay #the finale was incredible and epic and brilliant and beautiful #I will spend the next two years crying over it while waiting for s3 #tv shows #things i like #the rings of power #trop s2 #trop s2 spoilers #rop s2 #lotr #my thoughts

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paperstarwriters · 1 year ago

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ive come kneeling at your doorstep to beg for that essay on murio and luciels parallels you mentioned 👀💦👉👈

i love loathing lucio so much so it would deal my lil hater ass so much psychic damage and i cannot wait to get rekt

(onlyifyouwanttothoofcoursetakeyourtime)(just making sure youre aware id print that shit n frame it above my bed were it to come to existence)

Hello @tetsuooooooooooo! I know you said I can take my time, ok I'm still really really sorry this took awhile, I've been kinda burnt out from classes lately, and writing a bunch of essays for that lol, but I've managed to make a somewhat coherent argument for my case here lol.

Now, to preface this:

I only really like Lucio as a character to thematically dissect and kick around occasionally for giggles. I am a far, far cry from a Lucio stan, I just find him interesting—like a bug. Honestly I don't think I'm gonna convince you he's in any way a good guy I just might make you loathe him more 😅

I haven't played Lucio's route. I'm too busy and I get too annoyed with some of his antics + the options of reactions that MC is allowed to make. I've only played the side stories and a lot of my understanding of his character is built from Muriel's route (and I know he's much more different in his own route than he is in the others') as well as hearsay from other people talking about Lucio

I know I said that I'd include Aurora's songs in my original statement but that got wayyyyyyy too messy so I'm just opting to exclude them lol. (not to mention youtube is doing a very irritatingly strange thing of deleting and then reuploading Aurora's songs??? so I don't wanna deal with the messy files :/)

With that out of the way here is my essay :)

Wordcount: 2,908

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Muriel and Lucio are both very, very caught up in how they are seen by others. While it's clearer when it comes to Lucio, it is also made clear in Muriel by the fact that Social anxiety is often caused by stress over how a person is perceived and their mental belief that they are helpless to change that perception. This causes of their self perception are also quite similar, due to their similar histories, but in the same way that there are some notable opposites between them with their struggle for their identity there is also some notable differences in their histories that arguably causes the slight difference in their struggle for their self image.

To begin with their history, Muriel and Lucio are noted to both come from the South. They come from two opposing tribes, and are both eventually chased out of their home and community by 1) a cruel person who arguably causes their struggle of identity and 2) the plague. Of course, the major difference here is that Lucio actively made decisions that would lead to him being chased out of his tribe, he was arguably aware that if it failed he'd have to leave, he just hadn't considered that it would actually fail.

Muriel on the other hand is chased out of his home at a much younger age, and he has no choice in his eviction from his home or his family. There is no action that Muriel could have done that would have allowed him to stay where he was, unlike Lucio who had a clear option that would have allowed him to stay.

Or at least would have allowed him to stay until he grew tired of his mother's attitude towards him.

I don't believe that Morga's cruel and dismissive attitude towards Lucio started when he tried to kill her, rather, I believe that she has been doing that for a long, long time. She often states that she had been "too soft" on Lucio, but I think her "softness" is the same kind we see in Muriel's route. She berates him, she threatens him, she tells him how awful and unskilled he is to everyone else and makes a show of his failures, but when she is completely and fully enraged and is about to hit Lucio, she hesitates.

Is that softness? To her perhaps. To the tribe, perhaps. But not to me, and not to Lucio.

So, despite all of the harsh words thrown his way, he decides to take action to prove her wrong. I'm willing to bet that a lot of Morga's criticisms were about how strong he was and how he was in fact not actually as strong as he could have been, not as strong as he should have been. That's why when he takes action to prove Morga wrong, he immediately snaps to killing her. There is, after all, no better way than showing your power than killing your opponent (we see this belief in Morga when she spars against Muriel and he beats her.) Of course, in hand-to-hand combat, and on fair terms, Lucio can't actually defeat his mother, so he takes to more under-handed methods in order to beat her.

When this fails, it is the first major wound on his self-image. He cannot defeat his mother. He is not strong enough to defeat his mother despite cheating.

So, he runs away.

Besides marking a wound on his self-image, this also marks Lucio's connection to others. Having been exiled from his tribe, he is disconnected from the friends who may have actually supported him somewhat, he is robbed of his connections and separated from anyone who may have actually loved and cared for him (platonically and/or romantically)

Similarly, Muriel's separation from his own family, and his eventual abandonment into the streets of Vesuvia separates him from any stable sense of love and affection as well. Because he was separated from loving parents as a child and was likely surrounded by a number of children who were abandoned because they were unwanted, or because their parents were unable to care for them, Muriel has no other answer than what the other kids give him it is the only answer he has. Further more I believe that Muriel was probably abandoned by that merchant because they were unable to keep feeding him, which he also attaches onto his real parents as to why he was abandoned in the first place.

And so Muriel believes himself to be unloved and unlovable after being separated from family, or any semblance of a family.

Returning to Lucio, he moves on from his tribe and eventually joins a military group(? I think? Idk. I'm sure there was a specific name for it but I can't remember sorry) Once again, this is an act of trying to prove to his mother and to his community that they were wrong, and when compared to the ordinary person outside of their tribe, he's actually a really good and capable fighter. Of course, however, this is inevitably cut short as he looses his arm, and is once again confronted with the fact that he is unskilled as a warrior and so he retreats from his perceived deficiency and takes a different route to getting the love and admiration he wants—politics.

Of course, as we see in Muriel and Asra's childhood tale, this inevitably puts him into direct conflict as, in order to climb the social ladder he offers to "clean up" the streets. While it's largely left up to interpretation as to whether or not the Threat of Asra's safety came first or Muriel's position as a gladiator came first, I can't help but believe that Muriel's position as a gladiator came first, as otherwise, he might've gone out and tried to check on Asra's safety. (though this is mostly a headcannon) I believe that Lucio offered Muriel a chance to have some say in who gets "cleaned up" from the streets, and for Muriel to be able to get rid of the "actually bad criminals". Regardless of whether or not this is true, the arena gives Muriel his first taste of admiration, as people cheer for and adore him, but it also tears that sense of admiration away as he eventually has to come to terms with what he is doing. Whether that sense of dread and awareness was always there or it occurred somewhere in the middle is also unknown but the outcome is the same regardless. Being known and being admired becomes tied to hurting and harming people—because it is the only trait he sees that other people admire, he sees it as his only lovable trait.

And so Lucio and Muriel begin to reflect each other—and I don't mean reflect as in they show the same image, I mean reflect as in we see a similar image, but the image is reversed (*wink wink nudge nudge*). Here Muriel sees himself as only capable of being loved for his ability to commit violence, and Lucio sees himself as being incapable of being loved because he cannot complete the amount of violence he needs to commit.

Now, I feel the need to emphasize here, despite having many people around him who Lucio may truly believe love and admire him, the people around him very likely don't actually care for him very much because they either do not know him well, or they see him as little more than a pawn in a plan, or at least someone who gives them benefits. And even if there are a number of people with genuine admiration for Lucio, it still wouldn't be enough. Admiration is never enough when you lack genuine emotional connections with others, and Lucio, clearly does.

Again, this parallels Muriel who also struggles with a lack of genuine emotional connections to others. Although he has Asra with him, it's clear that, Asra's tendency to be fickle with connections has extended to him as well, especially when Asra spends more time with MC than him, leaving Muriel feeling abandoned and alone. Considering that Asra is the only person we ever really see Muriel connect or talk to, it's no stretch to say that Asra is one of Muriel's only friends, if not their only friend period, and so with Asra disappearing on him as often as they do, Muriel is left feeling that he actually has no connections at all.

Of course once again reflecting each other, where Muriel clearly sees he lacks connections and pretends he does not, Lucio, makes unsteady transactional rather than emotional relationships and pretends that that is enough.

It is of course, not enough, because if it were, he wouldn't have treated Muriel like that, he likely wouldn't have plucked Muriel out at all. Although this is largely speculation, I believe that Lucio treated Muriel the way he did because he feels as if Muriel is the very child Morga would have wanted. He is big and strong, and although not technically skilled if Muriel were raised by Morga like Lucio was, he might've been. This is why his first reaction to seeing Muriel and Morga working together is that Muriel is Morga's replacement son. It's because that's how Lucio had been treating him. Muriel is Lucio's little avatar to live out the glory of being a fantastically skilled fighter who can beat up all of his opponents. This is also, why I believe that Lucio purposefully trained Muriel to be less skilled in fighting than he was. In Muriel's route, Lucio comments that he's always been able to beat Muriel, and while I do in fact believe that Lucio is actually a skilled fighter, despite how he is often presented and despite my arguments above—he's most often a skilled fighter in the technical sense. He knows all the movements, he knows all the strategies, he knows all the underhanded tricks. By not fighting Muriel too often, and refusing to teach him these tricks however much it may be able to help Muriel out in the arena, it allows Lucio to be able to defeat him whenever he wants to. It allows Lucio to make it seem to himself that he is better than the person his mother would have wanted as a son, which I believe to be both horrible but also sad, for both Lucio and Muriel.

With Lucio, it shows how desperate and inferior he feels with his fighting skills, constantly trying to compensate for it something we can also see that in the portrait of himself he has in his room.

For Muriel, it keeps him scared, and keeps him pinned in place despite having realized the consequences of his fighting. Something which only furthers his self-hatred when he realizes he actually could have easily left.

So yes, Muriel and Lucio are both very self conscious people, and while for Muriel his self consciousness stems from people seeing him as a monster, and him believing that he is one although he does not want to be one, Lucio is self-conscious in the fact that he is not seen as the brutal fighting warrior he was supposed to be.

These reflected aspects of each other, alongside of their self consciousness is the very thing they struggle through in their routes, the very thing that MC helps them to get through.

Lucio believes that through various paintings of himself that rearranges his past (paintings of himself as a triumphant fighter, while his mother is demure and elegant), various unfair/practically staged fights, and celebrations of himself on top of it all, he would be able to convince people that he is awesome and amazing and that he deserves to be loved. In doing all of this however, Lucio runs away from confronting the beliefs at his core and wondering if perhaps, what he understood as traits that make a person great may be incorrect—that his mother had not just been incorrect on the fact that he was a failure, but on the fact of what makes a person successful or powerful. By constantly covering up what he sees as deficits, Lucio skims over his own internal struggles entirely which makes him look foolish and annoying as he ignores what's so clearly there for others.

Meanwhile, for Muriel, he is aware of his deficits, and is unable to properly hide them without disappearing completely himself, he tries to figure out and fix all of his problems through introspection and isolation, but it is not something he can do on his own. Muriel of course, can't accept the fact that he may need help. He can't accept the fact that despite what he believes of himself, other people may actually care for him the same way he cares for them, and will actually offer help. And so, as he runs away from people and community, from friends, and possible friends alike, Muriel runs away from his own problems as well, even if he tortures himself with confronting them (I can't remember if he actually does this or if this is a fanfic trope 😅) Essentially, by constantly trying to deal with his struggles on his own, he neglects his connections to others who may help him, or at least offer support.

And then MC comes along, and because they both desperately needed that deep connection to someone else, regardless of whether it is something platonic or romantic. MC is able to leverage their relationship in order to further propel Muriel and Lucio's development into acknowledging the thing they refuse to acknowledge, and finally balance out their coping mechanisms, which, on their own isn't actually unhealthy (Lucio's really good at connecting with others; Muriel knows how to confront his inner turmoil) using that single method as their crutch for their traumas only ever hurts them more.

As Muriel progresses through his route, he grows more connected with his community and people. One meaningful moment that I don't think they give enough screen time in the game is the moment that Muriel is forced to confront people recognizing and seeing him again. He's forced to confront everyone's perception of him, their memory of him and he retreats into the mirror maze where he stares at all these reflections of himself, all reversed images of himself, but he believes them all to accurately represent himself—as if his superficial physical image is what represents himself mentally and emotionally. And then MC (and Morga 🙄) come through to him and pull him out of that panic attack (or interrupt and yank him away from properly addressing the problem in Morga's case 😤) And that's the first step to being loved. As they say, in order to let yourself be loved you have to let yourself be known, and in that first step, choosing to step forward and prioritize the lives of others over his own self image, Muriel begins to be admired by others. Genuinely admired, for traits that he likes in himself rather than traits that he hates.

Similarly for Lucio, (although I haven't played his route so this is largely based on hearsay) he's faced with problems that he Has to face on his own (or at least somewhat on his own) the main one being that he has to confront the consequences of his own actions, he has to acknowledge to himself that he isn't perfect and that he can't be perfect. It's why at the end of his route on the upright ending, he leaves Vesuvia, to take on a life of (semi)solitude to further take some time to improve his ability at introspection, while in the Reversed ending he's still talking with people, still trying to manipulate their perceptions of him (and the MC), and still trying to be a "good boy" (ie. perfect) for the MC.

Now, it may be argued that Julian can/should be included in this struggle of how others perceive him but I raise you this; that guy is the most dramatic ass dude in town and his biggest dramatic act was telling everyone about how horrible he is. He clearly has no issues with how other people see him, but he has problems with how he sees himself, which again, reflects Muriel a bit, but I'm sure most people are familiar with their (more blatant) similarities by now lol

So yea.

Muriel and Lucio are reflections of each other. At their core, they both struggle with the same problem of caring way too much about how they're seen by others, but they cope with (and thus worsen) the problem in opposite ways, so when they take steps to heal themself, they also go in opposite directions, with Lucio needing to take some time to himself to get into his own head, while Muriel needs some time away from himself to get out of his own head.

Essentially they're heading in opposite directions to reach the same conclusion: other people's opinions don't matter as much as your own opinion of yourself and the opinions of the people close to you.

Interesting parallels, no?

Of course, I believe this could've been better illustrated if Nyx Hydra didn't rush the last three routes, but alas, this is what fan fiction and fan-analysis is for lol

Anyways I don't tend to poke around the Lucio side of the fandom too much to begin with so if this has all been said and argued before forgive me for the repetition, and If I've gotten some points wrong, please feel free to correct me! I've mentioned before I haven't really played through Lucio's route so some things may be wrong.

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cowpokezuko · 9 months ago

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Guys I need to be a hater for a minute I'm so sorry.

If you have like a deep attachment to the Blue Eye Samurai episode "the tale of the ronin and the bride" look away now cause I'm about to rip into it. Also spoilers ahead for the whole series.

Okay, to preface, I am generally a hater of flashback sequences, so as much as this is a criticism of this episode, it's also a crit of most flashback sequences in film and television. I am also much more willing to let it slide when it's used for comedic purposes like the beginning flashbacks in Psych or clipshow episodes in IASIP or Community. Also, this is all my opinion, you are free to disagree with me all you want and that's totally fine. Apparently I'm the only person who thought this episode kinda sucked so I fully expect to be on my own here. I would like to present my argument nonetheless

Ok disclaimer done, now to get into why I think that the use of flashbacks and framing devices in this episode of BES was a poor choice and pisses me the hell off. Formatted into a numbered list.

It takes the tension out of the main fight. The fight scene in this episode is easily one of the best in the series, but the constant cut aways draws interest away from the fight and seems to equate cliffhangers with tension. On some occasions that would be fine. The bits where they cut to the other characters totally make sense and add to the tension of the fight overall as our minds are still on the fight and the show is not forcing our attention to something that's much less engaging than Mizu fighting like a hundred guys. It also decenters the actually interesting character dynamics we get to see in this episode by putting the focus on the relationship between Mizu and some guy we don't know. There could have been so much more development on the relationship between Mizu and Akemi or Akemi and Ringo which would have been so cool because they don't interact much before this episode, based on the finally, will end up being important relationships later on so why not spend your time showing us that? Why linger on this random guy from the past?

Flashbacks are lame and I don't like them. (This is my list so I get to be petty if I want to.) As previously mentioned, I am generally a hater of flashbacks. I think it's a boring way to relay a character's backstory and motivations to an audience. It often ends up over-explaining things that don't actually need to be explained and take away from the flow of the story. Ofc course, some flashbacks are better than others, for example, I think the flashbacks showing Mizu learning from the Swordfather are more interesting because learning how Mizu learned to fight and where her anger against her father stems from is actually interesting and very relevant to her actions. However, since we did see where Mizu's quest for revenge and fighting ability came from, why do we also need to see her get betrayed by a past lover on screen? Why did we need to see it happen beat for beat in the form of a flashback? Wouldn't it have been more interesting if we got to see her come across her ex in the actual plot of the story and not the metanarrative? Same goes for her mother? Why put the story on hold to tell us this when you could have made it part of the story?

We don't actually need to know every single thing about a character's traumatic backstory, and that's okay. This whole series of flashbacks fell flat for me because I already understand that Mizu is on a quest for revenge, y'all did a great job of conveying that by giving her a one track mind about it. I really don't care about what made her heart cold, isn't being jilted by everyone you've ever met enough to do that to a person? Why does she need a man to drive her to rage? Isn't being a member of an oppressed class enough to do that? She's a woman in an extremely patriarchal society and a member of a racial minority in a racist ass society, that's as good of a motivation as any. The idea that she needs more of a reason to hate the world is frustrating to say the least. In HBomerguy's video "Sherlock is Garbage and Here's Why", he discusses how Steven Moffatt fumbled the character of Sherlock by going back and showing his childhood, as he did with Jackman in Jekyll. In my opinion, if the only way you can think to reveal the character and motivations of a character is via flashbacks, you need to go back to the writing room and think of something else because there are always better ways to do it.

The romance plot is god fucking awful. This is probably my most biased point because I am so picky when it comes to romance plots in non romance stories. I am not against the concept of having romance subplots in non romance stories, and I am actually a romance lover, so it's not bad that there is a romance, this one just sucks dick and balls. Due to the format of it only existing in flashbacks there is absolutely no time for the audience to see the characters have legitimate chemistry or cute moments, so they try to use shorthand like the characters laughing together or whatever, but it falls flat because this is literally the first time we are seeing Mizu's husband and we know almost nothing about him. Every scene with them is super awkward and forced. There's no time for the audience to develop feelings or opinions on him, to the point that I am not using his name because I legit don't know what it is. Again, why not have Mizu come across her ex on her journey and have it be a source of conflict in the story? The way it's currently laid out is so goddamn boring that I was skipping through the parts where they weren't doing shit to get back to the good part (fighting).

Why are men? Must every woman have an on screen romance with a guy? Are we not allowed any other motivation? This isn't just me being a lesbian, this is genuinely such an annoying thing in media. There are so many guys who are on revenge missions who don't need to have their heart broken on screen too explain why they're murderous. Why did this need to happen to Mizu? We couldn't have had fmc with the same insane drive as Anton Chigurh or like the Basterds from Inglourious Basterds? There are basically no women in media who get to be just fucking nuts sans a tragic backstory with a guy and up until this episode, Mizu was one of them. But then we have to see how ooo actually she's a killer because a man broke her heart because god forbid women be angry at their material conditions. I'm not calling the writers misogynists or anything, I just think they took the boring way out in this episode.

The 'mother' reveal. WHYY NOT JUST HAVE THEM REUNITE IN THE BROTHEL OR SOMETHING?!?! This is the most frustrating thing. Her being alive during the flashback only to be killed by the end is a crock of shit if you ask me. It doesn't really affect anything because Mizu doesn't feel any different about her mother before and after the end of the episode BECAUSE IT ALL HAPPENS BEFORE THE STORY! If they had met during the timeline, we could have seen more development of the relationship between Mizu and her mother, but we already know that Mizu misses her mom because that's how she went into the episode. It was already explained in other episodes. Also by the end of the episode, she's still dead so what was the point of the reveal? If she had remained alive, Fowler's reveal that her mother is not her birth mother could actually change their relationship in an interesting way and could create intercharacter conflict which could be fun and cool idk.

The play framing device. I'm not too mad at this, it just feels kind of redundant given that it tells the same story as the flashbacks. I would have preferred they just stuck with this over the inclusion of the flashbacks because it's a lot more visually interesting and less on the nose. I do think that shifting Mizu from being the ronin to being the bride is lame, but that's just because it feels a lil heteronormative to me. Why does she havee to be the girl character in the play? Let her be the man, it's fine actually. I feel like it doesn't give us new information either because we go into it knowing that Mizu is violent and gets called a demon, then by the end Mizu is violent and gets called a demon, so again I think it was a little pointless.

I think that's all of my grievances, so here's some final thoughts. I really liked Blue Eye Samurai overall, I just think that this episode really fumbled the bag. Looking at reviews of the episode, it seems like most other people really liked it and I'm on my own here, but that's fine. I stand by what I said and will proudly hold my status as a hater up high. There are so many more interesting ways the show could have spent its time and I think it's such a shame that it fell back onto such boring storytelling. I also have my gripes with the way that the Swordfather flashbacks played out, but I think that it has a little bit more relevance than the time that Mizu was married so don't think I'm being selective in my hatership. I also have some very specific gripes with the way that this episode affects Mizu's relationship with her gender and sexuality in a really stupid way, but those are largely due to me projecting so I will not get into it here.

Once again, if you really like this episode, that's great, I am so glad. There are some parts I really like. The fight scene is awesome and I really like the parts where we get to see Akemi being the badass that she is. I wish there was more of that. As always, Ringo is the best guy ever and I love him, it's cool to see the way that he stands up for himself when Mizu does something he disagrees with. I just don't understand why we got so sidetracked by something as unimportant as an ex-husband. Usually I understand the concept of show don't tell, but if the only way you can think of to show us that is flashbacks, try again.

Anyway, I hope this makes sense and that you guys get what I'm putting down. Feel free to argue with me if you want, I'd like to understand why people like this episode so much given that I had such a negative reaction to it.

#I am also a butch lesbian Mizu truther but that's MY problem #blue eye samurai #mizu blue eye samurai #the tale of the ronin and the bride

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robo-dino-puppy · 9 months ago

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10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 Tags

thank you for the tag @bluntblade! (i'm embarrassed this took me so long. also i've never been good at ranking things so uh don't consider this list in order of most favorite or anything)

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Character I think about if I'm having a bad day <3 This scene between the windows in Partners in Crime never fails to cheer me up. Also: "You're not mating with me, sunshine!" Theeeeee best platonic relationship with the Doctor IMO.

Varl (Horizon)

Aloy did not appreciate this good dude nearly enough. I want Varl to be my BFF. T_T But HFW happened and... I won't say too much about that or we'd be here all day. He's alive in my head and that's all that matters.

Cimorene (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles)

Cimorene! She's no-nonsense and clever. She wasn't a fan of being treated like a princess so she went and "got captured by" a dragon so people would stop bothering her, and helps her cook and organize her library. I mean, goals.

Loki (MCU)

I wasn't into the MCU when it started getting big, and in fact I didn't see any of the movies until I read someone on Tumblr (c. 2012) going on about (paraphrased) how awful it was that people liked Loki because he was the absolute worst and if you liked him you were a gross immoral person and you should feel bad. So I went and watched this Avengers movie everyone was talking about. And guess what haters? He is terrible and I love him.

Parker (Leverage)

Although I am not brave enough to throw myself off buildings, sometimes I amuse myself by thinking "what would Parker do?" and since a canonical option involves stabbing someone who's bothering her with a fork and jumping out a window, the thought cheers me up even if I can't do that.

Aziraphale (Good Omens)

He just wants people (aside from Crowley) to leave him alone in his bookshop. He never fits in with his "side" but tries to do what they want anyway, because that's the good thing to do, and he wants to be good. I can relate so hard, buddy.

Milo Thatch (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

Ok so... I totally had a crush on Michael J. Fox and I was already interested in linguistics back when this movie came out, and then here's a main character voiced by him who was a linguist! Milo had to be my favorite :D

Elena Fisher (Uncharted)

I will fully admit that some of my initial love of Elena came from her AI covering my panic-flailing self early on in the first Uncharted game (I'm THE WORST at games with guns, even on easy, it's actually embarrassing) - but she impressed me right away when she was not overly impressed by Nate. And her snark game is on point.

Zeb (Star Wars Rebels)

I feel like Zeb needs more love. Comic relief character who actually has an unbelievably tragic backstory! And his story has so much untapped potential! We never really get to explore what happened with Lasan, and then then dump Kallus in there with his defection to the Rebellion and his whole *handwaves* history with the Lasats and eventual apparent (b)romance with Zeb - and the show had so little to say about it! Huge angsty storytelling miss right there. (Dave why.)

Brian Finch (Limitless [2015])

This dude! Lovable but he would be SO exasperating to deal with IRL. His arts-and-craftiness just resonated with me. He was always making stuff out of toothpicks and yarn and papier mâché and clay and and and- I'm still mad this show only got one season.

zero-pressure tags: @mari-mary, @ayaitch, @hannahmationstudios, @inomakani, @fogsblue, @nerd-artist, @singingkestrel, @prototypelq, @tjerra14, @artekai or just consider yourself tagged if you want to do it!

#tag game #ty this was fun!#it took me so long because my brain has been overwhelmed mush lately and *waves vaguely* WORDS #but also... how tf does the tumblr gif search work?#i couldn't find what i wanted for some of these so i just took all my own screencaps instead lmao

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loa-bracket-battle · 1 month ago

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Ok wait no there’s gotta be a problem

HOW ARE MARIUS AND LETHICA LOOSING

Like ok, Bitsy I can vaguely understand but even then like. She’s not gay she transcends gender and sexuality with her stupidity, she cannot win against LETHICA NUGHTBORNE

Like hell, I’m only a bit over halfway of EoM ep1 but that woman? My brother in Witchlight (no don’t you lie, we all came from those shorts) she is so gay. By comparison, I’ve watched all of Uprooted (so far), twice. Bitsy is AT MOST some kind of a-spec and/or genderqueer. Lethica? Lethica is so gay she’d turn straight men into lesbians

Also Jean-Claude? Seriously? This man doesn’t have time to be gay, you fools. He’s too busy being a lawyer AND a hater. He’s too busy plotting vengeance on his brother. He’s too busy being a menace and an economical terrorist. Why do you bother him with gayness, he’s got a job to do and a chicken to pluck! If he’s queer I guarantee you he is aro to the bone.

Marius, on the other hand, is very gay. Also he is trans (like all of Andy’s characters). Have you seen him? Look me dead in the eyes and tell me he doesn’t scream gay to you. Ok, now look at Maricho. Do you see it? Do you understand? Oh, Lethica? Darling only a fool would say these two are straight. They are the gayest ship I ever did see and don’t let heteronormativity sell you otherwise

Sorry for putting propaganda in your askbox, I hope that’s okay with you <3

Loving this bracket so far, good work :D

I so understand you and I love the propaganda, you guys really get it <3

I expected Lethica to absolutely demolish Bitsy and I am shocked, same with Marius.

like I said before, it may have to do with the popularity of certain campaigns over others, plus the fact that Jean Claude is a newer character, fresh on everyone's minds (plus UpRooted has been streamed more recently than EoM)

I don't know the numbers, but I'd also be willing to bet more people have watched UpRooted fully through than those have watched EoM fully, so there's that

anyway, justice for the gayest straight passing couple in avantris

#asks

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three-eyed-elk · 1 month ago

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(lazy) intro post!

will redo this at some point…ok ahem!! this is going to be long, i loooove oversharing…

hi hello!

i go by Gray(Grey?) and Elk…but i respond to Sydney, too.

Pronouns: He/They

This blog is a mess, i haven’t the slightest idea on how to use tumblr, so if you’d like something that isn’t constant shitposting and probably rants, find my tiktok! @//three.eyed.elk.

Spins: Camp here and there, Will Wood, Revelator, Rainworld, Warrior Cats, Animals!!!, The Plague Dogs, RDRII,

addressing my weird sydney sargent thing..

ok so i don’t believe myself to be a fictionkin, i believe what this is is just a strong attachment to him, and his memories and stuff, but not always as my own. i think he just really resonates with me, we are incredibly, uncannily similar, and listening to this podcast made me feel SO seen and heard. (also a little freaked out…mayfield stop watching me! /j)

So yeah, i don’t exactly view myself as Sydney, (although occasionally if i’m mid episode i might, as he brings me immense comfort and my brain latches onto that.) but i’m not Sydney, usually! hope that makes sense. if anything i could maybe call this fictionflicker? copinglink? it’s very ambiguous and shifty.

fun facts!:

I study in the animal field of things! I am incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to animals, especially their care as pets. I have a Green cheek conure (Spearmint), Four hermit crabs(Smog,Sparrow,Squid&Rhubarb), a mixbreed dog(Oreo(i know i know)), Powder blue Isopods, and Springtails!

I am autistic, i have ADHD, and secret body illnesses (i suspect hEDS or fibro), i share a LOT of symptoms with BPD, and was at a previous stage thought by my mental health team to have it- we concluded that although i fit the BPD criteria flawlessly, and still think i may have it, i am just autistic with a stupidly bad abandonment issue and other trauma responses. So if you see me reblogging BPD things, that is why!

I consider myself a very accepting and mindful person, so pretty much everyone is allowed so long as you’re not hurting yourself or others (in a sense of like, racism, homophobia, zoos, animal abusers, so on so forth).

Supporter of cringe culture and judgement free here!!

boundaries!! :

questions are open for anything, i overshare way too much so feel free to ask anything. I have no social filter.

dms are open for whatever, but i tend to ghost people when overwhelmed so be aware i might not get back.

this is…strange but sydney haters dni, due to the fact my own life experiences mirror his very well, and my personality is pretty much exactly like his (albiet aussie version), people who dislike Sydney and/or his actions make me a little icky, just cause, then, you don’t like me! thank you <3

if you know me IRL, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!!! as much as i love and adore all of my in person friends, i really do need a place to be open and vulnerable without worrying how it will impact my relations with people i know irl. i am fully aware of how easy this blog is to find, but i hope you will respect my needs for a place to ramble and cry and vent without consequence. big thank you! love you!!

mmmmm i think that’s it…i hope that’s it…

thank you for reading!!

#chnt #threeeyedelk #elk yaps #what is tumblr how do i…oracle fumes enlighten me!

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psychewritesbs · 1 year ago

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How do you feel about Gege's overall writing style?

Am I wrong to think that sometimes he introduces stuff, interesting stuff that could be further explored but just drops/brushes past it?

Cause ngl I'm genuinely fearing for Megumi right now. The way Gege had handled the Zenins before, the politics, the clans, the higher ups - all intriguing plot points that led to nothing of notable consequence, makes me think he's fully capable of ditching a proper closure for Megumi despite all the build up. I'm also quite disheartened that, for a shonen manga that has enough awareness to question the idea of 'child soldiers', it doesn't seem that eager to delve deeper into the root cause - which is the jujutsu society and how it affects generation upon generation of sorcerers.

The Zenins are my biggest gripe with regards to this. I know not a lot in the fandom care for them but tbh I found Naobito, Mai and Naoya pretty interesting, esp. Naobito. I find him pretty reasonable and that bit of exchange wherein he tells Maki he'll put her under trials befitting her goal of becoming the Zenin clan head, made me think he had potential to be more nuanced than just a misogynistic prick. But, then he dies and gone he is along any possible character arc.

And with his death we got to the Megumi becomes the Zenin head plotline which - didn't lead to anything meaningful in the overarching narrative (at least so far, but I don't really see Gege backtracking and picking this subplot again). All of this gone to waste just so Maki could get a power up. Even Naoya seemed like he was just written to be a punching bag for one character. And while I know loads in the jjk fandom loved this mini arc, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now, I'm not a Maki hater. I liked her before, but after her power up she just became bland to me. And I hate how so much subplot was wasted just for her. Megumi didn't even benefit from any of this. We didn't even get to explore his dynamic with the rest of the Zenin which is just criminal. We could have delved into generational trauma. We could have had Megumi finding out more about Toji which could lead to an emotional conclusion if he ever gets told the truth about Toji's death. As it stands, I don't get why finding out would even matter to Megumi atp, since he doesn't have any emotional attachment to Toji and the story doesn't seem inclined to rectify that even just a bit. Like, we could have explored more of Megumi's character and other relationships. Cause contrary to popular opinion, and while I may seem like I'm being contradictory just for the sake of it, but his relationship with Yuji and Tsumiki is the least interesting thing about him for me.

I know that Yuji and Megumi's bond has more bearing to the overall narrative of the manga (and basically even to Megumi's character as well), but I feel like while Yuji gets to be explored in the lenses and relationships he build with other characters (like Junpei, Nanami, Todo, Choso, even Gojo just to name a few), Gege doesn't seem all that interested in doing the same with Megumi. We barely get scraps of interactions between him and other characters. And it feels like Gege is purposely limiting him to just Yuji, and Tsumiki, although we know how this particular one turned out. Once again another possible character relationship introspection gone to waste. Tsumiki being treated like a plot device felt like an insult to Megumi tbh. That's one of the only 2 developed relationships he had but, again, it gets brushed off.

Now I'm probably just overreacting, but I'm highly pessimistic with Gege's writing and execution of Megumi's character. Not to say he's not well-written, the reason why I'm this pissed is because he is the exact opposite and I think there's so much more to him that could be expanded upon beyond his relationship with the MC.

Hola! Welcome back to our regular programming with JJK confessions Sunday! Not on a Sunday.

Ok so you ask two specific questions:

How do I feel about Gege's overall writing style? I love it. Although I'm looking at writing style from the perspective of how Gege conveys his vision and not necessarily the technicalities. This kind of requires that I am in tune with that vision. While I do feel like the technicalities have room for improvement, I'm so focused on the vision that I am not concerned with the technical bits. I also see Gege as a an amateur writer who is having his first major commercial success and who is doing a really good job for how long he's been writing. I often talk about CLAMP, right? And I by no means want to make it seem like their first commercial success (Tokyo Babylon) was bad. I LOVE tb and it is well-written. But there is a marked improvement in storytelling and writing that you can follow along throughout CLAMP's career. So I kind of see Gege in the same light as someone who is going to improve his craft.

Am I wrong to think that sometimes he introduces stuff, interesting stuff that could be further explored but just drops/brushes past it? No, you aren't necessarily wrong.

Let's taco'bout it under the cut.

I was actually having a similar conversation with a moot about this because I don't necessarily think that Gege is leaving loose ends, I see it more as two things happening:

First, patience grasshopper! In a couple of interviews with the cursed cat that have surfaced lately where he talks about his writing, he makes reference to writing as a craft. When I read those interviews, the way he talks about how he writes feels like he's very intentional about how he chooses to plot, develop characters, etc.

Problem is sometimes we don't see a payoff for some time. i.e. I don't remember the actual chapter number, but the enchain clue was dropped as early as somewhere around chapter 12, but we didn't get a payoff for another 200 chapters.

We also learned about Gojo becoming "The Strongest" as early as chapter 70something, but we don't learn how that identity hindered him for [insert maths here] chapters.

The other thing I see happening (and I can't necessarily back this up take a shot for every time I use the word necessarily in my answer) is that Gege is a metaphorical thinker.

Regarding this, someone in an ask before said something that made sense to me: Gege might not be grounding his vision into the page in a way that is concrete and understandable to everyone--I agree.

As a highly metaphorical thinker myself, I struggle with communication because the way I use language to convey meaning is too flexible, ambiguous, and dependent on people picking up on the mental images I associate with the words I use when I speak. And... unfortunately for my infantile desire to be understood in my own terms, communication doesn't necessarily work like that.

All that said, from reading you, I have the feeling you are a natural meta-thinker, and that you have a very good imagination that is very expansive.

So it's only fair and understandable that you'd like to see Gege expand upon the themes you mention. After all, they ARE good and interesting plot points and you can see the untapped potential.

The part where I'd disagree (although I am not necessarily disagreeing), is that, while these themes are touched upon, they aren't necessarily the sole focus that Gege might have in mind for the vision he wants to convey. Exploring these themes in depth would also necessitate a much longer manga, and it seems Gege has an end in mind that he's trying to reach.

I swear if I say necessarily one more time.

So yeah... I can see why you feel like he's brushing past these themes, but to me Gege is simply exploring "depth" in a way that is perhaps not aligned with what you'd like to see.

For example, you might disagree and I could be wrong, but I see the whole "child soldier" theme and looking for "the root cause - which is the jujutsu society and how it affects generation upon generation of sorcerers" theme playing out through Kenny's desire to push the evolution of mankind. There's something here about how Kenny's goals are a sort of continuation of Geto's will.

As for Megumi lacking some sort of emotional connection to Toji, you have to remember that Megumi says one thing and feels differently sometimes. Saying "I don't care" is a conscious defense mechanism for wanting to suppress "caring too much". Again, I could be wrong, but from a psychological perspective, we are inevitably emotionally bound to our biological parents. So we have yet to see how this plays out. Clearly Gege has something in mind.

Sticking to Megumi--I want to write more about this, because I used to agree with you about Tsumiki. I don't know how to explain in concrete language yet, but the more I think about it, the audience was never meant to see the real Tsumiki, and that was the whole point. Tsumiki existing in Megumi's imagination is the whole shebang because she represents his anima, which he has to integrate into consciousness as part of his psychological development.

The way I see it, what Gege did with Tsumiki, is both 100% shameless plot device and masterful Analytical Psychology and Psychology of Fairy Tales in action.

As for your grievances about execution. Here's where I join you 😂. God did I hate the Sakurajima arc! I l liked things about it, ofc. But Naoya coming back and getting his ass kicked again just made me want to move to Alaska and lock myself up in a cabin and become a recluse.

I can see the arc's role in retrospect (reading people's meta about it really helped with it), I acknowledge it, and I still didn't like it. 'Tis what 'tis.

I think every manga has that one arc you are just not going to vibe with.

Love your comments about Naobito and Naoya being interesting characters too! Mai also strikes me as a well-executed example of Gundam Seed's Flay Alster.

So anyways, you might disagree with what I say but, in writing this, goal is to invite you to think differently about what you mentioned if you feel inclined to do so.

Thanks for stopping by anon and here's to hoping Gege doesn't drop the Megumi storyline.

#ask the mental gymnastics anime girl

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