#listen the themes may not always be coherent in this game but by god i will make them coherent

[cure-icy-writes]

the gender politics in persona five are so fucking real. ann is hesitant to do modeling full time because she’s victim blaming herself for what happened with kamoshida. ryuji obliviously mentions that ann is missing out on going for a communal bath, forgetting it’s not mixed bathing. yusuke and morgana both put her up on a pedestal-- yusuke seeing her as one of the muses of old, morgana seeing her as not just a love interest but as proof that he’s human, that he can be loved back by a human, and she’s just an object of his desire. 

makoto and sae especially-- sae wants her sister to seek power specifically because she’s a woman, because she knows how hard it is to be respected as a woman in this world and wants makoto to have the best chance possible, even though it’s only making makoto miserable to try and play respectability politics in a game where no one gives a damn about her genuine desire to help people. and it raises the question-- how long can people take advantage of her altruism before she gives up on it, before it’s easier to just be bitter and uncaring like she pretends? the road to power is a long one. she’s already tired.

[blueskittlesart]

What are your thoughts on what power means in the triforce? In some games, it’s said that the hero must have a balanced heart to wield the triforce (which means demonstrating courage, wisdom, and power). It’s clear how Zelda and Link show wisdom and courage respectively, but how do they each wield power? What does power even mean for them?

i love you i love you i lov eyou anon holy shit this is such an interesting topic to talk about im going to write a 10 page essay about this. god.

"power" is deliberately vague, i think, so that it can easily be attributed to ganon/demise, the "evil" side of the triforce. but the reason ganon turns to evil is almost always an overt display of ambition without balance. he wants the POWER to rule hyrule without the WISDOM to understand that responsibility, which is why hyrule under his rule turns so quickly to ruin. (i think he and zelda are foils moreso than him and link, because wisdom is more often than not the element he lacks, which may also be why zelda is so often the "sacrifice" to revive or unseal ganon--sacrificing wisdom for greater power but losing one's morality in the process.)

the most interesting exploration of the concept of balance of the triforce's 3 sides comes, unfortunately for me, from twilight princess. not the game itself but the manga, which handled the entire theme of corruption infinitely better and more coherently than that mess of a game. sorry this isnt a twilight princess slander essay i promise but i have to complain a little bit. anyway the manga has an arc which explores link's steady decline as he prioritizes courage and power and lacks wisdom, leading him eventually to an extremely dark place. (this all happens directly after zelda is imprisoned by ganon which i think was a REALLY smart way to overtly connect link's decline to an out-of-balance triforce and a lack of wisdom. anyways.) there's also some interesting exploration of how GANON handles his lack of balance in this manga but it's not actually relevant to this question so. i will shut the fuck up about it for now. anyway this manga is the framework around which i think about balance in terms of both link and zelda so I had to give you that context before i get into the actual answer lol

as for your. actual question of how link and zelda show power respectively. i honestly think it's quite obvious for link lol. it can be taken literally as power in battle. Link is able to take down monsters that have terrorized entire civilizations for years. he is always a fairly skilled fighter initially, even when he is as young as nine years old. the twilight princess manga arc i mentioned before only serves to reinforce this, i think, as his fall from grace is explicitly because he becomes too confident in his own power and combat ability. There's a point to be made about how many links are explicitly left-handed swordfighters (again. a point in the tp manga that forever changed how i thought about link. agh.) left-handedness gives one a huge advantage in a fight, because most people are right-handed and therefore most people will have only ever trained against a right-handed person, making attacks from the left much harder to deflect and adapt to. It's a natural, POWERFUL advantage that he has over everyone he fights. link is just a naturally powerful kid, which obviously does not ever work out super well for him but i think that speaks to how power is the most unstable side of the triforce--it's easy to see it as a natural blessing, but it's also the easiest to exploit or turn to evil.

zelda on the other hand is a little more complicated, because a lot of her character is rooted in powerlessness. i'll use oot as the obvious example: 9-year-old zelda KNOWS that ganondorf is not to be trusted, but her voice continuously falls on deaf ears to the point that she accepts help from another nine-year-old. no one will listen to her, and this powerlessness explicitly sets off the chain of events leading to ganon's takeover of hyrule. And i think that in plenty of games, zelda does start out at odds with the triforce of power by design. In oot she reclaims her power through becoming sheik. in breath of the wild, another zelda who struggles with feeling powerless in the face of the calamity, she reclaims her power (and arguably gains courage) when she steps in front of a dying link to save him. actually botw zelda's balance of the elements of the triforce is a can of worms i should NOT open here because this post is already way too long. in any case, zelda is often unbalanced at the start of her story, and it's usually through the reclamation of her own power (after link rescues her in most games, though i tend to like the games where she does it on her own better) that she is able to, in tandem with link, defeat ganon.

[awilddreamermain]

Hi, Chels! Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you! You deserve every follower and more! That is a threat, I'm holding everyone hostage 🔪

I would love to get a MHA matchup, I wanna see who you'd match me with! Got me so curious! SFW & NSFW if you'd be willing!

My name is Chloe but I prefer May, nicknames include May-May, Maybell or Chlo.

I'm 25, pronouns are she/he, Cancer Moon, Aries Sun and Virgo Rising. Quite the weird mash of zodiacs, huh?

My favorite colors are pink (that soft pastel kinda baby pink), red (especially blood/garnet red) and...can I add pink again? Any shade of pink this time. Bubblegum or hot pink.

Favorite AU's include A/B/O, Mafia, Historical, Fantasy and does Mythical Creatures count?

Oh...oh boy, I gotta look deep for some fun facts that aren't just...facts but I'll do my best!

1) My sneezes are so short and high pitched I go "chu".

2) I have vitiligo, makes me look like a dog because it's mostly around my mouth and my right eye so I have a spot!

3) I have atrocious balance, my knees and shins are always banged up because I cannot for the life of me walk correctly.

4) I have a stutter, on top of speaking so quickly it turns into a jumbled mess. So good luck understanding what I said because I have no idea either.

5) I have a growing unicorn plush collection. My favorite is Cupcake, one that's actually taller than I am. Big chunk.

My likes are pretty simple. Cute & soft sweaters, blankets, warm coffee and strawberry milk, pastries and the cold! Winter is my favorite season. History, particularly the Medieval and Victorian times.

My interests revolve around creativity and you could say they're my hobbies as well. Drawing in particular, I used to do digital but I'm stuck with traditional pencil and paper at the moment. I'm dipping my toes into painting and its very fun! Obviously writing and reading and if I'm not doing of those listed then I'm definitely playing video games.

Personality I might say I'm quite split down the middle. At first, to a complete stranger I might come across as cold, stoic, with a resting bitch face, that just wants to get whatever I'm outside for done so I can leave. I'd create a witty or sarcastic comeback if I was given sass by a Karen but with my speech issues? I'd be lucky to get one coherent word out at her...and spend the rest of the day fantasizing what could've happened. So I'm rather quiet, agoraphobia hits hard in large or crowded places so I'm an anxiety riddled mess on the verge of a panic attack. In private or with people that I'm comfortable with? Complete opposite. Happy, bubbly, cracking puns and jokes so get those groan worthy reactions. I try to be the "mom friend" and get over my issues if someone is having it worse, I'll march up to a counter and ask for ketchup if someone wanted it but was too scared to do it themselves. The shoulder to lean and cry on, I'm highly empathetic and understanding, compassionate at times. But I have to actively try and keep myself positive and say good things about myself because I do fall into the pit of self-loathing and hate.

For appearance I'd say I'm average height, pale with white splotches that are inching larger due to my vitiligo, chubby, ashy blonde, blue eyes, button nose. I'd say I'm decently cute? I don't know if I can rate myself.

Okay I know I said I'd be looking into Zodiac compatibility for this but— I literally just screamed internally "KIRISHIMA" when I was reading this. You two would be perfect omg. This Libra king would do anything for you. For this you're an artist and the daughter of a mafia boss :) I like to think of ship names sometimes so like, yours would either be like Eijmay or Mayjirou or Kiriloe— that last one and first are awful I know so lets go with the second? I can't write a proper stutter for the life of me so I tried to keep your dialogue to the minimum.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ Pairing: Eijirou Kirishima

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀AU: Mafia

⠀Theme Song: You're The One That I Want - Alex & Sierra

How you meet (his point of view):

⠀⠀The gallery was full of black and white suits, tight, floor length dresses with the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses meeting his ears. It was a joyous evening, celebrating the wonderful art work created by the boss's daughter. He had never met her before but he had heard whispers, all good as no one would dare slander the name of their leader's precious little girl. You were the boss's pride and joy, thus he kept you as far away from the darker side of the family business as possible.

⠀⠀Kirishima was still a new hire, a bodyguard of sorts and would consider this his first gig. He had an idea of who he was looking for as he walked further into the mass of people admiring your work but didn't expect what he would eventually come across. You were as far away from the crowd as you possibly could be, guzzling glasses of wine and over all appearing to be a deer in headlights. He couldn't fugure out for the life of him why you seemed so frightened until he watched people approach you to talk, noticing the stutter in your voice when you replied to questions and greetings,your body language telling people to stear clear of you.

⠀⠀So, he did what he was hired to do. "Kindly step away from the lady." He said with a smile, approaching with his large arms crossing over his broad chest as he towered over the guests. They looked at him as if he were a giant shark looking to devour them before scurrying away, leaving the two of you alone. He stood quietly, listening to the voices on the other side of his ear piece as his ruby eyes scanned the area around you. He made sure to not stand so close and avoided in letting his gaze wander.

⠀⠀He couldn't help but admire your skin in quick glances, finding the spot over your eye to be quite adorable. Your silky, ask blonde hair was all dolled up for the event, light make up on your face but not enough to cover the vitiligo. You were stunning and his heart hammered against his chest. So the rumors were true.

⠀⠀You thanked him, voice quiet and careful as you set down your wine glass and clasped your hands together. Out of the corner of his eye he watched you twiddle your thumbs. You didn't want to be here, did you? This obviously wasn't your idea, how could it be? A girl like you, timid as a mouse, didn't want to be surrounded by strangers. "Miss..." He began, thinking carefully because the last thing he wanted to do was piss off the boss and likely get himself killed. But this was his job wasn't it? Making sure you were happy and safe? "Would you like to leave here for a bit? We'll come back of course, but you look like you need some air."

Extra.

He ended up taking you to a drive thru restaurant and got you whatever you wanted, letting you talk about whatever you wanted or sat quietly if you chose not to talk at all If it was quiet in the suv then that was fine too, he just wanted to help you in any way he could. Eventually the silence becomes small talk and then leads to a rather deep conversation about whatever the hell was going on inside that beautiful brain of yours. Kirishima wasn't the smartest man but he wasn't stupid, he wasn't as clueless as most thought he was. You told him how your father made you do this as an attempt to get you out there, to socialize and possibly find a suitor. This was the mafia after all.

The Confession:

⠀⠀It was a tradition now, every Sunday you and Eijirou would go to your favorite café to have coffee and enjoy the early day weather before it got too hot. You sit at the same table, in the same chairs with him facing the door. You get the same drinks and food and just overall enjoy each others company. After that night at the gallery you two became fast friends, which your father obviously had to approve of but thankfully he did. Kirishima was a good man, he's trustworthy and puts you before himself.

⠀⠀The day he approached your father and asked to speak in private was the day he knew he was likely to get thrown in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. He has confessed his feelings for you to your old man, who listened intently with a blank face behind his desk. "Sir, I'm in love with your daughter, and with your blessing I'd like to... court her." He was utterly terrified when your father cleared his throat and sighed, shifting where he sat so he could stand and move around the desk. He reached out for a handshake which Kirishima looked up at him with a questioning look.

⠀⠀Your father gave his blessing and now... He just had to tell you, his best friend, that he loved you. God he loved you so much— "Kiri," you interrupted his thoughts, bringing him crashing back to reality," a-are you alright? You seem nervous." He swallowed hard in response but cleared his throat, taking a sip of his cappuccino.

⠀⠀"Oh yeah— definitely." He breathed with a laugh, moving a hand to the back of his neck to scratch. How was he going to say it? "So, uh—" he licked his lips, adjusting himself in his seat multiple times until he groaned and leaned forward. "Fuck, I'm just gonna say it— Maybell, I love you. I have for a long time now and I talked to your father and he said—"

⠀⠀"Said what, Eijirou?" Your eyes widened at his confession and he felt like a complete idiot. Should he had said something to you first? Was this a mistake? What if you didn't feel the same way? God his mind was going to explode—

⠀⠀"That I could... court you. With your permission." You were quick to nod and smile to his surprise, which prompted a grin if his own.

Extra.

Kirishima HAS to be facing the door in any public place you go to. I don't make the rules.

He never let's you walk close to the road, he has to be between you and it at all times when you're walking.

He oders your food and drinks for you when you can't but is there for moral support when you do. He wants you comfortable and happy. He wouldn't ever dare get in your way though, you're a lot stronger and braver than most may think you are.

The Relationship:

⠀⠀On days like this, Kirishima can't help but admire you. He catches himself staring wuite often but he just can't help it. What did he do to deserve such a beautiful partner? He looks at you and all he can think about is how much he loves you and wants to see you smile. He watched you from the kitchen island, leaning against it as you waltz around the kitchen in your pinky fuzzy slippers and one of his shirts that's much, much too big on you. He remembers your surprise when you found his clothing was actually too big on you and how happy you were.

⠀⠀"Maybell?" He hums, adjusting his stance and crossing his arms on the counter. He listened for you to him back in response, a smile on his lips. "You look so cute in my clothes.

⠀⠀You giggled, shaking your head and continued putting the dishes away until Eijirou appeared behind you, arms wrapping around your waist and his forehead coming down on your shoulder. "Need somethin' baby?" You turned your head just slightly, a brow cocked inquisitively. He squeezed you in response, swiftly lifting you and making you squeal. Thankfully you didn't have anything in your hands at the moment. He peppered kisses all over the side of your face, setting you down only to lift you again bridal style.

⠀⠀"I've got all I need right here in my arms." He chuckled and you playfully smacked his chest, letting him carry you to your shared bedroom.

Extra.

TICKLE FIGHTS.

He thinks your sneezes are the cutest thing in the world.

He loves your god awful puns, they crack him up every time.

Adores the fact you're a nurturer, especially with your friends. He thinks you'd make a great mother but if that's something you don't want he respects that.

You take care of everyone, but who takes care of you? Eijirou is always there to be your shoulder to lean and cry on, he's your sound board and is always happy to let you talk about your feelings with him. You're allowed to not be happy and bubbly all the time, he realizes how staying positive all the time can actually do more damage than goof, especially if you bottle everything up.

If on a particular day you're struggling with your speech he's happy to be your voice as well. He understands you better than anyone, even your own father.

Speaking of your father, he can't wait to make Eijirou his son-in-law! He's a good man with a good heart and treats you right, what's not to like?

He has trouble saying no to you and spoils you quite a bit.

The Fights:

...

Extra.

There's nothing, what you say goes and all he can say is "yes dear". He knows better than to argue with you, however when he's right and he knows he is, he finds a way to prove it without making you mad.

The Sex:

⠀⠀"Fuck baby—" he hissed, hands finding your hips and guiding you as you rub yourself on his cock. Your hands are on his thighs and your head is tossed back, giving him the perfect view of your tits. God he loves them, he loves the plush skin of your stomach and your thighs, your ass too, he loved seeing all of you. He was so happy that you allow him this privilege of seeing you, granted you've been dating a while now but still. Your sounds are music to his ears and all he wants is to make more, make you feel so good you're calling his name and making a mess.

He wanted— no, needed, to feel you, to feel inside your warm and wet cunt, to feel it squeeze him and milk him dry. He was quick to flip the two of you over, careful to not hurt you as he did. You gasped and giggled, reaching up to hold his face as he smiled, leaning down to capture your lips in a searing kiss. He loved your taste, he could go on and on about all the things he loved about you all day if he could. "You want it baby?" You nodded excitedly, lip caught between your teeth. He smirked and reached between the two of you, thick fingers tracing a line between your lips and slipping inside your soaked pussy.

"D-Daddy—" you whine, a slight pout on your lips as your face morphs into one of pleasure. He chuckled, pumping his fingers in and out a few times before removing them and grabbing his cock. He coated it more in your slick, guiding it between tge lips of your cunt before slowly pushing inside, groaning at how tight you are. You squeal of course, gasping for breath because Kirishima is an impressive size, you still struggled to take him sometimes but like a good girl you always managed.

"That's my good girl." He cooed, moving so his forearms were on either side of your head. He gave a couple test thrusts, waiting for you to adjust u til you nodded for him to continue.

Extra.

Terrified of activating his quirk while he's fucking you, but he keeps himself under control.

He loves his hair pulled and he loves to be bitten, he especially likes it when you scratch his back when he hits that good spot.

Eats you out for his pleasure mostly, but for yours as well. He loves when you grind on his face and moan his name when you do it. Speaking of, please sit on his face, he loves that shit. He knows how to be careful of his teeth!

If you have pets they CANNOT be in the same roon when you're doing the do, it's just weird.

He'd happily bend you over in the kitchen and do you right there. Hell, he'll fuck you anywhere you deem suitable.

He likes to do a mixture if praise and degradation with you, and edging and overstimulation is a big go-to. He just loves seeing you squirm under him, hr loves hearing you beg and say you need him.

[all-at-once-you-are-the-one]

Stream of Consciousness Lover Album Reaction

I wrote out my first thoughts while listening to the album and put them in one big post. I hope you find them as funny as I do lmao

1. I Forget That You Existed

LOL so that’s what the drake Easter egg was about!

Who is this about????

NIIIIiiiiiiiiiIIIiiiiCE

SHE SOUNDS SO GOOD

I JUST FORGOT WHAT THEY WERE LMAOOO

HER LAUGH!! SO CUTE!!

This track is somehow savage and adorable at the same time

So......yeah.......

ShnfhKJHGKSHDKGHSKGHSJG

2. Cruel Summer

This is giving me Katy perry vibes

The devils roll their dice line is from this?? Didn’t expect that

This is maybe the catchiest song I’ve ever heard

Why is this not a single??????

STILL DONT KNOW WHAT SUMMERS A KNIFE MEANS

EXPLAIN TAYLOR

This also kind of gives me Jonas brothers vibes, why???

Again.....what is this about???

OooOOoooOooWhoooooAAAAhh i loveeee this

OOOH no you know what this gives me GETAWAY CAR vibes

Wait...do we think that at the beginning joe wanted to keep their relationship private and Taylor agreed but then changed her mind? WAIT NO.....is this about her having to keep her love for joe secret at first the summer they met because she was with someone else/it was too soon??

3. Lover

Ok SUPER WEIRD transition into lover but OK

As much as I love albums with a clear narrative like rep I also like being all over the place so this is fine

CAN I GO WHERE YOU GOOOOOO

FOR EVER AND EVER ANDIIIII

YOURE MY MY MY MYYYYY LOVER

I wonder what inspired her to use the term lover? Does she not know that normal people don’t speak like that?

WAIT IS THE REASON LOVER COMES AFTER CRUEL SUMMER because of the 3 summers line?? Like look how we started...now were here

Does the album begin with i forgot you existed because its like ok this Kanye situation happened...but now were gonna forget about that and talk about the realer real story of the past couple years of my life rather than seeing it through the lens of that story like on rep

4. The Man

THE ACCURACY

THE ACCURAACCCCYYYYYYYYY

IT HUUURRTTSSS

Honestly though i actually thought this one would be more savage, i thi

DID SHE JUST SAY BITCHES AND MODELSSSS?????

SLJGSHUKGHKDG

Never mind this is as savage as i wanted

I should know better than to judge a Taylor song before the bridge

Again why isn’t this a single.....it better be

5. The Archer

The emotional whiplash this album is giving me is insane.

It’s like RED but with synths

Is the archer placed here because part of her lack of self confidence comes from the things the media says about her (because she’s a woman not a man?) INTERESTING THOUGHT

Don’t have much else to say about this, we already know

.....

Wow the cake i bought for tonight is somehow way too sweet

6. I Think He Knows

Definitely didn’t think i think he knows was about being horny af

But this is so catchy

Why is everything so catchy?? Literally every song should be a single

BOY I UNDERSTAND the confidence!! After the archer!! I love that he makes her feel that way1!!

I THINK HE KNOOOOOOOWWWWSS

This gives me teenage dream vibes and i fucking love that song

7. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince

Ok time for the one with the weird title

I love how she keeps comparing her current feelings to how she felt as a teenager!! How its the same and different....very good.

SHES A BAD BAD GIRL

More dice!

Is she imagining what it would be like if she was in this relationship in high school? Because I DO THAT ALL THE TIIIIME GIRL SAME

THATS MY WHOLE WORLD SOOOO CUUUUTE

YOU PLAY STUPID GAMES YOU WIN STUPID PRIZES

VOTED

MOST

LIKELY

TO

RUN

AWAY

WITH

YOU

I really like this one. I didn’t expect I would.

This should be a single.

8. Paper Rings

THE VOICE EFFECT

She’s singing so fast on these songs!!!! I CANT KEEP UPP

UH HUH

THATS RIGHT

This is so retro and i loooooooooooooooooooooove it

DIRTY DREAMS??????? TAYLOR PLEASE

OMG THE COLOUR WE PAINTED YOUR BROTHERS WALL

THE PICTURE

THE PICTURE

FROM THE REP MAGAZINES

SDIHGUSHGUKHDZRKUGHKUDZHGUHDZGHDKZHGYIDZJLGJLDJGJSDJGDHZGHLGHLSHGHDG

II LIKE SHINY THINGS

THIS SONG IS SO FUN! ALL THESE SONGS ARE SO FUN!!

Ok baby boy that’s kinda weird but you know what..

....

....

Ok its still weird but maybe it will grow on me

This should be a single.

9. Cornelia Street

HERE IT IS!!! THE FIRST TAYLOR PRODUCED SONG

I NEVER WANT CORNELIA STREET AGAIN?? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?? THEIR WORST FIGHT? ANOTHER RELATIONSIP? QUESTIONS

The storytelling!

Wait......is this about before they ran away together in CIWYW?? Like she thought he didn’t really want her so she was gonna run away alone...but then he was like no i really do lets go

I totally thought that this was the one with the staring out the window like I’m not your favorite town line was from

She ended it with the line she started with (i think)? Ike she used to!

Kinda feel like people hyped this one up too much but i do like it

10. Death by a Thousand Cuts

The piano!!!!

Like a thousand notes a thousand cuts

Look through the windows of this love - like the heart on her eye! I get it I GET IT lmaoooo

If this song was on red it would have the saddest production but on this album its a bop

11. London Boy

IS THAT JOE??? OMG lmao

HER ACCENT LMAOOOOOOOOO

I don’t know if this song is supposed to be as hilarious as i think it is but i really do think its hilarious

What does like a Tennessee Stella McCartney even mean????

I kinda feel like this song is too specific to her life to be relatable so maybe that’s why i feel that way about it?

12. Soon You’ll Get Better

Ok great... so we went from that to the sad one

I have to prepare

I didn’t tell you i was scared....

Cause you have to...

The fact that this is the country song...

I cant

GOD NOW IM CRYING THIS IS SO SAD

That was the only song so far i had to actually stop typing for. God....I’m so sad for her and her family.

13. False God

I can barely take this song in because of what just came before.

But i really like it. And i really like the theme of religion on this album

14. You Need to Calm Down

NOW YNTCD IS PLAYING

??? IM LITERALLY SOO SAD FROM SOON YOULL GET BETTER STILL

I CANT

PROCESS

THIS

This album is literally all over the place, i keep trying to assign a narrative to it and its not working out so I’m just gonna give up

Sometimes albums are just collections of songs and not a coherent, linear story and that is ok! Even if its not what i prefer

It certainly didn’t bother me on her first few albums.

The one thing i take away from this is like...no wonder she’s so determined to be so overly positive, i think for her its that or break down crying in the face of what’s happening in her family

15. Afterglow

I really love this song!!! Hashtag relatable

......

Man..you can really tell even just from my typing that my heart isn’t in this anymore after that song

Like

Fuck

I think I’m just sad for me too, because i know that i will go through that too sooner rather than later and I already have friends dealing with losing a parent.

16. ME!

My only thought on this is god bless brendon Urie for injecting so much additional joy and energy into this song and making Taylor happy, i just get the vibe that she really needed that

ALSO WHAT THERES REALLY NO HEY KIDS SPELLING IS FUN

TAYLOR EXPLAAIAIIIIIIIAIAIIAN

We’ll see if its on my physical cd copies when they arrive...if not then maybe it was always planned to be a line only in the single version

17. It’s Nice to Have a Friend

Ok I don’t really like this song that much but i really like the messages she’s trying to send like...real love feels like hanging out with a childhood bestie, so comfortable

18. Daylight

I WAS LIKE MEH

BUT THE FUCKING BRIDGE

THE BRIDGE

IM EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED

Also something about the chorus reminds me of the chorus of starlight

STEP INTO THE DAYLIGHT AND LET IT GO

YES

I WAS LIKE NO IS THAT NOT A LYRIC??

BUT IT ISTHANK GOD

THE END

YOU ARE WHAT YOU LOVE

THAT WAS LIKE

MY MANTRA FOR A COUPLE YEARS A WHILE BACK

BECAUSE

I LOVED SO MANY PEOPLE BUT THEY DIDNT LOVE ME

AND I WANTED TO BE DEFINITED BY THE FACT THAT I LOVED THEM NOT THAT HTEY DIDNT LOVE ME

IIIIIIIIIIII

I

IN CONCLUSION:

My feelings are everywhere. Some songs disappointed me but some blew me away - soon you’ll get better is basically the new Never Grow Up for me which is saying a lot. Everything is catchy a hell though even the songs I didn’t like as much. Ultimately i would have liked more songs about varying subject matter esp. self love but as it is, it is still somehow so all over the place. It really just shows how many emotions and phases can be contained within one relationship (i mean I’m assuming every song about a relationship is about joe). I really think that the song about her mom maybe should have been placed somewhere else...I don’t know where I would have put it but that shit is HEAVY. I am so honored that she and her family would share that with us though. I have a million question about how Andrea is doing and if my theory on why tour hasn’t been announced is correct...maybe she will explain more in the interviews/secret session audio we’re getting in the next couple days. I think my favorite song is Lover but that may change. I don’t think any song on here tops my current all time favorite Taylor song though which is CIWYW. That’s a little disappointing but not every song or album has to be my fave! And this album will probably grow on me esp as i hear Taylor’s explanations of it. Rep did. I really did nooott feel good about most of rep at first, it took a few days.

[felassan]

The Elves in the Tirashan

This became quite lengthy, so it’s under a cut

Fires still lick at the blackened ruin of the farmstead. The mud in the yard is grey with ash and churned by footprints. Some flee westward. Others, light and slender, circle the ruin. One of your guards pulls an arrowhead from the smoking wood. "Elfshot!" He hisses.

The homesteads along the hissing fringes of the Tirashan were unprepared for the attack. You listen to the refugees' tales of a narrow moon that spread long tree-shadows, of the lithe figures that slipped between them, of arrows that sped from the night, sudden as death.

"The knife-ears drove us from our home!" one peasant cries. "We heard them, laughing from the dark!"

Your soldiers clash with elven archers at the forest’s edge. The elves are cold-eyed, with tattoos of brilliant crimson. They extract a red price from your warriors before fleeing into the deeps. For a time, the border is untroubled.

“I’ve fought the Dalish before,” mutters a scarred sergeant. “I’ve heard them call on their gods in battle. Elgar’nan for vengeance. Fen’Harel when they think all is lost. But these ones called out to no gods I’ve heard of before. They weren’t calling out for aid; they were offering us up. Like pigs on a platter.”

So these are my 2 all-time favorite text excerpts from Dragon Age: The Last Court, from the event Sylvan Raids. been fascinated with the elves that live in the Tirashan ever since. so interesting and mysterious!! so ripe for wild speculation and wondering on multiple fronts. 👏  👏

emerging in the half-light of the moon from the depths of the Tirashan to raze and reave nearby human habitations and kill.. the text is suggestive - these don’t seem akin to those isolationist Dalish clans trying to drive away humans who are encroaching or protect themselves or similar. they distinctly seem to delight in the killing. is it punishment (for the humans)? is it a sport or a game (for the elves)? is it sacrificial, like some of the text seems to suggest- are they sacrificing humans to their deities? I’m kind of reminded of the mythos (I use the word mythos here because ‘facts’ about this subject area grew arms and legs and entered pop culture spreading misinfo) surrounding human sacrifice in some ancient human cultures in our world. is there possession at work here? is there a connection to sylvans (trees possessed by demons or spirits)? are they corrupted somehow (red lyrium, plague, pestilence, Taint, madness).

are these red tattoos a version of vallaslin, or something different? why are they all red - presumably a link to blood. blood magic? red lyrium? or simply this hue to symbolize ties to the blood of the hunt and suchlike.. such tasty scraps these excerpts are. and who were they calling to? The Forgotten Ones - like Anaris, Geldauran, Daern’thal and others? the Forgotten Ones are held to have presided over the worst aspects of existence - like spite and malevolence, which are qualities right on-point for people slaughtering and sacrificing innocents. or maybe the old gods, the Forbidden Ones (remember though the possible connection between the Forbidden Ones and Forgotten Ones hinted at in the Band of Three), demons, entities yet unknown? the top contender is, of course, the Forgotten Ones, though the activities and described countenances of these wild elves remind me most of Andruil, who was really a goddess of sacrifice and who hunted mortals/other sentient beings - particularly the Andruil that was maddened and howling and plague-bearing thanks to the Void. these elves just seem in my head to be evoking the same kind of imagery.

what of the tattoos designs? are they vallaslin equivalents to the Forgotten Ones instead of the Creators?

I’m intrigued by the specific reasoning behind the supposed sacrifice. in their culture is held as a way to gain power? is it simply an act of worship to their deities - an offering or appeasement, or because such sacrifice is a way to espouse and enact qualities like spite and malevolence? are they compelled to do so?

it’s interesting that the guardsman says they don’t seem to him to be Dalish, because we do hear in the lore of some Dalish clans who live by banditry and as guerillas, and who play games with stray humans like Fen’Harel’s Teeth.. I wonder if there’s any connection between them both, or if the implication is that the Tirashan elves are even more overtly hostile-to-humans than these varieties of Dalish.

alternative theory which I think is important to note: these encounters are told through the eyes of humans and recounted by the human recipients of the actions, and so possibly biased and or unreliable, exaggerated, etc.

most importantly - who are these elves? one of the event response options seems to call them Dalish elves:

The Dalish rarely launch an attack like this without cause. Perhaps some of your folk strayed too close to one of their camps

but that sounds to me like a human’s assumptions when considering the event that unfolded. For the sake of clarity, if the humans were encroaching on their land (their forest) and wandered too close to their camps, driving them away is justified and not without cause.

 are they ancient elves? there’s a quote somewhere about it -

There is activity in the Tirashan. Strange elves, like those at the Temple of Mythal.

so are they some of these ancient elves who Solas seems to insist are around somewhere in modern Thedas, "yet lingering?" are they always awake or do they come awake every now and then a la Abelas and crew (except not bound to the will of a Creator as they were, but rather the will of the Forgotten Ones) only to reave and sacrifice before returning to slumber until next time?

All manner of things slumber in the Tirashan forest. It's best to let them be.

there are other scattered references to or hints at remaining lingering enclaves of ancient elves - ex. I sometimes wonder if the ‘distant clan of Dalish’ that send the Inky the red hart mount are an enclave of ancients.

or (and I particularly like this idea) are they modern-day, mortal elves, but have lived in complete isolation apart from the Dalish (or Dalish-we-know), deep in the Tirashan since the fall of the Dales? (I’m reminded of Geldauran,”apart until he strikes in mastery”..) at the Fall of the Dales, groups of elves could have scattered in all directions - elves with different opinions and leanings and diverging beliefs. tbh, I don’t really enjoy at all “ancient elves this, ancient elves that” in theorizing (for me) or like, in general (modern elfism!!). so this notion is way cooler to me. we’re told again and again in the lore that Dalish clans are diverse and all different from each other because they usually live in isolation and the diaspora is disconnected. you’re telling me they all worship the Creators in the exact same way and there’s no variation on such themes? multiply this factor by a much greater ordinance for elves who may have culturally diverged from the Dalish group before “The Dalish Elves” was even really a thing, and the scenarios are even more arresting and puts me in the mind of Tolkien elves, with the varied Kindreds, ‘elf cultural group phylogenetic tree’ and Sunderings etc.

in the Dales before the fall, worship of the Forgotten Ones continued in the shadows, despite the efforts of Creator-worshipping elves to stamp it out. there were priests of the Forgotten Ones as there were priests of the Creators.

The DA tabletop RPG has this to say:

Supposedly, no Dalish can remember these dread beings. All their tales are thought to have been lost in the centuries before the fall of Arlathan, even though a few powerful spirits in the Fade still whisper their names: Geldauran, Daern’thal, and Anaris, the gods of terror, malevolence, spite and disease. Some fear that these dark beings are less forgotten than most believe, and that a terrible few have strayed deeply into darkness in their quest for vengeance against the shemlen. If these fears are true and secretive cults do indeed hide among the elves, then such lost souls have torn out their hearts and forsaken all that it means to be Dalish in return for the keys to a twisted and terrible strength.

are the Tirashan elves Forgotten One cultists? it’s not a big leap. (and my bias talking: modern-day mortal diverged Forgotten One cultists is way more interesting to me than “ancient elven enclave/ancient elves in hiding”. if you twist my arm though BioWare I supppooooose I’d accept ancient elves who follow and/or are bound to the Forgotten Ones though. :P) and the title for that segment of text is The Forgotten Ones, so it would seem to be so. (it’s just interesting to think about all possibilities)

an aside: it’s not really a cult if it’s your specific culture’s religion though is it. also obligatory comment: I wonder what Felassan would make of them had he encountered them in TME rather than regular Dalish.

gaffsfdddhhh, I just want to meet the Tirashan elves so badly. thanks for coming to my barely coherent TEDramble.

[ilirimaer]

Animus Online (Chapter VII)

Summary: With the invention of a virtual reality device that allows you to explore an open-world MMORPG you are able to experience a brand new world like never before. Are the captivating members of the Bangtan Guild whom you meet during your adventures truly the strangers you expect they are?

Genre: Science Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Comedy, Friendship and Romance

Rating: T; Violence, some adult themes, and occasional foul language. Rating may increase in the future. A/N: Long wait, and I have no excuse other than life... but I sincerely hope you guys are satisfied with this chapter. I will definitely edit more later, but I wanted to get this out ASAP! Please let me know your thoughts. <3

Chapters: [ I ], [ II ], [ III ], [ IV ], [ V ], [VI], [VII]

Member outfits for the curious

Chapter VI: The Ranger

Word Count: 5,824

Chapter Playlist: (Charli XCX - Track10, BTS & Zara Larsson - A Brand New Day, Pentagon - Nothing)

You flinch as a small branch scratches your arm during your unsteady trek throughout the city trails. The path you are travelling through is unpaved, but manmade waste has found its way there anyway. You utter a disgruntled noise, rubbing the stinging line on your arm as you walk toward a pile of crushed soda cans lying on the grass. 

You position your steel trash grabber over one of the cans to grasp the item, holding open trash a bag to deposit the can inside it. The stinging lessens into a dull pain as you take care of the rest of the aluminum cans. 

Pausing for moment to yawn tiredly, you cover your mouth to preserve your dignity, despite being almost completely alone. Although you had accompanied the environmental science club on this clean-up project, you hardly knew anybody well enough to join their group.

As if on cue, raucous laughter interrupts your thoughts, making your chest tighten in an ugly way. You breathe out slowly and glance toward the source, watching Taehyung and Jimin attempting to prod each other with their trash grabbers. The rest of their fraternity brothers from Beta Theta Sigma gathered around them, cheering their antics on. 

Sighing in exasperation, you place your trash grabber and modestly filled trash bag against a tree. If the BTS boys could catch a breather, then you suppose you could as well. You wander even farther from the paved trail and trudge toward the lake, twigs and dead leaves crunching under your feet none too quietly.

As you reach the edge of the lake, you back into a large tree and slump to the ground, resting your back against the rough bark. You gaze thoughtlessly at the glistening lake, admiring the illuminating blanket provided by the morning sun. The tension leaves your breath as you observe the minute ripples on the lake’s surface. Their concentric radiation lulls you into a calm hypnosis.

Closing your eyelids, you rest your head against the bark of your welcoming host. The cool warmth of its shade envelopes your body reassuringly. Seconds become drawn out as you surrender to the lulling calm of nature.

“[Y/N]? Is that you over here?” a deep voice calls out, breaking your hypnosis.   You jerk upright, turning quickly to face the stranger. The sunlight obscures a majority of his features, but the curve of his lips seems familiar. The brightness makes the soft peach fuzz on his cheeks prominent and illuminates the glowing tawny hair on his head. His eyes squint as he examines you as well.

“What are you doing over here? The group was moving on, but we noticed you weren’t around,” he voices with concern, stepping closer to your shade.

Realizing the stranger is Taehyung, you can’t help but lower your eyes before shaking away the strange hollow feeling away. 

Taehyung crouches down at your side. “Are you alright? You seem disoriented,” he murmurs softly, placing the back of his hand against your forehead. 

You open your mouth to respond but are unable to think of any coherent responses before he moves on to scan the rest of your body. 

He quickly grasps your elbow, pulling it up to examine your arm more closely. “You’re bleeding! Or you were… it seems dry now. What happened?”

Your eyes widen in surprise. Had the scratch really been that deep? You incline your head to examine the wound for yourself. An angry red gash surrounded by a dark red crust stares back at you accusingly. 

“A tree back there scratched me. I hadn’t realized it was that bad. And I just needed a breather, I was a bit tired,” you mumble, dropping your gaze to your lap. 

“You should be more careful, [Y/N],” Taehyung frowns, lowering your arm gently. “Nobody saw you leaving you either.”

You give him a weak smile. “Ah, I would have been fine.”

He drops his gaze to dig into his canvas shoulder bag and you look back down at your arm, absentmindedly brushing the dried blood crust from the wound. “Ah here it is!”

You look up, slightly startled, to see him holding up a small bottle of hand sanitizer and a band-aid. Your face breaks out into a smile you can’t help, ‘Of course he carries that kind of stuff around.’

“Let me clean that up for you!” Taehyung urges, leaning forward to grasp your arm again. You bite down on your lip silently, anticipating the sting before feeling it. He smiles at you apologetically as he unwraps the band-aid from its wrapper. Your heart flutters in a strange way as he carefully lies the bandage down to cover your wound. 

“Looks like we’re going to need a few more,” he declares after examining that the lateral edges of the wound were still exposed. As he dips his hand back into his shoulder bag, you stare in amusement at the cartoon Pomeranians decorating the band-aid. 

“Hey Taehyung, have you found her?” a low voice calls out, before a lanky figure comes barreling into your sight from the cover of the trees. You turn to see Namjoon bending over, his hands resting on his knees for a moment before he turns to face the two of you. His face appears to brighten when you make eye contact. “There you are, [Y/N].”

Your breath hitches at the sight of him and you turn away, raising your free hand to partially cover your mouth as you listen to loud footsteps and yelling signaling the arrival of the rest of their friends. ‘Had they sent a whole search party?’ you squirm uncomfortably as Taehyung lays down the last of the bandages.

Dead leaves crunch under Namjoon’s feet as he walks toward you with better composure. You lower your hand and reluctantly turn to look at him. When he reaches your side, he leans on his knee while extending his other hand for you. The sunlight reflects from his blond hair, framing his face like a delicate golden halo. With a dimpled smile, he encourages you, “Come on, [Y/N]. We’re all waiting for you.”

Normally you would snub his offering and rise on your own. You were tempted to but something about the several pairs of eyes around you, including Namjoon’s crescent moon eyes, forced you to grasp his hand reluctantly. His hand was uncharacteristically smooth as he pulled you up to your feet. You release his hand as soon as you’re steady on your feet, feeling uneasy about the physical contact with your one-sided arch-nemesis. 

Much to your surprise, Taehyung easily loops his arm around yours, breaking the soon-to-be-awkward silence. “Come on, let’s go before they leave us behind!” he exclaims, pulling you toward the main trail, where the rest of the environmental science organization were located. 

“Thank you, Taehyung,” you blurt out, suddenly remembering your manners. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he flashes you a boxy smile, patting the uninjured part of your arm.

As you walk by his side, you turn to look at the rest of his six friends, who are laughing amongst each other, happily in their own bubbles of happiness. Your eyes leave their energetic forms to capture the sight of the form of Namjoon still standing beside the tree, his eyes turned toward the lake as he basks in the serene glow of the morning sun.

______________________________________________________

“Are we almost there yet?”

“V, we just left the city,” Jin exclaims with exasperation, his fist swinging and narrowly missing V’s shoulder when the younger boy side-steps the attack.

“Why are you grumpy, hyung? Who took away your dinner?” V protests indignantly. 

“I’m grumpy because I had to wake up early on a Saturday because of you, you brat!” Jin yells as he aims a kick at the boy’s legs. 

V jumps to narrowly avoid their impact. “It was for a good cause!”

“For the love of God, can both of you ever shut up during an excursion for once?” growls Suga, charging his staff with mana.

“Seriously, you guys keep scaring away all of the prey! How else am I supposed to collect hides for crafting?” Kookie interjects, swinging his Warhammer haphazardly around him. 

You look on with amusement as the boys stop in their tracks and begin to argue about whether or not yelling actually scares away the creatures in the forest. A nudge at your side makes you turn to acknowledge Eunhye, who is glancing from you to the quarrelling boys repeatedly. “Are they always like this? And you say I’m exhausting,” she asks not so quietly. 

“I heard that!” shout Jin and Kookie simultaneously.

“That’s it,” Suga cuts in, swinging his charged staff downward. Black and purple flames erupt in the middle of the forest clearing, clearing away to reveal a dread zombie with strips of flesh hanging from its leathery body. It emits a low moan as it staggers forward in the direction of Jimin and J-Hope.

J-Hope screams upon catching sight of the rotting corpse and deftly scales a tree to avoid it. Your mouth drops as his movement on the branches causes loose leaves to fall to the ground. It had never occurred to you that it was possible to climb trees in this game. 

Before you can ask about it, Jimin breaks the silence while fidgeting with the pommel of his sword and backing away from the zombie nervously. “H-hyung, can you get rid of that?” 

Suga rolls his eyes, holding his staff loosely in his grip as he crosses his arms. “We’ve been playing for how long and you guys still think that thing will attack you?”

“It’s ugly!” Jin interrupts indignantly, glaring at the aimlessly wandering creature, as though its very existence were an insult to him.

“Some may even say that about you, but we all still allow you to exist anyway,” Suga drawls, waving his hand to dispel the zombie in a short blaze of dark purple flames. 

Jin sputters in response, reaching behind his shoulder to lift his lute, wielding it by its neck as if it were a sword, “How dare you! Take that back immediately, or I will bash you with this lute, even if it gets blood all over my clothes!”

Before Suga can turn and response, a loud explosion from a gunshot startles all of you except Namjoon, who stands calmly with a smoking gun pointed at the base of a tree ahead of your group. The splintering of bark surrounds the encased bullet and sawdust circles the impact area for a few seconds before dissipating. 

“While this has been… amusing… we should really hurry to get to the next town,” Namjoon smiles slyly as he holsters his gun. 

Before you can fully admire his effectiveness, your attention is diverted by the thud of J-Hope’s feet hitting the forest ground with a thud. “Seaside, here we come!” he declares happily and take off into a run toward your destination, the port town Ostia Antica. The rest of your group follows him with equal fervor. 

______________________________________________________

After a long trek throughout the forest made short by the antics of Bangtan (Boy, do those guys love to trip each other, you thought with amusement), your party found itself on the shoreline of the Ostia Antica beach. Hardly a word was spoken before Kookie and J-Hope ran off into the water, their hands flashing in front of their bodies as they switched out their questing gear for swim trunks. The rest of the guys wander off in different directions.

“Did ancient Romans even have swim trunks?” you muse, eyes crinkling with a smile as you watch them splashing each other with water. 

“Actually,” a deep baritone voice thrums beside you and you turn to see V leaning toward you. “Ancient Greeks and Romans preferred to swim in the nude,” he winks salaciously before running off toward an NPC. You gape after him, watching him kick up sand. 

“I get why you’re stuck like glue to these guys,” Eunhye jabs your side with her elbow, voice laced with provocation. “They’re very fun.”

You snort in response, opening up your player menu to look for swimming gear. “You’re just happy you have new people to flirt with without the need for commitment.”

“Hey, a girl’s gotta eat somehow,” she murmurs with a smirk, finger jabbing into the air in front of her. Her heavy armor questing gear is instantly replaced with a low cut two-piece bikini. 

You roll your eyes at her admission. “You do realize they could look like hideous trolls in real life, right?” 

“Hey, we start off with a template that looks like us in real life, and guys are lazy,” Eunhye grins. She twirls ostentatiously, “I mean, my own body looks close to the real deal.”

You quickly scan her body and grin in agreement. “Whatever you say. Some of them are a handful, if you ask me.” With a quick flash, your questing gear changes into a one-piece bikini. You look down in interest at a body that’s not quite yours, the swell of your breasts peeking out from behind the bandeau.

Eunhye whistles. “Oh, I love that on you. Come on, let’s go tease them and see if they blush,” she whispers mischievously, wrapping her hand around your arm to tug you forward.

You match her pace toward the sea and turn to raise your eyebrow. “I thought we were here to do quests, but alright.” 

She leans into you, “I already have a quest, and it has to do with that smoking gun over there.”

You follow her gaze to see RM strolling down the beach with a small pile of seashells in his hand, the warm glow of sunlight illuminating his form. Your gut wrenches inexplicably. 

“O-oh yeah, he’s pretty attractive,” you admit, feigning a noncommittal tone. 

You see Eunhye pause for a second, before leaning her head toward you. “[Y/N]? It’s okay, right? Or were you eyeing him already. I’ll back off,” she says with a serious expression. Her thumb grazes over your forearm soothingly.

“What?” you choke out. “N-no, don’t worry about it. Honestly, I don’t really have my eye on anyone. I just came here to escape from the world a bit, and I think they’re easy-going people,” you blurt out quickly. 

Eunhye eyes you for a moment, looking hesitant. You squeeze her hand gently and she finally nods slowly. She grins widely, “Alright, then! What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

As she tugs you hurriedly across the beach, you stifle an uncertain smile. You had barely spoken to RM, but something about the sight of him leisurely collecting seashells and admiring nature made you perk up with longing nostalgia. Still, it was no reason to bar your close friend from pursuing him. As you and Eunhye begin wading into the lively waves, you are smacked in the shoulder by a large object. 

“Hey!” you blurt out, indignantly rubbing your shoulder even though the sensation faded away quickly. You see a red beach ball floating on the water and quickly pick it up before it can be carried away by the waves. Then, you look toward the source of the throw, seeing the remaining members of the Bangtan Guild laughing. You quickly scan their faces and find the odd one out, V, looking sheepish and rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. 

“Let’s destroy them,” Eunhye whispers maliciously, eyeing the ball in your grasp with a covetous gaze. 

You bite your lip, holding back a smirk as her energy sways you. Taking a second to morph your expression into a vulnerable pout, you turn to look at V. “I’m so sorry, [Y/N], rea-“ his panicked apology is cut off by the slap of rubber against into his bare chest. With an exaggerated flail of his arms, he falls over backward into the water with a big splash. 

If the boys were laughing before, they were absolutely howling now. “He absolutely deserved that,” Hoseok asserted between fits of laughter. “He’s been initiating us all into this game by hitting us with that ball.”

You and Eunhye exchange amused looks and nod, deciding to wade closer to the group of guys. "You guys are going down!"

______________________________________________________

Eunhye manages to knock V into the water for the fifth time, much to the delight of the rest of Bangtan. You watch in amusement as V resurfaces and spits out water before launching into yet another tirade about feeling targeted. 

“Hey everyone,” a deep baritone voice calls out enthusiastically from the shore. You tune out V's rant and turn around to see Namjoon wading in slowly, holding up a perfectly formed sand dollar. A huge grin is plastered on his face, highlighting his deep dimples. “I just found a bunch of these and an NPC paid me quite a pretty penny for them. Kind of wanted to keep one though, since they look so nice. You guys are such a sight, causing all this ruckus.”

Your heart clenched in a strange way at his casual admission of sentimentality. Before you can think of replying to the silver-haired leader with anything, Eunhye boldly swims up to him. 

“Took you long enough! Say, do you want partner up for a chicken fight?” Eunhye asks in a coquettish tone, tucking her hair slowly behind her ears so that her breasts rise above water ostentatiously. RM notices the effect of her movement and you notice his ears quickly turning red.

“O-oh, I don’t know,” RM stutters out, his eyes snapping back up to her face quickly. “I’m not that strong, maybe you should ask Kookie.”

“Ahh… you should go ahead, RM-hyung,” Jungkook gives him a sheepish smile, flashing his bunny teeth. “I have absolute confidence in you.”

RM’s eyes flash with a dark look at the maknae before he quickly shakes it off, turning to give Eunhye a polite smile. “Alright, I’ll try my best.”

Eunhye’s expression morphs into that resembling the cat that swallowed the canary. RM seems to notice her smugness and seems to shrink back hesitantly, swallowing nervously. If Eunhye notices, it only emboldens her further. She turns to face you. “[Y/N]! Pick a victim! I’m challenging you!”

“Victim? Yeah right,” Suga scoffs. 

“I heard that!” RM grumbles, crossing his arms defensively. He turns to look at you, likely determined to look at Eunhye as less as possible. 

You feel like shrinking back at the sudden attention for some reason, your arms crossing over your chest in a similar gesture. “I, uh,” you mutter with uncertainty, biting your lip. 

You turn to scan the faces of the guys, who are displaying varying degrees of enthusiasm.  You notice Kookie shrinks back behind his older friends, despite his apparent superiority at the game. J-Hope looks at you with an eager and friendly smile. Jin wears a pleasant, confident grin as he watches you. Suga looks between the three of you with a neutral expression. Jimin and V step forward, both looking eager to jump into the fray. Between the two of them, you decide V intimidates you the least. 

“I want V,” you blurt out, catching the surprise of everyone else. As the guys turn to comment to each other, you feel like burying your face in your palms from your unfortunate wording. 

“No fair, why reward him for hitting you with the ball?” Jimin grumbles as V walks past him with a smug smile. 

“Don’t mind his jealousy, [Y/N]. I’m perfectly capable of leading us to victory, even if I’m not a strength-focused player,” V asserts confidently. “I’ll make up for earlier, too.”

You smile hesitantly at your first friend from Bangtan Guild as he flashes you with a familiar boxy smile. You turn to gauge the reactions of Eunhye and RM. A speculative look crosses RM’s face before it is replaced with a flustered expression as Eunhye narrows the distance between them even more.

“Let’s go, then! Winners treat the losers with sweets at tomorrow’s opening festival!” Eunhye exclaims, bouncing on her toes impatiently.

“You heard her,” V grins, patting his shoulder. “Come on, get behind me and I’ll squat so you can climb on.” 

“W-wait!” you interrupt in a panic, making no move toward him. “I’ll be the bottom!”

“Uh, are you sure?” he asks in confusion. “I’m sure I’m heavier than you.” “Y-yes! Girls can take that role, too!” you assert with sudden boldness, puffing your chest up in challenge. 

V backs down, waving his hands in jovial surrender. “Okay, just making sure it’s what you want!” 

You nod insistently and turn your body with your back facing him. He approaches and places his palms on your bare shoulders. You note that the sensation is dulled, unlike that which you would experience in real life. When you crouch down into the water, the pressure of V’s hands on your shoulders increases as he leaps in the water to wrap his legs around your neck. Once you feel that he has stabilized himself on your shoulders, you turn to face Eunhye and RM, pointedly ignoring the jeering catcalls from the rest of the guild. He is heavy, but surprisingly lighter than you had expected, although this was likely due to the game. 

You turn around with V in tow, immediately catching sight of the reddening face of the group leader, who is trying his hardest to ignore the fact that Eunhye has been leaning forward, letting her breasts rest against his head. He shoots a nasty glare at the rest of the guys, who have been snickering at his predicament with no ounce of subtlety. 

"Eunhye, go easy," you call out warningly, with double meaning. Your best friend pouts for a second before straightening her posture to relieve RM of his humiliation. You shoot RM an encouraging smile, which he reciprocates sheepishly.

You approach the pair until there is only a foot between you. 

"Ready? On three," Jimin calls out, stepping forward to moderate. Your grip on V's legs tightens as you stare at Eunhye's feral grin. V ruffles your hair gently. "One, two… THREE!"

There's a flash of limbs above you as both Eunhye and V lunge to grab each other. As the two wrestle you struggle under the constant pushing, swaying your own body in an attempt to keep V on your shoulders. You hear an outcry of pain from RM as Eunhye hooks her thigh across his neck to stabilize herself and uses the other leg to wrap it around V's waist. Her action causes you and RM to stumble forward until your faces meet close enough for you to feel his breath on your face. 

Your rowdy friend begins to tickle V under his armpits, causing him to flail uncontrollably with laughter. "V! Get yourself together!" you scream as his movements force your face to smash against RM's. 

Your left hand releases V's leg so you can push against RM to keep his face from yours, but this proves to be a mistake when Eunhye suddenly shoves V backward. As you begin to tip over, you grab onto the nearest object for stability, which happens to be RM's T-shirt. As a result, both he and Eunhye fall forward into the water with you. 

As a large body slams into you, you feel a hard kick to your head from V as he flails in the water. The force of the kick knocks your head into the other person's, and you groan pitifully, feeling a stream of bubbles escaping from your mouth. You blink past the subsiding pain while reaching to rest your hands on the body in front you to push them away. 

As your vision begins to clear under the water, you feel a pair of hands over your chest. Your eyes widen in bewilderment to find that it's none other than RM, whose eyes are still screwed tightly shut from the blow. With little forethought your hands begin to charge with ice magic. His eyes open to meet yours in response to the cold for a split second before he is launched backward out of the water with an icicle impaled through his chest.

Without the extra weight, you are finally able to swim to the surface. You take a breath before the game can start to deduct health points from you for being underwater for too long. As you relax and float in the water, you take in the raucous scene before you. 

"I can't believe you just got speared in the chest!" J-Hope was shouting, clutching his chest as he doubled over in laughter. The rest of the guys and Eunhye were crowding around a disgruntled RM, whose chest was still impaled by an glassy ice spear. 

As you swim toward the group, you notice the health bar above his head had barely decreased. You note with disappointment that there was no continuous damage, at least that you could notice from his health bar. Unable to help yourself, you complain, "Hey, that icicle should have been way more effective!" 

RM's eyes widen and meet yours as he sputters indignantly, "Are you kidding? Is that all you have to say?" The rest of the group burst into even louder laughter. 

"O-oh, right! I'm sorry!" you exclaim, face flushing with warmth and you reach above water to tuck in your hair.

RM paddles forward aggressively. " 'Sorry'?! You attacked me and launched me right out of the water for no reason!" He exclaims with a beet-red face as Jin places a hand on his shoulder in warning.

You visibly deflate under his accusation. It figures that you would somehow get under the skin of the gentle, rational leader. 

"Hyung! Please don't be mad at her," V calls out, deflecting everyone's attention from your vulnerable figure. "It was my fault that everyone fell over and I think I also kicked her head on the way down."

You nod weakly in response. "I-I felt hands on my chest and I was so disoriented that I just acted. I'm sorry!"

A chorus of 'Ooh's breaks out and now it is RM's turn to become flustered. His stance loses its aggression and he seems to shrink within himself. "I-I thought I felt something s-" he pauses midsentence, before shaking his head vigorously. "I apologize deeply for touching you that way. It was a complete accident, I'm so sorry!" he bows as deeply as he can, his face nearly sinking fully into the water.

"A-ah, don't worry! Let's just forget all of it and put it behind us," you stutter out nervously, wringing your fingers through your wet hair strands. As RM straightens up from his bow, you notice his flustered grimace. He nods slowly. 

You smile weakly in a pathetic attempt to re-establish rapport with the silver-haired gunman. His face twists into a pained smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. 

The awkward exchange is interrupted by V swimming forward toward you. "Now that that's out of the way, do you want to go see to that thing I promised to show you?" he asks you with an easygoing smile. Your eyebrows furrow in brief confusion. Your eyes glance from his friendly smile to the awkward smiles of the rest of the group. V leans forward, his eyebrows twitching upward as if signaling something.

"O-oh yeah! That thing! I remember. Let's go!" you exclaim as you realize his intentions. You reach forward to grab his arm and pull him away from the group before remembering your manners. You turn quickly toward the guys and Eunhye, "We'll be back in a little bit, see you guys!" 

As you turn back around and swim away with V, he leans over and whispers into your ear. "You could really work on that subtlety, [Y/N]."

You flush under his words. "I don't really function normally under weird social situations."

He laughs gently in response, ruffling your hair again. "Neither does RM, despite how cool and collected he usually seems. Once a pretty girl enters the picture, he doesn't really know how to behave," he says, glancing at you slyly.

"Oh my god, stop it," you exhale through an awkward smile, turning away from him. He laughs in response and smacks your shoulder.

"Come on! I need to go show you how to shoot!" he insists, repeatedly splashing the water in front of him. 

When you process his words, you turn around to face him in confusion. "Umm," you murmur, "V, I don't know if you've realized this but we're in the middle of an ocean and pretty far from the shore."

"Perfect time to learn how to use a bow, I'd say," he asserts cheerfully. As he waves his hand to summon his menu, you stare at him.

"Are we going to shoot the arrows into the ocean?" you ask and look down in to the water, trying to see if there are any fish below you.

V snorts beside you as a bow materializes into his hand, as well as his quiver containing his arrows. A player menu appears in your vision prompting you that he is requesting a trade. You hesitantly press on "ACCEPT". An additional screen appears listing a bow and set of arrows. You glance at V questioningly before dipping into your inventory to slip a cookie into your offer and quickly concluding the trade. 

He whistles excitedly. "Sweet! I was about to say that you could just accept without offering anything, but no take-backs now!"

You roll your eyes before allowing a smile to slip onto your face. V was so uncomplicated even when he was being confusing, and it was something you appreciated deeply. 

"Go on," he encouraged while munching on his cookie, "equip them."

Your hands wave across you as you quickly equip the weapon. You had no idea what this guy was up to, but he seemed to have an idea of what he was going to show you, so you were happy to allow him the reigns. He had equipped a bow on himself and was now nocking an arrow, scanning the air carefully. 

"Normally," he starts as his arrow scans the sky, "I would have problems with hunting animals. But since this is just a game, I can dissociate from the idea."

Your eyes widen as you consider his words. It was true that it was much easier to dissociate from many of the things that would normally bother you if they were to happen in real life. It was much easier to let go of your shy nature and embarrassment of being in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. You could impale people you didn't know well with an icicle spear without worrying about it really affecting your relationship. Not that it would ever happen in real life in the first place, but it was an amusing thought. 

"Ah!" V interrupts your thoughts with a loud whisper. "Watch this." You take a glance at his target, a soaring seagull with blue feathers. Not a second later, his arrow shoots into the sky. Its path takes a slight arc before it makes contact with the bird's body, halting its flight. The creature pivots downward, creating a small splash as its body lands in the ocean.

"Let me guess," you interject after a brief moment of silence, "a piece of cake, right?"

He brightens at your words, either not recognizing your sarcasm or not acknowledging it. "You've got the right idea! Go ahead then."

Smiling wryly, you lift the weapon into a similar position as his. Hesitantly, you reach toward your quiver to retrieve an arrow. 

"Wait a second," V stops you, swimming closer. You look down as you feel the warmth of his hands adjusting your shoulder and arm placement. "Now you can shoot. Wait for the seagull to land on the water, though."

After watching him retreat with a smile, your gaze returns to the sky. Spotting another seagull, you chuckle. "I guess the realism doesn't extend far enough to make them fearful of us even when we hunt their friends down right in front of them," you explain after V utters a small noise of confusion. He giggles and you smile at the sound’s baritone quality. 

It takes another few moments for the seagull to land in the water for rest. Nocking your arrow, you aim at the creature and look toward V for approval. He scans your posture quickly and nods silently. You look back toward your target, taking a moment to adjust your aim to account for the arcing caused by gravity. After a few beats, you release the arrow. It whizzes over the bird's head, frightening it into taking flight.

You sigh, relaxing your arms. "Don't worry, that was great! Most newbies would forget to account for gravity, so their arrows would end up in the ocean before even reaching the bird. So it's good that you have the right idea before having me tell you," V assures you with a lilt of excitement in his voice. 

You brighten considerably upon hearing you had passed an unspoken test by the archer. "You mean I can quit my day job soon?" you ask with an exaggerated smirk. 

"You bet! Just an hour, and a class change may be in order, all thanks to the great tutelage of V," he smirks back. 

You roll your eyes with a playful smile before turning back toward the sky. Several attempts and only one stricken bird later, you are preening over your kill regardless. V manages to shoot down a handful of seagulls, collecting several blue feathers that you knew would be useful for alchemy. 

The two of you call it a day, unequipping your weapons and beginning the swim back to the shore. As you pad alongside him, you take a second to look at his side profile, illuminated with the luminous flow of the sun. 

"You know," you muse out loud, surprising yourself momentarily before deciding to continue. "You really are a good tutor. Thank you."

V's eyes widen slightly as he turns to face you. He seems to scan your face for a second with a thoughtful expression on his face before grinning. "I may or may not be one, you know?" he offers teasingly, before turning back to face the nearing shore. 

Your eyes become fixated on the back of his head, a strange tug of familiarity overcoming you as you examine the chestnut locks subtly streaked with green. A moment later, noticing that the distance between you was increasing, you shake away the thought before increasing your pace, your toes finally grazing against soft sand.

[swshadowcouncil]

“Predictable” Is Not A Four-Letter Word

Well, looks like it’s that time again. That’s right: it’s time to talk about our good friend, Subverted Expectations™.(WARNING: Game of Thrones spoilers below the jump)

Hey, who’s super excited for the upcoming Benioff and Weiss Star Wars trilogy now?

I’m alluding, of course, to the latest episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones, in which, after an 8-season-long journey learning to own her own power, master her fate, lead armies, free slaves, and reclaim her family’s place on the Iron Throne, Daenerys Targaryen evidently got just a wee bit too much girl power and decided to become…bad? I guess? Boy, who could have foretold such a stunning subversion of expectations?

(I mean, a woman gaining power, being gradually resented by the men around her for her ascent, and eventually being viewed as a megalomaniacal villainess who needs to be taken down a peg is kind of the opposite of a subversion, it’s actually pretty much what happens to most women in power, fictional, or non-fictional, but I digress)

Fan response, needless to say, has been…mixed. Generally, folks seem to be unhappy with this course of events, given that, aside from some allusions to “Targaryen Madness” throughout the series, the buildup to Dany’s heel turn has been widely seen as rushed and somewhat arbitrary. True, she’s suffered a lot in the past few episodes, but the series has also put quite a lot of effort into making Dany a sympathetic character. Complicated, yes, and flawed, as most GoT protagonists are, but still heroic and generally good. Even as a conqueror, she holds her armies to a code of conduct, shows sympathy to the downtrodden, and overall seems to want to be a good, ethical ruler even after she’s taken the Iron Throne. So, uh….what gives?

Those of us who were Star Wars fans during the release and aftermath of The Last Jedi will recognize this feeling all too well. And, much like with TLJ, the backlash itself spawned a backlash. “Actually,” declared the internet masses, “It’s good that Rian Johnson subverted our expectations. To follow through on what Abrams set up would have been obvious and boring. The whole point of storytelling is to be unexpected!” But if this is the case, why did so many people walk away from TLJ, or this past episode of GoT, feeling so unsatisfied? And why, for god’s sake, do we find ourselves constantly having this argument any time a new piece of media comes to an end?

The internet certainly provides many examples of the attitude that objection to an incongruous shock ending is somehow weak, entitled, emotional, and juvenile. There’s a sense that true fans of a franchise are tough enough to absorb an unsatisfying ending, that they actually find satisfaction from the dissatisfaction, and that to want an ending that ties up loose ends and closes character arcs (dare I say, even happily, at times) is to want one’s hand held, or to be incapable of handling nuance or bittersweetness. “Life isn’t always happy!” the internet masses cry. “Life doesn’t always make sense! Life is disappointing too! Deal with it!” But stories aren’t vegetables we’re supposed to choke down before we can leave the dinner table. The purpose of storytelling, for adults, at least, is not just to condescendingly remind the viewer that bad things happen sometimes, and force them to suck it up. Which, of course, isn’t to say that all endings have to be neat and happy, either–there are stories with dark endings that are deeply satisfying (Breaking Bad) and ones with happy endings that are deeply unsatisfying (How I Met Your Mother). There are even stories with subtle, unclear endings that still feel logical and satisfying to many viewers, albeit not all. The ending of The Sopranos, for instance was famously controversial for its ambiguity, but even this ending was tied to themes and concepts planted earlier in the series, and several perfectly cogent arguments have been written to explain this quite persuasively.

But what satisfying endings tend to have in common, that unsatisfying ones don’t, is a feeling of appropriateness and completeness. Most fans who hated the finale of How I Met Your Mother did so not because they resented that it was “happy,” but because they felt it was a 180-degree turn from the arcs of all the characters and storylines up until the last few minutes of the last episode. Conversely, people didn’t love Breaking Bad’s ending because it was “difficult” or “dark,” they loved it because it was a believable, complete, fitting ending to the story that had come before (funny enough, I would wager that more people guessed the ending of Breaking Bad than guessed the ending of How I Met Your Mother, though that’s neither here nor there). But in the current cultural environment, a person can gain quite a bit of attention for boasting that unlike those blubbering fake fans, they LIKED that this ending didn’t conclude the arcs that had built for years, didn’t pick up dropped plot threads, didn’t allow protagonists to learn anything or achieve their goals, and so on and so forth. That they, by virtue of some unspecified quality, didn’t NEED an ending like that in order to enjoy what they were watching. Do I believe people who say this? Well, maybe. Human opinions are varied, and I don’t allege some conspiracy where everyone secretly hates the same things I hate. Nonetheless, I often find a degree of disingenuousness in these statements. A good ending can be obvious, unexpected, happy, sad, or even ambiguous–but more often than not, what makes it good is that it is satisfying. And loving an ending because it is unsatisfying, because it gives the audience nothing it wants, runs counter to this instinct, like it or not.

To use one example of a satisfying ending (albeit not a true ending, since it comes in the middle installment of a trilogy), Darth Vader’s revelation that he is Luke Skywalker’s father has gone down as one of the greatest plot twists in cinema history. Indeed, if you didn’t know that a mystery like this was building, you’d never think to put the pieces together–the ominous references to Luke having “too much of his father in him” or having “much anger…like his father,” the Chekhov’s gun of Anakin’s murder that goes unaddressed throughout A New Hope, and so on. But this twist is somewhat unique in that much of the buildup to it was done retroactively. During the writing of A New Hope, there was no plan for Vader to be Luke’s father–instead, the decision was the result of looking back at what the story had built, and following it to a coherent, unexpected, yet somehow totally natural conclusion that set up compelling stakes for the subsequent chapter. That is why the Vader twist works–it wasn’t chosen purely so the audience couldn’t guess the ending of the film, it was chosen because that was a compelling direction for the story to go, because it complicated and heightened the stakes, and because it deepened the existing text through unexpected means. In other words, arguably the greatest movie twist in history wasn’t great just because it was hard to guess, it was great because of the emotional impact of looking backwards and realizing how well it fit into the framework that was already in place despite the twist being unexpected. The surprise on its own is only a surprise; the surprise filling in the blanks of the story so effectively is what makes it sublime.

So why, then, do we find ourselves sucked into a maelstrom of hot takes every time we say we dislike a shock-value ending? And why does this trend seem to have gotten so much worse in recent years?

Well, it should come as a surprise to nobody that fandom culture to begin with is notorious for the ways in which elitism, gatekeeping, and all-around dick-measuring feature in its social interactions. Anybody who’s spent time in a major fandom has undoubtedly encountered this bizarre form of competitiveness, whether it’s being quizzed by strangers on their knowledge of canon or listening to boasts of “I was into it before it was cool” that would make a Brooklyn vinyl store owner blush. What has changed in recent years is the increased integration of the larger internet into these fandoms, shifting fan discussions from the confines of in-person hangouts or small online chat rooms, into massive public forums such as Tumblr and Reddit. Suddenly, said dick-measuring is not only happening for a far larger audience (including the general public, not just hardcore fans), but likes, reblogs, gold, and upvotes actually give fans a metric by which they can “win” or “lose” these competitions, further incentivizing them as a go-to mode of interaction among fans.

Now, with longform franchises, such as Star Wars, Marvel, and Game of Thrones, this who-is-the-nerdiest-of-them-all dynamic runs headlong into another common form of fan interaction; that is, speculation. When fans of a certain TV show or film series gather together, it’s only logical that one of the main topics of discussion is what they think might happen to their favorite characters next. These two dynamics in conjunction with one another form a fertile breeding ground for the almost gladiatorial style of fan speculation we see in most major forums nowadays. One person theorizes about a certain future plot line and receives a shower of upvotes, likes, favorites, and so on. Another comes back with a biting critique, and is given even more praise. Eventually, what might otherwise be a simple discussion becomes an outright competition, complete with points and ranking systems to keep track of who is “winning.”

This paradigm, in turn, incentivizes a very specific style of speculation. If I begin telling you a story about a girl named Cinderella who lives with her wicked stepmother and two wicked stepsisters, who asks to go to the prince’s ball, and leaves a shoe behind on the steps of the palace, your inevitable prediction that the story will end with a shoe fitting and a royal wedding may be correct, but it’s hardly cause for bragging. Of course you could predict how the story would end, because the ending was obvious. However, if I gave subtle clues in my story that the ending would go a different way, and you were the only one to predict that in this version, Cinderella was actually a vampire the whole time, and the story would end with her turning all the other characters into vampires, you could get praise for your attention to detail and ability to pick up on clues others had missed in this (absolutely bonkers) adaptation of Cinderella. Those of us who have followed the Star Wars online fandom since the release of The Force Awakens will recognize this pattern of behavior, especially in the areas of Snoke’s identity and Rey’s parentage. Though most agreed immediately on the heels of TFA that Rey was heavily implied to be Luke Skywalker’s daughter (or possibly Han and Leia’s), it only took a few weeks for the tide to shift to increasingly fantastical theories. First, the relatively mundane theories that she was a Palpatine or a Kenobi, then the slightly more perplexing suggestions that she was a Lars or Naberrie, and eventually theories that she was an immaculately conceived Force baby, or a clone, or a reincarnation of Padme Amidala.

The simplest explanation for this progression is just that people get bored of talking about obvious theories and want to mix things up with more unusual “what if” scenarios. But it’s hard to ignore the way that the competitive nature of social media fandom fosters this paradigm as well. Like someone betting on horse races, the lower the odds, the higher the reward and the sweeter the victory. Guessing that Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter, immediately after The Force Awakens, would be like guessing that the story of Cinderella ends with a wedding–yes, you’re likely right, but so is any schlub off the street who watched the movie once and made an idle guess. However, if you guess that Rey is the reincarnation of Padme Amidala, conceived through the Force, and you’re right, you may well be treated as some sort of prophet. Cue the showers of fake internet points.

I should be clear here–I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to guess the right answer to a mystery, or come up with a particularly clever solution to a problem that nobody else has thought of before. To the contrary, these are very normal human desires, ones that anyone who follows my writing knows that I myself engage in. The problem is, again, that this incentive to up the stakes of speculation with increasingly nonsensical, out-of-left-field proposals, purely to outdo others, makes it so that cohesive storytelling without shock value is stigmatized in fandom discussions. Which, of course, makes it harder to call content out for being unsatisfying without being accused of being childish, unsophisticated, or foolish. And so, we wind up in a self-perpetuating cycle. When we set up a paradigm where guessing the plot of a story is a competition, any predictable, reasonable, ho-hum answer becomes “too easy.” We expect content creators to structure their stories to make our guessing games harder, because after all, what’s the point of consuming media if the sweetness of “victory” is undercut by a simple, obvious answer? And if setting up these unexpected endings comes at the expense of a satisfying story, the response from many fans is “so be it.”

Which brings us to an even more pressing issue: the actual impact this discourse has on media itself. Content creators are praised by this subset of fans for creating endings that viewers didn’t expect, because, as established, this style of writing enriches the “game” that they play with one another in various forums. Consequently, fans begin to assume it is in longform media writers’ best interest to structure stories this way–to build a story that seems as though it will go one way, only to pull a U-turn at the last minute just to ensure nobody guessed the ending. Fan discourse, in other words, is normalizing bait-and-switching as a core pillar of storytelling, rather than one of many techniques writers can use to build a compelling story. And, as more people who came of age in the internet era grow up to become content creators themselves, I fear that this recent spate of shock-value media is going to become more of a trend than an aberration. Much has been said about the internet creating political echo chambers, but so too can it create artistic ones–and without dissenting opinions at the table, those reverberations will only get stronger.

So, am I advocating that people fearlessly defend “predictable” storytelling in its common connotation of “boring” and “unoriginal?” Of course not. But even if a story isn’t predictable, an audience member with a keen eye, a good instinct, and some time and attention, should in theory be able to predict it. It shows that the writer has put thought into foreshadowing, thematic congruence, consistency of character and motivation, and overall cohesion. Great, surprising endings are not created by building false decoys of these things. Instead, they’re created by rendering them subtly, slipping them in under the audience’s nose so they’re not aware of a surprise building; or sprinkling in deceptively contradicting information so the audience has to struggle to reconcile these conflicts in their minds. To expand upon a metaphor from our own HypersonicHarpist, a good storyteller–like a good magician–may disguise what they are doing with sleight of hand and misdirection, but ultimately they don’t stop mid-act, set down the hat and wand, and then pull a rabbit out of a nearby air duct vent instead. Put quite simply, we are hard-wired to want stories that leave us feeling satisfied. And the beauty is, we all have different ideas of what that looks like–that’s where good, productive discussion comes in.

But when we let disingenuous, performative internet groupthink make us doubt our instincts that something is amiss, for fear of appearing uncultured or childish, we do ourselves and our media a disservice. Bad-faith criticisms of “predictable” story arcs have poisoned fan discourse to the point where even genuine appreciation for certain shocking endings are drowned out in the cacophony of hot takes. And until more people begin to honestly admit it when they don’t see the Emperor’s new clothes, discussions on media will remain that way. As fans in the age of the internet, we have unprecedented voice and access to content creators, and more tools at our disposal to create content ourselves than any generation before us. Now more than ever, the way we talk about media guides media. It’s up to each of us to make sure we have a voice in that conversation.

[tassium]

#TAYLOR SWIFT APPRECIATION LIFE

PART 6 - reputation

(part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)

Listen. This was by far the hardest review for me to get going into properly. I love every single track on this album without exception, and it was SO HARD for me to come up with coherent comments to make on all of them.

But I think I managed alright, and we’re finally about to embark on the wild ride that is @taylorswift‘s 6th studio album, reputation.

Hang on tight, and please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.

1. ...Ready For It?

No, Taylor, none of us were ready for this, not even a little bit.

Can we just talk about that introduction? like. What a way to kick off an album. This track grabs you by the hand and just pulls you along for the ride, like “get in losers”. That little throat clear at the beginning! the beat that drops off and lets her voice go all light and ethereal! This song is a wild ride from start to finish, and I love it. “Let the games begin” indeed.

And that MUSIC VIDEO!!! I want the rest of that movie, please.

I made a reaction video to this track/video and if you wanna check it out, click here

2. End Game

I love the synths at the beginning of this song, but I’ll be honest that Future’s verse took some time to grow on me. Ed’s verse and Taylor’s on the other hand? Boy. Those grabbed me from the start, as did the harmonies that are laced all through this track.

Is it just me or was this the first time she used the word enemies for the people she’s clashed with? I feel like that’s a new thing. 

I also reacted to this one when the video dropped, click here to watch

3. I Did Something Bad

Okay so first and foremost. Taylor Alison Swift, in the year of our lord 2017, swearing on a track out there in front of god and everybody. I feel like if there was any remaining ‘oh she’s just a sweet young thing’ attitude from anyone, this album shattered it to pieces in the best way.

The production on this track, I can’t even. This is an explosive track, it just hits you like a train and drags you along for the ride. There’s a bit on the way out of the track where she says “I did something bad” in a straight spoken voice and it is. Too much for this weak swiftie!

4. Don’t Blame Me

This sacrilegious hymn of a track. I swear. That almost broken electronic wavering synth behind the chorus. The choir effect on her voice. The stripped down beat-driven verse. The lyrics in general? My dude. I can’t. Also anyone who still thinks she has no range can physically fight me after that note after the bridge. That’s power is what that is.

Also can we talk about that behind the scenes clip of her filming the angry distant vocals for the chorus? I’m weak.

5. Delicate

Another thing I’m weak for is use of vocoder. And that beat that comes in for the verse! AND THAT LITTLE ‘delicate’ IN THE CHORUS!! kills me every single time. I’ll be honest here and say that the video for Delicate didn’t really grab me as much as some of the others, but the song itself certainly did.

Can we just. Talk for a second about how sad it is to think about that concept of ‘wow. you must really actually like me if you’re hanging around through all this mess.’ 

One of my favorite things in this track is the descending harmony behind “sometimes when I look into your eyes”. I always want to sing along with the harmony instead of the melody on that part because I find it so compelling.

6. Look What You Made Me Do

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN! that building drumline is absolutely gorgeous and I can’t not air drum to it - I don’t even play drums!

Also, yes, I am fully aware that I JUST SAID on the 1989 review that Out of the Woods was too repetitive for me, and here I am raving about this song which... honestly. Is just as repetitive if not more so. But this song just grabs me so much more and so instantly that I really get into the repetition (And maybe that has something to do with the familiarity because of the sampled melody).

That plinking lead line thing, and oh my god, the percussion on the second chorus. I can’t.

The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now CAUSE SHE’S DEAD. And I feel like with lover about to come out, maybe we’re killing off yet another “old taylor”

click here for my reaction video

7. So It Goes...

I read somewhere that the tracks with the ellipses on them mark out the edges of the “side A” part of the album, and it’s the spot where things shift over to a different feeling, and I believe it.

Again, this track has absolutely outstanding production on it, the softness dropping into the driving beats, and the bridge. Oh my god. I’m still not over that whispered “1 2 3″. And that line “i’m not a bad girl but I do bad things with you’ reminds me of blank space and that “I can make the bad guys good for a weekend” it’s like the inverse of it.

Also welcome to the first track on this album that I refuse to let my dad listen to - “scratches down your back” indeed t a y l o r

8. Gorgeous

Adorable baby voice!! This song is so great, I love it to pieces. I love the sort of bitter quality about it and the way she’s taken how tumblr and twitter fandom talks about celebrities and made it just a mainstream piece of her song.

Also is that a bell like the kind they put on counters to get the attention of the person working? because I can’t help but hit the bell (air bell!) when it comes in and that’s what I always picture when I do so.

I can’t come up with anything more coherent so .... guess I’ll just stumble on home to my cats.... ;)

9. Getaway Car

More vocoder! I love. The wording in this song is so evocative and brings up such perfect, crisp mental images for me, and she applied that to perfect metaphors for the situation in question. I love the idea of how.... like. It’s a rebound relationship, right? but it’s the getaway car from the previous relationship. And really, you can’t be surprised when something like that doesn’t last as long.

Also that outro beat? Be still my heart!

10. King of My Heart

THIS SONG!!!! More gorgeous vocoder use, of course, but then also. So many little things about the lyrics that get me! “Salute to me, I’m your American queen” and “jag-u-ars” and the way she sings “luxury” and just!!! so much!

As for the musical side of things, I absolutely adore that really subtle acoustic guitar in the chorus, and the DRUMS in the post-chorus (or whatever you want to call that bit). They’re so full and almost feel-it-in-your-chest even just in headphones! (I’m still not sure I survived that concert)

11. Dancing With Our Hands Tied

Early on I had a half-baked theory that this song is about John Mayer, but the timeline doesn’t work at all, so... definitely not. Still though, think about it. “slow dancing in a burning room”/”swaying as the room burned down”

That aside, though, this song makes me think of the Halsey track Bad at Love if ONLY because of the theme of melancholy looking back at relationships that felt doomed from the start (or didn’t, as the case may be, I don’t know)

But also just. Taylor’s vocal performance on this song. Those ‘ad libs’ in the background of the final chorus have so much power in them.

12. Dress

And here we have the other Taylor song I won’t let my dad listen to. He would be scandalized to death by this song.

I love that lyric about the golden tattoo. I can’t really explain what it is about that line that gets me so much.

More beautiful production - something about the tracks on this album feels so grand for lack of better word. Plus there’s that moment in this song “say my name and everything just STOPS” and the whole thing goes silent... I will never forget the feeling of that line coming out and the way the whole stadium went dark.

13. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Ahhhhh I love this song. Gotta love a nice sassy Taylor style clapback, right? Beautiful.

“Feeling so Gatsby” is the best line for getting her point across. You don’t even have to be particularly familiar with the work that references, it just brings the opulence to mind effortlessly.

That laugh in the bridge though, and the tumbling low piano crash afterward, I love it so much. Again to reference the tour, it was such a great extended moment of laughter. So great.

14. Call It What You Want

This... Is probably my favorite track on the album, if I were pressed to name one. I adore this song so completely. I still get just emotionally overcome if I take the time to really pay attention to this song when it comes on. I love it so much, and it’s such a beautiful hopeful song. Like, yeah, my life’s been a right mess but it’s better now with you in it, and just.... this song fills me with feelings like that one animation in the lizzie mcguire movie. 90s kids, you know the one I mean. (lover, the song, gives me those same feelings, just amplified like 30x)

The smile in her voice on “yes” can almost bring me to tears all by itself.

my reaction video can be found here

15. New Year’s Day

Speaking of beautiful mushy-feelings-bringing tracks... The fact that these two are paired back to back like this is just bringing both barrels to my emotions. Gosh.

At the show, I’d taken my shoes off literally two songs prior - I was the girl carrying her shoes in the lobby.

I love so much that it’s just her with a piano and then a little bit of guitar, and those soft self-harmonies on some parts - “please don’t ever become a stranger” reminds me of Enchanted.

This song will without fail make me cry because it’s just so soft and I’m so happy for her. I can’t believe how long it’s been and she’s so happy and in love and. Even when this song came out. Gosh.

We did it, yall. We’ve made it up to date, and it’s almost time for Lover to come out! I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready. My emotions aren’t ready. Gosh.

Anyway, thanks for coming along with me on this ride. See you on the other side of the release!

[a-patheticapathetic]

Beck - The Information: Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=theer88rQ5g&list=PLX0wu3Da6IoZ8ULDFhAR-3qJZtp9smMCY

Switching it up from FFTB updates, mainly because I don’t have enough ideas for God is in the Radio. Beck has always been on my radar, but I never got around to listening to any of his music in-depth. I have a friend who has been a fan of his earlier stuff, and he would often put a few Beck songs into the queues of music we listen to when playing games together. I usually liked what I heard, but I didn’t actually listen to a Beck album on my own until about a year ago. 

I chose The Information on a whim, and it completely blew me away. The complexity and depth and feel of this album was far beyond what I was expecting. It makes sense, given that Nigel Godrich (producer of every Radiohead album after the first two) produced and mixed it. Every time I listen, I hear something new, something that I didn’t notice before.

Last time I did one of these, I feel like I wasn’t very coherent. I’m going to try to keep my thoughts together as much as I can.

Elevator Music - 8/10

What a start. You instantly are sunk into the feeling of the album, and with a beat that you can’t resist knocking your head to. There are like 5 different lines of percussion in the background but it’s mixed well and doesn’t sound cluttered. Vocals sound great, are mostly nonsense, but that’s okay. Every few lines there’s some kind of change-up to keep things interesting. Fragments of a third verse, vocal melody, and an ending that sounds like the song is breaking a little bit. This happens a few more times on the album.

Think I’m in Love - 6/10

Instantly hitting you with a very infectious bassline. I will say, that this song isn’t my favorite. Doesn’t really do much with the instrumentation compared with Elevator Music. This seems to be the designated “radio single”. The bridge is nice, though. Very nice strings there. The strings also come back in the outro, which I had forgotten about.

Cellphone’s Dead - 9/10

This song is probably the thematic centerpiece of the album. I absolutely love it. It has two distinct phases that it switches between effortlessly, several times. Beck’s flow here is flawless, especially during the second verse. That transition is water-tight. One by one, I’ll knock you out. The synth and piano combining, somehow. Eye of the sun, listen to that low string. This build-up is absolutely incredible. Just get lost in it. Another broken outro

Strange Apparition - 7/10

Beck’s country side comes out a little here. This song is driven by cowbell-infused percussion, slammed piano chords, and a careless acoustic guitar. One thing that you may also notice is a very nice synth line in the background. I especially like how the second chorus is sung a register higher than the first one. After that, the song shifts into a much more minimal sound and slower tempo. The acoustic wins out over the piano, and Beck really pushes his own voice.

Soldier Jane - 9/10

This may be my favorite song on the album. The drumming is spotless and that low sawtooth synth in the background really gives this song a unique feeling. Then one of the the best basslines I’ve ever heard comes in. Some kind of massive chord plays in the background, it sounds like heaven coming to Earth. The chorus is perfect. During the second verse, so much more interesting instrumentation is being layered on. Then, the buildup. The bassline gets even better and this awesome sense of scale is built upon. The conventional instruments fade out, and heaven blows your face through your skull.

Nausea - 7/10

First of all the complete lack of transition from Soldier Jane is absolutely hilarious. This song couldn’t be more different. An angrier flow and punchy percussion working alongside the bass. Some strange noises and vocal samples permeate the rest of the song. An ending so abrupt you think the song broke.

New Round - 7/10

A breather. Very soft vocals with a delay effect that really comes together on the “chorus”. Lullaby synth notes every once in a while. Is it comforting, or depressing? I couldn’t tell you. Very nice outro. What? Dinner time, yeah.

Dark Star - 9/10

Holy hell, the atmosphere of this song is beyond my ability to describe. I don’t even know if this is a bassline. I just know that it’s completely perfect. ESPECIALLY the transition into the chorus. The flow here is dark as night. In the second chorus the song shows the last ace up its sleeve; the string section. I am a total sucker for string sections tastefully implemented into modern sounds, and this is the best example I have ever hear of that. What an unbeatable groove.

We Dance Alone - 6/10

This is one of the songs that my friend would play the most often. Maybe because of that, it feels a little burnt-out for me. I feel like Dark Star did a better job with this vocal style, and the instrumentation doesn’t really evolve that much. I do like the way the vocals are kind of swimming through the chorus, and the bridge is a neat change-up. But there’s just too much of this song that is just repeated.

No Complaints - 7/10

This is probably the song that made me listen to The Information in particular. Heard it on some kind of “radio” thing, either Spotify or GPM. It’s a nice little acoustic singalong about the disenfranchisement with modern life. Love the lyrics on this one, and the chorus is very catchy. 

1000BPM - 7/10

Now here’s a strange one. Almost a straight-up rap song with a very eccentric flow. Abrasive, glitched percussion. The gltichiness starts to infect Beck’s vocals after a while, distorting them beyond recognition.

Motorcade - 7/10

Basically an unnerving version of New Round. A plucked main guitar line and a softer vocal melody. But there are a few building electronic moans in the background that sound very off. Especially during the spoken-word part in the bridge. A tapped synth note begins distorting around itself, and what sounds like filtered feedback starts drowning everything else out. 

The Information - 7/10

Almost a combination of No Complaints and Motorcade. A simple verse-chorus structure that begins to have some oddness creep into it. The drums are just a little bit too intense, which adds to the slight feeling of unease. The background vocals sighing every once in a while is a strange touch. A very weird outro. I recommend turning your volume down until the next song starts. No reason.

Movie Theme - 8/10

Such a nice way to end the album, after all that strangeness. This almost 16-bit synth wraps around you in a very comforting way. The vocals are appropriately soft. It just feels like a warm blanket. Various sounds and instruments continue layering as the song progresses. Listen to the voice on the radiowave / Somebody needs you, somebody who’s far away.

The Horrible Fanfare (6/10) / Landslide (8/10) / Exoskeleton (3/10)

Movie Theme is the real ending of the album. I treat this 10-minute song as a kind of collection of three B-sides. Horrible Fanfare is an interesting, creepy instrumental with a Dark Star-esque flow and no chorus. It samples Cellphone’s Dead and only lasts just over 2 minutes. The transition into Landslide is very nice. A bassline similar to Black Tambourine, a song off of Beck’s previous album. The chorus for this section is honestly really good. Satisfying lyrics and melody, and the closest thing to a guitar solo on the album. After this is about 5 minutes of Beck playing Swans. Eerie and ambient instrumentation and a strange, sampled conversation. Cellphone’s Dead comes back again. There’s also a part at about 7 minutes that sounds really similar to one of the menu tracks for Killing Floor 2. 

Alright, hopefully that was more coherent. Overall thoughts; I wish Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton were separated onto their own, on a side project or B-side. Landslide honestly could have been its own song. Otherwise, I think this album is Beck’s best work, and an album I am unlikely to ever forget. On a scale of “No complaints but it’s overrated, that’s for sure”, to “Don’t be afraid, take your heart out of its shell”, The Information gets a “Little worse for wear but wearing it well.”

[klimp42]

Devil May Cry V Review: A Pizza Style Boys End

Well after 11 long years here we are, a sequel to probably one of my favorite franchise in history, Devil May Cry V and what a fantastic sequel it is. Now unlike my last review, the iron for this one is still warm. I know it's been a month but hear me out here, I want to be able to spoil some stuff and not feel to bad since, hey its been a month since the game came out, but if you still haven’t played DMCV then watch out we got some spoilers up ahead.

Alright so before we go into talking about all the things this game did right and wrong, I should probably give some backstory to this almost 20 year old franchise whose last canon game came out 11 years ago, I know another “DMC” came out since then but we don’t talk about DMC Devil May Cry. So Devil May Cry for those who don’t know is the story of one of the sons of the legendary Dark Knight Sparda, whose Sparda? The biggest baddest demon who decided that demons being dicks on Earth isn’t cool, betrayed his kind and fight them back to hell and sealed them in it using his amazing power. For the next 2000 years, he acted as Earth’s guardian and then eventually he met either the most smoking hot or most powerful or both, girl ever named Eva. He married her and had twin sons named Dante and Vergil. Now demons aren't a big fan of Sparda because of the whole betrayal and locking them into hell thing, and no one hates him more then his old boss, the demon king Mundus. So one day Sparda dies, don’t ask how its never been fully explained he just died, and Mundus sees this as the perfect opportunity for some revenge and sends a bunch of demons to kill Sparda’s family, but those demons suck and only succeeded in killing Eva.

So after all that and to speed this up to talking about the actual game, Dante and Vergil leave their destroyed home and go about following two paths, Vergil stylishly lusting for power and Dante being a stylish gun for hire, and eventually a demon hunter. Backstory aside all you really need to remember is style means everything, Sparda was the coolest, Dante and Vergil have two different ideas on how to live life.

Alright so moving on to DMCV, let's finally talk about what I feel is a perfect end to the story of Dante and Vergil. DMCV takes place about ten years after the events of DMC4 and involves Dante getting a job by mysterious new guy going by “V”, V wants Dante to go kick the ass of this new demon named Urizen who is causing all sorts of havoc in Red Grave City, where he has raised this giant demonic plant called a Qliphoth which if it isn’t stopped will lead to the end of the world. So Dante, his friends Lady and Trish, go to Red Grave City, into the Qliphoth to stop Urizen, but he starts taking a long time so V gets nervous and decides to go pick up Nero, one of the main characters of DMC4, who just a few days ago had gotten his arm ripped off, it was a demonic one that had Vergil’s sword in it. I know that sounds insane, but if I explained everything in this game series we would be here for a forty more pages, so let's just move on, things are crazy and V tells Nero that the demon who took his arm is Urizen and the Dante needs his help. Fast forward a few hours, Dante is losing his fight to Urizen, Trish and lady are knocked out, V can’t do shit since all he can do is hobble on his cane and let his demon buddies do his work for him, so Nero tries to help and also doesn’t question why this demon looks nothing like the human shaped figure that took his arm, he loses, Dante loses and things go south really fast. In the end, Nero leaves to train for a month to try and actually beat Urizen, V stays behind to try and slow down the Qliphoth’s spread and Dante is assumed to be dead.

Well now that all that back story has been dealt with, let's move on to gameplay, setting and the fantastic soundtrack. So while not being the first DMC game that you can play more than one character, it is the first base release game that you play as multiply characters, Nero, V and Dante, who spoilers is still totally fine and alive. Each character plays completely differently, making it so that depending on who you are playing in the level offers a completely different experience. Nero controls similar to his DMC 4 counterpart, he has the Red Queen that can be revved up to do longer and fire infused attacks, he also has his Blue Rose which can be charged to do explosive shot. The difference of DMC V Nero and DMC4 Nero, is that he no longer has his Devil Bringer, his arm that was taken, instead he has a bunch of different prosthetics he can call upon called Devil Breakers, offering different abilities like a big electric hand, a rocket fist, the ability to stop time, one that lets you go wild with big crazy attacks and a few others. Other than that, he has the same combos and movement and if you liked playing as Nero in DMC4 you’ll love it here, especially after you beat the game which is the only thing I won’t fully spoil, just know you can do some cool stuff.

Now if I was to do this right, I would start talking about V, but I want to keep the speed of similar characters going so let's talking about the pizza loving devil hunter Dante. Like Nero, Dante is very similar to his DMC4 counterpart, honestly his is the exact same if it wasn’t for the fact his sword changes three times and he gets Sin Devil Trigger. I know you might he saying why spoil this and not Nero, well this was in the trailers and Nero’s thing wasn’t. Seriously it's the same bread and butter Dante had in DMC4, you can switch between his four styles of Trickster, a dashing and teleporting style, Swordmaster, a style that increase the moveset of your devil arms, Gunslinger, a style that lets you do crazy gun tricks, and Royal Guard, a hard style to master but it lets you guard attacks and turn them back on your enemies. He has his main sword Rebellion, which becomes his main sword Devil Sword Dante, he has his guns Ebony and Ivory and Coyote-A and gains more throughout the course of the story as he beats bosses. You have your devil trigger that lets you regain health and do more damage, and through the story you get Sin Devil Trigger that lets you do insane damage but you cannot heal. Listen, if you like Dante and like playing as him, you will love him in this, he controls well and its stylish as hell.

Alright so it's time for the boy I skipped, V, and the reason for that is because he is the newest character and controls completely different from every other DMC character you have been able to play as. V doesn’t actually fight, he kills demons, but he does not fight, his boys Griffin, Shadow and Nightmare fight for him, demon summons who share appearances and names with enemies from the first Devil May Cry. As V you just stand back and let your demons fight for you and when they drop the enemies health you rush in and kill them with you cane. It is this exact gameplay that has people split, unlike Dante and Nero, you are not in the action, you are off in the distance hitting buttons for combos that you don’t have full control for. Personally, I feel that once you get more used to it that it's not so bad, you have certain moves that allow you to keep control of where Griffin and Shadow are and if things get to hectic or those bastards just won’t listen to you you can spend devil trigger to make them to increase damage and fight by themselves. You also can use devil trigger to summon Nightmare and have him just fall onto the battlefield and fuck things up for you and you can also get an ability that lets you jump up and control him. So while V is the most hands off character and some people are not fans of that, I love and will always protect my hands off emo son.

The last few things to talk about in DMCV, like always style is a factor in fights and the more varied and different your attacks are leads to higher style points and taunting the enemies gives you a ton of style points, which while before was just so you felt cool, with the games new multiplayer elements in which in certain missions you play alongside other players, now other people can know if you are super cool. However unlike previous DMC games, there are no items to be used, no holy waters or stars to heal you or refill your devil trigger meter, however to balance this enemies drop more orbs that fulfil this function and you can find orb packs to break that heal you or refill your devil trigger.

The setting of this game is much less varied compared to previous canon title DMC4, which I feel is better for it, since you have a coherent theme to the whole story. Your setting is the streets, buildings and sewers of Red Grave City, the destroyed areas around the Qliphoth,and the inside of the Qliphoth itself. Personally, I feel like this gives the game a more end of the world feel, as you see drained corpses of the people of Red Grave City and places that looked lived in just a month ago, I know that other DMC games have let you go through cities, but in those the cities where always just abandoned since they couldn’t really have a bunch of corpses on screen while you were styling on demons.

Alright so one of the things I couldn’t wait to talk about, the soundtrack, which is just great. Listen, if you like any of the other DMC soundtracks you will love this game and if you like rock and roll you will love this games soundtrack. Hell, even if you don’t like rock after a while of playing this game you will grow to love it. The soundtrack is also tied to you style meter so as you do better the song gets better while you are fighting by adding more bass, chorus, and increasing the volume, all building up to a full song to match how cool you look as you dodge, taunt and style on these demons. To get a taste of what it will be like when you go full style god,  lookup Devil Trigger, Crimson Cloud and Subhuman, those three songs play while you kick ass as Nero, Dante and V and makes you feel so bad ass when you are taunting and beating down demons. Also the songs during the boss fights are also amazing, seriously the way that DMC incorporates music as you fight is masterful and makes you seem cool as hell.

Now I know I have been singing this games praises, but it is not perfect, its close though damn close. One big detractor that might affect you is the voice acting, it’s great sometimes and others it is just a little of sync to what the character is saying and the story, while great, does have a few moments that are weird like how because Nero says quit it, Dante and a newly refreshed Vergil go alright and stop their fight to the death and instead decide to jump into hell and stop and kill the Qliphoth.

So yeah those are my only complaints, I said it was close to perfect and I mean it. This game is the Devil May Cry that we have deserved since DMC4, it controls well, looks beautiful and gives a final send-off to Dante and Vergil, leaving the stage for future games to focus on Nero and Nico and even new casts of characters. Honestly if you enjoyed old DMC games, even DMC Devil May Cry, pick this game up as you need to play it. If you have never played a DMC game before, play the free demo and see if its your speed and if it is, then dive on it and be the stylish demon hunter you were meant to be.

[the-100-meta-library]

Dear followers and meta fans!

Today, we present you the first segment of a series of interviews that will feature the brains and minds behind all those wonderful analyses floating around The 100’s tumblr tag.

For our first interview, we are pleased to welcome Elizabeth, also known as the lovely @hawthornewhisperer!

We connected with Elizabeth back in May, before Season 4, Episode 12. So this a little bit of a blast from the past. Read to see how right-- and wrong-- we were about some speculating. 

We’d like to thank Elizabeth again for her time, and the supporters of the Meta Library who encouraged us. Keep an eye out for the next interview!

The 100 Meta Library (bellamysfern):    The first questions are just about some background info. Anything you feel comfortable releasing to the internet. Who are you, what do you do, how does that affect how you write meta (if it has any effect at all), and your level of fandom experience.

Hawthornewhisperer: Okay, well, first of all, thanks for interviewing me! This is an honor and I appreciate you guys doing this.

You can call me Elizabeth, and I'm a writer-slash-historian living in Minnesota. I teach college courses on European history and write romance novels on the side (second one should be out this year!)

In terms of how that influences my meta, I've found that both of my jobs dovetail very well into analyzing the show.  

As a historian, my main lenses of analysis are gender and imperialism so I tend to apply those to the show as well-- in what ways do characters fulfill our expectations of femininity/masculinity, and in what ways do they challenge it? What does that tell us about the characters?  

My imperialist/colonialist focus also helps me sort out what the writers are saying (either intentionally or unintentionally) with regards to hegemonic cultures, etc.

As a writer, I try to think about the choices the writers room is making and what that tells us about the story

Oh, and fandom experience-- I wrote fic for The Hunger Games (Gale/Madge, mostly) but The 100 is probably the first fandom I've been very active in.  But my first true fandom is probably Star Wars.

BF: That's absolutely amazing. I feel like anything with fandom can be trivialized, but so much work goes into writing meta and thinking about the choices made on the show.

HW: Yes, definitely!  

I have very strong feelings about the importance of fandom, particularly transformative fandom (fics, headcanons, etc) as a primarily female space and how important that is to protect and take seriously.

BF: Right. And I know you write fanfic too (very good fanfic, btw).

Do you think writing meta influences how you think about fanfiction? They are two different ways of interacting with a show, but both require authors to really understand the material.

HW: Oh yeah, definitely!  

I see fic and meta as two sides of the same coin-- writing meta

helps me understand characters better, because if I can explain why Bellamy or Clarke would make a particular choice in a particular episode that helps me craft their characters in fics in a way that feels true (or I hope so, at any rate.)

And writing fic helps with meta, because I have a little insight into how writers make decisions.  In particular it makes me slightly more sympathetic to plot twists that seem to have no clear resolution because I frequently write ficlets with cliffhangers and then have *no idea* where it's going after that, because sometimes I just like to raise the stakes for myself.  Of course, there's a major difference in that my fics are only limited by my imagination and can go in any direction I choose, whereas the show has actor contracts, studio pressure, budgets, filming limitations, and a dozen writers working on one story, and they’re getting paid to do this so they should be really be better at it than me.

BF: Is there anything you've ever read (fic or meta) that surprised you? Any interpretation or theory that influenced the way you thought about the show?

HW: You know, most of my favorite metas and theories come from the Meta Station podcast, and I wouldn't say it's *surprising* but I do think my favorite theory this season is probably Erin's suggestion that Bellamy will be key to brokering peace between all the clans.  (I think we got the start of it in the most recent episode, actually, with his faith in Octavia).  It wasn't a direction I'd initially considered for his character, but it fits very well with the story they've been telling thus far this season and I hope we see it come to fruition.

In terms of influence, one thing I really enjoy about fandom is how *collective* it all is-- lots of people come up with complementary ideas that fit together and overlap in really intriguing ways, which makes narrowing down influence kind of difficult.  But on a personal level, I do toss ideas back and forth with @reblogginhood a lot, which probably shows in my writing.

BF: Haha, my fill of meta usually comes from Meta Station too. I just listened to the segment talking about fic and fandom with Chash and thought "Wow, this is great interview prep".

HW: I can't wait to listen to that!  Those are three of my favorite fandom people, talking about my favorite topics, so I'm excited.

BF: I know, I was so excited when I saw the announcement. It was super cute and funny. Anyway, back on topic.

So for you, meta is a more collective thing. Do you have a writing process and need to go through the same steps every time, or does it vary?

HW: It varies, for sure.  Sometimes I realize something and can just throw it all together very quickly, and sometimes my idea is very vague and I have to write and write and write (and talk it over with people) before I really figure out what I'm saying.  But after writing a dissertation I'm pretty used to writing six different versions of the same idea before I feel like I've found it.  I just edit those metas very heavily as no one needs to read four false starts. 😉

BF: So the amount of time it takes to write metas varies too.

Are there any characters/themes that come easier than others?

HW: Oh definitely.  

Bellamy is probably the easiest for me to understand, followed by Clarke. There are other characters that just don't *speak* to me/I have less interest in writing meta on, but that doesn't mean I dislike them.  

Roan, for instance-- he's probably my favorite minor character in the whole show but I don't have too much desire to get into his headspace for some reason.

The-100-Meta-Library (parapluiepliant): We could have had it all. Still in denial about Roan by the way.

HW: I'll always be in denial about Roan, but he will live eternal, shiny, and chrome in all of my fics so at least we have that.

PP: Yippieh! Something to look forward to!

BF: I am still in real actual denial because I thought I saw something about Zach coming back for season five.

HW: I would totally be fine with time travel becoming a thing on the show if it meant someone could go back in time and save Roan.

PP: Talking about time travel: let's go back in time.

I just scrolled a bit through your The 100 meta tag and came upon "Bellamy Blake, Clarke Griffin, and The Iliad". It was one of your first metas, or am I wrong? 

Even though that referred to season 3, would you say that some of it still holds true for season 4?

HW: It probably wasn't my first meta, just the first one I bothered tagging-- I'm terrible about that, and I apologize to everyone for my poor organizational skills.

BF: I'm right there with you with the tagging.

HW: You know, I'm not sure it does hold true for season 4?  The core of the Iliad is hubris, rage, and war between nations being manipulated by the gods, and that doesn't seem to be the story they're telling in season 4.

I will say, in retrospect I do think both Clarke and Bellamy were the Achilles in season 3 -- Clarke for separating herself from the fight, and Bellamy because it was his anger over Mount Weather 2.0 that incited a lot of the conflict.

(But I also doubt they were doing a straight parallel, so take that for what it's worth)

PP: Okay. Just a thought. I am not that familiar with the Grounders (and to the Arkadians to some extent) might still be an entertaining thought.

HW: Ooooh yes, that would work very well, especially since I suspect conflict between Becca and Cadogan is at the root of a lot of problems the societies are facing.

BF: I did find it interesting that the brought the Iliad in so explicitly. And there was a lot of speculation based on it, when maybe so much worth shouldn't have been placed on the Iliad/Odyssey.

But we won't know until the end, I guess.

HW: Yeah, it's tough to know what is meaningful and important and what's just a fun, throwaway moment until you've got a complete narrative to examine.  But I do enjoy how fandom can take something like "Bellamy gets a present that probably just means he's a Big Ol' Nerd" and turn it into a coherent, unifying gloss on the season.

PP: One of the most entertaining and enlightening things in the fandom for me.

HW: Yeah, me too.  

Fandom is such an enriching experience in so many ways.

PP: Another question in that regard: Is there a meta of yours of which you are most proud of? Or which you thought of as the most fun to read/the most clarifying in regard to certain aspects?

HW: I think the one I'm proudest of would be the one I wrote about Bellamy undercutting the Alpha Male trope, because I find "how we perform and understand gender" to be a really interesting topic, and I think Bellamy as a character really complicates our understanding of what it means to be an alpha male.  

And I think some of that is directly intended by the writers, but I also think some of it comes from the performances (Bob in particular, but also Ian, Eliza, and Mike Beach because he's not just reading what's on the page, he's reacting to their performances as well.)

It makes Bellamy into a really interesting and nuanced character in a way that draws me in.

PP: Absolutely! One of the reasons I love him so much.

BF: Do you have a lot of interaction with your meta? Do people mostly reblog or like it, or do you get some conversations going?

HW: I think mostly people just like and reblog posts, but every so often someone will add something to my meta that I hadn't considered/seen before and it'll just blow my mind. I love it when that happens.

And sometimes people send PMs to respond and I end up having long, in depth conversations about characters with people I've never met before, and I *also* love that. I've made some really great friends that way.

BF: Fandom friendships are so interesting that way.

HW: Yeah, definitely.  

I really treasure the friendships I've made in fandom, and I know they'll outlast the show itself, which is wonderful.

BF: Yeah, definitely contradicts everything people told you about everyone on the internet being dangerous. But I haven't met an axe murderer yet.

HW: Haha right?  *fingers crossed*

PP: Who says that I am not one?

HW: Oh no! Haha!

BF: You are on the other side of the ocean. I think I'm good. Well, that was all questioning that I had. Laura?

PP: I would have one last question.

Can we hope for another meta pretty soon and if so, can you already tease it a bit?

HW: You know, there's nothing that I'm currently writing, I think because most of the stuff I'm interested in from 411 (the Bellarke fallout) seems to be on hold until 412, but I also tend to work best in response to prompts/questions.

So is there something you'd like me to talk about/you're interested in discussing?

BF: What’s your Becca/Cadogan speculation?

HW: Oooh, good one!  

I think Cadogan's messed up childhood (Jaha mentioned an abusive father) is going to resurface, and I suspect it was a conflict between him and Becca that set things into motion. I have my fingers crossed for a flashback!

PP: Definitely. Oh, I missed that with Jaha because my stream didn't work properly. I really need to watch it so I can catch up!

HW: The Jaha-Cadogan mention was just a throwaway line, however, so I might be putting too much weight on it. And as for the Bellarke fallout, I do think Clarke holding a gun on him and then being unable to pull the trigger, even though she truly believed the human race might die if she didn't pull it, is going to carry a lot of weight in their relationship.

Clarke has consistently been shown as willing to put her own wants and needs and loves aside in order to save people, and this is one of the first times we see her make a heart choice instead of a head choice, if that makes sense.

But Clarke's decision to not shoot Bellamy was really big, and while I'm disappointed we didn't get the fallout immediately, I think 411 was a really busy episode and I have hopes that it will be addressed in some respect in 412.

BF: Thanks so much for taking so much time to talk to us!

HW: Of course!  Thank you for interviewing me-- this was really fun!

[solarpunksoftie]

additional fun facts about the Gene Pool

because i cant be stopped and oh hello new obsession

my sides

A - Adrienne   E - Ethan   L - Laura   P - Pandora   D - Daryl

Favourite Colour

A - Green

E - Red

L - Blue

P - Yellow

D - Purple

Favourite Music

A - The Struts, Major Lazer, Ariana Grande

E - Rise Against, Green Day, Paramore

L - Lindsey Stirling, Sleeping At Last, Ratatat

P - KONGOS, Arctic Monkeys, Bastille

D - Twenty One Pilots, The Neighborhood, The Front Bottoms

Favourite Foods/Bev

A - Popsicles, Bananas, Mussels / Dr. Pepper

E - Yogurt+Granola, Lamb, Bacon / Juice

L - Steak, Mushrooms, Ramen(its convenient!) / Tea

P - Berries, Spaghetti, Clif Bars (chocolatey ones) / Coffee

D - BBQ Chips, Goldfish, Cheesecake / Hot Cocoa

Favourite Movie

A - Avengers

E - The Sting

L - Cosmos: War of the Planets (they fuckin lov terrible movies)

P - Indiana Jones and the Lost Arc

D - Heathers

Favourite T.V. Show

A - Rick and Morty

E - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

L - Star Trek (tos)

P - The Walking Dead

D -  Cutthroat Kitchen

Favourite Fiction Genre / AO3 Tag

A - Action / Smut

E - Drama / Hurt Comfort

L - Sci-fi / College AU

P - Fantasy / Graphic Depictions of Violence

D - Slice of Life / Whump

Favourite Musical / Song from it

A - Catch Me If You Can / Live in Living Color

E - Les Miserables / Do You Hear The People Sing 

L - Hamilton / Non-Stop

P - Into The Woods / I Know Things Now

D -  Heathers / Lifeboat

Favourite Activity

A - sex, dancing, late night shenanigans with friends

E - attending protests, witchcraft, hiking

L - painting, research, watching movies

P - cooking, playing horror games, playing with animals

D - sleeping, listening to music, cuddling (but they’ll never admit it)

Favourite Affection

A - kisses. not necessarily romantic, forehead, cheek, hand, etc are all awesome

E - massages, especially shoulders

L - hair play

P - hand holding and casual touches

D - hugs, but so touch starved he’ll take anything

Favourite exercise

A - Dance!

E - Swimming

L - Climbing

P - Bicycle

D - pass…

If They Had A Super Power…

A - Flight

E - Pyrokinesis/Pyrogenesis

L - Time Stop

P - Invincibility

D - Invisibility

Weapon Of Choice

A - Falchion… specifically this one 

E - spiked bat

L - Pistol

P - Bowie Knife

D - Switchblade

Travel Destination

A - Amsterdam OR Cross Country Road Trip

E - International Relief Aid (they have no concept of relaxation)

L - Ireland

P - Hawaii

D - no thanks..

Element

A - Air

E - Fire

L - Earth

P - Water

D - Smoke

Theme Songs

A - Raise Your Glass, P!nk - Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time, P!atD

E - Architects, Rise Against - Uprising, Muse - Feeling Sorry, Paramore

L - Conquest of Spaces, Woodkid

P - Laugh Till I Cry, The Front Bottoms - Stressed Out, Twenty One Pilots

D - Trapdoor, Twenty One Pilots - Be Nice To Me, The Front Bottoms - The Draw, Bastille

Little Quirks

A - Happy Dances, Winks, Hair Fluffs

E - Impatient finger tapping, “Cool Kid” posing, Blowing hair out of face

L - clasped hands, Adjusting glasses, straitening tie

P - deforest kelley bounce, hands nervously in pockets, always ready to rabbit

D - Tired face rub, eye roll, lip biting

Zodiac Sign/Planet (all from my full chart)

A - Aries Moon

E - Scorpio Mars

L - Libra Mercury

P - Sagittarius Jupiter

D - Pisces Saturn

Shadow Emotion

A - Loneliness

E - Sadness

L - Confusion

P - Fear

D - Anger

Alignment

A - Chaotic Neutral - fuck it this looks fun

E - Chaotic Good - I will burn this city to the ground to save a child

L - Lawful Good - do the right thing the Right way and you get the best results

P - Lawful Neutral - follow the rules and you won’t get hurt

D - Neutral Evil - I’m tired just kill yourself

Hogwarts House

A - Gryffindor

E - Slytherin / Gryffindor

L - Ravenclaw / Slytherin

P - Gryffindor

D - Hufflepuff

D&D Class

A - Sorcerer

E - Druid

L - Wizard

P - Ranger

D - Rogue

MBTI / my function stack

A - ESFP / Se

E - ENFP / Fi

L - ENTJ / Te

P - ISTP / inferior Ni

D - INFP - none, hes a disorder

God Tier 

A - Maid of Breath

E - Knight of Space

L - Sylph of Mind

P - Mage of Rage

D - Page of Doom

High School Superlatives

A - Best Person to Travel With

E - Most Likely to Help Hide a Body

L - Most Likely to Succeed

P - Best Person to Get Stranded With

D - Worst Case of Senioritis

Vices/Virtues

A - Sex/Kindness

E - Rage/Courage

L - Overwork/Diligence 

P - Alcohol/Vigilance 

D - Drugs/Humility

When Stressed

A - loses all sense of direction and will jump onto the first suggestion someone makes to relieve the stress. Gets paranoid about appearance. Easily becomes overwhelmed/sensory overloaded and needs soft things, stim things, and fidgit toys to keep from becoming entirely incoherent.

E - Gets really impatient and short with people. If the stress escalates they will angry cry from frustration. Slams doors, yells unnecessarily.

L - Comes to a complete stop. They can’t complete a thought coherently and are easily confused. Prone to quitting from distress, coming to the conclusion that the most logical thing is to remove ones self from the stress while also stuck on the fact that it’s stressful because it’s too important to ignore. They basically experience blue screen of death by becoming a feedback loop of “oh no”.

P - The paranoia is in full bloom. they can get delusional and jumpy. Fears intensify. Outwardly, the only sign that somethings wrong is the occasional thousand yard stare or, contrastly, they get hyper vigilant. They’re just always ready.

D - Nap Time. If naps are not acquired they become crazy aggressive and verbally abusive. Every problem is a personal attack and it must be Gene’s fault. Craves death but will settle for a razor.

When They Like Someone

A - a smooth motherfucker. loves the seduction game. will wear lingerie under her clothes in case the opportunity arises to take it off ;)

E - Skittish. romance is the one emotional department they always fumble with. will compliment a lot and try to win them over, but takes a long time to act on anything for fear of misreading the other person’s intentions and making them uncomfortable.

L - Direct. knows the importance of presentation and is a good manipulator, so may implement their skills unintentionally. Really they just want the other person on the same page as them.

P - Suspicion. they normally aren’t attracted to someone unless the other person flirts first, and they are distrustful of others’ intentions. only once they feel safe with their crush will they act more directly and can actually be very charming.

D - Obsession and Despair. This person becomes their everything, which terrifies them, so they try and pull away to avoid getting hurt, and then get upset that the person isnt paying enough attention to them, and then the “im unlovable” spiral begins.

When Injured (with irl experiences oops)

A - powers through with force of will. will convince herself that its not a big deal. would probably try to finish a marathon with a broken leg. not stubborn if told to seek help, however, theyre just really bad at judging the severity/urgency of an injury. (went through their day without a care in the world after a head injury, legit didn’t think it was a big deal. the bump just looked nasty)

E - stubborn as a mule to keep up their badass image. will brush off most things even if they know its bad news. the only time the facade drops is when theyre alone, and then theyre a mess. (helped someone move despite the fact that they were seriously ill. hid it the whole time. collapsed when they got home)

L - reacts appropriately to the situation. has an objective enough knowledge of medicine and anatomy to assess the severity and urgency of an injury and will seek help if needed. 

P - Panic. has a slight inclination to hypochondria that only comes out when something is wrong. stubbed tow? its broken. stomach ache? it could be cancer or their appendix is gonna burst. weird symptoms they dont recognize? absolutely positive theyre gonna die. if they cant see whats wrong the panic is worse. is actually not bad dealing with flesh wounds, but still wont hesitate in seeking care. (full blown panic attack when a uti started exhibiting unfamiliar symptoms and couldn’t receive immediate care)

D - secrecy. wont tell anyone. 10/10 most likely to silently stitch up a wound themselves and no one would be the wiser. (suffering silently through a migraine without medication, cleaning up self harm cuts)

Negative Influences

A - Reckless behavior, abandoning obligations in favour of a fun activity, drug use

E - Being argumentative, “anyone who doesnt agree with me is the enemy” knee jerk reaction, grudges

L - Obsessive behavior, hyper focus, over rationalizing feelings away

P - Irrational fears, distrust of others, exhausting hyper vigilance

D - Depression my dudes, self worth issues, self harm in all forms

Positive Influences

A - Trying new things, Courage, enjoying the simple pleasures

E - Passion, Moral compass, Determination

L - keeping my life structured, love of learning, the designer

P - self preservation, observing others’ personal boundaries, being prepared

D - ?????, keeps me from becoming too powerful,, ???????

When To Worry About Them

A - would rather stay home than go out, reclusive behavior

E - either theyre constantly fuming or they become painfully apathetic

L - none of their ideas make sense, language issues

P - always v stressed

D - smiley mask, overly compliant, overly positive

How They Chill

A - Nature Walks

E - Low Key hangouts with friends

L - Coloring books

P - Music - will often chill and listen to music with Daryl

D - Sleep - falls asleep while listening to music with Pandora

ill probly add onto this when i think of more stuff, but here for now

Self Care

A - Dressing up, cuz looking good for your own sake does wonders for emotional wellbeing

E - Talking to people, it’s not fair to you or your friends to shut them out, and the attention makes Adrienne happy

L - Hot Shower. As well as being good hygiene, hot showers improve circulation and relax muscles and the mind

P - cooking a whole meal for yourself, because you have a penchant for denying yourself food, and its a creative, mentally stimulating activity that gets you moving and is satisfying

D - He’d say sleep, but he always wants to sleep so its mostly detrimental. So he’s with Laura on hot showers, but like, in the dark. They’re good for if you’re upset, or nauseous, or tired, or have a migraine, or need a cry. Don’t gotta put much thought into it, if somethings wrong it can probably be fixed with a shower. Also the warmth is super nice, and a locked dark bathroom is basically the most secure place you have access to. AND you can use nice smelling soaps and stuff, so Addy is happy too. Showers are just default best.

Which Sanders Sides theyre most like

A - Patton

E - Roman

L - Logan

P - Anxiety

D - get fucked

As My Friends… 

A - Kevin - big puppy dog, adventure/food/trouble friend

E - John - loud and proud and also my libra buddy

L - Owen - too smart jesus christ

P - Bri - anxiety ridden and prepared for everything

D - Jake - seriously hes the embodiment of depression anyway its horrifying

Physical Details

A - always wearing body glitter. nothing too Extra but just enough for a slight shimmer

E - has all the tattoos ive ever fantasized about. when i think up a new one it gets added to the collection. the buffest looking; when they work out they go for tone cuz they love the look

L - the only one who wears glasses. also wears a binder cuz theyre most comfortable flat-chested

P - carries any injuries i have at the time, including random bruises or cuts. actually the strongest even though they dont look it

D - has cuts all up their arms. they’re normally wrapped in bandages or hidden under hoodies. Deep under eye bags and the thinnest by far cuz they never heckin eat

Group Opinion

A - despite being the oldest everyone sees her as the little sister they need to protect. they love when shes happy and they all put in efforts to keep her out of too much trouble for the most part

E - they see them as a bit of an egomaniac, which isnt too far off. they are the judicial voice of the group, keeping everyone in line. those who deviate too far face their wrath.

L - the nerd. the others actually try to dismiss them a lot, since a lot of times they end up holding the group back. wildly unappreciated even though theyre normally right and helpful

P - doesn’t normally pop into group discussions, and is more of a casual observer, only participating when necessary. the others appreciate this about them, because for real if they contributed all the time id be a lot more stressed out

D - the villain. everyone always attacks everything they say (with good reason). despite this they still somehow end up winning a pretty good amount of decisions, cuz they are disgustingly good at twisting words and appealing to what at least one of the others wants. no one trusts them