#look at how unbiased i am in this i didn't even mention how much i hate elijah in this

[shadyr4m]

REWATCHING SEASON 2 EPISODE 7 OF ARCANE

+ some of my highlights and notable moments that I enjoyed bc people can’t understand media anymore

This is mostly an infodump of stuff I can fit into a twitter thread/didn't rly want to make into a thread. I'm not great at words so I apologize in advance, I am sure there are many people much better at analysis than I.

I want to start off by saying I am heavily invested in timebomb so this is very much going to be a ship analysis. If you're looking for someone unbiased i am very much not the person for that 😭

FIRST OFF:

The disc on the music box is adorable!!! It features au Powder (who I am going to refer to as just Powder for the duration of my analysis) and au Ekko

Compared to the normal Disc

This is very obviously because it takes place in a different universe, one without Vi or "Jinx".

The first scene starts off with AU Ekko writing in his notebook. (Cute mention is Powder's doodle in his notebook!!) Then we see flashes of the wild rune. This is when AU Ekko switches to canon Ekko.

Also one of my favorite silly images from this episode is this one.. Powder is being so adorable and Ekko is just scared out of his MIND. it's so silly.

In the Last drop, Powder asks Ekko. "What is up with you? You've been out of it all day?". One thing I noticed in my rewatch is that i think Powder is aware this Ekko isn't HER Ekko. This is just one instance of many that makes me think this.

This hideout seems so much more vibrant and loved, similar to Jinx's hideout after Isha. It's colorful. There are guard rails that I like to think was pushed by Vander. We can see Ekko's art scattered around. It just shows how much more support and family Powder has compared to Jinx, which i mention a lot.

Id also like to note Ekko being shocked au him went to powder for help. In his mind at this time he believes Jinx to be all that is left, no more Powder. Through out the episode we see that change.

Notice how Powder gets upset at Ekko in this scene. However, she doesn't react explosively like Jinx would've. She handled it in a way that shows she had support. She told him to leave instead. Again, the main difference between Powder and Jinx isn't only Vi but also the existence of multiple support systems that Jinx simply didn't have.

THIS FLASHBACK! Oh my god this flashback. The fact it happened after he upset Powder? I think it shows just how much he truly cares about Jinx/Powder. He remembers VIVIDLY the day that he thought he killed her. Jinx was his childhood best friend, and I don't think that kind of feeling ever truly goes away. He doesn't want to hurt any version of her, not even the alternate universe her. We see that showcased more later on. Also, random probably insane note. He is interrupted by small children playing, having fun. This isn't a coincidence, it shows he does miss the moments from when they were kids.

While talking with Heimerdinger, we see Ekko look at Powder multiple times. Watching her laugh and be expressive, he smiles. When she doesn't return it we see him get upset. Once more this brings me to my point that he doesn't want to hurt her. Considering he hasn't known this Powder very long you can see where I gather my point that he doesn't want to hurt her in GENERAL. Any version of her.

THIS SCENE!! He is such a bad liar it's adorable. This brings me to my earlier point, Powder knows what's up!! She suspects something 100%. He is talking about this dream her like it was real.

"You aren't the kind of person who helps other people with their projects. Your ideas change the world. I can't shake the feeling that that's who you're supposed to be."

Are you LISTENING TO THIS? He is obviously talking about Jinx. You can tell this by the first sentence because obviously Powder IS that kind of person. He's starting to see that Jinx is just a part of Powder, one that is unavoidable and that he unknowingly appreciates in a sense. Like two sides of one coin he can't see Powder without Jinx and that is good. I think it is here he realizes truly just how much he cares about Jinx.

This whole montage is beautiful but I want to zero in on two things. Powder's reaction to the notebook and how she looks at Ekko after. NOW THIS. This is the nail in the coffin for her. She knows that this is not her Ekko. She has fully gathered that he isn't from this universe.

Also heimerdinger totally knows how Ekko feels you cannot tell me otherwise. Pushing him to go to the party? yeah he knows what you are.

THIS WHOLE SCENE. I AM NOT ANALYZING THE WHOLE THING HERE BUT IT IS GORGEOUS. I saw someone talking about how it was animated on 4's to signify the way Ekko can only go back 4 seconds and I honestly shed a tear. THE SONG TOO? I encourage everyone to look at the lyrics because they're beautiful.

Okay now for my favorite part of this episode so much to dissect and i'm totally going to mansplain but yk..

"I used to dream the undercity could be like this" — That sets the tone for the whole conversation and just what world he is talking about. The canon one.

"But somewhere, I got consumed by all the ways it wasn't. I gave up on it. Gave up on YOU." — Heavy emphasis on this line. Once more he is talking about Jinx. He is talking about how he got so consumed by the way that Jinx wasn't good, and he gave up on her. Believed she was irredeemable. Powder showed him that Jinx is capable of love and happiness, it's just under that tough protective shell. The undercity in the metaphor is Jinx, from my interpretation.

"I promise i'll never forget this." — Now time for my insanity. He doesn't forget this. That's why he saves Jinx from ending her life in the first place. He remembers Powder and knows that with the right support Jinx doesn't have to be the way she is. It's not that she "needs to be fixed" she just needs to be LOVED, like Powder. He sees that now. He sees how in the au the love that everyone shares for one another shaped the undercity beautifully, and made everyone in it much healthier mentally despite going through hardships. That is beautiful. People with mental illness are not unlovable they just need more support, it can't be cured, or fixed just healed. Mental illness is always there it is how you DEAL with it that matters.

Nothing too major to talk about with the kiss. It's sweet I love it, but nothing too notable for me to say about it.

Finally, Ekko leaves the au. I have seen people say that this is a sacrifice, he could've had everything he wanted and he gave it up to save the people at home. But i take insanity to another level. I see this as him appreciating his home. He knows he can never truly love this Powder because she isn't the version he fell in love with. He learned to appreciate Jinx even through her flaws, and that while this world has everything he could want and more he can have that home too.

I am experiencing HEAVY timebomb brainrot if you can’t already tell. I was tired of people taking things in the complete wrong way with this episode, if anyone has different views pls tell me I love hearing how other people took certain scenes. there are a few scenes I love but I would’ve made this post way too long..

[yuanw3i]

a lot of thoughts about silver twisted wonderland

Good morning it’s 3:45 am and dorm silver dropped after almost 3 years so here’s a full length post dedicated to him. not spoiler free

Quick Note: I remember when I first saw all the twst characters lined up and he honestly…didn't stick out much. i picked him as my first favorite anyways though because of zakki and hes been trapped in my brain ever since. Even though his background is still shrouded in ??wtfs i think exploring that is part of the fun of silver!! Personally, I really love him because a lot of his character beyond niceguy.jpg is rooted in subtext and it's super fun to delve into. so i can’t promise this is an unbiased analysis, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. 

Translation Credits: @mysteryshoptls, @twstarchives, and TWST Miraheze’s Enharo translations

OVERVIEW

Silver, at a quick glance, seems like both the most normal and most bizarre character in Twst. In a sea of self-serving, scheming villains, he lacks the sort of insidiousness most of his peers are constantly displaying. From a player’s perspective, we know this is because he’s most likely based on Aurora; but other NRC students simply deign to see him as an oddball. From the Disney properties he’s twisted from to his own strange upbringing, Silver is a bit of a question mark to both us and the ingame characters. In this post I’m gonna try to dissect some underappreciated complexities of his character, and hopefully get you or whoever’s reading this to give him some love! haha hope this doesnt get too long

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 

First off, Silver’s a pretty lowkey guy. Not in the way Jamil is (forced), or the way Trey is (less forced than Jamil but still forced), but moreso in a way that points to him being out of touch with himself and his own internal state. He doesn’t really…stick out in comparison to the more bombastic members of his dorm; at least not at first. A lot of his quirks are hidden behind his cool expression and appearance, and the gap between those two qualities leads to some funny gags in his interactions with others. 

Part of Silver’s charm as a character comes from his super blunt way of speaking, especially when he starts to describe extremely weird situations that he deems are normal. Like in Endless Halloween, when he casually mentions that he’d used to fight bears to Jamil and Jack (who react as expected). He isn’t used to “regular” social conventions, and this is coupled with the fact that he doesn’t really think like a villain does. In Fairy Gala IF, Ace comments on his heroicness, wondering how they both attend the same school. 

Essentially, there’s a significant divide between him and the people around him in both mindset and in lifestyle. Other students also view him as strange due to unchanging face. Some of his voicelines point this lack of expressiveness, like these:  

“They say that silence is golden. But in my case I just don’t have anything worth talking about…” (Ceremonial Robes SR) 

“I’m happy. ‘I don’t look like it’? Understood. Next time I’ll try harder.” (Groovy Voiceline)  

His dorm SSR also places this aspect of his character front and center. In Part 1, he overhears his peers whispering about how expressionless and weird he is. One of the students even questions if Silver has feelings, which triggers Silver to try to “learn how to be more expressive” with Kalim and Jamil’s help. Thank god for Sebek, who plans to spar with him in the courtyard so Silver’s classmates can witness his true, extremely cool self. He reiterates that Silver shouldn’t care about their opinions and doesn’t need to change.  I don’t think being as on display with one’s emotions as say, Kalim, is necessary for Silver to show growth; he doesn’t have to change who he is to please others. I also really really don’t think that him being less externally expressive is a fault. Sebek’s lines in Silver’s dorm uniform story make this very clear. 

PART 2: SILVER IS A HUMAN 

Still, an important part of his dorm uniform personal story is his reasoning behind wanting to change his expressions. He says he feels bad for burdening his classmates this way, and doesn’t want this issue to reflect poorly on Malleus. Silver’s dorm uniform story, as well as countless others (see: his PE card, where he only helps Vil after the former mentions Malleus), show off a key facet of Silver’s character. Of course no man is an island, but Silver only seems to exist in relation to Lilia and Malleus. His lack of self awareness can thus be linked to his constant drive to be useful to them. Silver only focuses on training and bettering himself in academics, physically, magically, etc in order to better serve others or avoid staining Malleus’s reputation; it’s all he can talk about. So much of his life is spent dedicated to his family that he’s frighteningly UNself-centered. And I know that his selflessness is part of the joke, but he really doesn’t seem to be thinking about himself at all, ever. 

One way to read into Silver’s devotion is through the lens of his mortality. Like Sebek, I think Silver has some internal struggle surrounding his humanity. Unlike Sebek, I don’t think Silver is necessarily ashamed of his race or cognizant of this inner conflict; rather, the fact that he is human and is mortal influences his dynamics with the other three greatly. Something easy to overlook with all the gags about Silver falling asleep in random situaftions or playing with animals is that he is burdened with the knowledge he will die long before his loved ones. Lilia, Malleus, and potentially Sebek (not sure about his projected lifespan yet?) are all likely to outlive him and there’s nothing he can do about it. Unlike the others, his time is palpably finite. 

This inner conflict manifests most obviously in his desperation to fix his sleeping issues. While it's in part just a dislike for it constantly disrupting his everyday life, any time spent unconscious is just another reminder of the limited time he has in comparison to his quasi-immortal loved ones. His character profile also marks his dislike as "being idle", which makes total sense when considered in relation to his mortality and not just in relation to his narcolepsy. in this short time he's been blessed with, he should devote his being to giving back to those who raised and cared for him, those who he lives for and who gave him the chance to live. Not a second should be wasted when he could be improving himself as a son, guard, student etc, and this fixation then feeds into his already lacking sense of introspection. While I don’t think he’s necessarily aware of this view of his own humanity (ie it doesn’t cross his mind in such a melancholic or existential way when he’s looking for a cure to his sleeping) I think it’s a key part of his character that explains a lot about his motivations and being. 

But what makes the divide between human and fae lifespans even harder to navigate is the sheer difference in their experiences and values. Of course Lilia and Malleus care for Silver, but the difference in perspectives between a human and a centuries old fae is massive. An example of this is in the Endless Halloween event: 

Silver: There’s no way I could doubt you, Fath…Da…Lilia! You both took this way too far! 

Lilia & Malleus: Hm?

Silver: I understand that you and the ghosts just wanted us to have fun. But those who were taken over by the ghosts tried to fight us. All it would’ve taken was one mistake and someone could’ve gotten seriously injured. Are you saying that was a hint, as well? 

Though Lilia and Malleus clear up the misunderstanding-the ghosts were supposed to tell everyone it was entertainment but were attacked before they could-Silver still shows his willingness to challenge them when he believes it necessary. I wouldn’t add this as an example because it is part of a misunderstanding, but Ace criticizes Malleus in his own SR Scary Dress personal story, citing that “normal students can’t compare”, so he should be more aware of how powerful he is. 

Endless Halloween is in general a really great Silver event. Not only are we shown his willingness to stand up for what he believes is right, even against the people who make up his whole world, he’s forced to confront the question of his humanity in relation to them. In his SSR Scary Dress personal story, he acknowledges that he never thought they could part: 

Silver: Lilia-senpai was always there for me, so I was never lonely.

Silver: Training with Sebek was always fun, and sometimes Malleus-sama would come and visit us in secret…

Silver: Somewhere in my heart, I had decided that that peaceful time would continue on forever.

Silver: …I had never even given it a thought that I could experience a parting.

That’s what makes part 1 of episode 7 is such an interesting set up in terms of character drama- as with the Endless Halloween kidnapping farce, the roles between son and father have been reversed. This time, though, it’s seemingly for real.  Silver can’t picture outliving Lilia, or even just living apart from him forever because the first seemed biologically impossible and the other extremely unlikely, and now everyone is crying and Malleus is burning down NRC. 

The Valley of Thorns is behind on the times. It’s a stagnant and slow to change, a point emphasized in almost all of its mentions, so I think the Diasomnia chapter will center on them coping with time,  change, mortality, etc. I’m trying not to cross over into theory territory, but another possible route episode 7 could take is surrounding Silver’s origins. We see Lilia give him the ring from his original parents. What if he leaves to find them? I really really don’t think he will, but there is that threat of “Silver has ties to another place besides Diasomnia” which is another stake in how lonely Malleus, as the overblotter, is. 

JUST TO REITERATE AGAIN BECAUSE I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT WHEN DISCUSSING SILVER LIKE THIS: I also don't think he's super self-aware yet considering his general lack of introspection, or at least doesn't think about it too often unless he's confronted with a change in the status quo (like in his Scary Monsters SSR). He’s very here-and-now minded. I’m not saying he’s secretly hiding some dark and sad secret side, just that his situation’s complexity extends beyond the falling-asleep-everywhere gags. Mortality and all that. 

PART 3: I LOVE SILVER TWISTED WONDERLAND 

But one thing that always makes me sad about Silver’s situation is wondering…is he lonely? It must be lonely right? Or does he throw so much of himself into others that he isn’t even aware if or when he is? So much of twst boils down to how loneliness absolutely destroys a person, and how understanding from others and human connection is incredibly necessary. Without it, people can turn into literal monsters, consumed by their pain and isolation. Like their leige, Silver and Sebek haven’t socialized with others much until NRC. But a big part of twst chapters is the dorm head/members of the respective dorm connecting with their classmates a little more, which is why I’m hopeful that Diasomnia will have a happy ending. The game is a Disney property after all. 

And as Lilia says, human or not, Silver will always be his son. Sometimes a family can be two fae, a human baby, and their giant crocodile. 

tldr; Silver is isolated in a lot of ways (human instead of fae, has morals unlike the other scrubs at NRC) and hyperfocuses on others instead of his own sake because of it; I think episode 7 will be about him and the rest of Diasomnia learning how to make connections with others while coping with time, change, and mortality. 

[c0ntr0l-c0re-angel]

WE FINISHED THE BOOK!!! [A day ago, technically]

This is going to be a >>MOSTLY<< spoiler free post, and I'm gonna post my full opinion a week or two from now to give people time to read it. There's a read more just in case.

In my unbiased opinion, I'd give the book a 7.5/10. For what if had to work with [from some of the later games], I feel like things were done well, with the exception of a handful of parts dragging it down. Eden-5 had very interesting world building. They didn't move around much, but it was still cool to see another planet and have a plot not too centered around corporations.

In my BIASED opinion though, it's a 6/10, probably even lower. I'll try to talk about both sides in this post just to be a LITTLE fair.

When the book had it's good moments, they were GREAT. For the most part, Fiona and Sasha were written well, and had good character moments. Gaige was given some of the development she needed, and her dynamic with the sisters was humourous to me. I felt like it did a good job showing a difference between people like the tales characters in the borderlands universe [normal people, and people from games like BL2 [vault hunters that are crazy in a WAAAAY different way].

However, what drops the book down to a six is it's bad parts. I won't say how, but the crystal from NTFTBL [ew], is not only mentioned, but a huge plot point. It's not a secret that I absolutely hated that game, but the crystal takes away a huge universal consequence, but that's a discussion for another post.[and also fucks up what could've been some of the best moments in the book]. Other than that and one other thing, no more mention of that game. There's only one other mention-ish of BL3, and it's not good, but there's only one I can remember. Keeping the other games out of it, imo, was a great idea.

While we don't get to see much of the other tales characters, which is a bummer, it's somewhat understandable. As for the other tales characters, they're absent besides a few cameos from Rhys and some mentions. There are some tales/post tales Rhys moments and mentions that still seem in character, which was nice. BUT, Rhys' absolute character assassination during bl3 and onwards persists in one of his cameos, and the sisters say ABSOLUTELY nothing about it. NOTHING!!! If this post wasn't supposed to be a shorter, less spoiler-y and less opinion riddled, I'd go on forever about how livid I am. Also, the Vaultlander shit was fucking stupid.

I would still at least read a summary of the book at least, if you don't want to read it. There are some parts, for my fellow artists and writers, that can be taken from. But, if you were looking for stuff of ALL the tales characters, or something that COMPLETELY fixed what gearbox fucked up, it's definitely not the book or that. Still, 6/10, the reaaally good parts and the REAL bad parts are at each other's throats constantly. Me and Doglin agreed that there were definitely limitations on what Burch could do, and gearbox probably had say in a bunch of things, but BOY do I have my gripes about this book.

-Splat

[azrail-has-a-vendetta]

oh my fucking god. STORY TIME

I got lost while driving today and ended up in front of a PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS’ building. I looked them up, it’s legit, I read the reviews and the first one is GOLD it’s like a mini episode.

I need 4 seasons and/or a podcast. I’m ready to make this my entire personality, just ummm here (this is probably illegal or smth):

“I used their services in the summer of 2015 and was assigned Nicholas. He is former British military and has an incredible attention to detail. I was contacted by him almost immediately and was in touch with him in real time throughout several periods of the investigation. His reporting was thorough and unbiased, with extensive detail on locations, times and pictures that proved to be a difference maker legally. Those are things I expected when I decided to pay for investigative services.

What surprised me, pleasantly, was Nicholas' empathy and compassion throughout the investigation. There were several moments that proved too difficult to hear or see. In each of those instances, Nicholas was both brutally honest (at my request) and offered a much needed ear for me to vent and process. It was like an old friend helping me through a very difficult few moments. He didn't have to listen, or be there for me. But he was. After his services were rendered and paid we kept in touch every few months. He asked about my personal situation and I updated him on the good that came from his work. We even shared some laughs about topics not related to the investigation. I have never seen his face or shaken his hand, but would take his call or answer a text at any hour of the day. And I forgot the mention, I live on the east coast, and did throughout the investigation. I was compelled to write this public review because of this kinship, over a year later.”

bro what the fuck? I have never seen his face or shaken his hand, but would take his call or answer a text at any hour of the day.

I am CRYING, how do I get a job shadow or internship here?

also how do you get a license in stalking?

I swear I’m normal now. (I’m a lier)

[aita-blorbos]

( canon character, but with my own personal take on said character's lore!! :D )

AITA for getting upset over a book and ending a hang out session early?

Hello. I am still rather new to social media, but one of my roommates has encouraged me to take this matter here so I may get unbiased opinions on it. For the record, I am genderless and present as such, so refer to me however you'd like. I am also technically thousands of years old, but physically I am only in my 40's or so.

Also, I have the feeling this post will be long, so my sincerest apologies in advance for that, but I believe the exposition is important for context.

This starts long, long ago. I was a knight back in my heyday, and a highly revered one at that. The people I was sworn to protect respected me greatly. I was involved in numerous battles, of which I prevailed in all of them. Of course, these fights were more for show than true battles.

And then, a horrible war broke out. Back then, the worlds of technology and magic were not as intertwined as they seem to be nowadays. A few rouge scientists stole trade secrets from the magicians, causing said war. I was firmly on the magicians' side, as they were my people. I simply couldn't abandon them in a time of need.

I fought countless battles, my men and I claiming victory in each one. I was regarded as a hero by the magicians.

Or, so I thought. One day, during yet another fight, I was sealed away in a crystal by some of my comrades. Looking back, I'm sure they were traitors.

I was stuck in that crystal for eons. The war was never resolved, from what I can gather. Most participants were simply... gone. As if they had never existed. The only time I was let out of the crystal, I was made to battle once more, this time with a knight of the current generation, MK. (Male, no idea how old he is. Around my physical age, I'd say? A little younger?)

MK won the battle, and I found myself in the vast darkness of space. Thankfully, I was rescued by one of my current roommates, M.(much like I, they have no preference in how they are referred to. 19 and a half. they made me specify.) M assisted me in getting to their home planet to heal, thank the stars, and I've since then made the planet my personal home.

Fast forward to now. I've made a few friends. M, as previously mentioned, is one of them, as well as a witch, G.(Non-binary, 32.) Both have since become my roommates. It's a long story. I've also properly made amends with MK. While we are not friends, we do occasionally hang out with one another.

One of these hang out sessions was at a local library. MK and I are both fans of literature, and we often accompany one another when we take trips to the library. That day's book selection from MK included a history book, specifically pertaining to stories about my time. I was admittedly a bit confused, as I was sitting right there, but I didn't see an issue with it as MK isn't one for conversation, at least with me.

Eventually, I let my curiosity get the better of me, and asked MK if I could see the book for a bit. He obliged, and I got to reading. And let me tell you, those stories made me out to be some kind of brute. The "greatest warrior in the galaxy" part was true, yes, but the rest of it was a complete fabrication! They made me sound like some kind of cold-blooded killer or something! It made it look as if the war had been one-sided. It was annoying, to put it lightly.

When I vented about this to MK, he stated that sometimes, history is simply wrong, and it is up to us to correct it. Of course, I agree with the sentiment, but this frustrated me more, so I left early. When I later brought it up to M and G, they had the same mindset.

I have since apologized to MK for my behavior during our day out. He has accepted my apology, but I still feel a bit bad for getting upset with him for something that is not even his fault.

So, am I the asshole here?

[bleep-bloop-boo]

hey honey idk if you got the other ask but I need some advice.

there's this boy, i'll call him Brayden. in fourth grade he was mean to me, so I didn't like or speak to him much. then I homeschooled and he moved 5 hours away. we met with another friend and my brother at the lake. he was super kind to me (not to mention super cute too). and I was low-key simping. then in the car on the way home he told me that he used to have a crush on me and that he still kinda did. looking back on it now, he was high-key flirting the whole time at the lake. but I don't have permission to date and he has a girlfriend. but I really like this guy t-t

(i'll dm you so you know who I am, I just didn't wanna go off anon lol)

omg- okay, first of all, people change, esp cuz 4th grade was so long ago and you guys were kids. he totally could have became a new person now, and even better. ik a lot of kids were mean to people they liked as a kid and just kinda jerks in general so try to be nice when remembering how he used to act but like, 2 things stand out to me rn 1. did he ever apologize for how he acted?? did he acknowledge that just cuz he had a crush didn't mean he should have been mean to you?? 2. if he has a girlfriend, why is he flirting with you- he should be loyal. if he really liked you, he would have broken up with his girlfriend... hes practically cheating on her right now.... and if you get with him, it might be you he's cheating on next. he might just leave you or get with some other person while you guys are still dating and thats not fair to you or his current girlfriend imo, this is a major red flag and ik it can be really hard to be unbiased when someone is into you because it can be one of the most exciting feelings ever and makes you feel good about yourself but make sure you treat and judge him like you do anyone. just because he's cute doesnt mean he gets special treatment try to see if youre excusing certain behaviors cuz you like him because its a very common and easy thing our subconscious does also jsjdfjheknjh ty for coming to me for advice 🥺 <33 and ill await your dm so i can know more hehe

[whmp]

in case you're just here for the good stuff, i'll be tagging my personal ramblings as #whmpersonal so you can avoid em BUT this is tangentially related to the game project i'm working on, so stick around i guess? tl;dr: i'll probably make a more coherent post where I ask ppl for help (especially artists). also, i'll be more attentive and answer your asks faster, hopefully. : )

anyway, after a bit of a "review" of my creative process (and i guess my uhh way of living in general?) i've noticed that it's a huge clusterfuck. and that it has been since i was a kid. without some external pressure or an imposed structure (like deadlines, parents or strongly worded emails) i just sort of relied on random surges of productivity to carry me through life. on one hand, it's kinda fun: most of the time i'm not doing anything valuable and then all of a sudden i condense weeks worth of work into several sleepless days during which i feel like An Immortal Unstoppable God. lighting bolts shoot from my fingertips, my eyes glow in the dark, and my caffeine-to-blood volume ratio is hovering around 1.

unfortunately, it's not really sustainable. the "not doing anything valuable" stage that takes up most of my time is not me just chilling. it's me freaking the fuck out about not doing anything despite wanting to and finding myself just. not able to. not to mention that some things just need minor, but constant maintenance - at best i'd just forget about them and face the consequences later on. at worst i'd be acutely aware of them while procrastinating, clueless as to what's wrong with me.

couple that with a couple other unhealthy habits, a microscopic attention span and wow, i fit like all the criteria for adhd. i gotta admit i was super sceptical at first when doing any research, since, well. how the fuck am i even supposed to gain any unbiased insight into this. anyway, i spent a stupid amount of money on an official diagnosis (seriously why is this not covered by insurance gsygx), it took a million meetings and tests and i get a piece of paper that says i have add and deserve some medication.

this has also made me realize that i'm spread out super thin when it comes to projects. i love every single one of them, but im going to have to be a bit more realistic in terms of what can remain in "when it's done" limbo and what needs a bit of a push. the whump game is unique in that it's not just me who wants this to eventually get released. so! what this means is that it needs a proper, project structure. not a .txt on my desktop where i keep a backlog of missing features. but must important of all, it needs ~*people*~. this is the first time i took a step back and estimated how much time everything would take me and yeahhhh i was being very optimistic when i said "playable build in 2023" lol. i've been hesitant to ask for help bc 1. i'm stubborn : ) 2. im bad at coordinating stuff 3. i can't pay ppl - like seriously, there is one person making a model for me (if you're reading this sorry i didn't ask if you want a tag but this is just a personal post where i keep yapping) and it's looking so clean and professional,,, you gotta sell this as an asset.

HOWEVER im getting past the mentality of "i gotta do as much as i can by myself". and also taking meds so that im able to focus on tasks (both gamedev-related and others) and actually pay attention to what im doing. which is great news for development! and answering asks! ill be making a dev post where i tag all the ppl and will also ask for help.

that's it. im on a train rn and bored out of my mind so this is why this post exists, sorry. anyway check out this screenshot of a moment in clone high that i relate to deeply.

[hummingbirdsinjune]

Alright I'm finally watching episode ten but I am kinda ??? Because it doesn't have 12 episodes like most other shows do 🤨

- I don't say this because I'm queer. Completely unbiased, this only makes sense if they're gay. Can someone explain what changed in the writing room???

- Uh is the implication that Khatha sat in one place for 114 years, hugging the carbon charred, mummified body of his brother-boyfriend?? Does this mean Khatha survives in present day only on Juicy Fruit gum and sass? That's Gay 101

- Khatha's oral fixation means a lot to me

- Oh I see he's had his run in with that knife before

- How come Khatha could only fight in 1937. Prese t day Khatha gets his ass kicked once a week

- What I'm getting from this is that Khatha created the museum to hide himself, a cursed object, in.

- ahhahah Khatha broke science

- WHAT made Chan to darkside? Like murdering people darkside? Just his rage? Was he evil before Khatha turned him in?

- Naaaaanonnnnn :D

- so there IS a reaper and it just isn't Khatha as I had originally speculated

- You know what kind of love makes you go feral? Not the sibling kind

- welcome to limbo old man

- "I'm fine with the world ending" "are you running away from the problem?" Obviously, Dome

- oh we're talking to God who seems, idk, kinda useless lmfao

- gaaaay

- I heard like 5 episodes were cut and I believe those episodes had the character development because why does Dome care so much about living with Bam and Triphob when they've had almost no substantial interactions? And Khatha has mostly been rude to him?

- leaning into being queer only would have helped this show. Khatha could have given Dome a smooch on the head and that would have felt so natural. Heck, even if he does just see him as a brother. Since he clearly treats his siblings differently than the rest of us do

- Dome and One (probably) sucker punching each other inside Nanon's brain lmaooo

- "do you have a plan?" "No" that is such a Dome thing to say I'm crying he's so dumb

- did Antika imply Khatha is God???

- Wait where's the explanation for his feathers

- this is actually very sad I just wish I understood Chan more

- "we aren't the only ones fighting with this" this ISN'T the time for more plot points

- this show makes me feral and I no longer know how I feel about that

- the last part is TWENTY EIGHT MINUTES???

- 💫 necromancy 💫

- 😬 possession 😬

- x2

- I swear to God if there's a fourth Chan/Dome/One I -

- (screaming because I'm more confused now than ever before)

- oh it's a horse painting on the wall not something terrifying

- also??? The hunt for your One???? romantic.

- naw even if didn't remember him, i'd fall mad in love just seeing him just LOOK at that beautiful man

- don't be a coward. Hold his hand.

- THREE MOONS?? they never mentioned that

- oop. Another point to Dismantling Religion

- Khatha x 2

- looks like the museum is in trouble

[cursedfortune]

Hey. In your post, you did address why I failed to follow up in a timely fashion - I have been intimidated, uncertain and scared. I'm not the person you thought sent the initial message expressing a desire to apologize, but I was a friend of yours, and our friendship came to an end in a nasty fashion a while back and there's been a bad taste in my mouth ever since. In fact, I've been wanting to apologize for quite some time now, but never conjured up the courage because I thought I was not "allowed" to and that you would not ever want to hear from me again. I thought it was just best to let sleeping dogs lie and move on, but I have not been able to stop thinking about you or feeling fondness for you, even after all of this time. I'll be honest and say that I don't want to get closure, close a chapter and move on, instead I want to make amends, hash it all out and renew our friendship. But I completely understand that the onus is on me to approach you, initiate a conversation and work with you towards that desired outcome without any anonymity and with full transparency, and I will as soon as possible. I just wanted to send you this right away to (hopefully) ease the worries, concerns and confusions that seem to be clouding your mind currently. Thank you. I'm not looking for a response to this so you need not provide one if you don't want to, and I know there's only one thing left to do now.

hm.

there's really only two people i've had falling outs with to a not great degree. the one this past month and the one that you mentioned, a while back. i'm not going to fault you for your hesitation to reach out. these things are always anxiety-inducing to deal with. i would appreciate a clearer indicator but seeing how the possibilities are slim that does make it easier.

i try to not live my life as a hypocrite. if you've taken time to think about things and want to have a transparent conversation about what happened and see from there - i'm not someone who will deny it. time gives us the chance to see what we didn't like about ourselves, what we didn't like doing to someone else and all the things between. i'm never going to promise an outcome but i can promise that i go into even personal situations as unbiased as i can because i want to hear you (or anyone) out. also i'm processing how i feeling atm, so please ignore if this message sounds like it's lacking an emotion or something. asdfghjk

i'll admit, i am confused about the timing and intercepting someone separately who wanted to apologize. and what you mean by ease worries and stuff if you weren't the one who initially sent that ask is also a little confusing to me. but i think that's something you can clear up for me if you want to have a conversation about things. i'm also confused by your final line in this post because it has a rather ominous tone? and that might just be my time being forced to be someone's personal suicide lookout for most of my life. so i hope it's just me overthinking and ??? wording there and nothing actually that serious is being considered.

i'd prefer this talk happens sooner. in truth, i'm a little beat being in the position to wait on others to talk to me like a person - or like a friend, with these types of matters. if you change your mind on doing this, i just ask you don't leave me in suspense and send another anon to say as much. i don't know if you have a blog anymore, if i've blocked it and need to unblock it or what. assuming this is best privately discussed on discord, you can feel free to message me your handle or if you still have mine - send a request if you're able. it's very rare i outright block people in case something like this happens (wanting to make amends or discuss it). but it happens. the recent one it did, but i can't recall about the past one.

either way, you can message me and we can move this privately to speak.

[eri-pl]

I hate how I can't Tumblr properly. Anyway:

Well, I do take offense TBH beccause Melian didn't try or plan to get Thingol to fall in love with her, they just fell both, because ... well, because that's how romance in Tolkien works, I guess.

Both from what I remember from the text, and logic (the Ainur are forbidden to force the minds of the Children, so if they do they fall and Melian doesn't start looking creepy and emanating darkness) Melian and Thingol was (just like B&L) "fate struck them both in the heads" and not "one of them struck the other one in the head", and while I'm not a fan of how Tolkien describes falling in love, please do not claim that it was something Melian willingly did with her magic to Thingol.

Edit: I reread the text in the Silm and argh, why is Tolkien so poetic. Thingol hears Melian singing and he is "enchanted" but I really don't believe Tolkien meant it as Melian magicking him on purpose. Because later he runs to her and takes her hand and now she is enchanted and fallen in love. so she was not in love before. Thingol fell in love first. So why on earth would Melian magic him into it? She may have summonned him with her song out of curiosity, it may have had the unexpected effect of him falling in love, but it's not something she knew, or expected, or planned.

OK, tbh in the archaic view... they did elope, and Melian was the more powerful party, so you may call it that word if you really want to.

You can say Melian stole Thingol from his people, to whom he had responsibilities. The fact that Thingol was enthusiastic about said theft and initiated it, does not change it. ;)

But it really breaks the logic of the Silm if we assume it was anyhow non consensual.

And she didn't imprison Thingol in the forest. they just both lost track of time.

You know I don't hate Eöl, or Maeglin, or Celegorm. I am trying to be unbiased. Still, I think the text reads as:

Melian is innocent

Eöl is coercing, but not outright rape-y, and Aredhel falls in love with him, though she is manipulated into it (by isolation).

Maeglin is unclear, may have been ok-just-unnerving until his capture by Morgoth, and after being talked to by Morgoth we can blame it in large part on Morgoth's corruption and insanity. Or may be interpreted as worse.

Celegorm in the Silm, as I was shown earlier, may be just assuming that Lúthien will fall for him if given enough time. And he still does have a special place in by heart because he was your blorbo at one point.

And it's not that I like Melian so much. You know, whom else I like? Morgoth. And he did very clearly try to rape someone at least twice. And I have no problem admitting that. OK, I don't remember if Arien is mentioned in the Silm or other text, but even in the Silm only, with Luthien, it's clear what his approach is. And I am trying to stick to the Silm here. Anyway he is a rapist. By intent.

I'm not saying you must like Melian or Lúthien or that everything they did was perfect, but I don't think a forced or manipulated marriage is compatibile with the text.

feel like the silm fandom doesn't talk enough about the fact that Turgon enacted the first state sanctioned execution (whether it was deserved is irrelevant, it's just wild that he went for that as a choice to me) among the elves or the fact that the response of the people of Nargothrond to Curufin's speech about not following Beren and Finrod to get the Silmaril from Morgoth's crown was to "with stealth and ambush, with wizardry and venomed dart, pursue all strangers, forgetting the bonds of kinship" thus falling "from the valour and freedom of the elves of old, and their land was darkened".

some interesting choices happening in Nargothrond and Gondolin for sure.

[waterparksdrama]

waterparks: a detailed history and timeline

waterparks is a pop rock band from houston texas consisting of awsten knight (vocals, guitar), geoff wigington (guitar), and otto wood (drums). formed in 2011, their first ep release and members solidified in 2012, most of the history of waterparks has been lost to time and funny lies that warped into lore.

until now.

disclaimer: do not contact/harass anyone mentioned in this post. their names are only being mentioned for historical reason and many mentioned are not in contact with the band anymore.

prologue

the origins of waterparks lie in a band before it. jawn rocha and awsten knight had befriended each other through the houston music scene when they were in middle school. the blue poptarts (later renamed over 9000! following the addition of a new drummer) was jawn and awsten’s high school band. the aforementioned drummer as the band rebranded was otto wood, who had auditioned after contacting them on myspace. 

in july 2010, over 9000 flew to detroit for an opportunity to record an album, but unfortunately this turned out to be a scam and caused otto to start drifting apart from them. on december 10, 2010, over 9000 had their last show, otto driving off in silence afterwards and not talking to them anytime, ending the band and their friendship with otto. 

a more detailed and informal primer of this era can be found here.

2011

with the demise of over 9000, awsten created the twitter account for waterparks in february 2011. he did not actually have a new band or a band name at this point and only came up with the name in july (sources: 1 and 2).  

the band was originally a five piece (the first “official” lineup they had by july 2011 shown below):

the original members were (named from left to right):

owen marvin - drums

tyler comer - keyboards

awsten knight - lead vocals, guitar

tommy denley - guitar

gage matthieu - unclean vocals, bass

tyler could not actually play keyboard even though he moved all the way from west virginia to play for the band, so he was quickly dropped from the band.

he was also the reason the band got its name as before band practices, one of the members would tell him they were going to a waterpark so he’d get in his swimsuit and then that member would take tyler to rehearsal because he was gullible and the rest of the band thought it was funny.

the band’s first ever single “i was hiding under your porch because i love you” was released on july 27.  

on september 15, they released their second single, “silver”. on the 23rd, awsten featured on “pray for dean” by rap group dwhb (dem waffle houze boiz) consisting of travis riddle, andrew atwood, and dean thomasson.

found here is presumably the only interview from the band’s first year.

2012

with the band awsten had left, airplane conversations was released on april 3, 2012 and recorded with the remnants of the original lineup (gage, awsten, and owen) as tommy was dropped from the band sometime before for unknown reasons. 

on june 13, “i was hiding under your porch because i love you” became the first ever waterparks music video and the only one with this lineup. 

sometime after this, owen was arrested for theft and attempted to get awsten to lie to the police for him so he had to make the decision to cut owen out of his life. following this, gage introduced geoff wigington to awsten as a candidate for a new guitarist and joined soon after.

with an almost complete band, awsten went on a search for a new drummer until he was left with no other option except to ask otto, who had already liked/listened to the ep because awsten had sent it to him (source). shortly after, gage was dropped from the band due to creative differences and his inability to play the songs.

waterparks had their first show on august 17th of that year with the lineup we know today (also they had a box of pizza open for them). 

they had a couple other shows that year (not counting the show for the fake dubstep project made to headline over design the skyline): opening for chiodos and learning gangnam style from craig owens on october 14, opening for driver friendly on november 17, and playing the houston house of creeps on november 23.

linked here is one of the first interviews had with the official lineup.

2013

on january 9, waterparks started off the year with the release of the “silver” music video,  marking the first video with the official lineup and the second video for airplane conversations. the teaser video for that can be found here. 

on april 1, the jf sessions video was posted, which was an interview documenting the band at that point. on the 16th, dwhb released their album, dog park, which included a track awsten featured on called “light it up”.

on may 11, they opened for aaron carter on the houston date of his after party tour. they only got to play this show because awsten lied to the promoter that they were bigger than they actually were.

on july 23, “new wave” was released as the first single with the new lineup and post-airplane conversations. the music video was filmed and their next ep began production that year as well.

in august, they played the houston date of the vans warped tour.

on september 28, they opened the houston date of the north american tour of you me at six.

2014

on april 3, 2014, waterparks posted an announcement video for their second ep, black light. in that same month, the music video for “new wave” was released.

“night maps” was the second single off the ep, released june 2. on the 5th of that month, the ep was released. 

it was during this year that awsten began bleaching/dying his hair: pink in july, blonde by september, and blue in december.

2015

on march 24, 2015, waterparks released the music video for “i’m a natural blue”, an acoustic version being posted to soundcloud on april 10.

in may, awsten posted three tracks on soundcloud under side joke rap moniker lil kidz bop, featuring the band and their friends. a track featuring otto was already posted from november 2014.

in the summer of that year, they began travelling to and from california to begin production on a new ep as well as beginning their partnership with benji and joel madden, parx being managed under their new company, mddn.

on november 6, they announced their signing to equal vision records and released their first song on the label, “crave”. on the 9th of that month, the music video for “crave” was released. on the 18th, they announced they’d be opening for never shout never on the black cat tour the following year and on the 19th, parx opened for good charlotte at the troubadour for their comeback show.

2016

on january 15, the band’s third ep, cluster was released. in that same month, they set off for the black cat tour and forced jawn rocha to become their photographer (his words not mine).

in june, they began the recording process for the first waterparks album before heading off for their first cross country warped tour. this was also the tour when geoff broke his hand in its duration. on the 7th of that month, a “no capes” black cat tour recap video was released. 

in august, waterparks played reading and leeds, mikey way playing bass as he did for the recording of cluster. the first single off their album was “stupid for you”, released the last day of that month along with the announcement of double dare.

the second single, “hawaii (stay awake)”, was premiered on september 30 on pete wentz’s sirius xm hits1 radio show and released on october 4. the single, “royal” was released october 24.

on november 4, double dare was released. on the 7th of that month, the “stupid for you” music video premiered. from early november to early december, waterparks opened for sleeping with sirens on the end the madness tour.

2017

on january 25, the music video for “royal” was released.

from february to early march, waterparks co-headlined a north american tour with too close to touch. shortly following that, they also opened for all time low on a uk tour that same march.

on may 15, a “plum island” recap video of the uk tour was released. they headlined a show in japan before doing three other stops there to open for all time low.

from late june to early august, waterparks opened for all time low once again on the young renegades north american tour. in between that, the “gloom boys” music video was posted on july 13 and attended the apmas and won best breakthrough artist on the 17th.

following the tour that month, the music video for “21 questions” was released.

from october 2 to 4, waterparks opened for mayday parade for a lesson in romantics’ 10th anniversary europe tour alongside with confidence. on the 20th, the first single post-double dare, “blonde” was released. the “blonde” music video was released on november 2, along with the reveal of awsten’s purple hair and the second parx album.

from november to early december, the band headlined the made in america tour.

on november 22, awsten posted the first version of “worst” on his youtube channel following a tumultuous breakup with actress ciara hanna. 

on december 1, they won a rock sound award for best international breakthrough artist.

on december 3, awsten released money mountain vol. ii under felony steve, another parody rap alter ego. there were two music videos made for this, the latter only found in reuploads: girl u broke my heart and velcro. the mixtape was quickly taken down due to issues with equal vision, though in recent years it was made public again on soundcloud.

on december 14, “lucky people” was released along with the music video for it.

2018

on january 15th, awsten + travis’ slumber party, a fanfic podcast with longtime friend and author travis riddle, premiered on idobi radio, andrew atwood handling sound and composing jingles for it. on the 16th, “not warriors” premiered on sirius xm’s the emo project, the song being released on streaming platforms the following day. on the 26th of that month, entertainment was released.

from january 30 to february 4, parx opened for the maine on their austrailian tour.

on february 13, the music video for “not warriors/crybaby” was released.

on march 1-20, waterparks went on the uk/eu entertainment tour.

from late june to early august, they embarked on the final cross country vans warped tour. between that, on july 9, the music video for “we need to talk” was posted.

on august 21, a “peach lobotomy” warped tour recap video was released. starting that same day to september 1, waterparks went on a uk/eu fall tour, opening for sum 41 at select dates.

from november to early december, they went on the north american entertainment tour. on december 5 and 6, they headlined two shows in australia before performing at good things festival for the next three days.

from late november to the january of the following year, the slumber party podcast premiered its second season. in mid december, awsten and travis went on a three day tour for the podcast live show. 

2019

from mid february to late march, waterparks opened for one ok rock on the north american eye of the storm tour.

on february 21, parx posted a picture of them wearing primary color windbreakers. this would be one of the earliest appearances of this color palette. 

on march 8, awsten featured on “rainy days in la” by adam&steve, a project by youtuber elijah daniel and producer sam f. on the 15th, they released a jazzy cover of head automatica’s “beating heart baby”.

on march 24, awsten revealed his red hair on the eye of the storm tour and on the 27th revealed he had deleted the files to friendly reminder, what was supposed to be parx’s third album and had been hinted at since the entertainment era, specifically in the not warriors/crybaby video.

on april 3, awsten revealed he had dyed his hair a cotton candy hue temporarily.

on may 23, waterparks released “turbulent”, the first official single post-entertainment. they also revealed they had signed to hopeless records and awsten’s green hair for the era. slam dunk festival was their first performance for this era in late may.

on june 10, awsten published his memoir, you’d be paranoid too (if everyone was out to get you). on the 21st, the felony steve moniker got revived to feature on a track of lil phag, another elijah daniel project, “ihatemetoo”.

in july, awsten began the fandomorange account on instagram to promote and chronicle the making of the new album. 

on august 12, “watch what happens next” was released as the next single along with its music video. that same day they announced their third album fandom. on the 16th, the single “dream boy” was released, premiering the day before on sirius xm hits 1. its music video was released on the 23rd.

on september 12, the single “[reboot]” was released. on the 25th, the single “high definition” was released along with its music video. 

on october 12, fandom was released, one of the tracks being a reworked version of “worst”. on the 17th, “easy to hate” was released as a single along with its music video.

on november 3, they released “entertainment 2019″, a medley of entertainment songs. on the 23rd, they released “double dare 2019″, a medley of double dare songs. these releases were meant to be ways for the band to have ownership and be compensated for the music released on their previous label, but were soon taken down from streaming platforms due to legal complications.

on december 19, they won a rock sound award for song of the year, “turbulent”.

from november to december, they embarked on the north american fandom tour. 

2020

from late january to early february, waterparks went on the uk fandom tour, recording the birmingham date for a live concert film. on january 22, they released 1 (a collection of unreleased home demos, this is not g, or even an album, shut up enjoy) on soundcloud as a tweet awsten posted requesting 20k retweets for him to drop a new waterparks album that day reached that number.

from march to june, the third season of the slumber party podcast premiered. 

on april 17, awsten was featured on “wobble” by patent pending. that same month, he began his social media hiatus and began production on the next waterparks album during this time.

on september 17, awsten returned to social media and had an acoustic instagram live where he leaked post-fandom single “lowkey as hell” while he cut his green hair off, leaving his natural hair. the single was officially released on the 25th along with the announcement of their signing to 300 entertainment. its music video and reveal of awsten’s primary colored hair was posted on november 18.

on november 27, waterparks’ live concert film, fandom: live in the uk was released.

2021

on the first day of the year, awsten announced via twitter that there is a new waterparks album.

on february 26, the second single from the album, “snow globe” was released along with its music video and the announcement of their fourth album greatest hits. 

on march 18, awsten was featured on “perfume” by de’wayne. on the 27th, they streamed the virtual anti tour performance. on the 29th, “numb” was released as a single, the music video being posted on the 31st.

during a twitch livestream in april, awsten revealed he had a secret youtube channel limousine aux that posted old demos. on the 28th, they released the next single, “you’d be paranoid too (if everyone was out to get you)”, the name sharing the title of awsten’s memoir. the music video for this single was posted on the 30th.

on may 12th, they released the single “just kidding” along with its music video. the final single, “violet!” was released on the 18th after premiering on an acoustic livestream/interview. greatest hits was released on the 21st. the “violet!” music video was released on the 26th.

on june 4th, they released a performance of greatest hits in its entirety as part of the wiltern livestream series.

on july 14, they released the “fruit roll ups” music video.

on august 18, the music video for “the secret life of me” was released.

from august 28 to september 4, waterparks played their first in person shows for the promotion of greatest hits on a uk tour.

from october 25 to december 6, they embarked on a night out on earth us tour.

2022

in early 2022, awsten began teasing parx5 along with announcing a variety of tours they would take on in the summer.

on april 22, “telephone” from fandom was featured in the netflix series, heartstopper.

the first single announced from parx5 was “funeral grey”, its presave link being active and teased throughout their last tour. they shared a snippet of backing vocals on april 18, shared a longer clip on may 4, and announced its release date of may 13, using the site funeralgrey.com to tease more clips and images from its music video.

on may 10, parx announced they signed to fueled by ramen. along with the single, the “funeral grey” music video was released.

from june 9 to july 1, waterparks embarked on the much delayed european see you in the future tour and played the unreleased song, “brainwashed”.

on july 7, they released the single, “self sabotage”.

from july 8 to august 5, they toured the us for the sad summer festival.

on august 8, they released the “self sabotage” music video, a compilation from the london date of the syitf tour.

from august 30 to september 5, waterparks opened for my chemical romance on small leg of their returning us tour and debuted the unreleased song, “real super dark” live. this marked parx’s first times playing in arenas. on october 17th, they opened for mcr for their final date of the tour along with midtown.

from september 16 to september 29, waterparks opened for blackbear on his nothing matters tour along with heart attack man. during this tour they live debuted and announced their collaboration with blackbear, the song “fuck about it”. the song was officially released on october 14. 

on november 15, they announced the album was finished and on the 18th, they announced the tracklist. on the 22nd, they announced the title of their 5th album, intellectual property, notably breaking the alphabetical order of their discography and slated for a spring 2023 release.

on december 1, the music video for “fuck about it” was released. 

2023

on january 26, waterparks officially released the song, “real super dark” along with its visualizer. along with this, they announced the album release date.

from february 1-11, waterparks opened for you me at six for the first time in ten years on their truth decay tour. they also performed acoustic outstores between days they weren’t performing as openers.

on march 9, they officially released the single, “brainwashed” along with an accompanying visual.

on april 14, intellectual property was released and the fuck about it museum event was held the same day in los angeles. from april 15-21, waterparks did acoustic instores for the promotion of the album.

from april 28 to june 14, waterparks embarked on the north american property tour, recording a live dvd on the tour’s boston date.

after months of silence, in september, waterparks wiped their instagram of most posts except for the ones pertaining to the release of intellectual property. the band account would then cryptically post weekly writings on a green background. after much confusion, they would begin teasing the single, “sneaking out of heaven” by mailing reversed snippets of the song on usbs for their fans and peers to decipher online. on september 20, the snippets were made available online by interacting with the dotted background of the song’s presave page redirected from the band website.

from october 3-6, waterparks went on the property tour australia, their second australian tour since entertainment era. during this tour, the band played a live debut of “sneaking out of heaven”, which now had an official release date. on october 11, which also doubles as the 4th anniversary of fandom’s release, the single was officially released. the song’s music video was released the following day. from october 22 to 23, waterparks played at when we were young festival.

from october 31 to november 24, waterparks went on the property tour europe/uk, the last installment of property tours.

on december 3, they performed a special acoustic set for the closure of the original warehouse live location in eado though otto wood was not present for this performance. this would be the last set ever at the venue.

2024

on february 21, awsten revealed he had dyed his hair black. on the 25th, he revealed the front parts of his hair were still red.

from february 26 to april 6, waterparks embarked on the sneaking out of heaven tour.

on may 25-26, they performed at slam dunk festival, where they would announce intellectual property 2: lost in the property via merch with the tracklist and an online store. on the 26th, “soulsucker” was released. this would mark their announcement to depart from fueled by ramen to go fully independent for the first time in ten years. on the 28th, the song’s music video was released. 

on june 28, “fai2″, a reworked version of “fuck about it” featuring zeph, was released. on the 29th, its music video was released.

on july 30, awsten revealed he had dyed his hair blue, purple, and magenta.

on august 2, awsten had revealed via a short video clip that he had scrapped intellectual property 2 due to numerous problems and mental health tolls in the buildup to its release. the next day, waterparks had an “aftershow” performance the night before their lollapalooza set. they released a final track from the album called “guilt (interlude)” along with a music video on august 4th, which was an album version of an intermission sequence during the sooh tour and released on the day of their lollapalooza 2024 performance. on august 16, they released “gh2024″, a medley of select songs off their 2021 album and also performed during the sooh tour. on the 24th, awsten performed a solo acoustic set at the rock and roll hall of fame for waterparks’ inclusion in hopeless records’ exhibit in the museum.

on october 18, waterparks released 2 (a collection of unreleased demos, this is not j, or even an album, shut up enjoy) on streaming services with accompanying visuals of the demos: “call me, beep me” a song cut from the original greatest hits tracklist, and “talking to myself”, whose visual was released a day after.

appendix

as you can tell this post is not completed (and won’t be until the band ends). please tell me any significant events to the band’s career that i’ve missed and i’ll add it to the timeline. i will update this post as much as i can and the read more of this post will make any changes always available even from older reblogs.

bonus

the bassists:

waterparks never had a bassist stay around much so for earlier years, they would rotate a group of friends to play bass for their live shows.

jawn rocha - first bassist for early live shows, currently waterparks’ photographer

michael swank - lead vocalist of foxera and former clean vocalist of myka relocate

vaughn issac - audio engineer for airplane conversations and black light

tommy denley - waterparks’ first guitarist

mikey way - from my chemical romance. duh.

fun facts:

awsten used to lie to show promoters. a lot.

geoff lived with awsten and his family for a while

besides the blue poptarts/over 9000, two of awsten’s old bands in middle school were death breakfast and the black bleeding bloody death deaths

everyone in waterparks has at least one sister

dwhb, versecity, and driver friendly have played with both over 9000 and waterparks

otto is supposedly colorblind

geoff almost failed high school because of the legend of zelda

since 2018, awsten has made it a tradition to shave his beard every december to only time by enya on instagram live (he started the tradition of shaving streams themselves in 2017, but he was talking and shaving to a tutorial)

otto was inspired to start drumming because of the pasqually p. pieplate animatronic at chuck e. cheese

sometimes awsten used to mismatch his shoes: one would be white, the other would be black. he still does this sometimes with his shoelaces and occasionally with blue and yellow crocs

some of otto’s old bands include we go way back and a shot for favor

on every waterparks release, there is at least one song where awsten does a bass slide with his thumb because it’s a move he stole from their bassist in over 9000

outside of lil kidz bop and felony steve, awsten has many other alter egos including kyle fletchers of december’s tragedy

geoff was put on sale for $10 million on their merch site once

awsten is banned from ebay because he tried selling his leg hair once

the iceberg video:

if you made it this far and want to know more about the band and its many, many pieces of drama over the years check out the iceberg video made with some of the admins :)

[wowsoboring]

Deconstructing baseless Harry Potter arguments #1: Harmony Edition

There’s a very helpful account on instagram (this instagram page merely gathers toxic harmony shippers, they don’t ship Harmione or hate all Harmione shippers, please don’t send them hate, show them love and support) where you can essentially find stupid fucking bashers who make baseless arguments. I’m all for Harmione shippers, as long as they don’t denounce Romione, bash Ron and just peacefully co-exist. To my pleasure, such people are out there: they just dont seem to be seen as often as the ones that are not nice. Maybe all I see is the mean people and the majority is nice, but in this post, I am attacking those who make baseless claims and bash Ron/Romione/Hinny/Ginny. I don’t myself hate all Harmione shippers. On top of that, as a Romione/Ron fan, i do acknowledge Ron’s character flaws along with Hermione’s and I hold them on the same pedestal.

This is copied directly from my own instagram page, granger.weasley_ on ig.

Anyways let's get deconstructing

1)

rebuttal:

Yeah okay mf; maybe don’t compare real-life relationships with fucking fictional ones. Your relationship going wrong has nothing to do with Ron/Hermione. It has everything to do with you and your ex: the *real life* people involved in it.

2)

rebuttal:

The weird subreddits and discord servers also seem to have a lot of die-hard Harmione “non-canon” shippers. They bash Ron and Romione (along with Ginny and Hinny) with a burning passion without any objective sense of remorse. They ignore all the merits of Ron’s character and bash him to push their agenda. They can’t even do so much as fucking acknowledge any of Hermione’s character flaws but still somehow manage to fixate on that one time when 11 year old Ron just shit-talked one line while Hermione had just publicly humiliated him in front of the Charms class and practically shouted at him for doing the spell wrong just before. I personally don’t because Hermione was 11 too and wasn’t that good at social cues that early on, which is more than okay. Neither am I.

Only a few people in the Romione fandom bash Hermione. And it’s not like Harmione shippers (most, not all!) don’t bash Ron and Ginny remorselessly, right? The fucking hypocrisy.

If someone considers Ron as the best member of the trio, it is their own opinion and not a fact. I do that. If you consider Harry and Hermione as the best member of the trio or in the whole wizarding world, most people don’t give a flying fuck and probably won’t argue with you because it is simply an opinion. That will only happen when you pass that off as a fact.

Statistically speaking, most (not FUCKING all) Harmione moments are in the movies. The weird dance scene especially. The passionate kiss that happens in Ron’s vision, shit like that. Ron is pushed to the sidelines in the last set of movies while Harry and Hermione show each other endless love and support. “I’ll go with you”. The books on the other hand, describe Harry and Hermione as siblings multiple times, with very little Harmione references.

3)

rebuttal:

So you don't want us to fixate on the large majority of Harmione shippers who do the exact same thing, just kissing Hermione's and Harry's ass and hating on Ron. However you will fixate on people who are most likely not EVEN bashing or hating but pointing out a few character flaws in Hermione in a fair and unbiased way. I would know, I'm a huge fan of Hermione as an individual character (in the books). The only criticism I've seen of Hermione to this day has not been bashing. In the comment section of my own fics (shameless plug) I've seen some Hermione bashing. On an ao3 comment section. And I've seen so damn fucking many people bashing Ron, Ginny, the Weasleys etc. and garner tens and thousands of upvotes on quora.

What does Ron even need excusing for? The running away incident and Krum. What does Hermione need excusing for? Canaries, contributing to Ron's insecurities by making him jealous through Cormac and Krum even though she didn't even like them (especially not Cormac, she fucking hated him). Ron wore a locket that literally highlighted his fatal flaw (insecurity) in an echo chamber. Harry kept getting annoyed when Ron wanted to check in on his family. Harry asked Ron to leave; Ron didn't say that shit in the books about Harry's parents being dead: that was plain shock value.

And sorry for repeating myself but I have seen quite a few Harmione shippers bash Ron and Ginny and excuse every single thing Harry and Hermione have done.

4)

37 upvotes on this weird comment that makes no sense? Echo chamber alert! You know what us Romione/Ron fans all have in common? We have never experienced such an echo chamber. I made a pro Ron/Romione post on reddit and got a considerable amount of people who bashed Ron and Romione in the comments.

The amount of Hermione haters is very few compared to Ron bashers. Nobody hates Hermione for being independent, determined, etc. We dislike perfect movie Hermione who’s an unrealistic image of females and seems like some sort of agenda than a real woman. Most Romione shippers/Ron fans and book fans in general (except for you apparently) dislike movie Hermione and still are fans of realistic book Hermione. Most, not all. In general, we do not claim anyone who does the exact same thing to Harry and Hermione that these sorts of Harmione shippers do to Ron, Romione, Hinny and Ginny. I say this on the behalf of all Romione shippers and Ron fans.

Ron's not a bitchy lay-about drama causing loser. That's Steve Kloves's movie Ron. In the books Ron is realistic and simplistic and apologizes whenever he causes problems. He acts up substantially twice in a span of 7 years where he is also a hormone-fuelled teenager.

This is so contradictory and juxtaposed to the point of near delusion. First you talk about how Romione shippers bash Hermione and then you bash Ron as a Harmione shipper. Mate, fighting fire with fire will get you called a hypocrite. Fix yourself.

5)

So the movies are fine when they work according to your agenda? And yes how dare he add such a (fake) chemistry fuelled moment between Harry and Hermione while defeating the entire purpose and groundwork for Romione, the sadness caused by Ron leaving and so many more things? Those Harmione moments you mention seem friendship -esque more than anything else.

Steve Kloves's moments ruined many things while just paying fan service to the Harmione fans he'd birthed through years in the course of 6 movies where he showed Ron as a, how you so eloquently describe it, lay - about drama causing bitchy loser, Harry as one dimensional and Hermione as a zero - dimensional Mary Sue who might as well be the main titular character. Obviously Harmione fans such as yourself don't see the problem with it as it fits your narrative

6)

We do care about Harry and Hermione at large. Most Romione shippers rightfully bash Draco, Pansy, etc. not particularly Harry and Hermione, that's quite rare. Harry and Hermione can get along without Ron as friends. Ron and Harry can also get along without. Hermione as friend. So can Hermione and Ron without Harry as friends or more. I don't understand your point and how what you said is any different than Romione or Ronarry’s friendship.

7)

Constant arguing is not what they do. They bicker, they apologize, and sometimes they just do it for the heck of it. They are argumentative teenager. Opposites attract doesn't work in the sense of fire and ice, it works in the case of Brownie and ice-cream. Ron is passionate, laid back and insecure. Hermione's passionate, a workaholic and not as insecure. Ron can help her get calm and composed and get her to give herself a break. Hermione can motivate Ron and re - enforce his confidence.

It wouldn't be step incest. Harry and Ginny do not regard each other as siblings. They do not look similar whatsoever. And a Harmione shipper also bashes Hinny and Ginny along with Ron and Romione? Checks out

" that fucked up Harmony" hahaha. What?

8)

Are you literally going to date someone on the basis of what Harry Potter ships they prefer? That is so shallow end depraved. Your Harry Potter ship preferences should not be the groundwork for your dating life. Please understand that. Harry Potter is a fictional world which is not real. Hogwarts doesn't exist. Magic doesn't exist. I sound like a Dursley but that's what it is: a fictional realm with fictional character. I would personally not give a fuck if my best friend or significant other was a Harmione shipper. In the case of them being a Ron basher, I would ignore it as if it was just a minor inconvenience and something we wouldn't be discussing and that's how it should be with you. Fuck BuzzFeed, your opinion on what Harry Potter ship / character is your favorite says squat about your personality and relationship with others in a romantic or platonic context. But who cares? Live your life however you want. I'll be stoic.

9)

It's not opposites attract rubbish or high school opposites attract. Ron and Hermione aren't polar opposites like I said, they are a bit different but similar too in many ways. They have a lot more in common than Harry and Hermione. Ron and Harry have the most in common. Both Ron and Hermione are passionate, loving, argumentative, caring, etc. Your argument lacks substance. It's biased trash. And what does “obhwf " mean?

---------------------------------

at the end of the day, i’m just an annoyed teenager. I try my best to be open-minded to people but only as long as they are too. I tried to use my brain more than my feelings for this post. 

[kit-penman]

A slightly unhinged Interview with the Vampire theory of mine:

tw: references to episode 5 and also mention of suicide, nothing more than what's in the show.

Also; spoilers for season 1 and the Vampire Lestat (and if I'm good at theorising, potentially for season 2&3)

Ok, so, this may be a bit wild. But I've binged Interview with the Vampire and reignited an old passion for Lestat as a character. So, this is not unbiased. Also, a lot of this is a compilation of parts of theories I've seen circulating around the community, so I don't claim to be the originator of a lot of this, but also there are too many posts for me to competently credit here.

As much as I loved the show, and all the tiny details in Sam Reid's performance, episode 5 left me with some 'feelings'. I know I'm not alone when I say that that episode and that fight felt quite out of character. I mean, Lestat and Louis never fought like THAT. Sure, their relationship was toxic, but it seems very strange that the showrunners would call Louis and Lestat endgame when they've made their relationship that much more violent and abusive. Not to mention that it goes directly against what Lestat says about never showing Louis even half his power.

Plus the scene was shot in a weird way; the oh so rarely used first person perspective, the shot hovering over the city so far up that the background faded away...

Almost like...

It could be anywhere...

New Orleans,

Or...

PARIS!!! (Dun-dun-daaaa)

I HAVE SOME THEORIES AND NO ONE TO TELL THEM TO SO I'M GOING TO SHOUT THEM INTO THE VOID NOW.

So, I re-read the Vampire Lestat and re-watched the show with the context of that book combined with the knowledge of Armand hovering around Louis while his is telling his story. It provided some extremely interesting depth on Lestat as a character, the way that he thinks and what might be happening in the more questionable moments of the show.

I'm not sure how to put this, so I'll get to the point. I think Armand is manipulating the absolute shit out of Louis' story. I think three big moments for this are the fight between Lestat and Louis, the death of Lestat and the upcoming death of Claudia.

What I think happened:

I've arrived at the conclusion that I think that fight is likely real, but the end of the fight at least; is not in-fact a right between Louis and Lestat but instead Armand and Lestat. From what I've read Louis and Lestat never fight like that, but Lestat and Armand absolutely do. Particularly the 'dragging him along the pavement' was extremely similar. (Though, they never do fly up in the air and Armand can fly anyway... Though I'm pretty sure at that point in the fight, he wasn't able to fly anyway, since he was barely conscious and seemingly unable to use his other powers) I intend to make another post going into detail on this fight, as I don't want it to overtake the point of this post just being an overview of the theory. That said, I did read out the two fights (omitting some dialogue to not give it away) to someone not familiar with the books after watching the scene and they thought it was an adaptation of the Armand fight, so it's not just me. (also, that fight was in Paris, hence the joke at the start)

We already saw that Armand had likely influenced Louis to think he had Left Lestat for dead, Daniel was right and I think that Louis didn't think the death was justified, like in the books, and I think that was a big part of the Armand story making Lestat look worse. There are a couple of moments when Lestat's actions are framed very uncharitably; like in the theatre when they are talking before the show and Louis said he was trying to 'seize his opportunity to disarm me' but in reality, Lestat was likely reminded of the past, the theatre reminding him of Nicky, because he looks for a second like he's going to cry. It seemed more like a moment of sentimental vulnerability from Lestat to me, but I am biased. I think it's all part of a clearly well-rehearsed (as we can see when the interview is compared to the one from the 80's) effort to poorly characterise Lestat. (Something which makes sense since Lestat is the villain of Interview with the Vampire, but was re-written into a more nuanced and sympathetic character in the next book, so they had to account for people being against him for these first two seasons, but then routing for him in the next)

I believe that they are actually trying to sanitise the relationship between Louis and Lestat quite a bit, because if you look at what actually happens, like things that would be too big or unmotivated of a lie for the writers to write, he actually has a lot of tender moments, and the manipulations are cruelty are kept to only a few moments rather than weaved through the entire relationship like in the books. Claudia is a big part of that, they seem to be changing the relationship between her and Lestat quite a lot, I'm not sure how much of that is trustworthy, but one part that is obviously true is the change in how/why she was made a Vampire. In the book (and movie) Claudia was made because Louis was starving himself eating only rats and was in a plague district trying to find rats when he stumbles across a little girl and feeds on her in a desperate frenzy for blood. Lestat finds him and the girl and turns her to keep her as a constant reminder of Louis' guilt, so that he won't leave. But in the show, Louis is only kind-of indirectly responsible for her death and Lestat only turns her because Louis begs him, not out of a plot to force Louis to stay with him. This keeps the dynamic of Louis feeling responsible for her (though not out of guilt as much as because he wanted her to be turned) but now Lestat never really wanted her, so they aren't very close, she's just sort of in-between him and Louis. It's a little sad to see since Lestat was never a good parent in the books, but he clearly loved Claudia a lot. Though, they might be making Lestat and Claudia look more distant than they are because Armand has a lot of motivation to portray Lestat as hating Claudia.

Also, I almost forgot. When Lestat goes to get Claudia on the train- Antionette was shown in episode 7 standing in the park while Claudia is saying goodbye and I bet anything that she heard that Louis was considering killing himself and relayed it to Lestat, who then went to get her so that he wouldn't. That entire scene was very 'cartoon villain' of Lestat, like what a child would write of a parent she was mad at so it probably shouldn't be taken at completely face value anyway.

Speaking of which,

What I believe the motivation was:

So, in the Vampire Lestat, Armand is a reoccurring antagonist to Lestat. Lestat is not a fan of him (though he does think he's pretty, because it's Lestat and he can't not) and he is not a fan of Lestat (Debate-lorded his cult away, kicked his ancient ass as a baby vampire, had the absolute gall to be created by Magnus and born only a country lord (fake bourgeoise, they had to hunt to survive the winter) and, the worst grievance of all; he rejected him.) In the books Armand loves Louis, and travels with him after Claudia's death but Louis is unable to move past her death and it causes them to drift apart, clearly that has not happened to this Armand and Louis, so what changed? Could it be that he fixed Louis' damaged psyche by channelling that damage onto Lestat, so that he might feel as though he has closure? I don't believe this Louis knows that Lestat didn't come to Paris vengeful and get Claudia killed for standing against him, that in-fact, Lestat came to Paris to get help from Armand and was instead starved and tormented into saying it was her, by Armand.

How could it have been done:

Reading the Vampire Lestat has given me insight into the way that Armand treats people, even the ones he cares about and how easily he uses his powers to extract information, manipulate, delude and distort the reality of the people around him. I have no doubt that he has dabbled in the memories of Louis, making him a more unreliable narrator than the mere passage of time. Claudia's diaries are untrustworthy not only because despite how long she lives, she still has the brain of a child, but also because Armand has been tampering again. She is prone to exaggerate and dramatize with no thought to making a moderate and unbiassed account in her personal diaries.

There are two instances of Daniel pointing out that her diaries have had pages removed. The first was when she gets assaulted and the pages are torn, I believe that that was Louis being heartbroken and angry and tearing out the pages in the heat of the moment, he seems genuinely upset and protective over her memory, no reason to doubt it. However, the second instance, after Lestat's 'death' the pages are removed neatly, calmly omitted, Daniel says 'with a ruler' I believe that instance was Armand, trying to hide that Louis didn't want Lestat dead.

So that's mostly my theory for now. I'm still gathering screenshots and quotes from the book; I'm going to redo this post with a lot more evidence and probably better worded, but I wanted to float what I have so far and see if anyone had any feedback, areas that could use more elaboration, anything to add to the theory or counter anything I've said here. All feedback is welcome! I'll use it when I make my more polished post.

Also, just to be super clear, I absolutely love all the characters. This is my favourite show at the moment, and this is in no way meant to be unfair to any of the character, I'm just trying to predict what is coming since I can think of little else, and the next season is so far away.

Thank you so much for reading! Sorry if it was a little jumbled, just trying to get my thoughts out there.

[ablednt]

Ok so update at about 11 chapters into this 63 something chapter long book (not as long as you think these chapters are pointlessly short but too long for this concept boy can I tell you)

Taking a break to write down some of my thoughts somewhere other than my notes document but to summarize my biggest gripe with this book and also summarize the plot our main character Skylenna (almost every character has some made-up fantasy name and I think Skylenna is more stupid sounding than the time we committed the same crimes as a kid and came up with "Raviella" as a name idea/hj) knowingly gets a job at a graphically violent and abusive psych ward

I thought from reading the synopsis that she was doing this so she could gather evidence of the abuses going on in there, like they were somehow being covered up. Instead, she's started working at this psych ward because her special empath ass is just so kind and smart that she'll reform it from inside despite being in nothing even hinting at a position of power to anyone except the patients.

She's such a good little empath that she gets a nonverbal person to speak to her and she's like yayy now they'll start taking me seriously here and let me make this place better!

And it's just. Yeah ok I hate this I hate everything about this how does this allegedly anti-psych media manage to be the most potent psych ward nurse propaganda I've seen in my goddamn life.

Also if you hate the brand of cis white feminism that thinks corsets are the sign of oppression and were literally killing helpless victorian women rather than just being like. bras. you're going to be even more uncomfortable with this book because it replaces the concept of corsets by having the government make every woman in the country have a mandatory eating disorder like literally anorexia or bulimia they are told to pick one and if they don't do this they're sent to the asylum. This is awkward and unrealistic to how nuanced societies work enough but it's emphasized how Horrible it is to be a woman in this society to a ridiculous amount that is actually so fucking uncomfortable.

The main character taking a fancy bath with oil in it and putting on lotion was described more vividly and as if it was more horrible than someone experience actual water torture and I have no fucking clue why but it is So Fucking Weird and unsettling to read.

I deliberately chose not to look up any of the criticism this book was getting because I want a genuine/unbiased first thoughts review on everything but when I learned about the book from the beginning of a review I didn't watch the youtuber mentioned she was linking to videos of a trans person talking about the transphobia in the book so I am really not going to be surprised if the author is terf adjacent somehow.

Oh and when she's empathing all over the place she describes the mentally ill people she's helping (all of which we've met so far are convicted murderers by the way) to animals and says it makes her feel like she's playing games with children when she communicates with nonverbal people.

The plural character hasn't even been introduced yet because everyone is too afraid to speak his name or go near his door and it's this big mystery on who this terrifying person is. The ableism of that aside it's so funny to me that so much mystery is supposed to surround this character considering the entire synopsis goes into detail about him so we know exactly who he is already.

I have a lot of thoughts on the structure and overall writing of the book (it all really sucks lmao!) but I don't feel like typing those up right now.

[lioness-of-the-seas]

EPISODE FOUR OF PRIME WOT

SPOILERS; EYE OF THE WORLD BOOK AND WOT PRIME E4

That is by far my favourite episode so far. Honestly great fight scenes, great dialogue, great character work, GREAT EVERYTHING.

Lan and Nynaeve, my babies. Their tension throughout just made me gush like crazy. They just cute. I want them to be together. They need to be together.

I really love the Fade scene with Thom, because they just capture the creature so well on screen. Like the Fade is LIGHTNING fast and I love it. Also the shot with Mat with the dagger...genius. I love how unhinged and possessed he is. I also love for a moment that the audience gets the panic that he did something wrong. JUST WELL DONE.

Rand. My beloved. We finally get a dream with him. And I kinda wanted to see a lil more, but I'm content. I'm fine. But Prime, do something more with him. He has been sidelined so much in these episodes, like he's the only one without established backstory or motivation. Mat, Perrin, Egwene and Nynaeve all have something going on, but all we really know about Rand in the show is that he has a dad and a cool sword.

Logain's opening was really interesting. You almost get a moment where you're like "oh he's kinda good", before you realise he's deluded by the very thing that is giving him power. I could write an essay on the nuance of his characterisation, but I'm going to refrain.

The explanation for the way of the leaf gave me better insight in the philosophy. I felt when I was reading it in the book, it was a little odd and since it was exclusively from Perrin's perspective, we didn't really get an unbiased view. The show made me understand it rather than making me dismiss it.

Now. The Dragon Reborn. After watching the episode, I kind of realised they swapped Rand and Nynaeve's backstory, and the fact that they are not from two rivers. I mean, it has been hinted in the show that Rand is Aiel (by Thom saying how it's rare to find red coloured hair outside their people), but it has been explicitly said that Nynaeve was not born in Two Rivers. In that way, we've been already hinted that Nynaeve is the Dragon Reborn.

Now I'm not opposed to the idea of Nynaeve being dragon reborn; it would be kind of badass if she were. She is my favourite character from the books, so although it is quite a big change, I would be all for it. I am concerned how they would navigate it. I am also concerned for the characterisation of Rand. As mentioned before, he has no real ambition or established backstory. He's going to Tar Valon for Egwene and Perrin. He sounds like he has a pretty decent family at home and he doesn't know he's adopted. Other than baring the burden for other characters, Rand doesn't have much use.

See I have two theories. Either the Nynaeve thing was a ploy, and Logain is just too weak against the power of love and assumes (in his maddened state too) that Nynaeve is the Dragon Reborn. I know the other Aes Sedai are looking at her funny, but I think part of that is her power and the fact that none of them knew she could even touch the one power. The other is that Nynaeve is the Dragon Reborn, and Rand will get more character later. Maybe he'll become a warder, and that quip earlier was just irony.

OR.

Maybe they think Nynaeve is the Dragon Reborn, but then Rand turns up and can channel. AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHO IS THE DRAGON REBORN--

Look I don't mind either. I just hope they handle it well. I really wanna talk about colour symbolism right now, but...this is already pretty long.

This was my favourite episode. I can't wait for more.

[patchun]

WBaWC Deep Dive: Part 2/2

In the game's preliminary description, ZUN describes it as "a shooting game that's darker than usual, full of animal elements, and just a bit aggressive."

Part 1 here.

Yachie Kicchou. Is this maybe the longest profile of any Touhou character? Yachie's profile gives us more information than anything else about the Animal Realm, so I'd highly recommend reading all of it before we continue. Scroll down and find her profile, then click "Expand." If you're on mobile, this will look pretty bad, so switch to the Desktop mode. While reading, keep this in mind: this profile seems to be just about the only instance of a perspective from a beast spirit. This isn't a neutral perspective, this isn't ZUN's perspective - this is the perspective of a beast spirit, though it doesn't seem to be Yachie's own perspective. I'll be giving my evidence of this later.

The Animal Realm, the ultimate survival-of-the-fittest world.

It's a world where the strong rule as they desire... or at least it was, until a few beasts that were just a little more clever and wily than others began to form organizations.

By now, a select handful of gigantic organizations dominate the world.

The thing about WBaWC is that it's very vague. ZUN does not come out and say "animal rights", he does not say "you should be a vegan", or anything like that. The only thing ZUN wants us to do, without a doubt, is to think about these things, in particular the power dynamic we currently have between humans and animals in the modern world. I mentioned previously the argument for humans to have moral rights because of sentience, and then because of intelligence - but there is another line of reasoning that is used frequently. "This is just the natural order. The survival of the fittest." Opponents of animal rights will say this. But ZUN makes it very clear here - this world no longer follows those rules at all. "It's a world where the strong rule as they desire... or at least, it was..."

Further in her profile, we learn that the beast spirits finally found peace when they gathered all the humans into one area like farm animals and made them into their slaves. So, ZUN begins the game by introducing three characters which cause us to question our notion of moral status, two of which (Urumi and Kutaka) are animals that humans mistreat on a massive scale today, and then, he flips it - puts humans on the other side - all to ask a simple question. "Do you like this? Are you happy with this?" When humans are the ones being dominated, are you satisfied?

Now, there are some really crucial lines here that indicate that this profile is not actually an accurate account, but rather, the situation as told by one of the lesser beast spirits.

Almost all of the animal spirits already have no chance of victory by themselves, and the only way to survive was to team up with one of these organizations and continue fighting as their slaves forever.

Even as everyone continues to fight to exhaustion, an organization can never be stopped.

Pre-Primate Spirit Garden. This is what indicates to me that this is not Yachie's direct perspective. This wouldn't be a beneficial narrative in order for her to maintain her status as a member of the ruling class.

The beast organizations' ruling classes created a shelter for the humans, so that they could continue to be used as ever-capable slaves without going extinct.

The shelter was called the Primate Spirit Garden.

Only when they looked over the Primate Spirit Garden, filled with humans who had no means of resisting, did each of the organizations forget about their conflict. The Primate Spirit Garden was a peaceful recreational facility for everyone in the Animal Realm.

The word here, "shelter" generally has a positive association, right? And look at the last sentence: a peaceful recreational facility for everyone in the Animal Realm? That doesn't sound right. Now, sure, this is interesting, but why am I bringing up that this profile is from the perspective of a beast spirit? What does that matter to our overall understanding of the situation? Well, because of this next line, also within Yachie's profile:

The human spirits intended to devote themselves to the divinity beyond the idols, but they actually came to worship the idols themselves.

As a result, it was only natural that these idols began to dominate the humans.

The idols took control of the Primate Spirit Garden, and the status of the human spirits plummeted to the bottom once again. In being dominated by idols, the Primate Spirit Garden became the most awful, out-of-control organization of all.

Because this, according to everything else I've read, is NOT an accurate description of what ended up happening. The word "dominate" here is particularly noteworthy - from the perspective of a beast spirit, who within this world only understand things from a lens of survival of the fittest, that is exactly what this situation appears as. The thing is, this is where the game's vagueness makes interpretation very difficult - but here's what we know. We know from Yachie's profile that the human spirits were miserable while being ruled by the beast spirits, so much so that they cursed their helpless existences and prayed to Keiki. And we also know this, from ZUN's SCoOW interview:

Q: What do the human spirits who summoned Keiki think of her?

A: The game doesn't mention even a word of that, after all. In that world, the human spirits are nothing more than "materials". Everyone's fighting to steal those materials from each other. Keiki doesn't think of them as anything but materials, either. The reason for that is because the humans in that world want to be that way. You could say they just wanted to become cogs in a better society.

These descriptions... don't really match up, right? You'd read Yachie's profile and assume that the situation got really out of control, that the humans were miserable. Even according to ZUN in the interview, it has gotten out of control to some extent, but... also according to ZUN, this is... what they wanted. So, all that to say, Yachie's profile is not an unbiased description. I thought that was pretty interesting, and it will be important to consider when we talk about the situation of the human spirits under Keiki.

But for now, let's go back to the beast spirit's story of what happened - humans were dominated by the idols and plummeted to the bottom once again.

Survival of the fittest - the law of the animal realm. It's what's natural. What's natural, according to the beast spirits, is good! There is actually a philosophical moral theory called "natural law", and it's kind of the basis for the survival of the fittest argument. But it's also usually used to argue against stuff like homosexuality, abortion, being trans, etc... so uh, I have yet to meet any actual philosophers who use that theory (though I'm sure they exist). In the end, natural law is kind of shaky - because you have to ask the question - if what is natural is what is good, then what exactly do we define as natural? For example, we can look at penguins and see homosexuality, does that mean that natural law can no longer be used to attack homosexuality? Vaccines aren't natural, right? Cars aren't natural, right? Modern technology isn't natural, right? So are these things morally bad? But that's the thing - those three things I said may not be """natural""" according to the general public, but how exactly are they not natural? Vaccines, cars, and modern technology, those things are all made from nature, one way or another. Homosexuality, even if it DIDN'T occur in "nature" occurs within humans for sure! And humans are natural! What we view as natural is fully dependent, more or less, on what we were taught to view as natural. At the end of the day, isn't everything natural? And this is where things get really funny, because in many instances, natural law has been used cynically to defend the status quo and oppression. People were taught that black people were lesser, so it was natural to have them serve us. They were taught homosexuals were unnatural, so keep believing in the church and giving us money. They were taught that animals are meant to be eaten, that's how it is in the wild, so factory farms are okay. These arguments tend not to say "the current power structure isn't natural, so we need to dismantle it" but almost always "the current way things are is the way things should stay." So when we look at Mayumi Joutouguu...

You may not like it,

But this is what peak performance looks like.

Unable to be harmed by anything spiritual, Mayumi and the other idols are invulnerable to the attacks of beast spirits, easily able to defend the humans from their attacks. In other words, in the Animal Realm... Mayumi Joutouguu IS THE FITTEST. Really let that sink in. The Animal Realm, where the strong rule over the weak. Mayumi Joutouguu is the peak of that strength - and yet?

"I shall liberate the human spirits (our prey)

from you accursed idols! Prepare yourself!

It's the law of the Animal Realm that the strong eat the weak!"

From Reimu(Wolf).

"The god of destruction who broke the laws of animal-kind!

Keiki Haniyasushin!"

And this is just two instances. On multiple occasions, Keiki is referred to as having somehow broken the natural law by the beast spirits. And I'm sure that's what the beast spirits believe, because, in Youmu's Otter ending:

"Youmu returns to the Primate Spirit Garden and finds Yachie and Keiki squaring off. Youmu is confused by this and asks if the two of them get along well. Yachie explains that there is no such thing as ‘getting along’ in the Animal Realm. Keiki is surprised by this, stating that she was willing to work with the beast spirits in the future. Yachie acknowledges Keiki as a worthy opponent, but she then states that Keiki must be removed in consideration for the struggle for resources. Keiki tells Youmu that the resources Yachie refers to are the human spirits. Youmu is disturbed by this. Yachie then points out that is another reason why Keiki doesn’t belong here. She states the animal spirits are resources too. In the Animal Realm, everyone is driven by selfishness. Yachie follows the natural order here. However, Keiki, who was summoned by the human spirits, had thought differently."

No longer is the natural law "survival of the fittest", but rather, "everyone is driven by selfishness." Natural law was only used as a justification for the power structures within the Animal Realm until the ruling class was displaced. This game, by and large, follows the narratives of the ruling classes, from the beast spirits to Keiki herself. In that way, the second half of the game is asking more questions about power than it is about animal ethics. It's likely that Yachie and the other beast spirit heads are the ones who present this narrative to the lesser beast spirits, who we have already established according to her profile earlier are miserable, "fighting to exhaustion as the slaves of the large organizations, which could not be stopped". Gives me some serious neoliberalism vibes, but because of the lack of structure in the Animal Realm, I don't think it would be easy to make a political comparison.

So yeah, it's really funny that Mayumi and Keiki aren't really breaking any rules. They're just the new fittest, and the beast spirit ruling class isn't happy with that.

Some side notes about Mayumi:

It's been predicted that the workforce of human and animal spirits will be gradually replaced by the more efficient haniwa, because they can be immediately repaired after they've been destroyed, they can't get sick, and they don't need any rest.

In the SCoOW interview, ZUN compares Mayumi and the idols to AI. He's kind of an old man about it, too, saying that the humans went from being slaves to the beast spirits to being slaves to technology. But if you recall, I mentioned labor when we talked about Eika, and I did so because, well... We don't really have any idea what kind of labor the human and beast spirits are doing, WBaWC is too vague, and doesn't give us much detail. But, ZUN presents this idea, and then describes the Primate Spirit Garden under Keiki as kind of an opposite extreme "dystopia". According to ZUN:

A real "civilization gone too far" situation, where it's becoming a dystopia in a really obvious way.

The way I see it, it's something where "they built objects to rule over the world with, and in the end came to be ruled by those objects." The same as AIs and the like.

But also remember earlier, where ZUN says that that's what the human spirits wanted. Here it's almost as if ZUN is kind of bringing up a WALL-E type situation, where humans will no longer have to work, and every need of theirs will be taken care of by their idols. A very old man thing to say, but what's funny is actually another line that was just a bit earlier in the interview about Mayumi and the haniwa.

Haniwa certainly are mysterious; you wonder why everyone was making them. Archaeology is quick to ascribe religious reasons to anything it doesn't understand, but if you think about it with today's moral values in mind, it might not seem that way. I've thought about things like that for a long time. Personally, I believe they made them just because they felt like it. That might not have been the initial reason, but the act of creation itself gradually became enjoyable, and they started making more variations. To fulfill their creative desires, you know?

Think about that for a second. ZUN has introduced a society with very little forced labor, and called it dystopian. But he has also just stated that he believes that the people who made haniwa worked on them because they wanted to. To be honest, I don't know if ZUN even realizes this.

Finally, Keiki Haniyasushin. Thanks for sticking with me so far. Taking a look at her profile, the main thing that stands out to me is this:

The idols she creates are excellent items that can gather faith, act as stand-ins, play with you, and decorate your home.

A very different description than what was given by the beast spirit, huh? Is this what Keiki thinks her idols are doing? Is it actually what her idols are doing, and the beast spirits simply see that as domination because they can't comprehend any other way? Or is this just a little joke? Or is it somehow all of these? WBaWC is too vague! I'm sorry, but I don't know! Without a human spirit perspective on this, we really just can't deduce that. All we know is that the human spirits for sure liked living under Keiki more than living under the beast spirits.

As for Keiki, I don't have all that much philosophical to say, but I did think these quotes from the Marisa endings were cool.

Marisa (Otter)

"Yachie then explains the story from the beast spirits’ perspective. Marisa thinks it would have been better if she was told this from the start. Yachie apologies, but she reasons that didn’t want to risk failure. According to her, if she revealed the plan to the humans, there would be a chance Keiki would hear about it. However, Marisa was unable to read Yachie’s true intentions from her words. It is suggested that Marisa just didn’t see Keiki as an evil god."

Marisa (Eagle)

To Marisa, Keiki didn’t seem like an evil god. She wonders why the beast spirits hated her so much.

While Reimu and Youmu viewed what they were doing as more like work, Marisa was just in it for the ride, and as a result, she had some interesting thoughts about Keiki when she reflected on what she had just done. Keiki is one of the few Touhou bosses to not recognize at all that she was doing something bad, because Keiki doesn't believe she was doing anything bad. It's mentioned multiple times that she planned to coexist with the beast spirits "so long as they started to respect human spirits". Which casts further doubt on the description of the haniwa in Yachie's profile, which almost made it sound like they were going around indiscriminately slaughtering beast spirits. Wouldn't that be unnecessary if they were invincible?

Keiki's relationship to human spirits could also be looked at as pet ownership, or more accurately, like animals at a zoo or preservation area, I think. Caring for their every need, protecting them from the cruel "survival of the fittest" world outside. I mean, I don't have a problem with pet ownership at all, but I do have a problem with people who own pets irresponsibly and don't try as hard as they can to meet their pets' needs. My cat is my son.

The last thing I'll say is this: Keiki is coming back. Probably in 17.5. This may not be news to those of you who have already looked into this, but let me inform you if not. Marisa (Wolf)'s Extra, after beating Saki:

Marisa: I got no idea what the politics of the Animal Realm are like...... But I can hardly imagine this family o'yours ruling it. There's no denyin' you guys are strong, but......

Saki: What is it?

Marisa: Keiki strikes me as the most dangerous person.

Somehow it seems like she can come at us with all her power again.

And in Reimu (Wolf)'s ending:

Afterward, Reimu learns that Keiki threw the Animal Realm into chaos through her idolatry. She had the feeling that not humans vs. beasts, not physical vs. spiritual, but a religious confrontation was approaching.

And in Youmu (Eagle)'s ending:

Later, Keiki Haniyasushin showed up on Earth. This wasn’t too surprising since Keiki was never a god of the Animal Realm in the first place. However, for some reason, it seemed eerily likely that the Animal Realm’s survival of fittest conflict would follow Keiki into the surface world.

And personally that makes me very excited. And we just got a game about markets?? Hm...

FINALLY. This game has heavy Buddhist themes, and I am no expert on Buddhism, but:

Saki Kurokoma, Prince Shoutoku's horse that was ridden around to spread Buddhism. I don't have much to say about this character, haha. But I figured you'd want to see her anyways, and it's my Buddhism segue.

As far as Buddhism goes, the "animal realm" is one of the realms of reincarnation. To go from the human realm to the animal realm is bad, it means you were probably a pretty selfish person. Which begs us to ask, what might these people have done in their past lives? Does that mean that they deserve the suffering in the unnaturally cruel Animal Realm of Touhou? And what does that say about the dynamic we have with animals in the modern world, the parallel to the Animal Realm? Well, in the (Buddhist) animal realm, according to some Buddhist teachings, you act only on instinct and only for selfish desire. This is because of the misconception that animals act only on instinct and for selfish desire, a theme that we've played with a bit in this exploration, and a theme that ZUN strictly opposes with the character of Kutaka. If you own any pets, you already know that this just isn't true. Just like with humans, animal behavior is complex, and to attribute it to pure instinct is accurate to a degree - but the thing is, you can do the exact same thing to human behavior (we're also animals). It's just another way of creating human exceptionalism, something this game is really challenging. Specifically, the Buddhist animal realm is not a place, though, it's just a cycle of reincarnation. It's not actually a hell, not even close, it just means you've been reincarnated AS an animal in the real world. And this isn't a negative thing inherently, but it is viewed as hellish because of how animals are treated, not only by humans, but also by other animals!

So, there's probably more to say here. When reading Yachie's profile you may say, "Everyone working to exhaustion as slaves to huge organizations owned by a select few? Wow, that sounds like corporate America!" and you'd be right, and there's probably something there, to be honest. But because the Animal Realm is extremely vague, it's difficult to make any connections like that.

I think there's probably deeper stuff to dive into. Like I said, I'm no expert on Buddhism, so someone who is may be able to find a meaning that I've missed here. But to conclude,

As ZUN said, if you look for something the game is trying to show you, you'll just find a world filled with satire and vague circumstances. But... if you look for what the game is trying to ask you... there's quite a lot.

What is the criteria for moral rights? Can we create a criteria that makes sense and only applies to humans?

What is our justification for our treatment of animals in the modern world?

How would you feel about it if that dynamic was reversed?

And well, we don't really get any answers. ZUN really just gives us two pieces of his personal view:

The survival of the fittest argument is bullshit.

Natural law is bullshit.

Our current relationship with farm animals is not healthy, and we need to create a more positive image for them outside of being just our tools for food.

Thanks for reading. Reblogs appreciated.