#me and my hot takes back at it again

[giuliettacapuleti]

Rating of different versions of Aimer in Romeó et Juliette:

Let me start out by saying that I don’t like romance and I’m not sure I believe in it BUT when any version of Aimer comes on I’m in full Notebook Titanic Sixteen Candles Casablanca Breakfast at Tiffany’s Love Actually mode and for roughly two minutes fifty-two seconds I believe that Love exists and the world is a beautiful place and I am no longer afraid to die. I think it’s an absolutely gorgeous song in any language. That said, some Aimers make me want to kiss someone in the rain and dramatically run after them in an airport and declare my love right before they get on the plane and disappear forever more than others:

1. French (original). Honestly for me this one is kind of tied with the Hungarian but it is the original and more importantly, has Cécilia Cara, who sounds like a literal angel, especially during the harmony. Of course, most Juliets are amazing and sing this song well (and it’s a hard song to sing, I think) but Cécilia’s voice just hits different.

2. Hungarian. This one has my favorite lyrics, and I adore Dora and Attila (original Hungarian R + J). I love the emphasis of loving faithfully (I fully believe they would have been faithful to each other for the rest of their lives if they weren’t cut short, so hello extra tragedy). Hungarian in general isn’t a very “delicate” language (I still love it though!) but it sounds so beautiful with this song. French goes first because it was the blueprint, but for me the Hungarian lyrics just hit in a way the French ones don’t. Granted, I don’t speak Hungarian or French, so there is that.

3. Italian. Alright, so it sounds very beautiful, but the lyrics are :// to me. I get what they were trying to do with the whole “love and change the world” thing, because their love changed Verona (or their deaths did, but whatever). But personally, I like the focus being on R + J and their love. Italian is such a gorgeous language (my favorite), and I love how they normally do their own thing (look at French vs. Italian lyrics for Notre Dame de Paris), and these lyrics were certainly different, but this time it's…eh. I mean - “Love with your hands” ??? girl ???? I mean, I guess??

4. Russian. These lyrics are actually really beautiful even though they are pretty unique. There are actually two Russian versions of Aimer - the one in the official video and the one in the show itself. I prefer the show version, which is basically just them asking God for His blessing. The video version is closer to the French, but instead of “to love/love” it’s “Happiness” as in - "Happiness is to soar like a bird/Happiness is to be with you/Happiness is to merge with your beloved” which just doesn’t have the same effect imo.

5. Spanish. I actually expected myself to like this one more than I do.

6. German. No strong feelings (sorry Janine).

7. Japanese (2021). I appreciate how these lyrics are sort of like actual wedding vows but I don’t know what is going on with the backing music.

8.Romanian. I actually don’t know why I like this one so much. The lyrics are pretty solid except the “hearts in love like two drops of dew” bit. It just sounds nice to me.

9. Chinese. Imo these lyrics are kind of wonky but it could just be that it’s hard to translate it and it makes way more sense in the actual language. I do like the “loving faithfully until death” thing this and the Hungarian had going on.

10. Korean. I have absolutely no strong feelings about this one.

11. Dutch. Not sure if I’m just having a hard time translating but the lyrics to this one are…odd. Most of it is fine though. I’m just not a fan of the way the language sounds, personally.

12. Slovak. Admittedly I am too lazy to try to do a real translation of it, but just going by the quick translation of the lyrics this one starts out normal but becomes weirdly sexual. I understand the French and other versions having ‘burning with a desire’ etc but…I could be totally wrong about this though. At least it’s catchy?

13. Mongolian. It seems this one has really weird lyrics too. But again, I could be totally wrong.

Can’t rate: Hebrew (no idea what they are saying and I can’t find the lyrics) and Czech (I have only heard a fragment of this one but the harmony part sounds really cool).

-10000. English. How do you adapt a song from a play with some of the most beautiful lines in the English language in it this badly??? I’m not saying they have to go full Shakespeare but this is um. Bad. Special mention goes to Romeo’s “THESE ARE MY MOUNTAINNNNS” in the harmony. I get secondhand cringe from this. If I were in prison, this would be the song they would play to torture me into confessing literally anything. I would say “I killed Jimmy Hoffa and was responsible for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist” just so I would never have to hear this song again. It’s my least favorite song next to “Ice Ice Baby”. And I know that’s really harsh but it’s such a gorgeous song in literally ANY other language, and more importantly, this overall terrible translation and melody slaughtering killed any success this show might have had in English speaking countries. If they had a good translation I’d have a musical I adore in English AND maybe never have to deal with the &Juliet musical and other media with shitty R + J takes because the musical would give people a new perspective and decrease the frequency of the ol “Romeo and Juliet were stupid teens” take. But whatever.

[turtleblogatlast]

I love Raph and haven’t said that enough so to be more specific I love that Raph is a soft boy who loves bear plushies, a gross boy who eats an assortment of things that are definitely better left alone, a smart boy who is more than capable of taking down villains through planning and fortitude alike, a strong boy who is dedicated to training his muscles and fighting prowess, a teenage boy who loves his brothers but is more than happy to tease and roughhouse with them, an angry boy who sometimes lets his anger take a hold of him to cover the fear, a gentle boy who is generous with hugs and affirmations to those he loves, a capable boy who takes on more than should ever be expected of a teenager, a good boy who just wants to be a hero and slowly comes to realize the cost of that duty, a good boy who has no reservations about putting himself in the way of harm coming to his family, a good boy who’s a great brother and son and person and deserves only the best the world has to offer.

[rottengurlz]

try to be gentle when you are ripping me apart 🔪

w/ @kashisun

[dudethatsmyundeaduncle]

Danny’s parents want to kill him and he’s like “f in the chat y’all dinner boutta be so awkward tonight smh”

Ok so I know everyone loves the angsty headcannons where Danny is terrified of his parents cuz they wanna kill him but we��ve had that hot take since 2005 I’m here for a source material revival, the much more entertaining “Danny’s parents want to kill him and he actively doesn’t give a fuck”

CUZ UH, IM REWATCHING THE FIRST SEASON AND I FORGOT HOW GENUINELY BLASÉ HE IS ABOUT MADDIE AND JACK TRYING TO GET HIS ASS ITS SO FUNNY.

Like mom holding a literal ghost gun to his head: eh kinda unphased he even has time to quip, his parents say they wanna tear em to pieces: meh see u guys at dinner, LIKE OUR GUY IS SO UNPHASED HE THINKS THIS SHIT IS FUNNY! (s1 ep. 14 public enemy)

And he’s unphased despite knowing his parents tech works and knowing that his mother is actually a good shot. So like I love angst Danny and y’all should keep up the good work but where is my s1 Danny ‘COULDN’T give less of a fuck about his parents’ Fenton representation?

Cuz think of this, for your DPXDC AU consideration, Danny would fit in so well with the bat gang if only because they could try to stab, shoot, capture, brainwash, and stalk him and he’d be like “oh cool villain of the week shit? Nice, what’re we having for lunch.” He. Wouldn’t. Flinch.

[batsplat]

following on from this. not to always bring marc into everything (sorry marc) but if assen 2015 had happened against jorge, valentino would have very likely pulled something similar again imo. rather than what he actually did, which is approach marc almost immediately for a nice normal friendly handshake and backing off during the podium celebrations. should be noted that during laguna seca '08, valentino was very much committed to yapping at casey on the podium with the world's biggest smuggest grin on his face

partly that disparity is because jorge not marc was the direct title rival, partly it's because valentino was treating marc with kid gloves right until the second that he wasn't, which marc was seemingly entirely oblivious to. if anyone other than marc had said what he said in that presser, had then continued on with similar rhetoric during sachsenring, valentino would quite likely have gone nuclear. he's done it over less than that. his fondness for marc made him continue to exhibit uncharacteristic restraint... except that fondness unfortunately is what left valentino feeling so very betrayed when (to his eyes) marc could not leave well enough alone

[faunandfloraas]

It is kinda funny seeing people talk about Seungmin lately because he definitely has gotten more bold and confident for sure. He's also just getting opportunities to be perceived as an individual on his own as well for the first time in a while but it's still jarring to see people be like Aw he was always such a quiet goodie two shoes little nerd and it's like...... he was the one to leave and seek out his own vocal coach and blatantly talk about it, which of course lead to I.N and Lee Know also doing the same, he was the one to go on bubble and tell off sasaengs who used to camp outside their old dorm for invading members privacy but also because it effected other residents and staff at the complex, something that i'm certain upper management wouldnt have been happy about, and he wasn't curt or nice about it either. like he's never actually been a wallflower, he's always had a pretty strong backbone and seems to stick to his principals, its not really new.

[spot-splatter-splash]

Got my hands on a Lalaloopsy Girls doll and omg what on earth was all the hate about?? Im obsessed with it actually!!! the box including a hair clip for you??? Thats so cute!! The dangly limbs!! The chunky shoes!!! thats like my favorite design trope ever

Im so sorry lalaloopsy girls for pretending I hated you awhile back, I do not infact hate you you are my favorite thing ever actually

[icewindandboringhorror]

... why he sit like this

[ink-the-squid-gremlin]

Endouma is a terrible ship, and here is why.

‼️WARNING‼️: Post not only contains semi spoilers for KNY, but it also contains mentions of things like suicide, depression and noncon/sexual assault. If you are uncomfortable with those topics, please refrain from reading.

TLDR: Enmu and Douma are not compatible with each other because that ship is mostly built up on fetished MLM tropes, overly sexualized versions of the characters and the romanticization of SA.

(God, I feel like I have been posting nothing but hot takes on this account as of late. I promise I will go back to posting art, cosplays, and more just chill stuff after this.)

Enmu and Douma are not characters that should not be shipped together, for multiple reasons. Starting off, THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE!!!! I don’t know where or how it was decided that they were alike, or that Enmu is “Douma 2.0”, but it makes no sense. While both are meant to be irredeemable monsters, Enmu was an irredeemable monster from the get go. From what we know about his backstory, he knew he was scamming people and targeting the weak and vulnerable for it. Douma’s backstory goes a bit more in depth and explains that he was put into the role of “all mighty god” as a child, which lead to the power of it going to his head as he grew up. Douma was still an impressionable child who was failed by the adults around him, and as he grew up he took on some of those same traits as the adults he was surrounded by. The bottom line is this: Douma, while a shitty person, still has some way to sympathize with him, Enmu does not, and thats just on the story side of things.

Enmu and Douma also share nothing in common personality wise. On face value, they may kinda act similar (i.e how they talk (sorta)) but it really just stops there. Enmu ultimately had a goal to kill Tanjiro and gain more blood from Muzan so he could climb the ranks of the demon hierarchy. He wanted to gain more power and to overthrow one of the upper moons for the sake of power. He doesn’t care how many people he has to torment, hurt or kill, as long as he has spot in power, he is happy, hell, he literally has vulnerable and even sick children do his dirty work! Enmu is a sick and twisted individual and he prides himself on that. Douma on the other hand put on the happy and up beat facade to hide that he knows he was failed. Douma is aware he was failed as a human, and so he decided to fail his followers by being the embodiment of false hope. He plays into the false icon lifestyle by pretending to be hopeful and happy around his followers and even the other demons to an extent. He doesn’t care so much about power, rather he cares more about control. Douma keeps up his false religion persona to keep control over his followers. He knows he’s failing them, but he doesn’t want to lose the control he has over them.

Now onto the elephant in the room: the mischaracterization I’ve seen of both of them in the Endouma ship. In both fanart and fanfics I’ve seen and read (well more so forced down my throat since thats all I’ve seen with Enmu in recent times) both Enmu and Douma are mischaracterized to high hell just so we as the reader/viewer will feel pity for them. I’ve seen more of this with Enmu, in that all the stuff that made him unique from the other KNY demons is stripped away so his “savior boyfriend” Douma can comfort him and coddle him. Now, writing an AU is one thing, but if you’re just going to make content of the ship with the characters as they are in the series, then their actual personalities should be honored or at the very least acknowledged.

Going more in depth about the mischaracterizing I’ve been seeing with Enmu, almost all (ALMOST all, not all in general) Endouma content I’ve seen have made him either a depressed and anxious baby that Douma is meant to coddle, or an overly fetishized hyper feminine man thats there simply for sexual reasons. It just goes against their roles in the story of KNY.

Going off of the hyper feminine man mischaracterization of Enmu I’ve seen in regards to the Endouma ship, having him be pretty much a “femboy” not only contradicts him as a character, but it also is pushing toxic heteronormativity on a queer relationship. Making Enmu essentially the “woman”, while putting toxic heteronormativity in a very much MLM ship, it also just boils him down to a sex object and nothing else. Now, I will not say that portraying Enmu as a very sexual and even gross character is wrong, because there were plenty of scenes in KNY of him that had very sexual and perverted undertones, but that is what they were, undertones. There is more to his character than just the sexual undertones he has (as I stated earlier when describing him), and by boiling him down to a “sex doll” for Douma just kind of shows that there wasn’t much of an understanding of his character while making the ship art or a fic. He is much more than a sex object.

Moving onto the mischaracterization I’ve seen of Douma, while not nearly as bad as Enmu, it still feels very off from his character. Making Douma someone who GENUINELY cares for another person is also very contradictory to how he acts in the series. He is someone who cares very little for anyone he comes to meet, whether it be his followers or other demons. Now you may be asking “but, Ink! Douma saw Daki and Gyutaro when they were on the verge of death and decided to save them!” Which is exactly what I am talking about. The only reason he “saved” them was to keep up his facade of a savior and to get himself “brownie points” (for lac of a better term) so his public appearance would look good. Because he cared very little for Daki and Gyutaro, it shows that he only cares about looking like a good person and nothing else. Portraying him as essentially “Enmu’s therapist” that coddles him and such just feels weird. Douma has no emotional connections to anyone, so why would he have an enmotional connection to a demon that is considered lower than him?

Now similar to what I said about Enmu earlier, Douma is also much more than a sex obsessed pervert. Douma being portrayed as basically a male nymphomaniac in the Endouma ship is a very strange way to portray his character. Yes, he may have been fine with letting women seek refuge in his temple, but again, it was to make him seem and look like a good person. We should all know, or at least have the understanding that Douma is literally a woman eater. The women he houses in his temple ultimately have the fate of being nothing more than food. Viewing his reason for taking in women as something sexually driven is a complete misunderstanding of his actions. This misunderstanding of Douma paired with the sexual misunderstanding of Enmu not only creates a toxic relationship, but it also fetishizes and sexualizes MLM pairings. This is something I’ve noticed more in Endouma art, but a lot of it that I have seen feels very fetish-y. I can’t go too in-depth about this aspect, as I am a queer woman, but the way the ship is portrayed in a lot of the art I have seen of it feels as though it is pandering to the appeal of yaoi obsessed straight girls. While yaoi has been a term used for decades to refer to MLM based pairings in media like anime and manga, over the past couple of years, its meaning has become more based around fetishizing MLM pairings rather than just being about MLM pairings.

I now want to bring up something that I’ve seen associated with Endouma (and also the Enmuzan ship, but that is a topic for another time) that really makes me uncomfortable, and that is noncon and the romanization sexual assault. I don’t want to talk too much about this topic, as it is not only triggering for me, but it should also be common sense that fetishizing sexual assault is wrong. Again, this is more so something I have seen in artwork, but it seems almost normalized for Douma to be portrayed forcing himself onto Enmu. Now, I know you are all probably saying “Ink, if you don’t like it/are triggered by it, then don’t interact with it”, but when its all that has been made in regards to newer Enmu content as of late, and how people are hyping it up, its kind of hard to avoid. It makes me truly question just how many people really missed the point of their characters, and only focused on things like Enmu being more androgynous, and Douma being tall and muscular. In a general sense, if a ship is built on, or is popular from fetishized and romanticized sexual assault, it shouldn’t be a ship.

Finally, I just want to mention that these characters have NEVER once interacted in canon. I know that hasn’t stopped people from shipping characters before, but it’s just something I want bring up. (As well as the fact that the Upper Moon’s hate the Lower Moons)

I want to end off this post by saying that all of this is by no means targeted at a specific person, nor am I trying to say that my opinion is correct. I am just stating my own opinions and just stating observations I have made after being in the KNY/Enmu fanbase for nearly 4 years now. People are allowed to ship characters together (within reason) however they like, but just be aware of how it will look on your own part, and what views it may look like you have.

[babsbabbles]

what if I became violently anti-political

[widevibratobitch]

something about being told im 'the leading person at this whole academy when it comes to interpretation and stage intelligence' by the husband of the woman im trying (not really. but i mean. who knows) to seduce... ok boy you got me. lets make it a polycule.

[daily-lightbulbii]

(//i don't normally do text but cw in the tags erm. i went a little off track)

[icewindandboringhorror]

Apparently I can meet my goal of roughly 400,000 words in 6 months if I just somehow write at least 2,200 words a day ghbjh... Almost 2,500 today... huzzah...

[pupkou]

i love how when customers need something they just stand 5 feet away and stare at me and don’t say a word it’s a very good way of communicating what they’re looking for and needing from me

[nyxi-pixie]

still barely following anyone😔 i have perpetual dry dash disorder<\3 me + my 75 followed accs against the world

[lesbin]

no hot shower for me tonight. but i will be channelling my inner medieval peasant and heating various pans of water on the hob for a bath.