#meta ramble

[existentialflirt]

random thought: what if every high-ranking demon (especially the fallen angels) in the GO universe has animal eyes? Crowley obv has vertical slit-pupiled eyes (like a snake). Beelzebub (IDK their rank) obv has the whole fly aesthetic...

if there was a demon/fallen angel w/wolf eyes, I'd RIOT (& try to hug them)--

So Hastur and Ligur did have, er animal features in a manner of speaking. Hastur has black eyes and a Frog like welded in his head and Ligur has an iguana. I think they're both Archdukes of Hell, certainly Hastur is. Beez is a Lord or something. Definitely high rank. I know their rank is noted in the book but i don't feel like looking it up. The larger point is that it was very strongly implied in the book that Crowley is actually pretty low rank. Season 2 kinda muddied things a bit, I feel, with the whole bit with that demon trying to get dirt on Crowley in exchange for getting a promotion into temptations which i'm guessing Crowley is in. Makes sense honestly. I have the head canon that he basically invented the model of how demons corrupted humans by tempting Eve into eating the apple. Also that he's been coasting on that monumental deed for millennia, because y'know. Instigating the fall of man, even if that hadn't been his intent, is kind of a big deal.

so uh, that doesn't really answer your question, because i really can't say if there was any real intent beyond some interesting aesthetic. My thought is that GO demons are exhibiting the corruption within on the outside. There's the question of why Crowley is exponentially more...uh, well, convenionally attractive than most other demons, both on Earth and down below. You could say, I suppose, because deep down he was never really that evil. Sauntered casually downward and all. Personally i think it's just a matter of him having half a brain and an imagination, with a dash of vanity. Not to mention the fact that he's been, for all intent and purposes, on Earth since the dawn of man and as far as i can tell, hasn't spend much time in Hell. Humans are fickle things, and you can't very well go about LOOKING the part and expect to have success. There is an interesting point in the book when he changes his shape into something truly horrific to scare a dude (it's never detailed, only that it was terrifying and apparently maggots were involved). When he changes back he bitches mildly about how much he hates doing that because he's afraid of getting stuck.

Uh so. tl;dr: Demons and angels aren't really bound by anything but their imaginations. Which is why both Crowley and Aziraphale stand apart from their kin. They're both inquisitive creatures that think for themselves to varying degrees. Now, i'm not sure if a demon would have wolf eyes. The pattern of imagery is that demons embody cold blooded creatures and insects. Things often considered creepy or repulsive. Most people would probably agree that wolves are far too noble, but i mean, i really have to stress that aside from Crowley and Beez, the animal features and/or affinity is largely a series thing and as I said i really don't think it's anything but some neat costume design. Sometimes a bloke just has a frog on his head and it doesn't bear any deeper meaning than that.

[musashi]

i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

[biboomerangboi]

More reasons why Zuko being the Firelord is objectively the funniest thing on earth:

HES SEVENTEEN

He hasn’t been civilised in 4 years, his entire teenage experience consists of living on a boat and sleeping rough. The most stable bed he has was probably in Ba Sing Se he probably will just nap anywhere.

He has customer service experience which means he probably uses his customer service voice on his minsters.

Additionally he probably just wanders into to kitchen to get his own snacks and tea because he forgets what servants do.

He probably has no idea why he can’t just chase after an assassin he used to hunt the avatar for Agnis sake why is the captain of the guard demanding he stay in his room he’ll find the guy first (he’s probably right)

Katara probably has a free pass on Eco terrorism because what’s he going to do challenge her, she’ll beat his ass.

If he saw a minster doing something shady he will either invite lady Beifong to detect their BS or commit B&E and look for evidence himself.

He somehow found a baby dragon and raises it.

He will be far to willing to give Kyoshi island anything they want cause he feels bad and Suki scares him.

He randomly insisted on giving some earth kingdom village 100 ostrich horses.

The Avatar will just show up call him Hotman and demand the go on adventures and the Firelord will just dip because he’s been confined to long and has the Zoomies.

He takes far to much advice from Sokka and will genuinely believe if someone doesn’t get Sokkas plans they must be an idiot because Sokka is 16.

Sokka and Zuko also get into a lot of teenage rebellion phases by accident.

Toph just walks in breaks a wall of his palace and demands a field trip that always involves the Firelord having to explain himself to the cops.

He somehow knows every dangerous teen in the world and they all come for tea uninvited.

He has broken into both the NWT and Ba Sing Se.

He has a really well documented facial scar and official portraits but still disappears to be Lee the tea guy like no one knows.

HES SEVENTEEN.

[lost-romantique]

Stolas finally admitted it...

"GAH! WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT I AM! THIS WAS SO STUPID! I CANNOT BELIEVE I COULD BE THIS FUCKING STUPID! I RUINED EVERYTHING! MOVE!!! YOU SHITTY DESK!!!"

"And I did it for what? These stupid, foolish fantasies?!"

It means so much to me that Stolas was finally able to admit it, that what he saw and enjoyed when it came to his and Blitzø's transactional relationship was the pure escapist fantasy of it all. Yes, he still grew to have genuine feelings for Blitz, but he still couldn't help but wrap Blitz up in this fantasy of his. Knight in shining armour, rogue assassin, etc.

And a part of me thinks that's why Blitz, couldn't initially believe Stolas' feelings of romantic love for him. Aside from his extreme self-loathing, it's also because he was so used to Stolas wanting him to play a certain role on their full moon nights. Blitz was used to being a fantasy, so he couldn't imagine the actual reality of it.

And I think that's one of the reasons why Blitz is so goddamn fucking happy the entire episode, it's because aside from finally get his birb back, this is what Blitz ultimately wants in a relationship.

Blitzø's ideal relationship is genuine domestic bliss. He genuinely just loves the idea of waking up every morning to the man he loves, and being able to do simple mundane shit like making breakfast for them, fixing them up cups of coffee, and having casual conversation.

It's why he looks so happy and chipper doing the most mundane shit with Stolas. Blitz genuinely just finds joy in walking around the market with the man he loves, going grocery shopping, chatting at the Laundromat, and going shopping for clothes.

It's also why Blitz wants this so bad...

Because underneath all the self-loathing and his asshole persona, Blitz genuinely has the purest of dreams of settling down with Stolas and their two daughters surrounded by warmth, love, and laughter.

[empressofthewind]

what's funny to me about Death Note is how casually the authors will drop the most insane lore you've ever heard and then just move on as if it never happened. like here's a girl whose parents were killed in front of her and who also would have been murdered by a crazed fan if he hadn't mysteriously dropped dead before her eyes. yes we WILL proceed to call her stupid and annoying for the rest of the series and never address how this affected her. btw did we ever mention that L is an orphan who has been working as a detective since he was 10? and that the orphanage where he grew up is now dedicated to raising child prodigies on the principle that their entire existence is worthless if they can't live up to L's standard? no? well he's dead now so here are his successors. yeah one of them joined the mafia at 17 and commits violent crimes because he believes it's the only way to prove that he's worth anything. yeah the other one had to take on the only case L couldn't solve entirely from scratch at age 13 with no prior detective experience. no the implications of this won't be addressed. also one of the new anti-Kira investigators has a vendetta against Kira because someone close to her was killed by him. will that ever be explored in canon, you ask? well you're not going to believe this-

[melmedardaapologist]

with arcane’s focus on visual elements, something that’s been nagging on me lately is mel medarda’s final design and why it compounds the tragedy of her story:

firstly, when we see mel in her flashback, she’s already wearing her significant white/gold, but tempered with blue—noticeably missing her mother’s greys and reds, even then, showing her idealogical differences

then in piltover, we see mel as her own self-actualization—all white and gold and black, colors connected to power, and with an elegant cut that still places her slightly apart from piltover fashion. it shows her place as a non-combatant (long skirt) and someone privileged (the pure white) and wealthy (the gold. so much gold.). this is mel medarda at the pinnacle she’s worked so hard to achieve—it’s elegant because she is elegant

which of course becomes subverted when we do see the gold accessories taken away and the white dirtied when she’s kidnapped by the black rose—this is the first and only time we see mel in actual disarray, and it shows how vulnerable she is when she’s outside the political sphere

and after her transformation, we have this costume change, where aside from the increased gold (now representing magical ability instead of just wealth), we have mel in a a skin-tight catsuit style getup, allowing for greater movement, and her hair done in micro-braids in a style that won’t affect her center of gravity. at first, when i was watching, i was confused (especially about the hair), but then i realized—

this isn’t mel dressing herself to reflect a change, this is leblanc’s vision of mel, where power is swiftness and she is markedly different than others in a way that is now impossible to ignore

and she tries to return to her previous sense of self with the white hood, going back to a trademark of her style, but notably this is an outfit worn to conceal, not reveal and show off like her previous iconic dress, and her change is visibly with even just the hood off

and when mel accepts black rose’s help and betrays them and her mother dies, the white hood disappears—try as she might, she cannot go back to who she was, and she stands before noxians as a mage and mother-killer and a wolf, something dangerous

and then, when we see mel leaving piltover, she’s wearing nothing of her original self, but a combination of black rose’s getup and her mother’s colors. there is almost nothing of “mel” in this outfit, as if she’s been subsumed by these two identities—noxian and mage

even her makeup has shifted, with the red line under her eyes and the gold in her lower lip directly copying her mother

this isn’t a mel who’s realized herself in a new identity. this is a mel who, when faced with the enormous loss of her brother, mother, lover and former identity, has fallen into the definitions and roles that were presented to her, and who is now primed to continue the cycles started by her predecessors

and moving on from arcane, i think it would be fascinating to see mel in one of the newer shows to see how she grapples with this and if she either falls back into tradition and dooms herself, or if she’s able to break free and reforge her identity on her own terms

[logorrhea5mip]

Tumblr reblog chains are in danger.

It seems that the staff is actually going to go forward with their decision to remove reblog chains, where reblogs will basically work like regular comments on other websites.

This doesn't just make the site completely unusable, it removes the soul of the community that has managed to build up here over the years, and that I'm so happy to have recently joined.

It makes impossible the creation of great posts where many people build up a single thing, until it is a gem of expressed human creativity.

There will be no more world heritage posts, no more messing around with your mutuals, no posts worth remembering.

There will be no more Tumblr, and the Tikblr or TumbTube or whatever monstrosity is born from its corpse will soon die, as is probably the best. And then there will never be another place like this on the internet, no place anymore to run to, no more fun, no more community.

I recommend a simple course of action. When these changes get imposed upon us, stop using Tumblr. Get your mutuals' discords, your favourite artists' websites, and leave. If the Tumblr we have once known returns, we well too. If not, better let it die quickly than suffer a long and painful decline.

I beg you to reblog this, for the more people see it, the higher chanses are for this to work.

And add something, so we can show them what Tumblr is really for.

[madbard]

So. I just finished The Magnus Archives.

You’re telling me that Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, began his journey from such a place of uncertainty and desperation to prove himself worthy of the title, and ended as the embodiment of everything that tormented him?

You’re telling me that Martin Blackwood, who held so much love for the people around him, unintentionally paved the way for his lover’s desperate martyrdom?

You’re telling me Jon was marked for this from childhood, manipulated by forces older and greater than civilization to bring such harm upon the world that the only solution he could see was to end it?

You’re telling me there was no escape for them?

You’re telling me they could have lived happily together, but they could never have taken that path because it lies contrary to who they are?

You’re telling me Jon and Martin had everything and everyone slowly and agonizingly ripped away from them until they had nothing left but each other, until neither one could fathom surviving without the other?

You’re telling me that Martin and Jon kissed at the center of a collapsing reality, then Martin felt the life leave Jon’s body as he stabbed the only living person he loved?

You’re telling me there is a chance they are Somewhere Else, but that would mean they never escaped the Fears and never will?

You’RE TELLING ME-

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[existentialflirt]

I will say, I will probably take Tara's development in...interesting directions. Like, I'm sure I'll have a verse where she's alive or whatever, but i also don't want to make her all about Willow, because I'm sorry, she got fucked. Most of her personality was "Willow's girlfriend". "Under Your Spell" is just such a fucked up song on two or three levels. I think her shining moment was in "Restless". I am deeply, deeply obsessed how she was a consistent character across their dreams and seemed to be lucid, especially in Buffy's dream. It's so spooky, and I really like the idea of being the innately powerful witch who's just very quiet about or not even fully realize it.

[bluerosefox]

Stellar Collisions

Back at it again with a DPxDC prompt.

It does have deaged Dani (Ellie)

Only this time its KonxDanny idea!~

Supernova, Kon's new hero name since Jon took over the Superboy name now, wasn't expecting to be called out to... especially in the sky... by another floating/flying person and-

WOW

They were cute as heck.

Glowing green eyes, and white hair, a bit shorter than him. He was floating in the air with a soft glow around himself as well.

And he was holding a white haired, very similar looking toddler in his arms, only the toddler had longer hair that was tied in pigtails. And the toddler was staring at Kon with large, almost sparkling eyes.

The young man, around Kon's age if he guessed, smiled and floated a bit closer, his face friendly and warm. When the young man stopped he kindly asked "Hey, would it be any trouble for you to autograph something for my daughter? She's a huge fan!"

[biboomerangboi]

Hua Cheng essentially cockblocking himself for possibly all of eternity will literally never not be the funniest thing MXTX ever wrote.

Xie Lian was pretty much completely in love with him the second he saw those lanterns (and completely oblivious about it) and then we get the wonderful first kiss underwater moment and Xie Lian is basically drawing hearts around Hua Cheng every time he sees him. While like quietly dying cause he literally has no idea what to do with it. Like at this point he doesn’t even really understand that he is head over heels totally gone for this man.

Until Hua Cheng is like I have a beloved I just haven’t won them over yet. Which he thinks is perfectly reasonable because his self esteem is the worst and he doesn’t understand how he could have won Xie Lian over yet. (He’s only on step 22 of his Marrying Dianxia 3000 step Master Plan ((that he debates throwing out on a regular basis because he doesn’t deserve to even dream about wanting Xie Lian)). So course he’s like yeah I have this wonderful noble beautiful beloved I just haven’t won them over yet wink wink nudge nudge.

But Xie Lian is like oh of course obviously I don’t deserve nice things and fuck I actually wanted him so badly I’m actually in love with him and now I will resign myself to never being happy for his sake. (Their combined self esteem is truly a so low it’s a hole in the ground which is hilarious because they think the other person is to good for them and unattainable forever because they literally have the same neurosis.) So he starts boxing up his feelings forever constantly wanting Hua Cheng and feeling guilty about it and literally dying inside because he wants Hua Cheng like he’s never wanted anyone.

Like essentially books 3 and 5 only happen because Hua Cheng has now cursed them both by saying he has a beloved because Xie Lian believes he isn’t wanted and therefore any nice thing Hua Cheng does is just him being nice and not Hua Cheng pulling out steps 23-34 of his plan thinking he still hasn’t won Xie Lian over. (He has he so has but he shot himself in the foot so badly it’s painful to read).

Like thank the Gods Hua Cheng is so unhinged and created the cave of 10000 Gods cause Xie Lian would literally be at his own wedding to Hua Cheng still convinced he wanted someone else and this was in fact a thing they were doing to solve a case together otherwise.

Like he needed something that unhinged to put 2 and 2 together otherwise he never would have caught on he’s Hua Cheng’s beloved. Meanwhile Hua cheng is like 🥺 he’s going to think I’m a weirdo now and I’m only on step 50 of the plan 🥺 like the two of them wouldn’t have been fucking nasty 2 books ago if he just kept his mouth shut and didn’t cockblock himself so violently.

[sirlightningpotato]

Annabeth and Jason’s backstory’s are 100% mirrors of each other’s and I wish they did more with that.

Like Jason’s backstory is supposed to be a foil of Percy’s (Jason is what would’ve happened to Percy if Sally just dropped him off at camp or if he became a year rounder), but it ends up being incredibly similar to Annabeth’s

Both Jason and Annabeth were neglected by their mortal parent, both were at their respective camps way younger than normal, they both are essentially leaders of their camps, and they even share the same older sister

But where Annabeth wanted nothing more than a call to adventure it was thrust upon Jason, where Annabeth’s fatal flaw is hubris, overconfidence, Jason’s is the tendency to deliberate, under-confidence. There’s just so much you can do with them

[miscellaneoussmp]

Despite its flaws, the qsmp had really good representation, especially for communities often under or misrepresented in popular media.

There were a decent amount of genderfluid/genderqueer/nonbinary characters, mostly through the Eggs/Federation Employees/Other NPCs, but there were players like Maxo and Mike who use mutliple sets of pronouns. Pepito had no pronouns in English but preferred masculine pronouns/terms in Spanish. Most people referred to Richas with masculine terms, yet Pac and Mike affectionately referred to Richas as their daughter multiple times. Leo and JuanaFlippa openly had name and pronoun changes to reflect their gender identities. There was even discussion of preferred names with Lullah, who, as far as canon goes, is a cis character. There were openly accepted instances of cross dressing, that weren't even made into a big deal. Famously Mariana and Foolish, both masculine characters, are referred to with feminine terms. Mariana is referred to as Charlie Slimecicle's wife, and Foolish is referred to as grandma by both Richas and Pepito.

There were multiple aspec characters and multiple instances of queerplatonic/ambiguous relationships. Jaiden was very openly aroace. Her and Roier said they were partners. Cellbit came out as ace because he was worried that Roier wouldn't find their relationships fulfilling without sex. Roier responded that sex didn't matter to him in their marriage. Pac and Mike, who canonically share a soul, never defined their relationship and went with whatever people called them even if that defining word was boyfriends, despite Mike being aroace. Also, Mike had a nontraditional relationship in his relationship with Mine. Their relationship being that of goddess and devotee. Maxo openly had sex with Pierre while being an ace character. Empanada was an openly ace child character, and that was very accepted. Not to mention all the characters who could be interpreted as some form as aspec.

Qsmp also showed off many different forms of families. Platonic co-parenting basically defined the qsmp as we know it. Single fatherhood defined both Bad and Fit as characters and showed them having healthy relationships with their children. The rocky relationships of Charlie Slimecicle and Mariana and Maxo and Pierre were treated as serious parts of their stories despite the silliness also present in their relationships.

Sorry for the rambling, I just think that the qsmp is praised for its representation of queer relationships without mentioning its other forms of representation.

[castielsflowers]

every time the whole sam eats rabbit food thing comes up on the show or in fanfiction it’s such a great example of the writers doing something interesting that they don't have the guts to follow through with because it’s usually in the context of “sam eats traditionally non-masculine foods let’s laugh at him for his failure to perform masculinity on the Man Show” but in the context of PTSD and sam's self consciousness the mr. king of compartmentalization is eating “clean” foods in an effort to live in a “cleaner” body and cleanse himself of the moral failings and contamination that comes with having demon blood in his body which is an infinitely more interesting metaphor for abuse but yeah no sam's just a pussy for eating a salad got it

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

Really so much respect for David Jenkins. He really went "historical accuracy"? "Realism"? "Laws of physics"? Nope, we don't need those here, everything in this story is Vibes. Dinghies can travel huge distances if necessary, except sometimes not, injuries heal immediately or slowly fester, whichever the plot demands for comedy or drama respectively, a character spends several days dead/in a coma/in purgatory and then just comes back to life when his beloved shows up. Nothing is too over the top for this story, cringe doesn't exist, we'll dial all those feelings up to eleven, and we're gonna play everything with 100% earnestness, and we're gonna have a merman and it's going to be so fucking romantic. And he's right about all of it! Really the best way to do fiction.