#not just focused on them) you might like this?? but also there’s a lot of other things going on. so

[fuck-you-too-world]

I have a thought,

Tim is the embodiment of Gen Z and the reason why DC disrespect him a lot is because they saw the potential and how chaotic he could be because he's just so... How do say this, he had the most normal past (as normal as any Gotham kids could get and being a nepo baby) compare to others who had tragic back story.

Tim tragic back story didn't start until he take the Robin mantel, so I think DC is scared of Tim's potential especially with his mentality that is so flexible. Like, this boy is labeled as the coffee addict-sleep deprived-tech guy-that has too much money-too much work-and could drop dead anytime, just like gen Z (except the money part).

Then the chart just made me think of it even more! Tim is literally us as gen Z but he has money, training and no adult supervision! The intelligence is debatable cuz I think he usually has the brain cells but most of the time lost it, he can be as harmless as he is apocalyptic danger level all just because he felt like it. He's mostly harmless cuz he lacks motivation.

Like imagine! (He has so many war crimes I wanted to add more so he can have a special folder with more folders inside dedicated for one war crime saperated based on timeline, planet and dimension)

Tim : Feeling bored, might piss off Luther later cuz his life is too peaceful rn

*proceeds to take over the economic world and become a shadow emperor and open up charities just because*

Also Tim

Tim : Feeling a bit feral and kinda want to have a historical vibe today

*save planets and became emperor of several planets and he rules it really well to the point he has religion that worship him*

Then he's also

Tim : This family (Waynes) is so fucked up, they need help fr fr

*blackmail Batman after he failed to blackmail Nightwing, become a therapist cuz he can't fix his family so fix others*

Near death experience? You wish!

Tim : oh, look it's Jason in- is that a cheap Robin costume?! Ew!!

*got beaten cuz he's too busy thinking about something else instead of focusing in the fight, plus he saw the kid he sort of replaced still alive -a bit murdery- but alive which is good news for his 'fixing Wayne family project'!*

Tim in his depressed and apathic era

Tim : Hm... He said no killing but is it killing if I gave them warning but they choose to ignore me and got caught up in the explosion? No, no it's not. *shrug* Good enough.

*proceeds to bomb Ra's bases and make the creepy immortal rat man loses hair and gain gray hairs at the same time*

Near death experience number unknown? Nah~

Tim : oh wow, I manage to finished all of the assignments and mission right on time! Damn, this is a record! Oh, look at that, the sky looked so clear! Too bad we can't see starts in Gotham, welp, not a bad day to sleep! I can finally sleep!

*sigh out in disappointment when He got caught and land safely on the ground, mourning the sleep he'll never get*

His response is always so relatable and mood to the point I need gen Z artist or something to get inside DC and just let out your chaotic-idgaf-feral-racoon-self so Tim can just be his true self and grow into his potential! I need to see him in his more chaotic nature with flexible moral because dang, he's just so US sometimes.

Or is it just me? Honestly, I saw this post on Pinterest and immediately went to search the original post on timblr -pun intended- just so I can let this out of my head.

Alright, thank your for coming to my Ted talk. Scatter!

i find the dischotomy between the batfam's potential to kill vs their real-world willingness to kill very interesting! so I made a graph because I'm a nerd

[northopalshore]

what does each planet represent in an union persona chart?

Here's a simplified list:

Planets meanings in the Union persons chart

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹. ࣭ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Still curious? Checkout the union persona chart masterlist here! @northopalshore ! Mini guide series.

Sun- How you first met/heard about them

Moon- How you felt when you met, what you were curious about, what was comfortable

Mercury - What you'll think about them, or talk about the most

Venus- How they'll fall for you, how you'll fall for them, where you love to shower them w affection

Mars - Movements, flights, how you'll/they'll approach you

Jupiter - Where they bring the most joy, or what you'll be doing the most around them

Saturn- Restrictions, what might be difficult for you to do at first

Uranus - What they bring into your life (excitement, joy, fear, the unexpected)

Neptune - Misunderstandings, illusions, your fantasies (whether good or bad) around them

Pluto - What causes the most arguments, issues you have to face, problems early on

Chiron- Your biggest insecurities, fears around them when you first meet

Union- How you actually meet face to face, official introduction, first date even

The rising sign in your union persona chart

is the setting your union will take place in, whether physically or online. What you'll be doing even. It's not really an indicator of how you'll meet but rather the vibe of the setting you're in at the time.

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ₊ ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Aries- it's likely that you'll meet physically, or not online. You might be in your single era, or even doing something for yourself/in a fast paced setting.

Taurus - Could be very calm, or comfortable. You might be doing something familiar to you or with your siblings as well. Food, shops, spas could be related. You could be purchasing something as well or just feeling romantic.

Gemini - You were likely in the mood to learn or at a time where things were moving fast, quick thinking, communication could be involved

Cancer - Perhaps you were close to your mother at the time, or at home or just your hometown. Being with family, doing something normal.

Leo- you could be in a mood to have fun, or there may be entertainment & children involved with the scenario. Could be an open setting with a lot of people involved

Virgo - It's likely an average day to you. You could be working or minding your own business, or fixating on your routine.

Libra - could be related to justice, rights, women, love or even just to indulge in yourself. You could be in the mood to pamper yourself or deal with something related to law. Could also be doing business, or offering a service. You might be signing a contract at this time.

Scorpio - You'll likely meet at a point of renewal. Something could have happened or ended in the past, which has left you alone or just being alone in general. A closed, intimate setting. You could be focused on something, or curious about something. There might also be a goal you're trying to reach. Whatever it is, you're likely "in your zone."

Sagittarius - you could be in the mood to learn about something, or even teach something. Could be related to knowledge, whether spiritual, factual or occult. Enlightening people, gaining exposure/experience. You could also just be in the mood to travel. You could also be expanding something in your life at the time.

Capricorn - working. You'll be focused on your ambitions, your goals and your personal priorities. Your professional life is the main agenda here.

Aquarius - you could be feeling more rebellious or experimental, wanting to try something new. Could be related to the internet or your community, or just new experiences.

Pisces- you could be feeling less controlling, just going with whatever happens in your life. It could also be at a point of clarity, where you are at peace with yourself. Could be related to travel , healing & religion as well.

ஓ๑♡๑ஓ

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

***disclaimer: entertainment purposes only, reader discretion is advised***

Hope this helps!

@northopalshore

@northopalshore union persona chart 2024.

[erisenyo]

I've been processing and reflecting to try to make sense of things, and it strikes me that Trump won because he:

incited fear

of tangible things

And positioned himself as the solution

He tapped into people's fear of the other (immigrants, trans people, etc) which *feels* immediate as you experience it, and therefore tangible. And maybe more importantly for the swing right we saw compared to 2020, he tapped into fear of economic harm--which people are experiencing today, now, in real ways.

And then he presented himself as the solution, with a few specific consistent talking points that might have been ridiculous and extreme but that people could hold onto. As a result, voting for Trump becomes a direct solution to your immediate fears.

You can counter fear by

alleviating it

explaining why it's unfounded

giving someone something worse to be afraid of

And at least from what I saw from the messaging I received as a swing state voter...Kamala tried to mainly do the latter but with *hypothetical, conceptual fears.*

Loss of rights, decline of the conceptual institutions of democracy--for some people these are immediate. But for most they're intangible, vaguely situated in a future that may never come to pass. Which means they are less acute, less likely to balance out today's active, tangible concerns.

She didn't explain how she would alleviate those immediate fears of the other (I would say her foray into immigration policy was poorly received by all sides, and reinforced Trumps stance). And probably more importantly, she was unable to cogently explain why people's tangible economic fears were unfounded OR how she would solve them. While rhe ad buy format is obvipuslt limited, her economic stance *as communicated* was about how Trump would make it worse (future oriented, hypothetical, non-immediate), not about any tangible solutions and policy she would put into place.

Which means her campaign basically came down to relying on a large, motivated group of anti-Trump voters...and those people were already activated against him. And she wasn't able to present anything to build on that beyond intangible, hypothetical fears and she just...wasn't going to win with that.

So what does that mean? It feels like future policy communications may be more effective focusing on specific policies that appeal regardless of demographic group (free daycare, broad healthcare affordability, education costs) rather than appeals to ideals like rights and freedoms. And that there likely needs to be a shift away from why the opposition is so scary and ridiculous, to why the opposition is *wrong.*

A move toward the tangible, and a reconceptualizing of major goals that *are* more focused around rights and freedoms in terms of the tangible steps to realize them--which will also provide a road map to follow.

(Theres obviously the confounding factor of Kamala being a woman - a lot of people wouldn't necessarily articulate that as a reason not to vote for her, but they'd be the person shaking their head at Trumps rhetoric but just believing he'd be better at managing the country no matter how nasty his language)

[starsonablackboard]

you guys flooded my first post with notes yesterday which is a little confusing for me and also insanely cool, i've never received such feedback on my art, so thank you everyone!! you gave me motivation to draw something substantial so you get an updated lamb design yippee! probably not the final one tho

also another lengthy post which is not required reading, just some stuff i've been thinking about on and off for a couple of weeks. i codenamed it "with death comes peace au" in my head and it may become a fanfic at some point but i don't want to be too hopeful

relevant to the first pic

• i do love the "single parent to a small nation" type of lamb, but for my au i see them more as an actual Cult Leader tm, which means they have to be irresistibly charming and charismatic. they put a lot off time into their looks and mannerisms and behavior (they had some practise even before their first death and before the red crown, but that is maybe for a later post), and they aim for a "heavenly angelic benevolent" type, since they're a lamb, a soft and fluffy creature that's mainly associated with innocence and self-sacrifice

• also the malnourishment-looking hc from the previous post still stands, which is a pain in the ass for them. their head-wool is their best quality one tho, so they try to get the most out of it, and style it in this cute fluffy bob (that also somewhat hides the hollowness of their face) with little braids here and there and camellias that never wilt, cause yk, for power show off holy image upkeep purposes

• they actually do like their neck scar, but the flock finds it unnerving

relevant to the second pic

• so you remember how i said that they were laser focused on survival before their first death? they lived off of spite and spite alone, they knew of genocide for all their life (being born well after it started) and were determined to not let the bishops win. they didn't get a say in their birth, so they at least were entitled to have a say in their death (at least in their mind. but what a single sheep has on four gods)

• SOOO when the survival goal failed (kinda. task failed successfully yk) and toww gave them a new goal of cult leadership and slaughter, the spite became thirst for revenge. and it is a powerful tool, but it does not translate to the most graceful style of fighting.

• all that is to say that, yeah, they fight like a wildfire, and never really change in that regard. you don't have to learn defense if you kill your enemies fast enough (yes, it bites them in the ass. more often that they'd like to admit)

• i also liked the idea of them having armor, because let's be frank in the game they might as well be fighting naked, that wool cloak doesn't do anything for protection. i opted for a lightweight leather one since leather is easier to obtain, suits their quick movements and it's kinda a power move to wear armor that's made of your enemies' brethren. intimidation factor is important

[arbitrarity]

this is all beautiful

it also reminds me of two times I dressed up for Halloween in spaces where it wasn't expected. and got lovely responses

the first was while I was working in the back-of-house for a Chinese food restaurant in a little town. I adore Halloween and dressing up and being a little silly, so I decided to dig around in my parents' costume trunk and dress up as a cowboy for work. Nothing major: some cowboy boots and hat, a bandana around my neck, and a holster with little plastic guns. and the family who ran the restaurant were thrilled! owner's wife and mother and brother all thought it was so so fun that I was in costume - they were so surprised, and giggled and wanted pictures and got me to pose with the niece (younger than me; couldn't care less, lol). they were delighted and that delighted me

I was just getting out of a really rough emotional time when I worked there. I was often quiet - I didn't speak Cantonese and their collective level of English was limited (I was hired mainly to answer the phone tbh). but the family was always so kind to me. and those moments when I let myself be silly and go all-in were some of my absolute favourites: dressing up and seeing their joy at my costume, attempting a dance they taught me over hotpot to celebrate New Years, trying to use a little handful of Cantonese words despite my pronunciation always making them laugh (though not as much as at my first attempt, which was in Mandarin 😅).

the second Halloween outfit was last year. I'm a grad student and was in a small class doing research on linguistic change, which focused on celebrities' speech so we could get a lot of data. we had a presentation due on Halloween and my prof suggested that we should each dress up as the celebrity we were studying. I did: I went as Catherine O'Hara and did my full presentation in costume. apparently no one else had remembered/taken seriously this somewhat-off-hand comment. but my professor was so enthused! she kept suggesting that we take photos and send them to Catherine O'Hara herself! she dubbed me the 'mascot' of our collective project and said if we ever present at conferences we should totally all dress up. it was so silly and fun, even when I was the only one in costume haha

so I'm not a cosplayer (though i'd like to try my hand at it), but I can attest that dressing up sure is fun. and other people can be more kind than you might expect when you stand out!

something ive noticed after being a hobby cosplayer for years is that in a lot of places the general consensus seems to be that wearing costumes in public is weird and/or socially unacceptable, but whenever I'm in costume in public while on the train to the con venue or having a photoshoot on location or something, people by and large fucking love my costume. they think it's so cool. kids think my costume rocks. their parents are impressed that I made it myself. random grandmas tell me my armor kicks ass. I was at a japanese garden once and barely got around to doing the photoshoot me and my homies came there to do because swathes of visitors who had never heard the word cosplay before were lining up to take a picture with me.

it's the same thing with adjacent hobbies like larp or reenactment or fursuiting, the general image of the hobby is that you're weird nerds (and probably also sex perverts) for playing dressup despite not being a child but when you're actually in costume the response from random normies is categorically positive. I inevitably get weird looks from the kind of people who think having a tattoo is an affront to god but they give me that look for just existing with blue hair and pronouns too and the people who actually talk to me always do because they wanted to tell me they love my costume. and the response that always gets me the most is when they say it looks fun but they would never dare to do the same. it's such a shame. why did wearing a silly little costume have to become an act of bravery.

[serasarascreams]

Might as well add more thoughts into the mix. I was going to do it in the tags of the last post but it felt long enough. The last set of tags was a perspective I don't think I've seen yet, but then again I haven't been here too long. I think they're right in idea that the theme of responsibility doesn't just extend to Curly and Jimmy and that the game itself is a showcase of how all the little things add up and create the bigger issues alongside the certain major steps that were taken. They (aka @son-of-crows-and-rats) put it in much better terms than I did.

I was so focused on the main plot of the game a lot of other things went over my head, and while some things hit me later I'm sure there are more things like the person (and multiple others) pointed out that I'll catch here or again have it hit me later. Fuck Jimmy is the initial reaction I had at the end of the game, screaming disappointment in Curly came next, and the bleakness and awfulness of the events continue to seep through whenever I think about it.

I'm also very much on board with the statement that Curly did not deserve what happened to him and it's kinda messed up to say. Him getting deep fried, for lack of a better term, is another major consequence of him and Jimmy's actions (or inaction in Curly's case) while Anya is another. It's just a consequence that effects him directly now and I think that's a parallel to the way Anya was directly affected by Curly and Jimmy's actions. Neither Anya or Curly deserved the pain inflicted upon them, deserved to be forced to continue to live with it and all the suffering that followed, or deserved to have their autonomy ripped away from them.

Curly is not a trash human being, but I don't think I can call him a good man either. Good natured maybe, but not the best guy. The painful irony of his situation hits harder after the final conversation with Anya. His eye is always open, it's too painful to move, he can't speak. He can only watch and listen. There's no way for him to take responsibility anymore even if he desperately wants to. I think what's worse for him is that he got to live after seeing the monster beneath the skin of his friend destroy everyone and everything around him. I saw someone else say that when he froze the day of the crash it was a moment of "you were everything I feared you were" and I think that just adds an extra layer of awful to it. Curly could have been better, and if he gets rescued and lives, I like to think he will be. But I wonder if in the back of his mind it'll always eat at him that it wasn't when it mattered.

Sorry, that this partially ended up turning into a Curly post. It's just that he seems to be talked about the most. That's fair. He, Anya, and Jimmy are the ones who push the initial topic of discussion to the surface because it's there front an center.

I'll probably have more to say the more realizations dawn and the more I scroll through the tag. This is the first game in a long time that made me cry and the only horror game to really mess me up. Funny enough, it's because Curly scares me more than Jimmy.

I love this game and all the infuriating and saddening elements within and around it. I love and hate how human all these characters are. If Wrong Organ ever makes another game in the future, I'll be running to check it out.

[nthspecialll]

how do you feel about mr pearson being a rat theory? i watched a youtube video about it and while i genuinely dont think rockstar made pearson a rat or even intended he be relevant in conversations about the rat, i still found it super interesting and almost convincing if i didnt already know it was micah!

I read up on it and there are some interesting points, but most of it is very circumstancial.

The main points are:

The name Aunt Cathy that he wrote a letter to being similar to Catherine Brathewaite.

Jack going missing so easily

Pearson leaving the camp and not staying.

Pearson being able to afford a shop in the epilouge.

Pearson asking for John's location and in the cut scenes of the credits you see the agents by Rhodes and then by Beecher's Hope.

I think the Aunt Cathy/Catherine is so circumstancial that it is stupid, it raises more questions that cannot be answered than it solves. Liek how did he know her before? Did he know Jack was going to get kidnapped? What is the letter code for? What does it say?

Jack going missing so easily. The video I saw by Waxy said it was so weird Jack could go missing from a small group of outlaws and suggested that Pearson might have somehow done something? But then again we literally have Kieran's testemory of what happened because he saw it.

Kieran does not leave camp, he hangs around the edge but he still sticks close so he can be seen, the fact he saw what happened means that the perpetrators was fairly close to camp and could draw Jack's attention to them while everyone else were focused on Bill and Micah coming running into camp with Sean's dead body.

Kieran also identifies the Braithewaite boys, although I don't know how he knows what they look like, he must have had some reason for thinking it was them and he was right. He thought they were just there for business so they must have acted fairly casually.

Now when it comes to Pearson leaving, the man is literally sobbing and crying in fear, he isn't a fighter, he is a cook, and he ain't the only one that left. Using him leaving as evidence is kind of silly seeing as so many others leaves as well.

As for the shop, it has been eight years and he has been through two wives, in the same timespan Tilly got married and pregnant, Mary-Beth became a bestselling author, Charles was between Canada and USA at least once, Sadie became a fairly known bounty hunter so on and so forth. Eight years is a long time, a lot can happen.

Now to the last bit, Pearson had a picture of the gang with John on it hanging on his wall and he did know John's exact location and could have told because he was scared of being hurt, but there are also a trillion other ways the Pinkerton's could have found John. They could have tracked him from his bank account, they could have tracked him from Strawberry where he made a mess, a random civillian could have ID'ed him or Pearson "ratted" of course, they are all equally possible but I think even if Pearson did tell the Pinkerton John's location, I wouldn't call him a rat.

The Pinkerton's would have found John either way, and the timing of them finding him does not really matter, they gonna wait until 1911 either way, it would have been the exact same result.

[ragana62]

This is a reminder: (edited to add links to resources)

Votes are still being counted. Check your ballot, make sure yours was. Call your local election authorities/follow appropriate means as indicated in your vote tracking to cure your ballot if need be. The website you’re looking for here is vote.org, where state specific resources are listed out and linked. If you need better internet access to do this, public libraries are your best friend.

Democratic votes are disproportionately represented in early/mail in ballots. Those are typically counted last.

Democratic votes are disproportionately represented in major cities. Higher population density means it takes longer to reach, submit, and verify final vote counts. These also report later than other areas.

Unreported vote margins in several key states including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and many others are high enough that it can still flip the state.

He did this in 2020 too. He called the vote for himself before all votes were in, then threw a fit when people wouldn’t “stop the count”. The reasons above are why they want to stop the count prematurely.

Things look bad right now. I’m fucking stressed. We’re all fucking stressed. I’m fucking angry. A lot of people are justifiably fucking angry.

I’m not going to say “oh, we survived last Trump presidency” because a lot of people didn’t. I’m not going to say “oh, if we flip those states and the final counts put Harris in, everything will be fine” because that still means WAY TOO MANY people were ok voting for a convicted traitor, rapist, and bigot and last time he tried to overthrow the government because he was mad he couldn’t have it.

We probably won’t know anything for sure until Thursday. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, don’t burn yourself out before the fight begins.

Renew your passport or get one (not just as a ‘I’m leaving if my person doesn’t win’, as a ‘they have pitched voting reforms that will for all intents and purposes require one to vote and it’s a good thing to have if you can’). You can now renew your passport online if you meet certain requirements. Travel.state.gov is your friend for that.

If you have a uterus, now is a great time to get in with a gyno to talk about long term birth control options like IUDs/Implants or even surgical sterilization if you aren’t interested in having more kids than you already have. This is the list affectionately dubbed the TikTok Tubal List, in case you do not have a reliable provider or the one you have will not perform the procedures you need (and odds are, if a doc is willing to surgically sterilize you, they will prescribe you birth control if you’d prefer). The Brigid Alliance is great for helping support people who need to travel out of state for abortions. This is the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Check the phone numbers of organizations focused on immigration law and refugee/immigrant resources like orgs that help process asylum requests, refugee/immigrant settlement orgs, and obviously legal aid, not just for yourself, but because you never know who might need it, and make sure you know them, not just save them in your phone. This will vary state to state as well as the specific variety of aid needed and the person needing it. There are religious based groups (shout out to LIRS/Global Refuge for helping my family flea WWII and its aftermath.) You can find ones for other denominations and religions by googling “*religious group* Refugee Aid”. You can use the same process for nationality specific ones as well. Community specific ones might be your best chance at finding someone who speaks your language if you aren’t a native English speaker, at finding community support as well. General practice, IMMLAW is well regarded for a reason.

Do the same for those focused on queer advocacy and support. Get specific. Knowing your local chapter of the ACLU is good, knowing trans specific resources, youth specific resources, intersectional resources for queer folx of color and disabled queer folx, knowing how to reach your local community outreach groups, etc. is better. Most of these resources are local specific. Check in with your local community organizers (if you don’t know who that is, find a local queer centric space and ask people), to find out where people need help most and what organizations and resources they trust locally. Trevor Project is also a good nationwide resource for personal support and information if you need that now, but note that they are usually very busy after elections.

Do the same for women’s health and safety groups (using this term because it is what usually gets used by the groups/resources themselves, but these resources are also good for anyone in possession of a uterus). Abortion access groups that are dedicated to helping people who cannot financially leave a state trying to stop them, domestic violence shelters, resources for accessing birth control. Even better, get to know your neighbors and community, and help each other. Plan B has a shelf life, as does Plan C, as do condoms and spermicide. Stock what you can, share what you can, help each other out. (Links are above for TikTok Tubal List, Brigid Aliance, and National Domestic Violence Hotline) AidAccess will mail abortion pills to every state, both for emergency use (within 1-5 days) and to have on hand (there is a separate form and it may take longer to fulfill).

Talk to your neighbors where it is safe to do so. Make plans for what happens if the worst happens. Who needs to leave, who can’t leave, who has what support needs, who has what resources, etc. The only way through this is together.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and know that nothing is official until the last county reports and confirms the last ballot. That could be Thursday, that could be this weekend, but until it happens, we aren’t completely fucked just yet.

I know I’ve been freaking the fuck out about this, despite normally being a mostly fandom blog. It’s worth freaking out about. But freak out in a way that does not do more harm than good if at all possible. Feel your feelings, but channel them towards protecting yourself, protecting others, and most importantly, not burning yourself out. There’s a lot of fear-mongering out there. There’s a lot to be afraid about. It isn’t official yet.

Plan like it is, hope like it isn’t.

[invisiblegarters]

Heads up that this contains very light information about the THK novelization.

I can't say I agree with a lot of this.

I feel like this is essentially turning on a romance channel and then complaining about all the romance. I get that it can be frustrating to want more and then not get it, but I don't feel like these shows ever promised us that. Kidnapped trailer made it very clear that it was mostly going to be about romance with some action on the side (as well as taking every opportunity possible to get Ohm half naked, thumbs up show). Only Friends mock trailer basically gave us everything we needed to put the pieces of the ending together, not to mention Jojo said it like four times. Khaotung spoiled the SandRay endgame before the show had even aired, lol. The Heart Killers trailers are much the same.

And Jojo is once again on Twitter telling us exactly what he's doing. If people choose not to believe him or to expect something different anyway, that's not his or the show's fault. This is supposed to be 10 Things I Hate About You with guns. Did you watch 10 Things I Hate About You and get surprised that Patrick and Kat wound up together in the end? That Bianca and Cameron became a couple? That the story mostly focused on the romance between them? It's a romcom. Hell, even the grittier version of Jojo's romance with guns had the main trio all end up together (even if I was so upset that my unexpected fave didn't make it that I couldn't actually enjoy that the first time I watched)! This isn't a phenomenon that happens only with BL - most romances have the main couple stay together even when they really really shouldn't. It's a staple. No one has to like it but it shouldn't be a surprise.

There's also been a lot of chatter about how Jojo wanted to break up the couples in OF and couldn't because of capitalism and the awful fangirlies, but I really don't think that was the case. I have looked for anything where he says that he wanted to work with no couples at all, and all I can find is him saying that he knew he wanted Mark and Neo for Nick and Boston from the beginning.

And considering they were the only non paired couple (despite Neo's best efforts, lol), that makes a lot of sense when you consider that they were also the only couple in the show to break up. I think it's less that Jojo was being forced into using cps and more that there were always meant to be two endgame couples from the beginning. People just took the Nick and Boston casting and Jojo's comments about them and ran with them to fit their own narrative. Now full disclosure, I have had to base this mostly on interviews - I don't have a twitter account so searching there is rough for me. If there is something on there that contradicts me, please bring it to my attention. I have zero problems admitting when I'm wrong. :D

Now as for THK, is it going to be good? This might get me in some hot water which I do generally try to avoid, lol, but I've read the novel so no. I have to say that for me personally I don't think it will turn out to be something I am into, not even as a turn my brain off and enjoy the pretty and ridiculous (which is what I do with Kidnap, incidentally, and I am having a great time even though I've been missing Title and would love him to come back and be hilarious) kind of way. But do I think that's going to be the fault of pair brands or the fangirlies? No. It's more because Jojo plays favorites with his actors, and always has. The ones he likes best get the best characterization and more stuff to do in general. Pretty much without fail. It's something I've noticed about his shows for a while now and it's easier to ignore in a show that is more of an ensemble (unless one of the ones that he's ignoring is someone you personally enjoy), but this isn't an ensemble show. I think there are shades of this bias already in the trailer, and if the novel matches up to the show as accurately as people expect, well. It will be even more obvious from the first episode exactly who this show is a vehicle for, and it ain't a pair at all.

That said, even if this annoys me personally, if it winds up as I expect I will just not watch. That's the only power I have here, and I'm okay with that. It's Jojo's thing and I really don't feel l have the right to tell him he shouldn't be doing it. Not every show is for me, and frankly if I was getting sick of GMMTV as a whole I would just stop tuning in. There are other companies that are rising up and doing their thing, and they are producing content I enjoy. There are other countries producing QL that I love. And I'm lucky I guess in that even though I enjoy a show that explores deeper themes or points out injustices or has something it absolutely wants to say (there are more I'm sure but a few that come to mind off the top of my head are Not Me, and I know you don't like it but The Eclipse (knowing the background of that one makes the anger in it really transparent to me), The Warp Effect (not a BL really but counting it anyway, and actually hilariously this is a great example of a show that I was annoyed with having a pat ending. But my annoyance doesn't change anything, or make what was being done less apparent. It just means that I wanted something else and that's okay but it's not their fault I didn't get it), my bread and butter is actually characters. I love thinking about why characters do what they do and dissecting the shit out of their motivations and reactions. Gimme a complex character over a complex plot any day. Not that we can't have both (and the ideal show does), but even if we do I'm always gonna focus more on characters. So in the end shows like Only Friends work for me because there's a lot to unravel there on a character level, although as I already said a lot more for some than others. Maybe that makes me a pleb or will get me judged as unintelligent but I've looked deep into my soul and decided that's okay, lol. 

And it's not that I think that these shows (or my faves) and what they do shouldn't be criticized or anything like that, that's absolutely silly. People have all the right in the world to criticize. I just think that it sometimes reaches a point where it starts to feel like people are watching this stuff just to get mad. And honestly I just think that that sounds miserable. The best lesson I ever learned was that when it comes to my leisure activities, if I'm not having a good time it's okay to quit.

I'm not expecting agreement; I think the two of us look at things very differently on the whole, and that's fine. I just wanted to add my two cents. I absolutely think that stuff is being done within the genre you would love, I just think that GMMTV is not really the place to find it, nor do I really think they ever promised that.

Hey,

I'm not 100% sure how this works. Also this is more of an opinion than a question. I just feel the need to brain dump. You are under no obligation to reply. 😁

I fear that First and Khaotung are being wasted at/by GMMTV. They're both stellar actors and seem to have the sensibilities to tackle more serious material.

I feel like coming off Not Me, the themes in The Eclipse kinda went over my head. My fear was and still is that I didn't understand all the nuances. And that's why I felt like the show was lacking. Also I think the very first preview set it up as an entirely different show (more supernaturalmystery/thriller) in my head, so there was a disconnect there as well.

Their next project was Moonlight Chicken where both of them shined as actors but negligibly as a BL pairing. Having said that, they seem to be on very solid ground in the BL fandom - I am referring to their fan meets.

Only Friends was a masterclass of acting as far as FirstKhaotung were concerned (i was all about Ray and Sand), but I think the overall reputation as show that fell flat on its face overshadowed or at least took away (for me) from the gravity of FK.

And now we're here. With The Heart Killers and I am very wary of how Ota all going down. I see that the final trailer got over million views and I'm happy for them, but based on I think the absolute travesty that was OF, my expectations for this show are on the ground.

I really want more of an insight into how projects are picked up and distributed inside GMMTV (if you ha e any, I'm dying to know). I feel like they would benefit greatly from being on a show like PS I Hate You or something like Peaceful Property.

It feels like they're backsliding in terms of material given. Which I am sure is a) not their fault and b) me possibly being weird and dramatic in the wee hours of the morning. But I wanted to get it off my chest and I was reading your previous reviews when I felt, and then gave into the impulse to write to you.

Also I'm a MaxTul girly too and somehow, you made me want to give Make it Right another chance.

Have a great week ahead and keep up the absolutely exceptional work! ❤️

NIHILISTIC! It's great to hear from you! And thank you for the compliments!

TW for girlies out there who are not Nihilistic: this post will contain criticisms of The Heart Killers trailer. Read at your peril, delicate hearts!

I'll go backwards to save the biggest stuff for last. If you write anything about Make It Right, please tag me! @bengiyo and I always give a little DJ air horn to each other when we've nabbed another one into the broader cultural reconsideration of this AMAZING show. MaxTul, man. Nobody beats them! (Okay, almost, Tul admits he wasn't the strongest actor, but. We'll let it slide, dahling!) Chemistry, humor, pride representation, everything, they're great. I yelped when I saw them in Triage!

Okay, so you are a FirstKhao girlie, and you're worried about what The Heart Killers bodes. (Out of transparency, I have The Heart Killers tag filtered because of Only Friends PTSD. I'm gonna filter my own post!) For you, Nihilistic, I just watched the trailer for it.

I will get to all your questions about the GMMTV model in a moment.

Now, out of even MORE transparency, I am watching the MESS that is Kidnap right now, and listen, it's NOT GOOD. I'm fucking not even writing about it anymore, I'm just reblogging the sessy gifs. I am watching it to support Ohm Pawat, and am hoping that this partnership with Leng Thanaphon will hopefully lead to better scripts.... somewhere. (Or at least, better scripts for Ohm at a place like One31 or Channel 3. I also hope Ohm keeps up his anti-branded pair stance, but if GMMTV forces him to pair permanently with Leng, it won't be a fucking surprise, and more on that below.)

To focus specifically on THK for a sec: the THK trailer evoked a lot of what's gone utterly wrong in Kidnap for me. I think writing Thai BL/Series Y scripts to be different, fresh, and innovative, is just going to be really fucking hard, especially for stories featuring branded pairs that MUST end up together in the end. Because we, the viewers, KNOW that they MUST end up together in the end, what kind of mystery and conflict can a script convincingly evoke to keep us, the viewers, engaged and interested in the drama?

A few of us Ohm girlies were excited that Kidnap could have had non-romantic plot points (CRIME!!!) to drive concurrently with a romance plot. There are Series Y that have done this BEAUTIFULLY, particularly Sammon's stories of Manner of Death and Triage.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't get that from the THK trailer, and that THK smells a lot like Kidnap to me. The trailer itself is giving an indication that the "jobs" these guys have as double agents are going to be compromised due to them falling in love. And after the debacle that was Jojo Tichakorn's Only Friends -- a show premised on the exploration of mean, icky, really horny humans, a great place to start an interesting show! -- knowing that THK will HAVE to end up in a romantic place, with FK and JoongDunk being in memorable and memeable entwinements... that's a lot to ask of a show that already isn't making sense by drive, emotion, and tone in its trailer alone. What matters more to these characters? Their work, or their need to be in monogamous relationships? Seems like the latter to me by way of the trailer, which makes me wonder what the point of the plot is. (Joong's chest, probably.) (Gahddayum.)

(I haven't watched the latest episode of Jack & Joker, btw, but I understand that THIS WEEK's episode is ALSO going through something similar, with dead-end and uncommitted plot points all to get to a kiss. Oy.)

To summarize these points and to touch at your question about how GMMTV chooses scripts: GMMTV has an economic model to sell in giving happy endings to their branded pairs, which I wrote about at length in my Old GMMTV Challenge rewatch of The Eclipse. No matter where a script goes, the ending must be memorable and monogamous to satisfy the retweeting hunger of the branded pairs' fandoms, in order for GMMTV's artists to increase online engagement and to maintain earned media values to sell products.

The wonderful @flowerbeasblog noted to me recently that Tha Sataporn, the CEO of GMMTV, said in an interview that as the productions of Series Y in Thailand continues to increase, there is a greater need for more scriptwriting talent across this niche genre, creating competition for more excellent writing. (By comparison, in the States, when streaming services like Netflix and Hulu starting commissioning more original series just about a decade ago, the demand for scriptwriters and excellent writing also went up by incredible scale -- only to come crashing down recently with pandemic and strike-related losses in revenue.) GMMTV's recently announced script competition, Y Find, updated itself last week with a notice that the company would need more time to sift through scripts to judge. In other words: the demand for creative plots is so high at this company that they are literally fielding entries from the general public.

At the same time, Tha Sataporn has been blunt in indicating that "good shows" are not the priority of his GMMTV, and that talent, management, and engagement are his indicators of success. So, economically -- as long as a show hits that happy ending, and gets the girlies excited online with commentary and purchasing power, then the studio has won, in GMMTV's eyes.

ULTIMATELY, Nihilistic: what we are dealing with regarding your concern, as fans and/or critics of Series Y shows, is a conflict of values, among critical fans like ourselves, other fans who only watch shows for romance and shipping, and the economic bottom lines of the studios/agencies themselves. Some of us just want narratively good scripts, like Bad Buddy or He's Coming To Me. Others are content with having a show end with their fave pairs confirmed together in the end, no matter the process of how they got there. Those are different values we hold in watching shows. I appreciate that while you're a fan of the FK branded pair, that you want stronger scripts for them. I do, too, but that's not a value that every fan -- and GMMTV itself -- holds. And I believe that's why we've been seeing more and more mediocre scripts from that studio in particular.

I actually want to note maybe something positive about FirstKhao. Other than The Eclipse, it seems like they haven't been locked into high school or university settings. Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken -- these are shows that show First's and Khao's characters as young adults, and THK is going there, too. I hope they can avoid the university settings as they continue to work.

Is stellar acting wasted at GMMTV? Oh, yes. Besides First and Khao, who I truly think are good actors, we have Gun Atthaphan, Nanon Korapat, and Ohm Pawat -- these three guys are on my list of the best Thai actors out there who have done BL, and they haven't had great scripts in years. (Gun, arguably, has had the best pickings of decent shows recently in Cooking Crush and The Trainee, but they weren't high art; and Nanon's Dirty Laundry was the last Jojo script I was truly impressed by.) All three of these guys were in MOVIES at one point. Those ambitions, on behalf of these actors by GMMTV, seem to have gone by the wayside in preference for a huge economic push to boost branded pair-based series insteads, with their plot holes and guaranteed romances.

I hope the genre's tide turns for the sake of quality scripts, especially at GMMTV, but my hopes are low for this agency at the moment. My joy in Thai shows recently has been in watching past shows for my OGMMTVC. I've been on a lakorn kick lately, having watched The Miracle of Teddy Bear and I'm looking forward to watching Khun Chai soon. Other agencies and studios, like One31 and Channel 3, are breathing down GMMTV's neck and producing more interesting shows, sometimes with branded pairs and sometimes not. Triage only came out two years ago, and that show's trilogy (along with Manner of Death) will end with this year's airing of Spare Me Your Mercy, starring the very likely one-time pair of Tor Thanabob and JJ (Jaylerr) Krissanapoom, two gigantic artists in Thailand who are circling BACK towards the much smaller genre of Series Y for SMYM's sake. I have VERY high hopes and expectations for that show -- and that show is well out of the purview of GMMTV.

I think what you're smelling about the THK trailer is right, Nihilistic -- to me, the trailer isn't cohesive, and jumps already to its forgone conclusion of a romantic end. Unfortunately, for those of us familiar with Jojo Tichakorn's work, we know that if he was given more leeway, he'd likely come up with something more interesting. But now that he has to work with branded pairs -- who are shipped in the eyes of their fan beholders -- he's got a lot less room to be creative and interesting, which ultimately stifles the otherwise excellent acting we'd see from these young men.

[mourn-and-watch]

so if solas sees himself in the inquisitor because of how they were made a leader, a prophet and a symbol by people who followed them, just as fen'harel had been made a leader and a saviour for by the freed elven slaves, will he see himself in rook because they're left alone against the threat they can't possibly defeat without singlehandedly making decisions that will impact the world in unknown ways, just as fen'harel had been left alone against evanuris with no other option but to create the veil

[utilitycaster]

You know what's interesting to me? For all people keep claiming at every juncture that perhaps Bells Hells will come around on the gods and see the harm they do (which, as discussed extensively, is, half the time, simply not intervening) not only have they never done so, but also they never quite cross the line into saying the party should join the Ruby Vanguard or aid them - and indeed, they defend against it - so what does this achieve? It feels like they're asking for a story in which the party stands idly by, which isn't much of a story nor, if I may connect this briefly to the real world, a political stance anyone should be proud of.

That's honestly the frustration with the gods and the "what if the Vanguard has a point" conversations in-game. What do we do then? Do we allow the organization that will murder anyone for pretty much any reason that loosely ties into their goals run rampant? The group that (perhaps unwittingly, but then again, Otohan's blades had that poison) disrupted magic world-wide, and caused people who had the misfortune to live at nexus points to be teleported (most, as commoners, without means of return). While also fomenting worldwide unrest?

Those were the arguments before the trip to Ruidus; with the reveal of the Vanguard's goals to invade Exandria, the situation becomes even more dire. Do you let the Imperium take over the planet?

And do the arguments against the gods even hold up? If Ludinus is so angry at them for the Calamity, what does it say that he destroyed Western Wildemount's first post-Calamity society for entirely selfish means? (What does it say about the validity of vengeance as a motivator?) What does it say that Laudna told Imogen she could always just live in a cottage quietly without issue before the solstice even happened? (Would this still be true if the Imperium controls the world?) What does it say that when faced with a furious, grieving party and the daughter she keeps telling herself was her reason for all of this, Liliana can't provide an answer to the question of what the gods have done other than that their followers will retaliate...for, you know, the Vanguard's endless list of murders. (That is how the Vanguard and Imperium tend to think, huh? "How dare your face get in the way of my boot; how dare you hit me back when I strike you.") She can't even provide a positive answer - why is Predathos better - other than "I feel it", even though Imogen and Fearne know firsthand that Predathos can provide artificial feelings of elation. Given all the harm Ludinus has done in pursuit, why isn't the conclusion "the gods should have crashed Aeor in such a way that the tech was unrecoverable?"

Even as early as the first real discussion on what the party should do, the fandom always stopped short of saying "no, Imogen's right, they should join up with the people who killed half the party," it was always "no, she didn't really mean it, she just was trying to connect with her mother." Well, she's connected with her mother, and at this point the party doesn't even care about the gods particularly (their only divinely-connected party member having died to prevent the Vanguard from killing all of them). So they will stop the Vanguard; as Ashton says, the means are unforgiveable. As Laudna says, it's not safe to bet on Predathos's apathy. As Imogen says, she's done running; the voice that she used to think of as a lifeline belongs to someone she doesn't trust. So I guess my question is: if they're stopping the people who are trying to kill the gods (and defense of the gods isn't remotely their personal motivation)...do you think the next phase of the campaign is Bells Hells personally killing the gods? Reconstructing the Aeor tech and hoping none of their allies notice? How does this end? Does your ideology ever get enacted? Or is this entirely moot and pointless and the story ends with Bells Hells saying "well, I'm really glad we stopped the people who [insert list of Vanguard atrocities from above]; none of us follow the gods or plan to, but honestly, the status quo we return to is preferable to whatever nightmare Ludinus had concocted in his violent quest for power and revenge"?

[cluescorner]

I cannot imagine being a Damian stan right now. You've got both Zdarsky's bullshit (where he clearly doesn't give a shit about your boy) and The Boy Wonder (where Juni Ba clearly gives so many shits about your boy) coming out on the same day. The whiplash must be insane. I hope y'all get some nice warm soup for your efforts jfc

[uter-us]

radfem help !!

2 of my little cousins (14yrs and 15yrs) are both girls dating boys right now, and together we are coming up with a "dealbreaker list" of things they will never put up with from their bfs! and also we are including positives, like so they aren't just looking for the absence of bad things, but actual positive things

what do yall think are the most important things to add? (i put extra info in tags)

Thank you so much!!!

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

In The Roses of Pieria

dark fantasy romance

a woman takes a well-paying but suspicious sounding job as an archivist working for a mysterious estate owner, and finds herself translating numerous never-before-seen artifacts from her specialty field on an ancient civilisation

as she begins to translate romantic letters between two ancient figures and unravel more about them, her frustration over the knowledge being kept secret and confusion over what the letters reveal grows

but between that and her developing feelings for her employer’s assistant, she finds out that getting to close to these secrets is dangerous

lesbians, vampires, fey

[sysig]

DAX is just so expressive ♥ (Patreon)

[sonknuxadow]

they werent lying that knuckles series barely has knuckles in it