#or even funnier: antigone

[wehaveallgotknives]

nightmare vision of someone writing one of those ahistorical girlboss retellings like madeline miller does except it’s the bacchae

[most-tragic-character-tournament]

You know what would be really big for Nov 5th and a pogger move by you?? If you want to lay down the law and truly make this unforgettable, simply disqualify the poll itself. Neither character wins, neither character loses. They get to sit in the time out corner. The Fields of Asphodel. Blorbo purgatory. (Or you pair them together as one team bracket, which is ALSO hilarious and equivalent to forcing one huge "this is our get along shirt" on both fandoms.) You hold so much power right now as referee. Your next move will be joked about and referenced for years to come. We still talk about 2020. About Todoroki VS Miette after the fanart of Todoroki making multiple accounts to vote for Miette and the BNHA fandom was like "yeah you know what. so true." and there was peace in the lands. For such a historic poll, a simple win and lose and moving on is a little too plain, don't you think? it's forgettable, and plants a seed of bitterness as that one anon said. I'M definitely going to be telling my English teachers about this poll if I ever have to read Antigone. Especially with Nov 5th of the Destiel Putin Touya Reveal Election Dance Night of Supernatural S4 coming up. It can be a nice little prequel to it. In the way Ash Ketchum Becoming World Champion is a little sequel to it. Internet sandwich. I'm not the only one thinking about the Even More Hilarious Options here right?? Counting on you, OP to truly make this THE single most unexpected poll to date. Nobody would have done a dual disqualification OR the get-long-shirt option in response to this much feuding. You'd be one of a kind, truly, and preserving So Much Peace in fandom and irl. (Lowkey hoping for the 2nd option bc I think its even funnier, and that we everyone gets to see this through to the end.)

Okokokok so this got sent hours before I decided what to do and it got lost in the draft-sauce. Posting for anon to get it back!!! and also it’s just funny

[classicslesbianopinions]

This is so unbelievably funny. I stopped watching Ninjago ever since I moved to a place that didn’t have cable and we couldn’t afford it, like around season 2, 3, or 4 of Ninjago. And I’ve never seen or read Antigone in my life, but even if I did I would still vote for Lloyd simply bc it’s the funnier option.

But besides all that, having Lloyd’s character being diluted is a crime by Antigone people. Bc Lloyd was quite literally forced to be the green ninja. He had no say in it. It was either be the green ninja or literally die bc the world was ending from what I could remember. Bro was like 7 or 8 dude. Imagine being a literal 3rd or 4th grader and forced to decide the fate of the world itself. He was homeless and essentially abandoned by his family. Dad is evil and mom dropped him off at a boarding school. Literal snakes used him as a pawn when he thought they were his genuine family or the closest thing he had to it. He’s a kid. Like at the root of it all you have to remember he was only a kid. On top of all that, in order to be the green ninja he had to be a near adult. Like bro went from 7 or 8 to 17. He had a whole decade taken from his childhood to be the green ninja. In a whole afternoon it was just Thanos snapped away. All that time just gone. Lloyd sacrificed a whole decade to be the green ninja. You don’t understand. He is my Roman Empire.

Also Lloyd wasn’t born without fingers and still managed to save all of Ninjago. Antigone could never suck my nuts, I’m out.

i like how you're sending me the propaganda rather than the actual poll bracket blog

[hellsite-hungergames]

currently going through The Greek Plays (Lefkowitz & Romm) in our class and we got through Aeschylus' Persians, Oresteia (all three plays) and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Antigone. I do prefer Sophocles over Aeschylus, if only because I find the interactions funny despite these being tragedies (is that weird of me?). Like, that part in Oedipus where Tiresias didn't wanna tell him that he was Laius' killer? and Oedipus got really mad and very disrespectful? the translation in this one specific part is like:

Tiresias: _You_ are the killer you are looking for.

Oedipus: You'll live to regret saying that - twice now.

Tiresias: Shall I say more, to make you even madder?

ngl that shit killed me. gave big "okay girl fuck you stay upset i hope your day gets worse like actually" vibes. i was cackling

Oooh I have that copy, its a good ome

The Orestia is awesome, but I agree that Sophocles is better than Aeschylus (I still prefer Euripides though)

Fr though, tragedy interactions are lowkey funnier than satire interactions

The book I used for my Greek literature/Greek tragedy class has a bunch of my notations and I'm looking at it rn and I have one that is literally just "absolute girlboss" in regards to Tiresias

[thepromisedbride]

Season four is approaching and I still haven’t decided which Funn twin I ship Chapman with. Starting to wonder if I ship any of them and don’t just want them to all live as a cute platonic found family

[radioscientist]

Oh NOOO urge to draw Rudyard’s calendar picture... rising...

[oldmilfenjoyer]

can we get a wooden overcoats au for ofmd. like Stede has superficial Chapman vibes but his funeral home would be the one that’s terrible obviously whereas Ed and co are successful monetarily at their jobs, although I can’t decide if they have traditional funeral vibes (being traditional pirates) or insane Chapman funeral vibes (being the creators of fuckeries). I also can’t decide who’s the new funeral house, like I think Stede being the incumbent funeral director and sucking bad at it would be funny and also makes sense for why Ed’s tired of the same old funeral directing as always and also makes Izzys off the chart Rudyard vibes funnier because he’d be trying so hard and so unsuccessfully to sabotage Stede even though Ed’s business is doing FINE - but the flip of Ed coming in to retire from his old job and take over the island’s business also makes sense. and Ed and Stede also make a bizarrely perfect partially inverted Antigone/Chapman duo, like Stede is trying so hard to not suck at funerals but has the cheerful/wears pastels vibe but is also coming out of left field with fancy funeral ideas like lavender scented embalming fluid, which Ed, who wears all black and perhaps lived in his basement for 18 years (but doing mad genius shit), absolutely digs. 

But most importantly. Lucius Would Be Madeline.

[pygmy--tyrant]

this is so specific but. few things are funnier or more frustrating to me than sexist teenage boys who take classics classes and genuinely think that the men in the stories are right. we're studying antigone right now and when my friend said that creon is egotistical and had fragile masculinity (which is very obvious in the play, it's kind of The Point that he was a terrible ruler, and the teacher completely agreed with her) a bunch of dudes somehow got mad? that this evil feminist insulted their homeboy creon? even though he's literally written as a corrupt and selfish ruler in the play?? like at one point one of them just fuckin snapped and said 'well why don't YOU try running a country' which is just hysterical to me. maybe we are being too hard on poor creon I'm sure he's trying his best

[arcane-ish]

@embershroud108

Personally my “hero” character, which is to say the character who I would most try to model myself on/try to act like in similar circumstances, is Caitlyn (even though I acknowledge she’s by no means perfect either). But I also think Jinx is a more interesting character than Caitlyn ;p

Oh, absolutely. Caitlyn is absolutely the most good character to our modern sensibilities in regards to kindness and relative open mindedness. It’s both her biggest strength and biggest weakness as a character that she is almost “too nice” for her setting. (compared to let’s say Jayce’s “is generally well meaning, but still has prejudices against the Undercity that sometimes pop up”) 

All of Caitlyn’s “faults” or “flaws” are things that aren’t her fault in the traditional sense of the word. She can’t help what family she was born into, she was genuinely not aware of the corruption (probably the least realistic aspect of her character, like you are supposed to be this super smart Sherlock Holmes person and it never occurred to you that enforcers are corrupt? You really went through enforcer training, even with the protection of your mom and you never were forced to search warrant an undeserving person?) 

Yeah she is generally at fault in a collective responsibility/privilege kind of way but not more than any Piltover character and arguably considerably less so since she shows understanding of the problem and tries to counteract the situation. 

And for the record: I actually hope that they don’t turn Caitlyn into a more setting appropriate “I experienced loss and am now also on my flawed revenge path just like everybody else” character. I actually think the story about Caitlyn still mostly maintaining her pollyanna/modern sensibilities nice person outlook ... and that being woefully and helplessly unequipped to help with the current situation is way funnier and way more interesting. 

Like I said before MacBeth in particular (the Shakespeare tragedy I’m most familiar with and is my personal favorite)

See, my favorite Greek tragedy protagonist is Antigone from Sophocles and Jinx has basically nothing in common with her :D 

And for the record, my general perception was that MacBeth is considered a lot more problematic/not that likable and sympathetic compared to more tradional sadface tragic protags like Hamlet. Like I would say it’s more like Hamlet -> Othello -> MacBeth -> Richard III when it comes to protag likability. (again remember that I have seen these plays about roughly once, with Hamlet maybe the most of these, so it’s vague memories plus general cultural osmosis, so my characterization would that surface level is Hamlet = tragic hero who goes mad, Othello = noble guy with serious character flaw, MacBeth = kind of a shitbag who had potential if he had just stayed put, Richard III = villain and asshole and then you can dig deeper and wax on the details and subversions and “well actually!” the surface read)

Daenerys Targaryen.

I can sort of see it but mostly because she was so well intentioned and high minded in her lofty goals for a long time (something that again I don’t see with Jinx because I think that her actions against Piltover are very gut instinctly and not motivated by any semblance, not even sublimated lofty goals) and the people she was going up against were so much shittier than she was. 

But imo a “yeah, it’s just a misspaced normal villain origin story” not much different than your average JRPG villain with supposedly high minded goals (”I was trying to wipe out human sadness!”) that go terribly wrong is also a read I can I equally see. 

as varied as Scarlett O’Hara

LOL, Scarlett O’Hara is a hilarious delusional asshole. IMO she falls much more into the “entertaining and lovable scamp” category and trying to force her into a tragic hero to me smacks of people trying to gussy up the fact that they like her and tying bows onto that rather than just embracing the fact that they like her. 

Like with your example of “wanting to see them fall versus feeling sad to see them fall”, I’m sorry, seeing Scarlett fail is hilarious and she absolutely deserves the vast majority of things that happen to her. 

(note that I read the book before seeing the movie and imo book Scarlett reads like a hilarious subversion of the traditional good and sweet and passive romance heroine because of all the ways she’s a mean spirited and selfish (but supremely entertaining and enterprising!) little shit)

Andy Dufresne

I had to google who that is. I’ve seen Shawnshank Redemption actually once, but from my vague memory isn’t he just a beleaguered good guy/a good guy with a checkered past at the most? Google spits out that he was actually innocent of his crimes and he gets a happy ending? That seems more like normal “hero overcomes obstacle” (maybe with some “will bear some scars from the experience” at the most? again it’s been ages that I’ve seen that movie) to me.

I mean by the time act 2 starts she is essentially the most feared warrior in the undercity, which basically approximates someone like MacBeth or Achilles.

Is she though? Most people seem to think that her supposed skills are not worth the downside and it’s mostly Silco who thinks highly of her and protects her from criticism. 

Ekko does seem to fear her that much and beats her pretty handily with a non lethal weapon vs. her ranged weapon. 

Maybe the topside fear her, but I get the impression that people still think pretty lowly of her in the undercity and would probably think they would and could take her out fairly easily if Silco wasn’t protecting her (imo they are wrong/will likely find out that they are wrong, but again this is about public perception at this point). IMO the general respect that MacBeth/Othello/Archilles command (and how much Iago is considered the odd aberration for disliking Othello when everybody loves him)/the high opinion people have of them before their downfall is pretty essential to their archetype and that is has to be more “well one really powerful person really likes them”. 

Similarly, her intelligence is there, but underappreciated by most people other than Silco and particularly in Act 1 it is never useful. She is the underdog, the runt, the underappreciated one, the forgotten one (ie Silco saying he thought Vi was the obvious prize of the family, Vi generally being considered the “primary” child of Vander’s like the king’s firstborn versus the “spare” heir), not the one on top of the world. 

IMO she also fails noble intentions pretty hard. Just “yeah she was also trying to save Vander like everybody else and also trying to prove herself after being told specifially to stay behind” isn’t really enough to make somebody notably noble (in the sense that she doesn’t stick out compared to Mylo, Claggor and Ekko), same for “proving oneself to crime daddy” and of course doubly so for “trying to drive a wedge between my sister and her girlfriend”. 

So, I’ll just stick with “fascinating subversion” with elements of “lovable scamp” and “victim of great tragedy” personally :) 

Btw: a really interesting discussion point would actually be Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Imo he hits way more points on the tragic hero list at the same time I would still classify the Episode 1-3 more as a villain origin story than a straight up tragic hero story (particularly because of how he shares protag duties with Obiwan as a contrast while in your Shakespearean tales we are very locked into the POV of the main character).

[theradioghost]

FUN PODCASTS FOR THE MORBID AT HEART

You want some death? You want some death podcasts? Some ghosts? Some psychopomps? A little melancholia, a little black humor? I’ve got it. Of course I do. I don’t know what else you expected.

FICTION

Glasgow Ghost Stories -- A young Glaswegian looks a little too closely during an encounter with a ghost, and is drawn irrevocably into the previously-invisible world of the dead who haunt the city’s streets. Haunting, moody, and beautiful.

LIMBO -- David is dead. Now he has to deal with what comes after. A more personal, philosophically-leaning concept of one person’s afterlife; also a very short self-contained miniseries (less than an hour long total). (You might know the creator, A.R. Olivieri, from any of the multitude of other podcasts he’s involved with -- 2298, Magic King Dom, Girl in Space, Janus Descending...)

Middle:Below -- Taylor Quinn is the only person who can open doors between the Middle (the land of the living) and the Below (where restless ghosts dwell). Heather is a woman who has somehow fallen into the realm of the dead. Gil is a ghost. Sans is a cat. And between the four of them, they’re going to have to fix the problems faced by the denizens of the Below. Bad things will happen. (That’s the show’s tagline, but it’s actually been rather sweet and funny so far.)

Gal Pals Present: Overkill -- When preteen medium Madison accidentally summons the ghost of 19-year-old murder victim Aya Valasquez at a Girl Scout camp, it’s up to Aya to finally figure out what exactly has trapped so many ghosts like her in Harding Park -- and why she was murdered there. Four words: sarcastic lesbian ghost narrator.

They Say a Lot of Things -- When a curious ghost hunter leaves her tape recorder in the legendarily-haunted mansion Arborwood Grove, resident ghost Caroline Carr takes the opportunity to tell the story of her life, her death, and the many lives she’s seen pass through her abandoned home over the years. Short, sweet, and lovely.

Death by Dying -- In the idyllic town of Crestfall, Idaho, people die. Often in bizarre and inexplicable ways. And when they do, it’s the job of the local Obituary Writer to tell the story of how it happened -- but in the process of finding out those stories, he is drawn into a much darker and more mysterious story of vanished homes, monsters in the deep woods, lonely hearts, haunted bicycles, and man-eating cats. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking.

The London Necropolis Railway -- Barney is an unusually harried ghoul, an employee of the supernatural railway that removes the spirits of the newly deceased from London. Agnes is a stubborn private detective who was recently murdered in her office by a mysterious monster. And together, they’re going to have to dodge netherworld bureaucracy long enough to track down her killer -- before Agnes has to take her own train.

Wooden Overcoats -- Antisocial twin siblings Rudyard and Antigone Funn, with the help of their hypercompetent assistant Georgie and a mouse named Madeleine, have been running a funeral parlor on the tiny Channel island of Piffling for years. The secret to their success? It’s the only one. Or at least it was -- because Eric Chapman, who may or may not be the world’s most perfect man, has just opened up his own funeral parlor right across the square. Cue sitcom nemesis shenanigans and all the morbid black humor you could desire.

& Midnight Radio -- requisite egregious self-promotion! A woman who never expected to return to her hometown writes a letter to a long-dead radio host who never left it. But when she somehow receives an on-air reply, the two of them begin an unlikely correspondence that digs up long-buried questions about the meaning of home, the way our lives touch others, and what it means to be a ghost. Remember: all ghost stories are love stories. (This is a completed ten-episode miniseries, I promise it’s good, please listen to my podcast)

NONFICTION

Death in the Afternoon -- If literally anything on this list appeals to you, then you should go to Youtube right now and subscribe to Caitlyn Doughty’s channel, Ask A Mortician. Then you should buy her books. Then you should listen to this, her podcast, in which she and her colleagues Louise Hung and Sarah Chavez from The Order of the Good Death discuss death and how human beings have dealt with it, now and in the past, across the world. Their storytelling is fascinating, thoughtful, compassionate, and sometimes a lot funnier than you’d expect, especially when they’re talking about subjects like the man who had to sue to get back his own severed, mummified leg (he’d left it in a barbecue smoker in a storage unit; seriously, just listen to the podcast). This is quite probably my favorite nonfiction show and I am very excited for season 2 to come out in March. Highly recommended.

Spirits -- The inimitable Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin, along with occasional guests, pour a drink and discuss legends, folklore, and mythology from around the world, including quite a few stories about death and the undead. But if you have even a passing interest in folklore, or just in content that is good, you should listen to this show. Everyone should listen to Spirits. That is my official recommendation.

Macabre London -- Exactly what it sounds like: interesting and obscure stories of the macabre and odd in the history of London. They’ve covered stories like the actual London Necropolis Railway (a real thing which carried dead bodies out of the city to new rural cemeteries), disastrous fires on the Underground, cholera epidemics, the sinking of the Princess Alice, and a wide variety of ghost stories.

The Marble Garden -- Rather than focusing on deaths, this podcast tells stories of the incredible lives of the obscure but extraordinary who have been buried in the cemeteries of Toronto. I love this show a lot for personal nostalgic reasons, but I also find it generally lovely and thoughtful and really interesting. My favorite episode is probably Episode 3, The Blackburns, but this is one of the few shows, fiction or nonfiction, that I’ve listened through multiple times.

[nardaviel]

Part 8 / ?. You know that time in December when there are too many holidays all squished together? That’s this part. Nothing else I promised at the end of the last part has happened yet, but soon! Soon.

Once again some new packs have come out. I’m not sure I want them to do Strangerville, but I’ve already done some stuff with Get Famous and Island Living, either in this part or the next one, which is also complete and just needs to be edited.

Winterfest morning dawns at Ibushi’s new house.

That greenhouse is way, way, way bigger than he needs, but I don't care. I just got so sick of his miniscule greenhouse at his starter home.

On the inside, the house is extremely green, and where it's not green, it's full of mismatching wood tones. You can blame that on me, if you like (except for the mismatching wood tones, that’s 99% EA's fault). I blame myself. I built this house ages ago and I judge my past self real hard when I look at the interior decorating. But it's funnier to blame it on Ibushi's own tastes. He has a favorite color, okay? He knows what he likes.

In any event, he wanted to have a gathering for Winterfest. Just a little one, with his three best friends and the little bit of his family who he's on good terms with. However, while Atsushi obligingly chats with him in the kitchen...

Atsushi: No, honestly, Ibushi, I'd love to help, are you sure you don't need anything?

...his workaholic cousin Sora closets himself in Ibushi's tiny office and smiles down at the laptop...

...while Sora's daughter Antigone makes a beeline for the bookshelf in the otherwise deserted living room.

Not unlike I would have done as a teenager, I guess, except I'd have brought my own book.

A brief introduction of the OCs: Sora is Ibushi's older cousin, featured in this Ibushi fic that I wrote if you're interested. His wife Sarah is mentioned a few times. As of the end of the fic he hasn't had time to have kids, but in the canon verse he has three. However, the Sim Yumura family is based more on a Harry Potter AU than on canon, so Sim Sora has five. The blonde teenagers are Auden and Antigone, the green-haired child is Caelan, and there are two toddlers who you won't meet for a long time, if ever, because I can't be bothered with them.

Do any of them look like the actual characters look in my head? No, not really, so if you have read that fic, please don’t replace your existing mental image with Sim Sora. But the canon third years don’t really look right, either. They’re recognizable, and so are the OCs.

Listen, the trio needed friends, and I never care enough about random townie Sims to try with them. The OCs will only be supporting characters in these posts, I promise. Party guests, that type of thing.

Anyway!

En is pleased to see Atsushi when he at last wanders in.

While this is sweet, Sora and his two teenage children are still over in a far corner of the house away from their host...

...possibly because Caelan kicked his dad off the computer in order to play Tetris Blicbloc badly.

You might be wondering where Kinshirou is. If you've read that fic, you might also be wondering where Sarah is. I have no answers for you. Maybe they're just going to be really late?

Look at all the food Ibushi made :D and the pretty flower arrangement! With flowers that he (mostly) grew himself. What a talented guy.

Ibushi: Dinner's ready! Come eat! (If the rest of them don't show up now, I'll just give up.)

You might have noticed in the last screenshot that Woody grew up! He looks like he's sad because he has no food, but in reality he has no food because he just ate.

Sora, in the meantime, has started opening presents on his own. What a rude guy. No wonder he's raised such rude children. This is all so OOC all I can do is laugh tbh

It worked lol. Welcome, Sarah and Kinshirou.

Also of note: Antigone went straight for the cake, she didn't even bother with the ham. Maybe if Sarah hadn't been so late, she could've told her daughter not to eat dessert first.

She feels guilty, I can tell.

Sarah: So how has it been going? You’ve been keeping the kids in line? Sora: Yes. Definitely. They’ve all been very well-behaved. Sarah: ...sure, Sora.

This game is so weird about sitting down... not just when eating but in so many contexts. Let the Arimas sit!!!!!

ok but joking aside though this warms my heart.

Ibushi: Kinshirou, it's Winterfest! Lighten up. Kinshirou: I'm perfectly content, thank you. Ibushi: Try to laugh more! It's the spirit of the season. Like this! Kinshirou: Ibushi, no—

Ibushi: HO HO HO!!!!!!

Ibushi: Come on, it's only once a year. Try it.

Kinshirou: No.

He looks like he's still in a pretty good mood, though. I guess it’s Winterfest spirit.

The kids get sent home (it's literally just across the street lol) so that the adults can open presents. Makes you wonder what kinds of presents they're exchanging...

... oh :C

It was En's present, wasn't it? Wasn't it, En?

It totally was. En, how cruel.

This is one of the most perplexing and worrying screenshots in the entire series to date. Ibushi stares at Sora in disappointment while Kinshirou, who disappeared with Sora a few screenshots back, tries to exchange a smug and meaningful look with him. However, Sora is smiling (nervously?) at his wife, who, in turn, is staring into space, smiling obliviously, probably thinking about work.

Sora, what clandestine political plot have you dragged Kinshirou into? He might have family connections but he's a pure innocent bby, don't corrupt him! You know Sarah would never approve!!!

Sarah: *whispering* Yes, Sora, this is the right time to open presents. Sora: (Oh, god, she knows... how does she always know?)

Eventually, even the lure of presents isn’t strong enough. En can't help himself: He finds Atsushi again and grabs him in another passionate embrace.

Finally, once night has fallen...

Father Winter shows up! :O

...even though the fireplace is lit. Must be a tough job being Father Winter.

He's about to laugh, but it looks like he's got cramps. Too many cookies?

Despite his agony, however, he replenishes Ibushi's present pile. What a nice man. Not like you, Sora.

He's a much better gift-giver than En, too.

Just casually chatting with Santa, as you do.

Don't give Ibushi a hard time about his hygiene, okay, he's been working hard all day.

Finally, the holiday comes to a close. It's just Ibushi and Woody again, both passed out in Ibushi's extremely green bedroom.

:D

But now it's back to Kinatsuen. We have to switch households now or else we'll miss

En's favorite holiday, Pretty Boy Day. Look at all those hearts around the traditions I can't believe it

Atsushi has decided to be more thoughtful in choosing holiday decorations from now on. No more going to the store and grabbing the first thing he sees! He's going to think carefully about what'll look good and where.

Meanwhile, En has dragged Kinshirou onto the couch to set the mood early.

En: Look, what I was talking about earlier, with the tongues. Isn't it weird? Kinshirou: Yes, En, this is all very strange. (Oh, no, this is too vulgar, I can't watch... how is this even permitted on television... yet I can’t give En the satisfaction of reacting too strongly...)

Atsushi... you tried your best.

It’s actually not awful, for the most part, but the ribbons on the fences make my eyes hurt. The colors clash too much.

As Kinshirou flees the house to escape from that TV show...

...Atsushi comes downstairs to take his place.

Atsushi: Good morning, En-chan. What are you watching? En: ...you'll see. Atsushi: All... all right then...

At least they both get invested in the same plot points.

As an aside, Kinshirou has come back and started a fantasy novel, and the game suggested that I name it Cat Lord, Cat Counsel which is absolutely a book I would read.

Don't remember the last time I showed one of these so these are the books Kinshirou is currently getting royalties for. I don't even remember what some of these titles are based on? What AU would inspire a title like Forever Quiet, that sounds depressing.

Or that’s what I was thinking when I was typing this commentary as I played. Now, going through it again to post, I have an idea for what AU it might have been, and I was right. It’s depressing. Kinshirou, sometimes your books are real downers, you know that?

The sun has finally come out. Perfect weather for Atsushi to show the world his smuggler costume, right?

...well, En sold a painting and I got the Get Famous notif, even though the option itself didn't have the (+Fame) next to it when I clicked on it. So I guess this is the first step down the path to En Yufuin, famous artist.

I sound reluctant but actually I'm kind of excited haha. I even thought about having him not quit his job, since I think that would give him the chance to get things like fame chance cards, which would let him get fame faster... then I realized how OOC that was and changed my mind. En and Kinshirou, Atsushi's famous artist boyfriends.

En: Atsushiiii... Hey, Atsushi. How do you like my costume?

Atsushi: I like it, En-chan. It's subtle. I can barely tell you're in costume at all.

En: ...hey, what's that supposed to mean? Atsushi: Anyway, are you coming in for lunch? En: ...no. I was just showing you my costume. It's probably not getting any warmer than this, so I'd better do the best Pretty Boy Day tradition now. Atsushi: En, really? It's the middle of winter, you'll freeze!

En: Pretty Boy Day is still Pretty Boy Day even when it's snowing! Atsushi: Yes, but... you know what? You go ahead, En-chan. I'm going inside. En: You won't even stay and keep me compa⁠— Atsushi: Have fun.

En: (Well, fine, I'll just go by myself... what did that even mean, "I can barely tell you're in costume at all"? God, it's fucking cold. ...I wonder if they're watching, heheh. Although, actually, it’s so cold I’m not exactly at my best here.)

Atsushi: Hey, Kin-chan, don't look outside. En-chan is⁠— Kinshirou: *averting his gaze, his eyes barely open* YES, THANK YOU, ATCHAN, I CAN IMAGINE

Your sense of propriety is fooling no one, Kinshirou.

That's okay. They can have their own Pretty Boy Day in here while En is out having a good time.

Kinshirou even reprises his grim reaper costume.

...for just enough time to realize he feels stupid and take it off again.

Kinshirou: Yes... this is much better.

Kinshirou: What is that... ensemble. En: Do you like it? Kinshirou: No.

En does his best to change Kinshirou's mind.

In the background, Atsushi listens and laughs to himself. I would say he's watching, except, of course, he isn't wearing his glasses.

Have you ever looked at a character and just thought, "Yes... he is perfect"?

A happy ending to PBD. Is Kinshirou entranced by En's beauty, or is he annoyed that En fell asleep in Kinshirou's own bed before Kinshirou could even lie back down after the WooHoo? (The answer is: both.)

But then, he thinks, how sad will it be for Atchan if he comes home after a long day at work, after having to work on Pretty Boy Day, and he finds us both asleep?

So he goes down to wait for Atsushi instead.

Cute.

All right. The time has come. En wakes up and realizes he has no more vacation days remaining.

Employer: En, hello. Are you finally ready to come in to work? En: Ah, actually, no, I'm quitting, effective... now. Employer: You're quitti— En: Bye!

Bye.

This is the second time in a row he's painted this exact painting. He painted it, sold it, and started a new painting which is also this painting. I guess he just really wants to go to the beach.

Then, fuelled by black tea, he decides to improve his logic skill by observing the sky. I was laughing to myself at how slowly it was progressing when I remembered that he actually had several points in it already for work. That's how long it's been since I've paid attention to En's job lol

Who brings food to the computer and puts the bowl ON the keyboard, though? En is a madman.

It begins...

That was fast, though. Only two books. Maybe it made a difference that they were both bestsellers? Either way, congrats, Kinshirou. Although actually, I'm not sure he's going to be thrilled about the idea of fame.

That unsettled, perturbed stare as he gazes into the distance, imagining his growing fanbase massing on the horizon...

Okay, here’s a bit of a text wall, by the standards of these posts: I'm going to be honest, none of the fame perk trees are aimed at any of the Boueibus, but in particular not Kinshirou. Half of why this idea is so funny to me is that I love the idea of them getting famous through their writing or their art (or their cooking? celebrity chef Atsushi??) but being completely unenthusiastic about it and just wanting a chill life.

I think with Kinshirou and En, I'm going to go at least halfway up the tree that gets you more money from crafted objects, for obvious reasons. You also get some neat stuff in the mail every day! And, unfortunately for them, you gain fame faster from skill-based actions, which I assume includes writing and painting. If Kinshirou was still trying to be a villain, he could put points the negative reputation tree too, where being a douchebag in public makes you famous. But he is reformed now, thank you very much.

Anyway, all that is to say, here's Kinshirou's first fame perk (and En’s, once he gets to this point):

Now on to the story.

En: En, you're an artist, he says... En, Atchan's ribbons looked so horrible for Pretty Boy Day, he says... I don't have time, he says... Jeez, give a guy one success and he thinks he can order anyone around. After I'm done, he'll never ask me to decorate anything again.

I would probably have done something like this for New Year's Eve, left to my own devices:

Sadly, En wanted to repulse Kinshirou so we are instead left with this:

As many flashing lights and tacky prints as possible, all in different colors, none of which are New Year’s Eve colors. The anti-Kinshirou decorations. It’s actually not completely horrible. Maybe En was incapable of making something that looked completely horrible. But it is not great.

...and now I've found En's least favorite holiday. He doesn't like to decorate, as Kinshirou will soon discover, and he doesn't like to party. That's half the things you do on New Year’s Eve.

Maybe this will cheer him up, though. No more having Kinshirou boss him around. (Ha. As if. Kinshirou will always boss him around.)

Kinshirou: Good morning, Atchan. Atsushi: Good morning... Kinshirou: What's wrong? Atsushi: Oh, it's just... last night, when I got in from work... Kinshirou: ...yes? Atsushi: ...you really thought that was better than my Pretty Boy Day decorations? Kinshirou: What?

Kinshirou: Kinshirou: At least Ibushi's moved. ... Oh, no, Ibushi’s visiting later. Yumura-san is visiting later. We’re having guests.

En admires his own animal painting. He's feeling very pleased at the moment, and he's not sure why...

Turn around and you'll find out, En.

Atsushi has an ambition. A burning ambition. His goal is to make three fancy dishes and serve them all during a single event. And since they're planning to have people over for New Year's Eve, this is the perfect opportunity!

...or so he thinks. Ibushi, who has randomly come over without being invited or let into the house, is distracting him, making the whole thing take twice as long as necessary. Kinshirou is just cheering him on, deeply impressed as always by his boyfriend's kitchen skills.

But if they're going to have company, I need to remember that they own a thermostat so that everyone isn't stuck wearing jackets in the house.

As the sun sets, Atsushi calls the other two over.

Atsushi: Okay, guys, before Ibushi and his cousin get here... you know what time it is, right? Kinshirou: Yes, En. You know what time it is, don't you? En: Huh? What time is it?

Atsushi: It's time to make our resolutions! I wonder what I should work on next year... Kinshirou: *pointed look* En: ...he doesn't actually think I'll make a resolution, does he?

Kinshirou: Yes. I must focus on self-improvement. En: (They seriously think I'm going to do this.)

Atsushi: All right! I can do it! This year for sure! Kinshirou: Yes. I will be sure to... where is En?

Please appreciate my dedication to characterization over gameplay. Kinshirou could have chosen to write a book, which he does all the time anyway, and Atsushi could have chosen to complete an aspiration milestone, which he is about half an inch from doing. Forget the week-long time limit, he's going to do it in a few Sim hours. They were both so tempting.

(Also: "Kinshirou wants to work on a skill for his resolution! Start working on a skill to get this done!" Thanks for the tip, that clears up a lot.)

Everyone is here!

Kinshirou: I've been making progress with your request, Yumura-san, and I think... Sarah: Sora, what are you talking about over here? Sora: *thinking fast* A book we've both read. Kusatsu-san isn't a fan. c: Sarah: Hmm...

A nice, low-key New Year's Eve party. Except that Atsushi wasn't satisfied with his fancy salad so he's scrambling to make some extra. (That is to say, the gourmet dish counter for his aspiration reset unexpectedly lol)

Congratulations, Atsushi!!!!! That reward trait is incredible, too. Way better than En's.

Kinshirou is lagging behind a little with his aspiration but that's okay. I'm working on it behind the scenes.

Unlike some Ens I could mention, Atsushi already knows what he wants to focus on next. He wants to hone his nerdy instincts with the Nerd Brain aspiration, which focuses on logic, books, rocket science(!), and handiness. The video game-focused one would require him to change careers, sadly, so we're going with this.

As of right now, though, Kinshirou is the resident repairman. I guess Atsushi will have to slowly take over. Even though Kinshirou is already at 6 skill points... oh, well.

:D There they all are. And now Atsushi can finally eat his sparkling excellent!-quality food.

Ibushi and the Yumuras head home after dinner. Atsushi waits for the countdown to start on TV, but if En wants to stay up for that, he needs to take a nap while he can...

Then, once the clock ticks over to 11pm, the three of them commence the creepiest thing I have ever seen in The Sims 4.

Kinatsuen:

Kinatsuen: *in eerie unison* Shushoobie!

Kinatsuen:

Kinatsuen: *in eerie unison* Shushoobie!

Kinatsuen:

Kinatsuen: :D

It was honestly like watching a cult ceremony. Very scary. Happy Sim New Year???

Atsushi: Thank you for staying awake, En-chan. Or for waking up again, I guess.

Okay, well, that's cute. But is it cute enough to justify all the creepy chanting...

That’s all for today. Part 9 begins at the start of spring, the start of the new year, &c. &c. I can absolutely 100% guarantee this time that part 9 is the wedding episode, and I suffered so much to make that wedding happen that I’ll probably post it soon just to get it out there and away from me.

[unimooshi]

This is so unbelievably funny. I stopped watching Ninjago ever since I moved to a place that didn’t have cable and we couldn’t afford it, like around season 2, 3, or 4 of Ninjago. And I’ve never seen or read Antigone in my life, but even if I did I would still vote for Lloyd simply bc it’s the funnier option.

But besides all that, having Lloyd’s character being diluted is a crime by Antigone people. Bc Lloyd was quite literally forced to be the green ninja. He had no say in it. It was either be the green ninja or literally die bc the world was ending from what I could remember. Bro was like 7 or 8 dude. Imagine being a literal 3rd or 4th grader and forced to decide the fate of the world itself. He was homeless and essentially abandoned by his family. Dad is evil and mom dropped him off at a boarding school. Literal snakes used him as a pawn when he thought they were his genuine family or the closest thing he had to it. He’s a kid. Like at the root of it all you have to remember he was only a kid. On top of all that, in order to be the green ninja he had to be a near adult. Like bro went from 7 or 8 to 17. He had a whole decade taken from his childhood to be the green ninja. In a whole afternoon it was just Thanos snapped away. All that time just gone. Lloyd sacrificed a whole decade to be the green ninja. You don’t understand. He is my Roman Empire.

Also Lloyd wasn’t born without fingers and still managed to save all of Ninjago. Antigone could never suck my nuts, I’m out.

PROPAGANDA UNDER THE CUT: [SPOILERS AND POSSIBLE TRIGGERS AHEAD]

ANTIGONE:

LLOYD GARMADON:

[ismael37olson]

Time for the Beginning of Time

One of the quirkier joys of this new Golden Age of the American Musical Theatre is this new generation of writers who have combined immense skill, craft, and artistry with wacky, silly, ridiculous -- and yet often, weirdly insightful -- narrative content. I guess Little Shop really was the first to do this. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman wrote an impeccably "professional" script and score, telling a story that was at once ridiculous and yet also powerfully human and deeply emotional. The same is true of brilliant shows like Bat Boy, Urinetown, Cry-Baby, Spelling Bee, and others. This incredible craft and artistry is on display in Kotis and Hollmann's Yeast Nation script and score. As strong as their Urinetown score is, this score is much more ambitious, with several lengthy, hilarious musical scenes that go back and forth between sung and spoken dialogue, that use multiple musical themes, and all of which are incredibly well-crafted dramatically. While there are a few "interior monologue" songs in the show that pause the action for introspection, most of the score is very plot-driven, and many of the songs are musical dialogue. As we make our way through this rich, complex score, I notice that composer Mark Hollmann has a very funny musical agenda. The more dramatic the situation gets -- and believe me, it gets intense -- the more serious (even ponderous) the music gets. But at the same time, the more serious the music gets, the slangier the lyrics get, always comically undercutting the weight and drama of the music. As Hollmann and Kotis did in Urinetown, here again each element of the show -- book, lyrics, and music -- consciously, repeatedly subverts the other elements. Which subverts and complicates our reaction to it.

When we hear soaring, rock power ballads, we're conditioned to read big powerful emotions into them. But here, that big powerful emotion gets its legs cut off over and over, by the Yeasts singing threateningly, "Spill his jellies!" and other such craziness. Or by deliciously fucked-up lyrics like:

Not in the least Are you the yeast You used to be!

And yet the whole enterprise is presented with such seriousness, such weight, such conviction. None of that more obvious silliness that made Urinetown so much fun. Yeast Nation is just as ridiculous, but somehow, also more subtle. Little Shop, Bat Boy, and Urinetown taught us the First Commandment of the neo musical comedy: the more seriously you take it, the higher the stakes, the funnier it gets. Too many directors and actors don't understand that. And with Yeast Nation, Kotis and Hollman have put that concept on steroids. The central joke here -- portraying single-celled yeasts as a human community, with a government, history, culture, alliances, palace intrigue, etc. -- gets even funnier because the story is presented as straight-faced, classical Greek tragedy, with clear, intentional parallels to both Antigone and Macbeth. The impetus for writing the show was Kotis' wonderings about how far back he could trace narrative; what's the oldest story he could tell? He eventually realized he couldn't go back any further than the first life forms on earth. But in telling this story, Kotis and Hollman don't only take us "back to the beginning of time;" they also take us back to the beginning of theatre. And that's pretty potent. Our audiences are going to be shocked as hell -- they're used to that by now -- by how smart, how rich, how well-crafted, how insightful this lunacy is, at its silly heart. I already know what people are going to say to me after the show (the same thing they say after many of our shows): "It wasn't anything like I expected!" That's what we do.

Even after twenty-seven years of producing some of the most extraordinary works ever written for the musical stage, this is one of the most original, most exciting things we've worked on. I can't wait to start staging it. I have a feeling we'll spend much of our blocking rehearsals giggling. Such a cool adventure in front of us yet again...! Long Live the Musical! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2018/04/time-for-beginning-of-time.html