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ltwharfy · 9 months ago

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"Bob's Burgers" Season 5 Episode Ranking Rewatch (Long Post)

So, I've been rewatching "Bob's Burgers" from the beginning and ranking the episodes using the spreadsheet that @babsvibes created! If you want to know why I'm doing this or how I view the 1-5 rating scale, you can check out my Season 1 post! If you want to check out any of the other seasons, I've been using the "bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch" tag for all of them.

Now, on to Season 5:

Average (Mean) Score: 4.57

Mode (\Most Common) Ranking: 5

Ranking Breakdown: 13 5s 7 4s 1 3

Season as a whole thoughts:

I'm so amused by how similar this season's average score was to Season 4- it's only .02 less than Season 4 (the current leader)! This certainly goes along with one of my main thoughts about "Bob's Burgers", and one the things that lead to me doing this rewatch: that it has been a really consistently good show. This was just another consistently funny season.

In the first couple of seasons, I mentioned my memories of watching the show as it was new and my growth as a fan. Here's my fandom memory tied to Season 5. This was during the time that Loren Bouchard and the case were going around doing Bob's Burgers Live" performances in theaters across the country- and I was lucky enough to see them at the Chicago Theatre on March 20, 2015 (I found an email about it. I don't have the date memorized!) And that might play into the rankings for two episodes in this season and one next season. At that event, they showed a completed clip of the then-unaired "Eat, Spray, Linda", an early animatic clip of "The Hauntening", and did a partial table-read of "Housetrap". So, those three episodes would probably always be 5s in my book just for that special memory. (Although, I also think they are really great episodes!)

Some thoughts on specific episodes (and feel free to ask if you want my thoughts on an episode I didn't comment on):

"Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl": Such a fun episode! So many great songs! But what it really made me appreciate this time was Courtney's character, and the development of her relationship with Gene. It would've been so easy for them to have just made her a one-shot character, or to have kept her as being his annoying ex, like she was in the first half of this story, but the end of this episode really marks the beginning of them being friends- and I like that they went in that direction! I think Gene kind of gets the short end of the stick when it comes to friendship- we rarely see him just hanging out with his friends like Tina and her group or Louise with Rudy and the Pesto Twins. But I think his relationship with Courtney is a sweet one that I have been underrating.

"Tina and the Real Ghost": One of my favorite Halloween episodes- I love that it's so offbeat for a Halloween episode. It's not about costumes or trick or treating or frights-yeah, it's a ghost story but the ghost is a pretty obvious joke and (as Tina points out at the end) it's really a way to tell us about the characters and their wants/needs. The scene in the butterfly garden will always crack me up. And I have a cousin named Jeff, so I love Louise saying it was the dumbest name she could think of for a ghost.

"Friends With Burger-fits": If you ask me what the most important episode for Rudy's character development is, my answer wouldn't be "Carpe Museum" or "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" or "The Amazing Rudy"- it would be this episode, where we learn that he wants to be the bad boy of public radio like Elvis Mitchell. (I don't know if I am joking or not at this point.)

"Dawn of the Peck": Barely edges out "Turkey in a Can" as my favorite T-Day episode because I love Rudy and Mickey and I love the idea of them having T-Day dinner with the Belchers at the end.

"Midday Run": One of the sleeper hits of this season- I always forget how fun this one is! Just a great, fun school storyline! We learn more about Zeke and get the first reference to his crush on Tina. Rudy plays an interesting role in this episode as Tina's sidekick (and I think it's interesting that in "Fingers-loose", the next episode to focus on Tina as a hall monitor, Rudy doesn't appear to be one any more). Also, how come the fact the Bob's seen Edith naked doesn't come up more often? It just seems like it should.

"Speakeasy Rider": Another sleeper hit! I basically forgot about the existence of this episode, but it is fantastic! A great Tina and Louise in conflict plot! The introduction of Sasha! The One Eyed Snakes are back! Gus has a big role (how frickin' great is Gus?!?! I love him!) So much good stuff!

"Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise": This is a mixed review 3. There are some things I really love in this episode. "Happy Place, Crappy Place" is a banger. Bob is so cute in his English lady garden hat, talking to his plants. And the scene where Bob and Louise make up is a classic. But I'm not a huge fan of the standard Logan and Louise dynamic of trading insults and antagonizing each other- and this episode has a LOT of that. So, this episode isn't really my jam. (But I know that a lot of other people love that dynamic and love this episode, and that's awesome! As the spreadsheet says, these are just my Personal Rankings, I don't claim to be putting out objective universal truths here.)

"Can't Buy Me Math": I love the way both storylines end in this one! The bowling alley scene is hilarious, and I love Bob stripping for Linda. One of my favorite aspects of Bob and Linda's relationship is that they are both pretty average looking people (I definitely have a Bob Belcher-esque body myself) but they clearly find each other hot as fuck, and the striptease scene really epitomizes that. One of the best Boblin moments!

"Adventures in Chinchilla-sitting": A great "the kids and their friends have an adventure!" episode, and a I love those. A particular highlight of this one: Gene's jokes at Tammy's expense. "We get it, you have email!" and "You're in 8th grade? I thought you were someone's mom!" I love how all the Belcher kids zing Tammy in their own, unique style. Also, "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII wish my radio worked!"

"Housetrap": One joke I really remember cracking me up when seeing the tableread at "Bob's Burgers Live" was Linda's line about the clocks: "Spooky. They all stopped at 3:13. Oh, wait, they all moved." Not sure why that amuses me so much, but it does!

"Hawk & Chick": I actually posted when I was rewatching this one, but man, this is a fantastic episode! I honestly think it might be a top 10 or 15 episode for me. I knew it was a good, emotional Louise and Bob episode but I forgot how funny it was- Gene in particular has some good lines throughout! And I love Koji! There is just something really sweet and joyful about him; I hope they come up with a reason to bring him back for a third time!

Random Thoughts (stuff that doesn't affect the ratings):

If I thought of any random thoughts while rewatching this season, I don't remember them! So here are some memories of seeing "Bob's Burgers Live" at the Chicago Theatre:

Each of the cast members did a little standup set. I can remember a little bit from all of them except Eugene Mirman, although I do remember that he did some of the same bits from the Netflix special he had at the time ("Vegan on his Way to the Complain Store").

A Dan Mintz joke: "When I was a kid, I would always ask my parents 'who's your favorite kid?' And they would tell me 'we don't have a favorite kid' And that hurt my feelings because I was an only child."

John Roberts sang a song about how people like Linda more than him.

H. Jon Benjamin did a seemingly improvised bit holding a Walgreens bag containing a home drug test for cocaine that you can buy there.

Kristen Schaal did a bit that was, in part, a one woman show about Emily Dickinson. She also joked about attending Northwestern University in Chicago (along the lines of "So if you saw a weird girl mumbling to herself on the L back in 1998, that was me! You missed out on all this!")

There was an audience question part at the end and someone asked the cast if they would help him propose to his girlfriend. Which they not only did, but improvised a little skit about! I cannot remember the whole premise of it, but I do remember a bit where Eugene and Kristen were playing friends of the guy and girl respectively and were making fake small talk with them. Eugene to the guy: "Soooo....sports?" Kristen to the girl: "Soooo...bras?"

Well, thank you for travelling back in time to March 2015 with me! Who knows what I'll talk about in my Season 6 post! (Probably Season 6 of "Bob's Burgers"...)

#bob's burgers #bob's burgers season 5 #bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch #long post

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strawberrytalia · 1 year ago

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omg! i wanna do a few:

top 5 dc characters!

top 5 comic series!

top 5 animals!

OMG hi ella!!! 🫶 OH THESE ARE HARD

Top 5 dc characters (omg I feel bad ranking them)

Duke Thomas - who’s surprised 😭 no but he’s without a doubt my fave bat. i think there are just so many inspiring things about him, and he represents the aspect of comics I love most - stepping up and doing what’s right even when all odds are against you

Carol Ferris - I used to talk about her 24/7 when I was heavy in my GL phase, but I never stopped loving her. I love that she’s deeply flawed and angry and passionate, and she gets to be messy. Also she influenced me to be more comfortable expressing myself femininely which was hard as a brown girl ngl anyways carol <333

Ollie Queen - LMAO idk why but I feel so cliche putting him, but he’s my favorite Arrow and he always has been. I relate to him a lot. He’s really introverted, in his own head despite being is outspoken, he loves nature, cares deeply, and he isolates when he’s sad. I also like his very black-and-white thinking, esp when it gets challenged. live laugh love ollie queen

Talia Al Ghul - I won’t say much about her lmao bc talia stans are like sharks here, but she is also very important to me. Like you ever get that character that just seizes your heart???? Yeah that’s Talia for me 🥺 i don’t post abt her often either, but i love her sm

Khalid Nassour - it’s hell being his fan, but i’ll do it anyways 😭 so Khalid is rlly interesting bc i read his “cool” appearances first then read Dr Fate 2015 where he was more of an annoying 22 yr old. And it was so satisfying watching him grow from someone who was more narrow-minded and whitewashed to an intelligent, capable, and enlightened person. I really enjoy his character’s spin on what fate means in regards to one’s identity, heritage, lifestyle, and faith.

Top 5 comic series (THIS IS ALSO HARD OMG)

Day of Vengeance - this is the one currently living rent free in my head rn bc it’s so FUNNY and random, but also a really interesting storyline in regards to magic in the DCU. It’s just so enjoyable watching this group of mystics handle the hugest threat ever and barely get along, and they’re all weird, and then Lori joins and she’s like the group teenager and it’s so funny

We Are Robin - I honestly wish it was longer ngl but I really wanted to see more of the group together and their stories, especially Izzy and Dre. The premise and duration of this story is SO dear to me bc ofc Duke, but also I love watching kids band together against authorities bc they love their city sm.

Batman: Son of the Demon - as a Talia and sometimes Brutalia fan, how can I not 😭 It’s so sad and actually heartwrenching how happiness was so close to them but taken away, and how much Bruce and Talia sacrificed for each other because they are both loving people, they just love in the wrong way

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters - perfect Ollie. Perfect depiction of his mind. Really good storytelling. SHADOOOOO she served cunt and dc didn’t like that so they ruined her. Her initial appearance was so charming i literally made it my header. I like ethical dilemmas and the one in this story is so good. Also shoutout to Eddie fr

Green Lantern: Blackest Night - OKAY THIS IS THE ONE I WAS AFRAID OF SHARING 😭 I’m SORRY i love this for so many reasons, nostalgia mostly bc I re-read it over and over again at the peak of my hal obsession era idk why, I like the giant white entity, I like when all the Corps leaders have to team up and they’re all side-eyeing each other sm, and I also love when random heroes get involved and help save the day like Mera, Ray, Barry, Diana, Grant, watching them all try to survive it while battling grief in front of them. It is NOT THE BEST GL COMIC EVER but it’s one of my faves.

Top 5 animals (I love this question!!!!)

CATS 🫶 I used to have a cat when I lived in the states!! his name was austin, he was 8 years old, and he was the cutest thing ever. we had to give him away when we moved 😭 i still hate that my mom did that sm

SEALS!!!!!!! 🦭

Orcas 🐋🐋🐋 I like them a lot, they’re so adorable

Otters!!! 🦦

Flamingos 🦩 (hehe my username for a reason) they’re pink and i like all things pink also they’re so pretty

#these were rlly good!!!!! ty ella!!!!!#<33333 #you just reminded me that i have an ask idea abt kyle to send you soon omg #asks

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palettepainter · 1 year ago

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So I have a lot of doodle ideas for Muppets but naturally with commissions and my job at my parents warehouse I don’t have free time all the time, so instead I think I’m gonna start just putting my ideas into text posts so that way I at least have them written down, and that way you guys get to read em and share your thoughts if you want to add anything!

So back on my Miss Piggy being the twin to Miss Poogy brainrot, have some lil mini headcannons about this idea:

-Based off the 2015 show and Miss Piggy’s description of her family life. Miss Piggy implies that any of her siblings, when they got hurt, got sent to the butchers. While I don’t think the Muppets would go quite that dark, I am gonna take that line and assume that Piggy had a rough childhood from the get go, a total contrast to her now rich celebrity life style. Warnings ahead for bad childhood but it doesn’t go into physical abuse territory

-Piggy and her twin, Poogy, where born to two poor, average farmers from Texas. The couple had been hoping for two strong boys to help around with the chores, so they weren’t very impressed when instead they got twin girls. In spite, the two simply named them Piggy and Poogy. Piggy and Poogy come from a very, VERY large family and have a total of 8 older brothers (From oldest to youngest: Chucky, Buck, Horris, Boris, Dylan, Brad, Brutis, Luke). Piggy and Poogy grew up with old hand-me downs from their brothers, old toys from their brothers, and struggling to get to the dinner table before their brothers hogged all the food. Even as Piggy and Poogy got older, their brothers where absolute terrors to their little sisters, constantly pulling pranks which have left both of them untrustworthy of their brothers, even as adults. One time, the boys left Piggy and Poogy lost in the cornfield all through the night, and the two spent it curled up together shivering and scared. They begrudgingly retrieved them the next morning

-As a child Piggy was the more emotional, feeble twin. Piggy often put up with her annoying older brothers with an eyeroll, trying to pretend their words and pranks didn’t hurt her as much as they did. Pogoy on the other hand, learnt to be curt and snappy, just like her dear old brothers. Poogy was a menace and the classic troubled outcast at school. When the twins started at school Poogy was quick to establish her place as the playground bully, if you where on top no one could boss you around after all..but people could knock you down. Poogy is an absolute terror: she steals peoples lunch from their boxes, she scribbles on peoples work, she sticks bugs down peoples shirts, she throws dirt at the kids on the monkey bars, she’ll wrestle with the other kids - a bit too roughly - and had bitten other kids on several occasions. Piggy always tried to keep herself out of the spotlight when at school, but thanks to her twin Poogy a lot of the kids avoided her out of fear. Piggy grew up very lonely without making any genuine friends

-Piggy was not immune to her sisters treatment, Poogy was just as rough with her. Poogy’s whole tough love act with Piggy was a means to try and get Piggy to fight back, to grow a spine and stand up for herself - no one was gonna pity some baby fat snotty nose cry baby. It didn’t help that Poogy didn’t have the greatest of examples - having 8 older brothers, Poogy only knows how to express affection through snark, head noogies, and half hearted insults. Even when Poogy was genuinely trying to be nice to Piggy, it still came off as mean and hurtful. While Poogy wasn’t as vicious with her twin as she was other kids, Piggy was still subjected to the “Why’re you hitting yourself?” styx, Poogy stuffing a spider under her pillow, Poogy dumping dirt into her hair at breaktime, and jabs at Piggy’s size. Piggy got given the nickname babyfat by her brothers, and Poogy soon joined in. Piggy to this day will become outraged to the point of violence if she senses a jab at her weight

-The moment Piggy was old enough to leave that awful old farm she took what little belongs she had and left for the city, determined to make it big so she could stuff it in her stupid families faces. After taking on any odd job that would take her (Piggy has done jobs such as waitressing, babysitting, taxi driver, shop clerk and more). After a while she successfully snags a job working for a fashion company working at front desk, it took some time but Piggy climbs up the ladder till she becomes a models apprentice, and it’s here Piggy discovers her true calling. With her southern charm, perfect supple skin and luscious natural blonde locks, Piggy soars to fame. As her modelling career gradually takes off she begins to receive cameo offers in movies, Piggy bites her lip and accepts them with glee, hoping to one day score a lead acting role. When that doesn’t happen, even after years of doing smaller parts in movies, Piggy begins to feel disheartened. Until she meets a travelling Bear, a whatever and chicken, lead by a frog, on their way to Hollywood to achieve their dream.

-Piggy has not told anybody about her twin and her horrid horrid brothers, aside from a few very, very VERY close few: those few being Deadly and Kermit., and Floyd who learnt from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Poogy in turn rarely visits the studio, mostly cuz she feels there's no place for her there. The one time she did show up to visit was purely on accident. The band had been looking to potential hire some auxiliary talent for the band, and Poogy happened to be a pretty great at playing the axe. The interaction ended with Poggy leaving with a huff, and Piggy actually crying. She screams in Floyd’s face, and huffs back to her dressing room to sob into her velvet stress couch. Floyd sheepishly returned the next day to tell her the band wasn’t gonna hire Poogy, and Piggy relents and ends up explaining to Floyd that Poogy is her sister

-One day Piggy’s big brothers do come up to the city for business related purposes, they’ve turned the pathetic little dirt farm into a giant, rather successful business (which Piggy is not at all envious about or seething with rage over-). Her brothers just invite themselves into HER studio, have the gall to bring up memories of home as if they had a perfect little family life to the REST of the muppets crew, and then, they had to audacity to share laughs and chuckles with the crew like they where family. Floyd in particular, being Piggy’s sworn enemy, joins in on some of the laughs and jabs...but starts to grow quickly uncomfortable when the jabs start to become just a bit too mean and spiteful for his liking. Floyd spots how awkward and tense Piggy looks, and tells her brothers to cool it before they take the hint and leave. Piggy wasn’t quite as harsh with Floyd when he quietly asks if she’s okay, the two never spoke of the event afterwards

Other facts:

-Piggy’s family have a bit of bore in the bloodline, hence why Piggy has some freakish strength and an unbridled temper

-During her time as a babysitter Piggy became a regular babysitter to a little penguin named Summer, who she actually is quite fond of. So much so that when Piggy learnt Summer was looking for a job, Piggy practically yoinks Summer under her guiding wing to bequeath her wisdom. Summer works in the prop department

-Floyd and Piggy actually met in their early adult years, back when Animal was still a baby. Piggy and her family had travelled up country for a farm show in hopes to seal some business deals. Piggy, having been living on her own at that point for 3 years is intent to avoid them at all costs. While rushing away to find some place to hide she stumbles upon Floyd and Animal apart from the crowd playing by a small lake. Summer and Animal, already nursery buddies, begin to play by themselves while Piggy sits on the grass. The two are at first awkward, but soon, but Piggy gradually relaxes, venting a little about family drama and Floyd agreeing with her. They part ways but don’t reunite till years later when they both end up in show bizz

-Poogy is in a band, the Moopets, a name she picked to spite Piggy and her rise to fame while she’s still working for tibs at bars. Poogy vows that she’ll be just as big as Piggy- no, better. And the moment she’s big and famous and Piggy is begging for an apology for cutting her out, Poogy will tell her where she can stick her dammned apology.....still, having a few friends is nice, and being in a band is pretty fun, it’s been her childhood dream afterall. Getting to go home to a cramped apartment with her bandmates, knowing she’ll always have these knuckle heads as her backup, she supposes it’s kinda nice

-Poogy is BFF’s with Constantine, ex worlds most dangerous frog. Constantine lives with Denise, his not so secret partner, and Poogy teases the ever loving shit out of him for it you don’t even know. The two met at Rowlf’s tavern when Constantine was pulled away from fighting with Piggy. On the same night, Poggy realised her and her band happened to be getting drinks at the same time in the same place as Piggy, and that just made Poggy feel annoyed. The two had a moment of silence, before both saying “I hate miss Piggy” in sync - instant friendship formed. Poogy also thinks Constantine is kinda cool despite all the jabs she makes at him. Constantine reminds Poogy he can and will actually kill her is she doesn’t chill out with the teases and sass, but he’s kidding. Constantin actually likes having Poogy around cuz it gives him a release to just be his more natural, blunt, pessemistic self, cuz he knows Poogy can take it and even dish it back

-Poogy is a natural blonde like her sister, but she started dying her hair black in her teens and has done so ever since

-Poogy has gotten into trouble with the police before and developed unhealthy coping mechanisms as a teen, namely vandalism and shoplifting

-While Poggy’s rockband, the Moopets, have yet to take off, they are all genuinely passionate about what they do. While Constantine hasn’t touched an instrument since Primary School, he’s supportive to the best of his ability, but it’s not really enough. One day, when it an uncreative funk, Constantine sarcastically suggests getting a manager or something to help with the band, and his suggestion actually works. Poogy figured their was nothing to loose, so puts up small fliers on billboards, lamp posts and in shop windows, and no less then a day later does a young, gothic chick by the name of Darci boldly introduce herself and their new manag. It doesn’t take long for Poogy to like Darci, she’s got a lot of spunk and she respects that, Poogy and the whole band, along with Darci, form a very tightly knitted group

#Muppets #Piggy #Poogy #Darci #Constantine #Floyd Pepper #Floyd #Headcannons #The Muppets

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ms-paint-idol-hell · 1 year ago

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!! Pinned Info Post !!

Hi! Welcome to ms-paint-idol-hell on tumblr.com!!! If you're new here, or just checking this blog out, feel free to read up on what it's about right below!

1.) Firstly, let me introduce myself! I'm Oli, and I've been running this blog since I was 14. It's been my pride and joy since then, and I've been drawing here and there when I remember to since its inception in December of 2015.

2.) A lot of my recent drawings, as you can see, are NOT created in ms paint. This is because I am lazy and quite frankly have access to better drawing programs, and while I can still technically draw on ms paint if I wanted to, it's honestly sort of annoying because of the lack of useful features and, more importantly, LAYERS!!

EDIT: It has come to my attention that ms paint now has layers... now the only thing stopping me from primarily using it is the horrible sensitivity ms paint has on my pen, because now it likes to freak out when i hold it in the program, shocker.

3.) I'm not the only person on this blog!!! (As of the making of this post) I have two other buddies that share this blog with me, but those losers haven't posted in like two years, so I just pretend like they're not here most of the time. Besides, I made this blog, they can't take it from me or I'd maul them.

4.) At this point, this blog is just a Love Live!-centric doodle dump for me. Feel free to request something in the inbox, and I'll get to it eventually.

If you have any other questions or just wanna chat, the inbox is always open! Thank you for reading and have a totally tubular day!

#pinned post

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saffronapplemanga · 2 years ago

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GANGSTA. - ギャングスタ - PART 1

CRIME, ACTION, DRAMA

GANGSTA. by Kohske

(8 volumes, hiatus) Mangaka Kohske-sensei is sick and works on updates when she can. There are chapters beyond volume 8 in JP that haven't been collected into a volume yet here.

Available in English here

Anime - Yes. I'll admit it's crunchy, poorly paced, and disappointing because the studio went under literally a few days after it finished airing and it shows, but it’s still fun? They did cut stuff from the manga and there's so much they didn't adapt, so I'd recommend reading it. I'm begging for a remake and a season 2 or something...

Links to my other manga posts here

~Part two of this post is here~

We've got a meaty post today, lads! Sit down, because I'm going to gush about the series that's going in my all-time favs and I've made it my whole personality lately. I'm here to push the GANGSTA. agenda!!! I’m about to be so damn annoying.

Back in 2015 I was going through college hell and wanted something to chill with during my meager downtime. And so the GANGSTA. anime answered the call. Watching TV while shoveling food into my face was my only free time.

A whopping 8 YEARS later now that I'm a freelancer and have a flexible schedule allowing me to get into manga more than ever before, among other factors, it was finally time for me to pick this up. Naturally, I forgot a lot over the years, plus having consumed the anime in my suffering college student frenzy, much of my memory is fuzzy. What I DO remember is that the setting and aesthetics were cool, I loved the characters, and I was mad crushing on Nicolas Brown.

I'm pleased to report that after rewatching the anime and reading the manga, the me of 8 years ago had excellent taste.

Fellas, I present my 34-year-old homicidal, feral, sweet-as-a-button, baby girl ❤️

***Trigger warnings for everything you can think of for this series.***

This post will be divided into: Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out - What's It About? - Lots And Lots of Character Analysis (And Gushing)

I'm going to give an elevator pitch and spoiler-free summary on why you should check this series out since I feel like it's — dare I say — slept on. Later, I'll get into spoilers and give a heads-up when I do.

Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out

Diverse cast- disability, race, and age.

Disabled main character- Nicolas is deaf, mainly communicates in sign language, and I personally feel like the way it's handled is awesome (more on that in the character analysis). There are also great portrayals of mental illnesses.

Primarily adult cast- our main trio are 24, 34, and 35. All different races/mixed race. Also, they look like this->

The cleavage crew. My babies are amazing, just look at them!!!

Cool setting.

AWESOME character writing- we're never spoonfed, and there's so much you can glean about the characters from bits and pieces given to us — which is what a large portion of this post will be dedicated to discussing. Tons of nuance.

FOUND FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found family? You have me hook, line, and sinker.

You can tell it was written by a female author if you know what I mean... Hear me out, I get into this more later. Please don't roll your eyes at me. I'm going somewhere with this.

Other than GANGSTA. I'm specifically thinking of Dorohedoro right now. It's the only time I've ever laughed at a boob joke and the whole, "Oh no, I walked in on a girl naked" joke and all that. Also, the bikini top/scantly clad outfits in that series don't give me the ick. Don't ask me to explain, I can just taste it. It's the execution.

While there are characters who are in romantic/sexual relationships, there are also a lot of platonic/familial relationships as well. I like romance as much as the next person and I can get really sappy sometimes, but I also want more non-romantic relationships between men and women. Sorta tired of the whole "a man and woman are in the same vicinity so they must bang, they HAVE to pair up". Again, love me some romance, but more of the other stuff too, please! And GANGSTA. delivers wonderfully. Some of the best depictions of the dynamic I crave that I've ever seen.

Look at this banger opening:

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The ED is awesome too!

And last, but certainly not least, I'd like to present my "Nicolas Brown propaganda" video of this clip from Episode 1:

Look me in the eyes and try telling me this isn't the best thing ever. My man kicked a cop car in to stand up for Alex so they could save her and take her home!!! Also, Nic is voiced by Tsuda Kenjiro, the VA behind my other fictional crush, JJK's Nanami 'Husband-Material' Kento! Fair warning, I'm not going to shut up about Nic.

I have to admit, it’s difficult for me to wholeheartedly recommend the anime because of what I mentioned at the very top of the post. The voice actors were the best part of the anime, while the animation was… meh, and the pacing is not great. But it's still enjoyable! The manga destroyed me so good, though…

BTW if you're one of those people who are hesitant to get into a series that's on hiatus like my bestie, she HATES reading stuff on hiatus, I implore you to give it a go anyways. I successfully roped bestie into committing hehehe. It managed to absolutely wreck me in 8+ volumes. It's so worth it and I was very happy with how the last currently out chapter (#56) ended.

In case you were wondering... No, I still haven't recovered from Banana Fish.

There's also a completed spin-off series, GANGSTA: CURSED (I enjoyed it. I like action but it was almost too action-heavy for me. My fav parts of the main series are the quiet moments), a light novel GANGSTA: Death of Anosmic Stray Dogs (it was okay, Nic was funny but not enough of him, tbh I’ve read better fanfics), and drama CD's. I actually ordered the drama CD's to listen to later, but I'm traveling right now, and idk when I'll be home to pick up my package, so... And I read the extra manga that came with the Japanese Blu-rays (I enjoyed it).

What's It About?

Our boys Nicolas and Worick are the local "Handymen" doing odd jobs from deliveries and construction, to prostitution and homicide. They go way back, but their relationship is much more complicated than it initially seems.

The grungy city of Ergastulum is essentially an open-air internment camp. For who? Superhumans known as "Twilights", also called "Tags" for the tags they're required to wear. Twilights are the descendants of those who took the drug, Cerebret, developed during wartime to create enhanced soldiers. Their children inherit these qualities —making them an unintended consequence — but with a catch. They are forever dependent on consistent doses of Cerebret to stay alive and keep their bodies from shutting down. At the same time, however, it slowly poisons them, significantly slashing their lifespans. They are kept under surveillance, having been herded into Ergastulum, and xenophobia between them and the "Normal" non-Twilight refugees who settled there is constantly brewing. The Cerebret they need to survive is strictly regulated, expensive, and used to keep the Twilights on a short leash. They are in many ways, second-class citizens.

If you watched until the end of the Nicolas Brown propaganda video like I'm sure you totally did, you would have seen the tags dangling around Nic's neck — meaning that Nic is a Twilight. And in order to operate, he needs to be in a contract under someone. This contract puts the holder in ownership of the Twilight. In Nic's case, his contract holder is longtime friend and fellow Handyman, Worick. I'm sure you can imagine that it puts a certain strain on their relationship... Your BFF and roommate legally owning you even if it's to protect you? Awkward.

To make matters worse, Nic is running out of time, fast. The Cerebret, like I said, shortens the lifespan of Twilights. Various factors come into play regarding lifespan, but on average, they live into their 30's. And Nic is already 34 years old. I am... stressed, to say the least. I don’t know how he's going to pull through guys, I really don't.

Genuinely concerned for Nic's well-being. I don't trust Kohske to pull her punches...

Enter Alex — a prostitute the Handymen take off the street and offer refuge to. We learn about the city, the boys, the factions at play, and more alongside Alex, who has been thrown into this world. Worick is a charming sweetheart who I think sees a lot of himself in Alex, especially since he's been working as a gigolo from a VERY young age. And Nico despite his seemingly harsh exterior, is so damn kind and soft... They all are. I love my found family of traumatized dorks *sobs*

It's not all doom and gloom, though! We have funny, silly, cute-as-hell moments, too. And the domestic scenes? The quite, tender moments? Love. Obsessed.

I like how Nic is holding his old wanted poster with his face in the first panel like he's wearing it as a mask or something. And they're in separate interrogation rooms with glass between them but they can still communicate because Nic can read lips and Worick knows sign language. Clowns, the lot of them.

I admit at first, GANGSTA. seems like a kinda lame title. Like, as a native English speaker, if someone told me to check out a series with this title, it would give me pause lol. It really has that late 2000's to early 2010's aesthetic, edgy themes, plus the whole "Twilights" term — which when combined may make you think, "Yo, this looks lame," especially if you were a teen during that time. "Twilight" just makes me think of that Twilight, but we're ignoring that. For me, my teen years were cringe, and I'm sure many of you feel the same. But you know what? Mangaka Kohske-sensei rocks this vibe! She makes it cool! And now that I'm older, it's like, whatever embrace cringe, have fun and all that, y'know? So, GANGSTA. is great and totally not cringe in any way, hush.

She loves edgy characters — and eyepatches. Gosh, she loves eyepatches. And good for her! You do you, queen! I can dig it.

Bonus Nico because he's so damn cute. Love of my life.

But listen, this manga is deceptively deep, guys. You might think at first it’s simply crime, drugs, sex, and violence... But no! There’s more to it. The crime, drugs, sex, and violence are used to great effect instead of just edgy for the sake of being edgy. The plot is great and all, but the real bread and butter for me with this series are the ✨characters✨. I don't care if you have the sickest plot on the face of the planet. If I'm not obsessed with your characters... what are we doing here then?

Seriously, if I'm not willing to cut a bitch for your characters, try again.

It’s time to segue into ->

Lots And Lots of Character Analysis (And Gushing)

Goodness, where do I even start? So many good characters and moments to over-analyze! There's a boatload of stuff I want to talk about and I'm going to try and make it make sense. I’ll gradually dig deeper and deeper into the squad’s character. I do think I'll have to primarily focus on the main trio, or else my hands are going to fall off from all the typing.

Kohske-sensei doesn't spoonfeed us and doesn't treat us like we're dumb. You know when writers don't trust their audience to get something so they beat us over the head with it? Yeah, no, none of that here. Because a lot is implied or hinted at, this is going to be my interpretation of things. If you have a different take, I'd love to hear it! I'm going to just dive into the analysis with any evidence to support my claims, so I'm assuming you already know the story (or maybe come back later after reading the manga?) because from this point...

***SPOILERS UNTIL CHAPTER 56 FROM HERE ON OUT***

This section will be broken up into: Where It All Began - Nicolas and Nina - "Nice vs. Kind" - Worick and Alex - Nicolas and Alex - Nicolas and Worick - Nicolas - The Trio and The Scene That Had Me Bawling My Eyes Out - Brief Shoutouts to Characters I Also Want to Talk About, But This Post Is Already Long Enough

I'm about to get really sappy, so uh, here goes nothing.

(Note: the manga pages/panels I included for reference are arranged from right to left reading order btw)

Where It All Began

Let's start... at the beginning! The hankie. The first chapter establishes what kind of characterization we can expect from our main cast.

When we first meet our trio, Nic and Worick are leaning on a wall overlooking the city while Alex walks below, bleeding. And then, a handkerchief lands on her head. At first, it's not clear which of the Handymen dropped it down to her, but we're led to believe it was Worick as Nic had his back to the wall.

This is the first panel of Nic that made me go, "Well, hello there, sir 👀💦" Don't judge me. And like, why are half the buttons on his shirt undone? Worick too, LMAO. Not that I'm complaining..........

However, when Alex later thanks Worick for the handkerchief, he tells her it was actually Nic's. Awww, cute...

When the Handymen are hired to take out a gang, it turns out Alex is one of the prostitutes in the gang and therefore is going to be taken out by association. But the boys aren't too keen on this, which results in us getting the glorious Nicolas Brown propaganda scene I included earlier in this post. They claim her as their spoils after taking out the gang in order to keep her safe and get her off the streets. They even throw their weight around with the police by threatening to bash their heads in to do so.

This is all to say that while we see the boys do unsavory things like gleefully murder, we can see already that they're nuanced and SO DAMN KIND. They didn't have to do any of it. They had no reason to. They don't gain anything from it, nor do they expect to (more on this later).

Confirmed: They drink respect-women-juice. King shit.

The next day, we see that Nic seems to be acting pretty coldly with Alex. Right away, I took this as he's having a hard time opening up to her despite everything he did the day before to help her at no benefit to himself including saving her from a passed-out Worick LMAO. It's like... he's scared to get close. He doesn't mind her presence, but he stays at arm's length. We later get hints it's probably because of Veronica and he's afraid of getting hurt or getting someone hurt again. But, while running deliveries, we get this scene:

Which to me is Nic announcing that Alex is now under his protection — a fearsome rank A/0 Twilight. Yeah, it's to keep Worick's clients happy, but I think it's protection for her, too. They haven't known each other for a full 24 hours yet and the boys are already like, "Yeah she's with us. Leave her alone."

Nicolas and Nina

When we meet the absolutely precious Nina, we see a lot more of Nic's overt soft side. It's obvious he loves Nina a lot and is super affectionate with her and sees her as his little sister. And she very much loves him back!

I turn into a blubbering puddle of goop every time these two interact.

He goes out of his way to buy her the drinks she likes, holds her hand whenever they walk together, teases her, plays with her, comforts and holds her, and always keeps her safe no matter what. I could scream about every single panel they have together, but I want to highlight some of my favorite moments:

Worick disposes of the guys trying to kidnap Nina while Nic walks her to the clinic, but she stops at the sound of distant gunfire. Nic eases her anxiety by making her laugh and jokingly saying, "I didn't hear a thing," because of course a deaf man wouldn't lolllll. But he knew that she did indeed hear something because he knew what Worick was up to. But, they don't let Nina know that she was being tailed and in danger so as to not scare her.

Nina sleeps holding Nic's hand while he's passed out at the clinic, and when he wakes up he puts the blanket over her, careful not to wake her.

When Nic stays over at the clinic after he's hurt, the next day he jumps around rooftops with his superhuman agility, holding Nina close, simply to entertain this child he cares for dearly.

Alex asks Nina if she's scared of Nicolas, and while she understands Alex's hesitation, she says that, no she's not scared of him. She knows him for who he is, and not just how he seems. She knows he's actually a very soft man.

After all the patients at the clinic die, Nina is having a rough time processing her grief. She's a little girl with an enormous heart and was grieving over people she didn't even know. Nic leaves all the other grown-ups to go sit with her in his lap, against his chest, comforting her. Later, he takes her hand and walks her to Bastard to hear Alex sing and hang out with Loretta for a pick-me-up.

This scene pulls at my heart... Look at how much they love each other, and how much they feel comfortable and safe with each other. You can FEEL it.

After getting shot by Monroe and having seizures from Theo's experimental drug, Nic still tries to get up and go help the gang. Alex goes to stop him, meanwhile Nina... she looks at him with an aching heart, hurting because he's hurting. Taking his sword, she unsheathes it to reveal that it's broken. This causes Nic to have a moment where he realizes he too is broken and useless right now. So he slumps to the floor, allowing Nina to hold him. She was able to convey what she wanted to tell him — that he was in no condition to go anywhere and that she was worried about him — without saying a word.

To no one's surprise, this part had me in TEARS. So much is said with no words.

Nina puts her hands on Nic's, comforting him while he continues to be out of commission. Nic agrees to let Theo have his body to study as he's accepted his ever-looming demise, and Nina is... distraught. She cries for him. She cries while Theo tucks her into his lab coat, arm around her. I think that given Nicolas' history and trauma, having someone shed tears for him and be so gentle to him is extremely important. He spent the first 12 years of his life being abused on multiple levels and made to feel like he was nothing and then lived a harsh life even after he and Worick ran away. Having someone express this kind of emotion for him, this unfiltered love and care is important. Their casual, comfortable, and trusting tenderness is important.

"Nice vs. Kind"

I do want to emphasize that Nic isn't just kind to Nina. He and Worick are kind to everyone who isn't trying to kill them/has attracted their ire, that is. This is important to note for my next point -> Lately, I've been thinking a lot about something that I'm going to refer to as "nice vs. kind". I mentioned this in my AI Art post in a bit of a different context than we’ll be getting into here. While everything I'm going to talk about can apply to anyone, I'm going to focus on "nice guys".

Earlier, I talked about how the Handymen helped Alex without gaining anything or expecting anything in return. In fact, they're letting her bum off them and crash at their place for absolutely nothing. Combined with how our boys are good to pretty much everyone who isn't trying to kill them, I feel like this makes them truly kind instead of just "nice guys". When "nice guys" complain about how women in particular don't "give them a chance" or whatever it is they complain about, I have to laugh. You're being nice just because you want something from that person (such as getting a woman to sleep with you) or because you want to appear nice to people. In short, you're doing it only because you have an ulterior motive or something to gain — and it shows sooner or later. It's being selectively "nice" to people only when you are trying to gain.

Meanwhile, the boys don't do this at all. They aren't good to people because they're trying to gain something (unless it's work-related, they gotta eat after all). They don't care much about what people think of them or worry about "looking good". The boys follow what they believe in and act on it, even if it may seem morally grey or when it leads to them having not the greatest reputation with most people. But those who know them, know. And THAT is sexy and attractive, both in a romantic and platonic sense. When my friends are truly kind to me or anyone, I'm like, "Wow, that was so hot of you bestie."

When Nic was protecting the clinic in chapter three, Alex was scared of him. He unnerved her. Having just escaped from a man who abused her to hell and back, she was already on edge. Nic looked like an aggressive man, just like the last guy. Her initial impression is similar to the impression most people have of him. But he doesn't care about "looking good" because he's focused on doing right by those he cares about. THAT'S SOME HOT BOY SHIT!!!

Theo is great. We love Theo.

But how do I know without a shred of a doubt that they aren't expecting anything from Alex? I mean, isn't Worick having her help them with the business and do stuff for them? Yes, he is having her do stuff, but it's the intention behind it. When Worick asks Alex to man the phone while he's gone because Nic can't do it, he's giving her this task for her own sake. It's to make her feel included and useful and not feel like a burden, but without asking too much of her. I come from a culture that practices what I call "aggressive hospitality". What I mean is, for example, my friends will refuse to let me help clean up after dinner — and aggressively so — because I'm the guest. But I hate this because I feel useless and I'm just awkwardly watching you do all the work when I have two perfectly good hands. Like, PLEASE give me something to do, anything. And that's what Worick is doing for Alex! His asking her to do these little things is a kindness from him to her.

Besides, if Worick and Nic wanted to use Alex, they could have so easily at any time. A woman crashing with two guys after escaping an abusive pimp and is having drug withdrawals in a city where she has no one is an INSANELY vulnerable position to be in. She's quite literally easy prey. It wouldn't be unusual for someone in that situation to expect to be assaulted, to "pay with her body" in exchange.

But the Handymen, never go anywhere near that line. In fact, they completely reject the possibility, which leads us to one of my favorite scenes.

Worick and Alex

Alex's withdrawal symptoms are making her spiral and she's terrified. She needs to be useful. She needs to be useful the only way she can think of... or else. So she throws herself at Worick — but Worick shuts that shit down immediately. He doesn't entertain the possibility for a second. He refuses to use Alex. He could have taken the opportunity to "get some" but instead, he grounds her and makes her feel safe.

One of the most attractive qualities a person can have is making you feel safe, and I don't just mean physically safe. This isn't limited to what women find attractive in men or what's romantically attractive. This applies to a lot of relationships in general. (More on romance later, or rather lack of romance, because I didn't take this scene to be romantic.)

Worick went out in the rain looking for her. He saw that she picked up a John, going back to her old ways — and he never shames her for it. He just wants to take her home and is upset at himself for taking his eyes off of her. He makes it clear she owes him nothing. He reminds her that she's safe now, he's here now. And my sweet, sweet man just starts complaining to her about his crappy day in a silly, whiny manner to cheer her up and make her laugh.

He's like, "Boohoo, Nic fucked up my fancy shirt." LOLLL But seriously, I would trust this man with my life after all this.

The last line in this scene is some of the first instances of Worick being flirty with Alex, but in a way that I believe is another example of his kindness. Yeah, I said what I said. These scenes are some of the reasons that made me go, "I would bet money that this series was written by a female author." Some people might have the kneejerk reaction that these scenes are Worick being creepy, but I would argue that it's totally not the case.

When Alex visits Worick at the clinic, we get the following scene:

Alex is being hard on herself and feels ashamed. She pours out all the anxieties plaguing her mind, completely opening up to Worick. I don't know about you guys, but admitting how I really feel to someone, especially someone I care about and who I want to like me back in such a raw way is one of the scariest things you can do. What if they reject me? Or hate me? Will they think less of me?

But Worick brushes all this away so easily, again, never judging her. And again, he gives her something to do, to look forward to, with the promise of a song. Again, he gets flirty with her, joking around to lighten her mood.

"He's inappropriately touching her, though! How can you say that's kindness?"

Worick and Alex are both sex workers and have been from a young age. They both have trauma surrounding it. They understand each other in a way others can't. If Worick was invading everyone's bubbles and getting all touchy-feely with them, then I'd say yeah, he's being a creep. But he only does this with Alex. And while Alex might playfully smack him when he does, she's never really uncomfortable. She knows that he's doing this to cheer her up (and Worick uses humor as a coping mechanism — you can't fool me, sir. I have you CLOCKED).

If it actually made her uncomfortable, Worick would stop right away. He's earned her trust and continues to do so. This is what the banter and camaraderie between them looks like. It's like when I affectionately call my friend a "bitch" and say "I hate you" because we have an understanding with one another. If I did that with everyone, I would be an asshole. Meanwhile, my friend's mom yelled at her to be nice to me before I dump her ass. I was like, "Auntie... What are you talking about? We're literally having a brunch date together right now." LMAO, that's just how our relationship is and it works for us. In the pages above, you can see them horsing around, Alex "reprimanding" Worick for being a "perv" but quickly dropping her head on his chest and snuggling up to him. SHE FEELS SAFE WITH HIM!

AND HE FEELS SAFE WITH HER!!!!!!!

I didn't take this scene as romantic either btw.

I rest my case. Good day to you.

Actual picture of me reading about these dummies.

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

~Continued in my part two post~

#GANGSTA.#manga #manga recs #manga recommendation #manga discussion #seinen manga #漫画 #おすすめ #青年漫画 #ギャングスタ

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cntarella · 1 year ago

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Tagged by @domokunrainbowkinz haven't actually done one of these in a while.

Rules: in a text post, list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux — Read this when I was 7 and it became my entire personality for 20+ years, I don't know who I'd be without this book because it so profoundly shaped my aesthetic and literary taste.

Paradise Lost by John Milton — I'm just saying that if I were one of those pretty penitent Catholic school girls who first got to see the installation of la genie du mal, I too would've wanted to fuck the devil. Paradise Lost has the same effect on me.

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson — To me, such, such an underrated author and book. I know it won the World Fantasy Award but I think people should be talking about this book more!!!! putting aside the incredible setting (1940s new york mafia assassin with superpowers handed down from the trauma of their ancestors), ADJ is a superb writer who manages to gut you and gut you and gut you scene after scene. The ending of this book has one of the most scream-worthy letters I've seen since Amberlough and Persuasion (WHEN WE RETURN TO THE WHEEL OF LIFE YOU AND I, WE WILL FIND EACH OTHER AGAIN SEVEN LIFETIMES AND SEVEN LIFETIMES MORE. im literally taking a knife and eviserating myself rn thinking about it)

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman — cheating, cause this is a series but i'll allow it cause it is a series of all time. Also one of the few authors I've found to ever create a non-annoying animal companion to go with you on a quest. Lyra and Pantalaimon, you will forever be famous.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov — love of my life fire of my loins my sweet beloved who is constantly misrepresented on here, the illiteracy website. I wish I could take back everyone's reading experience of this until we've had a discussion about authorial intent. Aside from that, Nabokov is one of my favorite writers of all time; his word choice is inspired and decadent, and one of the more digestible Russians to grace my bookshelf lmao (sorry doestoevsky and tolstoy, i love you but sometimes...)

Pictures of the Floating World by Amy Lowell — A hiss of gold/ Blooming out of darkness,/ Rockets exploded,/ And died in a soft dripping of colored stars. J U S T how do words how do poetry. i love you amy lowell lesbian icon i want to eat all of your poems up in one bite

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wollheben — one of the few nonfictions I recommend to everyone. I think we could all benefit a little more from learning about trees, and especially trees not just as part of the ecosystem but as individuals who form a community. This book really opened my eyes to how connected every single living thing is in this world, and how everything speaks to each other :))) trees i love you trees i'd die for you

The Doloriad by Missouri Williams — Now here is a fucked up book. I wish all the incest girlies of tumblr would read this and talk to me about it. I haven't been able to stop thinking abt this book since I read it, and Missouri Williams' writing is honestly top-tier, super slippery and well crafted

Prince's Gambit by CS Pacat — enjoyed this whole series but this middle book is simply top tier, which is honestly amazing cause second books generally tend to be the worst. I want to dissect Pacat's brain to figure out how they manage to make the pay off that delicious. Laurent my original little meow meow you've done nothing wrong in your life

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente — i know the tumblrinas have gotten this one out of their system in like, 2015-2017, but i think we should talk about this more!!!!! who is doing it like Valente.

Idk who to tag, but feel free to do this if you would so like and tag me in it. I love hearing about ppl's formative books.

#about me #literature #books #literally impossible for me not to over think about this list #i have so many Opinions™ about books i am the most annoying person in a literature seminar

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transition-with-the-torah · 8 months ago

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Title: Jews Don't Count: How Identity Politics Failed One Particular Identity

Author: David Baddiel

Format / Cost: Audiobook (free via Libby). For reasons I don't know, my library only has access to the audiobook version, and it was approximately 2 hours and 48 minutes (categorized as 'nearly 3 hours'). It was author narrated and released at some point in 2021.

2021 wasn't forever ago, or anything, but also, it felt like recounting a slice of British Twitter from about 2015 to no later than October 2020 [and the release of a particular report about antisemitism within the Labour Party] happened so long ago. Granted, talking about antisemitism isn't exactly something that seems to not be relevant. The basic idea wasn't that hard to grasp - Jews are viewed by Progressives as not actually counting as a marginalized group - and unsurprisingly, a lot of the examples pull from British culture: that one football club and derogatory use of 'Yid', T.S. Eliot poems read on BBC that ignored antisemitic language, Roald Dahl and his estate's sort of apology over antisemitism while Roald Dahl Day is seemingly popular, casting non-Jewish people to play Jewish actors in specific theatrical productions (relating to BAME casting efforts), and the like.

(This has been tagged as #reviews for personal organization on my blog and may not be considered a complete or satisfying review by others. It continues under the read-more.)

It's not that Baddiel is outright incorrect about his examples and the message he's aiming for, but there's something about the method of delivering that message that seems annoying at times. It might be that one part really has a lot of Twitter and how some people have been Canceled (just not for antisemitism), which requires listening to tweets being quoted. (I really don't want to hear someone try to recreate a laugh like that again.) It might be that some textual phrasing winds up feeling very blunt and not that hard to interpret uncharitably. It might also be that post-October 7th, it seems odd to skip over antisemitism based on treating diaspora Jews as Israeli, loyal to Israel, or acceptable outlets for I/P frustrations because of Baddiel's 'I'm in the diaspora so who cares about Israel' approach.

Mostly, some parts feel like they're useful for non-Jews to get a sense of how antisemitism didn't magically stop with the Holocaust. The idea of a hierarchy of racisms - where the proximity to US based Black vs White racism is recognized as racism with racism against other groups descending in recognizability - might ruffle some feathers. On paper, the idea could work for some non-Black groups, particularly outside of the US with US ideas of racism taking up most of the oxygen, but the actual conversations Baddiel references about this seem to suffer from being Twitter based and may not feel reflective of Black experiences either. (To me, this idea of a hierarchy of racisms is about recognizing racism as happening, but the idea that different racisms are treated as more important than others may not feel true to lived experience.)

Overall, I think this book can be a conversation starter for some readers, but it's definitely not going to feel like it manages to cover everything. Viewing Jews as too rich, too socially powerful, and/or as too close to being White and therefore 'Jewish racism isn't a thing' can explain some aspects of antisemitism, but there were some moments where I thought looking at other conditionally-white groups and seeing similarities in not being 'fully white' might have worked better than contrasting with Black racism examples.

Posted: 18 March 2024.

#books #reviews

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stormblessed95 · 2 years ago

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Hi stormy!! You once told us that you watched bts contents with your partner and you just implied that two members of the group are may be romantically involved and he somehow guessed the members you're talking about? 😂 I'm not sure if i remember correctly but i remember reading that post intensely and with huge envy 😭 i so relate to that tweet: "my love language is watching bts contents together" i always tried to watch bts with my mom and sister (because I'm single af duh) but they sometimes indulged me but it's quite rare. They just don't like seeing me in hyperfixation mode. I'm also lucky enough to have got one of my friends to watch gcfintokyo with me but she was not that impressed 😌. She has the same reaction when i excitedly rambled to her JK LENT HIS STUDIO FOR JIMIN TO DO HIS BIRTHDAY LIVE, but then i guess maybe because she didn't know jk and jimin like us and why is it significant. So far, she only has watched bts bon voyage with me. Even with her calm reactions, I was so thankful to have at least someone to talk about my favourite boys. Sometimes I'm clearly aware none of them will have the same reactions as me and i know it's not their fault. They just were not interested. So I'm terribly jealous of you 😭 you both are so cute btw and I'm more than interested if you talk about your personal love story. I'm just rambling my immature feelings 😂 sorry if this is annoying and sorry for my english too. Also stormy, if you can, will you suggest some old contents that i should watch? Whenever i have free time to watch bts contents I'm always indecisive. Which concert or shows do you think is a must-watch for army?

I do watch some concerts with my partner! Not all, sometimes when I say I'm waking up at 3 am to watch the BTS concert he looks at me like I'm crazy and is like "okay babe, well I love you. Enjoy. Wear headphones please" 🤣 but if it's a rewatch (like PTD on Disney+ or just older concerts and he is free at the time) he will sit and watch with me and so will our kids. Same if the concert is happening at a more reasonable hour our time. Lol or will we all sometimes watch MVs, or Dance practices or run bts together. Not all the time, but it's nice when it happens!

And yes, lol I don't remember at all now what we were watching when it came up, since it was a long time ago. I hadn't mentioned before anything about shipping at that time, but i remember saying something about how even though shipping is so weird, sometimes it seems like there could be something there between 2 of the members. And he just went "oh yeah, you mean Jungkook and Jimin right?" And I said "why did you say them??" And he just made some off hand comment about how it seems like they act around each other from the little he has seen in ways that make it seem like they love each other the way he loves me. So for him if someone in the band was dating each other, it only made sense (in his head) for that to be jikook. For extra context, he is a Hobi bias, JK bias wrecker. And Jungkook was the first member he noticed and paid attention to in the group too. The hickey sealed the deal for him. He is pretty darn convinced at this point lol

Absolutely watch all of Bon Voyage or Run BTS if you haven't already! As for shows or concerts, you should go back to the beginning and see those if you can too! Their red bullet tour! The live Trilogy tour from 2015 too! Literally pull a concert tour name out of a hat for them and you can't go wrong honestly. LYSY concerts are INCREDIBLE. Any of those would be a really really good watch. 5th muster was EXCELLENT and should definitely be watched in full. I mean like honestly, pick ANYTHING and you'll have a good time! If you need help finding links to anything let me know and I'll try to help!!

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sitp-recs · 4 years ago

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hi :) i simply adore your blog and your fic recs are so spot on, you’ve made me fall back in love with drarry and hp. I rly love reading a fic before I go to sleep but I end up picking a 70k word one and end up staying up much longer than I wanted to so could you possibly recommend me any fics max 15k words, with a happy ending pls i need the cuteness to help me sleep 🥰 Thanku so so much xx

Hi anon! Thanks so much, I’m thrilled to know I had a small part in making you fall back in love with Drarry, that’s amazing! And what a mood lol I used to pick long fics before bed too, it’s a mighty trap 😂 I’ve read many short fics in the last year so I decided to go for these delightful and not-as-popular shorts, with excellent build up and happy endings. Perfect bedtime reads in my opinion! I got a bit too excited with this list so I’ll call it 31 Bedtime Reads! One for each day of the month ;) enjoy!

The Long Fall by @tackytigerfic (2021, M, 3.6k)

It's supposed to be a simple house renovation, and maybe it's just the paint fumes, but Harry is feeling dizzy around Draco Malfoy. And what's the real meaning of family, anyway?

oxygen by @maesterchill (2020, T, 4k)

Draco doesn’t smoke. Except when he needs to breathe.

A Charitable Christmas by Alisanne (2017, E, 5.6k)

Hermione’s plans to raise money for war orphans do not meet with Harry’s approval. Fortunately, Draco steps in to help him come up with a much more enjoyable strategy.

Harmony (Left-Handed Melody Remix) by mindabbles (2010, M, 5.8k)

He is the last person Draco was expecting, but then again, this is not a place Draco ever expected to be.

Vintage by momatu (2017, T, 7k)

Of all of the vineyards, in all of the regions, in all of France, Draco's blasted editor sends him to Potter's...

Our Ordinary Days by Lomonaaeren (2012, M, 8k)

Two men, both fathers of sons, meet in a bookshop. And the rest is the kind of history that doesn't make history.

Ice Snakes, Glow-worms and Wolverine Stew by khalulu (2015, M, 8.4k)

Harry Potter apparently wants to talk to Draco about something, but odd events keep getting in the way of that conversation – and bringing them closer together.

The Page Eleven Wars by fireflavored (2010, E, 8.5k)

In a gossip-hungry post-war Wizarding World, Rita Skeeter has a wildly successful column in the Daily Prophet known as Page Eleven. Naturally, her favourite targets are the poster boys of the two sides of the war: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter.

Blind Date by JosephineStone (2016, T, 8.6k)

Draco’s been working with Harry for years when another one of his relationships goes stale. He has to be married within a year, and though the WizNet has burned him in the past, Draco finds a new possibility in man as desperate to marry as he is.

Stories in E Minor by @huldrejenta (2014, E, 8.7k)

Draco has found his place in the Muggle world. He's got his music, he's got his neighbours and he is content. Until a certain someone from the past enters his life again.

Life goes not backward by @shealwaysreads (2020, T, 8.8k)

Harry still isn’t used to gifts, but this one is different. A story of coming home, finding safe ground, and the wild courage of putting down roots.

Til Our Compass Stands Still by china_nightingale (2018, M, 9k)

Harry and Draco eventually realise that things don't always go to plan, even if it's a plan they've been carefully crafting to keep themselves safe from each other.

The Interest Here by disapparater (2015, T, 9k)

Draco has his own morning show on the wireless, which he loves; an ambitious assistant, whom he needs; and days in The Tea Shop, where he relaxes. He also has a new caller on the show, whom he finds bloody annoying.

Tidings of Comfort series by @blamebrampton (2012, G, 10k)

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. Luckily for Draco Malfoy, London has places where the tired can rest and recover.

Sweet Indulgence by @the-sinking-ship (2020, E, 10k)

It doesn't matter that Marcy from Accounting is dancing on the tables, Shacklebolt is wearing antlers, and Elliot from Transportation is on his third round of Mariah Carey on karaoke because all the free champagne in the world won't salvage the Ministry Christmas party for Draco if Potter doesn't show up soon.

Settle in in my slow-burning heart by orphan_account (2015, NR, 10k)

Five years after the war Draco is working a tech developer job in the Auror Office, and it's all great except this one thing: Harry Potter works there, too.

Adventures in Truth and Texting by @fluxweeed (2020, E, 11k)

Former Death Eaters are being targeted with a Veritaserum curse – it’s permanent, and makes victims speak aloud their every thought. Luckily, it’s easier to control when writing.

fine i'll hold my breath / til i forget it's complicated by teatrolley (2015, NR, 11k)

Harry and Draco become friends with benefits, and Harry thinks it's more complicated than it actually is.

Rebuilding Draco Malfoy by khasael (2011, E, 11k)

Draco wants to do something to get his life back on track, but no-one seems to be taking him seriously – until he finds himself in an Auror training session led by Harry Potter.

Cold Like Fire by QueenofThyme (2012, M, 12k)

Head Auror Harry Potter had no problem with mandatory consent training for his team. He’d actually been looking forward to it, that is, until he discovered who the teacher was.

What’s My Age Again? by @lazywonderlvnd (2018, E, 12k)

Harry Potter has had enough of pleasing the public, and his reckless tendencies are finally getting out of hand.

Title of Their Sex Tape by @cibeewastaken (2020, T, 12k)

What are the Wizarding world's most elite law enforcers doing when they aren't catching criminals? It seems Auror Malfoy is often caught throwing food into Auror Potter's mouth when he's mid-yawn.

Kill, Fuck, Marry by @lettersbyelise (2018, E, 12.6k)

Harry and Draco unexpectedly meet again on Draco’s birthday, years after their last encounter.

The Year of Non-Magical Thinking by whiskyandwildflowers (2018, E, 13k)

“I don't know what I'm going to do, Potter. I'll think of something. So will you. But this is my journey to self-actualization," Draco managed to smirk. "You can fuck off and get your own."

Evolution by @potteresque-ire Pie (2013, M, 13k)

Draco Malfoy was condemned to live a Muggle’s life for his three-year probation. His wand was locked away, and he was forbidden to set foot in Wizarding Britain until Hermione Granger secured a job for him in the Aurors’ stock room.

Plan Alphabet by @xx-thedarklord-xx (2019, T, 14k)

After realizing that his feelings for Harry were unfortunately real, Draco embarks on a foolproof—yes, Longbottom, foolproof—plan to woo Potter.

Countdown by dysonrules (2013, M, 14k)

When the Wizarding world is plagued by random outbreaks of Dark Magic, the Ministry assigns Curse-Breakers to assist Auror teams on their missions.

All Roads Lead Home by @dracogotgame (2015, G, 15k)

Draco is strong-armed into spending the first Christmas after the War with the Weasleys. And Harry Potter.

Espresso Patronum by @tasteofshapes (2020, T, 15k)

When Draco reappears five years after the war and opens a wildly popular coffee shop, Harry’s pretty sure that Draco’s Up to Something. He just has to prove it.

An Act of Kindness for One Harry Potter by a Sympathetic Draco Malfoy by 0idontknow0 (2014, E, 15k)

Someone should give Potter a better rogering than that sorry sod had. The man had saved the bloody world—okay, mostly Europe—the least someone could do was give him a proper shag.

Turn and Face the Strange (time may change me) by @punk-rock-yuppie (2019, T, 16k)

Draco and Harry and how their relationship—and themselves—change over the course of eleven years.

#asks #anon #Drarry reclist #bedtime reads

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infinite-xerath · 3 years ago

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I’ve been a part of the tumblr League RP community for roughly a decade now. A lot has happened and a lot has changed. I’ve seen the uproar caused by the lore reboot back in 2015. I’ve seen old partners and friends go silent while new ones crop up. I’ve seen the exodus brought on by the poorly-handled NSFW purge (which completely failed, to no surprise) and the slow revival after the fact.

One of the first things I do every day is turn the computer on, eat breakfast, and pull up my tumblr dashboard. Once, it was filled with roleplay threads reblogged back and forth between dozens of blogs. Now it’s mostly a few dedicated veterans, like myself, and aesthetic posts.

I myself am no longer replying to threads daily or frequently as I once one. Unsurprisingly, I have much less free time and energy for it these days, and it doesn’t help that, as much as I dearly love RPing Xerath, it’s very difficult to get threads with this guy going because most long-term plots I could explore with him require muses and characters that simply aren’t around.

I’m not leaving, make no mistake. As I’ve said before: as long as tumblr is around, I intend to keep this blog running. Still, it’s definitely disheartening to know that the golden age of this RP community is behind us. The most annoying part is there are actually a decent few blogs around to interact with, but... Well, I don’t want to call anyone out or make anyone feel bad, but so many of them are these hyper-selective, mutuals-only blogs feel impossible to reach out to.

Sadly I doubt the RP community will ever be quite what it once was, but I don’t believe a revival of sorts is entirely out of the question, either. Obviously the biggest factor is just that we’re all a lot older now and don’t have the luxury of running a roleplay blog all day, but I think another key issue is just how... Disconnected we all feel from one-another now. Seldom does anyone actually reach out to plot or even talk anymore, and really, that sense of closeness and community is what I really miss about this RP scene.

So, let me just say this now: if you have even the slightest interest in interacting with me, be it in-character or not, I implore you to reach out. Ask box, messages, whatever. I don’t care if you’re a Champion, OC or canon-divergent. As perhaps one of the oldest hats still in the ring, let me assure you that EVERYONE is welcome in this community, and if anyone ever gives you cause to think other wise, screw them. We’re all dorks on the internet with a passion for League of Legends lore, so why not embrace it and each other?

Thanks for reading this far, and I hope to see you guys around for a long, long time to come.))

#Outofpower

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simtanico · 3 years ago

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Hi! I don't know if this is an annoying/difficult question, sorry if it is, but do you have any advice at all for modelling sims based off real people? Your sims are SO crazy good. When I try to make them they end up looking... eh... Vaguely like the person? But there's a huge gap between that and some kind of 'spark' some simmers seem to manage to capture.

Hello! Definitely not annoying. Difficult, as in how difficult it is to answer? Maybe. I'm gonna go off on a couple of tangents. But I'm gonna try my best to explain the process. Which isn't really much of one sorry.

There's a handful of tutorials and tips out there regarding reference photos and like... proportions and all that so I won't cover that.

I use that as a general guide of course, but mostly I just save some photos of the person at various angles and focus on one feature or two at a time. Literally going back and forth between reference photo and my game. I think if you try to get everything at the same time, it really makes it easy to get frustrated with whatever your sim looks like at the moment. Making sims in general is a combination of a LOT of things depending on your style.

I can point out ALL the flaws with my sims based on real people. In my experience, it’s about getting the defining features of a person close enough to the real thing so that it resembles them. I don't think you need a complete copy to get the point across, however i do think some people and features are harder to emulate than others. I've been working on some sims for YEARS, and they still don't work out lol

and take a look at this progression on my sim based on Z4ne H0ltz starting back in 2015!

that first screenshot:

Personally, I get a little lost if I work on a sim too much all at once. I find some time away makes me less tired and frustrated. Just pace yourself :)

Also if you need any help, shoot me a message here or on discord. I promise I don't judge or anything.. it's sims who cares lol

TO START...

I suggest starting with the head and its shape. Starting off with a game-generated sim, the first slider I get to is head width. It's usually too dang wide for my tastes. And then adjusting the general position of the the features. You can always change things later, so you don't have to know exactly what you're going to do, but as I've mentioned before, sculpting sims up in CAS is just practice with sliders! Also in the long run, you may want to use Pu+Chi House's Smooth Face Normals slider! I attempt to explain and show what it does here. I've uploaded the slider here: https://simfileshare.net/download/984204/

This is gonna be a doozy sorry in advance if the read more doesn't work

SLIDERS SLIDERS SLIDERS

Big sliders like Pu+Chi House’s face shape sliders dramatically change the face shape, and it could save you a lot of time! I highly suggest using these to get rid of the weird large jaw sims can get.

Play with different sliders and how they interact with one another! Example: jaw width and Cheek Fullness affect the same area. if you need a wide jaw and don’t want cheek distortion, you can use cheek fullness, lower the jaw width slider and then edit the cheekbones from there

Knowing what sliders move what and how it can work to your advantage is key! I cover this in my reply post about noses.

For visual reference:

I start out with my nose but I want the nostrils to sit further on the outside

so i go in and use the nose width slider and raise it to widen the lower nose:

Then lower the nostril scale slider

Comparison:

as you can see, i kind of achieved what I wanted, but also widened the nose tip too! Welp, that takes another slider I have, Tip Width. And I'll adjust that accordingly! It's really just a matter of what you're going for and what you're going to have to compensate for as a result!

That said, our community has made some awesome sliders that open up so many possibilities and even eliminate the need to do that multi-slider tango. I wouldn't even know where to begin (wish I wanted to make videos because I could talk for an hour about sliders)

For example @pitheinfinite made sliders that can make sims look better and more realistic, I'm jealous at what they've achieved!

They have their Inner Corner to Nose slider that moves an area of the sim's face hat make eyebags and the shadows and lines appear farther out from the inner eye. It saves you from having to use cheek sliders to mimic the effect and thus ruining the face shape you have going

It's truly an INDISPENSABLE slider. One of many!

Since I make sliders, I usually just make some to specifically fix whatever issue I'm having. Granted they're made with general function in mind, which makes my cheater-y way of making things happen more useful in the future. I have about 50 experimental unfinished sliders in my game and can tell you that all my current sims use them for some reason or other. So I'm not working with nothing, I guess?

EYE SPY 👁

The best way to really get nice accurate looking sims is the eyes.

Pay attention to the slant of the eye, the shape and position of the upper and lower eyelids. you can use the game’s Eyelid Height slider, and AWT’s Eyelid width and height sliders (and many more)

and especially where the iris (green) sits relative to the eyelid. getting that shape and eyeball positioned correctly really makes a HUGE difference

I do suggest Bloom’s Eye slider (left and right) that rotate the eyes left and right. That along with their Lazy eye sliders can give your sims a less symmetric face and position the eyes to be FAR more accurate and realistic than the default.

I also recommend their vertical sliders (Eye lift or drop) to help with eye positioning.

I can't stress the importance of the right contacts or eyes for your sims. Of course it all depends on how you make your sims's eyes and all that. Take the last sim i posted about. It took forever and a half to find the right contacts that didn't need severe or intense editing to capture the same vibe the person he's based on. The problem is pretty persistent for me, and I am just speaking for myself when I say this is necessary. Iris size, shading, recolorability, detail, catch lights, and pupil position are things to consider for your play style and preferences.

In addition to seeing what eyes will do the trick, I do edit the catch lights in the screenshots to give the eyes a different emotion or look. (I use defaults that get rid of the game-generated catch lights, and supernatural eye glow.) It's nice when that's all it is and I don't have to go in and photoshop things in and out to make them look human lmao

Perfect, schmerfect

And just know that as long as you have the same vibe or look going on it doesn't need to be perfect! Things will evolve over time, and you can change and perfect things as you go along, but close is better than trying to achieve an exact replica. We are working with the limitations of sliders and the optimized meshes they work on! So yeah there might be jagged bits or the profile might not exactly match and some things might not be accurate, but that's okay! Considering what sims look like at their default, you should be proud! I use the same mf eyebrows on all my sims basically and I tell myself they're just placeholders (yeah, right), but I manage to make them work with what I have!

Sliders, Makeup, and Skins, oh my!

a good base skin is critical, but not the end of the world if you pick the wrong one. They determine kind of definition and types of features highlighted on a sim 100000% and you might lose a feature you like or dislike when you change them! Feel free to switch up between skins you have to find the best fit.

Makeup can be a game-changer though!!! Any details you can add and help make your sim look the most like the person you're basing them off can go MILES.

In some cases, I've actually gotten really interesting results trying to get my sculpt as close as possible to real life references so the makeup makes a difference but don't define the features by themselves. Still, though, I utilize makeup up a LOT. [remember that if you use Nraas, you can layer makeup. Right-clicking makeup will also remove it if it's applied :)]

Here's the last sim i posted about when removing makeup:

no nosemasks really replicates the face-claim's nose (too shiny at the lower part) but it'll do 🤷‍♀️

Freckles, eyebags, highlighters, face shadows, pores, nosemasks, etc are all great!!

The way you move your sliders WILL effect how these look, so don't rely on makeup that adds super-specific detail or goes over an area you know is a jumbled mess because of sliders!

I do have a mess of recommendations and wcifs for skins and makeup. replies tag | wcif tag

[also I love compiling wcif cc lists for my sims it's great]

Finally, I appreciate your comment about my sims, mainly because I know they're not ever really exact copies or as close as I want to be to their real life counterparts, so thanks!! I've seen fellow simmers get really good results without messing as much as I do and I love when people can make really good maxis match likenesses because it's just so damn cool! It's truly a talent. I'm not one of those lucky few, but I like to try my way at it anyway. After what feels like some good progress I'll post a pic here. Even after doing this forever I don't feel like I'm an expert or can get good results in a shorter amount of time, but it's just fun to see the progression (or regression) of how my sims look.

#long post #replies #no tutorials just rambling and vibes~~~~

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instant-angel-chaos · 2 years ago

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knowing your partner well can potentially make writing a lot easier, repost, do not reblog.

NAME: Grim

PRONOUNS: she / her

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: Uhhh, i don't really mind? I mostly use tumblr; im constantly active on discord but i mostly use my discord only for streaming related purposes!

NAME OF MUSE(s): I have many! Many that i haven't written with on tumblr before, but the current active ones are: Dakota (demon), Chase (fallen angel/his human verse), Logan, Skyler, Alec, Faith, Ruth (demon/her human verse) The pinned post on the blog takes you to my muses page!

EXPERIENCE/HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?) : uhh, i think i started writing on tumblr around 2015-2016? Before that i have experience with roleplaying for about 4 years? and before that i have years of experience with writing in general.

BEST EXPERIENCE: I met my best friend through tumblr! He passed away in 2016 but i will be forever grateful for getting to meet such an impactful, caring and amazing person through here. I miss him dearly. In present day i have met a few newer people i have absolutely adored writing and talking with; they've made me feel less lonely and restore/upkept my adoration for writing!

RP PET PEEVES/DEALBREAKERS : Uhhhh,, probably following my blog, never interacting with me in person (through im's, rp memes etc) and then using me as an rp meme source/musings source. When it comes to writing, i prefer longer replies but don't mind shorter ones as long as there's enough to go on about - however, i get overwhelmed if i start feeling like it's entirely on my shoulders to move the story along. I get not wanting to godmod but it's really hard to write if the story feels like it's not going anywhere/there's little to no proper interaction between the characters because the other person 'doesn't want to do anything my muse wouldnt want' which results in the scenes dragging on and on and nothing happening and me having to write out any sort of progress by myself :c idk if this is just me,,, (im also entirely down to message while writing so you can ALWAYS message me and be like "is it ok if i do this" etc and i would very much prefer that over the alternative option!) I also really dont enjoy reading r*pe smut, especially untagged, and have people play it off as a kink.

MUSE PREFERENCES FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT : anything goes, honestly. I love it all. I would be entirely lying though if i didn't admit i adore writing smut,, I love plot with a side of smut, i love smut with a side of plot. Character chemistry and heated scenes are just right up my alley!

PLOTS OR MEMES: Either! I absolutely LOVE plotting in person and doing multiple threads, different AU's; EVERYTHING! But i also love it when i can send in memes to my mutuals/my mutuals respond to memes i've reblogged - a nice balance between the two is nice!

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i do have a preference for longer replies; i like including a good amount of insight to my character's thoughts to be able to,, kind of flesh out the chemistry and relationship between our muses. But on top of that obviously there needs to be interaction to move the story along, so i gravitate towards having at least 3 paragraphs.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Uhmmm,,, who knows honestly? During the day, sometimes in the degen hours of the night.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): In a lot of ways; yes. But I do keep them as very much seperate characters from myself as I'd feel uncomfortable writing the type of stuff i do if i thought of the muses as "too much like me", yknow? Feel free to 'steal' this from me, and repost to your blog! I dont wanna tag people because i dont wanna annoy you, BUT if you're seeing this: just assume that i do want to see you posting this <3

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kanmom51 · 4 years ago

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Ok, this might be a bit controversial but even though I side eye many "jeonlous" moments on yt or other media because they literally just zoom in on jk's impassive face, I have seen some that seem legit. I think there is some truth behind it all, meaning that it is possible that jk is a bit possessive, especially when it comes to minimoni or even Taemin for some reason. I mean, he has said he had trouble sharing and it is not difficult to imagine this would also apply to his relationships.

This is not to say that he thinks Namjoon or any of the other members are a threat to his relationship with Jimin because that would be ridiculous. It's just that maybe sometimes he doesn't like some of their skinship (for whatever reasons we don't know) and the rest of bts is probably aware of it. I mean, that clip you reblogged where Jimin sneakily looks at jk and then proceeds to touch namjoon's thigh doesn't have many other explanations. He probably knew what he was doing 😂 There is also that part of their live post billboard 2017 where something was going on with jikook and namjoon.

Actually, I think this is true for both jk and jm, even if it is less obvious/frequent. Maybe I'm crazy but I got the same kind of vibe from Jimin in the black swan mv behind when jk was hanging off of tae.

I don't mean to imply they are toxic or anything but they are young adults and while some telenovela like narratives going around are just insane, i don't think it is fair to assume that their relationship is perfect and that they don't do things that annoy each other or that they don't have behaviors that aren't exactly ideal or 100% healthy. Especially because problems are bound to rise if they are a couple but constantly have to act as if they weren't because their relationship is not public.

I know you are really open minded so I would love to read your thoughts on this 💜

Where do I start here?

Controversial is good. I like me a good controversy once in a while, as long a it’s not offensive. It makes for good discussion.

No, I do not believe and definitely don’t like the Jeonolous narrative out there. It makes for fun YT content, but it’s toxic and paints JK as this possessive ass, which I don’t think he is.

I have addressed this in the past, and said that I don’t believe in this narrative, but on the other hand I do see JK and JM as human beings, and as such, not perfect and prone to natural human behaviour and reactions.

Even those who are not prone to jealousy, that are in the best of relationships, can get jealous once in a while.

Another thing we need to remember is that what we spot as jealous can be something other than the obvious possessive jealousy we automatically tend to associate that word with. It could be something like annoyance or discomfort in a situation.

The dictionary definition of ‘jealous’ is:

feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages.

feeling or showing a resentful suspicion that one's partner is attracted to or involved with someone else.

fiercely protective of one's rights or possessions.

As you can see, what we call as jealousy can contain within it several meanings. There is possessive jealousy. There is jealous of one other’s advantage, such as their connection with someone else. There is jealous not of the connection with the other, but the ability to showcase that connection (being able to be free with the other, while you have to hide your own connection), and there is what I call the classic jealousy, when there is a suspicion your partner is attracted to someone else.

With all those there is also a spectrum of levels of jealousy, from low level jealousy to toxic jealousy.

JM & JK’s relationship doesn’t live in a vacuum. If we believe they are in a loving gay relationship, well they are living that relationship while being K-pop idols in SK, a highly traditional society. They are in an environment you are not supposed to have a romantic relationship, let alone an unthinkable ‘gay’ relationship. So, showcasing such a relationship, for them, is problematic, and could be dangerous, to their careers and even their own personal safety. It can be detrimental not only to themselves, but to the band and all the members. So, as a whole, they have to hide it. And that in itself can also be a point of friction.

Another thing to point out is that jealousy can also be a facet of insecurity, in yourself and/or in your relationship. The stronger the relationship, the more secure you are in your connection, the less jealous you will be. I think that this is something to take into consideration when we look at JM & JK, especially in the early years.

Also, not every time that JK pokes his cheeks with his tongue does it mean he’s jealous or angry. Not every behaviour should be interpreted as jealously.

Saying all that, I have seen several occasions that stood out to me, and I find hard to explain.

The 4th July 2015 fan meeting incident is one of them. The way JK reacted to RM taking a hold of JM was not only jealous behaviour but it was such an extreme reaction and effected JK’s behaviour with the fans as well, which was really unprofessional, and uncharacteristic.

Same vibe but not as extreme was JK during BTS Bomb after KBS music bank 1st place 9 May 2015. moody JK when he’s eyeing Jimin interacting with Hobi and Jin, also the way JK averts his eyes when Jimin looks his way. He’s not happy. Mood changes when Jimin pays him attention pulling him by his shirt.

Both of these were, at least as far as I am concerned, before JM & JK’s relationship progressed into something ‘more’. This could be a kind of ‘I want that’ or ‘why are you giving him attention and not me’ jealousy. Whatever it was, it was a clear reaction to JM’s interactions with another member of the band.

Another one I think about was 3rd April 2017 – BTS Front row live entertainment interview.

This one intrigues me. I watched and re-watched the full interview several times, and for the life of me I can’t see what happened there between JM and Hobi that triggered JK’s reaction? JM’s placating look at JK, like telling him nothing happened… this one is used a lot to create the JK jealous narrative, and to be honest, I really don’t know what happened there. When JK turns back, JM looks into the camera with an uneasy gaze. Something was going on there, no idea what it was. Was it jealousy? Was it something else between them? Idk, but it was a curious moment.

The issues JK has with Taemin. We do know that something happened between JK & JM the night JM performed with Taemin (if it had to do with Taemin we don’t know).

We have also seen JK’s reactions to Taemin & Jimin together. I do think there is a dislike there, it can stem from jealousy, but it can also stem from simple dislike of the man. We have no way of knowing. It’s kind of who came first, the chicken or the egg.

The clip I reblogged, and that you mentioned anon, is something else to me. Yes, JK’s reaction is of uneasiness, even anger, but the feel I get here is that this is a JM kind of teaching moment, and JK reacting to that. It feels like JM wants to teach him a lesson for some reason, and JK crossing his arms and look at JM kind of radiates anger more than jealousy to me. The way JM stretches out his hands, the look on his face before he puts his hands on RM’s thigh, the way he looks back before and after to make sure JK is looking. He was there to teach him a lesson. That was my impression. We have no idea what happened before or after. We have no idea why JM decided to do this, but JK’s reaction to me was more pissed off than jealous. That’s the vibe I got.

I have seen JM reacting in a manor that looks like jealousy on occasions. The one I can think about is the Vlive where JK is sitting in front of Tae, JM on the other side of the table, and Tae is using JK as his play thing. The way JM looks at them, the way he storms out the second the live ends, the way Tae pipes up immediately, looking like he’s off to follow JM. They all paint a jealous or angry reaction.

JM was clearly bothered but I don’t think of this as JM being jealous of Tae & JK. I think the bond between those three is strong enough. Again, this was one of those questionable moments.

Bottom line –

JK & JM are human beings, and as such exhibit normal human behaviour.

Jealousy can be considered as a normal human behaviour, and can also be seen in healthy relationships, as long as it doesn’t become toxic, obsessive, overbearing or controlling. I will even go so far as to say that there are those who thrive on jealousy. Jealousy is a way for them to feel their partner loves them, a way to get reinforcement that they are wanted/loved. Again, this is something that can turn toxic, but not always.

Jealousy has different facets. You can be jealous of someone, jealous for someone.

Do JK or JM sometimes show jealous behaviour. Seemingly they do once in a while.

Does that make one or either of them jealous monsters? Does that make their relationship possessive or toxic?

By no means what so ever!!!!!

It’s natural, it’s human, they are human. Their relationship has ups and downs. It holds a beautiful bond filled with love and care, but also may hold insecurities and arguments and everything a normal relationship between two human beings will hold.

We just need to give them a break.

It’s ok to ‘analyze’ behaviours, but it’s not ok to demonize either one of them. See the behaviour, talk about it, but also remember we only see part of the picture, the edited version of what is going on between the two.

And first and utmost remember they are human beings, just like the rest of us. Don’t hold them up to ridiculous standards because they are ‘idols’.

#ask #anon #Jungkook #Jimin #JM #JK #Jikook #stop the Jeonolous narrative #Don't hold JK & JM up to ridiculous standards #JK & JM are only human #Stop demonizing JM & JK

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kachulein · 3 years ago

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Check-In Tag

I was tagged by @calcifer-rose and @marculees to do this tag. Thank you🥺💞💞

1. why did you choose your url?

Kachu is my nickname and "-lein" is a German diminutive to make it sound cuter since kachu by itself was already taken.

2. any side blogs?

Yes! I have quite a few but the only one that I actively check up on/post on at the moment is my astrology blog @dreamyaqua ...and even there I have been quite inactive due to studying for exams.

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

Since December 2012 :')))

4. do you have a q tag?

Yes! I mainly use my "q: daydreaming💫" tag but I also have one for sleeping (that I keep forgetting to use) and I kind of replaced my "busy busy" queue tag with the daydreaming one as well. Rarely, I might temporarily make a new one with "sick/ill" or something to kind of also explain why I might be inactive/not replying to messages.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

I'm actually not sure... I made a tumblr but didn't use it for a few years because it was too confusing to me. Then in 2014/2015 I used it here and there to reblog emo posts and then in 2016 I started getting into the kpop side of tumblr and became gradually more active (only really started interacting with people after starting my writing side blog in 2018, though).

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Because it fits my current blog aesthetic/colour theme and Yeonjun is one of my ult biases.

7. why did you choose your header?

Pretty much the same applies to my header as well. Yes, I'm a sucker for Yeonjun. c:

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

Oof...on main, I really don't know. I've made my fair share of kpop meme posts that garnered >1k notes but I couldn't say which one of those is number one. But my most popular post overall is a Bang Chan blurb I wrote on my (now mostly inactive) sideblog @fluffyheadcanons that counts >2.1k notes as of now.

9. how many mutuals do you have?

I used to keep track of them in a little booklet so that I didn't forget anyone (especially with tag games, checking up on them, and also to update their url changes) because I had >100 mutuals. I've lost touch with most of them and a lot of them aren't active on tumblr anymore, so now I keep a small circle of lovely moots with some that I've been friends with for years and others I've met in the past year!^-^ 💞💞

10. how many followers do you have?

It keeps fluctuating but it's around 1.5k~

11. how many people do you follow?

About 271 as of now~

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

Ever? You mean, all the time? Yes, that sounds more like it. :')

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

Hmm...some days more, some days less. I probably pop in at least once a day (most of the time) but I'm not as crazily active as I was in the earlier days (I literally lived on here ok😭).

14. did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

Hm... not a fight per se... but there were a few instances.

1) Back in 2019 I believe, I got an anon ask saying that one of my mutuals was talking shit about me on their blog and they asked me whether we had a fight (we didn't). So I went and messaged said mutual and asked what this is about and whether I've done something to upset them. They never replied and also unfollowed me and all, so to this day, I still have no idea what the heck happened.

2) I had a similar situation with a second mutual as well, there wasn't an anon involved but I just suddenly realized that they unfollowed me on every social media we connected on and same as above, to this day, I still have no idea what I did wrong/whether I did something to upset them.

3) I won't go into much detail here because what happened is very personal but this mutual was one of my first friends here on tumblr and they were without a doubt the person I talked to the most. We had similar struggles and could relate to each other well. Then there was a personal issue and I confronted them about it... I wasn't mad but I just wanted to know the truth because I don't like being lied to... but they never replied to me and it marked the end of our friendship. This one is the hardest for me to get over because we weren't just mutuals, we were so much closer than that. More than anything, I just miss them and think it's sad how we went from talking all day every day to being strangers. But life goes on...

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

Depending on what it is about they make me a bit uncomfortable. I know that those posts who threaten you are all about superstitions but it still scares me/I don't wanna risk anything y'know😔

16. do you like tag games?

Yes!! I really love these type of games, so moots or anyone who's reading this, feel free to tag me in games, I'm always up for doing them! And I don't mind getting spammed either, it just means more fun games for me!^-^

17. do you like ask games?

Yes, I love them! But I don't want to annoy people so I haven't reblogged one in ages ^^"

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Hmm... I'd say Qiu (@stealerz) and Key (@key201303)!!🥺💞💞

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

I'll join Niamh here and say squishes! I do have those on my moots because you're all so precious and ily!!!👉🏻👈🏻🥺

20. tags?

@jsczclpjs @jellihye @stealerz @key201303 @interstellix @oddlittlefandomist @marriael @jbemin and anyone else who'd like to do it!~💞💞

#tagged #tag #check in tag

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