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vintagelacerosette · 2 years ago

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Artist/ Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by the magnificent darling Chrissy @you-are-so-much-better-than-that who came up with the artist questions, the sensational sweetheart Harvey @mikhailoisbaby & honeypie Willow @ian-galagher thank youuu 🥰

1. Do you post on Ao3? If so, how many works do you have on AO3? If not, where do you post?

I don't post my art on ao3 but on tumblr 😊

2. What is your total art count?

17 🎨

3. What are your top 5 pieces by likes/kudos?

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do respond by liking them bc most comments are in the tags & idk should i respond in the comments? lol

5. What is your current fandom, and what was the first fandom you drew for?

Current fandom: Gallavich & First fandom i drew for & shared my art is Gallavich but probably first fandom was maybe soul eater

6. Have you ever received hate on any art?

Not hate but a complaint on my gallacrafts for theme 11 I'm fucking gay. I got an anon asking why I made the lesbian flag & put the phrase I'm fucking gay & i that should have just done lesbian although I had actually made both but it was on the part 2 bc i had a limit of 10 pictures.

7. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t drawn for yet but want to?

Maybe Spirk or Soul x Maka from Soul Eater

8. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Gallavich most definitely, they hit all my likes in a ship plus they're canon & married to boot! #spoiled 😆

9. Do you draw outside of fandom?

Yeah I started getting back into drawing with makinng flowers for mutual's birthday 🥰 I've also made little mascots of baby animals for my niece's baby shower

10. What’s the an art piece you’ve drawn that came out completely differently than you expected?

Probably the GGE2022 for Macy. I had some other ideas. Also their poses were gonna be different like it was either the back of them looking at snow or tumbled into the snow on top of an ny roof top but still not the best at figure drawing so i just did the best of my abilities 😄

11. Do you draw smut?

Not yet but one day 😏

12. Have you ever had any of your art stolen or copied?

Not that I know of

13. Have you ever collaborated on a piece?

No but I think it could be fun to do 🖼

14. What’s an idea you have that you have yet to draw?

Snow king Mickey & Snowflake fae Ian that was gonna be my 2nd choice for the GGE2022 but i loved making fanart for Macy 🥰

Crop top Ian & Mickey in Ian's ROTC hat

Smoo fae Mickey in Ian's arms from a reference pic i saw here

15. What are your drawing strengths?

Faces, hair, blushing & colouring maybe?

16. What are your drawing weaknesses?

Poses, hands & backgrounds

17. What’s your favourite art piece you’ve drawn?

I would say my good omens au I simply adorethe little details I put into the drawing. I referenced Mickey's outfit in Ian's delete scene dream. Ian's outfit is 7x10 just in darker colours. I loved being able to create Ian's ombre eyes by colour picking Cameron's hazel ones. Ian's hair shading. The heart wings & being able to creat the wing texture on the angel wing. AND their signature shows with the timberland & bright read air forces!!! I had such a fun time drawing this 🥰 Also it was my 100,000 post lol

18. What is one thing you’d like to tell people about your art that they might not know?

My gallavich art is the first time I've been colouring my drawings. When I drew a lot in high school I would just do the line art & was too hesitant to colour them.

19. What inspires or motivates you to create for fandom?

Definitely you guys! Being able to make you guys smile. As well as your creations & the creating events 💕🖌

20. And finally, can you describe your process a little? Do you have a favourite place to draw? Do you play something in the background? Do you do research or just go for it? Give us a little insight.

I do like to crawl up into a hunched ball on the lounge couch or my bed (which should stop bad for posture lol) Then I do enjoy playing YouTube video essays about internet history/horror games I'd never play or movie reactions.

Also, I am more of an artist who researches & and works with many references. I got a whole lotta unclosed tabs of Ian & Mickey, body poses & clothes that i forgot to close lol.

So I’m not a fic writer yet! 😉 But here are the interviews questions if you guys wanna ❤️

Fic Writer Interview

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

7. Do you write crossovers?

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

15. What are your writing strengths?

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’m tagging these twinkling hearts if they wanna play 🥰 @mrsinistertype @crossmydna @friend-bear @darthvaders-wife @psychicskulldamage @divine-gallavich @very-sleepy-head @deathclassic @celestialmickey @depressedstressedlemonzest @suchagallabitch @bekkachaos @ianandmickeygallavich @milkoviched @grumpymickmilk @gallavichgeek @annatrow @sisitrip @lalazeewrites @imikhailotakeyouian @look-i-love-u @suzy-queued @y0itsbri @mishervellous @filorux @jomilky @auds-and-evens @xninetiestrendx @beebabycastiel @bravemikhailo @arrowflier @shameless-notashamed @adakechi @skies-below @takeyourpillsbitchh @mikcrymilkovich @tsuga-of-mars @ardent-fox @you-show-me-love @wehangout

#tag game #artist interview

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tentacledtherapist · 8 months ago

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Lisa,

Per our last letter: I am so impressed! Physics is fascinating but I do not have the brain for it. I love when my friends who love math and physics tell me about it though, they make it make sense, you know? My last roommate kept a whiteboard in her room and just FILLED it with mathematics and would dissect math problems in conversations with us in order to solve them. It was fun. Pity about the Men In STEM type of Personality though, I'm sure you're a delight to chat with minus the golf. Funny, I get zapped myself.... not irregularly? I like the way it makes my fingertips buzz.

As for essayists and Youtubers I also quite like Jacob Geller and watch Bernadette Banner, Bernadette is an inspiration to me. I'm very familiar with both nightmind and Defunctland, I also share a theme park fascination. I love videos of urban exploration in places like that, as well as the technology behind them. My specific fascination is dark rides, but I also enjoy just watching rollercoaster videos too just cuz they're neat. I started in the theme park side of youtube when I started watching Haunted House runthrough videos, looking at the effects and costumes, then it moved on to the dark rides and went from there.

I also watch Morgan Donner, Nicole Rudolph, Karolina Zebrowska, Sew Rena and Rebecca Maksy who are in the same vein of creator as Bernadette. I also enjoy doll creators in the background like Dollightful and Hextian, etellan and Poppen Atelier. Essayists I like, or content creators in general, Athena P is deeply funny, Strange Aeons and Izzyzz are very popular, Kaz Rowe is my BELOVED for a LGBT perspective on history, Li Speaks and Dream Jelly for nostalgia essays, CZWorld and Dead Meat are great for horror, Caitlin Doughty for some really good insight on death work and death culture though she is by no means the last and only creator i follow on that, and hazelyt with their AMAZING creepypasta retrospective I cannot recommend more. If you like horror, but not necessarily campy horror, check out the yt channel nana825763. They made the famous username666 but made this absolutely insane short film called "my house walkthrough" that is a must see for those who like horror that allows you to dissect it moment to moment but isn't very long. Entirely practical effects, I cannot stress how much this formed a huge portion of my standards for scary stuff that doesn't rely on jumpscares, but pure artistry. They literally destroyed this house over time to get each take for the movie so it is WILD to imagine how they did it (the behind the scenes is also amazing).

- Creature

P.s.: I'm so glad you liked Frankenhooker! Definitely one of those sleeper hits that you can tell inspired some of LF, along with things like Re-Animator and Weird Science, Death Becomes Her too (which has some WILD old effects). But I also see the Heathers and Edward Scissorhands comparisons. Not sure if you're a Heathers fan?

i do like heathers quite a bit! and i love edward scissorhands! all the movies you mentioned there i’ve seen more than once and i like ‘em a lot! there’s a thing i’ve seen around more than once about how if lisa frankenstein the movie was actually made in the 80’s, we’d be played by johnny depp and winona ryder, which i do kinda agree with-

thank you for the recommendations too!!!! i cannot wait to check out “my house walkthrough”! it sounds so so so cool, omg. for your little description, it reminds me of, like, wham city comedy’s projects “unedited footage of a bear” and “this house has people in it”? both of which i absolutely LOVED

plus i’m a sucker for good practical effects? i love when you can watch an effect and see viscerally how real it is, because something is actually happening on set? even if it isn’t “perfect,” at least it’s real, ya know?

it’s the same principle as my fascination with theme park engineering? cause a lot of those places have to conceal the actual inner workings of things to maintain illusion, but they’re all real and practical and i think it’s so fun to try and figure out every bit of engineering that went into how the effects work? it’s like a puzzle, i guess

real, physical special effects are just so so cool

- Lisa

#ps: you’ve been chatting with me for a few weeks now so i’ll leave the judgment to you #do you think i’m a delight to chat with?#:P

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adrianvarelablog · 1 year ago

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London City Orchestra autumn concert

This autumn I was invited to guest conduct the London City Orchestra, a fabulous, well-run orchestra made up of professionals, amateurs, and high-level music students, in their 10th anniversary year. The programme was big and varied: Ravel’s ‘La Valse’, Britten’s ‘Sinfonia da Requiem’, and the 8-movement version of Tchaikowsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ suite, to which we added the Finale to round things off, the famous tune thus bookending the ballet music.

The LCO and I have known each other for a few years now, with me coming in sporadically as a coach for different sections, and the occasional tutti rehearsal. But this was the first time they’d entrusted me with an entire project, from 1st rehearsal to public performance on Remembrance Day, which -we couldn’t have known at the time the schedule was drawn up -happened also to coincide with the largest Humanitarian/Ceasefire-in-Palestine march in the UK’s history. Trying to find unblocked roads through the capital on my rented bike with the scores and baton in the basket after busses, tubes, and taxis proved unavailable, I was half an hour late to the dress rehearsal.

This project was a good opportunity to implement my Orchestra Redefined approach. At its heart, the source of the approach is respect and love for others. If this seems like a dreamy, mystical claim and the reader would prefer that I spoke more technically or pragmatically, I’d say that my conducting, orchestral, and rehearsal techniques are merely the outward manifestations of a core that seeks to plunge into the orchestral players’ musicianship, outlooks and life experiences, and help them bring them out, channelling them into their playing as part of a large team. Contextualising the music, and relating it to our own experiences, from the most exalted to the mundane -often at the same time- is key.

The conductor here is one quite literally, a primus inter pares; no longer a despot, or at the very least, the archetypical figure of total power. A good degree of power the conductor may be perceived to end up with, in this approach, comes through the relinquishing of it to the players; in creating avenues for the individuals’ expression in concert with those around her/him/them: a kind of anti-power, more a Zen modus operandi.

Naturally, I have a firm, as-informed-as-possible artistic vision of the works we’re engaging with, and I’ll straighten the orchestra out whenever they need to be. I tell them off if I have to, and never accept anything less than the absolute best they (or any orchestra) can give. I always insist, albeit with kindness, empathy, relaxed humour, pulling their leg, self-deprecating, or other means, whichever fills the need on the spur of the moment. But the more collaborative pathway, with highly trained orchestral musicians, often for the first time in their lives, being both invited and then shown ways to bring their hard-won musicianship into the symphonic context, reaps a joyous musical-human garden of sorts. The people within the players emerge, their voices are heard, their experiences and outlooks are validated, and this is shared with others and with myself in musical conversation. The artistic results are of a very high standard, the people behind the instruments being happy, motivated, and engaged, with a sense of being valued.

The concert, with a brief speech from me relating our music to the day’s commemoration as well as current events, was a powerful, joyous affair that received a standing ovation. Later, the orchestra kindly wrote some of their thoughts on the term’s work. Their most used were: thanks, love, inspiration, fun, energy, passion, joy, insightful, relaxed, personable, and dynamism, and many mentioned how much they had learned. To them, and for the opportunity to share all of this with them, I am deeply grateful.

photo credit: @tradephotographer

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ofmdsalt · 3 months ago

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you raise some great points!

the interpretation of what is 'canon' within something more complex like tv and film that requires so many more people than a static text. so many people with their own thoughts and feelings, bringing their own ideas to the table, and having that affect the 'canon' of the show as well

they, too, are bringing in parts of their subjective realities that help them inform their characters. that help them get into the headspaces of those characters and even share some of their own ideas outside of the text

i think some terms can help us here and that is of intertext and hypertext. these are all just words meant to describe the ongoing relationships texts have to one another.

to keep things simple, let's think of hypertext as something within one text linking to another. so this could be the use of a direct quote of one book produced within another. an easy example with this in the show is the use of many, many mainstream songs. the use of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain acts as such a loud hypertext, linking you to another piece of a media that in itself has a meaning beyond the show it was played in

intertext is a bit more subtle than that. a text may be heavily inspired by something else in the way it is constructed and almost works in dialogue with another piece of writing, but it is still entirely it's own thing. a really good example of this is s2:e5 Fun and Games, which Jenkins has said was heavily based on "Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" many of the story beats between this play and Fun and Games the episode are the same, but OFMD takes a decidedly different approach with it because it has new characters and a new setting, thus making it a new thing despite being heavily inspired by a previous text

i think these understandings of hypertext and intertext can be applied to how cast and crew interpret the text and the characters. Taika has expressed his inspiration for Ed and Izzy as being from Jesus and Judas in the play Jesus Christ Superstar. Wee Jon Wednesdays are an excellent source of additional commentary from various members of the cast on different characters that give fans new and interesting insight in them that can then factor into their fanworks

hell even the entire concept of the show is a form of hypertext and intertext as it's based off of what details Jenkins could pull from the 1724 text "A General History of the Pyrates"

this is a fun part of the creative experience in general so why would you limit yourself to just what's in canon? why use canon as the soul authority of meaning when that goes against so much of literary and artistic tradition in general?

my favorite thing about antis crying "it's not canon" is when they have their own Favorite Character representation that's 100% not supported by canon

for real, anon

many parts of this fandom are so obsessed with 'canon' as a weapon and a 'fuck you' to fans they don't like

people don't seem to understand the freedom that comes with the whole notion of 'Death of the Author' as both a literary framework and an understanding that the moment a piece of art of any form (be it writing, photographs, videos, etc) enters the public domain, the author no longer has any control over how that piece of art will be interpreted or understood.

a lot of fans in OFMD should take note of that.

like the word canon isn't supposed to mean 'my reading of the text is more correct than yours.' it's meant to be neutral in terms of literary analysis. it's meant to be simply that which occurs within the body of text. but people will have their own interpretations and understandings of the text based on their own subjective realities. i don't have to agree with those realities, but i'm not going to go out of my way (at least for now, we'll see how salty i get) to shit on someone else's reading of a text.

you want to read Stede as GNC? fine. that's not my interpretation of the character but you do you.

you think Ed's gender journey is more important than Jim's? i'd rather focus on the only non binary character in the show than another cis character but sure. have your gender critiques and analyses as it pertains to a cis character.

you see how im not going back to the argument of 'well in the TEXT' or 'well in CANON' to make any of my arguments here? because the way canon is used in this fandom's discourse is stupid and pedantic

this is fandom. this is a sandbox. canon was thrown out the window the moment the show aired. people will do what they please with the text. the author is dead indeed. all hail the author

#ofmd #ofmd critical #i got long winded there lol

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transcend-and-evolve-with-renzo · 2 years ago

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The Fantastic Music of Slum Village

In this blog, I will be discussing three albums created by the legendary hip-hop group known as Slum Village. These albums are titled Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1, Fantastic, Vol. 2, and Fantastic, Vol. 2.10. I will discuss the differences between each of these three projects and discuss the history behind them. Let's dive right in!

To start things off, allow me to introduce the original members of Slum Village. Taking a look at the picture posted above, original members of the group, from left to right, consisted of T3, Baatin, and J Dilla. The three met in high school back in the 90s and began making music for fun. It's at this point that I would highly encourage people to read Dan Charnas's book titled "Dilla Time" (https://a.co/d/5UVnlxa). It gives amazing insight into the life of J Dilla and his relationship with his family, friends, the music community at the time, and music history as a whole. It's an amazing read.

J Dilla was the heart and soul of the group. He was a musical genius and mastermind who would create the most amazing beats/compositions out of seemingly thin air. His signature drum sound provided an unforgettable rhythm for the entire group to vibe to and share with the world at large. According to Dan Charnas, J Dilla practically invented a new way to feel time by creating, what Dan calls, "Dilla Time". This is a great quick video which shows the idea behind this term that Charnas coined: https://youtube.com/shorts/j2VFEHLkZQI?feature=share . J Dilla wasn't the only person behind the defining sound of Slum Village though. T3 and Baatin provided something to the group that is so meaningful that I hear and feel something new each and every time I listen to any Slum Village song or project. J Dilla was more of a producer for Slum Village, though he would rap on tracks from time to time. T3 and Baatin were the group's main rappers. Kind of like the members of another legendary hip-hop group called A Tribe Called Quest. A Tribe Called Quest originally consisted of four members: Jarobi White, Q Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. After releasing their first project titled "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm", Jarobi decided to leave the group to pursue a culinary career, which he went on to flawlessly exceed in and eventually came back to the group for their 2016 release of their sixth and final album titled "We Got it From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service". Starting with their second release titled "The Low End Theory" and through their fifth release titled "The Love Movement", the group consisted of the three members who weren't Jarobi. Q Tip and Phife Dawg served as the group's main MCs (Masters of Ceremonies/Master Coordinator's) while Ali Shaheed Muhammad served as the group's DJ and producer. This is how Slum Village was similar to A Tribe Called Quest, though Q Tip was a huge source of production material for ATCQ, but would always credit the group for the production work and never just himself. Back to Slum Village. T3 and Baatin were the main MCs, and to my ears, T3 seemed to always be a more "proper" rapper. I mean this in the sense of he would rap to the flow of the beat and not include any unique characteristics that would distinguish him from other rappers. That's not saying he's not a good rapper! In fact, T3 is an amazing rapper and one can definitely pick his voice and rapping style out of a sea of rappers. Baatin on the other hand was noticeably different. He rapped sometimes in front of or even behind the beat. He would occasionally slurp while rapping, and he would occasionally throw in occult/esoteric bars into his raps. Baatin rhyming about occult/esoteric topics inspired T3 to rap about that stuff as well. Baatin's way of rhyming was akin to Ol' Dirty Bastard's rhyming style from the Wu Tang Clan, a pioneering, historical hip-hop group from the 90s. Ol' Dirty was known as "The Drunken Master" amongst his fans and fellow group members. And this was due to his unique rhyming style which literally sounded as if he was drunk while rapping but had mastered his craft so well that even while drunk, he would include the most witty, elegant, and intricate bars. Baatin may not have been drunk while rapping, but his rhyming style was as free flowing and unique as the way J Dilla's beats and drums felt. The way the group members flowed with each other's energies is a true spectacle to hear. Who else could have done it like that with the equipment they had and the environment they were in at that specific point in time?

Let's get into the group's first unofficial official project titled "Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1".

#hiphop #hip hop #music #art #artists #slum village #j dilla #hip hop music #hip hop beats

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ifindus · 3 years ago

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What made you first start to ship scotnor???

It wasn't actually a deliberate desicion, but I tend to draw a lot of inspiration from my own experiences with other cultures and nationalities. And I might have mentioned this before, but in 2019 I did a semester in Glasgow, in Scotland, and I met a ton of international students (not so many Scottish though sadly). I also took a class that centred around Scandinavian Scotland, i.e. viking/norwegian influence on Scotland, as well as the class Celtic Civilization II. These classes gave me a lot of insight of the history of Scotland and interactions with locals made for some fun moments and good material.

After having drawn some of these interaction, I started thinking more about how Norway and Scotland's relationship would have been like, and I just found that I really liked their interaction and potensial dynamic. So, this ship is for me based a lot on my own perception of Scottish people, how they behave and their culture, along with that of Norway, and my knowledge of their shared history 😊

#hetalia #scotnor #aph norway #aph scotland #hws norway #hws scotland #thank you so much for the ask! 😊😊

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rainbowsky · 3 years ago

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To the person who sent me the thousand word essay, if you check out my ask policy I don't publish these kinds of long asks. I used to get tons of them and it got to be too much. Also, a lot of your comments contain anti talking points that I will not publish on my blog. But I can respond to some of the issues you raised.

TW/CW - brief mention of homophobia and suicide.

Basically your message was a sort of cataloguing of your doubts about BJYXSZD. To quote your closing paragraph, "Ah....i am just desperate for them to be a couple after all these months and the bts videos and inteviews, but it just doesn't add up anymore. So, as a confused fan, i thought about seeking reassurance to you."

I don't think it's my place, nor is it really anyone's place, to try to convince you or reassure you that GGDD is real. You will either believe or you won't believe. In my experience, people who are filled with doubts and in need of a steady stream of candies and clues to keep them satisfied are going to find themselves on a constant emotional roller-coaster of euphoria and misery.

Let go of your need for certainty.

As I've said in the past, when you let go of your need for certainty you will find that certainty comes a lot more easily. People who need certainty approach GGDD like a detective agency or a hungry ghost, focusing on their craving for proofs and candies that never quite seem to satiate them, and they miss out on the real joy of just being a fan.

A lot of the doubts you listed are things that don't really fit with why BXG believe BJYXSZD. We don't base our belief on the fact that they did a BL show together. We don't base our belief on the fact that they get along well together. We don't base our belief on candies. We base our belief on the insight we accumulate over a period of time, and that's not something that can be passed on to someone else. It's something everyone has to discover for themselves.

GGDD have nothing to prove. BXG have nothing to prove. We are all just here to enjoy them, love them and support them.

My advice: just relax, let go of your need for certainty, and enjoy GG and DD. Certainty will come or it won't, so there's no need to fret over it.

A couple things I felt the need to respond to:

Hidden relationships

Hidden relationships are totally a Thing in the entertainment industry, of course. Andy Lau with his 24 year hidden relationship is a great example. But you seem fixated on the idea that if GG or DD were hiding a relationship, it must be a heterosexual one.

Heteronormativity is a huge part of why so many fans have a hard time believing that GG and DD could ever be a real couple. There can be endless signs that a man is in a gay relationship and the fans will just dismiss it all, but if that man so much as smiles at a woman, fans are immediately ready to believe he's in love with her. Heterosexuality is seen as the default, and that makes homosexuality invisible to a lot of straight people.

You mentioned Leslie Cheung. I recommend this excellent post if you want to see why the world wasn't ready for him. He was an inspiration to LGBTQ people, without any doubt. I think he was equally a cautionary tale for a lot of people, even if the tragedy of his death wasn't necessarily directly related to his queerness or how he was being treated by the public.

There's a trope in society and in media and entertainment, that queer people are tragic figures. Queer characters are often presented as emotionally and psychologically turbulent people who meet untimely, tragic ends. Queer stories tend to be focused around "the struggle of being queer" and the rejection, fear and bigotry queer people face. The violence, the death, the suicides.

How could this not feed into the fears we have as queer people growing up in an often hostile world? How could a story like Leslie's fail to scare as many people as it inspires?

And besides, there are closeted gay couples in the entertainment industry in China.

I have talked about the whole hidden relationship thing, the whole 'needing to appear single' thing, in the past. You can find some of those posts linked at the end of this one. I've also talked about the pressure to appear single (along with the pressure to enter a straight marriage) previously here.

DD and the anti bullshit you've read

I can tell you've read a lot of anti lies in your travels. You're carrying a lot of the toxic ideas that antis spread online. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you spend most of your time on Twitter and YouTube, where these lies are part of the air people breathe on those platforms.

The rumors of DD being in a relationship with that heiress are nothing but harassment and bullshit. She is a known celebrity stalker who has caused scandals with multiple celebrities. Antis spread those lies because they are harmful to DD, not because they're true. DD denies them because they are false, not because he's got something to hide.

DD has never once been spotted with her. He's never once been photographed with her. There exists in the world exactly zero evidence of any common thread between her and DD. Zero evidence that they've ever even been in the same room together. Zero. There's no candy, nothing.

Meanwhile the candy connecting DD and GG together is so abundant it would put Willy Wonka out of business. There are constant reports of them being seen together, evidence of them being together, etc. Some of that stuff is stalker material that I won't share on my blog - such as DD's suitcase being spotted in GG's car a few days ago - but yeah, if you believe in the stalker heiress BS but not GGDD, that only speaks to your ignorance of the situation.

One of the things I find most frustrating about being a BJYXSZD BXG is that we are constantly characterized as spectacularly naive and deluded, meanwhile it's our most vocal critics - the antis, toxic solos and insecure turtles - who unquestioningly believe anything they read.

As for 22*7, you can always tell a DD anti by their willingness to claim DD should have spoken openly about GG during the whole scandal last year. No one who knows anything about GG and DD or about the situation could say in good faith that DD should have spoken up. I view that whole attitude as a litmus test for who knows and understands and truly supports GGDD, and who is either uninformed or an anti.

You can read more about that here and here.

And no, GG has never issued any statement denying BJYXSZD. Neither of them has.

BJYXSZD is not based on old BTS and interviews

I sometimes get sick of seeing clips and photos and metas about the Untamed, I sometimes get tired of talking about the same old interview clips and BTS. I see these things as ancient history - something fun to visit every now and then, but not where I want to live. I don't base my present belief on any of that. All that stuff can ever really do now is give us background on how things started and give us a bit of insight into how they get along and interact.

No BXGSZD that I know of bases their belief on "old BTS and interviews."

Both GG and DD have interesting new projects and endorsements. There's a ton of new content coming out all the time. We still regularly see new evidence that they're together. The past stuff is just for context.

Wrapping this all up, I'll just reiterate what I said before. No one can, or even should, convince you that GGDD is real. That's something you'll have to make peace with for yourself. If you want to get there faster, just relax and enjoy being a fan, and take some time to learn more about GGDD. Certainty may come in time. If it doesn't, well at least you had fun!

Since you are a newer fan I recommend checking out my BXG glossary, along with my masterlist post for some of the things I've talked about in the past.

#ggdd in the public eye #antis go home #lgbtpride #ask

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pub-lius · 3 years ago

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A Debunking and, in my Humble Opinion, Superior Version of Weird History’s “Hardcore Facts About Alexander Hamilton”

I haven’t updated my blog in quite some time, and that is due to my schedule being primarily dominated by school. So, I decided my first step into posting semi-regularly once more shall be a more casual, more fun endeavor.

If you have not heard of the Weird History youtube channel, good for you. It is yet another social media platform that misconstrues history to appeal to the public’s enjoyment of extremes and strangeness. I saw The Historical Fashion Queens make a video responding to their highly misinformed documentary on corsetry on Miss Abby Cox’s youtube channel, which I highly recommend. This intrigued me, and I decided to find a video I could dissect off my expertise, at first only for fun in my own time. This resulted in the production in a very long bullet list in the notes app of my phone. So here is my informal destruction of this godforsaken video.

Disclaimer: I am not at all excusing any of the awful things Alexander Hamilton did during his lifetime. I am absolutely the last person who would even come near to claiming that many of the things he did were justifiable in the slightest. Although, he might be the only historical figure which I have a very strong interest in the life of, as he was incredibly complex, and the part of me with a love of psychology finds him absolutely fascinating. There is also something to be said about the way we consider moral standards of historical figures. We are quite lucky to believe in the time that we do, and not all of our standards can apply to historical figures. This does not mean they should not be held accountable. I find that a way to criticize people while also praising them where it is due is by judging them based upon their intentions. In my opinion, Hamilton’s intentions were not to harm anyone in most situations, so I don’t think he was a terrible person, nor do I think he was a particularly good one. Then again, I don’t think either of those things about a mass majority of people, so let us proceed without further delay. (Note: I will also be referring to the collective Weird History channel as the Narrator to avoid any mental gymnastics, and all of my knowledge is coming from my memory of Hamilton’s writing and some biographies.)

Automatically, the video starts with mention of the musical, but that just reminds me that many use Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton as a basis of their statements about him without utilizing much critical thinking, so I am slightly nervous.

The Narrator then refers to Hammy Ham man as “...one of America’s most undervalued founding fathers...” Now, it is debatable whether or not Mr. Hamilton is undervalued per se, but when it comes to the founding fathers, they are usually undervalued or overvalued. At this point, Hamilton is both.

I shall not subscribe, thank you for the offer though, Mr. Narrator.

Now for the first fact: “Historians don’t know when Hamilton was born.” Yes, this is correct, but I don’t believe this should be labeled as “hardcore”, but perhaps that is just me. One early document indicates that Hamilton was born in 1755, while all later ones point to 1757 as his year of birth. We know Hamilton was not always a completely honest man, so it is possible that he lied.

Also, they show an image of a baby, and I do not know if this is actually Hamilton, but they use a lot of strange imagery, which I found humorous.

“A self-made man born out of wedlock.” Now, this fact could indeed be “hardcore”, if this was not colonial America we are discussing. Hamilton actually wasn’t really special in this regard. Yes, his rise to fame was impressive considering his circumstances, but this wasn’t unheard of.

The Narrator then says that Hamilton’s mother, Rachel Faucette, was “estranged from her husband.” This caused me some confusion as it is a vast understatement. Her ex-husband was absolutely awful to her.

Additionally, they claim that James Hamilton left his family behind for some reason that I did not write in my notes, but the most likely reason that he actually left was because of his awesome debt. James Hamilton also had a history of ambitious pursuits for money, so it would not be extreme to claim that he moved to another island to attempt to make a fortune in some trading endeavor.

They also cease to mention the Stevens family, who housed young Alexander while he was working for Beekman and Cruger, and had a great influence on him, but I digress.

“A college dropout who joined the Revolution.” Once again, this isn’t special. Many rowdy young Whigs left behind their careers and educations for pursuit of military fame in the Continental Army. They also do not mention anything of Hamilton’s expansive military career, which aside from being indicative of primitive research, but would produce more “hardcore facts.”

Although, they do discuss his application to Princeton college, which is interesting enough I suppose, although everyone who has heard the first two songs of the musical knows this story. His proposal for an “accelerated course of study” was likely inspired by Aaron Burr, as claimed by Chernow and Miranda, or James Madison, as supported by evidence provided by author Noah Feldman in his novel, The Three Lives of James Madison, which is an excellent read. Young Madison, having already completed a course, decided to do so again, but compacting a usually three year course into a shorter period of time. He hardly slept during this period, which was stressful upon his health, making Princeton more disinclined to allow a similar course to be taken.

The Narrator then claims that Hamilton “formed his own militia of 25 men.” Technically, yes? But not exactly. Hamilton joined a paramilitary group called the Hearts of Oak, and they drilled in Trinity Churchyard. This became ironic later. He then became a captain in the New York Artillery Company, and enlisted his own men, which was at one time around thirty or so, if my memory serves me correctly.

“Founded a bank that existed for over two centuries.” Ah, yes, a very hardcore fact indeed. Yes, Hamilton did establish the Bank of America, but Robert Morris was the one who inspired him to do so. Though, I do think the financial plan is a product of his own genius, but I will get into that much later.

I got an ad. :(

The Narrator also says that the misfortunes done to the New York shipping industry by the Articles of Confederation were the most prominent, if not sole, motivation for Hamilton to concoct his financial plan. He first recognized the need for a sound financial plan when he was in the army. You know, when he was watching men die of inadequate supplies because the government couldn’t tax the states.

This video, like Chernow’s biography and Miranda’s musical, claims that Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were friends when, in actuality, they weren’t really. Yes, they knew each other, and they didn’t hate each other until the end of Hamilton’s life, but they really didn’t think about each other much before the Election of 1800.

“Hamilton authored over half of the Federalist Papers.” Indeed, he did! I enjoy this fact. It isn’t very “hardcore” but it is very impressive. The Federalist Papers were arguably Hamilton’s greatest accomplishment, as he organized the entire thing and, as previously stated, authored much of them. I very much enjoy the Federalist Papers, as they give some insight as to Hamilton’s political and philosophical theories, as well as how he thought of the world. It makes for an interesting read if you have something you’re looking for.

Now, this may be a hot take, but Madison’s essays are by far more effective, as they were better organized. Hamilton and I share a common flaw, and that is the lack of brevity.

“Involved in America’s first sex scandal.” Yes, we all know. I’ll get into the Reynold’s affair later because it’s its own beast to conquer. Basically what you need to understand information I shall provide later in this post is that James Reynolds extorted money from Hamilton, and if Hamilton failed to pay, Reynolds would expose the affair Hamilton was having with his wife, Maria. Hamilton paid, but when Reynolds was arrested for something else, he exposed Hamilton anyway.

“He worked with Aaron Burr to defend a man.” Once again, this isn’t very surprising. They were both capable lawyers in the same area, so it was basically inevitable. Though there was this one instance where Hamilton and Burr were working on a case together and Hamilton, being himself, insisted upon having the last word. Well, Burr was tired of him, and I can’t say I blame him, so he made every possible argument in his finishing speech, leaving Hamilton with virtually nothing.

The Narrator also mentions Hamilton’s opposition to slavery, but he didn’t really outwardly oppose it as much as you would think listening to the musical or reading Chernow’s biography. Far from being the “fervent abolitionist” Chernow and Miranda glorify, Hamilton didn’t really do much for the enslaved. He helped John Laurens in his Black Plan and joined the Manumission Society, but other than that, he never made any attempt to progress the abolition of slavery. He also “purchased” slaves for his in-laws, and some argue that he “owned” some himself, but there is no contemporary evidence to support this that I have seen. The enslaved and servants that were in his household likely belonged to his wife.

“Founded a newspaper that still exists.” Ok.

“Died by duel.” I swear, this fact is by far the most unnecessary. They mention the duel so many times that it is already redundant. I completely skipped over this part, and the video ended, so I was thoroughly underwhelmed.

Well, seeing as this post is already longer than my attention span, I shall save you the pains of having to read any more in just one post. I shall make a follow-up to this where I give my own facts, which I believe are far more hardcore than “he founded a newspaper.” I hope you have enjoyed and this isn’t too terribly boring. I hope to get back to posting soon.

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samwisethewitch · 4 years ago

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What does it mean to be pagan? (Paganism 101 Ch. 1)

That’s right, y’all! With Baby Witch Bootcamp officially wrapped, it’s time to jump into our next long term series! I put out a poll on Patreon, and my patrons voted for Paganism 101 as our next series. While not all witches are pagan and not all pagans are witches, there is a lot of overlap between the two groups. Both witchcraft and paganism offer practitioners a sense of freedom, a deeper connection to the world around them, and a greater awareness of their personal power.

I identify both as a witch and as a pagan, and I get a lot of questions about paganism. In this series, we’ll go through the basics: what it means to be pagan, the difference between a neopagan and a reconstructionist, and the role of magic in different pagan traditions. We’ll also talk about some of the most popular modern pagan traditions and how to find the right tradition for you.

Let’s start off by answering the question, “What does pagan actually mean?”

Defining “Pagan”

It’s important to remember that “pagan” is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of different faiths. Someone who practices Wicca, for example, will have very different beliefs from someone who practices Hellenismos. These different faiths are linked by a shared history, rather than by shared beliefs or practices.

The word “pagan” comes from the Latin “paganus,” which literally means “area outside of a city” or, to phrase it slightly differently, “countryside.” This adjective was used to describe people and things that were rustic or rural and, over time, came to also have the connotation of being uneducated. Originally, the word had no religious association, and was even used to refer to non-combatants by the Roman military.

From this definition, we can gain some insight into what makes a religion or practice pagan. Pagans feel a kinship with the wild or rural places of the world, and are comfortable waking “off the beaten path.”

But how did “paganus” come to refer to a type of religion, anyway?

To understand the religious meaning of “paganus,” it’s necessary to understand a little bit about the religion of Ancient Rome. Rome (the city) was built inside a pomerium, a sacred boundary that formed a spiritual border around the city and its people. Paganus folks were those who lived outside the pomerium and, as such, may not have been strict adherents of the state religion — they certainly wouldn’t have been able to travel into the city for every major festival. They may have gotten a bit more creative with their worship of the gods. However, as previously stated, the word paganus did not have an explicitly religious meaning in ancient times.

The use of paganus as a religious label began after the legalization of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 C.E. Christianity would not be adopted as the official state religion until 380 C.E., but Constantine’s conversion and decriminalization of Christian worship paved the way for Rome’s transformation into a Christian state. It was around this time, as Christianity was quickly growing in urban areas, that early Roman Christians began using the word “paganus” to refer to those who still practiced polytheism. Rather than referring to those outside the city’s boundary or to untrained civilians, the label now referred to those outside the Church, those who were not “soldiers of Christ.”

As Christianity spread in popularity throughout the Mediterranean, Europe, and Northern Africa, the pagan label was applied to all non-Christians in those areas. The word “pagan” became a derogatory label, implying an inferior and backwards religion.

So, really, the thing that makes a religion pagan is a historical conflict with Christianity. Pagan religions are those that were suppressed or completely destroyed after Christianity became the dominant faith in the region.

This is why Norse Paganism and Kemetic (Egyptian) polytheism, which are very different, are both considered “pagan” while Shinto, a Japanese religion that shares a lot of common features with many pagan faiths, is not. Because Christianity never achieved total dominance in Japan, Shinto was never pushed aside to make room for Jesus.

In the 20th century, people who felt drawn to these old religions started to reclaim the pagan label. Like many other reclaimed slurs, “pagan” became a positive label for a community united by their shared history.

What do all pagans have in common?

This is a tough question to answer because, as stated above, paganism is a historical definition, not one shaped by belief or practice. However, there are some things most pagans have in common. Here are a few of them, although these concepts may take different forms in different traditions.

Paganism…

… is (usually) polytheistic. Most pagans do not subscribe to monotheism, the belief in a single, all-powerful divine being. Some pagans are polytheists, meaning they believe in multiple divine beings with varying levels of power. Hellenic pagans, Norse pagans, and Celtic pagans are typically polytheists. Still others are monists, meaning they believe in a single divine source that manifests itself as multiple gods. Wiccans and other neopagans are typically monists. Many pagans fall somewhere in-between strict polytheism and strict monism. We’ll talk more about polytheism in a future post, but for now just know that the idea of a single, supreme creator is not compatible with most forms of paganism.

… is based in reciprocity. This is a concept that may seem odd to those who grew up around Abrahamic religions: the idea of engaging the gods in a mutually beneficial partnership, rather than one-sided worship. When we connect with the gods, we receive spiritual, emotional, and physical blessings. The gods also benefit, as they are strengthened by our prayers and offerings. (I like to think they also enjoy the company. It has to be lonely, having your body of worshipers supplanted by an anarchist carpenter from Palestine.) The concept of reciprocity is why most pagans make physical offerings to their gods.

Reciprocity also extends to our relationships with other people. Most pagan religions have a code of ethics that includes values like hospitality, kindness, and/or fairness with others. Depending on the pagan, reciprocity may even extend to the dead! Many (but not all) pagans practice ancestor worship, the act of honoring and venerating the beloved dead.

Reciprocity may even extend to the world at large. Some (but not all) pagans are animists, which means they believe that every animal, plant, and stone contains its own spirit. Animist pagans strive to live in harmony with the spirits of the world around them, and may make offerings to these spirits as a sign of friendship.

… embraces the Divine Feminine. Paganism acknowledges and venerates both masculine and feminine expressions of divinity. Polytheist pagans worship both gods and goddesses, while monist pagans see the divine Source as encompassing all genders. In either case, the end result is the same: pagans acknowledge that, sometimes, God is a woman. (Cue the Ariana Grande song.)

Paganism also acknowledges gender expressions outside the masculine/feminine binary. Many pagan deities, like Loki (in Norse paganism), Atum (in Kemetic paganism), and Aphroditus (a masculine aspect of the Greek Aphordite) exist somewhere in the grey area between man and woman.

… is compatible with a mystic mindset. Remember how I said there’s a lot of overlap between witchcraft and paganism? Part of the reason for that is because paganism is highly compatible with magic and other mystical practices. Most pagans believe that humans have, or can attain, some level of divine power. It makes sense that this power would manifest as magic, or as other spiritual abilities. Many of the ancient cultures modern paganism draws inspiration from practiced magic in some form, so it follows that modern pagans would as well.

… draws inspiration from the ancient stories. As we discussed, “pagan” originally referred to the religious groups that were pushed out by Christian hegemony. As a result, every modern pagan is a little bit of a historian. Because paganism was pushed underground, it takes a little digging to find myths, rituals, and prayers that can be used or adapted for modern practice.

Many pagans worship historic deities that you’ve probably read about at some point. Visit any pagan pride event, and you’ll probably find worshipers of Zeus, Venus, Thor, and Isis, just to name a few. Studying and interpreting ancient mythology and archaeological evidence is a big part of modern paganism.

… is a religion with homework. If you’ve read this far, you may be beginning to realize that being pagan is a lot of work. It’s fun, spiritually fulfilling, and very rewarding work, but work all the same. Because very few modern pagans have access to temples, priests and priestesses, or an in-person community that shares their beliefs, they end up having to teach themselves, do their own research, and guide their own practice.

This is incredibly empowering, as it means you are your own religious authority. It does, however, mean that you will occasionally have to open a book or slog through a dense academic article about the most recent archaeological find related to your favorite deity. Thankfully, there’s a growing number of accessible, beginner-friendly books, blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels to help you in your research.

… embodies a deep respect for the natural world. While not all pagans are animists, most pagans do feel some sort of reverence for the forces of nature. Many pagan deities are associated with natural forces or use the natural world to communicate with their followers. Because of this, not only do pagans respect and love nature, but they’re constantly watching it for signs and messages. (Are you really friends with a pagan if they haven’t called you crying because they found a crow feather on the ground or saw a woodpecker in their backyard?)

Some pagan groups, especially neopagan religions like Wicca, have been classified as Earth-centered religions. Personally, I dislike this term. While it is true that many pagans feel a deep spiritual connection to the Earth and may even venerate local nature spirits, to say that these religions are “Earth-centered” feels like an oversimplification. Wiccans, for example, don’t actually worship nature — they worship the God and Goddess, who they see reflected in the natural world.

… is driven by individual spiritual practice. As mentioned above, very few pagans have access to an in-person community. Because of this, modern paganism largely consists of individual practices. Even pagans who do belong to a community still typically worship on their own sometimes. These personal practices may involve prayer, offerings to the gods, meditation, divination, astral travel, performing religious rituals, or countless other practices. Many pagans have personal altars in their homes, where they worship alone or with their family.

… is a celebration of daily life. One thing I love about paganism is how it makes every aspect of my life feel sacred. Many religions emphasize the spiritual aspects of life while deemphasizing, or even demonizing, the physical or mundane aspects. This can lead to practitioners feeling like they are spiritual beings trapped in a physical body, or like their physical needs and desires are something to escape.

Paganism allows practitioners to fully enjoy being physical and spiritual beings. Pagans reach for the heights of spiritual awareness, while also enjoying earthly delights — recognizing that neither is inherently more worthy than the other and that both are needed for a balanced life.

… is only one of many paths to Truth. Most pagan groups do not claim to be the only valid religious path, and in fact several openly acknowledge the validity of other religions. This is why you rarely see pagans trying to convert other people to paganism — it’s openly acknowledged that paganism isn’t for everyone, and that those who are truly meant to practice the old ways will find them.

~~~

Hopefully, this post has given us a good working definition of “paganism.” From here, we’ll explore some of these individual concepts in more depth and discuss specific religions within the pagan umbrella. Until then, blessed be.

Resources:

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

A Witches’ Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith

Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler

Temple of the Cosmos by Jeremy Naydler

A Practical Guide to Irish Spirituality by Lora O’Brien

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destiny-smasher · 3 years ago

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DownRight Fierce Dev Update (9/2021)

Not sure if this is something folks here would want to see, but I'll share this update I shared with patrons for the original visual novel I've been working on, DownRight Fierce. It was conceived back in, like, 2014, but since just before the pandemic hit, I've been working on it as a visual novel. It's sort of like...if Street Fighter and Butterfly Soup had a kid? That was born before Butterfly Soup came out? And has been slacking off for a few years? There is a fully playable, mostly presentable demo of the prologue and first three chapters, feel free to contact me if you're interested in trying it out and providing feedback.

Thanks to the support I've received on Patreon lately, I've been able to commission more outfits for the main characters, new expressions, and was able to pay Hayley to re-organize the sprites so I have some more control over mixing and matching different things. We've also implemented a new pose for Nishiko's sprite when they're sending text messages (on their antiquated cell phone).

(all of the character art so far I have commissioned from my friend Hayley Sakura-Rose12)

I ended up deciding to have that sprite made when I implemented a whole text convo with Seiko near the end of Chapter 3. (or partway through the chapter, depending on what the reader chooses - OR they can even skip this conversation altogether, potentially)

The biggest updates to DRF lately have mostly been cosmetic: adding in more facial expressions and effects.

One example of this has been incorpating a more seamless and atmospheric effect for moments when Nishiko gets lost in thought.

There will be a recurring and increasingly important component tied to this, so I'm glad Jenny helped inspire me to pursue this kind of idea. You can also see here a version of Nishiko's sprite which has been visually updated with more texture, alternate color, etc., and that's something she intends to do with the other characters when time allows (she's been very busy for like, over a year now).

Fire and smoke are key visual symbols for Nishiko's character, so Jenny has been helping me figure out ways to express this more through the UI, etc.

(my wife Jenny has worked on the UI, giving it a more gritty look, and she's modified Nishiko's sprite in this image to give extra atmosphere to the character sprites; she also took a placeholder image and did work on it to showcase a potential art style for the backgrounds; we're considering something like this, though maybe including more color, perhaps intentionally depending on the setting)

But it's not just been visual stuff. I've also been adding in extra content, and incorporating more choices and elements that affect and are affected by the stats running in the background.

I've added in new short classroom scenes to help better illustrate Nishiko's experience inbetween social activities, while simultaneously using them to imply elements regarding Nishiko's attention span, as well as flesh out the lore of the world.

I've been a bit inspired by Tuca and Bertie in some weird ways, as well, trying to build lore within my own fighting game inspired world with references that double as, well, world building (like alluding to Street Fighter antagonist M. Bison via a political dictator who existed in this universe's history), including entire chunks of conversation that go in different branches based on weird Capcom humor that also serves to establish backstory.

Nishiko and Kayla bond over love of a dumb cheesy horror flick that's essentially one big meme featuring the 90's Street Fighter cartoon. The drinks in the vending machines are all Capcom references, but serve as a means of letting the reader more manually increase a stat of their choosing - and since they're vending machines, they recur, so as the reader might get to know what each drink is, they might make a deliberate choice to increase a specific stat on purpose, in a similar way to choosing to exercise, or meditate, or study.

A convo about Nishiko's prior schoolyear incorporates Dark Stalkers references while also, again, letting the reader affect stats in a narratively retroactive way.

I've fleshed out conversations in Chapter 3 to have lots of dialogue most readers won't see in a single playthrough, as well as making more efforts to lean readers toward experiencing certain scenes or moments they might have missed earlier, while allowing the possibility of skipping or missing out on scenes entirely should they choose.

For example, the end of Chapter 3 is focused on Nishiko's relationship with Seiko. There is a text chat convo that can happen in one of two different parts of the chapter, and an in-person convo I'm currently working on (the last planned new content for the demo). Both can be experienced, or one or the other, or the can both be skipped. I don't want to make the entire social life something optional, but I do want to have there be parts like this where the reader can choose to skip interacting with a character if they truly don't want to, to help reinforce the idea that every interaction is, in a sense, a deliberate choice.

Even something like picking 'the BAD' choices is something I want to not just feel like, say, Undertale's infamous 'genocide run' but rather something that is an expression of anger at the world around the main character, which even has some specific benefits - because people don't just become jerks because they like to feel bad, but because it serves them in some beneficial way. As a slight example, if the reader pushes Nishiko to become aggressive, their 'Psycho' stat will increase, which can lead to them having even more aggressive choices later, which further increase that stat. But as that stat increase, Nishiko will become more physically perceptive to certain details about the world around them, but in material ways rather than social ways. For example, they might sense certain inklings of things that allude to later plot points earlier than someone who is more cooperative and might learn more social backstory elements. It's likely not going to be some huge, monumental difference, but it hopefully will make a second playthrough feel noticeably different and give the reader more insight into certain things.

The planned demo will feature the prologue and the first three chapters. By the end, all four main characters will be introduced, and the reader should get a pretty good idea through bits of writing and visual presentation that the choices they make won't change the primary narrative, but will affect certain details and aspects of how things play out. This is actually related to a big plot element itself that will become important later. But for now, it's been really fun adapting content I wrote over five years ago into this format, fleshing it out, and trying to work out ways to not only make that content function better in an interactive format, but also just how to lay more foundation and foreshadowing for what's to come.

While the visuals are still far from finalized even for this demo, I do have a private build uploaded for anyone genuinely interested, as I still haven't received much in the way of feedback so far. I'm planning on releasing a public demo to itchio later on when we can get the visuals to look more finalized.

#DownRight Fierce #visual novel #lgbt #indie games #game development #fgc #fighting games #street fighter

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mercurygray · 3 years ago

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As some of you may know, I participate in a military history book club with some other volunteers at my museum. It's a lot of fun for me because it forces me to read about a wide variety of conflicts and perspectives and discuss them with a group of pretty smart people.

At least once a year we try to read a book that's been adapted into a movie. So far we've done The Great Escape, which was pretty accurate to the book, and Monuments Men, which wasn't. This month our selection was Enemy at the Gates, by William Craig, and the 2001 movie of the same name.

I wasn't expecting anything amazing from the movie version of Enemy at the Gates - Hollywood has a specific set of goals for storytelling and historians have another, and it's just the way of the world that they don't often meet in the middle.

I feel like I should start by saying that I didn't like William Craig's book. Written in the 1970s, the big draw factor for Craig was that he was interviewing and quoting men and women who were actually at the battle, much in the same way Lyn Macdonald chronicled the First World War. While this gave a lot of insight about the lived experience of the battle, I didn't feel like I understood the context of Stalingrad and how the armies actually moved and fought. The other thing I didn't like about the book was the way it ended - Craig used many, many more German interviews than he did Russian towards the end of the book, and as it wrapped up I found myself feeling sorry for the Germans, which isn't necessarily the way one wants to end a book about a battle the Russians won.

Which brings me back to the movie. This was my second time seeing Enemy at the Gates - I watched it a long time ago when I didn't know much about World War Two in general, and the one thing I remembered about it was the love story, which, obviously, doesn't really show up in the book.

But the one thing I *did* notice this time around was the way Rachel Weisz's character Tania is written, and I feel like she can offer us a lot of food for thought on the way we write OFCs, because Tania - and I hate to say this - is a bit of a Mary Sue.

The character is based, loosely, on Tania Chernova, a young medical student who fought as a partisan and trained as a sniper under Zaitsev, later becoming his lover. According to Craig, she "embarked on a relentless war against the enemy, whom she always referred to as 'sticks' that one broke because she refused to think of them as human beings." She seems like she was a pretty tough lady. (There are other historians who think Craig may have made her story up, so we should probably take this with a grain of salt.)

The movie's Tania, however, is first presented as a pretty face on a train car as Zaitsev and his fellow soldiers are carted off to the city. Later they meet again in an underground apartment. She's a student of German literature - a language skill that the political officer Danilov can use. Her role in the story, immediately, is to cause friction between Danilov and Zaitsev. Later in the movie she reveals she knows how to fire a rifle because her family are Jews who would need to defend themselves, and they were planning to emigrate to Palestine. The backstory sounds like we're checking a box, like we can't have a World War Two movie if we don't have a Holocaust narrative in there somewhere. Don't get me wrong - stories like the Bielski partisans and the Ritchie boys are important and should be told, but the inclusion of this detail doesn't serve this story at all except to garner pity from the audience - which can be accomplished in so many other ways.

There's just too much about Tania that's convenient - that she already knows how to use a rifle, that she speaks German but her political bona fides are never questioned, that she's a Jew who watched her family die, that she's pretty and remains pretty for the rest of the movie. These things come up exactly when it serves the story - not before. We need a compelling emotional moment and Danilov magically figures out Tania's a Jew, at which point she shares the story about watching her family get shot. It's a little too neat. And there's nothing in the movie to reflect some of the things that made the historical Tania interesting and compelling - the line about sticks, her grit and courage, her unwillingness to show mercy to the men occupying her city and her country.

And, of course, she dies beautifully and tragically to inspire Zaitsev and Danilov to help win the battle. None of the action she takes in the story is for her goals or dreams - it's always for the two leads.

So, where does this leave us with OFCs?

Good characters need motivation - they have reasons for being where they are and doing what they do. Sharing that with your audience helps us understand them, take their side.

On a related note, characters need backstories. They don't need to be groundbreaking or filled with trauma, but they do need to be consistent, and they need to be brought up from time to time. These folks started somewhere before the story began, and they'll need to end somewhere when the story stops. Write nobodies. Write medical students who have to learn to be snipers. Write characters with skills they will never have to use.

And, lastly, Let people get messy - with their emotions, with their uniforms, with their lives. The movie makes a real hash of this love triangle, but real Chernova apparently crawled through a sewer and bluffed her way out of a German field kitchen. No artful Hollywood dirt smudges here.

#enemy at the gates #original female characters #writing #writing advice #writing stuff

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house-foxglove · 3 years ago

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Umbrella Pantheon pt. 2

This covers many of the minor deities and obscure characters in re8 that don’t get touched on too much. As a result there was more room for me to stick my own bullshit onto them. A lot of inspiration i took from the wiki of some of these guys and adding back in some cut content just cuz its fun. These are the guys I really enjoy, the main cast is fun (and we’ll get to the Winterses soon), but having side characters I can just make shit up about is very fun.

The Uriaș Brothers / Gods of Kinship, Protection, and Culling / Alpha and Omega / Sentinel and Outrider / The Grey Pack

The Uriaș brothers are demigods who serve as pack leaders over the pack of werewolves. Vanatoare, the younger who leads hunts with his pack, and Străjer who is bound to protect the Grimm Egg. They were once an order of great knights that looked over their domain with justice and they were prime candidates for godhood in Miranda’s eyes. They became mighty warriors but unlike the Four Lords they had a very difficult time exerting control over their god forms. The other knights of their order believed that they could share the load of godhood between all of them and indeed the two brothers had more clarity, but the mundane-blooded knights were all transformed into beasts and werewolves. Some were able to retain enough insight to ride their steeds and wear armor but all others became barbarous with the most weak-willed becoming giant and savage wolves. The Uriaș brothers were saddened to see how their comrades had fallen and even lost themselves on occasion. They try to coordinate their hunts with enemy fortresses, or places that were deemed to be guilty of some crime in the eyes of their lords, in order to stave off the guilt of their savage hunts. Those with strong wills and power, like all of the upper gods or the Duke, can assert themselves as above the pack which they will respect.

The Uriaș Drac / Devil Giants / Twin Demons

The twins in the Uriaș family who completely relished and embraced their beastial nature. They inherited none of the lupine traits of the werewolves besides their voracious appetite choosing to hunt and eat innocents. They think they chart their own destinies but are frequently manipulated by the Lords to do their bidding. But one of the two, Îndrăgostit Uriaș, is enamored with Beneviento and will, by what he thinks is his own will, guard the grounds and fend off trespassers. Bucătar Uriaș, the older twin, focuses more on the cuisine and cooking side of his cannibalism.

Sturm Heisenberg / Demigod of Destruction / The Iron Storm / Forsaken Father

Karl was not taken but did not willingly go into Miranda’s arms, he was sold by his father, Sturm. He squandered his knowledge of clockwork and tinkering and hardly taught his son a thing besides pain. Instead he used his money for drinking and nearly destroyed the family business. Karl Heisenber came back with a vengeance and subjected his father to the most unholy side of his godlike power. He made him into even more of a destructive figure, a demi-god of Desolation, and threw him into his metal labyrinth where he now desperately reaches out his arms not to beat, but for anyone who would help him. Yet he is unable.

Miłości Norshteyn / The Sculptor / Maker of the Exalted Tombstones

A meek, artistic husband who was a part of a polycule including four warrior goddesses. He was considered a heretic and traitor to the gods and pantheon of the region he was from before and was banished, eventually arriving in Leagăn. He was tricked by a god and through his actions allowed for his wives to be killed and their remains were calcified. When he traveled to Leagăn he found that the four lords all had traits resembling his wives. He created complicated statues and sculptures resembling their domains that even the god Heisenberg was deeply impressed with. He locked their remains beneath their intricate tombstones. The minerals of these fallen gods could all be used to forge mighty weapons but Norshteyn rigged them with traps and checks up on them to avert grave robbing.

The Duke / Vast Merchant / The Owl / God of Commerce and Favor

Duke is a trickster god that not a lot of people fully realize. He turns into an owl for long travel carrying his cart within his talons. He is a deity that is separate from Miranda and the Dark God, which infuriates her, but she suffers his existence until a time where she can dispose of him and his wiles. He originates from a distant land and even has made trade with other minor deities but maintains his demeanor of a humble, jovial figure who delights in cooked foods. Giving the god a delightful treat or meal is a surefire way to gain his favor, but he will still feign politeness even if the meal is burned a bit. Whereas Heisenburg is far more heavy handed in his shadowy rebellion, The Duke maintains an air of aloofness to any and all conflicts and makes his favoritism a mystery, rather choosing to make any form of aid seem like something he was just going to give away in any case. He has the ability to convert any coinage to a different mint, but keeps some original coins for keepsakes.

Ucigaș / Blademaster / Grave Gardener

A lowly merchant and servant in Dimitrescu’s domain, until his family was chosen to be taken to her castle and never to be seen again. He sought out a way to receive vengeance on the god and on his journey was approached by the Dark Prometheus who stated that a dragonslaying weapon could be created but only when components from three of the Four Deities was collected: A special alloy for the dagger from Heisenberg, a special flower grown in Beneviento’s Personal Garden, which was to be synthesized with the bile from Moreau to create the poison. This long and arduous task led to the creation of the Dagger of Death's Flowers.

Ucigaș failed in the end and was struck down by the dragon. But she held a modicum of respect for him as she knows what it is like to lose daughters and recognized she caused it. So she sealed him and his weapon away in respect of the would-be dragon slayer. But the dagger would be picked up once again by the fated Cold Night, the Winter.

The First Demon and the Sword Maiden

Some of the most obscure figures in Leagăn’s history. One day an angry drunk found his way to the cradle while in a fury and came upon Necros. He tripped and fell into its embrace and came out a thing that could only be described as a demon. It returned to the place it called home and began to feast upon the people there. All soldiers were tossed aside and devoured, until a goat approached it and the demon began to cry and scream, batting at it and beheading it in the process. A young maiden saw this and remembered the names that were used towards the town drunk; “Goatfucker”. She looked into its eyes and saw that the demon’s eyes were his. She took up a sword and strapped the goat's head to a shield and fought against the demon for a day and a night as it trembled and flailed. Villagers could only look on as this woman who seemed to be battle incarnate.

She finally felled the beast covered in its blood and its calcified remains were used to create a statue in the maiden's likeness: wielding a sword and a shield with a goat's head on its face. Few reports tell of a black wound on her side given by the beast, seeing it she ran into the sun of the dawn. Necros would remember her. Some believe that the maiden will be reincarnated into another young woman who will be just as mighty. This came true in the form of War Incarnate and the One Part Mother: Mia Winters.

#resident evil #resident evil village #urias #urias strajer #sturm #re8 au #umbrella pantheon #The Duke #Norshteyn #*sees there's no lore for obscure characters and figures* Its free real estate

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thewhizzyhead · 3 years ago

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Hey, your misfits musical thing sounded super super interesting! Any other details about it that you're willing to share? Minor plot points? Gay Relationship stuff? :0

oh boy this is gonna be long *cracks knuckles* here we go

SO FUN BACKSTORY BEFORE I GET TO THE PLOT PARTS TJXJJS: my sunday school has a tradition of um holding productions of christmas musicals every december. My teachers would find american christian christmas kiddy musicals productions on youtube and then basically um translate all the dialogue to Filipino (the songs stay in English) and have us um reenact the whole thing and ngl it was a lot of fun! I even acted as some of the main roles there when I was like 10-13 so um I can kinda say that I have some experience with musical theatre YAYYY (jk jk that doesn't really count djsff).

When I was around 12-13 years old, I became obsessed with A Very Potter Musical and wondered what it would be like to make AVPM but Christmas so that my church could perform it (very silly idea but shh i was 12 and I was obsessed) and then over time a plot that Was Definitely Not Harry Potter started to form and them um here we are fjsjd so thank you Starkid for making me go down this hellhole

Oki backstory over, now here comes the very long part:

(Also um warning this musical concept involves a lot of religion talk since majority of the thingy is me criticizing a lot of the hypocrisies in religious institutions here based on my experience so um yea proceed with caution if ur sensitive to religion-related stuff)

p.s. ari i am so so sorry but this is so fucking long and definitely more than what you asked for so um yea goodluck fjxjsjf

SO BASICALLY Misfits is about 5 "narrators" - these guys serve as the "floor directors" of the show and um yea they make sure that the plot actuall happens and everything goes exactly according to the script given by the church higher ups or "producers" - who have to bring 3 teens branded by their church as "Misfits" back to Bethlehem 1 CE in order to "teach them a lesson about God" aka convert them to Christianity thus removing the "Misfits" branding. (Also they can only go back once they successfully arrive at the manger because um that's how the producers want it to be tjxjs)

I have to emphasize that although this tackles a lot of stuff related to Christianity and religion as a whole, this really isn't a Christian Musical and that this very morally questionable mission (through the power of Stage Magic and Super Powers, the Narrators essentially bring the Misfits back to the past against their will for the sake of completing their mission) goes horribly, horribly wrong very very quickly.

Throughout the course of the musical, the 5 Narrators struggle to stick to the given script and get their mission done as the 3 Misfits prove to not only be very freaking stubborn but also quite insightful as well as they bring up really good points in regards to religious hypocrisies and socially questionable, prejudiced and backward views commonly held by most religious institutions here i.e gender roles, homophobia, the demonization of science and technology at times, elitism and classism, etc etc (i can only speak in behalf of the Philippines so um yea Philippines). Overall, this is kinda a case study on as to how religion can influence and shape people's mindsets for either the better or the worse and how it is often used by the authorities to simultaneously give hope to the people (especially those of the poorer sectors wherein because of how hopeless the present seems here because a very flawed system kept in place by the exploitative privilged here, they choose to just trust in God instead and also hope that the afterlife is much much better than this shit) while also keeping them in line and like preventing them from rioting. (Church and politics undeniably go hand in hand here even though we have legislations enforcing the separation of the church and state and um yEA THIS WHOLE THING HAS BEEN VERY PROMINENT THROUGHOUT PHILIPPINE HISTORY AND WE CAN ALL THANK THE SPANIARDS but um anyways that'll be a rant for another day)

On a more personal and emotional aspect, this thingy also tackles a lot of stuff I find rather common among kids my age, especially those who had a very Christian upbringing (aka 99.9% of the philippine population tjxbdbf). There's a lot of questioning involved in regards to one's faith, sexuality, perspective and purpose in life and all that fun stuff and how oftentimes said questioning is discouraged due to the church (and ph society overall) wanting us to just like um sTICK TO THE STATUS QUOoOoO and just comply with what is seen as appropriate and godly cause anything out of the ordinary is ngl treated like it's heresy. (YES THERE WILL BE A LOT OF SELF PROJECTION HERE)

One final and important thing to note is that the show is essentially a musical-inside-a-musical in a way fjsjf I originally designed this thing to be like um produce-able on my church's stage (because they were supposed to help me produce the first version of misfits which um yea that's def not gonna happen now tjxjdv) which um kinda looks like the OG Spring Awakening Stage (and yes Misfits is very much inspired by Spring Awakening God I love that show) which is why the show is kinda stylized like a concert with handheld mics and all wherein um the 5 narrators are aware that they are putting on a show to the point of even directly addressing the audience a lot while the 3 Misfits (except for 1 which i'll get to in a bit) aren't aware that they are in a show. The three do eventually find that out and that's when all hell breaks loose to the point that the "producers" (represented by Hades-ish voices) have to intervene by literally changing and manipulating the show's setting and plot to make sure that their script gets followed and that's when the characters really try to break the show to get out of it bUT THE POINT I WANNA MAKE HERE IS THXJD keeping in mind that I had initially planned for Misfits to be produced by my church prior to the many drastic changes, the show the narrators were putting on (aka the musical-inside-the-musical) was made with the intention to pander to a Very Religious Audience. Successfully convincing people to convert to Christianity, especially those of the youth, is what many religious audiences want to see and that is exactly what the "producers" have written for the 5 "narrators and floor directors" to enact. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a Christian and preaching the Gospel and bringing in new believers isn't essentially a bad thing; if they want to believe in the religion then woo good for them! But, such preaching becomes detrimental when you take away one's agency and basically force them into Christianity by means of guilt tripping and manipulation which is sadly very much a reality here (again, a rant for another day) and a representation of such is shown here in the show where um the 3 Misfits were basically forced into this show that 5 Narrators are putting on and, through the influence of the 5 Narrators, the 3 Misfits have to decide to become "good Christian youths" for the show to conclude because that's show the "producers" have written. So when the 3 Misfits stubborness goes to the point that even the 5 Narrators start questioning the morals of their mission, that's when the show starts to go off-script and that's when the production starts to like umm "break" and whenever that happens, the "producers" start speaking to the Narrators, reminding them that they have an audience that they need to please and a message that they need to convey.

So while the Misfits (2 of them, at least, cause um the third one has um yea i'll get to him in a bit) mainly focus on figuring out what in the everliving fuck is going on (while also dealing with their um unfortunate circumstances, childhood trauma, a shit ton of guilt and the concept of salvation and self-forgiveness), the Narrators are tasked with the burden of carrying the show and making sure that the audience finds it appealing while trying to convince themselves that what the church wants them to do is "right" and what the Misfits keep telling them is "wrong" ala um Holier-Than-Thou mindset. Once they eventually start becoming more willing to see the true nature of both the Misfits and the Producers despite the fear of disappointing everyone who's watching, that's when the Narrators and Misfits all start breaking the show by going off-script and completely destroying the plot and production that the Producers have made for the audience - thus making a statement of refusing to comply with a flawed system for the sake of audience approval while also making the first step to fixing that system for the good of all.

Also fun fact: Although it'll make my job a lot harder because I am more fluent in English than in Filipino, i wanna write the thingy in both English and Filipino fjxjdf the dialogue can be Taglish but um the songs that are "part of the script" aka what the Producers want the characters to sing are in English while the songs that aren't part of the script are in Filipino; songs that are both in Filipino and in English are um i guess indicative of the struggle to follow the script while also trying to do what you believe is right (an example of a song with that style is Interpretasyon - which means Interpretation and um Ezekiel (one of the Misfits) sings in Filipino while Joshua (leader of the narrators) sings in English and um just imagine Wallflower cuz IT IS VERY MUCH LIKE WALLFLOWER GJDJNF) and um yea i kinda imagine it to be some sort of rock-pop musical concert thingy so um woo thank you pma for once again influencing my work

SO ANYWAYS UM THAT WAS LONG SO LET'S GO TO THE GAY SHIT

Okay so far 4/8 of the characters here have queerness directly related to their individual plotlines here but um yea honestly i'm tempted to make all of them queer CAUSE IT'S FUN oki so um anyways on to the character dynamics (I won't be able to include more in depth descriptions because im hungry and GOD THIS IS LONG so um yea)

June & Anna (Narrator 2) - oki so June here is one of the Misfits and she's from the poorer sectors (i'm still working on her backstory to make it more believable but um yea) and she isn't able to go to school due to having to prioritize providing for her family first. Due to a very unfortunate childhood event (one that involves Zack, another Misfit), she had to grow up fast and now appears to have a rather jaded view of the world. Anna, one of the Narrators, is the very opposite of that - she's privileged and wealthy-as-fuck and seems to be very optimisitc and friendly. However, ever since she has been blackmailed by her own churchmates for merely questioning her sexuality (true story), she became a more reserved and emotionally closed person despite her very friendly and cheerful demeanor. So when she finds out that June's music carries a lot of beautiful insight and hope in spite of her unfortunate circumstances (the two girls bond over music btw that's how Anna got June to trust in her), she becomes confused because how can June, a girl who has nothing, not even faith, still have hope that she'll be able to find some semblance of happiness while Anna, who has everything, has such a downtrodded view of the world? So um basically their dynamic will also consist of Anna checking her privilege, June explaining how good people turn against the world when the world turns against them (YES A LOT OF TALK ABOUT POVERTY AND HOW THAT IS A RESULT OF CAPITALISTIC EXPLOITATION) (yes June will talk about that a lot), and um what it means to hope with or without faith and what it means to trust another and oneself again. Oh and also lots of philosophy talk and emotional expression through music wie

Zack and Mikael (Narrator 3) - Zack, another Misfit, is a childhood friend of June and a younger stepbrother of Ezekiel (the third Misfit). After Zack and June lost contact after the 'unfortunate childhood event' (i am not sure on what exactly it'll be but in the earlier drafts a fire burned both of their homes and killed both of their dads and rn I have a song concept describing that called "Umaapoy" which means "Burns" but i dunno i'm still working on it), he became best friends with Mikael and um yea said best-friendship was Definitely Not Platonic. After a picture of them kissing was sent to not only the school principal but to basically everyone in the school, both of their parents were called to the principal's office which led to both of the boys moving to different schools to um mitigate the damage i guess gjdjd while Zack's mom eventually learned to accept her son's sexuality, Mikael um wasn't so lucky - I'd say he went through um a lot of religious intervention almost akin to conversion therapy which then um yea has caused him a lot of internalized homophobia and um yea Mikael and Zack haven't been able to talk or even chat in about 3-4 years so imagine Mikael's surprise when he found out that his mission involved Zack - who does not and cannot recognize Mikael because welp not part of the script. Zack, a bit braver now, takes a liking to Mikael and wants to at least be friends with him partly because he somehow finds him really familiar while um Mikael tries to maintain a strictly professional demeanor out of fear that Zack will recognize him and out of fear that he'll fall in love with Zack again. Their dynamic will also include um learning to trust one another and oneself again (like June & Anna's dynamic), to learn how to be brave and be sure in one's beliefs (Mikael um doesn't really speak up that much out of fear while Zack is not only outspoken, but is also an activist - this is another one of the many reasons why Zack is branded as a "Misfit" aside from the fact that he's gay and um yea Ezekiel spends almost 2 minutes berating Joshua for this out of pure anger and disgust), and what it means to reconnect with the past and to forgive oneself (although that is much more expounded upon with June & Zack's dynamic).

Ezekiel and Joshua (Narrator 1) - SAY HI TO THE RILEY AND CAIRO DYNAMIC WOOOOOOO but yea ari dude your analysis on Riley and Cairo (and Kate) being the Main MAIN characters and everything about cheerwives gave me a lot of think about and SO I PUT IT IN HERE WOOOOOO so basically um Ezekiel is the older stepbrother of Zack and the first of the 3 Misfits to figure out that they are in a show. He figures this out because he recognizes Joshua aka the leader of the Narrators aka his former churchmate and ex-bestfriend. He also realizes that they are in a show because he recognizes their tricks which he knew about because he had participated in these missions before as one of the Narrators (Joshua and Ezekiel are older than the rest of the cast and the other narrators don't know that Ezekiel was once a Narrator as well). Due to an Unfortunate Incident (that i'm still working on) 3 years prior to the events in the show, Ezekiel cut off all ties to the church but he is still viewed as this "perfect role model golden boy" which is why the 4 Narrators were shocked to find out that Ezekiel was part of their mission. Joshua, knowing that the real reason to his sudden involvement is due to "producers" somehow finding out their secret about the Unfortunate Incident, lied and told the others that he was just included to make converting his brother a lot easier, which they believed. Out of all the narrators, Joshua is the one who tries his best to stick to the script the most because he knows that if he doesn't, the true nature of that Unfortunate Incident will not only be revealed to his companions but to everyone else watching. Meanwhile Ezekiel, who doesn't know that him being involved in this mission is some sort of um penance for his involvement in that Unfortunate Incident, tries his hardest to sabotage he show by being the most outspoken when pointing out a lot of hypocrisies within religious institutions and in ph society in general (he refuses to tell the other two that they are in a show though because if that happens, he knows the Narrators, Joshua especially will um get very heavily scolded by the producers and despite everything, he still cares for Joshua a lot). I'd say that these two are the ones that push the plot the most - one wants to push the show accordingly to plan in order to please the audience and the producers and in order to not let his and Ezekiel's secret go out while the other wants to push the show off-script in retaliation against the producers (and yes the Unfortunate Incident involved the time travelling thingy which is why he really wants to sabotage this). In fact, these two have 2 duets that are basically them trying to convince the other to go along with their plan ("Interpretasyon" which means Interpretation and "Sikreto" which means secret). This dynamic involves um yea trying to convince the other to switch sides gjxjd and um reconciliation, responsibility out of guilt, and what it means to forgive oneself (forgiveness is a common theme here) and to start to heal from trauma and to not deny the existence of said trauma any longer.

NOW ORIGINALLY I REALLY DID NOT INTEND THE JOSHUA AND EZEKIEL DYNAMIC TO BE GAY BUUTT WHEN I WAS THINKING OF THE LYRICS, I REALIZED THAT OUT OF CONTEXT, IT SOUNDED VERY GAY SO UM HERE'S AN EXCERPT OF SIKRETO (still not finished writing the thingy)

Joshua: (singing to Ezekiel) (this is also the first time Joshua sings a Filipino solo so this is him breaking the script for the first time) (also um yea the translations aren't direct translations cause I wanted to make them rhyme fnxnf) (So to those who know filipino i am terribly sorry cause yup this isnt an accurate translation fjfjd)

Ang natitirang alaala ay aking binura (I have scrubbed away all the memories that may have still remained)

‘di ko na sila kilala (I don't know them anymore)

Kinalimutan na kita (I have forgotten about your name)

Ngunit ang bigat ng pagsisisi ang aking dinadala (But the weight of regret, I carry all the same)

Ang sakit sa balikat, lagi kong dinarama (I constantly feel the sting of my shoulders' pain)

Pero masasabi ko pa rin na sinusubukan kong itama (But at least I can say, I tried to right-)

Ang aking mga pagkakamali (all that's wrong)

Ikaw, saan ka pumunta? (What about you? Where in the world have you gone?)

Tumakbo ka lang at iniwan mo ako (You ran, you just ran, and left me behind)

Sa pagbubuhat ng kasalanan at sikreto (In carrying the sins and secrets, and you paid me no mind)

Pero pinapanatili ko paring malinis ang ating munting kwento (But I stillade sure I kept our little story clean)

Patuloy na sinisigurong ‘di nila malalaman ang totoo (I kept on making sure the truth would never be seen)

Alam na natin ang kwento (We already know the story)

Alam na natin ang kwentong kailangang itago (We know the story that we need to hide)

Itong munting sikreto ay kailangan burahin (This little secret that has to be erased)

Ating pagkakamali, patuloy na bubuhatin (We will have to always carry, our sins and our mistakes)

Alam na natin ang kwento (We already know the story)

Alam natin ang katotohanan ng nakaraan (We very well know the truth of the past)

Ito'y nakabakas sa isipan, ‘di natin malilimutan (We'll never forget what will remain ingrained in our minds)

At sa Diyos na lang natin mahahanap ang kapatawaran (And from only God could we find forgiveness for what we left behind)

Habang buhay bubuhatin ng konsensiya (Forever will our consciences bear the weight and carry

ang ating pagkakasala, ang kwento't sikreto nating dalawa (our sins kept in secrecy, the story of you and me)

Pero ngayon, ‘di ko alam paano pero nalaman nila (But now, I don't know how, but somehow they know)

At ngayon, dinedemanda na nila ang penitensya (And now, penitence is what they demand)

Kaya ngayon, naghihingi ako ng pasensiya (So now, patience and forgiveness is what I ask)

Sa iyo at sa kanila (From you and from them)

Sa aking gagawin at mga nagawa (for what I'll do and I've done)

Baka nga (Perhaps)

Tama nga mga sinabi mo (What you've said all this time is right)

Na ‘di tayo ang tanging may sala rito (That we aren't the ones only at fault here)

Pero ‘di ko matatakasan ang aking naging tungkulin (But I can't really escape my little role here, because)

Sana ‘di mo nakalimutan: lahat sila nakatingin (God I hope you haven't forgotten: they're all looking at us)

Lagi silang nakatingin (Always looking at us)

Kahit ano man ang iyong gawin (No matter what we do)

Tayo'y mananatili sa entablado (On the stage we shall stay)

At lahat sila nakatingi- (And the stares still won't go awa-) (He then realizes that he's on stage and Should Not Be Having A Breakdown In Front Of The Audience Because Duh and Because That's Not Part Of The Script)

SO UM YEA IN RETROSPECT SOME OF THOSE LYRICS COULD ALSO REFER TO SOME SECRET NOT-PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP THAT THE AUDIENCE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT YET (because the Secret doesn't get revealed til much later) WHEN IN ACTUALITY IT'S ABOUT THE TRUTH BEHIND WHAT HAPPENED 3 YEARS PRIOR TO THE EVENTS IN THE SHIW AND NOT GONNA LIE,,, THEM BEING IN A NOT-SO-PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP KINDA ALSO WORKS SO I'M CONSIDERING MAKING THEM HAVE SOME ROMANTIC HISTORY TOO JDHXBSJF

Oki that's all for today hdhdh there are two more characters (narrators 4 and 5) but i'm still working on them and i kinda wanna make the both of them not cis cause WHY NOT also i have been typing this for like 6 hours now and i'm tired and hungry so tjjxjs anyways if you read to the end, I'm sending you carbonara-

#I HAVE TYPED THIS #FOR 6 HOURS #I AM SO FUCKING TIRED GJXJSJJD #ARI I AM SO SO SORRY I WAS NOT EXPECTING FOR THIS WHOLE THING TO BE THIS LONG #but i guess thats what happens when you work on a thingy for 4 years fjsjf #FBZJSJJF ARI MY DUDE UM GOODLUCK AAAAAAA #God i hope you make it to the end gjxjdjf #um feel free to like reblog this in the tags if you wanna express ur thoughts there! i'd love to know what you think about this clusterfuck #the same goes for anyone woo feel free to rb if u wanna!!#SO ANYWAYS I AM TIRED AND WILL NOW EAT CARBONARA #once again ari i am so sorry jfhxhf #ari! (wattblr tag rambler yay!)#ask me stuff #izzy's rambles and shit #religion tw #ask to tag

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