#the post i referenced at first made a point to showcase like

[riftwalker-limbro]

a take about something adjacent to this floated around yesterday but i didn't have the spoons to reblog it then and my brain generated this today so

happy that verica popped up completely irrelevant to any other plot i had going on. the romance between her & vince is just about the least focused thing in my story. which gives me the opportunity to be as silly with it as i like. and it gets on my ass about making her a fully fledged character bc these brainworms of mine suffer heavily from vince favouritism.

but i can already somewhat tell that she's probably gonna become pretty high up in the favourites ranking as well. as much as i have in common with vince on an interests level, there is more with verica, and the things i have in common with her i've explored through writing much less so far, so that's gonna be a Journey of (Self) Discovery again i'm sure. and the few character traits i have in stone for her are already looking pretty interesting too, again mostly to play well with vince's own, but i want to add more to make her more unique and alive still too.

mmm gonna be fun

[nostalgink]

Due to some past trauma from previous fandoms, I'm not particularly one to engage in fandom related discourse anymore, but when you not only name-drop me, but continue to perpetuate lies about not only me, but also my friends.... that's when I'd rather "clear my name" than allow for a nasty rumor to circulate when I know it's out there.

I want to go through everything that went down in order as best as possible. Even though I’ve spent so much time on this receipt post, truly this issue was something very small, the root of the issue lies with CookieRuby herself, given she decided to continue to create and perpetuate lies and rumors about myself and others. I know she will most likely continue to make up whatever she wants to have happened to obtain pity from those who do not know the context, but I thought that if she was going to do so regardless, I might as well let everyone know mine and my friends’ side of things. Because sadly I got some very worried and confused messages wondering if the statements were truthful. Hopefully this reassures most that they are in fact not.

I also would like to say while I am deeply upset that someone would lie about me like this and continue to emotionally manipulate, then double down on it all… I still do want to say that if you know people who act as such to please help them get the help they need. The timeline of this basically showcases us interacting at 3 points ever, but its obvious in her own obsessive world she has created, it has been brewing with her much longer. Which all of this is genuinely concerning and I hope she gets help. Despite my anger.

In the beginning

I believe I knew about them prior to them joining the old Darkwing Duck RP server I used to be active in back in 2022. If you know me, I follow practically every artist in the fandom. Especially as the fandom loses traction and there are less and less of us actively creating works. So naturally I followed. I even found her oc interesting. I mean why wouldn’t I? Magentus, while more of an oc now than he was in the past, at the end of the day still is my sona so to speak. I love seeing others put themselves into their own work in their own ways. Unfortunately once I got to know them, their attitude towards others when it came to their oc soured my interest.

In a lot of her posts, she makes claims towards my friends and I (as well as I suppose vague unknown other “harrassers” prior to us. I only put it in air quotes because the amount of lying she does, ironic I know, makes me question the validity of anything she says.) that we actively hated and made fun of her for disliking Drakepad. As you can see in the screenshots provided, that is exactly the oppposite.

I also want to mention the screenshots here are an anonymous friend’s server that I used to be active in. In the screenshots provided by Soy, it refers to their old server. Though I believe there is a point in our screenshots where one is referenced in another. (I am currently not looking at them, so I can recall which is referenced in which.) I wanted to make sure there was no confusion with that. These were provided to me by Drake. I could not find them on my own. This was her asking about playing her oc initally. and some stuff I didn't screenshot previously I think?

On Soy’s Side of things

Initially I had another draft of this whole rant, but because of these screenshots I got so peeved that I spiraled into a mad disorganized rage due to the ridiculousness of all of this. So I thought it would be best to rework my words into a more composed response. Personally I had read the first set of messages after they had happened, but when it comes to the discord screenshots, these were new to me. We were all suspicious of her potentially using an alt account on tumblr to ask as a “friend”. Because while I cannot say the same for my friends, I had online friends when I was young who pulled very similar stunts to continue to emotionally manipulate me into remaining their friend and under their thumb. I do not fuck with that sort of behavior anymore. And to note from Soy they said that they had joined their old dead DWD server and immediately dmed them. The obsessive manner of her continuing whatever game she thinks this is is a genuine concern and big alarm sounding that she needs to talk to someone. She is older than me, but I have already dealt with extremely similar people in my preteens, so it’s sad to see someone being so immature like this. (I hit the 30 post limit so the screenshots will be in the reblogs for anything missing)

responses to tumblr posts

Starting with the post that finally prompted this response, I want to cover my personal opinion of each thing mentioned. Unfortunately as you will see, I do not have proof for my own ponytown run in personally, but if you read all of the messages provided, you can probably tell who’s more truthful considering it’s a 1-0 with me having evidence and her none. You’ll notice she remains vague when she can, which is most of the time.

First we need to all heavily note that this was a supposed dream. She is her character Hannah in her dream, alongside Drake. Soy, an anon, and myself appear as “hooded people” in her dream and do an incantation on her in order to curse her to not be with Drake. I suppose this causes a curse that forces Drakepad to be real in her dream? Then we say quotes she is claiming we said. I will get to that in a moment. This is a summary so that if she deletes the post linked, you still have me explaining it. (I wrote this last night, unfortunately as of right now while I was acquiring links she did in fact delete the post. Likely because of my warning post from the other day. So she is stalking my account still.) Then her own oddly crafted happy ending where the spell is broken and she gets her ending of support.

Now I’ll cover the “quotes”

“Drakepad is the only true ship”

You will here her claim people saying this to her often. In reference to my friends, such claims have been proven false. We supported her opinion despite our own. Even comforting her and letting her know its awful for anyone to try and pressure her over such a simple difference in taste. Also adding the fact we supported her oc x canon even though she could not RP it in the old server.

“Darkwing DENIED YOU” with her claiming it is something I said to her in Ponytown.

I will go more in depth in exactly what I said in ponytown further down, but I never once said this. She insisted that my opinion was that her oc x canon was not valid. I was Negaduck in game, then I specifically swapped to my Magentus pony and stated how hypocritical it would be for me to say such a thing. Then proceeded to let her know, though I was annoyed, that it’s alright for her to not ship something she does not like, but continuing to bring up that you hate a ship to people you know don’t mind it or even ship it themselves is rude. Then she proceeded to do something I can only describe as something I am seasoned to as the son of an emotionally inmature mother. Again I will elaborate in the ponytown section.

“She gaved me PTSD by her DrakePad hate. And with her tumblr post who HURTED my friends saying we “FORCED” Drakepad on our server she lied.” Which was aparently what Soy said.

I cannot speak to how soy feels completely on this, but I know they did not develop post traumatic stress disorder from this. Nor have they said this quote if you could not guess. I believe the friend was the one in the screenshots between them and soy on discord I shared above. Again, I do not trust that these are her actual friends. This is not to say she couldn’t potentially have friends who agree with her, I just don’t trust her truthfulness especially with said discord dms. But you as the reader can make your own opinion on that. From what I was told by Soy, they joined (I believe after they realized they couldn’t do oc x canon with our Darkwing in the old server, which was his choice to make.) and asked if they could do darkwing x hannah. Soy and others kindly let her know that they were working on a drakepad relationship, but saw no problem in doing dw x lp x hannah. She accepted I think? But regardless then returned to our server to both brag about how someone finally let her, but soon ranted about how uncomfortable poly stuff made them. Some of this is word of mouth, but you can see other parts referenced back above.

“You deserve no friends.” by an anon

Again, I question the validity of this claim, but assuming someone actually said this to her this is horrible to say to someone. Back in 2020 I dealt with prosh*ppers in a problematic fandom harrasing me because I outwardly was against their adult x minor ship. Unfortunately if you know what fandom I mean. (keep guesses to yourself, I don’t want to bring it up in public.) You know it’s very popular unfortunately. I was sent death threats and people telling me how unworthy of friends, love, or anything they could throw at me. I would never say this to another nor condone saying this to another. Even if CookieRuby is in the wrong here. Everyone deserves the chance to have friends and flourish as a person. I’m angry but I’d never wish such a thing. And while I’m at it I would like to suggest to you as the reader that if you are considering doing such a thing don’t. Block her, move on. It’s not worth it. I’m only here right now to give context, then I’m done. I do not want anyone going after her. I’m just here to show my receipts, not to harrass her. I’d just prove her point if I did that. I’m not that sort of person.

And I was shown her speaking about her inferiority complex. I do not have one, so I cannot speak to how true this is, but considering this was March 2023...it seems despite her admitting this, she has obviously continued to lie about people. So I don’t know if she has that complex, but she is a chronic liar at the very least so there’s that I guess.

Ponytown run ins

The provided screenshots below are from before what I’ll be describing to you. I had to re-listen to a voice note I sent after this. It’s all I have besides the discord message of me realizing it was her. I do not want to attach it just because I keep my voice to myself most times. I’m shy gang.

Starting off I was just finishing my Magentus pony. For a while they had a color palette I had just chose myself without reference and I was finally giving them their reference colors. I was returning to the darkwing rock circle I was hoping to start a darkwing pony hangout at, when I saw a Darkwing pony approach. Now, I don’t know if this was coincidence of perhaps she knows about the hangout from my story. Considering she has alts, she probably was checking my story, but that is speculation. I immediately am eager to friend them because of their pony. But of course the first words from her are “why do you have me blocked?” my mood immediately changes as it hit me that someone had told me prior she had an account. Likely due to the incident in the other ponytown screenshots. I ask to confirm if it’s her and she says yes.

So I simply put that she cause discomfort to my friends and I and that I use the block liberally. During this I am scrambling to try and block her on ponytown too, but unfortunately my block list is too full because I have been blocking Dream SMP ponies left and right. So I decide maybe here is where I can put my foot down on things. I also mentioned a side thing about how the old server I was in had a policy about posting over people, but she seemed to focus on this more. (I do not recall if this was enforced at the time, but still it was focused on way more than the main issue I was bringing up.) I mentioned how she’d post over others. I told her that it wasn’t my main point and to forget that and move onto the main issue. I explain to her as adult as I can back to her Drakepad issue that “You were being rude to people because you could get your ship. We tried to be nice and I just blocked you because I didn’t want to deal with that [anymore].” and the only thing she got from that was me saying “rude” I suppose so she responded saying “oh so I’m the toxic one?” and boy have I heard this one get pulled on me before. It’s giving emotional manipulation. I calmly reply “That is not what I said.” I said something else that I couldn’t recall, though likely just me restating what happened, then she said “well I guess I’m sorry-” I was on a call at this time with my boyfriend while he was on break as this went down, so I began speaking to him irl. I guess I did not respond to her in time because she continued with the classic backhanded comment of “Since everyone wants me to apologize anyway” or something to that effect. It was in that way that someone who does this wants you to just accept the apology even though it was not a meaningful one. She does not have to apologize, no one is making her, but that was her attitude about it. I thought I’d just end it off there with a joke to myself so I didn’t lose it. I went “I have a mother, I can be emotionally manipulated at home, I don’t need this game from you. Bye.” and logged off. Honestly there is when it actually got personal. Somewhere in the middle she insisted what I had mentioned earlier with us hating oc x canon and drakepad and all that and that statement from earlier still follows.

I even have a later note worrying there would be a post on her tumblr, but I checked once and there was nothing so I thought maybe she had gotten over herself…..we are here now so nope. Also this was 2/2/2024 for timeline’s sake.

I was transcribing from a voice note, so if it seems like there are any holes in that ask me, I’ll try to fill in what I missed.

Misc

Lastly here are things I did not know how to organize into the rant. As well as some people making mention to their experiences with her in reply to my Instagram story. I swore I would get all I could and I meant it.

And anyways thank you to those who actually took the time to read all of this mess. I don’t know how I did drama back in the day this has truly been so exhausting to write, but it was important that I did. Honestly despite my anger this is really dumb to have to make, but I do not like being lied about. I especially don’t like my friends also being lied about. And again just block her and do not engage. I do not condone harassment of any kind. I am going to go sleep as I finish writing this. This was a tiring experience. She’ll probably continue but now I am satisfied knowing we’re all on the same page.

[epickiya722]

What About Tengen?

Alright, folks, time for "What thought Kiya wants to share today because if she doesn't, she'll freak out"! Ha ha... yeah...

Now, before we get onto this I don't expect anyone to agree or let alone be for the idea. This is just me, again, sharing a thought I had. I wouldn't even say it's a genius thought. Just a thought. In fact, a wild one.

After rereading some chapters and writing a whole fic, I've been thinking about this idea I haven't seen much about before that I haven't recalled and that is...

Can Yuji be a Vessel for Tengen? Let alone is it a possible ending for Yuji?

I already know this is about to be a lengthy post and to be honest, I don't know how to exactly put this into words, but I'll try my best. I'm still getting into understanding how jujutsu and all that works, so bear with me.

☆☆☆

Chapters Referenced

145

249

257

☆☆☆

Back in chapter 145, Tengen notes that because of the failed merging with Riko Amanai (she was assassinated by Toji due to the Star Religious Group believing a merging with Tengen is impure), their aging accelerated and that's what lead to their current physical state. Also, a bit later, Tengen states how they evolved pass the point needing a specific Star Plasma Vessel. So it's not impossible for them to merge with anybody else.

Which, thinking about it, Kenjaku might have been the one to orchestrate that assassination because of that reason (Tengen evolving). That's canon, right? I believe that's canon... anyways!!

The whole point of a Star Plasma Vessel is to "reset" Tengen's technique, Immortality, as noted back in chapter 66 (conversation between Gojo, Yaga and Geto).

When Tengen merges with a capable SPV, it prevents them (Tengen) from evolving. If they evolve, they lose their sense of self, lose their sense of will. They can become a threat to humanity.

"Master Tengen will no longer be Master Tengen."

Now how this applies to Yuji?

Okay, so because Tengen has evolved, anyone can be a Vessel for them, possibly. With that in mind, that could include Yuji. But is Yuji capable?

Well, if Yuji could hold Sukuna, I say it's possible. Yuji was made to be Sukuna's vessel, his cage. When Yuji first swallowed Sukuna's Cursed Finger, it a slim chance he'd survive. And he does! Not only does he survive, but he showcases he's able to control his body from Sukuna. Keep in mind, Sukuna is a very powerful being. Anybody who have swallowed that Finger would have either died (due to the Fingers being like poison) or never got their body back.

Let's also consider the nature of Sukuna. He's human, but not human. He's a Curse, but not like a Curse. Sukuna is human, but his behavior is that of a Curse. Tengen is something similar. They evolved more into something of a Cursed Spirit than a human.

If Yuji could handle Sukuna who in a way is similar in a way to Tengen, what if Yuji also could be a vessel for Tengen? And not just that. It's implied that with Tengen, whoever become their vessel, "dies".

Well, what if for Yuji, as he was able to with Sukuna, he could still maintain his sense of self?

Keep in mind, Yuki Tsukumo (first name similar to Yuji's) was a temporary SPV for Tengen and she came out fine. Sure, she's a Special Grade, but at the point of the story we are at, Yuji had been declared at Sukuna's level, who is considered Special Grade. Hmm...

Sliding in right here to add as of 257, it's implied that Yuji was born with one of Sukuna's fingers already sealed in him. Which makes me think even further about this.

Kenjaku, Kaori and Jin are human. Therefore, Yuji is human... so even as an unborn baby, he should have died when that Finger was sealed in him, right? Unless, it was a ruse this whole time that Sukuna's Cursed Fingers would kill someone upon consuming them to keep people from swallowing those Fingers. (But I kinda doubt it was a ruse.)

What if because of the Finger, it didn't kill Yuji but altered his composition so that he already was somewhat like a Curse? Better yet, like his brothers the Death Paintings who are part Curse, part human? Who also happen to be aborted? So, the "Death" part of that title is fitting. But also... maybe it can apply to Yuji, too? As I said, that CF could have made unborn Yuji part Curse, part human. You could say that the CF "killed" some part of human Yuji.

Reminder that because he is Sukuna's vessel and he swallowed that Finger, he was seen as being part Curse, part human. What if this whole time, he already as such?

And one of the subtle hints to Tengen and Sukuna?

Speaking of Death Paintings!!

Something else I want to point out from 257 is that is had been revealed that Yuji and Sukuna both ate their siblings to gain something from them. For Sukuna, it was to survive. For Yuji, it was to gain the Blood Manipulation technique.

Their siblings, at those times, were not like full grown or anything. No... they were fetuses.

And guess what? The last time we get a look at Tengen's current state before being sent off to Sukuna was in 249. And what did Tengen look like?

This. Small and almost fetus-like, you can say.

What if at some point, the others somehow get hold of Tengen with them in this state? Like how Death Paintings are, Tengen can't function independently in this state. What if like those DPs, Tengen will need a new body? A new vessel?

And the chosen vessel? Yuji Itadori. And how? By consuming Tengen.

I know, I know! It's crazy!

But thinking about all what I have so far said, I wouldn't even say it's impossible. Oh, I'm not done.

In another post, I talked about how it seemed risky that Yuji consumed 6 DPs and not one took over his body. Even though, he could control Sukuna, wouldn't it still be considered a gamble that his body could have been taken over by a DP? Maybe they figured because he previously had been Sukuna's vessel, it would turn out okay. Which it did and it makes sense!

Yuji isn't just a vessel. He's a cage. And what if he wasn't just a cage for Sukuna, but for anything?

What if Kenjaku practiced run experimenting making DPs to prepare for someone like Yuji? DPs take complete control of someone's body and forge it into their own. Yuji's does the opposite.

He remains conscious of himself and his body adapts. What if that can work with Tengen?

I think about how Riko was meant to be Tengen's vessel and there was a guarantee she wouldn't be Riko anymore. Opposite of Yuji. Amazingly enough though, for two characters who never met (Yuji was three when Riko died), they sure do have a lot in common. [This post here!]

I'm not saying I'm an expert on analyzing stories, let alone Gege Akutami's works, but I noticed that some subtle hints of foreshadowing are sometimes done when two (or more) characters tend to have commonality. Riko and Yuji happen to be a pair. While alike, they're also opposite. And as I mention, one thing they're opposite in is that Riko's existence was at sake merging with Tengen. Yuji? He keeps his control.

Another is that Riko, at first, she accepts her death when becoming Tengen. She felt like a loner because of that fate. However, she changes her mind at the end and wants to live.

Yuji also accepts death as Sukuna's vessel and before thought of himself as a loner, but he is also a fighter. His grandfather told him to help others so he can be surrounded when he dies.

What if, in reverse, Yuji will give up on that goal at the end? Tengen is, too, a loner like Yuji and Riko. What if Yuji gives up and accepts such a fate as being a loner, taking Tengen's place? Maybe, be surrounded by those who remain as he "dies" to take Tengen's place before going into solitude?

It's a tragic ending, I know. But with JJK, a lot of these characters do have tragic endings.

Simply overall, what if this is a possible ending that has been hinted at this whole time? What if at the end, Yuji is the one to become the next Tengen of sorts? And if he does, he can still be him?

I'm not saying this is a guarantee, let alone you have to agree. [But if you don't, keep it to yourself, I don't care to argue with someone over my thought.]

But it's a thought I have had for a while (since... February...)

[great-kung-lao]

KazuKaoru and Infinite Wealth

I can't even describe properly what kind of an emotional adventure it was witnessing an ancient ship of mine getting brand new development.

When Yakuza 3 sadly happened the way it did at the beginning, I put KazuKaoru at the backyard of my mind. That part of me lived in limbo with no proper closure in sight. Yakuza 5 only briefly referenced particular Yakuza 2 events, but it wasn't enough. It honestly felt half-assed.

Then unfortunately Yakuza 6 happened. That one particular scene I don't want talk about. If you know - you know. Darkest chapter for any KazuKaoru enjoyer. But the way it ended gave me a window for headcanons. If Kiryu needed to be "dead" for everyone to keep them safe, then the best way would be to move to another place, another country even and why not go to USA and try to find Kaoru? In my head they reunited and lived happily ever after in a post Yakuza 6 timeline before we knew 7 will be a thing and when we thought 6 is the last Kiryu Kazuma game.

Like a Dragon 7 confirmed that Kiryu remained in Japan and oh well, I could still headcanon him eventually leaving to keep playing "dead" in USA while living with Kaoru.

With all the water under the bridge and Yakuza Kiwami 2 being released, we finally arrive to Infinite Wealth promotional materials. The first gameplay trailer had Poundmates showcase and one of them surprisingly was Sayama Kaoru with a brand new design.

Considering how you could get Poundmates in Like a Dragon 7 by progressing story or doing substories, I almost went hysterical at the possibilities of how we can acquire Kaoru as Poundmate in Infinite Wealth. When we also learned that Kiryu and Ichiban are going to Hawaii, a USA territory where Kaoru was supposed to be still, well, I felt hopeful like never before. After 15 agonizing years of technically nothing new, my dormant KazuKaoru shipper was rising back to life.

But there was major scare at the possibility of RGGS using this opportunity to write Kaoru off for good as someone who moved on and forgot about Kazuma completely. It would've been devastating for someone who just regained some hope.

Then the bomb was dropped in the form of Bucket List trailer where we see Kaoru voiced acted by Hisakawa Aya again in a story cut scene! And she said the line that made me sigh with relief so hard I could've been heard by aliens in another galaxy.

"Maybe a part of me is still waiting for him"

Even though this particular storyline didn't go the way I imagined it after the trailer until the game's release, it did the one thing I needed very much: it left the door open for potential endgame for a pairing that I love since original Yakuza 2, which will be 20 years soon. That's two decades of shipping and getting this after 15 years of nothing? That felt extremely good.

I was relieved by revelation of ongoing mutuality of romantic feelings between Kiryu Kazuma and Sayama Kaoru and my formerly dormant KazuKaoru shipper is living his best life right now with hope that RGGS gives us a well earned happy ending where these two finally got back together in one of the future titles, preferably a mainline one, because I would like to have KazuKaoru as a party in JRPG, doing tag-team attacks like back in the old days.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, I'm practically begging you at this point, standing on my knees, to not disappoint us after giving so much hope.

[pinknpoodley]

OKAY. i've seen 200% wolf again and i wrote up my thoughts. this is like soooo much fucking word vomit if you're gonna expand the post lmao

TL;DR i give the movie a 4/5. overall, it was SOLID, though i do acknowledge it had some flaws. it was a major improvement over 100% wolf, much to my relief. i realize that i'm very biased, but it's far from abysmal like some reviews are saying. for me, it was well worth the wait and the hype!

(major spoilers, obvs)

okay, first of all THAT INTRO THO. IT WAS ACTUALLY SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL I'M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING. IT WAS CAPTIVATING I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. i actually thought 100% wolf's opening scene was VERY solid too, actually one of my favorite parts of the movie, but in a more emotional and heartwarming way

-WHOEVER DESIGNED THE MOON SPIRITS JUST FUCKING KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK. HOLY SHIT. they look perfect in EVERY single way, and i never thought much about how they looked before but man, this beats anything i could've ever imagined. i think about them constantly, just... WOW. and they way they dance around and create a circle when they're gathering moonfire to beam to the earth in order to bless a werewolf with warfing abilities is just...amazing 😭

-as a side note i wonder why they chose to demonstrate some random woman gaining the ability to warf and not a teenager like freddy. i have a hc that werewolves go through their first warfing around the age of puberty which is why freddy warfed on his 14th birthday. but now i'm wondering if there are exceptions to the rule and "late bloomers" so to speak cause that chick was like 30 lmao

-MOOPOO IS ACTUALLY REALLY CUTE. i saw some reviews saying he was annoying but no!! i love his fun little antics (like riding the space rover in the intro) and i'm still adoring the fact that he was modeled after fin edquist's kids. absolutely melts my heart ahh 🥰 i will agree that he is reminiscent of stitch at some points lmao

-LOVED freddy's narration and the character introduction, the way they made it look like a comic book with each character's name, title and class. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE SO PRETTY. AND I AM GLAD THEY DESCRIBED HOTSPUR AS AN EX-CON bc it implies he actually got a greater punishment than just picking up dog shit but still the fact that it's never referenced again in the movie bothers me. "poodles can do anything werewolves can do, but poodlier" and "hardcore awesomeness in-training" FREDDY'S SUCH A DORK I LOVE IT

-interesting how batty's sense of smell proves to be very useful on the mission and is one of her greatest strengths - how she can detect the wind changing and the blimp changing course. i sorta wonder if that's why the pack allows freddy to take her along when they go on missions, cause literally she's the main reason why she and freddy were able to save those people

-loved freddy and batty's teamwork too, how that was showcased. they were seriously so badass!! like damn these gay dogs are getting a lot more done than those big, buff, powerful wolves LMAO. maybe that just drives the primary message of the movie home even more, now that i think about it

-IDK what flasheart was thinking telling the others to act like pigeons to fool the lady but hey somehow it worked!

-"hey it worked! hit more things" BATTY NOOO i felt bad for freddy he got so abused trying to stop the blimp lmao

-THIS FELICITY HAZZARD AND HER FAKE NEWS REPORTING. i much prefer her in the series smh

-lady hightail was such a bitch wtf "we'll discuss his role in the pack later" ??? girl he is the future high howler tf you mean

-legit felt so bad for freddy during this part, it's definitely hard for him when the pack just sees him as a joke. it's terrible seeing him cry like noo bby. AND THEN THE WAY HE SLAPPED FLASHEART AWAY ?? OMG. like i know he was just frustrated and hurt but damn??? knowing what they've been through it just hurts to see that even more cause they usually have a very healthy and loving relationship ): ): and i could never see freddy seriously resenting flasheart, like not even for a second. he loves and admires him so much 😭

-"hey. i respect you...kinda" batty's dialogue in this movie omg I LOVE HERRR she was so cute trying to cheer freddy up!! not to mention the animation ahhh she's just so cute 🥺

-"cut and color? maybe get some of those curls straightened?" i'm gonna conveniently interpret this to mean that freddy goes to the groomer or maintains his look as a hot pink poodle somehow and i fucking love that lmao

-the lore about the summoning stone is interesting

-the sequence where freddy contorts like something from the exorcist kind of like in the first movie and explodes into a wolf HSDKFvb i'm obsessed

-i don't really get why people have a problem with freddy's wolf form, i think he looks just fine?? i mean, you have the fursona and shreddy jokes and w/e but some people flat out hate it. idc, i think it's very consistent with his poodle and human design. i really believe they put a lot of thought into it. not to mention how well they managed to capture his mannerisms and personality across all three of his forms, i was pretty impressed by that. it had to be pretty challenging. ALSO i figured he would've naturally been a pure white wolf if he'd warfed into one originally, just like he was originally an all white poodle, so it fits right in with my own hcs.

-HIS EXCITEMENT AT BECOMING A REAL WOLF WAS SO FUCKING CUTE OMG. I LOVED THAT PART SO MUCH. WHEN HE WAS FROLICKING LIKE A DEER AND GROWLING AT THE FLOWERS IT WAS ADORABLE HDJDFCVNMB i kept remembering the intro of the first movie where he was little and jumping around all excited to grow up and become a wolf just like flasheart shdfjkc 😭 WHOLESOME AF.

-ALSO. ALSO ALSO ALSO I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HOW HE DIDN'T ACTUALLY GAIN NEW ABILITIES. he didn't become super strong or anything like his dad. he pulls a fucking twig out of the ground and acts like he is but no lmao it's like spongebob holding up the stick with the marshmallows on both ends acting like he lifted a fuckign barbell shdjfkgv he's STILL the same freddy, goofy and clumsy, he literally just took a different form. i can't express enough how much i LOVED that seriously

-moopoo first meeting batty and freddy and the montage with him and freddy being goofy and bonding together was so cute ahh

-MOOPOO TRYING TO EAT A CROW WAS SO OUT OF POCKET LMFAO. also i love his tendency to add "-poo" to the end of everyone's names lol

-it was cute the way freddy scooped batty up and put her on his back ahhh

-i was disappointed that the pack didn't have more of a reaction to freddy becoming an actual wolf like he was hoping, i mean c'mon he was so happy and excited lmao

-"wow!! thanks uncle!!! ^.^" FREDDY. HE TRIED TO KILL YOU AND IMPRISONED YOUR DAD FOR SIX YEARS. THIS IS NOT A SITUATION WHERE WE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT HIM AND NOT FEEL ENRAGED

-MAX'S BACKSTORY IS SO GOOD IDC. also i love her wolf design, it's actually rly cute. tiny wolf hehe

-the elders really suck actually. i feel like they're always looking to blame freddy for something or scold him, at least as they appear in the movies. they're not very fair imo, they clearly still judge him for being a poodle. also, lady hightail suspending him from the night patrol SMH

-well, flasheart...that was an awfully gentle way of telling freddy that moopoo's gonna die if he stays on earth. but it's super in character for him i feel. also it got really fucking dark there for a second

-the sequence where batty and freddy chase moopoo around on the roof of farfang was so cute ahh

-I CAN'T FULLY EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED TWITCHY AND HAMISH IN THIS MOVIE. LIKE HOLY SHIT. they were okay in 100% wolf but they didn't really stand out imo. but like whoa, the writing for them REALLY improved in the sequel. i love them sm now especially hamish lmao

-as a side note i'm sorta confused, do twitchy, hamish and bruno still live on the street while batty lives at farfang w/ the werewolves? based on how the first movie ended i sorta thought they were all living together now??

-twitchy insisting she doesn't like babies and getting freaked out by moopoo was soooo in-character for her lmao.

-hamish and his personality switch with the shades is hilarious hsdjf

-based on some reviews i read i was think there would be more scenes featuring or referencing shit, but it was literally just one and idk why people were freaking out. it wasn't even that bad 🙄

-moopoo is 400 years old apparently, i wonder when moon spirits reach maturity

-the great kennel and adding to the dog pack lore?? kinda neat i guess even if it only appeared very briefly

-THE SCENE WITH HAMISH TALKING TO THE "ORACLE" LMFAO

-also freddy not being used to having a big heavy wolf body shdfv

-"learn how to transform with your clothes on" BUT HE LOSES THEM WHEN HE TRANSFORMS BACK. WHAT IS YOUR POINT TWITCHY. but yeah like you'd think he'd be more careful in the sunlight when he's in his canine forms by now but he's so impulsive

-it was so cute how they put moopoo in a baby stroller with twitchy and disguised bruno as his mom shjfk

-OK BUT I WILL DEFEND THIS FIT WITH MY LIFE. GENUINELY AWESOME AND ADORABLE. like he worked with what he could find and he rocked it. and holy shit the queer coding is absolutely insane IDCCC. also batty being super supportive 🥺🥺

-the montage of hamish failing at being a guide dog and twitchy eventually getting fed up and kicking his ass,, rip

-"shave the baby" shdfvj

-THE DUCK FLYING INTO THE FORCE FIELD AND DISINTEGRATING ???

-moon spirits are incredibly powerful holy fuck. the way moopoo blasted through the force field like ??

-i actually think it's cute and sad how batty is scared of bats and it's implied she got her name from other dogs teasing her hsdjv

-wholesome batty and freddy moments 🥰"i'll take care of them lupin style" and then he falls over himself SDHFGK

-HANK W/ THE TENNIS BALLS. he seems fun i want more lore on him

-the moopoo hungry scene ahhh it was so wholesome to see freddy comforting him. and the animation where he was trying to consume his inner moonlight was really cool, like woah. the whole concept of werewolves having an inner moonlight/moonfire...i just love the lore in this movie so much it's unreal

-AND THE PART WHERE MOOPOO STARTS DREAMING. HOLY SHIT?? THE COLORS AND VISUALS. the animation is SO FUCKING GOOD i'll fight anyone who says otherwise

-THE LULLABY OMGGGGG I'M OBSESSED IT WAS SO SWEET

-freddy punching gar-gar in the eye and running away w/ batty I CAN'T THEY'RE SO GOOFY

-jennifer saunders is amazing as max, i loved her from the first introduction of her character omg. she killed it! also her expressions are sooo good i love it

-love how they made the same joke as they did in 100% wolf with freddy trying to spit on the ground but failing dfgj

-more hamish and twitchy banter, i love how they tease each other and bicker sm

-the part where max mentioned a trust exercise and freddy assumed she meant a trust fall HSDJFV

-"if you'd rather be moopoo's daddy, i'm cool with that. i could be the mummy" BASED hamish

-the entire scene where freddy is pretending to kill the dogs LMAO?? then moopoo waking up and finding them "dead" SDFJGF

-"weird is different, and different is good" i really liked the scene where max and freddy were bonding. it gave max more depth and insight to her character. and freddy does tell batty he doesn't trust her but i think he did end up sympathizing with her in spite of what she'd done because he is very soft-hearted

-hotspur dumbass moments, he deserved to get caught in every one of those traps. also it was kind of really fucking weird how flasheart was laughing at him like it was endearing or something when this is the same monster that locked him away for six years and tried to kill his son. maybe he was happy bc he thought one of the spikes might impale his heart or something but that's probably wishful thinking. WTF this family. and NO I'M NEVER GONNA SHUT UP ABT THAT. IT MAKES NO SENSE HOW HE'S STILL PART OF THE PACK

-interesting how moopoo turns red and turns into a little gremlin when he takes the energy from the whoopsies lmao

-why did max diss freddy's human form tho i genuinely don't get it 😭 poor him

-gar-gar was cute when he wanted to play fetch with batty aww. the way their friendship develops is super sweet

-yeah idk the wolf runes look different to me in this movie compared to the series. it's pretty interesting. also interesting how freddy specifically said wolf runes, implying the existence of other runes, namely dog runes like in the series. i sorta doubt that was intentional but it's fun to think of it that way

-"we're looking up" is SUCH A CUTE SONG. I LOVED THAT ENTIRE MONTAGE. ALSO THE BABY GAR-GARS WERE ADORABLE. and the earth magic stuff is really fucking cool, i wonder if they might incorporate that lore into the series.

-i noticed that the magic only changes the color of freddy's eyes, but that doesn't happen with max? i wonder why that is. maybe i missed something. he looks pretty neat with the glowing red eyes tho lmao

-why did bruno, twitchy and hamish want to eat moopoo's vomit tho

-OK BUT HAMISH SCREAMING AT GAR-GAR LMAO

-also freddy becoming sorta possessed by the earth magic was interesting? i feel like they could've done a lot more with that

-why did freddy cast a rainbow spell around batty... HMMM

-i was surprised by the way max felt genuinely betrayed by freddy, and the way he said she has no friends. like basically, she's alone. and they did appear to have a heart-to-heart there while freddy was trying to talk her into casting the portal spell. she was just fooling them but still, it did seem a little genuine. i think she was just overcome with the urge to get her warfing abilities back and get revenge on the moon spirits. but honestly think max could've been rehabilitated, there was potential there. it sucks that in the end she was turned into a whoopsie and that was it

-i like how max couldn't find a word that rhymes with gravity, so she just made up a word lmao

-wait how tf did twitchy swallow hamish's shades

-yeeeah i was not a fan of the fart joke with bruno, with that being like his main contribution in the film ?? but at least it didn't drag on for too long ??

-gar-gar's return was sweet, again i love the friendship he formed with batty ahh

-the giant mutated moopoo was...completely unanticipated. but it was so sweet the way freddy sang his lullaby to calm him down

-AND THE SCENE WHERE FREDDY GAVE HIM HIS INNER LIGHT. i just...omg that was so beautiful and so in-character. like yeah, he WOULD be that self-sacrificing and it hurts so much

-it was incredibly sweet to see moopoo reunited with his mom and the other moon spirits omg. AND THEN HOW THEY ALL WORKED TOGETHER TO RETURN FREDDY'S INNER LIGHT. THAT WAS GENUINELY SO BEAUTIFUL OH MY FUCKING GOD

-THIS IS HTE MOST WHOLESOME SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN OMG LOOK AT THESE DOGS

-AND THEN HOW THE PACK BOWED TO HIM AT THE END AHHH THAT WAS ACTUALLY PERFECT

closing thoughts:

-there were a lot of reviews complaining that it was unfunny. i can agree the jokes are kinda dumb and corny at times but to me that gives it charm lmao

-it's kind of interesting how the moonstone ring doesn't appear at all, like it isn't even referenced?? i thought it would be, but it wasn't important to the story at all. the story was purely focused on the moon spirits.

-ALSO NO HARRIET, CHARIOT OR MRS. MUTTON which surprised me, but again, they weren't important to the story at all. and i was thinking we'd see hotspur and flasheart (and the other wolves for that matter) in their human forms apart from in the intro?? but again, i guess it wasn't relevant so they didn't include that

-lastly, i've gotta be honest. i think this movie was much better enjoyed by fans of the series and the first movie than by people who know absolute nothing about the franchise. not to say that it can't be enjoyed by people who know nothing about it otherwise. it's just that knowing the characters and events from the first movie makes it a little less confusing imo. we did get some background on freddy, hotspur, flasheart and batty in the intro. however, there was barely anything about twitchy, bruno and hamish and no references to how they met batty and freddy. the segments featuring wolf runes also make more sense if you've watched the series imo, they are well established in the show.

-i may have additional thoughts on the movie that i'll post about later but that's it for now. AGAIN, IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.

[weird-dere-writes]

Okay but dere HOW DOES HE PROPOSE

Rings are gorgeous btw

(Rings referenced in this ask from this post)

It was a normal day, tbh. No fancy dinner, no pretty views, no bath with roses, no going out for a date or anything.

We had just gotten back from a fantastic week of traveling owo. All the views, wonderful food, and experiencing new things with him happened then :3. In fact, the whole trip was something he surprised me with!

On this day, we were resting to recoup. Absolutely chilling without much plans to go outside. We are just being cozy comfy and spending time doing mundane things. Watching TV, playing games, perhaps ordering in, wearing pajamas and all uwu.

I start binging a show I really like and he's watching with me. At some point Ichi gets eepy. Says he's gonna go take a nap in our room. He knows I'm really into this show now, so he tells me to keep watching and that he can always catch up later. I ask him if he's sure and he insists, so I do. I'm there for the next few hours watching while he sets his plan in motion in the bedroom.

After finishing the first season of this show, I'm getting up from the couch, stretching and going to the kitchen for a drink and to get out some condiments. I had ordered our dinner to be delivered a little while ago. And it should be here soon.

This is when Ichi calls me from our room. I call back and he says he needs me in there for a sec.

I open our door and peek in and don't see him, before fully coming in and looking around with a "where are you?"

And then my eyes fall on the bulletin board/calendar above our desk. Attached to it are a bunch of candid photos of me from our trip that I never even knew he took. They were all beautiful, and it had my heart swelling. There's a sticky note in the middle of them that reads "down here sunshine" (sunshine being his main pet name for me) with an arrow pointing down to the desk.

And following that arrow down I see an envelope with a pink wax seal of a cherry blossom. It's sitting between two (fake) water lillies, and there's a few chocolates strewn about.

Slowly I take the letter and open it, tears springing in my eyes already after the first few lines. By the end of the most heartfelt letter I had ever read, detailing everything he loved about me and how much I had changed his life, I was a sniffling wet cheeked mess.

I set the letter down and turn around to look for him, seeing him leaning against the doorway to our en suite bathroom (where he was hiding when I came in).

He smiles softly when he sees the way I look at him.

I can't help but ask in the tiniest voice if he really meant all that in the letter.

And his smile grows with a bit of a knowing chuckle as he makes his way toward me, telling me of course he does.

He comes and holds my hands and tells me I'm everything to him.

"And there's something else..."

He lets go and takes a step back before kneeling on one knee before my very eyes and I am releasing the sobs I was holding in as I read that letter with an "Oh my god."

He tells me he really is his happiest with me and that he couldn't imagine a life going forward without me before pulling out the black box and opening it to showcase this ring:

"Would you do me the honor of being my wife? Will you marry me?"

And of course I am absolutely saying yes with my whole DDD chest, snotty nosed and all lol.

He puts the ring on me then we are embracing.

And after I've calmed down a little and have gotten cleaned up, he also lets me know he ordered us dessert too, to celebrate. One of these strawberry pizzas (I've heard they're so good from a place nearby irl but haven't gotten a chance to try one yet rip).

Seeing it once it was delivered almost had me crying again <3333333

He is truly the best man, lover, fiancé, and hubby ever 🥺🩷🩷🩷🩷

And he showed me that again when we made love that night 🫶🏾.

Thank you for asking Kitten! Writing this made me so so so happy 🥹💜💜💜💜💜.

[sailoryooons]

Triggering content and topics of racism, harassment, cancel culture, and media literacy are below. This is extremely long and has nothing to do with any of my works or BTS, but addresses the recent cancellation of creators on this platform and some personal statements I want to make.

For anyone who isn’t aware, once again there are people using @/chaibts to attack people. I don’t want to act as a mouthpiece for M, but as a friend and a fellow content creator, it’s really frustrating to see someone chased off of this website by anonymous users on a forum where none of the conversations being had, or accusations being made appear to be in good faith or from well-intentioned submitters. 

I think a lot of what is being posted on this blog is being posted in bad faith under the guise of holding creators accountable. This blog is primarily being used by individuals who allow no room for other opinions, nuance, context or for the people accused of certain content to defend themselves or apologize and grow if needed. I do want to say that there are some submissions on the blog that have done a great drop of calling attention to issues with users in the community, but a majority of the submissions are not. 

Disclaimer: I am completely aware that not all of our experiences are the same and that each individual person experiences discrimination and racism differently and I’m not negating that. I am aware that my experience as an American-born Latina makes all of my experiences with racism, discrimination, and microaggressions different than people from other non-white communities, and my entire experience and interpretation of this scenario are based on my experience. I am not, at any point, under the impression that my experiences are the groundwork for making accusations. 

I say all of this to provide context for the next part, which is that the scene that someone(s) found to be written from a place of racism, I beta-read for and helped M with. When I use the word racism in this context, the original poster believes that this scene was written with the specific intent to attack Asians, and that the scene displaying discrimination against Yoongi was from a place of bad faith, as well that there is no scenario in which a white creator should depict any sort of discriminatory transgressions, as they cannot perceive racism or discrimination.

Because I beta-read it and because I helped with this area of the fic, I feel like I should speak up and take some responsibility, and I want to say that M did ask others about the scene because it was incredibly important to show the discriminatory action in an impactful and respectful way. M, from this scene’s inception, asked thoughtful questions and asked me directly if the experience made sense, referencing my time working in a hotel where I first-hand witnessed similar dealings and experienced it myself. We talked about what the scene meant, how it reflected the real-life struggles of BTS in the Western music industry, and how it felt for someone to experience this in their career. As someone who has faced micro-aggressions my entire life and career - particularly in regard to my accent - I resonated with this scene, but I realize that may not be the case for everyone. 

I in no way think I am the sole vocal piece for all marginalized communities nor do I think that my experiences dictate this discourse alone, so what I did not find triggering does not mean that it wasn’t. There is a difficulty when trying to showcase the struggles of marginalized groups in media, and it doesn’t always resonate the way it’s intended. 

To reiterate: I am not Asian. I am Cuban-American, and very much a white Latina, and benefit from the fact that people treat me as a normal white person until I speak with an accent, which makes my experience very different than anyone else visibly not-white. It is entirely possible that the reason I was not triggered or did not find this scene troublesome was because I am not the specific ethnicity mentioned and I 100% acknowledge that. I also did not see an issue with a white creator showing this moment, however, I also understand that not everyone feels that way and that is completely acceptable. 

I’m not going to delve in and give a dissertation on how discrimination should and should not be represented in media and who should be able to write about it,  but I wanted to talk about my relationship to the scene mentioned, because it leads me to what I really want to talk about on this platform.

What I want to talk about as the main issue is the cancel culture and bullying on this platform. What I have seen lately on Tumblr, including this ‘tea’ blog, is a complete refusal by people to consume media with any sort of media literacy and without any willingness to have nuance. M is not the only creator who has been bullied off of Tumblr recently for something that, to me, warrants a conversation and not a hate campaign. This is happening more and more, and I am constantly seeing anonymous users in the ask boxes of content creators calling them racist, queerphobic, sasaensgs, fetishizers, and everything in between for the most ridiculous takes. 

When I say that people are ‘chased’ off of Tumblr, I do not mean with pitchforks and torches of the masses who are rightfully escorting a wrong-doer off the internet. I mean by the constant harassment from one person or a small group of people who refuse to let anyone explain, refuse to give anyone apt time to respond, and refuse to accept any sort of response whether it’s editing the work in question, someone going on hiatus to think about whether or not they feel as though they’ve done wrong, or leaving entirely so that they’re no longer contributing to the discourse. This is the way our new ‘accountability’ system works, especially behind the protection of anonymity. It’s easy to feel as though you’re doing something right when there is nothing to tie you to the responsibility of your words and accusations. 

It’s incredibly difficult as a friend and a content creator to see multiple people be bullied from this platform by users who absolutely refuse to believe anything but their own interpretation, and I think we are trivializing a lot of actually problematic topics by the approach being used. Accountability IS incredibly important, but the current trend is that no version of accountability is enough. Editing or deleting the story isn’t enough, an apology isn’t enough - nothing is enough. 

If we are going to be a community that holds people accountable, we have to also allow the people we are accusing to respond, and apologize if/when necessary. We also have to consider if the content we personally find triggering is ACTUALLY at its core troublesome and problematic, and consider that our opinion is not the collective. We have to consider that if the collective community being referenced is telling you that they do not see the same problem that you do, they’re not also in the wrong, but might have a different perspective. 

Anything else sort of just feels like a hate campaign with no true desire to protect the community they are speaking “on behalf” of. Especially in this instance, where there are now bipoc creators being attacked for having the audacity to defend a white creator. Why can members of the community being represented not provide their opinion on it without being insulted and called names? Is it, perhaps, because you cared more about getting rid of the person than you did about the issue? That’s what this translates to, especially when the previous stance of protecting a group becomes attacking that group because they don’t agree. When you begin attacking the members of the group you were originally trying to protect because it no longer fits your narrative, you negate any type of goodwill you entered the conversation with.

Again, this is my very limited and personal experience and I am open to the possibility that my take isn’t the right take or I am in a small minority that feels this way. I want this to be a safe community for everyone but in order to do that, we also have to consume content with an ounce of willingness to have nuance and give people a modicum of time to respond appropriately. 

For the record, I know that this take and conversation is not for everyone, and I completely respect it if you no longer feel comfortable interacting with me. This is an uncomfortable topic. I may not be the best to represent a discussion on cancel culture on this website. I may not be the best to represent conversations on discrimination inclusion in fics. However this was something I was involved in, and it’s hurtful to see a friend suffer from what I think a lot of people agree to be something that was not worth this in the first place.

Reblogs are turned off because I have no interest in anyone dogpiling any creators or risking spreading bad takes. I wrote this purely because I felt like it needed to be said, and I am sure there will be negative repercussions, but that is the risk of existing in this space online.

[jelliestar]

MORE SSP 1 SORRY

um um sorry i got distracted and hit post but also I dont wanna make one giant post so i think it was prpb for the best ANWYAY

OK SO As part of the whole process of figuring this stuff out, we had a few workshops in class that tbhhh i found rly helpful. There was one where like we were timed and then given categorical guidelines to make images. I neeeed to find the typography work I did tbh bc I think i cooked like?

to explain more, my first language is hindi, and ive never seen like, a cursive typeface in hindi. and so i thought i would try my hand and designing one (And soon realised exactly why I've never seen one before) but yeah! if im lucky and find it, you should see a pic or two of it riiiight hereeee:

So I did this in my sketchbook with poscas bc I forgot my brush pens at home... but yeah as you can see um. this did not rly go to plan, tho it was definitely worth trying out!

as well as this, I made a really stupid joke art of Varuna and Yama referencing a silly meme in the jjk fandom (Varuna summoning yama like how megumi summons mahoraga) so! that was also fun since it let me play around with my designs again :)

YAMA LOOKS SO STUPID HELPPPP LMFAO I love being anle to draw my girls for my assignments im actually so happy <3

ANYWAYYY

so yeah after this I wrote out a rough draft of my brief, essentially saying that I wanted to create an interactive outcome to showcase my own personal experiences of growing up as a poc, nonbinary lesbian! This was still very much in development, but it was a starting point.

[commissionsdarian]

Do you think that modern popular movies are better than older ones or vice versa?

Very good question. Obviously this is personal perspective, but it's important to take into account the development of the quality of media

Older movies are good. What they may lack in visuals, they make up for in storytelling. Toy Story, even if it's a more recent example, showcases this- with it's somewhat questionable 3D animation appearances, what was really focused on were the characters and the story, leading to it's success. Older movies, while still maintaining incredible visuals at times, do excel with their stories and characters

There's also the benefit in that older movies were nearer to the defining of film as a media. The first recorded motion picture was around the 1880s, and so what proceeded was a period of time where film making was an experimental process. This obviously would result in iconic movies, being the first of their kind. This is something I think modern movies struggle with in that they're trying to create something that's memorable, iconic, and is set apart from everything else. But because of how full the film industry is, and how much newer movies want to take inspiration from previous successful works, it's unlikely that they'll be creating something that can be considered different

It's also dependant on the time period and current events. The Golden Age of Cinema is generally defined to be post WW1- 1960s. A lot of great and memorable movies were made in this time, and the time period for cinematography is generally considered to be an aesthetic today, with the Atlantic accents and the soft rose/yellow hues. Given the time period, it's safe to assume the rise in the film industry came as a reaction to devastating global events, the wars, the financial collapses. As with many art forms, film serves as a form of escapism, a way to distract from the world, or on the opposite end, a way to search into and find answers to the world around us. There would've been an excessive focus on the storytelling taking place in order to provide such distracts or deep searches

However, there's also the personal psychological role that plays into this. We, as humans, will always prefer things we view as nostalgic, things that we associate with happier times, things that represent familiarity and security. For many, this nostalgia is present through the media they were exposed to when younger, meaning movies you watched when you were younger are more likely to be preferable. But there's also the whole "I was born in the wrong era" mindset. Younger people who can't feel nostalgic about older movies because they weren't around can still easily prefer older movies. It often comes with the whole aesthetic, rose tinted glasses, yearning for a life that isn't yours. Obviously this mindset is questionable in itself, but it can be pointed to as an explanation for younger people's old preferences

There will always be the fact that older movies have more media presence. Movies such as Stephen King's (and Stanley Kubrick's) "The Shining" has been referenced thousands of times in other medias. You might not have watched the actual movie, but you'll still recognize the creepy twins in blue dresses, the phrase "Red rum" or the visual of a man carrying an axe whilst dragging his foot. Older movies have been referenced so much because they have had the time to have been, but also because they've left a lasting impact

Newer movies can still be good, but it's hard to set yourself out from the crowd. This is seen a lot with animated movies at the moment, that new "Elementals" movie by Disney isn't unique, it's the exact same style they've used time and time again, and will likely have the same message we've been given many times before. There's modern movies that try to bank on popular trends, like the (dreaded) "Emoji Movie" which was practically dated before it even reached cinemas. And then there's the questionable late sequel category, where a new sequel of older movies is attempted to be made. Famously, this hasn't gone down too well with the new Star Wars movies. The new Indiana Jones movie was questionable too. "Blues Brothers 2000" was a massive fail. All of these can be seen as trying to bank on the previous success of their franchises, trying to recreate the origin magic, trying to bank on the older generation's nostalgia or trying to draw in younger audiences. However, their attempts to capture the original magic hardly ever works, because they'll never be the originals. The original movies were the ones that made the name for the franchises, they're the ones that set themselves apart and gained audience approval. Trying to do that again won't be taken well. Especially when the newer storylines for these late sequels don't match, or don't feel like they match, the energy of the original's

So, for all these reasons, I just prefer older movies

[tdcloud]

Happy 2023--and Happy Intro to Vamps 101! (blog#13)

Welcome, one and all, to 2023! I hope you all had a good New Year’s and rang it in right. I spent the evening with good friends, good food, and good conversation, and while that was lovely, I’m ready to shake off the holidays and get back into the thick of things. It’s a new year! That means new projects and new horizons to explore! It felt fitting that for the first blog post of the new year I’d tease a little of both.

For this month’s blog, let’s take some time to delve into something I know a lot of you must be curious about: The Dark Vagaries universe, or DVerse, for short! This is my custom vampire universe and sandbox showcased in works like Letifer and Apotheosis, as well as a few scattered one shots that have been posted both on Patreon and AO3. There are unique bloodlines with vampires sporting a whole host of different abilities and proclivities, an enormous rotating cast of colorful characters, and myriad mysteries that allude to even more the deeper we dive into the world as a whole. It’s the culmination of several years of hard work and even more intense worldbuilding, and it serves as the next phase of my publication schedule.

So, without any more delay, let’s get to it!

Where to start… I suppose I’ll give you all the general pocket pitch I use when discussing Letifer to new readers. The DVerse is made up of eight standalone novels, each one centered around a different protagonist from a different bloodline in a different historical setting. They can be read in any order and apart from each other, but they’re best consumed in pairs with each book having a spiritual tie-in and shared characters, plot elements, or historical significance. Each book is full of fun, deep vampiric lore, and with a cast of characters and shared history spanning more than ten thousand years, it’ll take reading all of them to fully grasp the vagaries teased in pieces throughout the eight books.

Now, I fully intend to do blog posts on every individual clan in the future. There’s really no concise way for me to give full overviews in just one of these, especially when I have so much else to talk about as well. If you’ve ever played Vampire: The Masquerade, imagine my bloodlines in similar terms. There are seven established clans and each serves a unique, fluctuating role in vampiric society depending on who holds power at that point in time, in that part of the world. There are the noble born Luminaries, the warrior-caste Triarii, the scheming Niccaive, the morbidly curious Cultists, the run-of-the-mill Enforcers, the scholarly Loremasters, and the malignly persecuted Charlatans. Each has a part to play and each experiences the world in a very different way. They’re all immense fun and I really hope to make a personality quiz with all of these as options sometime since every strain of blood skews the mind and body in certain directions. But more on that later—What’s this series ultimately about?

That's a hard question to answer at first blush. It’s a series made up of standalones, so the plots vary wildly. Even the genres vary! There are detective mystery/buddy cop vibes to Letifer, but Apotheosis is much more of a corporate thriller. The next duology contains a Prohibition Era, mafia-tinged inheritance battle alongside a vampiric political grift involving a merc team and an assassination plot. The one after that takes us even further back into the past with a murder mystery on a ship story straight out of that one chapter of Dracula alongside a 1970s-set journalist hunting down the true story behind a New Orleans folktale. The final duo is… Teehee. A surprise. These final two books involve the root of the grand mystery referenced throughout the prior books—the truth behind The Fall, an event so mired in mystery and bloodshed that even the oldest vampires do their best to forget about it. 

So, as you can see, this series is hard to define. I’d say it’s largely horror of various bends. We have psychological, thriller, survival, slasher, and ghost stories aplenty. There’s gore, vore, mutilation, transformation, and loss of every variety. But there’s comedy too, and love galore. It’s a culmination of many stories that all lead back to one grand truth: there’s someone out there for everyone, so long as you’re willing to ignore death in the process. 

We’re at the part of the blog where I’d probably begin discussing characters, love interests, and dynamics. Given this is an eight-part series, I can’t very well break down every single couple, at least, not fully. This is the sparknotes teaser, this blog. We’ll for sure go into greater detail later on as I begin breaking down these books into individual teasers. For now, though, I’ll give you basic blurbs about each book and its cast. With any luck it’ll be enough to whet your appetite and get you excited about individual products!

First on the docket: Letifer 

Well, first off, I really hope most of you have picked up Letifer and read it by now! It’s my latest release and is so much fun, like, SO much fun. It’s a detective story with unconventional partnerships between a rookie cop aspiring to make detective and a loner vampire who essentially works as Internal Affairs within his own vampiric society. There’s a murderer on the loose and, as it turns out, both Gabriel, the moonlighting detective-wannabee, and Nines, the Enforcer outcast with a chip on his shoulder, are on the case. It just makes more sense to work together than apart, even if they do butt heads and struggle to understand one another’s unique perspective on life, death, and how to keep moving when neither are as simple as you’d want them to be. It’s a thriller and quintessential murder mystery, and there’s some fun horror sequences just to keep things exciting. It’s set in 2020 and the most modern of all the installments, and beginning the series with this book gives us a good baseline to work backwards from as we delve into the history side of things and learn how things got to this point.

Next: Apotheosis (Soon to be renamed Skiamakhia)

This is a 90s corporate thriller! It’s about Kolton Moreau, Nines’s twin brother, and tells the story of how he met his sire and embroiled himself and his family in vampire politics after attracting the attention of Elijah Eder, the Luminary Elder of the city. But it’s not as simple as that. Kolton is a scion of his own making, and while Luminaries of the Old World were those with titles, land, and domains, the New World views its elite under different terms. Kolton has already been noticed by the undead ruling the cities after dark, and when in competition with an Elder like Elijah, anyone seeking to swipe Kolton out from under him will have to use some… less savory avenues to see it happen. Kolton, despite being human, has to fight his own battles and prove that he’s able to hold his own on the chessboard, heartbeat or not. 

This book serves as a prequel to Letifer and gives so much insight into the actions and lead up we only get to see in Nines’s point of view in that book, and let me tell you, it recontextualizes SO much. I really try to explore different relationship styles and types in this series, both to keep things fresh and to challenge myself. Kolton and Elijah’s romance isn’t conventional at all. It’s closer to an arranged marriage or political partnership than anything immediately romantic, and with two incredibly cerebral characters, it’s very fun getting to see how they navigate an arrangement like this when both are more accustomed to boardrooms than casual relationships.

Next: Philaimatos

I’m super excited to begin work on this book soon. It’s based loosely off a few old ideas and oneshots I wrote ages ago involving Prohibition vampires and mafia shenanigans. This is another book with an interesting relationship dynamic. Our couple is comprised of Sammy Poe, a speakeasy owner and rumrunner trying his damnedest to maintain neutrality in a city that thrives off deals, protection fees, and mafia involvement as a way of life, and James, a freshly turned on the WW1 battlefield Triarii with a few bad feeding habits that don’t make him many friends. Theirs is a relationship of mutual benefit, but it’s also one of forced reliance. Sammy met James after straying into territory he shouldn’t have been wandering in and survived by making a deal with the half-feral James. In exchange for his blood, James would keep him safe, feed him some info, and keep other vampires out of Sammy’s hair. 

Of course, it’s never that simple. They’ve got a really fun push and pull between them trying to stay at arm’s reach when circumstances bring about the opposite. Couple that with a new powerhouse entering the city and aching to shake things up and you’ve got a really fun dynamic that isn’t based on love. Turns out, sometimes necessity is stronger! 

Next: Thanatoses

The old idea that became the bulk of Philamatos was actually my first attempt at conceptualizing a story in the form of a movie. It involved so many points of view and different ongoing plot threads—it became pretty clear to me that my 19 year old self couldn’t do an idea like that justice. Hell, at the time, I knew I couldn’t even attempt to write it into a book because I didn’t know how to write a multi-chaptered fanfiction, let alone a fully realized novel. Looking back, I was right, but not for the same reasons. The plot I’d originally come up with would never have worked as one movie, or one book. By that logic, the tie-in to Philamatos serves as the other half of that movie concept, but this time in a format that actually makes sense! This is a story I’d call an action-heist. It’s a prequel but also a spin-off in some ways, detailing the villains’ side of things in the form of the mercenary team hired to destabilize Chicago in order to set the stage for the big baddie. The assassination of a Luminary Elder is no laughing matter. It’s a suicidal job, but to be honest, those pay the best. These two only accept the best.

I fondly refer to this story as “my asexual hate-mance” as it’s about Felix, a Nicciave grifter, and her partner Nebraska, a trauma-riddled ex-soldier who hates vampires more than anything. It’s another odd-ball couple, but there are reasons for a human-disparaging Vampire to work with a vampire-revealing human. They work together flawlessly. Perfect synchronicity. There is no one in this world who understands each other better, who could predict the other’s thoughts better—and yet they can’t stand each other. It’s fantastic. This book also contains my FAVORITE background villain in the DVerse at large, Jericho. You’ll get to meet him a little in Apotheosis, but this is the book where he gets to shine. It’s SO exciting. I really cannot wait.

Next: Nepenthe 

This is another book I’ve really found myself eager to begin. I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that I love locked door mysteries, and this is the book I get to finally try my hand at the story type myself. This book is the Cultist installment, and if you guys know about Cultists, you may already be looking at me with wide eyes. It’s a sort of play on that one chapter of Dracula when Dracula is on the ship crossing over to England, but tied up with a piece of New Orleans folklore that serves as the larger context of this story. Have you guys ever heard of the Casket Girls? If not, go read up on it! This book follows two casket girls on their way to the New World from France to start their new lives as married women. Unfortunately, there’s a plague-spreading vampire ghoul (also one of my favorite vamps!!) lurking in the hold, and a two month trip is just long enough to bring out the worst in humans and vampires alike. 

This book is almost solely horror when compared to the others in the series that shuffle through a few genres over the course of the story. Our girls, Colette and Marceline, go through an ordeal together. Like, a survival horror ordeal.  What they become at the end of it gives credence to the idea that happy endings truly may be subjective.

Next: Aletheia

As our tie-in with Nepenthe, Aletheia has some shared cast despite taking place in the 1970s. Like I said before, the story of the Casket Girls is famous in New Orleans. There’s a whole culture built around it, and for fledgling Loremaster Thea, the idea of uncovering the truth behind the story is one mystery she can’t refuse. I’m super excited about this story because it’s a mystery but also a journalistic reporter investigating an old folktale. Thea is new to the blood. She’s actually too young to be typically permitted to venture out into the world like this, but her wanderlust knows no bounds and her force of will is stronger than any elder’s could hope to be. Because of this, we have a fish out of water sticking her head into places she’d be better off not treading. We’ll get to meet so many awesome, nefarious characters over the scope of her investigation as well as meet the remnants of that fateful plague ship. This will probably have the most unconventional and strange of relationship dynamics. If you know about Cultists, you’ll automatically understand why I say that XD Just prepare yourself for the strangest threesome you’ll ever encounter. Be excited! I know I am.

Lastly: Mortigena and Dakethumos 

Can’t give you too much on these books since, as I said before, they’re the culmination of all the previous books teasing the larger background mysteries lurking behind the plots. What I can tell you is that these books follow one central character, a figure who enters two men’s lives and changes them—and maybe not for the better. That character is Noel! He was a sin-eater in life and became something far different after death, but maybe not so different depending on how you look at it. Mortigena involves him and Cesare, a woe begotten Charlatan embroiled in some of the darkest points of vampire history over in Europe. Together, they change it, and maybe not for the better XD A lot of the things we’ll hear about in passing in the previous books relate to the events of this book. It’s another sort of murder mystery story but told from the perspective of the perpetrators this time, not the ones trying to catch them, or the victims themselves. 

To contrast, Dakethumos is about Noel and his sire, Bennett, and tells the final story of a bloodline too terrifying to be spoken of casually. This book is the oldest in terms of setting and will be the earliest installment we get in this universe. It’s all leading up to this one, folks! There will be only a handful of characters from previous books that arise in this one. It’s also the saddest book, in my opinion, and the one with the most depressing ending. I’m hopeful that by the time you finish Mortigena you’ll know where this book is heading though. I can’t get into more details than this, but trust me, these two are going to serve as an intense conclusion to this series. I really can’t wait to get to them!

There are of course so many side characters and side couples throughout these books, some of which serve almost as big a role as the main characters and couples, just on the periphery. I’ll likely delve into those side characters at a future date, perhaps in tandem with individual book teasers or even in future Patreon one shots. I’ve currently got an origin two-shot on my monthly poll regarding two very fun side characters who will otherwise never have their full story told. Perhaps after the main series wraps up I’ll get to do some small novellas with all my vampires… but I’m getting ahead of myself. With a world this big and depictions of vampires as variable as they are, I think it’s good to open up to questions you all specifically want me to answer. Questions come from Instagram, Twitter, and private messages this month!

Give Rooney Soda Tier List

If you guys can’t tell, that one is from Yougei XD Let’s ignore the fact that vampires can’t drink pop for a minute to give this question the consideration it deserves. Rooney is from the Midwest. I think his favorite pops would be as follows:

Purple Faygo (homeboy’s from Detroit)

Root Beer (Mug’s)

Mountain Dew Voltage

Mountain Dew Code Red

Ginger Ale

He was a bit of a gamer before college and definitely enjoys his gamer fuel. He also really enjoyed Yoohoo’s. Please mix blood with Yoohoo so he can drink it again ;-; He needs a sippy, he’s just a boy.

What was the thought process behind the creation of the different DVerse clans?

This is a great question! It’s a bit involved, so I’ll try to be brief. Like I said above, Mortigena was the first planned DVerse book, so a lot of the initial clan development centered around creating characters for that single story. I knew right away that I wanted to try my hand at different clans and bloodlines for variety’s sake, so I aimed for a set number and then went to think of ways to divide the typical traditional vampire abilities into different specialties that could mark a bloodline. 

For instance, vampires typically have superhuman strength, so I knew I needed a physical clan. That turned into the Triarii. But of course, it’s not fun if they’re only strong. I wanted them to be unique too, so I went deeper, and some of my thought process is echoed in Gabriel’s line in Letifer where he calls Triarii jocks. They are, as I always call them, “team sports.” They’re inherently loyal towards one another, capable of blood rage (‘roid rage), and their blood is so potent and powerful that even surviving it to become a Triarii is a sign that you are either immensely strong and sturdy naturally, like as a human, or you’ve got an iron will that helps you persevere through horrific ordeals. 

The goal behind each clan was to avoid shoehorning each vampire into a specific personality-determined bloodline. You don’t get put into a specific clan because you behave a certain way, but being a certain clan does influence your personality at its core. Every bloodline takes one or two core personality traits a person might have and cranks it up to eleven. For example, let’s look at clans like the Nicciave or Luminaries. Just because you’re one of them doesn’t make you a paranoid scheming Machiavelli or a rich, spoiled brat. The blood, however, has its own bad influences that it passes on, and it takes a lot of strength of will and character to keep from succumbing to the racing thoughts inherent to the Nicciave bloodline. When you always know the world IS out to get you, how do you rise above that? And the Luminary blood makes it difficult for many fledglings to focus. It lowers inhibitions and makes them gluttons for instant gratification, and that sometimes only fades with age and learned restraint. When no one will tell you no, it’s difficult to tell yourself no as well. 

So… it’s something like that, I suppose. Most clans came about because I needed specific types to fill character roles within a single story, and over time they got refined to work as clans as a whole. Nines' breakdown in Letifer is pretty accurate to how I went about making them all up, but a lot of credit is due to Yougei as well because we spent… I want to say about two solid days straight (literally several hours each day doing nothing else but this) workshopping clan abilities, names, elders, power structures, and political hierarchies. A lot of it changed as I moved forward with planning out the other books, and a lot of the political details were defunct by the time it came time to write books set in vastly different time periods or geographical areas, but it set the stage for a lot of good adaptation!  

If there’s more questions related to specific clans and what not, we can probably go into more detail when I do individual clan blogs in the future!

When more Ricca? Ricca? Ricca when??

Well this is a deep cut XD For those of you who don’t know, Ricca is a character who recently appeared in Apotheosis. He’s a loremaster and a friend of Elijah’s and very, very sexy. We’ll have a lot more Ricca in the next phase of DVerse books! This was just his introduction, but he’ll be a major player in the next two books, though as a loremaster, he does his best work from the background. 

While we’re talking about him, I suppose I’ll tell you guys some of his background! I feel like siring stories are always the number one way to get to know a vampire quickly and succinctly. For Ricca, he was a Swedish-American homesteader who lost his entire family while traveling. His father, sisters, and grandparents were slaughtered by bandits, and Ricca himself was grievously wounded and left for dead. Night descended and the sound of wolves spelled the end—until the sound stopped, and a new one replaced the howls. A loremaster, scenting the fresh blood, came upon the scene and realized there was a survivor. Instead of putting Ricca out of his misery, he was turned, and from there he entered the Loremaster ranks.

Ricca early on made a name for himself for his less-than-conventional methods of information acquisition. Loremasters tend to remain on the periphery of stories, observing, recording, and conveying what they learn to others of their bloodline. Ricca, though, is strong. He’s ruthless in ways a lot of his kin aren’t. He’s the sort of man who isn’t afraid of involving himself in the stories he’s meant to simply observe. As we move forward in the DVerse, keep that in mind. Ricca Alhborn is unlike any Loremaster you’ve seen yet.

When will we get more of the evil titty cabal?

-stares at my editor judgmentally- And we have an even deeper cut yet. We’re too early on in the series to fully know about the “Evil Titty Cabal” just yet, but those who are reading Apotheosis will soon meet the first member of this illustrious club, and those who have been reading my ao3 one shots may recall Charon, a very dangerous Charlatan, who is also a member. I don’t want anyone to get the idea that there is some overarching villainous group presiding over the series at large. There is no singular villain group or anything like that, and when you’re dealing with vampire politics, there isn’t so much a bad guy as much as antagonists who are going against our protagonists. That doesn’t stop me from dreaming, though.

The Evil Titty Cabal is a grouping of a handful of my favorite bad-time vampires. They’re the most Machiavellian, the ones who have the least compunctions when it comes to interfering in the status quo to manipulate it in directions they’d rather it take. They’re unpredictable agents at times. They aren’t the worst this world has to offer, but they are the closest to a league of villains who sit together in dark, atmospheric sitting rooms, swirling wine glasses of blood while looking incredibly slutty and evil XD 

The main members, in a nutshell, are thus:

Jericho — Nicciave King Maker (the leader)

Keaton — Jericho’s Triarii dog

Charon — Incredibly powerful Charlatan (Love potion aura)

Count Lucius “Lucy” — Incredibly old Charlatan (Bloodmancy/Blood-based Synesthesia)

Zion — Amoral Loremaster

There’s also an occasional team-up with Romeo Mason, a high-ranked Las Vegas Luminary and his two pets, the human Jade and Charlatan fledgling Sterling (inhibition-lowering aura, sorta makes you feel drunk). You’ll learn more about Romeo in Apotheosis, but as of right now, his pets will probably never show up in the main series. All the others should make themselves known in various books! So, look out for their names—they’re 100% people you should be wary of.

To answer the question, I have plans for more one shots that would introduce more of the cabal members. I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to write one of these hypothetical meetings—some of these cabal members are more conceptual than canon, and several would never have any reason to actually meet one another—but I do want to. God, do I want to. 

Why eight books? That’s so many. Why do you do this to yourself?

This is a hilarious question. Incredibly real though, and valid. Why eight? I don’t know. I didn’t intend to set out with eight books when I first dreamt up the idea that would later become Mortigena. Because that’s the book I thought up first. I actually wrote over 100 pages of it a few years back before realizing that the setting was so much bigger than I was letting it be. All of that will have to be rewritten, but I didn’t solidify on wanting this to be eight books until about 2018 when I began the fanfic version of Letifer. I’d just written a one shot-esque first chapter for a vampire au, more in the style of VtM than anything else. It was just something fun to occupy me one afternoon, but the response was so overwhelmingly massive and positive, and the teaser so tempting and promising, that I realized I could easily adapt it to the DVerse I’d been worldbuilding for over a year at that point. I viewed it as a test-ride of the universe, a built-in focus group to see how the lore would fly and if people were responsive to the concepts I was playing with. Surprise, surprise, they were.

Letifer focuses on the Enforcer bloodline. Mortigena focuses on the Charlatan bloodline. I made Nines’s brother a Luminary, toyed with the idea of a spin-off prequel, realized that at that point I might as well just write a book for each clan, and the rest is, as they say, history. I’ve written books for stupider reasons, and this way I got to actually use all the extra vampires I’d created just for fun. Making them all standalones also gave me even more freedom to publish them without so much pressure to get them out quickly. There’s no overarching story that can’t go on until the next book drops, and people can pick them up in any order, enjoy just the ones that appeal to them if they’re not a fan of survival horror or m/m relationships. I did this to myself because despite locking myself into a series that will likely take me ten years to finish, I have a lot of freedom with how I’m choosing to write this. I got to dedicate so much more time to worldbuilding a universe than I’ve ever gotten to do before, and I’ve made more than fifty vampires that may show up in the main series, or may be the stars of future novellas should I ever decide to do short spin-offs. It’s just… fun. It’s just a lot of fun.

There’s a particular kind of sadness that comes from writing the final sentence of a series you’ll never dabble in again. When I had to say goodbye to Khouri, Navidae, and Sorin, I was incredibly emotional. I’ve still got Hiraeth left in the Tempest books, but Ruari and Corbet’s main story is already over. Once that book is done, I’ll be saying goodbye to them for good. It’s… very sad. I’ve never been good at handling loss, and while it may seem dramatic to equate finishing a book series with loss, the feeling is much the same. Eight books is a large commitment, but at least I’ve given myself an option now to continue in this universe for as long as I want. I’ve made a universe I never have to end!

It’s a little selfish I guess. I don’t know. I like vampires. I like all the vampires I got to make with my editor and Yougei. I hope you guys like them too because you’re going to be in vampire hell with me for a while XD But that’s probably enough of a teaser for now. If you haven’t yet, go pick up a copy of Letifer or check out the ongoing serialization of Apotheosis over on Patreon. We’ll be finishing it up in April, so you’ve got a large portion of the book ready and waiting already! These two serve as the first duology of the series as well. It’s a really fun start to things and will tease some of the mysteries yet to come!

I’d also like to let everyone know that I got into another convention! I’ll be attending Evillecon in Evansville, IN in late March this year, which is pretty cool since it was the first convention I ever formally tabled at! I haven’t been back since 2018—it’s a pretty long drive for me—so I’m really excited to mosey on down south and see how much the convention has changed as well as meet up with some readers who met me during my amateur days of tabling. Be sure to keep an eye on my Events tab over the next few months. More and more conventions will be announcing acceptances, so it’s sure to change as we go into Spring.

That’s it for January! One month down, eleven more to go. What are you excited about for 2023? Did you make any resolutions? How do you feel about vampires, and what are your favorite representations? Let me know below, and as always, until next time!

T.D. Cloud

[eyeballtank]

Maybe i should do another Rentry post for these but just in case.

1:

Honestly, if Crowbcat wanted to be even more /v/, he could've not bothered with those videos about Halo (Which even Martin O'Donnell liked) and instead gone full "Babby's first FPS that ruined the genre".

He even made a positive video about Doom 2016, for a guy that is essentially "/v/ outside of /v/".

Like he could've technically been worse, since /v/ even had threads shitting on RE4.

2:

Love Death and Robots seems at first to be a spiritual successor to Heavy Metal in terms of being a showcase of different sci-fi stories.

The problem is that Heavy Metal had a particular appeal that isn't really present in LDR, mostly the "nerd into 80/90's heavy metal/sci-fi" stuff while LDR has typical modern elements.

But this might also be partially why the Heavy Metal comics brand is dead, because they dropped that appeal/focus years ago.

If people look at the 2 animated movies or those illustrations by Simon Bisley, they'll get disappointed knowing HM stopped showing tits at some point.

Though someone i follow that is a bigger comics expert points out that Heavy Metal was more about the art while 2000AD was more about the stories and also had better variety so it wasn't just "cool characters nerds like".

3:

The thing with Lois Lane in the new Superman cartoon is that she looks like a generic tomboy but to some people, she was just a white office lady.

I guess it's like how Marian from Double Dragons wans't really a visually iconic looking character, so nobody cares that River City Girls turned her into Dorohedoro Noi.

But it also might be a difference from Harley Quinn where if these characters like superheroes or villains have interesting designs, then the likes of Batman's butler Alfred or Spiderman's Aunt May exist to look normal and not have actual designs.

So to some it isn't a loss because she never had a "design" as they think.

4:

SiivaGunner was a fun gimmick at first but i think what made the channel kinda boring is how many memes they started to incorporate and even make it part of a "lore".

Like Grandad and Snow Halation are "part of it" but then there's all these various attempts at referencing specific e-celebs and memes.

It's specifically lame when they reference Keemstar or Logan/Jake Paul like those are human beings worth liking.

Also makes the "wholesome" aesthetic weird.

"Awww look at Kirby and Frisk from Undertale, videogames are so cute... anyway, here's the shittiest memes you've already been tired of seeing on Youtube mixed along".

People already give Triple Q some shit for being irony poisoned or meme centered, even if he hasn't reached the level of Grandayy.

Probably the same deal with Tumblr people going "NO MORE IRONY, I WANT SINCERITY" but still showing hints of the meme/irony culture they grew around, when they could either develop real life experiences or interact with actual good media.

5:

Maybe a problem with nerd portrayals in pop culture is that the idea of them being outcast and all is there but Star Wars was always popular, so pop culture was "partially correct".

Like replace Star Wars and Star Trek with Heavy Metal comics or something less talked about and all those caricatures in tv shows could've been more accurate.

6:

When it comes to fiction copying/taking stuff from its own fields, comedy is probably the worst case of this because you'll realize certain caricatures or "types" come from someone's observations and then later comedies take it and it becomes autopilot in a way.

Maybe it's the case with media leading to stereotypes or biased views on real people but moreso something that makes characters feel less sincere.

I dunno, making another generic fantasy setting with orcs and dragons is less evil in comparison to a sitcom copying the same character traits.

7:

Seeing people go "you're not a real fighting game fan unless you're part of the FGC" is funny because it's obviously a response to people mad at the censorship in Skullgirls.

But also because it's a way to make any game less beloved than it is because of how exploitable it is.

"You're not a real Mario fan unless you're a SM64 speedrunner".

When Doom Eternal came out, even guys with "hot takes about JRPG's" and those that mock Redditors talked about the Isabelle crossovers and did basic Doom memes.

Most of them might as well be fake fans because they're not too invested in wads and browse Doomworld.

See how that sounds?

8:

I think i already said in Rentry posts that Sseth became either safe or too reliant on current memes.

Emptyhero however still makes risky jokes and is still funny.

If i finish my game, i wouldn't care if he shat on it as long as he made a review of it funny.

9:

If you think about it, Zoomers grew up with Smosh and ERBOH, so they watch breadtubers and essay video makers to overcompensate.

It's the closest they get to "intellectualism" to make it up for watching shit that other online groups would put it beneath 9gag.

10:

I wonder if there's a correlation between people complaining about "edgy animation" (As in, when Spongebob has better animation/is animated by actual animators than SU) and people that hate AAA games with "photorealistic" graphics.

Because there is an arguement for "corporate" art styles still requiring effort but then they'd realize that applies more to 3D "CalArts" animation that even the Mario movie has than Spongebob.

Even with videogames, developers "scaling down graphics" won't just be the end of Naughty Dog but even fantasy or sci-fi designs people like.

Not even "343 overdesigned sci-fi" or "DarkSiders copycat autopilot fantasy" but there's character designs people won't admit have a lot of detail.

Unless that "i want shorter games with worse graphics" image is less about scale and more about quality as in "the Metal Slug series is soulless because it having good pixel art means it took slavework while my shitty indie game is REAL SOUL because the art style being bad is a good thing".

Maybe it's a clique thing where people just advertise the "right kind" of games.

And again, corporations LOVE stiff animation and hate effort taking animation from passionate animators.

11:

I think the reason why people have some interest in people taking shit seriously is because of what comes next: When they "betray" that investment.

Like Zoomers still taking screenshots of art they deem illegal/immoral to mock someone or taking "Proshippers DNI" off profiles to not get blocked by artists.

Or people treating "groomer" as a slur when they could easily use it against the other side when they find their actual examples of groomers.

Something where the issue is not "taking shit seriously" but more "doing a terrible job at it", because when you take something like culture wars or fandom shit seriously, your brain might as well have some connection like your life somehow depends on it.

You can see this with germophobes who wash their hands too many times, then they make food for someone and don't wash their hands: Are they outgrowing their habits? Or are they revealing they only care for their safety, even if the food isn't contaminated by a real threat?

Maybe it's a sign of people only acting a certain way to fit in a group.

Because it can also come off as a sign of a weak character if you fuck up even something you're supposed to base yourself around.

12:

The idea of a Barbie moving having politics is funny because the "outside" of Barbie has all these feminists thinking girls are forced to play with it or that the character is a terrible representation of women.

In a way, politics in media could be about the "outside" and not what's coming from the setting or story.

Same deal with Doom: Why bring up the UAC argent energy plot when you have John Carmack making the games moddable out of a "hacker respector" way and Romero getting the sack by ZeniMax when wanting to share some assets related to the games?

13:

The occasional overlaps between SA and Tumblr are funny because they seem opposite at first until you realize their opposites explain the overlaps.

One thing is troll's remorse, another is nerds that were always easy to mock still trying to be the bullies.

Knowing the history behind Dril and even Homestuck can reveal some lore between a site where nerds wasted money on a forum while telling other nerds to die and another that acted as a hugbox for freaks to feel "heckin valid".

14:

I think a reason why OG Lara Craft is more liked than the boring new Lara is because she's clearly a comic book/action figure type character and the other is a generic "realistic" character that might as well be an NPC.

Part of why you can't put Solid Snake/Big Boss in the same field as actual generic "white guy protagonists" because of stuff related to their designs, backgrounds, personalities, gameplay etc.

Also explains why some Resident Evil fans (Even if a small minority) aren't much into the remakes or 7/8.

And a problem with both Doom movies and the cancelled Doom 4 having generic SWAT soldiers when Doom always had a particular "sci-fi security guard" aesthetic while the new games have the Sentinel stuff.

15:

The reason to make fun of shit like boomers complaining about woke stuff is if they do it in a situation where it's not the case or they exaggerate something, but you can tell some people mock these even in situations where it's not unreasonable.

Otherwise, the people mocking these boomers would still mock shit like ResetEra freaking out over cute girls in a JRPG.

Like you see people claim Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album art is "appropriating LGBT culture" because of the rainbow and instead, it's the boomers talking about that group of people that get to be mocked.

Being stupid isn't exclusive to one side.

It's why people think it's more convinient to be left wing and then get surprised when there's grifters or shit like that.

16:

A lot of "media literacy" boils down to adding modern politics to a movie that otherwise had a very different message.

Meanwhile, Fritz the Cat had political themes that could apply to modern times but "media literacy" types and animation fans ignore it because it's not coming from their desired background/area.

17:

One of the worst images i saw was a Soyjak making fun of people that prefer to ignore Twitter.

Years of guys on /v/ being told to "go to Twitter" everytime they complain about censorship and now when some anons say "stop posting Twitter screencaps on /v/", they're told "um you should care what Twitter people say".

The mere fact that Twittier is essentially "the center of the web" is a bad thing and destroying the site would be one of the few good things Elon Musk ever did in his life.

[epickiya722]

While I won’t deny that there is some misogyny in Hori giving Mirko and his other female characters costumes that expose more skin (mainly for fan service) whereas male characters get costumes made from their dna so they don’t have to be half naked, people hating on Mirko BECAUSE of her costume is so laughable since her leotard is meant to look like the one-piece bodysuits wrestlers wear and her hero alias was even inspired by a real life wrestler

It is very damn laughable.

At most, the female characters do expose skin.

But the male characters also service fanservice, if not more. It's just that people are so use to male characters going shirtless during fights, I feel like it just flies over their head that some of those moments are fanservice.

Need a whole board to count the amount of time Midoriya and other male characters went shirtless. That one shot of Todoroki after he almost killed Midoriya after their match? Yeah, the way it's shot, even in the anime, that's fanservice. The costumes are tight, and there are scenes to showcase how tight to give emphasis on the muscles. Crust's costume exposes his abs and thighs and Vlad King's got a whole cleavage window.

That AFO scene when he regenerates his body and he's all buff and nude? That was fanservice.

That scene when Mr. Compress shows his face? Fanservice. Shigaraki and Dabi have became walking moments of fanservices.

What reason does Shigaraki actually need to be shirtless?? After season 5, he can't keep a shirt on. Dabi? "It's to show his scars." Oh, that, too! But it's obvious the team caught on that he has fans that want to lick him. Hence, his recent costume change.

If people gotta talk about the fanservice over Miruko, then bring the same energy for the male characters and the female characters more. That's what bothers me.

Miruko is designed to reference an actual kickboxer. Mirko Cro Cop is a real person (even referenced in the first chapter of JJK which tickles me because it was for Itadori, who is my other favorite. Yeah, Horikoshi and Gege read other's stories and are friends). If the wrestling gimmick wasn't clear enough, her backstory has her wear a mask like a wrestler does and she fights others... in a wrestling ring!! She fights like a wrestler!

So her costume actually makes a lot of sense! Both in the case of her fighting style and aesthetic.

Yes, some of the designs for the female characters could be a little better, but it's the amount of energy people want to bring to voicing their hatred about Miruko's actual pretty tame costume to everyone else. She ain't the only damn body in the story serving fanservice, so stop acting like she is.

And considering that Miruko is also a grown woman is always what make me even more confused.

In the case of Yaomomo and Hagakure, it makes sense people would be uncomfortable. They are still teenagers, just 16. I'm sure we all are tired of the teen girls being half nude for fanservice trope.

But Miruko? That woman is almost 30. I would expect for people to thirst over her just as much as they do the other characters. Grown women are allowed to be sexy.

Oh, my bad. Apparently not. I forgot how people get upset with women who are confident in their sexual appeal and want to show it off.

The same people who complain about Miruko being sexy are the same people who probably read smut posts about Bakugou.

The way the fandom acts towards Miruko is the point of my post from yesterday.

Y'all hate her costume, but don't mind it on your character for your obvious horny reasons. A lot of the fics and art was horny.

Call Horikoshi a "misogynist", but some of you ain't even no better because of your treatment of Miruko. If you're gonna complain about her costume being "too much", then I need to see that for almost every single body on that same post. People like to say "You're just horny for her", well, what's the problem? Same people who complain that Miruko fans find her attractive are the same people who find their own faves attractive and only that. Some of you probably can't remember your fave's favorite food or their birthday. So I'm trying see what's the problem.

"Oh, here's another Miruko butt shot."

That's the only butt shot you noticed? Hm... kind of odd to be specific about a Miruko butt shot instead of "Oh, here's another butt shot". Is it just me who smells the absolute bullshit that this fandom is sometimes? Just me? Could be just me.

And it's not even just the costume that bothers me.

[andysandfordcomedy]

2022 I bid you adieu

(badass album cover by Ben Ziskind)

(me after first surgery. August 2020)

I’ll be honest with you, trusting reader: it feels pretty good to do one of these end of the year posts without the all too familiar “good riddance, this stupid ass year and hello, arbitrarily numbered upcoming year: Imma make you my BITCH!” At a certain point, the disingenuous core of that fake attitude shines through and it’s just a bit cringy. I can’t help but fall into the trap of assigning meaning to this year because it just so happens to be proof in a 3 year cup of pudding for me. 2020 was so fucking rough for me, and I was not in the mood to overcome all that bullshit (Crohn’s flare up, addiction issues, 2 surgeries, 3 months with a colostomy bag, intensely alone and depressed the whole time) just to get to a starting point of 0 for what I needed to do: build, workout, and eventually tape my best hour. I built and worked it out after moving to Atlanta in March of 2021, recorded in February 2022, and after some bullshit, finally released in November of 2022. It feels so goddam good to be able to say that. And not only that, but with all the tracks in rotation on 3 different channels on XM and an amazing jump off with 6 full album spins (meaning whole album played straight through 6 times) in week one. That’s the way to start the day right there(woo!).

I’m not one for heavy spiritual overtones, but if I hadn’t already had experience in setting goals that were just beyond the horizon and with no road map to guide me toward accomplishing those goals, I don’t know if I could have followed through with how far past the horizon and how vague the path was to get to where I hoped to get on this particular trial and tribulation. I really felt on the cusp of letting myself wither away in my room in bedstuy OR following the pull of the intuitive compass inside my chest pulling me towards Atlanta, towards the Earl, towards the people I needed to work with, and toward a very specific career path that I would be the first person I know to prove to myself it’s a viable one. I know that sounds crazy, or maybe dramatic, but I don’t know anyone that made the same plans as me, much less someone to watch pave the away ahead of me, reassuring me that it’s doable. Now I know that it’s more doable than I had initially hoped, which never fucking happens to me. 

Ok, I will try not to be vague here for the sake of others wondering what career paths are viable in stand up comedy. Of course, I think everyone should know that there truly is no set path to “making it” and I don’t even know what you have in your head as what “making it” is, but everyone should come to terms with the good and bad sides of how true that is, that there is no set path to a comedy career. On one end, you need not be discouraged if you don’t seem to fit what is often portrayed to be the path to comedy success. If you are like me and mysteriously unbookable for all supposed comedy stepping stone up & coming comedians on the rise/look out for these new faces of comedy’s future showcase festivals as decided by industry gate keepers with the power to “make” whoever they think they’ve discovered...don’t worry. Not only is it possible to have a career without being tapped by a future outted sex offender type, that whole model is completely hollow. That is all pomp and pageantry that doesn’t predict the future of comedy at all. On occasion, they happen to see the talent in a talented person that would’ve gone onto to do big things with their talent regardless, and then people reverse engineer what was causation and correlation or whatever. My point is, don’t fucking shed one tear over not getting New Faces, or wonder if you should quit because Comedy Central told you in a meeting that they just don’t know what to do with you, but hey you are funny. And yes, that’s me I am referencing there. My intuition told me to let my stubbornness take the wheel and laugh at those execs when they said that to me, because at the time Comedy Central was everything and to accept reality at that moment would mean I was just informed for sure that I had no chance at a career in comedy. Luckily, I have to do this anyway, and as it turned out, Comedy Central ain’t shit now and is only going to be less relevant to anyone in the world of stand up going forward. That’s the good part about there being no set path: you can’t know for a fact that you’re screwed. The downside is of course that you can’t be sure what is a viable approach until you know where that approach leads. And now I will stop gumflappin and explain my personal path I’ve decided to thwack through the comedy woods.

One aspect of comedy that you can bet your bottom dollar on is that you can’t really rely on shit. Everything is so precarious and quick-sandy. So many big things almost happen before the bottom falls out. Even live shows that you have already done make you nervous until that check clears. One of the only dependable sources of income in comedy for me personally has been residuals through the world of comedy audio. Over the years, my monthly sound exchange deposit has only become more and more crucial to my survival, and it’s at the heart of any possibly viable shot at making the kind of passive income where I could do more than just get by, but could actually see myself having real money to retire on and continue to grow. It took a couple albums that I worked very hard on and years of experience learning how XM and Pandora and the world of comedy audio itself works to not just be able to pay my rent and bills with my monthly deposit, but to see a path and timeline that could be very lucrative and actually doable, though not easy at all. In 2018, I released my second album and first special, Shameful Information, and my first album, Me The Whole Time, was still getting played on XM quite a bit, so for 2018/19 I was averaging an all time high for me on my monthly deposits. Well life kept happening to me as it does, and I had never had to think along the lines of any timeline beyond check to check my whole life, so yada yada, by the time pandemic hit and my deposits started to dip down some and I had no other income, and no plan or real possible way to be ready to record a next album that would be anywhere up to snuff, much less better than my last one (always my goal), I had to think about how to start gettin busy working toward my next best hour, and I knew that best case scenario, I wouldn’t have a whole grip of new tracks being added to rotation for at least a couple years. And as things tend to go, I was thrown into much worse than the best case scenario, so it’s really a miracle that I only had to suffer a more or less 5 year gap. The longest gap I will ever allow moving forward, I assure you. However, even with that damn near 5 year gap, I am still covering rent and bills with my deposit having no tracks newer than 2018. That goes to show the staying power of comedy audio if you put in the effort to make a good album. That showed me that if I can bust my ass to record a quality album every 2 to 2 and a half years, I won’t just be playing catch up, I will be stacking paper more and more with each album. 

Basket Case came out in November, and I will start getting money from those tracks in February and March, and my hope to get back to where I was in 2018/19 and then work on the next album to put me over that mark turned out to be wrong in the best way. The good news is, I will be making the money I hoped to be making in 2024/25 by February 2023. That is wonderful news, but no reason to think I added time to the clock. It’s all about keeping the quality up anyway, but that happens to be an obsession of mine that I can’t not shoot for. I’m just putting all this down on record here to let whoever needs to know that a career in comedy without fame or celebrity or the average person even knowing who you are is very possible. I am that comedian. Only comedy nerds know me, and I really don’t mind that at all. I want everyone who would love my shit to be able to find my shit and see me in person. Beyond that, everyone else can kick rocks. I don’t need em. I’ve been poor as shit most of my life, and I am about to be richer than I ever thought I would be. I feel lucky as hell that I can’t help myself from doing what some would consider an insane amount of work, but it isn’t work to me. It never will be. That’s dumb luck, ya know?

Do me a favor: Don’t follow your fucking dreams. Dreams are nonsense: follow your obsession, and figure out some way to satisfy that obsession so that it pays you well enough to not have to actually work just so that you can do that thing. If that isn’t possible in the end, turn to non-violent crime. That’s what I’d do. Anything but soul draining jobs that make other people money. Do whatever you can to have money and not let money have you. Don’t be afraid to lean toward the less safe route. Having a financial safety net won’t save you from being miserable. Do whatever ya gotta do, just don’t do what you wanna do any less. That’s all you’ll regret in the end, believe me. You heard it here: 2023 is gonna be great. Imma start dispensing rhyming wisdom, for real. 

Follow your obsession, fight off your depression.

toodles 2022!

-Andy

[zariyen]

*peeks* Hi! I saw your Valentine’s Pomefiore post and I was inspired by how beautifully you drawn the clothes and accessories. I was wondering how long you’ve designed clothing, and if you have any pointers for beginners in cloth design I hope you have a good day!

helloooo ^O^ aaa i'm so happy that it inspired you! thank you so much, that means a lot to me !!

ohh !! i actually have no professional experience in clothing design..! i've always liked drawing and designing clothes as a kid so that's been something i've been sometimes doing over the years alongside drawing, and at this point it just comes naturally to me now...! i'm sorry for such a disappointing answer but i can try to walk you through my design process if that may be of use..! i'm entirely self-taught so i'm not sure how much it can help but i'll do my best 😭😭 (this also ended up being quite long sorry T _ T )

(also so that it's easier to read.... i'm going to try not to type like a barbarian (ಥ‿ಥ)

Research Phase - Theme

Before doing anything, identify your target market! In this case I'm pretending that Pomefiore are my clients www

Pomefiore's distinguishing features are the Snow White theme, poison apple and elegant/chic clothing. The occasion is Valentines which uses a lot of reds and pinks, hearts, chocolates, desserts, cupid, etc.

Once you have your themes down, try and think about how best to combine the two! You should do it in a way that clearly expresses the function and intention of the design; i.e., upon first glance, the consumer should immediately be able to identify for what purpose the clothes were made.

In this case, the main requirements to tick off are [1] The clothes should indicate that they're costumes made to be worn on Valentines, [2] The clothes should be elegant and chic to indicate that these clothes were made for Pomefiore students (as it follows their theme), [3] Each garment should be personalised to each character as a method of displaying their individual personalities and archetypes

Research phase - Clothing

References are extremely important! Clothes are really tricky and especially for those who are starting out! I think it's good practice to save any images of clothes that you find interesting. The constant exposure to different types of clothes will really improve your eye for design!

Using your design themes as a guide, try to research clothing that will best showcase them. Again, the consumer should be able to immediately identify the themes upon first glance! In my case, I primarily used the Pomefiore uniform as my base. It's very elegant and refined so I referenced clothes that carry the same sophistication. I ended up drawing inspiration from 19th Century English Clothing (and... Black Butler WWW) as well as Lolita/Gothic Lolita fashion to accomodate for the Valentines theme. It's not a perfect representation of Pomefiore, but I think it created an interesting look that both pays homage to the Pomefiore look whilst also maintaining its individuality...!

Design Phase

I think a big thing to consider when designing clothes is balance! You don't want your design to be too cluttered or bare! I like to compare it to composing manga panels www you want your reader to start reading the page at a certain point and let their eyes follow a path across so that they can read and consume information easily! If the page is too cluttered or bare, the reader won't be able to keep following the path and subsequently, their immersion will be disrupted. A similar concept applies to clothes, you want to start looking at a certain point and let your eyes follow the invisible path across the clothes...! It also helps form a nice silhouette I think...!

Mapping out shapes on the initial sketch helps a lot in forming your designs! Here my focus was for the clothes to be more bottom-heavy, hence the shapes flare out at the end. I also wanted it to emulate chocolate pooling at the base of a dessert...!

As a general rule, I think clothes should have one 'heavy' area and one 'empty' area if that makes sense... I believe there should be a term for this but I'm not sure since I've never taken textile classes or anything similar T _ T

But what I mean is...! To avoid cluttering your clothes too much you should have breaks within the design so it creates a balance.

I indicated the aforementioned areas in blue on these design sheets:

I think these rules are good as a guideline but don't necessarily have to be strictly followed. The fashion industry is constantly being changed and challenged so I don't believe there's a 'right' way to design clothes. But these kinds of looks are ones that I'm more drawn to, so I make use of these guidelines often!

Edit Phase

It's super important to edit your works! Even after you've finished your design there may always be room for improvement!

A good way to do this is to take a break for a couple of days! After you finish designing/drawing, try leaving it for a few days before looking at it again with fresh eyes. It might give you a bit of clarity and help you add or subtract features from the design to create an even better version!

Comparing the final product to your initial sketches and research notes is also useful to ensure that the purpose/theme of your design hasn't been lost in the process

I think... I've covered everything I wanted to talk about...! My explanation skills are really poor so apologies if this was difficult to read or understand 😭 Please let me know if you have any questions! I tried to talk about the tips I found most useful but I might have overlooked some things... I really hope this helped! Thank you for sending in this message, I'm really honoured you would ask this of me 😭

[theomnicode]

Does God reside in Saitama?

With the latest chapter, I believe we can finally answer this question.

Warning, this is an extremely long post of both theory, OPM meta and lots of wikipedia abuse.

Let's first take a look at some mythology. I am told that ONE is a mythology geek.

Susanoo (スサノオ; historical orthography: スサノヲ, 'Susanowo') is a kami in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory characteristics (both good and bad), being portrayed in various stories either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as a heroic figure who killed a monstrous serpent, or as a local deity linked with the harvest and agriculture. Syncretic beliefs that arose after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan also saw Susanoo becoming conflated with deities of pestilence and disease.

A multifaceted deity.

A very direct reference to God (who arrived to the scene at sea and storm clouds), Saitama the Hero who defeated Orochi (Yamata-no-Orochi), Orochi or Psykorochi who wanted to absorb all life on earth with it's roots and Garou, a being of pestilence because his mere presence radiates sickness.

So what do all they have in common?

Garou has broken his limiter. Orochi has broken his limiter. Saitama is said to have removed his limiter. God should be at least as strong as Saitama, so no doubt he too has removed his limiter.

And all of them have some ties to God. Except Saitama. Yet.

The obvious implication here is that Blast is also a being who has divine powers since he's speaking about himself and Garou here. Divine powers in OPM is directly referencing all the cosmic powers showcased by Homeless Emperor, God and Awakened Cosmic Fear Garou.

Most likely because Blast is 神覚者 Shinkakusha (God enlightened people), that his teammates refer to people imbued with God's divine powers. More than likely, all of Blast's teammates are like this.

The deconstruction of the word 神覚者 Shinkakusha Kami 神 God shinkai 神界, "the world of the kami" Basically Divine Enlightened/Wise Person, with the divine part being Kami specifically. Very reminiscent of buddhism concepts of enlightenment and ascensions. So why is Garou with divine powers called Awakened Garou specifically? In Buddhism, Buddha (/ˈbuːdə, ˈbʊdə/; Pali, Sanskrit:), "awakened one",[1] is a title for those who are awake, and have attained nirvana and Buddhahood through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out the dharma (Sanskrit ; Pali dhamma; "right way of living"). The title is most commonly used for Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, who is often simply known as "the Buddha". Buddhahood (Sanskrit:, buddhatva; Pali: buddhatta or buddhabhāva; Chinese: 成佛) is the condition and rank of a buddha "awakened one".[2] This highest spiritual state of being is also termed sammā-sambodhi (skt. samyaksaṃbodhi) (Full complete Awakening).

(note the part about full complete awakening)

Here is the kicker though.

Blast refers to himself fighting for supremacy against Garou.

But what ends up happening is Saitama fighting against Garou for supremacy.

Two beings who manipulate the reality of the cosmos, aka divine powers.

Then Blast's teammates arrive there and make a comment about a being imbued with so much divine power.

But who are they talking about exactly?

The most obvious answer would be Garou who is god-imbued.

But how do they even know who is the hero? Garou and Saitama are using the same exact power and energy flow. They only just now arrived to the scene. Blast hasn't made a comment about who is releasing what energy, only that it is enough to blow up earth.

And that's the kicker.

They are not talking about Garou.

The only power being released here is all Saitama's.

Because Garou copied Saitama's powers and is using that same power against him.

Divine Powers.

I mean, the clash even looks like a Sun does it not? And sun is the largest star in milky way. A cosmic aka divine power.

Kami (Japanese: 神, [kaꜜmi]) are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the religion of Shinto. The term is often taken to exclusively mean "gods", though the concept is more involved than that. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the spirits of venerated dead people. Many kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans (some ancestors became kami upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of kami in life)

In Shinto, kami are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of musubi (結び),[2] the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. Kami are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own: shinkai (神界, "the world of the kami").[3]: 22  To be in harmony with the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is to be conscious of kannagara no michi (随神の道 or 惟神の道, "the way of the kami").[2]

So what did one have to do to break a limiter again? And supposedly, become a God? Kami?

Oh yeah, conquer death.

The implication is that breaking the limiter has to be done multiple times.

But Saitama easily defeated Orochi. Meanwhile Garou is facetanking Saitama's punches. Saitama is a lot stronger than Orochi. We are never told that Garou completely broke his limiter, only that it started to break.

So, I have a reason to believe that Gyoro's process of removing the limiter is incomplete version.

To reach true enlightenment, to remove the limiter, we once again delve into buddhism.

Saṃsāra (Sanskrit: संसार, Pali: saṃsāra; also samsara) in Buddhism and Hinduism is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be dukkha, suffering, and in general unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma.

Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, ghosts, hellish). Samsara ends if a person attains nirvana, the "blowing out" of the desires and the gaining of true insight into impermanence and non-self reality.

Theravada BMahayana discerns three forms of awakened beings:[24]

Arahat – Liberation for oneself;[note 9]

Bodhisattva – Liberation for living beings;

Full Buddhahood Full Buddhahood

Nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण, nirvāṇa; Pali: nibbāna) is "blowing out" or "quenching" of the activities of the worldly mind and its related suffering. Nirvana is the goal of the Buddhist path, and marks the soteriological release from worldly suffering and rebirths in saṃsāra. Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of dukkha" in the Four Noble Truths, and the "summum bonum of Buddhism and goal of the Eightfold Path."

In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the "three fires", or "three poisons",greed (raga), aversion (dvesha) and ignorance (moha).When these fires are extinguished, release from the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra) is attained.

Nirvana has also been claimed by some scholars to be identical with anatta (non-self) and sunyata (emptiness) states though this is hotly contested by other scholars and practicing monks. In time, with the development of the Buddhist doctrine, other interpretations were given, such as the absence of the weaving (vana) of activity of the mind, the elimination of desire, and escape from the woods, cq. the five skandhas or aggregates.

Buddhist scholastic tradition identifies two types of nirvana: sopadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana with a remainder), and parinirvana or anupadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana without remainder, or final nirvana). The founder of Buddhism, the Buddha, is believed to have reached both these states.

Zen practice is said to lead to ego-death. Ego-death is also called "great death", in contrast to the physical "small death". According to Jin Y. Park, the ego death that Buddhism encourages makes an end to the "usually-unconsciousness-and-automated quest" to understand the sense-of-self as a thing, instead of as a process.According to Park, meditation is learning how to die by learning to "forget" the sense of self:

To summarise from all this buddhist text and research, how I believe a limiter can be broken:

To break the limiter, one has to experience and conquer death.

And also, ego death.

Ego death is a "complete loss of subjective self-identity". The term is used in various intertwined contexts, with related meanings. Jungian psychology uses the synonymous term psychic death, referring to a fundamental transformation of the psyche. In death and rebirth mythology, ego death is a phase of self-surrender and transition, as described by Joseph Campbell in his research on the mythology of the Hero's Journey. It is a recurrent theme in world mythology and is also used as a metaphor in some strands of contemporary western thinking.

What being has no identity you may ask? Who is supposed to be the end villain in this series? Who is supposed to be a match for Saitama who is said to have been broken his limiter?

God is faceless.

God has no identity. God takes on other people's identities.

Ergo, God has experienced ego death. Loss of self-identity.

According to Carl Rogers, the self-concept has three different components:

The view one has of oneself (self-image)

How much value one places on oneself (self-esteem or self-worth)

What one wishes one were really like (ideal self)

All of which Saitama has sacrificed when he broke his limiter. Because according to Genus, it is not without a cost.

His self-image is his hair and now he is bald. He lacks self-esteem and self-worth. And his ideal self, a Hero. A wish he had since childhood but despite becoming this strong, he does not consider himself to be a true hero.

He was introduced to us as Hero for a hobby.

The limiter was placed to ensure beings own sanity and survival.

But this is not the end no. There is one more thing.

To become fully enlightened, aka Awakened Kami (God), one has to attain Nirvana, aka blow out emotions and desires.

To become non-self, emptiness and/or extinction of three fires. Namely of passion or sensuality, aversion or hate and of delusion or ignorance.

"Egolessness" is not the same as anatta (non-self). Where the former is more of a personal experience, Anatta is a doctrine common to all of Buddhism - describing how the constituents of a person contain no permanent entity (one has no "essence of themself"):

Three types of Buddha are recognized: Arhat (: arahant), those who reach Nirvana by following the teachings of the Buddha.Sometimes the term (Pali: sāvakabuddha) is used to designate this kind of awakened person;[] Pratyekabuddhas (Pali: paccekabuddha), those who reach Nirvana through self-realisation, without the aid of spiritual guides and teachers, but don't teach the Dharma; Samyaksambuddha (Pali: samma sambuddha), often simply referred to as Buddha, one who has reached Nirvana by his own efforts and wisdom and teaches it skillfully to others.

Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, is said to have achieved full awakening, known as samyaksaṃbodhi (Sanskrit; Pāli: sammāsaṃbodhi), "perfect Buddhahood", or anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, "highest perfect awakening". Specifically, anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, literally meaning unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment, is often used to distinguish the enlightenment of a Buddha from that of an Arhat.

It also means that, God. May have reached full awakening and therefore, he is actually stronger than Saitama. That throws you off the loop now doesn't it?

For Saitama to become a being like god, he would have to lose his humanity, emotions and identity. And realize non-self and emptyness.

It just so happens that all 3 are happening at the same time.

If he kills Garou, he becomes a monster and loses his humanity. He is already emotionally completely detatched. He lost his sense of identity as a Hero.

So, does god reside in Saitama?

A question asked by a being who was granted divine powers by God itself.

The answer would be, Yes but also No. Not fully realized. But yes, by all intents and purposes, he is a God. A Kami.

Saitama is a limitless being. Who does not even realise his complete powers yet, but potentially knows that his current powers defy logic.Uncertain if he knows the extent of what he could reach. Powers that break common sense.

But he is teetering on the very edge of becoming fully awakened.

Becoming like God.

And God is watching, because he wants that identity for himself.

Because God craves for an identity for itself, having lost his.

Enlightenment occurs when the usually automatized reflexivity of consciousness ceases, which is experienced as a letting-go and falling into the void and being wiped out of existence […] [W]hen consciousness stops trying to catch its own tail, I become nothing, and discover that I am everything..

Some Buddhist texts suggest that rebirth occurs through the transfer of vinnana (consciousness) from one life to another. When this consciousness ceases, then liberation is attained.

God wants to attain rebirth and liberate itself from it's empty existence and gain a new identity. To do that, it must quench another limitless beings existence, their consciousness and sacrifice it.

Saitama must not let go of his humanity at all cost.

But the thing is, his emotions are already waning day by day. As a result of removing his limiter. Depression. And other forms of painful, mundane existence.

Saitama may be on a time limit regardless. If he does not receive help, that is.

Who's gonna throw bets that time limit is 6 months? The prophecy of Shibabwa.

But we may still see fully awakened Saitama. At some point of the series. The endgame.

But for now, hold tight to that humanity Saitama.

(Thank you, Genos)

[belmottetower]

A recent For Your Consideration interview with Phil Dunster of Ted Lasso.

Not my interview, obviously. A transcript of the audio is below, but first, I wanted to say something about why I’ve shared this on Tumblr this way.

One of Phil's "for your consideration" interviews from this week was posted as audio only, embedded after a blurb in a short article. A lot of the stuff Phil says is really interesting and thoughtful, but while listening to him is fun, this is not great, format wise, for a few reasons. Videos are engaging to watch and usually have fairly accurate auto-captions. Written text is quick and easy to read. Audio only is just about the hardest format to consume, especially when it’s randomly embedded in a web page, not the point of the content, like a podcast.

The point of these specific interviews is to have stuff to share with Emmy voters and showcase his work. His PR people will be collecting them, pulling quotes and the like for when they put him up "for your consideration". So this guy was granted a long exclusive interview and he did not deliver back something they can actually use to help Phil in the awards season.

This is annoying enough, on a work principle. Hardcore fandom people - of which actually there aren't many, on a wider scale, for Ted Lasso, let alone for Jamie - will listen to this, yes, but any quotes from Phil in this won’t be findable or searchable or referencable or easily digestible for the people it’s meant to show Phil off to, voters who will likely be looking at the work of hundreds of actors pre-nomination. They are not going to sit down and listen to 20 minutes of audio-only for this one guy. If they already like him enough to do that, they’re not the target audience, because they’re already “sold” on him. So all in all, it's a pretty useless piece of press considering its intended goal.

But then I asked the guy if he would be adding a transcript or any written element, because I also had concerns about accessibility, for deaf people or people with auditory processing issues. His response was shockingly rude and dismissive, especially for someone with a fairly small site with minimal Twitter followers, so I got pissed off and decided that I would reupload his audio here - he's made it downloadable - and do my own transcript. Because transcripts are not hard to create, there are many free automatic ways to do it, that just need a manual clean up for any robot errors. And now, people who want to get into this content from Phil can read it or listen to it, at least in the fandom, without giving that guy more hits. Petty? Maybe, but sometimes that's satisfying!

I'm not going to link to the original webpage, but Phil shared it the other day, and the name of the site is in the audio conversation, that's all the credit he gets for his extremely poor effort both for Phil and for readers! It’s very disappointing, because the same site did a great written interview with Phil last season — from a different journalist. The guy who did this one is the website’s editor in chief, he admittedly got into Ted Lasso very late, and it seems that he’s poached this Ted Lasso PR beat from the former writer, who provided good coverage last year.

Transcript below the cut.

Interviewer: Thank you again for doing this.

Phil Dunster: Thank you for having me.

Interviewer: Oh, it's my pleasure. As I was telling you, I came to the show a little late, but I'm a huge fan. It's funny to watch the show evolve because, you know, every character I think is different than they started, but yours especially has, I think, one of the more compelling narratives. Because, you know, there really are no villains in the show, but if there was a guy who was harder to like, it might have been you. I mean I'm sure there are people who are like, no, [you were] my favourite immediately, but I mean, when everyone else is largely radiating warmth and we have someone, you know, more at arm's length, there's something to watching the evolution. And it feels so natural, and I'm sure a lot of it's on the page, but how do you get that character from point A to point B? Because I'm sure you have to get really into "Okay this guy's nothing like me, but I have to really find the like, you know, I have to be a dick superstar." Like okay, we know those people, but we're not usually those people.

Phil Dunster: The haircuts, you know, there's just so many of those, how do you keep up with them? That's the hard thing, right. 

Yes, I think that he is different from me in many ways. Firstly, his footballing ability. I am nowhere near as good as he is, but yeah I mean… I guess it's, you know, without getting too Inside The Actor Studio, I think it's probably about intention and probably about the cause of [why he's] acting in a certain way. And I think for me, it was about finding the common ground. I imagine it is for most actors, about finding the common ground between them and the character they're trying to play, you know, [finding] experience that I've had that might be similar to what Jamie's had. And whilst I can't say that I've ever been sort of plucked from obscurity and been chosen to be a sort of superstar athlete at that age, there are certain human elements to Jamie's story which I think that a lot of people can relate to in terms of, you know, his…I guess people's struggles with ego and his  understanding of fitting into group dynamics and things with family.

And I think that… I think that nothing in the show exists within a vacuum, and I think Jamie is the way he is because of XYZ and we obviously go into that through the seasons - particularly in season 2 - and we see more of it in season 3, as with all characters I think. So as you say, a lot of it is on the page, and they do it so very well… they lay down the background of these people and so you understand why you love them.

There's a line in season 2 when we meet Rebecca's mum and Ted says something like "I love meeting people's parents, it's like an instruction manual for why they're crazy." And I think that... I probably butchered the line, apologies to any super Tedheads out there…and I think that's it. I think that we see the instruction manuals for each of these characters, and Jamie's sort of really is his dad, you know, coming right at you. Particularly in that scene in season 2 when he has… he clashes with him in a way that's… in a way he never has done before in his life.

Interviewer: As an actor I imagine it's got to be fulfilling because, other roles, it's a small scene in a movie and like, sure, I can leave an impression, but any of the work I'm doing is not going to be… I don't want to say appreciated, but an audience member and like, Megan Levy is not going to know what's going on in your character's head, because that's not where the focus is, but with a show - and especially with a show where you know you're one of the main characters and you're able to progress over two now three and hopefully more seasons - you can sort of do the work and then have people see the work and that's gotta feel good, because it's not in a vacuum. It's very much like "I'm taking this character on a journey and I want you guys to notice and feel it and approve or or disapprove or just to feel for my character." It's got to be a different connection?

Phil Dunster: Yeah, yeah and particularly when you see Jamie… Trying to figure out what clothes to wear, you know… that's the thing…it's an actor's exercise anyway. Like,  what jacket would he be wearing? What tie would he be wearing? But yeah, I think that is true and I think that there's ridiculous sort of background that actors do for those one lines, because they have to. Because in order to make it believable and lived in, for the audience to see, I think they have to sort of feel like there's lots going on. Jason talks about if you — he was telling me about this character that he had, that he realized somebody had said to him — you make the characters…when their involvement isn't long, you need to make them deep. And so you can have all these little bits that you have that just make the audience, trick the audience into believing that they have their own world going on. 

And I think that was a really good nugget of advice, that there's always something  going on in this person's life. And I think it is really nice with Jamie, we get to see that, but you know, you only really see these snippets, and there has to be all of the connecting lines in between these dots that we see in the scenes as well. But yes, it is a huge shift for me to be able to do that on a show like this and get to play out the conversations that otherwise I would have to have in my own mind. Effectively, the writers just do a lot of the work for me because I just get to turn up and you know the writing is so good, you could be like "Great, yeah, yeah totally makes sense, great."

Interviewer: “You guys wrote me something good, you guys dressed me in something weird, I'm set. I gotta stand here, look at attractive people and then I get paid all right. We can do this.”

Phil Dunster: That's it, yeah, that's it! But to be fair, they do such a… and particularly with Jamie, he's so different, looks-wise and clothes-wise and like, vibe-wise there, it is, you're right that's it in a nutshell really.

Interviewer: I mean the writing does a really great job of�� even though you know Jamie's less involved in the narrative for a bit at times, and then there are other characters who have the same situation, you never get a sense that they're not evolving, you never get a sense that they're not doing something, so when they come back into the forefront, it never feels like, well were they just sort of standing in the corner? I always imagine — my grandfather used to joke that when he left the house, his cat used to think he stood outside the whole time, because it, you know, didn't really understand the concept of going to work or something, so you just stood in the hallway for six to twelve hours. A bad show, if a character's not there for three or four episodes, I feel like you kind of feel that they're just standing off screen, if you didn't know what to do with them. Especially with Jamie, it's, well he was on a different team, that journey is something completely different and we'll hint at it, but you can kind of extrapolate because the writing hints at it and your performance hints at it. It's really interesting, because especially if you have any sports interest, you know what happens when a player you follow goes somewhere else, you keep tabs for a little bit but then inevitably, like, well, in a way "Fuck him he's not there", and then if he comes back "Oh shit, I love him again, it's great."

Phil Dunster: Yeah totally! And again, it's ways of dropping that in that feel organic whilst also moving. Again, it's technically, I think it's a very well written show because those things are buried, so that you don't… you're not, as an audience, you're not like "Oh well, they've mentioned their name again, that's odd." They've managed to do that very well. But yeah, I think that it's woven into the script really well, that those characters are always progressing in some way, shape or form. But yeah, even to me though, it's strange. I don't get to see a lot, being in the team, you don't get to see a lot of the background staff, I don't act with a lot of the background staff, but it's funny, reading the script you always know what's going on behind the scenes, and so you can sort of extrapolate bits from like, bits of conversation within the scenes that we're having, to sort of track, as the character, “What do I know about… what do I know…”

Interviewer: No, it's true, it's like it's one of those things where you want to know enough of what's going on, but you also don't necessarily want to. I don't know that too much is the wrong word, but I mean, I would imagine just when you get the role first off for season 1, like you don't necessarily know where this is gonna go, you're trusting the writing, you know, you're reading the character thinking, okay this is the guy, and maybe they tell you like here's the artwork we're sort of planning, but you know by this point,  I'm sure it's developed in a way that's similar in some ways and different in some ways. And it's being open and being lucky enough that the writing is good that you're not like “Oh shit, I have to play this guy now like… I got to find a way to be into this,” you know? I would imagine you're as into it, if not more.

Phil Dunster: 100% and I think what's really good about what they do is they…as an audience member, and also separately as someone who is in it, you feel they make the audience feel really smart, as writers. And I think it's in a really clever way where you go "I didn't know what it looked like, but I knew something like that was going to happen, and I feel really smart for having expected that, because it's been… everything's been leading us to this moment." You know? Be it the, I don't know, be it sort of big moments of when they get promoted again or even when they get relegated, and the moments that we see with Keeley and Roy, the comings and goings that they have. We feel like it's perfectly structured for this to happen, and yet we're really pleasantly surprised by it. And the same goes for the evolution of Jamie. I mean, I speak for myself, but when you get the scripts through, you go "Ah that's really smart and it totally makes sense that this is going this way" or actually, sometimes you're like "I don't know, I don't quite see what this… where this is leading to", but because time and time again before it's been like, “Oh yeah, that's been resolved really nicely, you feel like, you know you feel safe with it? So sometimes you just gotta sit back and relax, you know?

Interviewer: Because you're balancing actor instincts, you're balancing just interest in the show like, you know, “I like it, I want it to keep going, I enjoy money, I enjoy being able to buy things, so let's not fuck this up,” but also, you know, you want to do right by your character. And I'm sure as you're reading it you're like “Okay this is great,” but yeah, you could say like "Oh this character is going in this direction, well, how is that going to influence things down the line?" Because you have an investment in this and you, like you said, you trust that they haven't really done anything wrong yet, so if I'm puzzled by this or this isn't what I would do, I have a weird feeling — give it a second and see what happens. Because also, even if that's not intellectually what you would do, it might be, you know, as an actor, just an interesting new exercise and suddenly you're like “Oh well, this is different than I was planning on doing, and cool, now I'm just… I'm in a different, you know, thought process. I'm in my head a little differently and the performance is now different and suddenly I've added to this,” and that's fulfilling in a different way.

Phil Dunster: Yeah, they're incredibly… Once they know exactly where it's going, they are incredibly collaborative as well.  There's always the sort of, you know, they're always sort of throwing over to you for your little, like eight bar jazz solo, and then you're straight back into it. And it feels like they trust you to just, you know, have those… that little bit of time, of freedom, but yeah, as you say, it's… I mean, predominantly my thought process whenever I'm working on any job is trying not to fuck up so much that I get kicked off, but you know it's A-Listers, you know, anything can happen.

Interviewer: I think you're in a safe spot now, which, you know, is not a small deal. I mean, working actors, there's something about like “Okay, I've reached a level where I'm pretty sure I can continue to work.” Like, that's a big deal, like what percentage of actors even reached that point? Let alone the next level, the next level, the next level, you know? You're sitting there, and I'm sure Jason looks at people and is like "Wow, what a huge movie star," but you look at him and go “What a massive star.” Like, how do you reach that summit and the idea of just like, as you get higher and higher, there's less and less people doing it. There's something to like taking a minute and you know, whether it's Emmy attention, whether it's awards, whether it's critical acclaim, just people, you know, whatever the thing is that makes you feel like "I did a good job," you know?  Knowing that it's there, and then when this is over, there'll be another thing like, “I'm not gonna have to worry about waiting tables,” there's something there like… “I've made it,” such a cliched word, but “I've reached a point where I'm an actor. It's not a thing I do, well, I hope. I'm an actor. I'm an actor,” and I think you know, for the last handful of years, it's been that way for you, but I think the show really hammers that home in a fundamental way.

Phil Dunster: That's a really lovely, lovely sentiment man, I really appreciate that and I know exactly what you mean. I think, having worked as an actor for the last 10 years and done the whole gamut of like, you know, working with no money in the bank, and all that sort of stuff, I will sort of resolutely stay as cynical as I possibly can about where the industry is, and so I will always believe that there will, you know… but I think that what — and there is a wonderful thing of, you know, it seems the show has sort of struck a chord with people, when it feels like being a part of that, being, on that wave on ship Ted Lasso, it feels really lovely, that after having, as I say, been acting for the last 10 years or so, knocking on doors, it seems that to collectively, to everybody — and it's great to see your mates to be coming up, you know, we've been working together for two and a half years now, these are… this is my family — and seeing these things happen for people is wonderful. And, you know look, hopefully some more stuff comes. I've loved doing… there's a show that I've got coming out called The Devil's Hour which I'm really excited about doing. Just being able to do stuff like that, being able to do weird and silly and stupid and difficult painful characters is what I really want to do. It's what I love to do, and you know, if it means that I get to continue doing that, then that's great. That sounds great, man.

Interviewer: Well that's a great way to wrap up, because that's, I think, what we want, like what else do we want, when we see someone that we like in a show that we like, except keep doing it and do different things, you know. Like be weird, be funny, be heart-breaking, get to play the range of emotions, because we've already decided we want to watch you in things collectively as an audience. And I think everyone in the cast is getting that, you know. I've loved Juno Temple for years, since like movies that six people saw, and now to watch her in this and see her go on to The Offer and then know like… Okay she was talking, a couple of weeks ago I talked to her about The Offer, and she was like "I can say no to things now and like, it's mean, you know? You don't want to say no, but also the idea of I can wait til something's perfect or I can choose between two things, you don't always have that, and to then have that is this, you know, very specific to the acting world comfort of ‘I'm wanted,’ and you know you're a human being, who doesn't want to be wanted?" And, it's just… it's great to see.

Phil Dunster: I tell you what, it is. And it's amazing to be with those people who have been through the ringer a few times. And obviously, you know, you've got Jason there, and then Brett who I spend a lot of time with, you know, they've been around the block a couple of times, and Juno and Hannah and Jeremy, like, it's really good… Jason talks about having ‘uncles and aunties,’ and I think that he, you know, that's sort of people that he would have met along the way when he was at school and I think that he… that there are those people in this cast, for me, that I find incredibly… that their advice is priceless, and I thank god for them.

Interviewer: Oh yeah, because at the end of the day, what else do you have besides are you happy with the work? Are you happy with the people you spend time with? Like, if you're not happy why do it? Like, because it's such a good job. If you can't find the joy, you know, are you gonna be happy doing something else?

Phil: You're right, yeah, I feel very very grateful for it and yeah, yeah. Thanks for listening to “This Time with Brene Brown” and…

Interviewer: Exactly, right? Well, thank you so much for doing this. I love the show. I love you in it. I can't wait to see what comes next and I also just want to see what happens after because who doesn't want to follow someone exciting? And also, you're a good dude so why not?

Phil: Thank you mate, I look forward to chatting again. Good luck with, uh, Miley.

Interviewer: Oh yeah. I love that every interview I've done today has said that afterwards. It's almost making me a little nervous.

Phil: It'll be great fun… listen, it will be nothing if not interesting. 

Interviewer: Exactly! Words to go out on! Thank you so much.  Phil: Big love man, thanks so much. Cheerio, bye-bye!