#the most fundamental thing about him is that he’s normal and that’s ok! that’s what helps him rise!

[makotonaegiunderstander]

something I’ve been thinking abt is how many people think Makoto is immune to despair. I don’t think he is. I think becoming the ultimate Hope was BECAUSE he felt despair. He wouldn’t have fully reached that point without Junko. Makoto becoming such a beacon was his last attempt to avoid completely falling and it wasn’t because he didn’t feel despair, it was because he was too damn stubborn to allow everything to go to waste and he refused to sacrifice his beliefs for someone else’s. His inner monologue tells me he DID experience the same new low the other suvivors did in the final trial, but at the point where he had the choice to give up and die, he looked at the others and he looked at Junko and he couldn’t allow it to happen, not out of self preservation, but because the idea that Junko would have control over their lives made him FURIOUS. and that utter refusal to die kicked in, wether luck or otherwise, and he made the concious effort for one last push while something in him was breaking. He had to be broken in order for the Ultimate Hope to come through so aggressively, bc it could only exist in the face of the Ultimate Despair. He snapped the same way she did, but in the other direction. In what could have been his final moments he chose to embody everything Junko wasn’t, and every single optimistic and luck fueled ideal in him suddenly charged forward and pushed him. It was a combination of the final straw and a choice. Makoto isn’t immune to feeling despair, he’s just too stubborn to fall into it of his own volition. I think that’s why I like that scene in DR3 so much. People were SO SHOCKED Makoto actually fell for the tape, that he actually became despair for a moment. I saw people getting mad or disappointed, saying it was pathetic and Makoto seemed to fall from some sort of pedestal for them. Honestly part of me wonders if that sort of mentality, which clearly people had in universe, affected Makoto a bit. Like he started to see himself as less of a person, subconsciously. Prompting him to take more risks, less self preservation, act way more bold. It seems he has to be reminded a lot not to put himself in danger by his friends, to not do something too reckless. All over the place I would see in regards to that scene either this frivolous ‘oh this was just angst drama with no meaning behind it’ or ‘he can do better than that. he’s so weak’ or ‘come on, there’s no way he’d fall into despair, he’s the Ultimate Hope!’ This kind of mentality, which was kind of ironic considering Ryota was there the entire time saying the same thing and treating Makoto the same way. Like Makoto was superhuman. Like Makoto didn’t feel despair the same way ‘normal people’ did. In a way that was also how Munakata saw Makoto. Makoto stopped being a PERSON to the world when he became Ultimate Hope, he became a concept, a belief system, much the same way Junko ascended beyond herself. But the difference is that treating Makoto that way is the opposite of the reason Makoto became such a representative for hope. He wasn’t doing something no one else could. He was doing something everyone had the chance to, he just… was a little more optimistic, a little more stubborn, a little more ‘gung-ho’ about things. He just took the lead where no one else did, where no one else knew they even COULD in the face of Junko’s unstoppable force. She had overcome the biggest threats and obstacles in the world, what could one person do? And the answer Makoto found was, anything. Everything. It doesn’t all rest on Makoto, he’s just the one that was inspired to try to do what seemed like the impossible. But as evidenced by the change in his friends after that trial, it’s clearly not something only Makoto is capable of. The others pulled out of despair thanks to Makoto, but it was their choice to do so.

“But… this world is so huge, and we’re so small. What can we do…? No, we can probably do anything. Yeah! We can do anything!”

[hunter470]

My 9-1-1 RANT

Ok, I don’t normally do these types of posts, but I can’t move on until I get some things out. These are just my thoughts about the latest episodes of 9-1-1 as well as overall comments on the Buck/Tommy relationship. These opinions are mine and are based on the countless hours of TV I’ve watched in my 54 years on this planet, as well as my knowledge of writing and how Hollywood operates. I’m not confirming that any of this is true or are the real intentions of anyone involved with the show. Just my opinions. So, you can agree with me or not. I’m not trying to persuade anyone in any way. Also, I’m not going to get into endless arguments about my opinions but feel free to comment if you want, I just don’t promise I’ll reply. 

Ok, here we go. Sorry it’s so long. Like I said earlier, I just needed to get it out. So many wasted opportunities.

If you think TM cares what the fans want, you’re seriously kidding yourself. If he did, Buddie would have been canon a long time ago. The only thing he cares about is ratings and his vision for the show, which can change at a moment’s notice with no rhyme or reason as we’ve seen. 

Although I loved Buck and Tommy together, I knew the show wouldn’t do their story justice. So, no matter what TM or OS have said, the bi story was only to garner publicity, draw in new viewers, and increase ratings especially with the show moving to a new network. There was no altruistic reason behind it so don’t kid yourself. They knew there was an audience for the story because of all the Buddie shippers. Just remember, it’s called show business, not show friends for a reason.

Do you think OS really cares about bi representation? Based on his latest comments and non-apology it’s obvious he only cares about getting the stories that garner him the most screen time and press. Seriously, read his latest interviews. He’s excited to get to have fun now. So, congrats OS, Buck gets to F around. Just shows how most, if not all, actors are ego driven no matter what they say. Sorry not sorry.

TM has commented that he doesn’t owe anyone anything. In fact, I recall him saying to Buddie fans if they don’t like it, read fanfiction. If that didn’t clue you in, then you weren’t reading the room. Kinda reminds me of another show runner…for those who watched H50 you know who I’m talking about. That’s why I don’t get heavily invested in these shows. I’ll watch but I never expect anything I like to last…especially if it has to do with gay relationships.

It says a lot that the show remained completely silent about the bullying and death threats Lou received just for playing a role he was happy to play. Again, they really didn’t care because they knew he wasn’t going to be there after episode six. What a great message for all the bullies…just keep bullying and you’ll get what you want. 

Again, reread OS’s interviews. He was doing the Hollywood double speak. Says just enough to keep you hooked with hope to get you to watch even when he knew all along it wasn’t lasting. It really was as clear as day if you go back and read what he said. 

Also, if you thought Buck was going to get into a meaningful long-term relationship, then you didn’t watch the video from the You Tuber “Call Me Chato” that TM posted on his Facebook. The video was all about characters and how they should always stay fundamentally the same with minimal development - I’m paraphrasing. However, Buck is the golden retriever, heart so big it gets broken, character who will remain on a hamster wheel and unlucky in love because that’s who he is. If he changes too much it shifts the dynamic, which only happens if the show was ending. 

If you thought the writers would do justice to a bisexual story, then you haven’t been watching the show closely. There’s been minimal Buck/Tommy relationship development on screen. Taylor got more. Viewers were lucky to get crumbs in the limited screen time Buck and Tommy got. Then, a breakup out of left field? One minute Buck is saying Tommy is it for him and he wants him to move in, and then it’s over? If he truly felt deeply for Tommy, why not fight to keep him? Why give up so easily and let him walk away? What’s the point? Also, to end it on a terrible stereotype is yet another clue. Horrible writing and another sign that TM and OS had zero investment in the relationship. The whole break up was rushed and made no sense. Essentially, it was just used to draw people in and to get Buck single and sleeping around again because that’s who he is. I for one won’t care for any of Buck’s future relationships. I mean, why would I when they never last. 

Also, writers that give you a 66-year-old police sergeant and a 10 y/o boy landing a heavily damaged plane on an active freeway in LA with no prior training, and sorry playing video game flight simulators is not training, is some Sharknado level writing, which is not a compliment. Oh, and that whole story was truly the shows “jumping the shark” moment. If you don’t know what the term “jumping the shark” means, look it up and try to tell me I’m wrong. 

Not having Tommy involved in the three part premier episodes, other than a few minutes at a birthday party, was so obvious as to the show’s intent. I mean, the fake captain from Hotshots got more screen time. 

They claim they wanted someone for Buck that was connected to him and the 118 and then you don’t use the character at all. You wanted Buck off the hamster wheel? What a crock! Such a wasted opportunity.

Since it’s been confirmed episode 6 was filmed before 5, Tim’s just playing god with peoples’ feelings and crushing their hearts at this point. I mean, how do you have such a great episode (5) and a wonderful speech by Josh (6) just to break them up? Plus, having Tommy break up after six months? That man was all in, which was obvious in episode 5.

Guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that’s how TM would handle things after that horrible Tarlos breakup. At least on Lone Star we knew Rafa (Carlos) was a main cast member so there was hope. Lou was a guest star so it seems kinda final based on his interviews. Again, what was the point? They could have had Buck's bi revelation be with a random character. So, building up the Buck/Tommy relationship just to take it away was to inflict the most pain. Good job. 

Do I think the show will make Buddie canon? Who knows…one thing I do know is I wouldn’t trust them if they did. Also, even if Tommy somehow returns, I don’t trust TM with anything related to this story. Sure, hope he’s happy with ruining the show for so many people. Again, like another show runner I mentioned in item 4 above. Honestly, I can’t believe the Buddie fans have stayed for so long. That’s commitment, I guess. 

Do I think Lou should go back to 9-1-1? Hell no! He was screwed over by both TM and OS. Prove it to me otherwise. However, it’s up to him and of course, he loves acting so I wouldn’t blame him.

Finally, even though I’ve watched the show since the beginning, it no longer brings me joy. There are too many other TV shows to stick with one I no longer enjoy. So yes, I’m announcing my departure, and I don’t give an F what OS, you, or anyone else thinks about it. Not that any of this matters any way…

[indiestsnake]

I am of the opinion that In Stars and Time does the best kind of minority representation, that being silent representation. It does not explicitly state that it is doing representation. It does not even acknowledge any variety of “us vs them” conflict. It just shows us a world where it’s a normal thing.

Lemme explain. In the game, there’s this random conversation about how in vaugarde, most people have multiple names. Just cuz it’s a thing with their culture of change. And they mention that it’s helpful for changing genders cuz you’d already have a few choices from ur other names. And then Odile says “ok what are ur guy’s other names if u don’t mind�� and Isabeau says:

“I’ll keep them secret. So that way, if I ever decide to change again, you guys won’t already know what to call me.”

THAT.

THAT RIGHT THERE. TAHT IS THE SHIT.

It implies that Isabeau is FTM bcuz he used He/Him. BUT ISABEAU ALREADY PRESENTS LIKE AN EXTREMLEY FEMININE CIS DUDE. THE GUY HAS HANDS THAT COULD CRUSH SKULLS YET PAINTS HIS NAILS.

So to the characters, it’s a normal sentence. But to us (or at least me, a dude still shaking off growing up in an environment where cis/het is the norm) it’s a fucking liver shot bcuz it raises a million questions about his preffered gender and appearance and how it works and all that non-conforming stuff that left me REELING from confusion. AND THEN THEY JUST MOVE ON ITS PERFECT

it does not give any fuel to the idea that Trans folk are abnormal because it doesn’t even bring up the concept. it spits in the face of cis/het being “normal”. And completely avoids subconsciously reinforcing that being Trans is fundamentally odd.

I have no clue if this is coherent but I love representation like this. Representation that treats itself as representation can lead to a subconscious undertone that lgbt people are weird or abnormal, even if they’re accepted. “Oh they’re definitely weird, but we love them anyway!” Is what it ends up reading as to me. But silent representation, the representation In Stars and Time does, ends up feeling like “they are people, and we love them.” It fully normalizes it. It shatters the barrier between Cis and Trans, Straight and Gay and all that.

Very sorry if this is nonsense or comes off as rude. I love gay people I swear I am a gay people actually. I just wanted to talk about this. In Stars and Time punched the cis/het side of me in the nose and I love it for that.

[eri-pl]

A long post about why chromaticism is awesome

(in the context of Ainulindale) and what Melkor did and what he didn't and what Rúmil got wrong

Because 17 of you voted for it, one for "don't care" and one for "we don't need anti-Melkor propaganda" which isn't true: we do need more anti-Melkor propaganda :D (Told you I'm going to ignore some of the votes! I like him ok? I just don't like what he did.) (It's not even particularly focused on that… )

So, long post below cut:

Inharmonious?

 it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar [to make himself more important]

Let me ask you a question: Did Melkor sing music that wa snot compatible with the theme of Ilúvatar? Yes, you say, 'tis in the quote.

Nay, I say. It came into his mind to do so. So he did try. But he did not do it, because it is not possible. He simply assumed that what he sang was fundamentally incompatibile. Also, it was too loud and badly timed and confused many of the Ainur. Yes, it was ugly and didn't work well. But it was not, on fundamental, harmonic level, incompatibile, as:

And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite

So: no. contrary to common way of talking about it in the fandom, Melkor didn't play anything fundamentally … how to phrase it? The themes were fundamentally good, just in wrong place and too loud.

["A lot of evil is a misprioritized good" is a thing that probably has a lot written about it already.]

The nature of discord

So, time for some music theory (Yay!)

"Discord" is Tolkien's word for "music I don't like, eg the Beatles and jazz", but generally, discordant notes mean notes that aren't part of the current harmony, or even part of the scale, and make spicy intervals with the notes that are already being played.

Except.

A better word for such notes is "dissonance" or "tension". Because they aren't inherently wrong or ugly. They are something that feels like it needs to be dealt with, they create more energy in the music.

Sure, a stiff classical music teacher (the kind who tries to be Mozartier than Mozart and cleans the trumpet only on the outside, you get the vibe) would tell you that you can't have a second, or a tritone (the famous "devil chord" allegedly) and so on.

That's not true.

You can have those, just not for long, and not too loud and they need to go somewhere and so on and so forth. But used properly, the tensions make music richer and alive.

(But of course when someone decides to be a jerk about it and plays them for too long and too loud… Every sensation made too long and too intense becomes pain, and empowering something that should be temporary always ends up badly.)

Fire isn't inherently wrong, but when it gets out of control and burns everything, it's bad. Cold isn't inherently wrong, but freezing to death is nasty. Change isn't wrong, but can be.

Well, "change isn't wrong" becomes true when there are imperfect beings: beings that can change without becoming less. Like, you know, mountains, and trees, and Men.

What was Melkor's calling?

I think it was to add tensions. But to add them in a normal amount. And this required him to do two things: a) to sing keeping the harmonic tension regardless of everyone else singing differently, and b) to not overdo it and frigging accept the fact that everyone else is singing together.

Well, he managed to do half of it. :F Yay. :F I'm gonna make him a sticker saying "you tried". :F

And yes, this is difficult. That's why the most powerful of the Ainur got the job! And he still messed it up. Because he preferred his pride than the actual job.

But yes, I believe his job was to sing "in discord", just politely. And then at the end on the Music get quiet and yield, because that's what you do with the tensions. And then go happily hang out with your fellow Ainur who would appreciate what he did. Because it's very much not "he was made evil", just "he was made different and other, and became evil by trying to make everything like him when he was supposed to be the contrast".

[Pause, because I made myself sad about how much he messed up such beautiful ideas]

Men (and Elves)

Rúmil says they were created only as a response to Melkor's discord. So, without evil there would be no free will, and no people. Right?

Wrong. Rúmil, go home and rethink your life.

If Melkor did what I described above, the themes would still be able to progress normally, just without drama. And we would have Men and Elves and whatnot, because I don't but a "people are inherently a result of evil" setting, my BS detector flares red on that. (Should I say "sorry"?)

I'm not going into "does free will need evil to exist, or just the possibility of evil or some secret third option" because I don't want to go into real-world philosophy with this post.

Chromaticism AKA: what do you mean "rarepair", it's not a rarepair!

OK, so back to the music theory. Remember when I said that dissonant notes are, among others, notes outside the scale? Those are called "chromatic tones" and are used to add more emotion to the music. Usually the sad types (and scary, yes, this too) of emotion.

So, Nienna. The Vala who, among other things said about her, gets probably the best, awesomest description line in the whole book. My fav. The gothy psychopompy evil-in-early-versions weird lady whose windows gaze West of the West, to Darkness. The edgiest but never crossing the edge (unlike you, Melkor!), the one who prefers to weep for so long than to rise in pride.

I love her so much.

Her reaction to Melkor's dissonance was to weep. And how do you weep in music? Chromaticism. Which is a type of dissonance, technically.

Oh, if only Melkor didn't get it into his head to try to court stalk and pester Varda… :(

Also, the text doesn't say that Nienna was one of the main singers in the Third Theme (like Manwë was in Second), but the vibes very much suggest it. And honestly, with a theme that's not finished it is honest to not discuss who was the star of it?… anyway she is closely tied with the Third Theme, I'm sure everyone will agree on that.

So yea, the Third Theme, I'm so veryveryvery about it *deep breath* I'll try to keep it on-topic

The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came.

I cannt imagine "immesurable sorrow" in music without chromatic tones. I don't care what Rúmil would say, I don't care what Tolkien would say, the Third Theme is (if we imagine it as not physically music: it is the metaphysical equivalent of) chromatic. It just is.

It's sad and subtle, and the description sounds very much like a minor scale, but don't get me into scales and chord types, because then I'll digress into places we pretend aren't part of the discussion.

But yea, "minor ending with a Picardy third" would be a good approximation of the general feel, I guess.

Oh, and do you know how do you make a chromatic thing work— how do you make any "dissonant" (in classical terms) chord work? (No, Melkor (and Stravinsky), not by repetition!!!)

You put it into open voicing.

So, what is open voicing? I'm glad you asked. Imagine you're playing on a piano. Open voicing is when the notes are far apart and you would need longer fingers to play them at the same time. It's generally the notes being far from each other in terms of pitch. This does reduce the dissonances, because for example C4 and D4 clash much more than C4 and D5. So you put the notes in separate octaves as much as possible and it works, and it makes a chord that would be clashing into a beautiful epic-sounding and generally awesome.

Now, ask yourself: Where have we seen (heard?) about something like that? Because we have.

and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as the light of the eye of Ilúvatar, the Music ceased

OK, you can argue that the "deeper and higher" mean it is wide, but it doesn't imply that it's a chromatic chord. the implication goes only one way. True.

But "piercing"? Can a purely diatonic chord feel piercing? IDK

…is diatonic/chromatic even still a question at this point?

So, chromatic is a good thing, right? So, Melkor—

Noo… Not like that. Chromaticism is like— like fire. Or electricity. It can make good thigs better, and beautiful things more beautiful, but it's tricky, and needs to be used properly.It's like admin mode on your computer. Like "see advanced settings" button.

Also, Melkor did …provoke (for lack of a better wors) chromaticism in the Music, but his song on its own is the very opposite of chromatic. Which is sad and ties very well to one of my earlier posts.

He's not nuanced. He's just

had now achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes

which is as non-chromatic as you can probably get :(

I made myself sad again, end of post.

Edit: Yeah, no, I went to take a morning (noon) shower and ofc realized there's a lot of it left. Like: why is Melkor-being-not-chromatic a sad thing if the chromaticism is tricky?

So, to be explored in a next post some day:

the ("dynamic" says too little, "self-defeating" claims too much... complicated?) nature of dissonant non-classic chords

the nature of Men, their out-of-FateMusic-ness and how does that relate to chromatic and non-chord tones and music in general

idk, probably more

[ericaand]

https://www.tumblr.com/ericaand/768035190679437312/yall-got-bamboozled-thinking-hes-attractive-only?source=share

He's been coached, so his public persona has changed. He signed on to a huge Hollywood agency. He has a stylist. He has changed his whole look, even the way he poses for pictures, so he has a vibe that is considered more palatable for Hollywood.

We were introduced to him before all that. He was scruffy. Couldn't put a normal outfit together to save his life. The tongue thing. Didn't understand the trappings of fame. He came off as adorably bewildered all the time. Those days are over.

A lot of people are mourning the loss of that and it's ok. It's not his fault, it's just how it goes when you blow up. The version of Joe most of us fell in love with is gone. I think he's still the same guy deep down, but we won't see him anymore. It's okay to feel sad about that. People move on.

This is what most people have said. And tbh you’re probably right. And it is kinda sad I think, but more in an existential way. Like, why would someone need to change themselves so deeply to be accepted by a culture aka Hollywood. I just hope he truely is the same person he was, deep down, fundamentally. He seemed like such a kind and good natured guy. As one of the others had said, it’s like he lost the “twinkle” in his eye. And I definitely believe that. It’s a little disheartening to see fame change people.

[odyssean-flower]

My Yandere Neuvillette and Wriothesley characterizations

I feel like I'm mixing up these two's characterizations in my head so I'll write them down here as reference. These will probably change as we learn more about them.

Please feel free to submit any suggestions!

Neuvillette

He gives off a very paternalistic feeling--he's Father

Authoritative, comes off as condescending and judgy even when he isn't trying to be

Can read you like a book

Big fan of procedures and rules

Doesn't show much emotion on his face, but as you spend more time with him you can see the subtle shifts in his expressions

Super emotionally repressed (turbo virgin)...until he met you

Honestly I think he would be pretty relaxed and chill even as a yandere, not because he values your personal freedom or anything, it's because he knows full well that you'll never get away from him

I think he'd be a bit less relaxed and chill before you become his darling, because there's still a small chance you can get away from him (bonus points if you reject him. Then you will really see him slightly less chill)

Will probably try to court his darling first before trying more underhanded means

Generally acts like a gentleman even as he is keeping you imprisoned against your will

Not the type to get super angry, just disappointed. If you push him too far, though...

He has a lot of patience for your "shortcomings" because fundamentally he sees you as someone who needs to be "educated" and "disciplined"

I think that for him, you're the first person he feels something for, and that simultaneously bothers him and intrigues him--Him? Feeling things for a human??? Huh????

I think even if you get into a relationship with him willingly, he'll still eventually confine you in his house anyways. That's probably where you'll spend most of your time, but he'll take you out to the theater or something from time to time (even all powerful chief justices like to flaunt their darlings sometimes)

Doesn't really dote on you heavily, but he's pretty soft when it's just the two of you. Likes to kiss the top of your head and wrap his arms around you. Would really love it if he

But he also has high expectations for you. He'll make you read and memorize Fontaine's literature and laws, drill you on etiquette, train you on how to speak and act with him. It's not so much he thinks you're uncultured, he just thinks that everyone should be cultured, especially you

Won't use his cane to hit you (unless you really push him too far). Mostly uses it to correct your posture, tilt your head up, etc. (Spankings are a different story however)

If you're a shy and demure person, he will probably be very warm, protective and patient with you. Probably wouldn't even seem like a yandere at all if not for the controlling behavior. (Is this a daddy kink)

If you're more feisty and argumentative, he...will probably kinda enjoy that? On one hand you remind him of a certain archon he has to put up with, which annoys him because he sees you as a sort of refuge away from that, but on the other hand it further stimulates his desire to control everything about you, to tame you, basically. So I think he'll probably treat you more roughly

Wriothesley

Ok this one is harder especially because I really don't know what to make of him after reading his drip marketing description. So I will just write about how he is in my fic A Choice Forged in Blood

So Wriothesley is a lot like Neuvillette in that he's pretty stoic, but the difference is that Neuvillette is like that all the time, while Wriothesley is mainly like that because of his job/reputation. He is much more open with the people who know him well

I headcanon Wriothesley to be more "romantic" than Neuvillette

He knows how intimidating he is, isn't that bothered by it most of the time, but does sigh about it sometimes when he's just out and about and everyone gives him a wide distance

But when he meets you...ooh boy

Depending on whether you treat him normally or are scared of him like everyone else, he will approach you differently

If you treat him normally: *brain short circuits* he doesn't know how to react to that. He wants to approach you but doesn't know how without the fear of scaring you away. Ironically treating him normally only flusters him more. Will probably try to find out everything about you, and try to be around you as much as he can, blushes an awful lot when you're around

If you're scared of him: yeah he expected that and he's sad. Will keep a distance from you, still tries to find out everything about you in order to figure out how to appeal to you, gets really jealous when you smile around anyone other than him, kabedon maybe idk

Will try his best to hold back his growing feelings because of his innate morals, but it gets harder each day. He can't stop thinking about you

When he snaps eventually, oh boy (see: poor y/n from my fic)

Will just take you by force, will feel bad about starting off your "relationship" too forcefully but does NOT regret doing it in the first place

Tries his best to be gentle, likes to sit you on his lap, cuddle with you; will melt if you initiate physical affection with him

Enjoys going out with you (if he can do so without handcuffing your wrist to his) and simply spending time with you

Will be very protective of you, will still get insecure and compare himself to others

Just wants to be loved back and live in domestic bliss with you :(

Will be sad about it but won't hesitate to tie you to his bed if you get too rebellious

[comicaurora]

Hi Red! I was curious if you've watched the new Yu Yu Hakusho live action, and if so, what your thoughts were on its pacing and handling of various plots. Personally I thought it did some very clever things and it genuinely pleasantly surprised me at a couple points, but at the same time the fact that it's only 5 episodes hurt its ability to do the story justice a bit.

Also I was rewatching the Dark Tournament arc of the anime today and wondering what it must've been like to watch when it originally aired, considering all the multi episode fights. Do you remember any of your thoughts at the time?

On an unrelated note, I'm really excited for arc 2 of Aurora!!!! Also sorry this is so ramble-y

I have watched it! For the most part, I really enjoyed it, although in pursuit of compressing everything down to five episodes it did a couple things I think definitely harmed the overall impact and characterization.

Spoilers below!

The first episode is I think nearly pitch-perfect. The visual design on the Spirit World is top-tier, and the choice to make everything that was a sacred artifact move like ferrofluid was a very clever bit of visual design. It's absolutely weird and original and I think it was a very fun way to spice up Fluffy Cloud Heaven.

Of all the things they sped through, I'm very glad they did not speed through the crucial characterization of Yusuke initially choosing to stay dead on the assumption that everyone is better off without him, and the show subsequently taking its time to show the wake, let Yusuke's mom and Keiko really feel their feelings, etcetera. The adaptation of the wake was, to my memory, almost 100% true to the anime version, including the gut-wrenching moments like Kuwabara starting off angry and then breaking down, and the toddler Yusuke saved not really understanding that he's dead. And I had no complaints about the parts of this arc that they did speed up - a lot of the timeline of the original show is training arcs and Yusuke having to prove himself, and I had almost no problem with them skipping over that. Yusuke not having to do any tasks before coming back to life is A-OK with me.

I also entirely lost my shit at The Dropkick.

And then the last bit of episode 1, where they have to deal with the possessed kid, was absolutely top tier. The way they make demonic possession look and feel in this show is truly horrific, and I loved the way they played it like a one-man zombie apocalypse. The fight choreography was also very impressive and I liked how much they used the environment. Also, letting Kuwabara fight this guy first was a very good way of making the power-scaling clear and establishing that Kuwabara is a fundamentally very decent person willing to punch above his weight class to try and help.

However, this episode did get me excited for something they ended up not doing, which was a bummer. The first thing we see in the show is a Makai insect, which in the anime are the tools of the villains in the Four Saint Beasts arc - at the climax of that storyline, Makai-insect-possessed students and faculty corner Keiko and Botan in the human world while Yusuke fights an increasingly desperate battle against Suzaku to try and stop him. If the full-on body horror zombie thing was what makai insect possession looked like, that scenario immediately seemed like it was going to be butt-clenchingly terrifying.

Of course, they ended up entirely sidestepping the Saint Beasts arc, which is understandable - narratively speaking its only real function is to let the four protagonists team-build after their contentious first meetings. It became clear pretty quickly that with the time they had, it wouldn't be worth it to go there. That said, I think they really could've used a little more team-building time - more on that later.

The first episode also pretty solidly established the tone they'd be taking for the rest of the show - much more dark, almost no comedy. Normally I find those sorts of adaptations pretty dour and joyless, but in this case I thought it helped make the stakes feel solid, and if anything it lined up better with the original premise of "the demon world is a truly horrifying place and its incursion into reality would be an absolute nightmarish apocalypse." I didn't mind that it felt like the stakes were real and the heroes fighting demons was really necessary.

The second episode made it pretty clear where they were going with the series adaptation. While it speeds through the intro of Goki, Kurama and Hiei, it also lets Yusuke's fight with Goki feel - again - extremely well-choreographed and tense. The choreography in this show is consistently very impressive, especially considering how often our heroes have to fight fully CGI bad guys - and this fight doesn't even have any dialogue in it, but it still makes it entirely clear what Yusuke is thinking at every point, which is very impressive, especially since he goes through an entire arc from "I don't need to figure out how to use the Spirit Gun" to "I desperately need the spirit gun to start working right the fuck now". They also handle Kurama's intro very well, making it very clear that he's cunning and kind of inscrutable but not necessarily malicious, and in the scene where Yusuke's tailing him it's pretty clear from the choreography that Kurama knows he's there and is very carefully waiting long enough for him to follow him without feeling like he's being lured, which is entirely in-character, and again a very impressive way to show characterization without any dialogue required. And of course the reveal that Kurama is in fact a Nice Boy who is trying to sacrifice himself to save his mom is real good, and letting Yusuke's past experience with seeing how his mom reacted to his death make him immediately ride or die for Kurama was a very solid bit of characterization - and adding Kuwabara to this subplot where he wasn't originally there helped balance out the characterization a little bit with an entirely justified naysayer pointing out "dude he's a demon maybe don't trust him immediately." It also helps get Kuwabara involved in the main story nice and quick, where he originally is a bit of a late arrival.

The part I was getting a little worried about at this point, and an element of the adaptation that I legitimately think is a detriment, was how they were handling Hiei. A huge part of what makes Hiei fun in the original series is that he is legitimately a huge bastard, and in his introduction is a full-blown bad guy who Yusuke very nearly dies fighting. Classic Hiei kidnapped Keiko and nearly turned her into a demon just to fuck with Yusuke. And what makes their relationship great is the team-building that happens in the Four Saint Beasts arc the adaptation is evidently skipping over, where Hiei is so baffled - and so touched - by Yusuke's completely unearned trust in him that he immediately becomes 100% ride or die for Yusuke and only Yusuke.

He's a vicious little asshole who takes himself very seriously and legitimately has the power to back up his grandstanding 90% of the time, and that's what makes him so fun to watch - those little slivers of characterization where he's goofy or baffled or vulnerable or lets himself be visibly impressed with one of his teammates, mixed with the moments where he's like "okay this has been fun but it's time to die now" and just one-shots the bad guy with another dangerous forbidden technique he picked up for shits and giggles.

So I was getting a little worried that the adaptation wasn't gonna let Hiei be, like. An actual asshole. Because what makes him fun as a character is that he is an asshole, he just also has a handful of sympathetic motivations and nice qualities that he usually doesn't own up to. And I ended up being right about that, which was a bummer, but again, the way they did it was a bit of extremely efficient streamlining. In the anime, Hiei's introduction is just him being a dick for no reason - then everyone has a team-building bonding arc with the Four Saint Beasts, and then Hiei is revealed to have a real heroic motivation hiding somewhere in there: rescuing his secret twin sister Yukina from a nasty human holding her prisoner.

So the adaptation basically just streamlined the entire rest of the show into that arc. Hiei's intro stealing the fancy knife? He's using it to get the Jagan Eye to look for Yukina. Hiei storming this compound full of humans? They're the ones holding Yukina prisoner. It's 100% sympathetic, he's just not willing to own up to that to anybody. Everything he does that's dubiously moral or kind of a dick move? It's actually fine, or he's being framed (like in the shot they perfectly remake from the anime where he kidnaps Keiko, except just kidding it's a shapeshifting bad guy framing him), or Yusuke's the one who attacks him in the first place.

And that's extremely efficient storytelling! It just makes Hiei kind of an antisocial dick and not even slightly a villain, which I think dramatically reduces how fun his character is - it just flattens him into a very standard-issue lancer archetype who refuses to express any sort of emotional or physical vulnerability to anyone, which is a fine character trope, it's just kind of more boring than the dickhead outdoor cat I was hoping for.

The same thing also happens to Genkai, who in the original series has dozens of episodes of screentime to show off how she is the best kind of mentor ever written - a dickhead mentor.

She's rude and snarky and a full-blown asshole, and she and Yusuke have a truly hilarious mentor-stydent dynamic because they're both assholes. And it's not until a good way into the Dark Tournament that we see them in a dynamic that's not just being assholes to each other - when Genkai consolidates all her power into a sporb for Yusuke to absorb, and he spends several episodes nearly dying about it. The fact that Genkai truly cares about him as her student - and the fact that he truly cares about her as his master - only comes out in this subplot, when she honestly believes she's fucked up and killed him and he goes beyond his limits to absorb the power she's given him. It's a beautiful moment of payoff after dozens of episodes of planting, and right after that happens, Genkai is killed.

So when the live-action show introduced Genkai, and after a good solid montage of training and anime-accurate fight scenes and some really good Kuwabara moments, she told Yusuke she had one final technique to give him, I said out loud "oh my god please don't speedrun this." And then they did. She gave Yusuke the sporb and he absorbed it immediately and painlessly, and then they left, and then she immediately gets killed.

My notes on that part were just

So I didn't like that part. Like Hiei, Genkai is such an effective character because her moments of vulnerability and non-assholeness are so rare, and the rest of the time she's an absolute goblin nightmare. Getting rid of that reduces her to another, much flatter trope, and killing her in the same episode she's introduced almost entirely removes the impact of the moment and just makes her another dead mentor. But again, this is episode 3 of 5. This isn't the writer's fault, this is the writers making a very hard decision on what they need to get into the plot if they're planning on speedrunning the entire Dark Tournament arc - which they are. The primary rule they seemed to use when adapting Yu Yu Hakusho is "if the heroes fought this bad guy more than once, no they didn't." So the first fight with the Toguro brothers is going to become the only fight with the Toguro brothers, and they need to speedrun the entire core plot of the Dark Tournament arc within the confines of Toguro's introduction in the Rescue Yukina arc.

And the thing is, hot take? I'm not mad about that. The Dark Tournament is an iconic moment in Shonen anime history, but like. it's a tournament arc. Like all tournament arcs, it goes on a very long time, a lot of it is extremely repetitive, and it eventually arrives at the foregone conclusion end state of "team protagonist vs team final boss". In a five-episode adaptation, you pick the smallest number of good fights with real stakes and you just use those. And that's what they do here. Kurama and Hiei both get little bottle-episode fights with their respective most plot-relevant opponents from the Dark Tournament, and they both get to show off their dangerous forbidden techniques.

And it slaps. It could've used more buildup for maximum punch, but again, five episodes. And frankly in the original they didn't get much buildup either, just "this is a thing I've been working on, hopefully I don't die about it."

And consistently, the fight choreography continues to be really good. The physicality of the actors is very solid and the way CGI attacks and opponents get worked into the choreography is so fluid it's sometimes hard to tell where the CGI ends. And considering the final boss is two full-CGI photorealistic bad guys, I think they do an incredibly good job making the fights feel real and solid.

Characterization-wise, since so much of the final episode is just a lot of fighting against a big damage sponge, there's not a ton of time for talking, but the choreography is, again, a standout. Even outside combat, the secondary characters get a lot of little moments to shine - even Damsel In Distress Du Jour Keiko gets to pull the "oh no, I, your valuable prisoner, am sick, please come into my cell within easy throttling range" trick and breaks herself and Yukina out, which slaps and makes the whole breakout feel like much more of a team effort, and it also lets Keiko and Yukina share some brief but extremely tender moments of characterization that does a lot to make them feel like well-rounded characters. And back in the main fight zone, the characters don't have much dialogue but show where they're at through how they move. Everyone is exhausted and beaten down and has already used their finishing moves, but Yusuke's in trouble, so it's time to scramble back up and tackle the bad guy. It's just such good choreo and such good acting that it makes me forgive a lot of the pacing struggles they're dealing with from boiling everything down to 5 episodes, and without dialogue - just through fight choreography - they manage to make me buy the teamwork dynamic they've thus far failed to establish due to speedrunning past all the stuff that's supposed to help them bond. This is the first part of the show that makes me believe that Hiei has any affection for the gang and any reason to fight alongside them beyond coincidence.

And they continued the trend of hitting all the major plot beats from the stuff they were speedrunning, which led to me counting down the minutes to the Kuwabara Fake-Dies To Motivate Yusuke moment.

The rest of the fight is pretty much just a shot-for-shot adaptation of the final stage of the Toguro bossfight, plus the added fun that it's the first time in the show Yusuke has actually yelled "spirit gun" out loud, which is neat. And it took every second of those five episodes, but in the closing scene they finally reached the group dynamic I was hoping for.

All things considered, given the parameters they had to work in, I think this is the best we could've possibly gotten in only five episodes. I would've probably preferred one where instead of cramming the entire dark tournament into three episodes they just left it alone and just did Rescue Yukina plus maybe the Saint Beasts, but if this is what we were getting, this was a very solid way to do it. I, at least, had an overall very good time, and have been thinking about rewatching it, which is wild since it's only been like three weeks since I watched it the first time. But yea, overall the pacing is wild but I think there was a lot of love and thought put into it, and it really shows.

[desidarling123]

SAB Scene Breakdown: Inej's Hallucination

OK, so I had actually been meaning to write and publish some meta on this particular scene (and just tons of SAB S2 meta, in general) in the weeks after the second season of the show came out. But life has been crazy recently, so I truly never found the time.

However, I reblogged a certain gifset a few days/weeks ago, slapped some tags on it, and realized there might indeed be some interest in some more #detailed thoughts.

The analysis that follows is at a pretty minute level of detail (and all of course based on MY views) so... take that with a grain of salt.

Also - fair warning - it's long as hell 😂 but entertaining, I hope!

I find this whole sequence in general super fascinating - it's one of my favorite scenes in the second season, and one that's also arguably subject to the absolute worst takes in fandom (iykyk... and if you don't, well, you're about to find out.)

So, let's get into it:

We start off strong with a very specific choice, made early on: it's not Inej seducing Kaz; rather, it's Kaz who's drawing Inej into this vision.

I get a bit more into the broader implications of that a bit later, but it's definitely important that it's done this way, rather than the other way around.

It's also, very notably, an inverse of this scene from a few episodes earlier:

What's unique about that previous scene is that in that moment, he's deliberately pushing her away (for reasons, mind you, that she's not entirely privy to, but definitely hurt her regardless - even if she pretends not to care about it to his face later on).

This is different. Instead of pushing her away, he is asking her to stay.

The choice of words is specific too: the word 'disappear' most obviously references her status as his spider. But it might also be an apt description of her own personal trappings, of 'disappearing' when in the throes of trauma-induced pressure.

Some atmospheric details I love:

Their IRL confrontation was in his office-cum-bedroom (👀shutup), a tiny, crammed space that matched the tension of that scene. This is the opposite of that - the room has a more open layout, imbuing the whole sequence with a more relaxed vibe. We can even see his cane chilling on the table behind him, just in reaching distance.

The DeKappel painting which they jointly stole in the books (and presumably on the show as well) is behind them.

Fire burning as a symbol for latent passion is not exactly groundbreaking imagery, but don't fix what ain't broke, amirite? :P

Malina, very notably, gets the same fire imagery treatment in their own love scene as well:

Will it show up again in a future season for kanej? Between that and, well, the recurring church imagery, we're in for a tossup, folks

But anyways. Back to the scene at hand.

You'll notice Inej goes back to a formal stance, hands behind her back, like she's preparing for a debrief or for an assignment. It's for a few seconds, if that, but it shows that she's grasping at some semblance of normalcy in this decidedly not-normal vision.

That facade lasts for all of, two seconds, tops, when he does this:

It's sexy! It's intimate! There's knives involved!

Okay, but seriously, for the sake of time I actually will not get into a deeper discussion of the ~implications~ because I'm sure it's been done a zilllion times before and it's also fairly obvious lol

Now, the one thing I *do* want to pivot to here is that by this point, both Inej and the audience understand that there is something very subtly yet fundamentally different about hallucination!Kaz.

But what is it?

Speaking on this scene, Freddy Carter had a quote (that I cannot be arsed to find rn) where he basically said that he deferred to Amita when playing hallucination!Kaz because "she (Amita) knows better (than I do) what it is that Inej likes about Kaz"

And what is it, exactly, that she likes about him? The next few gifs tell all, using actions rather than words.

This is her reaction to him pulling her knives from her. And what I find so interesting is that she is so (rightfully) startled....

But that is absolutely NOT the expression on his face at all.

In fact, he's remarkably self-assured.

And THAT, I think, is the crux of 'what it is she likes about him', as Frreddy said.

She likes his decisiveness, the single-minded precision with which he operates.

She's seen him apply it to every last scheme, every seemingly-hopeless situation... to damn near everything in the world, really, but her.

But here, in the depths of her hallucination, he does.

There are none of his usual hangups, none of their typically frustrating back-and-forths.

No. Here, he doesn't hesitate. He wants her, and he makes it known.

Striking, sexy stuff, to say least.

Let's go on:

Nothing to add here except that I'm obsessed with the way their heads turn at the same time here.

It's funny, because for all their personal hang-ups when it comes to physical intimacy, these two are SURPRISINGLY physically attuned to each other.

Goes to show, really, how much both of their problems are in their heads (obviously) -- and how, when they're actually ready to heal, relying on their intuition may be a better approach than getting too cerebral about it.

Again, Kaz does not break eye contact with her here, and it's such a contrast to what he might have instead done if this were happening in real life - in fact, does happen, in real life, though I'd argue that isn't exactly his fault.

I love that we get a moment where Inej looks down and sees his hand hovering near her waist, just so that it's made explicitly clear what he's asking for and what the ~implications~ are.

And then, she says yes! Enthusiastically, I might add.

Not but seriously the sheer want, the little touch of eagerness on her face kills me here. She's never had this experience before - has only ever known men violating her in the most horrible way possible - and yet this tiny little thing, of Kaz asking her for consent, means so much.

Oh my God Kaz is so sexy here sorry no words anyway carrying on.

Now even after she said yes you can see this sudden little beat of hesitation on her face, like she's maybe not sure what's going to happen or if Kaz is going to do what she asked. For her it's a moment of incredible vulnerability, even though Kaz is the one sort of making the advances on her - because this one time, she actually gets to say yes.

I think that shot of his arm going around her waist is so gorgeous and so sensual - but as we pan up we can see that maybe all isn't well.

Now, Amita also really does a fantastic job at portraying the turbulence of Inej's emotions -- she goes from clearly wanting it and saying 'yes', to visibly panicking once he acts on it. We see her shift around in his grip and even swallow nervously, blink-blink-blinking herself back into the moment.

Her response is reminiscent of this passage from the books:

But what might have happened if he'd spoken that night? If he had willingly offered her some part of his heart? What if he had come to her, laid his gloves aside, drawn her to him, kissed her mouth? Would she have pulled him closer, kissed him back? Could she have been herself in such a moment, or would she have broken apart and vanished, a doll in his arms, a girl who could never quite be whole?

You can see the very beginning of that sort of panic start to set in, here. This is completely uncharted territory for Inej - her own desire, the shame and baggage that comes with it, is all getting uncovered for the first time in what is arguably the 'safest' way possible - within the confines of her own mind - and yet, she's still panicking.

More on that in a bit. Let's keep going.

Anyways well Freddy's got a huge hand sorry anyway 

I love the way she closes her eyes here. And you can see again it's not without effort - like there's still conflict within her, you can see all of those different emotions warring within her - but she is trying to let herself have this moment. She's trying to take comfort in this touch that she so desperately wants and yet hasn't had any sort of good connotations with in recent history. 

She also opens her eyes just as he starts to lean in and I think that was a great, deliberate choice on Amita and Freddy's part.

It's that precise moment, really, when it becomes super super clear to her what's about to happen.

No notes, I just really love this forehead lean, it's that little bit of tenderness and intimacy that she's been subconsciously craving.

 Again, it's fascinating to me that we can see all of Inej's nervous tics coming into play here, but for hallucination!Kaz there's absolutely no hesitation at any point whatsoever.

It looks like, for all intents and purposes, he is going to kiss her.

And then at the very very last second you see him move back, ever-so-slightly --

and then she moves all the way back and delivers her line:

Ouch. Like a punch to the gut. True, but still ouch.

Now one could probably ask, in hypotheticals: why didn't he actually kiss her at this moment? And the answer to that simply is: this is her hallucination, you know? Even though she's not conscious of it (she's dying lol), she's the one with all the power, here.

And truthfully, whether she knows it or not, nothing is going to happen in her hallucination if she doesn't want it to.

But wait, you might say. Doesn't she want to kiss Kaz?

Like that original excerpt from the book indicates, it's complicated. Everything pertaining to desire generally will be, for her.

Not that her subconscious doesn't put up a good ol' fight. Hallucination!Kaz, you have to remember, isn't so much Kaz as he is a very precise amalgamation of her own memories and desires.

And boy, does he make a good argument:

The word want, again, spoken so directly here - it's that sort of straightforward speech that neither party is actually really capable of (at this point) in their arcs, not when it comes to each other.

Again, Kaz is behaving perfectly in the prescribed character of his hallucination persona - direct, confident, not rattled in the slightest.

It's interesting also that he doesn't say: this is real. He isn't able to lie to her in her own fantasy, but he does instead tell her exactly what she wants to hear, which is arguably even more dangerous.

And what I feel so terrible about is you can see this tiny little spark this little bit of hope on her face that she has.

She wants to believe this so so badly. She wants it, damn it!

So this time, she actually moves closer, crosses that distance between them. 

You can't see it super well in this gif, but you can see a little tiny muscle twitch in her jaw, a nervous swallow as she's bracing for him to kiss her the second time. And once again, Kaz isn't hesitating, there isn't any note of that discordant thing that they have in real life from his end.

Now another thing that drives me crazy is people claiming that they did kiss in the scene like bro. Bro. Freddy and Amita did not shoot this scene at no less three separate angles for you to tell us that they kissed!! They didn't kiss, they make it incredibly obvious that they did not kiss, and if you're the one person on planet Earth whose definition of a kiss is front lips brushing for .0000000002 seconds then I'm sorry, you belong to a different category, okay?

And again, that was on purpose! It totally would have defeated the purpose of this particular sequence if they had (and would've given detractors of this scene a real leg to stand on - again, more on that at the very end.)

But as it stands, they don't kiss, and that's also kind of critically why this isn't just a sexy scene to watch back.

AND THEN (I'm out of allowed images HAHA) she pulls away. And she says the words that end it all - This isn't real. This is the poison.

The premise of the hallucination is completely shattered, and she looks so heartbroken, but she's finally able to articulate what she's really known this whole time, and that is that nothing she's seeing is real. It is a lie being fed to her by her poison-addled brain as her body slowly succumbs and dies (dark).

But you know, she does get out of it through sheer willpower, and we love her for that - but oh man but what cost?

This particular sequence is definitely a catalyst for her changed behavior going forward. I do actually wish it had been a little better handled in the show (as in, better supported by dialogue in scenes before and after this one) but regardless - this scene is a Big Tipping Point and starts what is essentially a pseudo-regression arc for Inej (paraphrasing Amita directly, bc that's truly the most apt description of Inej's behavior for the rest of the season.)

It's really bad timing, unfortunately, because it happens just as Kaz is starting to open up like never before. He's starting to see the world in a completely different light while she's doing the exact opposite -- she is shutting down her own dreams and desires when it comes to him, because she's come to the conclusion that it's simply not going to happen.

And you know what, she's not entirely wrong for that assumption, but I do have beef with some of the particulars of how it was executed in the show. But that's a discussion for another day.

Now, onto a brief rant that I alluded to at the very start of this post - my single biggest grievance with fandom is that someone on the internet decided that this scene somehow ‘erased’ Inej’s trauma, when in fact that exact trauma is what underpins the whole damn thing.

The fact that this scene more or less parallels the passage from the books beat for beat, shows, in my opinion, that book fans who make these claims of 'erasure' must have deliberately chosen to ignore this passage from the books, or never even read it in the first place.

Because frankly? Once you take that passage into consideration, the intent of this sequence couldn't have been more obvious!

Just to underscore my point, I want to ask anyone who's reading this to please compare and contrast Inej’s hallucination with Matthias’ dream. If the intent, as many so often like to claim, was simply to make this moment in Inej’s mind a sexy, titillating scene, well then, it would have been shot a lot more closely to the way Matthias’ dream was shot: there's no lack of kissing and even implied penetration (!) which is crazy, because of course, Matthias and Nina have gotten nowhere near that in real life.

There's a sexual aspect to her dream, for sure, but it's not a stereotypically-passionate 'sex dream' so much as it is a thinly-veiled reading into her own desires and the inner turmoil that comes with it.

There's also a very subtle undercurrent here that I picked up on and explore in my ongoing fic , which is that Kaz, in these fantasies, is really always the one taking the lead, so to speak. Inej is not pulling him close or asking to kiss him - and we see that even when she consents to the act, she looks like she's bracing herself for it, rather than excited that it'll happen.

That is fueled no doubt by 1) her realizing it isn't real but also 2) the fact that she is still very much in the middle of her own trauma (having been freed like what? mere days ago? if that?)

Any concept of her own independent desire is still saddled with IMMENSE baggage - and this sequence showcases it perfectly.

I think after the fact, she's consciously aware of 1) but not yet aware of 2) which is beating around in her subconscious and is probably gonna cause her WAYY more problems going forward lol

TLDR; Inej doesn't know it just yet, but she's got loads of her own issues to work through, and until she does, she's going to be stuck in this weird purgatory of being a voyeur to/of her own desires.

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Mori Ougai (I just want to talk about him)

Guys, I've been thinking a lot lately about Mori and his Beast counterpart. I really, really, really love Beast Mori and everything that he represents. He's not just the "good Mori." In my eyes, and others as well, he represents Mori's humanity (side note: I'm not saying Mori is secretly a hero or something) and what main story Mori could've been if he wasn't in the mafia.

I also just want to talk about Mori in general because he's actually very fascinating and more complex than some make him seem.

Just hear me out, ok?

Also, shoutout to @hopefull-mindset. Their analyses on BSD have been very interesting and definitely have given me a different perspective on Mori and helped me understand Beast Mori so much more.

Anyways, these are just a pile of thoughts I have on Mori as I began to understand him more. Please note: these are my personal thoughts gathered through lots of analyses digging and reflection on his character. If you dislike Mori, that is completely valid.

Understanding Beast Mori

When I first read Beast, I was so confused. How could Mori be so different when every other character had basically the same personality? Mori in the main story is cruel, cold, and manipulative. Yes, he is very pragmatic and smart, but that doesn't take away from his bad qualities. However, the more I dug deeper into the mystery of Beast Mori, the more things started to make sense. The Mori we meet in Beast is still the same Mori from the main story. And for those who question that, look at Beast Aku and Beast Atsushi. They may have swapped organizations but their fundamental traits are still the same. Atsushi, PM or ADA, still has major guilt and self-worth issues that stem from the Orphanage Director. Aku is the same. Even if he is in the ADA, he still has his intense bloodlust and determination.

So, why is Mori different? As @hopefull-mindset has pointed out in one of their posts, he's in a different environment. There are no negative influences or stressors unlike the mafia. Also, he's working with children. Children often represent innocence and positive emotions. Mori, surprisingly, is really good with kids because we the see the orphanage thrive in his care. It makes perfect sense that Mori, who likes kids (and not in the creepy way), would learn to become a more caring figure. In the main story, Mori is often presented as a necessary evil; he's the dark to Fukuzawa's light. But now that Dazai replaced him, Mori can act without always making the optimal solution at the cost of anyone that gets in its way, himself included.

Honestly, I think Beast Mori does humanize him. It doesn't erase the wrongs he did (and believe me, I haven't forgotten), but it does show you a different perspective. Beast shows us that Mori has complexities. He's not just an evil monster for the heroes to overcome. There's more to him than that.

Note: I am not saying any of his actions towards Yosano, Dazai, or any other character are justified. He hurt them emotionally and psychologically. It wasn't fun to watch or read. Saying Mori is more than a one dimensional villain doesn't take away from the bad things he did. I'm just trying to offer a different perspective because Beast Mori is that interesting, at least to me.

Elise

I've never been able to fully reconcile with this aspect of Mori. It is weird. It is uncomfortable. It is perplexing. Elise to an extent, is Mori. She is a part of him manifested and can act on her own. And I get the controversy behind it; it's not normal. That being said, never have we seen Mori in either the manga or the anime act in that nature towards her or even Yosano. He makes weird comments about Elise, sure, but nothing super explicit. At most, they're treated as weird jokes. And, for the record, that doesn't make them ok or any better. I won't argue back and forth on this topic because it's a difficult subject.

However, I don't believe he is actually a *you know what* because of Beast Mori's entire existence. Riddle me this, why would Asagiri-sensei write a character as a *you know what* and then have his counterpart work at an orphanage full of children? That, at least to me, crosses a moral line. It makes it even more weird and uncomfortable. Also, idk about y'all, but I wouldn't find it fun or quirky if someone portrayed a very famous and beloved author as a perverted creep, just saying.

So, where did Elise even come from then? Well, she's a companion to Mori in many ways. He's rarely seen without her. Mori's backstory is a mystery to us. My honest theory is that Elise manifested as a companion for Mori because he was in a really bad spot. Either he was abused in some shape or form or was very isolated and alone. We know that Mori's had her since the Great War. He was 26 at that time. That's still fairly young so I think it's safe to say he's had her since he was a child or a teenager. Of course, I could be wrong. But based off what we know about abilities so far, I think it's safe to say that Elise didn't manifest without reason.

The Optimal Solution

Going into more speculation about Mori's backstory, I have so many questions. Mori essentially has the same big question as Kunikida for me: when and why did he decide to follow the optimal solution. For Kunikida, it's his ideals. Both characters stick so adamantly to their beliefs that it leads to conflict externally and internally. Mori's optimal solution is the reason why Yosano was traumatized.

It just got me thinking, when did he develop this line of thought? After all, a kid who grew up with an average life usually doesn't worry about the "optimal solution." Between this and Elise, I strongly believe he came from a dysfunctional home. It would certainly explain why he tells Dazai that the latter reminds him of himself. Mori is very good at repressing his emotions; he's hard to read which makes him dangerous. He likes to take advantage of situations and manipulate them to his will, or whatever he deems to be the optimal solution. The battle with Fukuzawa during the Cannibalism arc is a good example of this. Mori knew he couldn't win so he decided to get Fukuzawa to let his guard down enough to strike. In my area of study at school, the home life of a person can be very telling as to why someone may act in a certain way. Mori coming from a rough home without love seems pretty plausible to me.

Mori is a very well-written character with a lot of complexities that tend to get overlooked. Why does he do what do? At what point did he decide to follow his optimal solution? It's such an interesting question because it affects so many characters and situations.

Conclusion

If y'all got this far, congrats! I hope that people will take the time to look deeper at his character. You don't have to like Mori. I'm just tired of people portraying him as something he's not. I also don't want fans harassing other fans because they like Mori. And I'll admit it, I was so quick to judge both him and Francis. Had I kept up my shield and continued to shoot unwarranted hatred at them, I wouldn't have appreciated their characters as I do now.

And yes, I do overhate on Fyodor (mainly bc the man is cockroach and he hurt Kunikida). I get it. However, I know Fyodor is a deeply complex character. His way of thinking is actually quite fascinating and I have so many questions about him. I don't like Fyodor, but I'm not gonna let my personal grievances stop others from enjoying him.

[lazaruspiss]

Ok I’m gonna shoot my question here while you are in a analysis red hood mode (??): what do you think about his mommy issues (and fandom’s making it a trope)?

ooooo oh ok ok. this ones touchy. while i dont think its that present in canon i do think its there and worth the however many fics there are about it. like obvi theres probably a lot of boring and/or bad takes about it but the concept itself isnt running contradictory to canon or anything. i reread aditf a bit for this and had some tangents ill put in another post, but back to mommy issues.

jason had very little parental presence in his life at all. dads in prison, moms sick, he has no one looking out for him. probably why he and bruce seem to have bonded fairly quickly and jason accepted him as a father figure faster than any of the others. jasons bar for what makes a decent parent was nonexistent bc hed never really had someone dedicated to taking care of him. (even damian was hesitant, bc bruce being his dad would create distance between him and dick bc dick would no longer be his mentor, and hed gotten a bit attached)

jason accepted bruce as a father, but still missed his parents. he loved and grieved for both of them and most likely missed the idea of having normal parents in general in addition to missing his parents themselves. his love for his mom is still there when he realizes shes his step-mom instead, but it's accompanied by the hope that he still has living family out there.

the fact that jason went on a mom hunt in the first place is already enough that im like, yeah, i see where the mommy issues talk comes from. but i think you can go a few different directions with it

so theres catherine todd, who we only really know as being sick and a substance user throughout jasons childhood up until her death. iirc she died while willis was either already dead or in prison and so theres a period of time where jason (10-12ish?) would be taking care of his mother alone. being your mother's caretaker when you're still in elementary school does not make for a normal relationship.

and sheila haywood was uh. an illegal surgeon of sorts who fled the country and started a new life. apparently had an existing connection to the joker when she lived in gotham. he knows who she is and he knows how to blackmail her. while sheila describes it to jason as an operation gone wrong, joker calls it an "illegal surgery that killed a teenage girl" and sheila didnt seem to dispute that. probably watered down a lot of details in her explanation to jason. (the combination of 'illegal' and 'teenage girl' feels like it could imply an abortion? but it's left vague) and THEN it turns out she was stealing money meant to be used to save starving refugees before the joker even showed up. she sure is something. she still tries to help jason after he helps her, but don't skip over the part where she helps him after he helps her. she is still a person, but she is a fundamentally selfish person in every way. her final words include her commenting on how jason was a good kid who loved his mother. ive seen people take her final moments as a show that she still loved him, but i don't see it. one of those "a person doing a fraction of a good thing doesnt absolve them of everything else" kind of deals.

in both cases jasons mother(s) were relying on him. he never had an opportunity to be cared for and treated like a child. i don't think jason would have specific "mommy issues" about either of them, i think that he'd have some heavy feelings about the concept of a mother itself. what's it like to have a mom? does he still have a chance to be cared for and nurtured? his childhood was over before he had even met batman. becoming robin and being murdered is just tripling the issues he would've already had about his childhood regardless.

this is starting to veer off topic but

yes im finding a way to make this about Brothers in Blood. bite me. but even the first time i read this something that really stuck out is how jasons imaginary version of dick refers to him as a kid. dick doesnt really... do that. he did back when jason really was a kid, but this page says a lot about jasons self perception. he still wants to be taken care of, even if its not specifically "mommy issues" he definitely yearns for a chance to be treated like a kid again, after having rarely gotten that kind of care when he was a kid. (this page in particular is the first page of nightwing (1996) #121, which is one that i have a physical copy of <3)

[stevieharringtonwifeguy]

changeling!steve part 2

part like. 0.5

part 1 (part 1 ao3)

ok so definitely the most fun part of any fae au is imagining the fae realm like. ooo alternate dimension thats pretty and creepy at the same time??? stunning, conceptually. basically i imagine it like the bubble in annihilation (great movie that was definitely about humans traveling into the fae realm and nothing can convince me otherwise).

and so far steve’s only been in there alone. it’s not really safe or healthy for humans to be there for too long (again this is a sign for you to watch annihilation on netflix if you don’t mind body horror and psychological horror. very spiral based if you subscribe to the magnus archives fear sorting system). he definitely wouldn’t take any of the party there if he could help it. eddie might be fine, but the very nature of the fae realm really wouldn’t mesh with the highly curious and intellectual minds of most of his friends. if the upside down is the human dimension turned upside down, then the fae realm is the human world turned sideways and inside out.

the whole place feels different. as weird and unsettling as the upside down is, it still feels fundamentally the same as the human world, just if the earth had had an entirely different geological and evolutionary history. but in the fae realm, it’s like the very atoms are put together differently. it’s hard to put your finger on it really. for all intents and purposes it looks like a normal forest on a sunny summer’s day. but it’s a little too bright, and it’s hard to tell where the light comes from, really. there might be a sun peeking through the dense canopy, but nothing casts shadows. the light seems to come from the trees themselves in a very strange way, not like a tree shaped lamp or anything but like the light starts in the air around the trunks. steve had to learn to turn his brain off every time he visited, like the more he tried to think and make sense of his surroundings the more his head hurt and his stomach turned. and that’s steve; dustin or nancy wouldn’t stand a chance.

unfortunately, he doesn’t really have a choice here. eddie’s dying, and they definitely don’t have the time to make it back to the gate and then all the way to the hospital before the magic keeping him alive gives up and he bleeds out. steve needs a shortcut. so he thinks quickly, ties jackets around his, nancy’s, robin’s, and dustin’s waists until they’re tied together like links in a daisy chain. warns him as best he can about the dangers of the fae realm as he bundles eddie into his arms, never more thankful for his unnatural strength than he is right now.

he tells the humans of the group to stay focused, keep their eyes on the back of the person in front of them, and that no matter what they hear they can’t look away. it’s so, so easy for a human to get lost in the fae realm, that’s practically what it’s for, and he’s not risking anything. tells them if they somehow get separated, to put their shirt on inside out and start walking backwards, to not stop unless steve shows up and picks them up bodily. under no circumstances should they follow any voices calling out for them, even if it sounds like one of their party.

when they’ve all repeated his instructions back to him, shown they’re taking this seriously (he knows the inside-out shirt thing sounds dumb, but it works. he’s not unconvinced that the tried-and-true methods for getting out of the fae realm aren’t supposed to sound dumb, like the universe left loopholes in fae magic that are so stupid humans dismiss them out of hand, getting stuck just because they don’t want to look ridiculous), he gets to opening a doorway. he’s glad he practiced before this, doesn’t have to hang around waiting, and soon there’s a little space between the twisted trees of the upside down where the light looks a little different, the air smells a little sweeter.

he leads them in, and the second his foot hits the soft, pillowy moss of the fae realm, all of his injuries seem to disappear. he breathes a sigh of relief, even if the rest of the group hisses in surprise as their eyes struggle to adjust to the harsh light. more magic funnels into him, and he sends all of it to eddie’s fragile form in his arms, willing the witch’s flesh to knit together. just being here has sort of stopped the bleeding; time works strangely in the fae realm, he can feel it trickling slowly over them. eddie’s still technically dying, but now he’s dying at like quarter speed.

steve leads them through the forest, looking for a good place to build a doorway to the hospital and occasionally glancing back at the group to make sure he hasn’t lost anyone. they’re all still with him, and just like he expected, their faces are pinched with pain and nausea, nance and dustin especially. robin’s head keeps twitching like she’s hearing something off to her side and half-turning to look, before remembering her instructions and keeping her eyes resolutely stuck on the back of nancy’s head.

he’s honestly not sure what they’re hearing. whatever magic is built to ensnare humans here doesn’t work on him. there’s probably not any other fae calling out to them- he’s reasonably sure he’s be able to hear it if there were. he’s met other fae a few times, never talking to them for very long, and each interaction has been both confusing for the part of him that still feels human (being raised as such for 18 years before learning otherwise definitely left a mark on his psyche) and deeply refreshing for the part of him that knows he’s not

they make it most of the way through without incident. he doesn’t talk to the group behind him, doesn’t want to confuse them further when he already said not to trust anything they hear in this place. but he talks to eddie, bundled in his arms and slipping in and out of consciousness, tells him it’s okay, steve’s got him, they’re almost at the hospital. tries to crack a joke and tells him to hold the blood in, which earns him a weak huff of laughter that lights up his heart until it turns into wet coughing.

eddie has to be okay. steve isn’t entertaining any other possibility.

he’s just found a good place for a doorway, two trees bent together in an arch in just the right location for steve to link it to the park right by the hospital, when he sees the fairy. they’re currently in the shape of another tree, but steve can see them plain as day as long as he’s not using his eyes. they’re watching him, watching the gaggle of humans he’s brought into their land, watching the witch currently bleeding out in steve’s arms. a breeze like a sigh ruffles through their leaves, the bow of their branches looks almost pitying. they don’t say anything as he passes them, and neither does he.

they’re all through the doorway in another beat of a heart. dustin lets out a gasp of relief as soon as they hit the cool night air, and nancy quickly unties herself to throw up into a bush. steve wants to check in on them, but eddie’s bleeding has picked up again now that they’re back in a dimension where time means something.

robin smiles at him reassuringly, regardless of how pale she looks. ‘i’ve got them. get him inside, quick.’

and steve does, rushing towards the hospital doors with the closest thing a fairy can get to a prayer sitting heavy on his tongue.

eddie can’t die. steve won’t let him.

....

tag list: @wonderland-girl143-blog @estrellami-1 @tauntedperfume @he-she-steveharrington @imfinereallyy @fairytalesreality @swimmingbirdrunningrock @pyrohonk 

[corvidcall]

my top 5 favorite commanders of 2024

I know a top 10 is more traditional, but... I mean, I didn't want to pick any commanders I didn't actually build!!

Before getting into the list, I do want to give an honorable mention to Bonny Pall, Clearcutter, which is a deck I built but never got the chance to really play. But as a Minnesotan, I gotta show some love to my girl Paul Bunyan.

Now, onto the actual list!

5. Kellan, the Kid

The difficult thing about this list is that, as a Vorthos, I really just wanna put down all my favorite characters. And I LOVE Kellan. My sweet boy. People love to tell me that "Thunder Junction had no story," and I genuinely still don't understand what they mean by that, because I read the story!! It very much existed and was good! Kellan tries to sacrifice his own morals to win his deadbeat dad's affection, and it just doesn't work, because his dad is fundamentally incapable of caring about him.

Anyway, uh, the card is cool too I guess. Kellan looks very handsome in it and I'm so proud of him.

4. Yuma, Proud Protector

Would.

...I was just gonna leave it there because its funny, but unfortunately I have "can't shut up" disease. Yuma is the first trans man in MtG! (At least, the first canonical one. We all know Jace is trans but he's stealth and used his mind magic to erase the knowledge from WotC's memories). The sidestory about him was one of my favorite bits of mtg writing this year. Also, he's from fantasy Chicago and moved to Thunder Junction, and as a trans person who moved from the midwest to a desert, I find him very #relatable.

...ok technically I live in a semi-arid region and not a true desert. BUT STILL.

Also, this deck is fun because everyone always gets concerned that I might run mass land destruction in it. And if the guys at my LGS keep pissing me off, one of these days, I will.

3. Flubs the Fool

Its kind of funny that this is on the list, because, by all accounts, it should not be a deck I enjoy. It doesn't have either of my favorite colors (white and black). It's from a set I hated (i did NAWT enjoy Bloomburrow lol). Its a cEDH deck (I think cEDH is an abomination). Its a storm/combo deck (I dont like having to keep track of that much, AND i don't like taking that long of a turn).

... but tbh its a hoot! So far, it's had a 100% win rate against the cEDH players at my LGS, and it just makes me laugh. You want to be Hellbent (have no cards in hand) as soon as possible, which is usually the OPPOSITE of what you want, and you just draw a card, cast it no matter what it is, draw another card, until you manage to draw into your wincons (infinite storm combo + Brain Freeze to make everyone mill, or infinite mana combo + Walking Ballista to ping everyone for infinite damage). It runs exactly 0 interaction. What other opponents' decks are doing is not your problem. What YOUR deck is doing is not your problem. We're on empty brain mode babey!!!!

2. Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth

Must a commander be powerful in order to be on the list? Must a card be "good"? Is it not enough to see a beautiful face, small?

I had two goals with this deck: First, I wanted a lower-power deck that I could play with my sister, who is just learning how to play, and second, I had such a blast playing Azorius Detectives at the MKM pre-release that I wanted to build a deck that had all the fun cards from that.

Alquist is certainly not... the best commander ever. His activated ability is REALLY overcosted, considering how low impact it is. By my math, it's not even worth using unless you're able to make x=3 (for anything less, you'd be better off just using your clue tokens normally). But he helms a deck thats honestly one of the most fun in my collection! There's a lot of fun cards in there, like the one that makes detectives unblockable, or turns all your clue tokens into equipment, or gives your clues Exalted, and it's really fun to sit down at a table with this guy and see people have no idea what the hell kinda deck its gonna be. My partner plays this deck more than I do, but I cant stop thinking about the time I was sitting at the pod next to them, and I overheard one of their opponents go "Azorius aggro???????" like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. And he was right!!

1. Shilgengar, Sire of Famine

I built this because the art of a demon sitting on a throne of angel wings was the sickest thing I'd ever seen in my life. And it still is.

This is my #1 because this deck is just so... me, back on my bullshit to be honest. Orzhov is far and away my favorite color pair, but thus far most of the typal decks you see in Orzhov are vampires, and tbh I... don't really like vampires. I like vampire-type EFFECTS (draining enemies while healing yourself is the ideal tbh!!) but as a creature type? snore. Sick of seeing vampires in everything, sick of hearing about vampires, and I don't think vampires are sexy because vampires are one of the most culturally thin movie monsters, second only, perhaps, to the Slender Man himself. show me a fat vampire and we'll talk.

Anyway, this is an angels deck, which is way way cooler because I love angels. Big huge lady with a sword who can FLY??? HELLO???? very sick. And its all about sacrificing my own angels to make Blood tokens, and then sacrificing the Blood tokens to get all my angels back from the graveyard. I love an Aristocrats strategy (a deck built around sacrificing your own creatures) because I think its really funny. I show up to a wizard battle with my army of cool angels. I shoot them all myself before you get the chance to. When the dust clears, I have won somehow.

Its funny that, considering that I mostly build decks based on characters I like first and for gameplay reasons second, my most favorite deck of the year is of a character I couldn't care less about lol. Sorry man, I don't care that you invented vampires in Innistrad! I'm busy admiring all the big beautiful sword ladies I put in here. And then pinging everyone to death with Mirkwood Bats. And that's gonna take up pretty much all of my time!!

Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good year for Magic for me!!! I had a lot of fun building these, and I actually started going to my LGS weekly to play. It's been a blast! Can't wait to report back next year to talk about all the fun I've had in 2025!!!!!

[paradoxcase]

John 5:20

The first one of these was John 20:8, which seems like it should come way after this one, but this is a continuation of that. The actual bible John 5:20 is

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

I don't think it relates

I guess this is Cassiopeia and Nigella? Except, the necromancer/cavalier relationship was explicitly envisioned as platonic. Why would that have been the case if one of the original relationships that it was modeled on was a romantic relationship? Did Cassiopeia and Nigella have a different kind of relationship after the Resurrection happened and they lost their memories, or did John just really not want them to be together for some reason?

So Pyrrha was a cop. Man, I bet tumblr hates this

I just want to reiterate that it's a bit weird and human-centric to say that the planet being habitable for humans is what makes it alive, or healthy, and that when it's no longer habitable for humans it dies. Like, I know a lot of environmentalist stuff is phrased like that, to encourage people to help out of selflessness, but like, the reason we want to preserve the Earth's environment in a state that can support us isn't because that will be better for the Earth, it's because that's the only way we can continue to survive on Earth. It's for the humans (and other animals), not for the planet. The Earth existed for almost a billion years with zero life on it, and quite a while longer with no humans, and it was fine. It's been through multiple events where 80-90% of all species went extinct, and the planet was fine, and it didn't necessarily "recover" from all of those events, sometimes the climate of the planet just changed in some fundamental way permanently and natural selection evolved a new set of animals that could survive in the new environment. And even if you want to say that it's the existence of life on Earth that makes the planet alive as opposed to dead, even though the Earth has been through all those events, some forms of life made it through that and life has been here continuously for 3.7 billion years. Even if we make Earth completely uninhabitable for us, and kill off most species of animals in the process (heck, we've already killed off a significant percentage), I think it's unlikely that we'll kill off 100% of all life, I think there's stuff here that's perfectly capable of outlasting humans and whatever terrible changes we make to the environment. And like, ok, the problems we're causing, with greenhouse gasses and making the atmosphere toxic to living things such that stuff like catastrophic weather and acid rain and so forth happen - there's a planet in the solar system that is what you can imagine is like the end stage of that, right, an atmosphere that makes it extremely hot such that any water that existed is gone, and which is completely toxic to all life on Earth. That's Venus, that's what Venus is like. (Side note, it's kind of interesting, but if we terraformed Venus to have an Earth-normal atmosphere, it would actually only reach a maximum temperature of about 35 degrees Celcius, mostly due to how slowly it rotates, its temperature is 100% because of its atmosphere and not really just because it's closer to the sun.) Anyway, Venus exists in this story, and I don't think we're meant to believe that Venus has been dead this entire time, I think we're meant to understand that Venus was alive and perfectly fine up until the event that killed all of the solar system planets. And I don't think humans are even capable of turning Earth into Venus. I think even if we tried really really hard to do that, we would all die long before Earth got even remotely close to being Venus. So what exactly are we meant to believe humans were doing to kill the Earth, since having an environment like Venus doesn't mean a planet is dead, and the Earth didn't die during all the other mass extinctions?

I love that having a bad sense of humor is apparently genetic in this story. It's a shame Magnus never got to procreate

I hope we get more information from these snippets about what G1deon was actually like, since we saw so little of him as a person and then he died. Mercy and Augustine thought that G1deon might attack them in revenge for killing John, but weren't sure. I guess he was a sort of don't-rock-the-boat kind of person, based on this?

Kia kaha means "stay strong" and kia maia means "be brave" in Maori, as far as I can tell. So John is Maori, I guess

So again - this seems to be John talking to Alecto, but I somehow doubt that Alecto would refer to John as "Lord" the way that Harrow does. But maybe - if it's a possibility right now that Alecto is actually in Harrow's body as Nona, maybe they swapped and Harrow is now in Alecto's body somehow? Only, Alecto's body is still in the Tomb, as far as we know, and John has been referring to her as "Harrow" even though this story seems to be intended for Alecto

So John somehow got his powers without realizing it, before the Earth died, or at least, before it became uninhabitable. It doesn't sound from this account like he did anything that would have resulted in Lyctorhood, particularly

Also, quick note on these:

So each of these sections is a day, and the book ends at the end of day five, and again we're counting down to some Event that happens at the end of the book. Only, didn't the tomb already open absolute yonks ago when Harrow was 10? How much more open is going to get?

[adhdo5]

OK wait lemme explain why I am saying the Saxon/Camelot casting as is works

Ambassador's relationships w/ Founder and w/ Archivist are both of a kind even as they r ~opposite; in both cases they do not work with the way he masks and moves through the world in that sense, in large part bc excluding the rest of the obviously anomalous but also literal deity founding members (Teeth Nazzie Joey) Founder and Archivist are very much the most . Directly unable and unwilling to function in mundane society bc of the way they Are and the way mundane society is about them. Ambassador is able to disguise the presence of the same trait in himself bc the dice on his neuroses rolled that way; there but for the grace of God goes he in several notable senses, but also because of the way he Is that adaptation there are significant ways in which he is not Of them and more like:

Forward Lesser and Cowboy who are in many ways All Front. They wouldn't necessarily do normal in mundane society esp not mainline but like Cowboy and Forward both directly are the way they r because of the ways they perform to standard imposed upon them and while Lesser is more complicated he is still 100% engaging with that metric (arguably, he is performing not meeting it). They don't have the same kind of constant awareness of the precariousness of that performance and the fragility of that standard that Ambassador constantly does bc of how completely they internalize and how effectively they manage it, and bc of how + in what contexts Ambassador weaponizes it

So the whole Saxon/Camelot thing becomes the conflict between [the awareness that some of us will never be Normal, and that none of us are] and [the notion of normalcy]. It's the contradiction of the anomalous Foundation being vanguard of a sane and normal world. Mainline Ambassador does, in fact, believe in the ability for stability to click into place in this sense even if it is very very hard for him sometimes and even if it is not stable very often if at all. But Mordred!Ambassador is faced w/ the failure of the truce, what he perceives as the fundamental inability for anomaly to exist outside of conflict; the confused puzzle of reconciliation in him is shown to have no answer, and O5-4 loses faith in diplomacy and turns to arson.

[princesseevee06]

hi eevee!! the recent news on ytr Shins execution has me Devastated. (esp bc Kannas death is my favorite and im very normal about greenblings LMAOO) but that got me thinking about the other executions in ytr! if you'd like to, what are some of the other executions/deaths?? don't gotta reveal all of em yet, just wanted to ask haha :) take care!

HI BREAD i am so sorry about the shin execution thing. i saw the opportunity to do the funniest (most agonizing) thing ever and i had to.

the thing that really gets me about it is like. in ytr shin never gets his collar off at that last moment, he has no chance of really escaping, but he’s still trying to run WHILE HIS BODY IS BEING ROOTED TO THE GROUND and he still manages to even set up the sara ai. he still doesnt accept his fate right up until the very end. And That Makes Me So Sad

buuuuut you probably wanna hear about some of the other devastating deaths! which i am also happy to provide deets on ^^

(WARNING: LONG LONG POST BELOW i am so sorry)

ok im gonna be honest i havent focused super hard on the deaths themselves because it’s always more interesting to me to focus on the aftermath i think…but there are some ive thought about more than others so i’ll go over those!

• nao

this one is Hectic. I wanted it to be kind of a mix of mishima’s death and nao’s canon death, so her collar device is sort of like…magnetic? basically, it pulls her to the wall and starts crushing her neck. i feel like this adds a greater sense of panic to the scene, because unlike mishima’s collar which they can’t touch when it burns, in ytr both kugie and mishima are trying to help nao :,) (spoiler alert they cannot)

• sara

oh this one makes me So sad….it’s fundamentally the same premise as joe’s execution with the wrigglers, but the difference is that ryoko is actually fast enough with the clicker to get them off (it’s always so funny to me that one of the canon things we know about ryoko is she’s good at arcade games. so i imagine she has fast fingers 💀). but at that point it’s already too late because sara has lost too much blood, so she just ends up bleeding out in ryoko’s arms instead. fun fact: because of that, ryoko’s hallucination of sara always comes out of the ground in a pool of blood :,)

• sei

ok i haven’t SUPER worked out the specifics of this one but i do know the general vibes for it so i’m putting it anyways. basically, when sei gets voted for, much like what happened in the assassin game in canon they ask kai to kill them. because they don’t want to be alone as they die and also it’d be a big middle finger to asunaro. kai has the kitchen knife. he could do it. but he literally just can’t bring himself to. if it was himself he could do it, but he can’t bring himself to hurt sei. so instead he just has to watch them die without doing a thing and it ends up haunting him. (i have this vivid image of kai literally having to be dragged away from sei’s corpse :((((((((( )

• sou

ok here’s the big one. sou is my fave bleeby blorbo so you KNOW i’ve put a shit-ton of thought into this one. the funniest thing about this to me is that. sou put his collar on himself at the beginning of the death game. and so when hayasaka is like “sorry :( we’ll have to execute you” sou is like “nuh uh” and literally just takes it back off. THERE IS JUST THIS MOMENT OF. AWKWARD SILENCE ACROSS THE ENTIRE ROOM. hayasaka is like “holy shit what do i do now” but he doesn’t have to do any work because sou ends up dooming himself 👍

he figures. okay well i have to do something quick or people from the upper floors are actually gonna come start trying to kill me. unlike shin, he doesn’t really have any intention of ‘escaping,’ at least not in a direct manner, but what he does try to do is get to the fifth floor where his lab is to see if he can deactivate the collars. because essentially, that’ll take the target off his back at least temporarily— what’s one guy running around without a collar to SEVEN people running around without a collar? asunaro cant execute everyone if they want the death game to continue, right? he knows the facility, so he’s actually able to dodge/avoid the ‘weapons’ really well. atp the other participants are running after him watching him bolt across the third floor and straight up rooting for him. he gets really close to the winner’s stairs (and if he can get there, he’s home free because they connect to all the other floors) and because of that he gets a little tooooooo cocky.

if he can actually accomplish what he’s trying to do, asunaro could literally fall apart from the inside out. if they don’t have control over the participants w/ the collars, the main cast could quite literally stage a mini uprising. sou could finally have the chance to be free from asunaro, to be free from his mother, to live his life how *he* wants to— he’s so close.

so anyways, sou looks back at shin. because of course he does.

and what is he rewarded with? impalement! ^_^ no seriously, at the last moment he steps on a trap that impales him. YES i wanted to harken back to the fake death alice caused in actual yttd. so yeah he uh. does not make it out of that one alive. sorry sou!

(i could talk about how this firmly cements in shin that his mindset of the strong persevering over the weak is correct, because he was the one to pass the role of ‘shin tsukimi’ over to sou, to pass the role of being ‘weak’ to him, and in sou’s last moments that weakness (in this case, caring too deeply for shin) ends up being his undoing. but we’ll save that for another day!)

• mishima

so mishima’s is actually relatively the same as q-taro’s canon death, because tbh i couldn’t figure out a way to make it any different without completely screwing up the banquet. sorry mimimishima :((

the thing that really gets me about this one is the REVEAL though. atp kugie and mishima have built up a strong relationship throughout the death game, and so the fact that mishima’s sacrifice essentially ends up saving kugie’s life is weirdly poetic to me. it is NOT poetic to kugie though. she is so upset that people keep sacrificing themselves for her sake (since yknow. she experienced this first with kanna) when she’s been trying to protect others this whole time. it’s just. agh. really sad.

i haven’t really thought as much about maple’s hinako’s and ranmaru’s sorry,,,, again i thought more of the surrounding circumstances for those ones (other people’s reactions to their deaths so. yknow yknow) but i’ll try to think more on em in the meantime!

I am SO sorry for this post it was SUPER long and SUPER sad. like *I* am sad now and I’m the one who decided what happens. Sorry bread 😭

[saintbehemoth]

8, 16 and 24 🔥🔥🔥

ty for the ask ^-^

8 common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

that aemond is a mummy’s boy who would never disobey her and knows her so well and always seeks her approval - this is particularly prevalent in modern au’s. like yes he loves her but he’s not sacrificing his wants to make her happy. example: that scene after young aemond has been scrabbling around the dragon tunnels, alicent’s like how many times have i told you not to do this/you don’t need a dragon. he’s the type of son who goes ok fine :| to her face then turns around and does exactly what she told him not to. another example: does not return to KL to rescue her but continues fucking about in the riverlands.

aemond is obstinate!!! he and alicent love each other but fundamentally they are always at odds (toxic family dynamics yayy) bc 1. she is dedicated to duty and cant understand why he can’t just do as he’s told (alicent always did what her father told her) and 2. aemond cannot understand her infinite dedication to his deadbeat lazy rapist undeserving big brother. ive said this before but for alicent she likes aemond as a person the most out of her kids but loves aegon to ruin

adjacently that rhaenicent love each other more than their own kids. sorry but in no situation or au can i see either one sacrificing a child for the other

EDIT: the idea that the blacks are one big happy family who totally get on and there’s never any conflict ever. normal boy jake worst joke ever bc people took it seriously

16 you can’t understand why so many people like this thing

lukeharem. why was he getting shipped with so many hotd and nonhotd characters it’s actually fascinating from like an anthropological view. the transformative momentum of fan interaction that removes it so far from the canon source that it’s essentially unrecognisable.

24 topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

anything to do with womens agency. the way people talk abt sex outside marriage and bastardy you’d think we were still in the 1300s. actually genuinely disturbing