#the show version is.. interesting in diff ways

[achorusofnonsense]

The Pre-Timeline of Dimension 20

Just because I've seen a lot of confusion about this following the release of The Roll of a Lifetime: How Dimension 20 Sold Out Madison Square Garden, in which the story of how Dimension 20 got started is edited in such a way that viewers come away with an odd impression about the timeline, I thought I'd put together as clear and annotated a timeline as I can of how and when the Intrepid Heroes met, got into D&D, and got cast in Dimension 20, plus some of the greater context they were operating in. All of this is publicly available information, gleaned mostly from years of interviews, Adventuring Parties, NADDPod Short Rests, and social media posts.

1998: Noted science-fiction author Elaine Lee signs her ten-year-old son Brennan up for a Dungeons & Dragons game at October Country, a local comics and gaming shop, in order to provide him with a social and creative outlet after having to start homeschooling him due to pervasive bullying at school. Within weeks, he begins running his own games for fellow children.

December 1999: CollegeHumor.com launches, posting user-submitted funny and/or titillating content from around the web. Within a few years, banner ad revenue and merch sales have made its founders young tech millionaires. By 2004 they are hiring writers to produce original content.

August 2006: CollegeHumor is acquired by InterActive Corp. Shortly thereafter, Sam Reich is hired to produce video content on the strength of videos he'd posted online of his improv team Dutch West.

April 2007: CollegeHumor staff writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld begin posting videos of themselves performing absurdist sketches in their downtime at work; this inspires the long-running Hardly Working series, in which CollegeHumor staff appear as heightened versions of themselves in the office.

2008: Brian Murphy is hired to answer phones at the CollegeHumor offices. He soon begins writing for the website and appearing in videos, striking up a nerdy friendship with staff artist Caldwell Tanner.

2011: Emily Axford is hired by CollegeHumor as part of a wave of new talent as the original CollegeHumor cast moves on to bigger opportunities. She and Murph are memorably cast as romantic interests in Jake & Amir videos; some time later, they begin dating.

Early 2014: CollegeHumor's video team relocates to Los Angeles in order to establish themselves as a traditional TV production house, including shows like Adam Ruins Everything and the Jake and Amir series Lonely and Horny. Murph and Emily are among the cast who make the move. They marry in September and begin developing the TV sketch show Hot Date.

Early 2015: Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, and Grant O'Brien are hired to write and act in sketches for CollegeHumor as cast turnover continues. Emily and Siobhan become close friends, and Zac bonds with Murph and Emily over anime.

August 2015: Jake and Amir, having quit CollegeHumor earlier that year, start the podcast network Headgum, whose initial slate of podcasts is shows by other CollegeHumor alums.

November 2015: Brennan Lee Mulligan wins $50,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, pays back a loan for medical expenses, and begins the process of relocating to Los Angeles to pursue more opportunities in production and development.

July 2016: Siobhan throws herself a birthday party, inviting people she knows from doing comedy in New York and Los Angeles. At the party, Emily overhears Brennan talking about D&D and corners him to ask him to run a game for her and her friends. During the conversation, Zac turns around, asking what they're talking about, and gets invited too. Siobhan, Zac, Emily, Murph, and Adam Ruins Everything producers Jon Wolf and Travis Helwig start playing in a home game with Brennan DMing. Murph plays a paladin, Emily a druid, Siobhan a ranger, and Zac a monk.

Around the same time: Lou Wilson meets Brennan through Upright Citizens Brigade (where Brennan coaches improv) and begins playing in a different home game as a barbarian. Both of these games are played in 3.5, Brennan's preferred edition of Dungeons & Dragons at the time.

September 2016: Murph, Emily and Caldwell start 8 Bit Book Club, a podcast about video game adaptations, on the Headgum network.

April 2017: Ally Beardsley is hired (along with Raphael Chestang and Rekha Shankar) to join the CollegeHumor sketch-video cast, as Siobhan has left to pursue other opportunities and Murph and Emily are busy with Adam Ruins Everything and Hot Date. During this round of hiring, Brennan is considered but doesn't make the cut, although a few months later he is hired part-time to write questions for Um, Actually. Ally and Zac become close friends and perform improv together.

Summer 2017: Zac leaves CollegeHumor to write on a new season of Adam Ruins Everything. Rather than go through another round of auditions and hires, Sam bumps Brennan up to main cast.

Fall 2017: Wanting more of a return out of their investment, IAC insists on CollegeHumor starting its own streaming service. Existing staff are required to pitch original shows. Brennan is halfway through writing a pitch document for a TTRPG actual play, citing the success of The Adventure Zone and Critical Role, when he is called into a meeting and asked how he would feel about DMing an actual play.

October 2017: Brian Murphy guests on If I Were You, Jake and Amir's flagship podcast, and explains Dungeons & Dragons. Jake is intrigued, Amir not so much.

November 2017: Dimension 20 begins the planning stages. For the next three months, Brennan works with producer David Kerns, coordinator Ebony Hardin, director Michael Schaubach and designer Rick Perry to develop a unique set, feel, and pace for the show. After some chemistry test games, the initial cast is set as Brian Murphy, Emily Axford, Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, Lou Wilson, and Rekha Shankar, who has never played before.

December 2017: At a Headgum Christmas party, Jake Hurwitz corners Murph and suggests that they start a D&D podcast so that Jake can play.

January 18, 2018: Murph, Emily, Caldwell and Jake announce Not Another D&D Podcast on an episode of 8 Bit Book Club.

February 7, 2018: The first shooting day of Fantasy High, which will be the first season of Dimension 20. Only a few weeks before shooting, Rekha has a scheduling conflict and can't fit Dimension 20 in between her duties as head writer of CollegeHumor's sketches and developing other shows for Dropout; Ally Beardsley becomes her replacement at the Dimension 20 table. It is Ally's first time playing D&D at all; it is Brennan, Zac, Siobhan, and Lou's first time playing 5th edition. Earlier that day, Brennan shoots the first CEO video, which will net him viral notoriety and a vocal fanbase within the CollegeHumor audience, with an undercurrent of "finally, a straight white man" to the praise.

February 8, 2018: The first campaign episode of Not Another D&D Podcast is released. It releases weekly thereafter, and they are 32 episodes in and have done their first live show before Dimension 20 premieres.

September 26, 2018: The first two episodes of Fantasy High are available when Dropout goes live. It is the immediate breakout hit of the platform, so much so that the second season, The Unsleeping City, goes into production while Fantasy High is airing; but because it will take so long to edit before it's ready to air, a short "sidequest" is filmed in a weekend with Matt Mercer, Erika Ishii, Amy Vorpahl and Ify Nwadiwe from the online gaming world and Mike Trapp and Rekha from CollegeHumor to tide the audience over, establishing D20's production rhythms for the next several years.

[lemotmo]

genuine question since i’ve been thinking about his post all afternoon: what do you think of rg’s story where he talks about perceived misogyny or weakness or people’s opinions on men’s actions?

I don’t really think anything about it to be honest. I’m not really a very big inspirational quote on social media fan. Ryan, Aisha and Jennifer are prone to post stories like that regularly. I always read them (and quite often mindlessly like), shake my head, giggle and move on.

These ‘stories��� are all the same. They are based on vague truths, make assumptions, oversimplify societal issues and they always revolve around God in some way. As a fully-fledged pragmatic atheist I’m not really interested in any of it.

Stories like these are designed to speak to the masses. They are written in such a way that everyone reading them can recognise themselves in the quote, or even just recognise themselves in parts of it and then they will learn a valuable life lesson. But in reality they hold no real value and are quite often just meaningless empty words and lines.

The one Ryan posted actually has a few basic truths in there. I mean, yeah… a lot of boys are told to suck it up and not cry time and time again, as to not seem weak. Society seems to almost demand that men are strong and independent. They are not allowed to cry or be in pain.

This is a problem, because when they grow up they don’t always know how to show or regulate their emotions in a healthy way, which can lead to bigger mental issues and even suicide. (Mind you, that doesn’t excuse them using these emotions to cause harm to anyone else. You are still responsible for your own actions, no matter where or how you grew up.)

As for the misogyny part of the story? I think that this is just a really dumb comparison made by the original poster. Then again, a lot of other parts of the story are dumbed down for the masses as well, but as I mentioned before, these ‘inspirational stories’ are purposefully written to oversimplify much bigger societal problems in the first place.

Now… Am I upset that Ryan posted this kind of inspirational social media story? Well… no. Why would I? Why should I? I’m not upset when Aisha and Jennifer do this, so why would it be different when Ryan posts stuff like that? I tend to just roll my eyes, like their posts and move on.

Look… everyone is different. Those stories don’t speak to me, but they obviously strike a nerve for some people, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. And that’s fine. People are allowed to have opinions and thoughts on things like that. I have friends who post things like this on their Instagram. I don’t agree with all of them, but I don’t condemn them. I just shrug, like and move on.

Before the Internet existed, some people hung these kinds of inspirational quotes on their walls at home, so they could look at them, read them every day and draw strength from them. Some of my friends’ walls were covered in shit like this when I was growing up. It was a thing, even back then. Posting these stories on your social media is just another version of that.

Ryan has obviously struggled a lot in life, to the point where he tried to take his own life. This particular story struck a nerve for him for some reason and that's okay.

He has talked before how he was raised to not show any emotions at all. So it’s most likely that specific part of the story that spoke to him and that’s why he wanted to post it. Who am I to judge him for that? Who am I to judge anyone for that? If this is something that speaks to them and they want to share it? Sure, whatever.

I feel like a lot of people are incapable of understanding nuance anymore these days. They immediately pounce when someone ventures outside of the boundaries they created for themselves. What they forget is that this person, no matter who it is, doesn’t operate within the same boundaries and therefore is allowed to like other things than you do. They come from different backgrounds and have different life experiences, so they don’t have to live by the rules you have set for your own personal life.

As long as it doesn’t mentally or physically harm anyone, I really don’t care. It’s a whole other ballgame when it’s someone (Like a certain guest actor perhaps?) actually posting pictures of women online accompanied with misogynistic sexualised comments or pictures of children with horrible scathing racist remarks on their appearance.

Do I have to say it? 🙄

Anyway, that’s where I stand on all of this Nonny. Thank you for the interesting question. Have a great day!

[diluckissrr]

Hey guys welcome back to my channel

Halbarry spy au based on a fic my friend wrote for me 🫶

I havent uh...done hals character sheet yet but ill add it later

Okay lore time:

This is sort of a combination between the cw flash show and the comics because my friend only knows the cw show

Iris, Barry and Hal all work under the same spy agency (i guess its a version of the justice league but i think i need a diff name for it).

Barry "flash" allen is an agent well known for his agility and efficiency, and yk he loves a plan!

Specialty is cryptography and tracking people down (forensics background)

Picked up some code and info gathering from iris. B + I work really well together because they understand each other's fields and also are BFFs (yay!)

I like to think hed be interested by new technologies and gadgets because hes a nerd

Not a very good liar, Iris has tried to teach him her tricks and he has. sort of improved?

Iris "dutch" west is like the woman in the chair. (I named her dutch becuz of the dutch iris flower, its very pretty you should look it up).

She's known for digging up information and learns a lot abt the clients/targets/whatever so that her agents are best prepared (barry loves this). S

Works behind the scenes during operations to make sure everything goes smoothly

Very good at manipulation and getting things out of people.

Wanted to be a field operative but Joe wouldn't let her (its apparently dangerous or something...🙄). She does occasionally go on little unofficial missions that only barry knows about because a girls gotta have her fun!!!

Joe is some sort of supervisor for the agency btw. 👍

Hal "highball" jordan!!! Hal is overall a very skilled agent. He's a creative and unpredictable fighter, plus he's able to think quickly on his feet.

He really enjoys the risk of the job and sometimes gets a bit too into it which can cause some erm. predicaments. But hey! quick thinking!

His impulsiveness has put many of his partners in danger due to their inability to keep up with him.

Charismatic (rizz!!), helps him on missions that require a little people shmoozing.

Many people underestimate his actual ability and think he has gotten to where he is by nepotism/sleeping his way up but hes a very hard and ambitious worker

side note: Carol ferris is a higher up and after she and Hal broke up she sent him on really dangerous jobs out of spite. "haha yup almost died. shes so funny <3"

Barry sort of gets paired with hal as damage control and is NOT very happy about it because he thinks hal is incredibly annoying and impulsive. Hal is also not very happy about it because he thinks Barry is uptight and a goody-two-shoes. They are both not wrong!!

Because of Joe and Barry propaganda, Iris doesn't really like Hal at first but likes teasing Barry about working with him. Eventually hal wins her over

Barry can be a bit of a control freak in terms of sticking to the plan so working with hal forces him to loosen up and become more adaptable. I think Hal learns to appreciate Barry for his skill and respects his work ethic. He really trusts Barry and eventually goes along with his plans (even if he knows they won't go perfectly, but thats what improv is for). I think as they work together they build a really strong trust between them like 'Ik u wont let me die! thanks a lot xoxo'. imagine them gayly and clichely driving away from a mission in a cool convertible with the radio on. yeahhh!

[slaygentford]

the diff between the 98 cabaret revival and the current cabaret revival really simply is the positioning of the emcee in relation to the rise of fascism, like yeah alan cumming's emcee is raunchy and has a real personality and eddie redmayne's emcee is essentially "just" a clown... those are just symptoms of the bigger actual shift which is that alan cumming's emcee is a victim of the holocaust by the end, representing the queer cabaret-goers, whereas eddie redmayne's emcee is more of a representation of the trajectory of the city itself... right like he starts as a clown and then as the political situation worsens he turns into an increasingly freaky clown until he takes off all of his makeup and costumes and even his wig and thats when we find out hes been blond-haired and blue-eyed all along. and then by the end of course he's in a perfect brown suit and so is everyone else who stays in the city, including sally. so in a lot of ways the 98 revival focuses on the tragedy of the oppressed whereas eddie redmayneret is about the complicity of those who, unlike cliff, make the choice to stay. which is extra interesting bc cliff in this new production is Black, which makes so many of sally's decisions esp staying in berlin very starkly about her whiteness. she has a choice and she makes it. the emcee and sally are always one creature more or less, but I've never seen a production of it before where sally is such an active character and so actively like the emcee. the Kit Kat club is of course hotel california but she is also literally handed a ticket to leave to paris with no strings and yet… the emcee is a malevolent force trapping her but he’s also a reflection of her and they are two heads of the same creature, aligned as they always are in all productions but this time in a very evil way — Sally takes off her wig and is blonde too. the emcee is ALWAYS a cosmic force and not a human and this is the most uncharacter nonhuman version of him yet, and it’s so fucking freaky when sally accesses that/mimics his movements/makes the active choice to remain “apolitical.” and I think that’s why this show is getting such a response is because it’s saying very starkly if you are white then which side are you on? anyway. Stream Eddie redmayneret

[muninnhuginn]

gonna have a go at a tbhx liveblog. tbh, idk if I'll keep this up or if it'll fade away, but let's have a go.

context in terms of my current knowledge of the series going in:

superheroes? something about public perception dictating how they're seen and some kind of 'trust' rating

one character takes on the role of another

yaoi in episode two(?)

crimes against women discourse

3d/2d animation - given how the other to be hero series operate I'm going to guess this is dependent on world but idk fully

I've seen 'to be hero' and 'to be heroine' so that'll also be informing some stuff here. oh! also, I'll be watching in chinese, though not sure in this case whether the japanese release gets edited down as it did for the previous series in this collection

will be using the tag '#mun watches that hero show' so as not to spam the main tag

Episode 1 thoughts below cut

unsubtle visuals my beloved. anyway, starting themes of the show are "everyone can be a hero" vs "the only path is to accept reality and work hard".

oooh okay nice episode title card. again, on the nose, but it's not like it *needs* to be subtle. also "41 years after commission", iseeisee.

"one day you'll be replaced by someone else" - okay, so. given one of the only spoilers I do know for this series, that's. well.

two seconds later. fingerguns out. wasn't expecting it *quite* that quickly, but comedic timing on point

"who you are is of no importance" - same thing as he was saying himself earlier, but context makes it come off pretty differently

"nice has been doing poorly ever since 'that incident'" taking notes taking notes. that'll definitely come back later

ah, belief system is largely how I'd thought it'd be? belief makes reality, essentially. "as long as we package you flawlessly" and they're having an ad guy do this. fitting.

this question is more fitting to be posed to an obsessive fan than a romantic partner ngl. oh nice, glasses blonde agrees with me

oof rip he actually knows the answer right down to the runtime. that's... kinda embarrassing. obsessive fan it is.

oh. right. okay, I forgot he'd been involved in making a load (all?) of these ads. he gets a pass but he's on thin ice

"she's always been my goddess". I'm taking so much damage here.

oooh the comboing 2d with 3d for the liquid and smokey effects. reminds me of arcane.

trust vs fear. another theme, methinks

so, the villains will represent a fear - in this case, being fired? makes sense. it's presented as though it's a general fear, but I expect that each fear will be relevant to lin ling in some way or another and become increasingly close to his personal fears as the show goes on....?

2d replay of 3d scene. backdrop is somewhat different now though. or rather, the lighting emphasises the poster with the shattered face and saturates out nice almost completely

not the falling imagery. I wasn't gonna make any of this about link click and I know link click doesn't have the monopoly on falling off buildings but. creator footprint.

"I hope that someday I'll be able to protect those worth protecting" noting down as more arc relevant words even if I suspect the first time around will Not go well

moon pulling lin ling out of his fear, not through any actions of her own, but through the marketable version of her he remembers

pshh the flickering between selves as he punches. jjk op vibes.

first re-emphasis of "anyone can be a hero"

interesting how he carries through the final attack still in 2d

visual contradiction. neat.

discussing nice choosing to throw himself off a building as they're heading up to the very top of another building. topical.

yeaaah. wasn't sure exactly how it'd happen but the crimes against women discourse had me thinking she'd die. I'm... not sure if it sticks or if she "comes back" then dies again? I was kinda trying to avoid spoilers but also vaguely curious. I guess I'll find out

Some misc thoughts overall:

Visually, this show seems really strong thus far. Imagery, how it combines the different art styles, how it switches between them for emphasis. Really works

Tonally... kinda all over the place. A lot of this is presented comedically with dark undertones so it's hard to know how seriously you're *meant* to be taking things

The ending (opening) sequence is incredibly focused on a guy we've not met yet, but with visual similarities to Nice. I've managed to avoid most of the promo stuff so I don't actually have a clue who this guy is, though the chess pieces make me think potential "chessmaster" archetype?

oh right. The part about the belief system that struck me the most was the way that Lin Ling's eye colour physically changed. Currently, we're getting all the mirror visuals and seeing Lin Ling's thoughts with him as "himself". I'm curious as to how far his "becoming" Nice will go and whether he'll be able to "return". There's also been a lack so far of information whatsoever about his life prior to this. Whether he has (had?) friends or family. He didn't seem to be calling anyone when he was at the top of the tower but that doesn't mean he *doesn't* have anyone.

Lin Ling's profession as an advertising guy in the context of the trust system. He tended to be on the back end of the marketing work rather than the forefront before this, sure, but it seems super relevant to me that his job was all about public perception. Also, the sheer number of advertising posters/video ads in the backdrop at all times was overwhelming but intentional. Weirdly, am being reminded of Go Go Loser Ranger with some of it

[louisisalarrie]

Has babygate helped or hurt L’s career over time?

heyaaaaa anon. welcome to the show x

ultimately hurt it in the long run. it helped, and continues to help, his closeting, but overall he lost a hell of a lot of OG fans through bbg. but he was set up to fail with it anyway, as they were gonna put him through hell for harry to come out and then they’d end bbg and yeah. anyway.

there’s some serious factions to Louis’ career particularly, I would argue more so than Harry’s, because of bbg. It’s honestly a very interesting thing to observe, the way people either hold their idol accountable, or romanticise everything they do, create a whole diff version in their head etc., but I find it incredibly intriguing that in the same breath people can say “I believe Louis is a dad” and “louis is a good dad” because if you look at it, for what it is and run straight off the public image of he has a child, well it would appear he’s been using that kid for publicity from day one from a one night stand with some chick in LA and he never sees the kid, but when he does we know about it, and he lets his sisters plaster that kid’s face on their socials, and he’s aware of the Larry rumours and continued to put a child through all of that for… clout? Being a proud dad? Wanting to show off his son? Like… sorry, what?

The dude wasn’t fresh into fame at that point, Larry had been around for like 5 years, he was well aware of how the fandom would react. And you know who else was? SC. the big dog himself. He, and his team, created these images for the boys. If these solos wanna criticise literally ANY marketing plot or any single thing about Louis’ image or 1d’s image, they’d need to untie their entire world of thinking because SC wouldn’t just fucking allow this to happen if it was real. It’s just sooooooooo contradictory for years of work he put in to creating the One Direction™️ brand. It simply doesn’t make sense.

So I don’t really know how they make that jump in their brains, but I will say, a lot of folks who believe he has a kid, are new fans. They didn’t experience 1d in real time, and saw what went on. They also don’t bother to do their research (which im sure many of you lovely larries who are newer have), so they’re just running off his current image of straight laddy daddy andddd ultimately, that has been good for his career.

It’s a classic push of “authenticity”. Artists with parasocial relationships, unique relationships, artist to fan camaraderie, a “we’ll do this together”, and him sharing parts of his life like a kid or whatever, works really well. He’s showing us a part of his life that he thinks we deserve because we’re special to him. And bbg is a convenient way of doing so (im not saying he is encouraging or happy for this to happen at all, this is on the marketing side: its a convenient stunt).

BBG is really easy. Pull out the kid every once in a while to show off that authenticity because it works. The sisters do the work for him. They get more engagement on their socials, he doesn’t have to gf stunt, so all in all you can see how a PR rep would be able to spin this positively and try to show the “upsides” to exploiting a child. It was messily done at the beginning, but it’s established now and has had years to fester and perfect, so it’s lazier which also makes it seem more real.

Look, I’ve had a long day and all in all this is a sticky topic because I could write for 10 days on this, but ultimately bbg has worked for his current image and headlines and new fans. It’s worked pretty well. It didn’t work well for the Larrie following he had. He lost a lot of fans throughout the years. Some who ended up giving up and saying “I can’t be a fan of louis anymore because he’s exploiting this kid whether it’s fake or not” etc., so.

But I mean it’s always like that. No matter what image you go for, you’re gonna lose and gain fans. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I just think it wasn’t necessary to continue on the stunt. But he owed SC, and so it stuck way longer than it should’ve. And now, no PR folks wanna touch or even start to unravel it because of the headache it’ll cause. But the lawyers will have a field day. I can’t wait for these cunts to be held accountable.

[inkareds]

Heyoo quick question to my Modern HOTD fans!

How do you see Aegon modern ver?

Tw for drugs and alcohol

Cus one hand I can see him as a classic frat boy who fucks around, gets bitches, loves partying, lowkey misogynistic, and hates responsibilites

BUT I feel like modern him could also be the rebelious alternative troublemaker. NOW HEAR ME OUT!!!!

I know some people think Aemond would be the baddie w a motorcycle and edgy taste. While I do think he'd have edginess to him, I feel like he's more performative emo than like actually rebelious punk/alternative. Mainly bcs canon him is like someone who is ambitious, reads a lot, extremely smart, and strong. I feel like modern Aemond would reflect that, someone who only ACTS and DRESSES edgy bcs of teenage angst that was never resolved. In reality? The moment he needs to look even slightly professional, he's ditching the chain necklaces and the edgelord vibe and fully lean into the future CEO/Academic vibes. He seems like the person who at first glance seemed to know underground bands, indie as fuck, probably rebels and hates everything, then you get to know him and he's a rule follower who's is just extremely resourceful and knows when he can bend the rules.

Aegon on the otherhand, canon him has friends (who I feel like he doesn't really like), is fucking PATHETIC, can't get BITCHES AND HAS TO FORCE WOMEN, and like his younger version is a tormentor!!! Who's lazy as shit!

So I can imagine him being the actual alternative family member, who actually hates his family and the money and the status. So I really want to know ya'll's take on this. Cus I feel like Aegon would be the alcoholic, drug-user, smoker, guy in the back of your class who not only has the vibe Aemond has but with the added of authenticity. Bcs Aegon's angst and anger comes from an actual hatred of his current situation and him like giving up.

Whilst Aemond is still fighting his way up (and it's working so he's 100% more snobby than Aegon)

Altho I do think KING Aegon is a bit diff

Anyw thankq for listening to my long ass text, I might re explain this on laptop cus I'm writing this in a very messy manner on my phone while walking LMAO.

I'm very VERY interested to how you guys think Aegon, Aemond, or any of the of house of the dragon characters are like modern version. Or how would you modernise the Dance of Dragons

Ps I am currently a show only while I do know the book roughly, my take comes from mainly show knowledge

Also I'd like to add I also like the emo/edgy/rebelious Aemond modern aesthetic and the frat boy trash Aegon aesthetic LMAO

[mitsuzanekureshima]

the hunt for kureshima mitsuzane's coats

I have been on a crazy wild goose chase for these coats... they stood out to me a lot when watching and i just had to try to find them.

i'm pretty sure these two are the same model but in diff colorways and perhaps cause this is likely a small japanese brand release from 10 years ago, but finding them felt basically impossible.

the beige plaid one appears in episode 16 and.. i forgot when else they show up (sorry)

i was able to find 2 coats that use the same fabric as the beige one:

jacket on the left is new from bliss bunch, and the coat on the right is discontinued Revo. (much more under the cut) 🍇

but then i found this:

this coat was very close... much closer!! but this KMK coat here doesn't seem to be the right color. note how the thin horizontal stripes on the plaid are different - the top one on the KMK coat is light blue, while the top one on micchy's coat is orange)

however, going back to bliss bunch's jacket: this seems to just be the same fabric but the yellow version. (mitsuzane's is the beige on the right.) (also i think bliss bunch flipped the fabric 180 degrees.)

(which is additionally interesting to me cause this bliss bunch jacket is new, but this KMK coat (and i can't find a source but i swear the Revo. coat also is) is ~11 years old. where do small japanese brands source their fabric? is there a textile mill out there that's been making the same exact fabric for 10 years, or is bliss bunch using deadstock?

the other interesting thing is that the plaid on the back of mitsuzane's jacket is not matched.

(kind of an inaccurate detail for a "kureshima rich boy" as sid calls him, as it's usually lower end garments that don't take the time to match the pattern but i digress + i don't think anyone cares about this but me)

but this information is helpful in that it lets us establish a price range. micchy's jacket is certainly not going to be comme des garçons or burberry or jil sander (with consideration of the kr budget) - and the design does not look like something typical of the western market

so we are probably looking at something more in the wego, beams, ships range. which tracks with the other gaim wardrobe pieces that have been found + how does kouta afford so much 100+$ streetwear from doarat as an unemployed 20 year old.

(^ & that brand being doarat sets a precedent for gaim's clothes being sourced in multiples from smaller local brands)

as for the timeframe, the coats would likely have been released in 2012/2013

so i reverse google image searched more screenshots and stumbled upon this coat from the brand Kinglymask (KMK).

according to the mercari description. it was:

bought a year before last year (so, 2022)

produced for the brand's 10th anni. (2022-10=2012: perfect timeline match for gaim's run of 2013-14)

however, things still aren't lining up exactly:

referring back to mitsuzane's coat, his drawstrings have a leather piece on them, the buttons are larger and white, not black, the studs on the sleeves aren't there, and the pocket flap should have a decorative fabric covering..?

+ there are some decorative... coin like things hanging off of the pocket flap

however, note how the pocket is in the same place, and the drawstrings are present and end in the same knot & fray: it's very likely that that micchy's jacket is this KMK model, just in a different color, and the production team seems to have altered it: all these missing elements are things very easily added.

unfortunately probably cause it was 10+ years ago and KMK doesn't seem to preserve much online, i can't find any other versions of this model...

update: i found kmk coats that have the same details (the leather on the drawstring, the patterned fabric on the pocket flap, the coin charm things on the pocket - therefore i think it wasn't customized, but just a different KMK model coat)

one more thing: these are the photos (from mercari) that tipped me off to it being from KMK:

but wait. those buttons look familiar...

these are the exact same buttons!!!

so this led me to start trawling through KMK's twitter. i used the date range feature in advanced search to make it less painful but advanced search is kind of broken so it involved a lot of hit and miss searching...

this is the KMK coat i found that was most similar to micchy's. note how it has all the missing elements: the leather accent drawstrings, the pocket patterned fabric and the coin charms, and then on the right arm you can see what is possibly the studs (also only present on the same side + location in micchy's coat.)

the date lines up too - although AW 2012 would have been released in 2011, making it a bit too early if we assume micchy's coat was released alongside this one, and bought new for gaim

the line that does worry me here is "one of a kind item" - it's possible that micchy's coats were one offs, and that's why i'm able to find so many similar coats from KMK that share details, but no exact matches:

therefore my conclusion is that the coats i'm looking for are one-offs from KMK. a slightly disappointing conclusion to my search as it means they'll likely never show up on resale sites but glad to have come to a conclusion

also kmk once posted a sweater that was exactly like the sweater mitsuzane wears during his laughing breakdown on the floor after the missiles... furthering the idea that the kr staff(?) must have sourced from KMK (cant be bothered to find the screenshot rn but its there on twitter. somewhere.)

if you have ANY information at all on this please let me know! i LOVE the gaim wardrobe design a lot and unfortunately have barely found any info/resources on it...

[ca-suffit]

sorry to drop my takes on your inbox, i have an irrational anxiety about posting by myself lol. also i like your perspective on the show, so i like it when you comment on things i send. anyway, on lestat being "mother" to claudia. i personally think louis and lestat are both mother and father in different ways. lestat is claudia's mother in a mommie dearest type of way, he's the stepmother to claudia's cinderella. louis is mom, mom who loves his daughter, mom who couldn't protect his daughter from his abusive partner, mom who feels desesperately guilty over that. and lestat is also father, father the patriarch, father who controls the household, "my father is the worst man alive and i'm his favourite daughter" kind of deal. but louis is also father, daddy lou, daddy who dots on her, daddy who tries to keep his daughter safe

that's what the inbox is for tbh, cuz it's not rly an "irrational anxiety" here. ppl rly will come for u over anything. this topic is a sensitive one too.

I don't have much to add to this tho (although it's nice to hear u like when I do). I think the most interesting thing about all of this is how much it reveals about ppl's own lives. a lot of these stories, between whatever versions, will say a lot about ppl by which character is their fav and then how they interpret motivations, relationships, whatever. the show puts in what it does to give its own canon and then a lot of ppl's personal trauma jumps out otherwise. the length to which fans will defend whichever gender roles says a lot by itself. there's a *lot* to study about this fandom in so many diff ways.

[aeskanera]

Thoughts on the origin stories (and sort of ranking them)

Imperial Agent - Easily the best of the lot, likely in my opinion because it’s the only one where they weren’t working off an existing character template that is already present somewhere in Star Wars. Instead they were inspired by different genres of spy stories, and it definitely shows. It’s unique and incredibly engaging, it really does capture the feeling of a secret agent spy flick.

Sith Inquisitor - Clearly I just love stories where the player goes insane a little. I think it has its more wobbly moments in execution, but I generally think it tackles a unique story in an intriguing way and there were moments that genuinely caught me off guard (not so much in a plot twist way, more in a “oh that was really interesting writing, I wouldn’t have expected that to happen next” kind of way that kept me engaged). And the way that the player’s background as a slave informs so much of their behavior/personality/decisions without sacrificing the complete creative control that you as the player have over who their character is, extraordinarily well done.

Republic Trooper - This one has its weaknesses, mainly in that chapter two was so boring to me, but chapters one and three are much more engaging, and it also has incredibly strong individual moments. The A-77 mission is often used as an example for good reason, genuinely the most gut wrenchingly emotional moment of all the stories. It handles the realities of war well, and like the Consular story the Dark/Light choices are very well done without being just standard good versus evil or Republic versus Empire. I also felt that of all the stories it was the one that felt the most like Star Wars to me, especially on Corellia (which is normally one of my least favorite planets to play, but here it was my favorite).

Sith Warrior - It’s a good, solid story with no real flaws or weak moments, but also not many stand out moments (there are some, don’t get me wrong, such as the betrayal and the recruitment of Jaesa being affected by your Force alignment, but there’s not a significant amount of these).

Jedi Knight - I’m of two minds about this. I do think it was pretty masterful how they wrote the Light/Dark options to at first be very black and white good versus evil, and as the game goes on the Dark options become more and more understandable and tempting and are the options that seem the most reasonable. The fall to the Dark Side/Grey Jedi is exceptional, as is the resistance of the temptation to remain Light. Unfortunately, if that’s not how you wanna play the game then this story kinda sucks. Dark Knight has been committing mass murder for funsies since the start of the story and no one on the Jedi Council is even mildly concerned about it until like the end of chapter two (and even then they don’t do anything about it).

Bounty Hunter - Pretty good, solidly what you’d expect from a bounty hunter story. I feel like the stakes are a little off though, it’s difficult to pin down a driving motivator for the player during the brief period between the Great Hunt and the Republic arrest warrant, and then as soon as the stakes are raised significantly by said arrest warrant (and the story starts getting really interesting) the Empire contacts you for a job so it’s like oh wait why am I even worried about the Republic? And so the climax has basically no stakes. I do like the final choice though, and how they handle the Light/Dark option so you personally stand to gain from both options and it just comes down to a choice of having a strong code of morals versus having a strong code of honour.

Jedi Consular - I have to agree that this one is up there as one of the more boring stories. It’s not so bad, the mystery genre elements of the writing are pretty good, it’s just very repetitive. I think it can throw people off because on the surface it seems like the Jedi version of the Inquisitor story, but the actual story itself is quite different but if you’ve played Inquisitor first you’re un/consciously comparing them so it seems boring. I did however find the finale very anticlimactic, the cutscene writing felt no different than any other boss and it felt like there was no scene giving any kind of closure to the story (I didn’t even realize I’d finished the story until I finished the fight and looked for my next quest and didn’t have anything). However, it is the better story to play a Dark Jedi from the beginning in, as the choices are designed in a very nuanced way so the Dark options help the war effort and the Republic while the Light options potentially hinder the war effort but save lives/are the more moral choice. That alone makes the story stand out.

Smuggler - Honestly this is the one that I think suffers most from lack of direction. It’s basically just the Bounty Hunter story but you’re on the Republic side. And they never really do a very good job explaining why that is, I know the writers aligned the Smuggler with the Republic because Han Solo helped the Rebellion but like a smuggler helping an underground rebel sect fighting the system is different from a smuggler helping the system itself. Like the Smuggler’s just as much a criminal as the Bounty Hunter, why is the Republic chill with them? It’s basically just the same story as the Bounty Hunter but it feels much more like it doesn’t have a clear vision. I couldn’t tell you what the main story is supposed to be or how each of the big plot points connect to each other.

[leiheng]

Obligated to come in on my break and ask a stupid question about your OCs, now. /lh /j

I was going to try and think of a silly question, but then my brain went, "What is Hiratio's relationship with the Sinners (or at least like ... the three you think she has an interesting dynamic with)?" So, uh ... I offer you that, I guess? If it's not too much--I know you haven't really been ProjMoon OC posting, but my brain is always in the ProjMoon abyss. /lh

~ 🪻

YOU MAY ALWAYSSS ASK ABOUT MY PM OCS im always rotating them in my mind...

Honestly I think Horatio would be most Fond of DonQui because all things considered they have quite similar story arcs ("Npc in source forced into a different role than what they were meant for" etc) and I think they would be the most annoying two people on that bus when it comes to loving Fixers and being a fan of them. They're sharing their fixer weekly magazines and i think theyd really hit it off as friends 🥺 don is def who i think about the most with regards to canon sinners interacting with her

I also think she'd get along with Rodya well ! I have it in my head that (since he's transfem and feminine but not very good at presenting as such) Rodya would help him just feel.. Cute!!! this also includes honglu honestly after the C6 scene of the two with cliffy 😭I think they'd love helping her with ways to present a little cuter (And then she ruins it immediately later by mistake.) He knows nothing about all that stuff but they clearly do! i can imagine after the c6 scene she may shyly ask if theyd do it with her

and while not neccesarily a sinner (Rather, Another version of a sinner), I think Erlcliff specifically would make her view heath in a diff way. But not a bad way! Anything to do with mirror technology Directly relates to her, and the idea of killing all of your other selves is scary. especially when she doesnt really know who she even is due to being a failed overwrite of ophelia&llaertes. But while this is scary to her, I think she'd grow quite fond of Erlcliff + Cliffy himself because of it. It's something she can sympathize with in a really specific way. While the concept is scary to her, she can somewhat relate due to her own issues. I think Heathcliffs entire interactions w/ Erlcliff would tip this though and inspire her otherwise. Maybe to accept who she is now. I think she has major respect for Cliffy and would be very shy to show it! Is probably really shy around him, but nothing but wonder and respect for him!

[trashland-llamas]

Dec Wrap Up

Twilight in Hazard; An Appalachian Reckoning [4.5 stars]

I found out about this book from my public library branch's Libby section for books about Appalachia and I'm glad. I've been wanting to learn more about Appalachia for a few months now, as I've lived in KY for most of my life but felt like I didn't really know anything. Not truly having roots here as my parents are west coast transplants. This book gives a very thorough history across many decades to the early 2020s.

Covering the coal industry, the OxyContin boom, the major levels of poverty, political corruption, and the shift from physical newspapers to online tabloids in Eastern Kentucky. The last one being that the author used to work for the Louisville Courier Journal and that this shift has actually been more detrimental to rural areas than beneficial. The book is a good starting point for those who know next to nothing about Eastern Kentucky and why it views the federal government and certain social issues the way it does. Would say to read other books in conjunction with this one due to its geographical specificity though. But there will definitely be similarities regarding the surrounding states.

Plus I'm overall tired of how people keep only recommending Hillbilly Elegy as that book is just another "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" story that doesn't seem to care about what happens to the area. Which I don't like that line of thinking as it doesn't account for all the outside forces affecting someone's life and why they make the choices they do. That's not to say they're the uwu helpless sort, just to clarify. Rather, the whole situation is a lot more nuanced than people like to admit and I think the author does a good job going about it all.

Alongside this, I'd simply rather hear from those who actually do want Appalachia to flourish. Even if said person starts out as an outsider. I listened to the audiobook version and will probably end up checking out the print version as there were some things mentioned that I definitely want to research and learn more about.

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins  [4.25 stars]

Knowing the end of Gale's character arc in this series makes certain sentences a shit ton more eerie which is definitely foreshadowing on Collins' part

'He's something of a whiz with snares, rigging them to bent saplings so they pull the kill out of the reach of predators, balancing logs on delicate stick triggers, weaving inescapable baskets to capture fish.'

'Hands that have the power to mine coal but the precision to set a delicate snare.'

'I recognize that voice. It's the same one he uses to approach wounded animals before he delivers a deathblow.'

Apparently I remember the film a lot better than I thought cause I'd be reading certain passages and the movie scene would pop into my head as I was reading it. But just like TBOSAS, it's interesting to discover what they changed for the movie. Even with Collins' previous work in television before THG series.

I understand what people mean when they say Katniss' internal monologue is funny cause I was laughing at her pulling a Timothee Chalamet SNL character break, going 'I'm pregnant!?' knowing damn well she isn't. Yes, Peeta is charismatic but not that charismatic. 

That and her struggling to keep up the facade in the games. Like no wonder Snow didn't believe y'all's love bs, beyond his past w/ Lucy Gray

Same with the 'ayo, why is Finnick kissing Peeta?' but then going 'oh, right, cpr is a thing,' which I do think emphasizes how she's 17 without necessarily calling to it. Like a show, don't tell thing cause there's only one line I saw that outright said her age.

Also the attention that Collins gives to implementing folk customs into the story - the herbalist book from her mother's side, the district's all having a diff staple bread, & how district 12 does their wedding

And I am now caught up on the Hunger Series except for the Haymitch book that's about to be released. Reading order has gone; The Hunger Games -> Mockingjay -> TBOSAS -> Catching Fire

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar Vol 1 - HYBE [4.25 stars] Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story - Laurie Loughlin [4.0 stars] Pupposites Attract Vol 1 - Hono Natsuna [4.0 stars]

Has similar vibes to the webtoon My Giant Nerd Boyfriend but the roles are reversed and there are exponentially more dogs involved. But that's where the similarities begin and end. One of those sappy/fluffy, quick reads for when the weather's dreary. 

All-New Wolverine: Immune Vol 4 - Leonard Kirk & Tom Taylor [3.75 stars] Given Vol 7 - Natsuki Kizu [3.0 stars] Hanukcats: And Other Traditional Jewish Songs for Cats - Angela Shelf Medearis [3.5 stars] Pupposites Attract Vol 2 - Hono Natsuna [3.75 stars]

The next 6 were rated 3.0 stars just b/c while I wasn’t the intended audience, I still greatly enjoyed them and thought the art style was extremely adorable. 

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea - Ben Clanton [3.0 stars] Super Narwhal and Jelly - Ben Clanton [3.0 stars] Narwhal's Otter Friend - Ben Clanton [3.0 stars] Narwhal's Sweet Tooth - Ben Clanton [3.0 stars] Narwhal's School of Awesomeness - Ben Clanton [3.0 stars] A Super Scary Narwhalloween - Ben Clanton [3.0 stars] Pack Origin - Kate King & Jessa Wilder [2.0 stars]

I always forget that romantasy is not really my thing seeing as I'm extremely picky when it comes to romance in general. Haven't entirely given up on the genre though.

As implied by the title, it's omegaverse where a character thinks they're a beta and then ends up an omega and their pack/harem is their alpha friends. There was an interesting aspect mentioned offhandedly in the first chapter about how omega/alpha pheromones are used as party drugs by betas. But because this book, despite the multiple povs is mainly framed in the fmc Bliss' perspective so it's unfortunately never explored. Otherwise, this book did make me realize I only like omegaverse in fanfiction b/c the book wasn't terrible.

It is a prequel novella to what seems to be a duology at this point in time. Went into it blind so Idk if the author is continuing it or if it's a completed series. Anyways, I bring this up as the novella does seem to be akin to how designers will make mock-ups of stuff when pitching ideas.

Unofficial Recipes of the Hunger Games: 187 Recipes Inspired by the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingbird [2.75 stars]

This cookbook, oddly at the beginning, wants you to make everything in the recipe from scratch but the further it goes along, the more it becomes 'yea, buying stuff's fine.' Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I'd rather them pick a lane

Would mostly recommend it for those who know next to nothing about cooking/baking and are wanting a place to start. That or if you're wanting to make more dinners at home with more vegetables

While it heavily acknowledges the fact that district 12 is supposed to be Appalachia, there's not a single recipe for grits. Closest they get is Mrs. Everdeen's Breakfast of Mush

It also treats meats such as squirrel, rabbit, and even venison at times as being 'exotic' meats. Which, as someone who lives in the south, aren't considered such. So that just came across as weird to me

Taylor Swift By the Book - Tiffany Tatreau & Rachel Feder [1.5 stars]

It's a recap video when I was expecting a video essay but in book form. It's extremely surface level and comes across pretentious as f. And funny enough in a book where you should be allowed to quote the lyrics, there's next to nothing. Or rather it's a single line used so it falls extremely flat when they point out the references. Like it's basic ass stuff you could research yourself going line by line on your own time. That and their quips piss me off.

Quips include [listening to the audiobook so apologies if the punctuation is off];

'If the theme of two girls competing for the affections of one guy doesn't sit well with you, we invite you to consider the following thesis; Cinderella was the original pick-me girl.'

'The choruses of Don't Blame Me and I Did Something Bad could've been sung by Ophelia and Lady Macbeth respectively at karaoke night...'

'Romeo and Juliet wish they had this steamy song to bop to, back in the 1500s'

Not a quip but 'Swiftian'

And to clarify, this isn't to say having this lightheartedness or the attitude the authors have towards old timey classics insults or devalues their work. Because simply put, it doesn't. The classical authors mentioned throughout have been dead for a while now. It's rather that there's an insulting insincerity that comes with treating Swift’s work akin to academia.

[ge]

sumt about chung myung having a (relatively) softer heart than tang bo makes me melt... u can see tang bo doesn't reach out to things that he feels doesn't need it, but chung myung actively takes things into his heart... man i love how they're so diff from how they're presented as. usually the smiley, touchy one would be the self sacrificial one

(idk where this is from but is tang bo actually cold to others when not in front of chung myung...? this is such a popular thing i see in works lol)

yall genuinely have no idea how often im thinking about tangchung character studies theyre so interesting to pick and prod at.. chung myung keeping his softness under so many many layers of rock hard defense and even when u get close enough to him to break those walls down, hes so unused to being unprotected that gentleness feels like something that has to be coerced, gripped, and dragged out of him, affection making his chest feel clogged and cumbersome, and love felt so heavily it feels like it could bring down the sky.. he feels with such an overwhelming excessiveness that displaying it freely in any way other than casual familiarity feels like humiliation, and asking for it in return even more shameful.. he is a empty house hungry to be lived in and yearning for a flame but he would much rather let his terse and concise and seemingly brutish actions speak louder than his softness, no matter how it may end up being interpreted....my long winded way of saying i think chung myung has an extreme hedgehog dilemma and is a tsundere about it

tang bo is a little trickier for me to get a read on maybe bc i hvnt read much about him yet and most of my knowledge of him comes from fics & twt users LOL (which im aware are mostly extremely ooc..it kinda grates on me knowing most or all of my knowledge of him is secondhand and distorted) but i must agree with you.. the tang bo in my head is predominately headcanon ive built up myself so whatever i say about him might be extremely off the mark but idgaf..i like the version of him i have in my head currently..

compared to chung myung, tang bo feels hrmmm..more sociable but impersonal.. im not sure if he can be called cold exactly, but he doesnt seem to show much care or affection to anyone he isnt particularly close with.. he seems to have an almost impassive business type relationship with most people, including his family though it should be mentioned aside from chung myung, he is also friendly towards chung mun and chung jin, having been said to drink w the three of them often.. from what ive seen he seems to treat them like a second family in a sort of way? i attribute tang bos dispassionate demeanor to his family, the way he was raised formed a sort of crust around not, not so much a wall but a poker face..and chung myung was the first person who directly challenged the monotony of his life

smth about the dichotomy of their natures is sooo interesting urhg.. tang bo, a young master of a reputable rich family given everything he could ever want for, taught to be upright and gallant since birth, wearing the seemingly permanent mask of impersonality and tranquility that was hammered into him since young, meeting someone who brought back colour into his dull world for the first time in his life and suddenly that mask starts crumbling and tang bo finds himself happy in a way he was never allowed to be under the watchful eye of his familys strict elders

compared to chung myung whos life was nearly the complete opposite, an orphan taken in and raised in a sect by people who showered him w as much uninhibited familial love as he could want for, taught him to be honourable and respectable, grows up w a penchant for keeping his true emotions hidden deep underneath his surface, not out of malice or obligation but because, unlike tang bo, it was simply how he was..meeting and befriending tang bo made him begin to WANT, for the very first time..to actually show someone how deeply he can care, to peel back the veil and show someone the desperation for intimacy he desires so profoundly that buzzes underneath his skin in a way he couldnt, wouldnt, speak of out of the sheer indignity of it all...yeah so basically what im saying again is that hes tsundere and tang bo saw that and was like i need that gay boy

[jay-marti]

FAQ for this Blog and Power scaling in general

I realize the audience that makes up the Epithet Erased Fandom and people who are interested in Power Scaling is a small overlap(I’m the overlap) so I’m making this to explain the purpose behind this blog and to help those in the Epithet Fandom better understand what I’m talking about.

Q: What is Power scaling?

A: Power Scaling is the practice of measuring the power of fictional characters, especially in relation to one another and usually under the basis of a “who would win a fight scenario”.

Q: How does Power Scaling Work?

A: Power Scaling is primarily predicated on the concept of the transitive property, or simply if A>B and B>C then A>C, this translates practically to saying that if character A beat a character B who beat Character C, then character A beats Character, this also extends to feats, another important aspect of Power scaling and essentially just things the character has done that are relevant in a fight scenario. The third and final relevant aspect of power scaling is statements, In-world and official creator statements that comment on the potential power of a character, even when not shown (ex. Zora proclaiming she wasn’t even using a “tenth” of her power during the Western Arc)

Q: What does “Diff” mean?

A: Diffing is a term used by many Power Scalers including myself, it is a short version of the word “Difficulty” and refers to how hard it is for the victor of a specific fight to win, this gives the matchup a greater context and shows that not every win or loss is on the same level. The range of Difficulty ranges from Neg, or Negative Difficulty, where it takes more effort for the winner to not beat their opponent, to Extreme Difficulty, where the winner barely won out using everything they possibly had and could’ve gone the other way under slightly different circumstances, with no, low, mid, and high difficulty between the two.

Q: What is Prep Time?

A: Prep time is a condition occasionally added to fights in where one or both combatants are aware they are going to fight, this is usually applied to characters with high intelligence and resources who would normally lose without access to those resources or the time to formulate a victory strategy, the most common example being Batman. It applies particularly to Epithet Erased given the fact that 80% of the world don’t have superpowers and would normally be outmatched in a fight can have the time to plan out against an opponent.

Q: Why Scale Epithet Erased?

A: Epithet Erased is my favorite piece of media of all time, The Characters are phenomenal, The Story is intriguing, The world is vast and full of mystery, The emotion is enough to bring a grown man to a bawling mess, but what I’ve seen fall to wayside quite a bit in fandom discussions is the namesake of the series itself, the Epithets. The Power System is one of the many reasons I love the series and while I love all other aspects, this one is criminally under discussed, and so I’ve made this blog to be a conversation starter and a place where I can share my love of Epithets through Scaling, It’s going to be a fun little ride this blog, so I would really appreciate a follow so that I can share my thoughts and love for this series with as many people as I can, who knows maybe I’ll get some people who are more interested in fighting and power systems hooked onto the series, that’d be cool.

[ovwechoes]

Can I just say how much I like how you write Widowmaker so far? Focusing more on how she feels with her partner and how much those feelings mean to her is very interesting. It's more unique than the "frigid, professional, and unfeeling 24/7" version people tend to write her, especially in relationships. This isn't to bash people who do write her like that. It makes perfect sense for Widowmaker, but you have a refreshing take on her.

I appreciate that anon! I like to write her as someone who keeps that façade up because it's easier to guard herself and maintain that public image of a natural killer, and explore her emotions as a result of the trauma she went through with Moira's experiments and Blackwatch as a whole. It's better than only looking at her as though she's only one thing, when everyone has multiple sides to themselves.

Honestly, I love Widowmaker and exploring her emotions as though she's regaining them all over again with hesitance. She's still an organic human with a human mind, so I don't think she's ever had her emotions removed completely - just been too scared to show them because of what Blackwatch/Moira did to her and what they might do if she were to drop the mask she wears. She's the perfect example of PTSD/trauma being shown in a diff way, I guess in an avoidance attachment style yaknow? It makes sense for her to be written that way but I genuinely think she's much deeper than those traits alone

IDK i just love her and thank you for the compliments! I rly appreciate them c:

[coldflasher]

Joe flr character bingo? 👀

sorry anon i was outside in the garden planting raspberry bushes. anyway this is SUCH a good one and I am kinda mad there are so few squares I can tick off for Joe bc i genuinely love him but not like That

Joe is such a comfort character for me in a very diff way. he makes my daddy issues go brrrrr cos THIS is a dad. THE dad of all time. if i could pick any dad ever to have instead of mine i think i'd pick him.

I think he's so fucking funny first of all. it's my fave thing to put him in a fic and just. mess with him. im poking him with a stick. im watching his blood pressure go up. i'm making him deal with leonard snart and he's about to explode every time they're in a room together. i just. have so many affectionate feelings for him and his seething hatred of this man. and the earth 2 version where he's exactly like that but to BARRY? iconic. no notes. rip earth 2 joe you were a bitch and i miss you sm

THAT BEING SAID there are things about him that make me go "you should have faced more consequences for that. go sit in a corner and think about what you've done." namely bullying iris out of being a cop (acab etc. etc. but still shitty of him), the whole thing where he was like BARRY, WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK MY PERMISSION TO MARRY IRIS (and iris AGREED 🤮🤮🤮 who the fuck was in charge of the writers' room that day, i just wanna talk), the fact that he can be overbearing and controlling of his kids and very jaded in a lot of ways... idk he's a flawed character and every character needs some negative aspects so none of these things affect my love for him but sometimes i am shaking my head in disapproval...

as for canon. this is true of everything but MAN did they drop the ball with him towards the end... i get why they had joe quit ccpd given the political situation at the time and i support that 100% but first of all, having a Black character go "hey the police force in my city is inherently corrupt and i can no longer be complicit in its enforcement" (true and correct) while their white hero just does not acknowledge that corruption and continues to work for the same establishment completely uncritically was... perhaps not sending the message they intended... i mean it's honestly almost funny cos that is very much a reflection of the actual systems but. maybe they could have thought about that one a bit more...

and they really should have given joe something else to do cos he ended up sorta directionless after that. in fairness i know jesse l martin has back problems so i think them having him sitting down chilling at home as a stay at home dad was perhaps borne of necessity in a lot of ways but they defo could have done more interesting things with the character. im not OPPOSED to sahd joe but it does seem like a bit of a waste cos it would just be like. every episode joe shows up for a pep talk then goes back to being the full-time stay at home parent for a child we literally never see except one time when a window explodes in her face, which brings me to my NEXT point---

writing joe out with LITERALLY like 8 eps to go? stupid. again i respect that jesse l martin had HAD it with this show (tbf who hadnt by this point) and he wanted out, of course he had every right to do that, but purely based on the context of the show, i hate that they had him leave central city like that and move so far away when we were so close to the finish line. HAAATE it. the show was basically on life support from that point on. it was possibly worse than when we lost cisco. joe was the heart of it, man. it just wasn't the same :(

but yes I LOVE JOE, he is the only fictional dad i respect and i love ruining his life