#there we go that'll do for now

[airenyah]

#i feel like a lot of the bad acting accusations are because of the tremor (?) and I'm pretty sure those are just part of his body

@jjsanguine i agree! i think a lot of it comes from how fidgety he was on camera in star in my mind. (sorry, longer rant incoming! when i say "you" in the following text i don't mean you, user @jjsanguine, but i mean the general you. i'm just letting off some steam, i'm not addressing you or yelling at you directly dfjkjsdkjg)

but yeah, the shakiness he had going on in the beginning... that's just a very technical aspect that is pretty fucking difficult when you're new to camera acting, because news flash: you can't move the same way on camera like you can irl. the camera magnifies each and every single one of your movements, especially the more into a close-up you get. you know how many times i've had to listen to my camera acting teacher scold us for moving too much on camera? for being too fidgety? i lost count, because it happened at least once (usually multiple times) in every single class for three years straight. and learning how to move (or rather how to hold still) on camera is something you can only learn by, you know, acting on camera!! and when exactly was dunk supposed to learn that before simm??

idk, maybe i had more mercy with dunk when it came to this since i know from my very own experience how difficult this is when you're not used to it (for me it was even more difficult because my only experience came from stage acting where it's the exact opposite, where everything needs to be bigger and louder instead of smaller and more quiet) but still, i think bashing him for that is very much uncalled for. besides, you can literally see his improvement when it comes to this!! he barely fidgets anymore in thk, despite style being a character with a high energy level. and not just that, you could already see the improvement back in 2023, the year after simm!! just look at how still dunk holds his body in this music video from hidden agenda/our skyy 2 era:

you know, in star in my mind there are a few things through which you can tell the lack of experience, which is why back then i didn't really say anything yet when people where bashing him. but when i saw dunk's (dunk the actor, not dunk the singer lol) performance in this music video back in july 2023 (i think i first saw it two or three days after its release?) my jaw literally dropped. the moment i saw him in this mv that's when i knew he was very much a fantastic actor. and it's not just not in the lack of fidgeting

they don't have a single line in the entire mv and yet all of dunk's emotions are completely on point. he knows exactly what he's doing and what story he wants to tell at any given point. his character's emotional arc is coherent and as a viewer you know exactly what is going on inside of him, you can tell what he's thinking and how he's feeling the entire time and it all makes sense. dunk's character and how he feels about the situation and about joong's character is the most interesting part of the story presented in the mv, tbh. dunk really carries the mv, and he carries it flawlessly

but going back to simm, another issue was that sometimes he'd act a bit too big, in a way where it would be more fitting for a stage performance but it's too big for the camera because, as i mentioned, the camera magnifies everything. this is again something that he had to learn by, you know, actually acting on camera?!!!!!! and besides, it was simm director p'new who wanted this from him:

Dunk: "I discussed Daonuea's character with the director. He recommended that I watch anime and animal cartoon characters. They display visible responses and feelings. Daonuea expresses a lot, with big reactions. He clearly shows it when he’s shocked or happy. People can see what he is feeling at the time. They can tell right away. He doesn’t hide it. It's fun to be able to showcase my childish side in the series." [from: simm behind the scenes special, 7:29 (time stamp linked)]

"act big like a cartoon character" is a suuuper difficult instruction to give to a newbie actor because in order to do this flawlessly you do need to be fully aware of how everything you do will end up looking on camera so that you can actually nail the right balance. and this was an experience/expertise which dunk simply just didn't have at the time. simm was dunk's very first series (not counting his handful of scenes in bad buddy), so of course he's not gonna nail these tricky instructions on the very first try. and i think bashing him just for that is just a very shitty thing to do. it's one thing to say "ok i don't have the patience to sit through this so i'm not gonna watch it" but you really don't have to be mean about it, that's just really uncalled for. everyone starts somewhere, you know?

and now two years later after having gained much more experience and expertise, dunk does an EXCELLENT job with style's loudness and performative behaviour. dunk makes very deliberate choices about when he dials it up and when he goes quiet and serious instead and every single time these choices are extremely on point for the plot and where the character is at in his arc (don't believe me? i have a whole meta series about it where i continue to point out when style is being loud/performative/overacts and why he does it and why it makes complete sense). honestly, i think some people currently bashing his performance either went into thk just set on hating whatever he does on principle or they simply don't vibe with the character. and it's totally fair not to vibe with a character's personality! i grew up around boys who are exactly like style so i know first hand how exhausting they can be and that not everyone will get along with them. but it's not the actor's fault if you don't get along with people of this type of personality, that's very much a you problem

anyway, another aspect in simm where i thought dunk needed a bit more practice was the crying. i didn't always entirely believe him when he was crying in simm. it was going in the right direction, but it still seemed to me that he wasn't quite feeling it and was forcing it a bit. although, admittedly for this one big crying scene (the one in the parking lot after kluen kissed dao in the men's room) the faults as to why this scene doesn't really work already start with the directing. p'new messed up the dramaturgical structure of that scene and at the time the boys and esp dunk just simply didn't have the expertise to get the arcs and the structure of this scene right by themselves without outside help. and so it's no wonder dunk struggled with the mess of that scene (i swear every time i watch that scene i hear my camera acting teacher's voice in my head asking where all the plot points are lol). anyway, the crying was also a bit better a year later in hidden agenda, though i was still not entirely convinced at certain points. but then in early 2024 the boys dropped the joongdunk last twilight mv and dunk really put his whole pussy into the crying, like, that shit's heartbreaking. and they did that in their free time past midnight after a fanmeet in a foreign country. my mouth was agape when i saw it (dunk's sobbing, that it). we have yet to see style cry on thk, but i'm already curious to see if i'm still gonna have issues with it or if dunk has finally reached the point where he's really feeling it and where he can let the tears fall freely and naturally like he was able to in the last twilight mv (or maybe he just needs joong to direct him in crying scenes in order to ace them sndnfjjfjf)

anyway, the whole point of this rant is that you can criticize an actor's performance. nobody is perfect. everyone has to start somewhere. so yes, absolutely you can criticize someone's performance. and nobody forces you to like every single actor's performance. sometimes you're just not vibing, and that's totally okay! but you don't have to be unnecessarily mean about it. and more importantly, you have to be open to an artist's improvement as well and at the very least acknowledge it, even if you're still not vibing. and let me tell you something, as someone who's been following all of dunk's series live since episode 2 of simm (and technically even since ep3 of bad buddy), it's really been such a joy to see him grow and develop his skills as a performer. especially as someone who from the start has already appreciated the things he does excel at. and there are many things he excels at, many things that he's done so excellently even back in simm and hidden agenda that it really outshines the imperfections in his performance even back when he was less experienced than he is now

airenyah out.

@secriden you don't know the feeling of getting these tags into my notifs after feeling like i've been the sole public defender of dunk's acting for the past year and a half (and that's only counting the time i started being more vocal about it online, i've been defending him in my mind since 2022 actually)

truly TRULY love the energy you bring!!!!! join me!!!!!

DUNK IS A GOOD FUCKING ACTOR AND HAS BEEN FROM THE START. EVERYONE WAS JUST UNNECESSARILY MEAN

[front-facing-pokemon]

[cnl0400]

I understand why they didn't introduce Michael in the past but I think we needed more people suspecting MC was Not From Here™, they should have played More with the idea that anybody could unmask MC/Solomon true motives and Michael already knew, It would have been better for him taunting MC with the idea of telling the truth to everyones else unless they stop making pacts with the brothers (Bcuz y'know, thats what Nightbringer wants, Right? And whatever he wants must be... Not good?)

In earlier seasons the tease the idea of two Rings of Light existing in the same timeline, can you imagine the interactions?

Michael: Wow MC! that's a pretty ring you have there!

MC: ... Yeah...

Michael: It looks identical to the one I have here, see? *Flashes His own Ring of Light to MC*

MC: Ah... *Gulp*

[seokmattchuus]

When Matthew tells you he's been a bit stressed with debut preparations, you help him get his mind off of things. With some handcuffs and a torturous, never-ending hand job.

[hopeinthebox]

tagged by the exceptional @cordiallyfuturedwight and @cosmicdreamgrl thanks ever so much my loves <33

now tagging some heroes @aprylynn @thvinyl @visionsofgideontheninth @hoseeok @btscontentenjoyer @jihopesjoint @monismochi @raplinenthusiasts <333 and everyone else

[skunkes]

How do you feel about Dungeon Meshi (i think i spelt that right) getting more popular? I feel like i’ve only seen u post about it but now its popping up a lot more on my twt / tiktok

Mixed feelings! Glad it has an anime now and that ppl are enjoying it, because its really good!

I myself think its annoying when ppl are like "im gatekeeping x media bc its important to me 😡" so thats not how I feel on the other end. It has impacted lots of ppl so if it can get a bigger reach and impact more, thats good. ^_^

if i did not have the time or energy or resources to read it, I would've hated feeling alienated just bc it became a favorite media of mine after the anime came out

Its more like. Idk.

I know ppl who hope it gets Bigger for more official merch but I just don't want it to get Embarrassing ykwim.

I need it to not get so popular that in a few years I'm hiding the volumes from my shelf because its an embarrassing, beat to death thing thats present in every store, backpack, socks, sweater that looks like characters clothing, funko pops, etc. something i cant even enjoy anymore bc its been wrung dry and overexposed and misinterpreted, "of course u like it EVERYONE likes it!" and now I'm tired of it, and wouldn't want ppl to associate me with it LOL 🧿🧿🧿

[seventh-district]

Could've left me just the way you found me, but you came and put your wings around me. You went out of your way, to fix what you didn't break.

This song is so incredibly Sam & Darlin' coded and no one can tell me otherwise.

[lots of lyrical analysis below the cut] [there's also a short little fanfic blurb of them stargazing down there too (this post got really out of hand lmao)]

For those not fully caught up, note that the following commentary contains various spoilers for Sam and Darlin's stories.

Note: Unfortunately this song is gendered, using the word 'girl' several times. Which sucks a little bit for immersion purposes, not only for keeping Darlin' gender-neutral, but also because I see this song as a duet between them, and Darlin' obviously wouldn't be addressing Sam with the word 'girl' either. So! As with most songs on their playlist, we're just gonna mentally omit any gendered terms we come across.

Side note: Frustratingly, this is one of those songs that didn't really even need to gender the subject in the first place. No part of the story or message is lost without it. But alas, many songs are like that, and so the playlist-makers of the world shall continue to suffer. [/lh]

Anyways, preamble's over. It's lyric time now yay!

Sam's Part

I was a ten-year train wreck

Technically for Sam I suppose it was 13 years, but ten is close enough (and 'ten' admittedly flows a lot better in the rhythm of the song than 'thirteen' would.) Anyways, we're not here to split hairs, (I have to remind myself), we're just here to point out similarities.

In Sam's Dec. '22 HBW, he says "For the last 13 years or so I haven't had to care too much about how I look. Seemed a little redundant after turnin', considerin' I didn't wanna be around much'a anybody anyway."

I think he's mentioned or alluded to that roughly 13 year period of time more than once, but that's the one I remember best so it's the example I'm using. There's still about 4 Sam audios I've yet to listen to as of making this post, so if I'm missing some Key Lore I'll edit this later. But for now, I don't think Sam has given many specifics on exactly how bad things got during that time. Luckily, 'train wreck' is a pretty broad and subjective term, so it easily covers any degree to which he may have fallen apart during those years.

It also feels like a very 'him' way of quickly brushing over the details of his past/his hurt, as he seems to tend to do with Darlin', (not all the time ofc but it's still something I've noticed) putting his own hurt on the backburner to prioritize and attend to theirs. Even outside of his dynamic with them, I think as a healer, it's something he learned to do. And now he does it with everyone. Put on a brave face, compartmentalize things and unpack them later, etc. I could go on and on but there'll be time for that in other posts I'm sure. For now, lets get back to the song at hand.

With a last-call longneck

Due to personal reasons, I've yet to decide if I want to HC him as having used alcohol as a coping mechanism during that time. I don't recall him having mentioned alcohol much, if at all, (maybe one mention of whiskey that I don't have time to find right now) so I don't think it's necessarily canon that he did, but it's certainly possible. My personal preferences aside, I'll admit it makes for some good additional angst. (And- self-indulgently- it makes some other songs on my playlist for them more fitting.) So, for the sake of this song, let's imagine that he did.

I was searchin', I'd been hurt real bad

This one feels pretty self-explanatory given what Alexis did, (and, if you wanna get even angstier with it, whatever his family did earlier on in his life) so there isn't much commentary to add on my end.

I HC that in spite of 'not wanting to be around anybody', he- like Darlin- still had a tiny part of himself buried deep down that was, in a way, 'searching' for someone to find solace in. (No this isn't me projecting onto them both haha what are you talking about-)

Movin' on, gettin' sidetracked One step forward and five back

This is generally applicable enough that I don't feel the need to give too much of a specific example. Anyone who's recovered or is recovering from trauma knows this non-linear, back-and-forth struggle well already, and I'm sure he was no stranger to it.

If I were to give some examples though, I could point to Darlin's (and subsequently, Sam's) encounter with Alexis at the summit, or the shit that Quinn dredged up about Fredrick and threw at Sam in the interrogation room. Those are both more recent examples and I imagine these lines of the song to be coming from a place of him prior to meeting Darlin', but still, they're some instances where I'm sure he felt like the past was pulling him back in. I'm sure that there's been many throughout those 13 years that we were never witness to.

Not your fault, I was scared to fall

This line reminds me of their 'Cuddles and Confessions' audio. I don't think he ever explicitly said he was 'scared' per se, so afaik there's no specific line I can quote, but in that and every audio prior, he was obviously hesitant to admit, perhaps even to himself, that he was gradually falling for them. Even after the initial confession, there's certain limits of his (e.g. biting) that he carries for far longer, and some that I (and others) HC that he'll carry forever. So this line feels to me like him reassuring Darlin' that his reluctance isn't the fault of them, but his past.

Darlin's Part

You were the star in the pitch black Shine the way on the way back

We don't have any canon instances of them comparing Sam to a star, but I can see it being something they'd say (perhaps less poetically, but the sentiment would be there) one night while laying up on their roof watching the stars with him. Maybe they're dead-tired, talking nonsense with lidded eyes at the end of a long day, fighting sleep in favor of more time spent with him.

"What- what're you pointin' at Darlin'?"

Their hazy focus is trained on the brightest star visible in their line of sight, arm stretched out to the sky above them. "That really bright one, to the... to the left."

Sam does his best to follow their less-than-specific directions of 'to the left', their pointed finger doing little to help given the difference in perspective. Luckily, after all these years, he knows this stretch of night sky like the back of his hand, so it isn't hard to locate the brightest one. Ghosting his fingers up along their arm, he takes their hand in his and brings it back down to earth. "Okay, yeah, I see it now. What about it though?"

"That's you." They say, matter-of-factly.

"That's me?" He questions, humor in his tone.

"Mhm." They nod with finality, blinking slow.

Sam considers the odd statement for a moment before gently correcting them. "I'm uh, I'm pretty sure that's Sirius, actually."

They scoff. "I am being serious."

Sam stifles a laugh into their hair. "No- no I mean- like... what's another name for it... Oh! It's also called the Dog Star."

"C'mon Sam, at least call it the Wolf Star if you're trying to turn this around on me..."

He shakes his head and readies himself to explain further, but they cut him off before he can start. "But no- no, this one isn't about me. That's you."

He decides to play along, finding something endearing in their overtired nonsense. "Okay... then would'ja be so kind as to explain to this confused old man just how, or why that star is me?"

Their frown is audible in their voice as they latch onto the wrong part of his sentence. "You're not old, Sam. ...Do I need to tell Asher to kick the jokes down a notch?"

He smiles at their over-protectivity. "There'll be no need for that, now. Was just a joke, darlin', I promise."

They huff, but thankfully shift focus back to the prior topic. "It's... I dunno. It's just you, Sam. It's... bright. Light. Something warm, out there in the cold dark. Standing out amongst all the rest. Calling to me, stealing my attention. I... I didn't come out here looking for it, but there it is. ...There you were. In the dark. The only bright thing I'd seen in... fuck, in years. Years of chasing fleeting warmth, tripping over myself in the pitch black, falling into... places 'n people I shouldn't have. You were the light in that darkness. Even there, surrounded by the ghost of him. You outshone it. Your warmth didn't hurt. I didn't have to squint when I looked at you. You weren't the blinding sun. You were the brightest star I'd ever seen. You guided me back home."

In the back of their mind, they recall something they once heard, something about light, and time, and distance. Space. Something about... how you can see a star that's already burnt out, because it's light hasn't reached earth yet. The ghost of a star that's already died. Only still perceptible thanks to time, and distance.

They remember Sam's words, once whispered to them on this very roof.

"Whatever your choice is... I'm not gonna live forever. I made that decision a long time ago."

They think about dead stars.

They think about time.

"...-lin'? Darlin'?" Sam's calloused hand slides up their forearm, pulling them out of their thoughts. "There you are. Think I lost ya' for a minute there... you good?"

They look up at Sam, concern creasing his features, shadows cast across his face from the light of the dying stars above him.

They reach out, pulling him down into them. Burying their face into his collar, Sam's concern grows when he feels it saturate with tears. A human might struggle to hear their words, muffled against the thick fabric, but his hearing catches it just fine.

"Don't burn out too quick. Please. I still need you here. I don't- I don't wanna be left in the dark again. Please, please Sam. Don't leave me here. I'm not selfish enough to ask you for forever, but please. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet."

.......Whoopsies! Really, genuinely didn't mean to improv an entire scene there, good god. Also didn't mean to swerve hard into angst at the end but uh. that's what came out! so I'm rolling with it lmao. Aaanyways let's move on, it's getting late and this is a song analysis post, not a fic.

Out of nowhere, answered all my prayers

'Out of nowhere' reminds me of Sam's words from the same HBW video I referenced earlier. "You came into my life like a damn wreckin' ball. There was no preparing for that, clothing or otherwise." While those were Sam's words, not Darlin's, I still feel like they feel similarly to how suddenly Sam came into their life as well. (Not in a bad way, mind you!)

[the significance of 'answered all my prayers' edges into my own personal more headcanon-y/personal/OC-ified Darlin' territory, so we can just gloss over this one for the sake of at least attempting to keep this more universally applicable]

Picked up the towel that I threw in Took in a heart that was ruined

Again, largely self-explanatory I feel. (*proceeds to explain anyways*) I imagine that Darlin' was at the point of throwing in the towel, hellbent on a solo-mission to find Quinn regardless of the danger it posed to them. I doubt they were looking toward the future anymore, (to reference Sam,) fully willing to throw themself at their problems until they really did break.

The specific use of 'ruined' hits hard here, because after everything they went through with Quinn, and especially after he recounted it all to Sam in that interrogation room, I imagine that they really, truly did feel ruined.

Showed me the past ain't a tattoo Loved me even when you didn't have to

These lines in particular make me sick with emotion every time I hear this song, because I feel like they hit the nail on the head for how Darlin' feels.

I'll be here citing various quotes all night that I feel showcase that sentiment, but we don't have time for that! So instead I'm just pointing to the entirety of 'Quinn's Aftermath' video, and leaving you with this single quote from it.

"Everything that he said reflects nothin' on you, and everything on him."

Equally Applicable Lines

And I don't know why Why you saw something in me, baby But you saw right through All the pain, and you came and saved me Yeah, I know you didn't leave me lonely Weren't the one that put the heartbreak on me Picked up the pieces It wasn't the mess that you made Could've left me just the way you found me But you came and put your wings around me You went out of your way To fix what you didn't break

Again, I think these lines are all pretty self-explanatory, and are just as accurate coming from either one of them. To me, at least, their entire dynamic is that they saved each other, in their own ways.

(But I will admit, the final verses about 'going out of your way to fix what you didn't break' are definitely conjuring up memories of Sam in the early days, literally going out of his way to visit and heal Darlin' after their fight with the two vamps. In general, his continued/repeated healing of them after they once again hurt themselves is the very literal definition of fixing what he didn't break.

But! While we may have more blatant examples of Sam being 'the fixer' so to speak, I think he'd argue that Darlin' has done plenty fixing of their own. Physical wounds aren't the only things that need healing, after all.)

-------

[shameless self-promo of my Sam & Darlin' playlist for those few of u interested enough to make it to the very end of this wall of text. if u liked this then u might like some of the other songs on there soooo maybe go check it out and maybe perhaps give it a follow so i can get a little serotonin boost or dopamine or whatever the chemical is that's released when Number Go Up. ...okay that's it i hope u enjoyed my fixation-induced ramblings! thank u and goodnight]

[aromanticasterisms]

oh man no wonder i'm missing my little guys recently. we haven't seen kaeya in almost a year

[moinsbienquekaworu]

Everyone tell me how cool I am and how good of a job I did please and thank you I want to wake up to nice messages. I'm so so brave I feel like I just had an insane day and I need external validation

[telesodalite]

I've got like 5+ other creative projects i want/need to do, but holiday cookies gotta be made, lol. Started with almond cloud cookies <3

Ft. A lump of soon to be choc chip cookies

[5ducksinatrenchcoat]

school kinda sucks, not even gonna lie

[front-facing-pokemon]

[wheucto]

no.1 fan au > test tube two about to be absolutely silly

[squishysphealgirl]

i have gone beyond the veil of amatonormativity; not even the ebbs and flows of my heart can make me return

[keeps-ache]

why's all the colorful stuff always in the kids' options oTL

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

okay time to have some hot chocolate(not meaning the band(but also perhaps the band)) and make some gifs