#this even more basically ideals vs love.

[a-sketchy]

yosuke warriors aid me, i’m stuck on phrasing for something.

“good” vs “kind”, which kind of person do you think it would sting more to not be, for yosuke. i think a “good person” is vaguer but more fundamental, more common, and the implication of not being good and therefore being a bad person has a strong impact. i think yu (in his head, in the role of ‘leader’) is his ideal of what a good person is so being unlike that would make him feel really really small.

a “kind person” is more specific and i think rings truer through a yosuke centric lens, like, the opposite of kind is inconsiderate, selfish, mean, or just unkind, all things yosuke concretely is, at times. and i think the specific thing that drew yosuke to yu and saki is their kindness towards him rather than goodness, so being unlike them would hurt reeeally bad.

basically, thinking he’s not a good person is obviously subjective and a huge blow to his view of his fundamental nature, as contrasted to the infallibility of yu. thinking he’s not a kind person holds a partial objective truth he can’t wriggle out of and distances him from both the people he cherishes most.

[h4venpha]

i think i find comfort in vashwood because of their unwillingness to say outloud how they care and love for one another. like CANONLY, theres so, so much they dont say, yet their actions reflect everything.

i’m pretty sure i’ve spoke on this before but i like to think that they never say more than they need to because of the world they live in, the type of people they are, the type of upbringings theyve had. it all stems back to them not really feeling worthy of the love they are offered.

wolfwood who only thinks of himself as some fucked up modified killing machine and that he believes theres no chance someone as kind hearted as vash would see the good in him, or what little there is left of the good in him. he’s done nothing but kill, he could never redeem himself, and yet vash isn’t scared nor shuns him for it even with his pacifistic ideals.

vash who has seen the brutal truth of wolfwood’s being and still decides he loves him to the very end.

vash who doesnt believe he deserves any ounce of love or commitment because he only hurts those he gets close to. it’s happened before and itll happen again, like hes a walking time bomb and everything will blow up again and the people close to him will die no matter what he does. and wolfwood who canonly sticks beside him until the end! literally calls himself his guide.

vash who has never had true companionship in his 150 years of living, and wolfwood who follows him to the ends of gunsmoke.

just up until vol10, theyre still toeing the line of the relationship theyve created. but the exact moment vash shows up and chooses to prioritize wolfwood over going after knives (the fucking thing he’s been working towards since the big fall, over a hundred years ago) is the moment he steps past that line. its so extremely open and explicit, even wolfwood asks him ‘why are you here?”

while what he says here is true yes, it also sounds like “you cannot die, i’m here to ‘save’ you because i want to live.”

then to this when wolfwood knows and accepts he will die— the sheer HORROR on vash’s face when he realizes wolfwood wont allow him to save him.

few pages ahead, vash’s monologue starts and these old panels come up. “deep down, he had become very close to me.” basically implying that back then, during the ‘shoot’ moment, they weren’t really close. and when vash accused him: “you’re the coward here.”, “you give up all hope so easily”, it was almost surface level in a way? talking to him at surface level

but now, so many chapters later when wolfwood really does give up hope, vash, with all of his developed love through out the story realizes how differently he feels now. wolfwood made him put a fucking gun to his head (giving up hope), and vash who only scolded and accused him, vs vol10 where when wolfwood gives up hope, vash feels straight terror, that he’s really going to lose him. (also the inverted panel is just so gorgeous.)

the whole “isnt that right, wolfwood?” just proves my entire point that vash’s presence here in this fight steps over the line of vulnerability they had created. he knows how he feels, and he knows that wolfwood feels the same, even if hes speaking to him indirectly.

[moonsaver]

thoughts on sunday after 2.2? i remember playing through the quest and being FLABBERGASTED the whole time like my GOD he is not beating the yan! allegations after this one. literally so much about his philosophy and perspective on life, and everything seemed to align with that sort of mindset imo and it was just like LSKJDGLSKJDGLJSFJKD

I wanted to answer both asks because i really want an opportunity to just go full blown in on sunday right now!!

Also, YESS i know right? I want to put him in a little glass jar enclosure and shake him around a bit. He's my creature dont touch him!!

Tw: yandere, manipulation, lovebombing(?)

Okay so one thing that I majorly believe in is Sunday was actually deeply lonely, and was much more prone to loneliness than Robin ever was, especially considering the fork in the road regarding their "paths" with Harmony vs Order. I feel that Robin was generally able to get along well with the adults like an amiable kid, but Sunday only ever got along with adults being looked at like "an old soul" and was let in on far more complicated and morally messed up stuff earlier than Robin, which could explain his tendency to never share about his own troubles (as Robin mentions).

And I feel like having been bottling up these feelings for so damn long, it's honestly messed with his head. And the slightest bit of resistance from anyone supposed to be under his control is met with overwhelming "disciplinary actions".

If yan!sunday ever manages to sit down and have a quiet, long talk with his darling, it's going to be quite possibly the most frustrating talk ever. He's not wrong, but he's not completely right either. Trying to disprove him is futile – he'll bolt down each and every argument against his ideals, and honestly starts trying to embed his own ideals into you bit by bit. Like water droplets on a weathered rock. He wears down his darling over time, and it's quite possibly over for you if he decides he wants to throw in the whole "triple faced soul" hypnotising debacle. You can't hide a single thing from this man.

Of course, I don't think he'll go that far unless it's absolutely necessary. Or he has, and you just don't realise it until you're stuck deep inside of a sweet little dream. However, I feel like even if you have the complete opposite views, he's still going to let you be for the most part. He doesn't want to transform his darling – frankly speaking, that's practically changing the very person who he loved in the first place. He holds a bit of sincerety in his heart, which he constantly condemns, but still keeps; a part of him does hope his darling comes around to his views, and at least learns to adjust to them instead of vehemently resisting. He still wants to be able to maintain some level of equity/equality in your "relationship" (as long as he still has more control, of course).

In the other route as mentioned in the second ask, if darling does have similar, but not same views, Sunday is a bit disappointed, although he does suppose it's not the worst..

He's most likely going to ask you about your views, and earnestly listen and make sense of it. Sits down and quietly, patiently listens to you as you try and explain your own views, why you think he's wrong, etc.. and for a moment, you think he's actually being.. kind of sweet. Which is promptly shaken off in the next phase –

He becomes the biggest ASSHOLE.

At first he's pleasant about it; gently persuading you to consider other ideas (his, basically). Sooner that persuading turns to thinly restrained coercion, until he's in a full-blown argument with you.

He starts out with each and every point of yours, whittles it down, breaks and crumbles it apart and hands it back to you with his own, perfectly polished views. He denies, manipulates or twists every little thing you said to his own benefit, speaking in that calm, factual voice of his with pityingly warm, golden eyes that frustrate you; this is the man that's bending every word of yours to his benefit, but at the same time he has so much loneliness and earnest in his eyes you don't know what to say, whether it'll be too harsh, or not. It's a weird game of manipulation and wordplay that eventually breaks you down into hot tears, which he so gently and lovingly wipes away after taking off his gloves. Burying your head into his neck and softly whispering comforting words into your ear; I know, darling, it's hard. I'm sure it's not easy to accept, I know, dear.

It's frustrating, but it's so.. comforting and loving that you almost don't want it to stop. His hand is lovingly petting your head or rubbing your back, his voice coos at you in comfort. If you didn't know any better – you'd think he was more akin to a siren than an angel.

[girl4music]

‘When In Rome’ doesn’t seem all that important of an episode at first. But then you realize Xena basically commissioned Gabrielle to kill Crassus. It’s painful cause you know Gabrielle is a person that genuinely does appreciate human life and won’t kill just for the sake of it. If it can be avoided, she will avoid it. Yet, she’s forced to decide time and time again for what to do in the heat of the moment and the conclusion seems to always be for somebody to die. Whether it be herself, Xena or other, and sometimes even at her own hand. She said she accepted the consequences of living her life with Xena early in their travels together, but I don’t think she accounted for the fact she’d have to kill just to keep her and Xena alive. Or, like in the case of this episode, to save Vercinix, a good, innocent man and a hero to his people, from being executed at the order of Caesar. It wasn’t just about sacrificing her own life, it was also sacrificing and betraying everything she stood for so that her and Xena could survive. Season 4 was the storyline for this. Choosing pacifism because she believed it was the right Way for her, then breaking it again when Xena was left vulnerable and defenceless and she had no other option but to make that split-second decision to kill those soldiers that were going to kill her. It was inevitable the way she’d end up. Whether it is a good thing or not is up to you and how you perceive the situations that happen within the episodes. Your better judgement.

This is the life Gabrielle chose. To experience and face all the violence, blood and pain again and again, being just as much a partaker in it as trying to stop it from happening… Just to be with Xena. That’s got to be the most tragically romantic, beautiful and powerful thing I’ve ever known. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Xena and Gabrielle truly are the greatest love story ever told, and I’m not just saying it because they’re my OTP. I’ll be damned if I ever find anything more romantic than Gabrielle’s insistence to throw away her morality for Xena. She’s going against her own sense of self time and again just to protect and defend people’s lives. Especially Xena’s. It’s a testament to how much and how deeply she really loves her and that’s so incredibly romantic. Wouldn’t you agree?

This is another episode where no one really cares about the Xena/Caesar fued. This episode belongs to Gabrielle and her struggle to betray her ideals by personally sending Crassus to the executioner. Commissioned and expected to by Xena, no less.

She's the heart of the whole story here. It all wraps tightly around her.

Just like 'The Deliverer', without what's going on with Gabrielle, it's just another cat-and-mouse Xena VS Caesar game and even though I love the Rome episodes, they're not as interesting as you think they are without Gabrielle’s stuff. And as great as all the other writers are with Gabrielle’s representation and development, only Steven truly gets what Gabrielle’s about. Him and Renee really make this show resonate far beyond a villain-turned-hero seeking redemption story.

Without Gabrielle - this show is half its watch value. Well and truly.

[lilybecca1]

An analysis about "Their feelings becoming one"

So far, this panel still has been a mystery, we still don't know what it's really supposed to mean. Their feelings become one? What feelings? Their love for each other?

Well, as good as that may sound, I don't think that's the case here particularly. In some way, yes, it does symbolize their love for each other, and that doesn't necessarily mean romantic. It's the true, unconditional love for the person that means the whole world to you, who is more important to you than anyone else. At this moment, you can see that realization settle in their eyes as they look at each other. As they realize that the person right in front of them is the one who they'd do anything for.

But let's talk about what "their feelings becoming one" means.

The whole manga basically revolves around their story and how they've grown to accept the sides of the other that they themselves have lacked in the beginning. It began with them, Bakugo's Win to Save, and Midoriya's Save to Win. The story has always revolved around this concept, what it means to be a true hero. Like All Might said, in order to reach their full potential, they have to accept and embrace the other side of the coin too, not just their own ideals on what they believe being a hero is.

“After being a hero for so many years you learn a few things. Striving to be the best, like you, young Bakugou, and caring deeply about people, about rescuing those in trouble, like you, young Midoriya; both of those feelings are necessary in a hero, otherwise they’ll never truly be able to represent justice. That’s why you admire his strength so much, young Midoriya…and I know that’s why you’ve always feared his heart and spirit, young Bakugou. Now that you’ve laid your feelings out on the table, maybe you can understand each other. If you have mutual respect and focus on making one another stronger, I’ve no doubt you’ll become the ultimate heroes, winning and saving people at the same time.” 

That's the real story here, that was the main purpose of the whole manga. It's about their journey on accepting the other's point of view and becoming a true hero. A hero that doesn't only win or save, but both.

In the beginning, Bakugo believed that being a hero is winning at any cost, meanwhile for Izuku, it was about saving at any cost, no matter the outcome. This side of Deku always triggered something inside Bakugo because he never understood why someone would have such a strong desire to help others and save them, even at the cost of his own wellbeing. He thought of it as a weakness, it was something that pissed him off to no end. That was until Deku vs Kacchan 2, when he finally started to see the bigger picture. After having this realization about Deku, and after All Might told him that in order to be the ultimate hero he'd have to accept Izuku's point of view, Bakugo started to focus on saving too, not just winning.

Izuku on the other hand, started off the opposite. He wanted to save and help others more than anything, and to him, it didn't matter coming out as a winner in the end, because to him, saving meant winning. It didn't matter to him what happens to his own body because he always put others over himself. But he always looked up to Kacchan and admired him for his determination to win no matter what, and to him, Kacchan is the image of victory, Kacchan is the embodiment, the symbol of winning. In Izuku's mind, Kacchan always had what he didn't.

His whole view of what winning is supposed to be comes from Kacchan, not All Might. Deku started to view Kacchan as his image of victory at the moment when he saw him stand up to his bullies. And the image of saving is what comes from All Might, as we know from that debut video that Izuku loved.

For Kacchan, his image of winning comes from All Might, but the image of saving has always come from Izuku. Right from that first moment when Deku reached his hand out to him. At first he thought it was pity, but deep down he always knew that it was more than that.

He knew that Izuku's desire to save was stronger than anyone else's, and that's what made him concerned. Because Deku's desire to save was so strong that Katsuki knew he'd go to any lengths to do it. Even if it meant hurting himself in the process.

------

“I’d never admit something like this to your face, but the truth is…when I get riled up and my desire to win surpasses my desire to save someone…without meaning to, I start talking like you. You’re so mean sometimes, and I hate it, but my idea of victory is so tied to the image of you in my head, that in those moments I can’t help but imitate you."

Bakugo wasn't the only one who rejected this side of the other at first. Deku hated it, he used to suppress this desire to win inside of him because he saw that as a weakness too. He knew that saving came first, but upon being riled up, he'd throw that out the window, and he didn't want that. He thought of it as a side of himself that he should reject.

But over time, he has also grown to accept that side of himself, and he started to realize that winning is just as important as saving. His idea of victory is so tied to the image of Kacchan in his head, that he can't help but imitate him whenever he desires to win. Kacchan is the one who gave the Win to Save to Izuku, because the idea of what winning is supposed to look like comes from Kacchan too. Without Kacchan, it wouldn't exist. And without Izuku, Bakugo's Save to Win wouldn't exist either. For Katsuki, the Symbol of Saving is Izuku, and that's why he starts mumbling and analyzing in the last battle. That's why he jumps in knowing that he'll die, because he knew Izuku would do the same.

It has always been them. The story has always been about them, because they complete eachother. They are the two sides of the same coin. Without the other, they wouldnt exist.

Because remember, Izuku's body only moved on its own once he realized it was Kacchan.

And Katsuki's body only moved on its own once he realized that Izuku was in danger.

They are the person that awakens the hero inside of the other. Without the other, they wouldn't be true heroes. They were always meant to be true heroes together, because they push each other to be their best self, and they couldn't reach their full potential without the other.

So I say it again: the story is about the two of them and how they become the ultimate heroes together. The story wouldn't exist without the relationship that they have. THEY give each other the meaning of what it means to be a hero. All Might was always just an ideal, something that planted the dream of being a hero inside their head. But not in their heart. They never needed him, because All Might was their hero, but they were the ones in each others life.

They are two halves, and by embracing the other, they embrace being a true hero as well.

And do they ever become true heroes?

They do, and let me explain it.

This panel right here is very important in more ways than one. I think this panel is meant to symbolize the peak of the entire story, it's meant to symbolize them achieving what they have been working for in the entire manga.

This is the beginning of them being true heroes. Quoting All Might, "both of those feelings are necessary in a hero, otherwise they’ll never truly be able to represent justice". And right at this moment, their feelings become one. This is the moment where they finally embrace both sides of the coin. "Their feelings become one"="Their desire to Save to Win and Win to Save become the desire to Win AND to Save"

It's not Save to Win OR Win to Save anymore. Neither desire is stronger than the other anymore.

Look at Bakugo's panel. Right at that moment when his and Izuku's eyes meet, he realizes that winning isn't as important as it was anymore. He realizes that he desires to save Izuku just as strong as he desires to win. He realizes that winning doesn't mean anything if Izuku isn't there by his side.

And when Izuku sees Kacchan, he realizes that he has to win in order to be able to save him. He has to win this fight, because if he didn't, his world wouldn't have Kacchan in it anymore. He realizes that he has to keep fighting on, for Kacchan. That he has to win so Kacchan can live on in a world where he is safe.

At that moment when their eyes meet, both of their hearts feel that Saving to Win and Winning to Save are equally important.

By embracing the connection that they have, by embracing their other half, the person that completes them, they have finally given eachother the heart of a true hero.

[inthehouseoffinwe]

Aite, female character and general inclusivity rant incoming. Hate it and want to make a post? Sure. But give me the respect I gave those who inspired this and don’t tag me in it:

People immediately bringing the ‘female character’ argument into things drives me insane. Like we know she’s a female character, but trust me, that’s got very little to do with why people dislike her.

Are some people misogynistic? Absolutely!

Are most people misogynistic? No.

When we talk about Galadriel, and Luthien, and Elwing, and Aredhel, and Nimloth, and Melian, and Nerdanel, and Ahsoka, and Padme, and *insert literally any female character from any fandom here*, being female has nothing to do with it. It barely crosses our minds.

So for the love of all that is good, stop bringing ‘but she’s a female character! Anyone who sees her as anything but perfect, or thinks the male characters made better choices than her is obviously horrible and misogynistic and would never do this to a man :(‘ Into arguments.

I don’t care how few there are in the work. You can explain why you like her without blaming people for hating on the fact she’s female when 95% don’t. There are very literally hundreds of other reasons people interpret fictional events which portray the fem char negatively.

Especially in work like the Silm which is written by a canonical in-universe historian with basic backstory. We have every right to see him as unreliable and play with what that could mean. Doesn’t make it misogynistic if we want to see female characters as more shifty than they’re outwardly portrayed. Many of us often do the same with male characters, and even if we don’t, you have no right to judge someone so harshly when you barely know a thing about them outside an online persona. 99.9% of people don’t even consider male vs female when they write these things. And it’s not because of some weird subconscious misogyny either.

This is mainly aimed at those who bring this up over. And over. And over again in some weird attempt at guilt tripping people into ‘liking’ characters.

On the topic of things people do that make no sense, if characters are stated as being white, and an artist draws them all white. You have no right to say they’re being racist or whatever else you want to come up with.

Nor do you have the right to slander anyone who casually points out the character is white if others draw them as anything else. If we can call out whitewashing, we can talk about the opposite too. As long as the person isn’t being outright rude, have a conversation.

And don’t get me started on tagging pieces of fanart and fics specifically created platonic with a ship. Like the work? Great! Now respect the intentions of the person who created it.

No one in a fandom space, especially artists and writers, owes inclusivity of any kind when running off canon source material. You want to blame someone for a boring cast, blame the author! But even in general? You don’t get to force or guilt others to create content - original work included - that fits your ideal.

Yes I’m a writer and artist of original and fan content. Yes I’ve experienced all of these directly or indirectly.

Sincerely, a young brown woman tired of all the double standards.

[genericpuff]

I feel like if Rachel wanted, she could’ve genuinely made LO an intriguing story if she decided to have characters likes Persephone, and Hades, and Hera being assholes and hurting people, the story showing us how much they hurt and then the characters not caring in an obvious way to show them as of being terrible. Like having Persephone’s inner monologue as she manipulates Hades and has the King of the Underworld wrapped around her finger and how much she would’ve enjoyed that. Try to show characters like Minthe in a sympathetic light without trying to double down on how evil they are.

Oh yeah, I LOVE indulging in dark fiction with fucked up protagonists, but the reality is that in most of them they actually, y'know... acknowledge that those protagonists are fucked up, and are usually used as a way to showcase why people like them shouldn't be empathized with (and it's even more satisfying when they inevitably fall on their own sword, see: Walter White, Light Yagami, etc.)

Sure, the execution of the narrative might find sneaky ways to make you empathize with them, but it's more so to call into question your own ideals and really make you think about what you're empathizing with vs. glorifying them.

I wrote an essay ages ago about Episode 165 that you might be interested in reading if you haven't yet. It basically explores the concept of what would have happened if Rachel had stuck to making Persephone intentionally manipulative, rather than trying to play both fields at once by writing her doing genuinely shitty things but still trying to pass it off as justified and "girlboss". I wouldn't have nearly as much issue with the narrative if the point was to show Persephone become corrupted over time at the hands of Hades, or if Persephone herself was a genuinely awful person whose actions came to light over time and justified why she'd make a perfect Dread Queen, but neither of those are the case here. Rachel just writes her like the 2016 Tumblr definition of a "bad bitch", someone who thinks it's cool to be mean to anyone who they deem weaker than them but cries when they have to ask the waitress for extra ketchup LOL (I could go into a lot about how Rachel herself behaves that way but that's a way more loaded topic for another post)

[olderthannetfic]

A fandom friend is convinced there's something wrong with me and I must have self-worth issues because normal people with healthy self-esteem and self-image wrote OCs as a kid that were self-inserts. I didn't, I wrote characters who were basically whatever I thought was cool at the time (which changed a lot over the years) and into something weird to add flavor to them. So instead of my Arab, ADHD AFAB self writing Arab ADHD AFAB OCs who shared my interests, I'd have a white autistic guy whose special interest was geology and who also loved basketball (I hate sports), or a black agender kid who had some symptoms of schizoaffective disorder, was really into art and art history and loved sweets. One character would be cool like my dad, always witty and ready to say a cool one liner, and another would be cool like my mom, calm, controlled and never responding to haters. None of them share much in common with me. And my friend is convinced this is a mental health red flag, because normal people and even abnormal people always write OCs who are like themselves, idealized versions of themselves, or otherwise are some degree of self-insert.

The more I think about it, the weirder I feel for not doing this. It feels like I didn't do fandom correctly, but also, maybe she's right? Maybe there is something wrong with not putting myself into my narratives. Why wouldn't I put myself in my fics if I liked myself? It's really unsettling to think about but I think I've realized she might have a point.

Then I thought of you. You've been in fandom way longer than either of us (we're both teenagers, for context) and you know a lot about fandom and psychology. So I figured if anyone could tell me what this says about me, it'd be you. What does it mean if you never wrote any OCs with self-insertion components and just kind of wrote random things instead? Does it mean anything bad?

--

Your friend is a moron.

'Fantasies about self' vs. 'no fantasies about self' is a major division among people. It's not just a page on the asexuality wiki about sex fantasies but an entire axis of interest. Hang around slash/BL fandom in particular and you will find a metric fuckton of people who never self-inserted.

Self inserts make my skin crawl.

It is a feeling of visceral disgust that was always there. How can anyone like that? Don't ask me to. Don't tell me about it. Ew, ew, ew, ew. It's like a mild form of dysphoria it's that bad sometimes.

Tell your friend to stop using Wattpad as the litmus test for normalcy.

Some of us were always more AO3.

[wolfsbanesparks]

Could you elaborate more on marvel family insecurities and their transformations??pls more about Mary 🙏?

-Same anon that ask about freddy/capt marvel junior appearance

Hi anon! I'd be happy to elaborate!

Let's go one by one shall we?

Billy:

So Billy, in basically every iteration, receives his powers when he's at his lowest point--homeless, orphaned, alone, with a history of bring hurt by people that should have protected him. His Captain Marvel body is not just who he wished he could be/an idealized version of himself, but also takes on a form (in most versions at least) similar or identical to his dad.

The reason (in my interpretation of things) that Billy's Cap form is an adult is because he was at a point where he was very insecure about being a kid on his own. He felt powerless for a long time, forced to just deal with whatever life threw at him. He was old enough to know that people don't respect kids they way they do adults and they don't trust them the same way either. If he wanted to be a hero that was respected, that people could trust to take care of them, then he had to look the part--and to Billy that meant looking like an adult, the one he loved and respected the most aka his dad.

For all that Billy and Cap are a wish fulfillment fantasy, Billy is a kid constantly growing up too fast, being more responsible than any kid his age should have to be. Being Cap lets him indulge certain childish things without losing the respect he'd fought so hard for.

It's also partly wanting to look powerful so no one tried to mess with him (Billy gets beat up and bullied all the time but people would think twice about doing that to someone like Captain Marvel). His Cap form is almost like a protective shield between him and the people who hurt him.

Also because I love my trans Billy headcanon, I think that having such a grown up, hypermasculine looking idealized self reflects a lot of trans kids who can't imagine how their transition will go, but know what they wished the end result would look like. Billy wants people to look at him and see a man, not a girl.

Freddy:

So I touched a bit on this in your first ask, but in most iterations of the character Freddy's ideal self is just who he was before the accident that disabled him. Across iterations, Freddy has always been very confident in himself, very self assured, very comfortable with his looks and his place in the world. That is until he becomes disabled and suddenly he can't do the things he used to, he's constantly in pain, and he feels weak/like a burden to those around him.

He essentially wants to turn back the clock and be fully able-bodied again.

This works best when it's about a Freddy who is recently disabled and is struggling with that, especially the sudden new rejection/prejudice he has to face, but it can also worked for a Freddy that has been disabled for most of his life as well, who largely sees his disability as the primary obstacle to becoming who he wants to be.

Barring the most recent comics, he's always been depicted as a teen while powered up, showing he doesn't have the same hang ups about being a kid vs adult that Billy does. He knows that if he proves he's capable then people will love and respect him despite his age.

Mary:

Mary is an interesting case because unlike the boys her interpretations have been more evenly split--some depicting her as a teen and others as an adult. The current run has her basically looking the same age as she is, but because she's older (18-19 since she's a college freshman) she straddles that line.

Earliest versions of Mary have her being a teen. So much like Freddy, those versions of Mary don't have hang ups about needing to be an adult to be respected and powerful. Which makes sense because she was rich and smart and talented at everything she did--her parents never stifled her and people rarely told her no (not even Billy could tell her no) She had as much power as a girl her age could have and she delighted in proving she was just as strong and capable as any boy, she didn't need to change her appearance to do that. (People have even joked that despite having the Beauty of Aphrodite as a power she still looked the same--she was already as beautiful as she wanted to be)

Now some versions have her looking like an adult to match Billy's Captain Marvel and in those versions she's often said to look like their mother, which i think is crucial. Taking Power of Shazam Mary as the main example, she has amnesia and has forgotten her birth family so looking like her birth mother gives her a really solid connection to that part of her family that she desperately doesn't want to forget again. She can't forget her mom's face if she has the exact same one now can she? (I imagine she is deeply insecure about her own memory because of the amnesia)

But she is also, on some level trying to consciously match Billy's Cap--he's her blueprint in a way. She looks older in part because he looks older, if she wants to keep up with him/become the same caliber of hero as he is then she needs to look the part.

Now current Mary, who is an older teen and looks roughly the same while powered up, often feels caught between two worlds (kid and adult, magic vs normal, hero vs civilian) and is afraid she won't live up to Billy's legacy despite being the one he entrusted powers to. But being older won't help her the same way it does her younger foster siblings--she's already technically an adult, she doesn't need magic to make her one.

I can definitely flesh out these ideas some more, but that's the basic gist of my interpretations! I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say about it!

[yourplaywright]

Thinking about who would succeed Megatron as Decepticon leader

Like, okay, I have two very specific scenarios in mind: one where Megatron and Optimus are basically teleported away and locked away somewhere and their respective teams have to rescue them (alive!! They all know they’re alive because that changes the scenario a lot) and so someone must lead. The second scenario would be a proper passing of the torch, which I’ll get to later. These both take place in the Generation One Cartoon continuity, also before the 86 movie. No one is dying lol

But…. yeah, who would?

Before we can get to that, we do have to ask: what makes a good Decepticon leader? Like, why does Megatron lead?

My short answer is the fact that Megatron has been the defacto leader for so long now, plus the ideals he embodies. The Decepticons are less like an organised team in the cartoon and are more akin to a pretty dysfunctional military family bitter rivals… who also have space guns. Yeah. As we can see in many episodes, Megatron’s leadership tends to default to ‘Yell And Threaten And Hit’ which works! Some of the time! <Cue One!Starscream saying his bit about strength over another, yada yada.> Megatron pretty much just hits anyone who tries to overthrow him.

… which leads to a pretty nasty power vacuum, like what we saw in the 86 movie, though less intense due to how he’s still There.

Obviously, Starscream tries to swoop in immediately with his ‘MEGATRON HAS FALLEN’ spiel. Cue Shockwave hitting him.

Starscream fails as a Decepticon leader because, despite the fact he’s wickedly smart and does have the firepower and a few followers to back him up, he’s very shortsighted. His flaws lie in how impatient he is, really. Screamer is smart but doesn’t have the (semi) wisdom in leading that Megatron has acquired. Short term gain vs long term consequences hasn’t clicked in his mind yet, and it probably won’t for a while. I believe in one continuity Megatron specifically stated that he was kind of training Starscream to take over as leader for the qualities I mentioned but that he wasn’t ready yet, as evidenced by everything. He has a long way to go before he can lead bots like the Decepticons, even if he won’t admit it.

So, Soundwave, yeah? Dude’s the glue holding this army together, whenever he leaves it all goes to scrap, he’s probably puppeteering Megatron behind the scenes. While very funny, I honestly doubt he’d ever take full control in the cartoon world. He did have a bid for power in the 86 movie IIRC but was content enough to follow behind Starscream when he won. What gives? Soundwave works best as a spymaster/communications guy. He’s in Megatron’s ear as a trusted advisor and someone to fall back on, but he never takes full control. Soundwave flourishes when he’s not in the limelight like Megatron does, dude goes on whole stakeouts where he just chills in altmode until someone gets curious and picks him up (or the infamous lamp transformation). Laserbeak is also a very specific spying tool. Considering how it seems like he has to go at least partially AFK during those sessions, it’s best he works in the shadows to help out the leader behind the scenes. He also strikes me as the kind of guy to really believe in the Decepticon cause beyond Megatron, so he would be forthcoming to a leader who can actually lead (looking at you, Screamer).

Then… Shockwave? Absolutely not, I love my guy but he’s a bit of a joke (CARTOON ONLY. I’m aware he’s actually scary in the comics). My mans got relegated to guard duty on Cybertron, which he fails at REPEATEDLY all the time once the space bridge is open and also those female Autobots kept stealing from him. Dude can’t shoot to save his life, he tries to bid for power and goes down after Astrotrain and Blitzwing make a 5-klick treaty to beat him up a bit. In the situation where Megatron is still alive, I suspect he might even split off from the main ‘Cons to stage his own rescue mission, because half the guys are arguing and the other half are scheming to get rid of Megatron. My favourite girlfailure probably gets captured almost immediately, but it’s the thought that counts.

So who leads the Decepticons? Ahah, clickbait, because I’m saving that for tomorrow. Though a quickfire:

Astrotrain does not get very far, I’m sorry. We saw how he turned out.

Blitzwing, if he had the opportunity, might be somewhat competent accidentally. With his SIC the former coach, he interrupts some Autobot plans and has a basic outline for rescuing Megatron before he’s stopped, either by another ‘Con or the Autobots.

The Constructicons self-destruct. They’re barely functional together and now they have to compete for leadership? Done for, over with. They’re saved by the fact that they form Devastator and can wreck the competition, but Hook complains about the state of the Decepticons, Long Haul wants to best up Autobots, and Scavenger’s best isn’t good enough.

Skywarp and Thundercracker don’t really have personalities ): My boys follow Starscream, being terrible advisors (one moreso than the other).

Waahoo. More to come tomorrow, might mess around and do the Autobots too, who knows!

[ladyartichokie]

Okay, I've kind of put this in tags of different posts but I want a full post about it.

Since the first time I listened to Epic: The Musical (what had been released thus far) certain parts of the story have bugged me a little bit. (STAY WITH ME, THIS ISN'T A HATE POST). Odysseus seemed different from Homer's Odysseus in a way that I couldn't fully explain. I thought that perhaps it was motivation (honor vs. family, etc), which it is to an extent, but that's not fully it.

Disclaimer: when I talk about "the ends justifying the means" I mean evil means justifying a good end.

BUT NOW I GET WHY. In "Keep Your Friends Close", Aeolus says, "The end always justifies the means" which brought me back to my high school freshmen lit class. We read the Odyssey (and the Iliad) and basically every conversation we had on it was either: 1. Can we trust literally anything Odysseus says? 2. Do the ends justify the means? I don't have examples off the top of my head (I'll likely reblog this later with examples) but Odyssey Odysseus was ruthless. He wasn't as trigger-happy as some other Greek heroes (*cough* Achilles *cough*) but he is an ancient Greek standard for intelligence: that meant being able to kill when necessary without getting emotions involved (i.e. that time he killed Dolon in The Iliad). For Odyssey Odysseus, the ends had to justify the means.

BUT for ETM Odysseus, the ends don't justify the means. He kills Hector's baby son but he is emotionally torn up about it. He refuses to kill Polyphemus--despite Athena's demands--because he wants to be merciful. (In the Odyssey Athena and Odysseus never have this argument, btw). For ETM Odysseus, mercy is more important than making sure the job gets done. This opinion is obviously a lot more palatable for modern sensibilities.

ETM Odysseus is clever, but he isn't cunning. He is a trickster but I wouldn't call him a liar. ETM Odysseus, as a whole, is far more similar to a modern hero than an Ancient one. (I could go into how Christian morals have shaped most of Western Civilization but I'll contain myself for now). AND NOW FOR MY THESIS: ETM is a story about a modern hero in a world of ancient morals. The Odyssey is a story about the ideal ancient hero in a world of ancient morals.

But, as I said, this is NOT a hate post. I'm the daughter of two philosophy PhDs: there is little I love more than a story that explores hypothetical morals. Coming to this conclusion about the difference between the Odysseuses just makes me even more excited to keep listening to ETM.

[matan4il]

Man Suang review

Spoilers! (obviously. Also, this was written after watching the movie just once, to give my opinion as "raw" as possible)

This may seem like a weird spot to start, but I feel like I really can't review this movie properly, without pointing out that it's Moulin Rouge, except set in another country AND another genre. The latter gives it a very different feel (to a great degree, due to tone as well, MS is a serious movie, while MR, even while it does want you to care, doesn't take itself too seriously), but the basic structure of the two movies is too similar, so I have to start there.

In both cases, the movie revolves around (and gets its title from) an entertainment center, which is beautiful and alluring, but also serves as a stage for some of the uglier sides of human urges. This entertainment institution houses performers of low social status, who often also must prostitute themselves to the rich and powerful people who frequent the place. And while the whoring is pretty much built in, and no one bats an eye at it, this setting also allows for some murderous intents to surface. The plot is centered around an exceptionally beautiful and talented, lowborn entertainer, who must sell their body to get by, having aspirations to get a better life through this, and the seemingly simple guy, who is a part of their social circle at this entertainment place, who has his own aspirations, and is not as lowly, which is why he doesn't have to stoop as low as prostitution, and can offer something different. Despite the connection between them, they're both trapped in plots bigger than them, set into motion before they even met, and they have to struggle to find their way amidst all this intrigue, which moves them almost like they were pawns. By the end of the movie, there will be betrayal between the two, but also repentance, and an act of choosing each other over their initial ideal, allowing them to make decisions that are "righter" than they would have, had they not met, and ones that give them more freedom than had they simply served the initial goal they were supposed to. Through that, they gain more freedom and agency. Yet despite that, they don't end the movie being together.

Now, why do I bring this comparison up? Because while MR doesn't take itself seriously, like I said, it does want the viewer to care, and it achieves this by recognizing that they can make a mess of genres, of reality vs hallucination (hello Kylie Minogue as the Green Fairy), of time periods (soundtrack and props that have nothing to do with the year 1900), be as camp and over the top as they wanna be, but if the characters and love story are compelling, we'll all still be riveted.

And that's generally true for every movie. At the end of the day, whatever the genre, we watch first and foremost because someone made us care in some way about at least one of the characters or relationships featured in the film. My fave action movie ever works so well, not because its climax scene is so full of fists (in the middle of a lake at night in total darkness, with the very real threat of the good guy being drowned by the bad one), it hits home because this fight will actually be decided by whether the cold-blooded CIA handler, who had to train the good guy, has come to care enough about him, to be able to tell the two men apart even under these circumstances, and shoot the right person (meaning, the bad guy), saving the protagonist and countless others along the way. It's this test of their (BTW, fully platonic) relationship, that makes up the film's real climax.

So, probably my biggest issue with MS is that it seems to lose sight of that too often. It's so focused on telling us this political mystery, that it forgets at the end of the day, we're here for people and how they feel about and react to each other. The heart of the movie is the relationship between Khem (played by Apo), the entertainer forced to whore himself out, and Chat, the one guy who sees him dancing, but doesn't want just Khem's body. The parts that let their relationship breathe and develop are the best in the movie, they're the ones that feel the most authentic, interesting and impactful. They're the emotional anchor of the whole thing, and even though the movie too often neglects them, and doesn't give them enough time, they just work thanks to Mile and Apo's excellent acting, and their outstanding chemistry. Truly, it's once again a testament of how well these two fit as a team, that they're able to achieve so much, when they're giving too little breathing space for the relationship that is, at the end of the day, the very heart of the film.

The cinematography is great, though I'll admit that I was not that into the colors, I usually like vivid colors, but here they were oversaturated in a way that added a certain sense of heaviness and suffocation to my viewing experience. In a sense, it fits. Man Suang is both beautiful and ugly, alluring and repulsive. Still, I think it would have been a better choice to add the unnatural oversaturation as the ugliness unfolds. First let the viewers be seduced by the beautiful imagery and colors, only then hit them with the ugliness that all of the glitter hides. But then, the movie actually hits us with the ugly bits, with prostitution and murder, in the exposition already. Which makes me think the whole movie could have benefited from a more gradual unfolding of those parts of the entertainment world we're introduced to. Still, I will say that the parts where Khem and Chat get to know each other better, in the market, flying a kite in the field and chatting while climbed up on a tree, they don't have that oversaturation, they get to enjoy more natural lighting, and it gives these scenes a lighter feeling, which does fit. They do seem less burdened in those moments than throughout most of the film. And then the issue with this goes back to... there's just not enough of these scenes, to really give this contrast its own gravitas.

There are scenes which are redundant, they should have been cut out, like when we learn how Tubtim prefers being a whore at Man Suang than outside it. Not that her short monologue isn't touching, but let's be honest, she's not an actual character. She's a plot device, this short scene is only included to set up her change of heart, when she decides to tell Khem the truth, instead of lying. But since this doesn't give her enough depth or her own agency to become a character in her own right, and since she explains her decision to Khem anyway, it's just a waste of time, and it comes at the expense of developing the more emotionally crucial parts of the movie.

And it's not like the movie doesn't know where its emotional weight is. For example, the film's emotional climax, the moment where tensions run highest, is without a doubt the confrontation between Khem and Chat, when they accuse each other of choosing themselves and being willing to sacrifice the other one to do it. It's an effective moment, but I think it would have been so much more powerful, if we got to spend more time seeing Chat and Khem becoming increasingly more important to each other.

For that matter, the real resolution in the movie isn't to the supposed mystery of who has the secret documents and how to get them. It's the resolution of what to do with them, which is where Chat and Khem had clashed. Chat needs the documents destroyed so he and his family won't be punished (possibly killed) for his father's crime. Khem needs the documents delivered to the authorities so that he and his friend won't be punished (possibly killed) for a murder they were framed for. The real resolution of the story is when Khem chooses to burn the documents, so Chat and his family will be safe, and after he leaves, Chat saves them from the flames, and has them delivered, securing Khem's life and reward.

I really liked this part, and again, it felt lighter than the rest of the movie, giving a real sense of relief (visually as well, as there's less oversaturation, and both guys change into nicer outfits, with brighter patches of color). I also enjoyed the more complex POV they offer by the end. They both didn't want the life they were born into. Khem didn't like being of a low socio-economic status, being dependent on the good will of others. Chat didn't want to be a civil servant like his dad. As the movie ends, Khem chooses to stay at Man Suang, turning down the social mobility reward Chat was able to secure for him, while Chatra accepts a position serving his country. Seemingly, they both had to accept their predestined fate. But the fact that they get to choose it now, makes a difference. They see the good they can do, and they're not deprived of humanizing agency. The delivery of this in their dialogues is also quite lovely, with Khem talking about how each type of boat is made for very specific conditions that it must sail, while Chat brings up the fact that now, there are new types of ship, which can defy expectations, and sail in any conditions. They're both right, and they complete each other in describing the place that they ended up in. And the mutual parting, as they both "entrust" something to the care of the other, does reflect their bond.

Still, all of this would have been even more poignant, if this relationship had been given more space. As is, I feel like I even have to guess to a degree why they do care about each other, and why they do end up choosing the other's best interest over their own.

It's a bit clearer with Khem. We see him being exploited for sex, because of his beauty and grace, instead of being seen and appreciated for his talent and hard work. Chat is different. He helps Khem more than once without asking for anything in return, and Chatra also compliments him on his performance. Other than him, there's only one person who seems not to want anything from Khem, his long time friend Wan, but even he ends up betraying and being willing to kill Khem, when Wan doesn't get what he wants from his friend (revenge against all Chinese people). Once more, Chat is different. Yes, he points his revolver at Khem, but he doesn't pull the trigger, he doesn't use the leverage he has in order to force Khem to do what benefits Chat. Instead, he puts down the revolver, and tries to explain himself and his attempt to save his family.

What makes Chat like Khem? I find that a bit harder to answer, though there's a clear and real interest there, which goes beyond Chat's secret mission with the documents. He saves Khem from being discovered during their first meeting, and doesn't ask for anything in return. Chat pays attention to Khem at rehearsals, to his dancing, to his tendency of getting into trouble when not backing down at the face of bullying or injustice... So we can assume Chatra likes all of that. And then he does explicitly express his interest, when he admits to Khem he wanted them to spend that time together at the market.

Which I guess brings me to the question of... okay, so is this a love story? Their relationship is obviously vital to the story, but is it a romantic one? The movie seems to wanna leave it open to interpretation. Maybe it's my hopeless romantic streak, I do wanna see it as a love story. I think there are some hints for that. The mutual interest and liking, even at the stage when they've barely spoken to each other, the way they end up choosing each other even at the possible cost of their own life, the explicit admission from Chat that he was looking to spend time with Khem at the market even when it didn't appear to have anything to do with his secret mission, the way Chat's admission seems to not only make Khem happy, he looks shaken up, there's the kite flying scene, which is played for laughs (flying a kite is apparently Thai slang for jerking off), but still, it's a choice that the movie made, to add a layer of sexual tension there. And then there's the scene where they're trying to figure out who's the woman in red if no one was wearing red on the night they're investigating. Chat steps into the spot where the woman had been, his shirt white, and red light is projected over him. Khem stands in front of him, and they stare at each other for a moment. To me, it serves a double purpose. One is that Khem realizes Chat just handed him the solution to that part of the mystery. The other is that films often illuminate characters in red to show lust and even love. So this might also be a moment when it hits Khem that his feelings for Chat, who's been helping him, who he trusts, run deeper than he realized.

I do think Man Suang would have been braver and better if it had openly gone with the romantic interpretation. It's not just me being an incurable romantic. I also think that, much like in MR, the relationship that changes the course of the two main characters has to be a really strong one, enough for one to decide to give up his life for the other. I'm not sure that friendship quite cuts it, especially when this relationship didn't have that much time to develop (def not enough screen time, but also not enough in-story time). Was love between two men back then a simple thing to admit to? Of course not. But men did fall in love, and even acted on it. I'm not talking here full blown sex. But enough that the audience would know for sure what they feel for each other. On a local TV show, I was reminded that when the small fingers of two people, who are forbidden from any physical connect, do touch, even briefly... something that small and fleeting can still be a confession of deep love and yearning.

Another thing I wish they'd done is make more use of the unspoken tension created by one man dancing to the beat struck by another one. This was so present and delicious in the first teaser released for Mileapo's movie (before it even had a name and a script), I wish they had retained that. It's somewhat present (Khem says he danced so well, thanks to the beat Chat set for him, and then in the scene exposing Tiang, it's Chat's change in drumming that sets the stage for Khem revealing the treason through dance and song), but could have been used so much more. The play between real life and art, the connectedness or contrast between the two men when they're on the same page versus when they're not... There's so much potential for non-verbal drama, and they captured it beautifully in that teaser, so why is it almost non-existent in the film?

I also... I know that the movie is set in the 19th century, and I don't expect 21st century tolerance to be projected back onto it, but I find it hard to ignore that we have one character spew homophobic shit, Khem denying having had sex with another man, basically agreeing it's wrong, and at the same time, men exploiting other men sexually is not looked away from, it's very explicit and built into Khem's story. Each one of these things can be true in its way (there was homophobia, people did have to go with it, there was male on male exploitation alongside this homophobia), but when every explicit thing in this context is negative, while the one positive (the possible love story between Chat and Khem) remains implicit and optional at best, it feels like it unintentionally leans into the homophobic narrative. Take Brokeback Mountain for example. The environment in that movie is highly homophobic, prejudiced, rude and even violent about it. And while Jack and Ennis had a lifelong love story, they couldn't actually live it out in the open because of said homophobia. Ennis in particular would rather punch a guy, than admit Jack was the love of his life. And still, we got to see their love, we got to see that even with all of the societal hardships, it brought them warmth and comfort, and was a reason to risk a lot, even for Ennis, who was so acutely aware of the threat to their lives. I like that BBM was honest in depicting Ennis and Jack having sex, but at the end of it, even without those scenes, the love between them was enough of a counterweight, that it never felt like the movie unintentionally reinforced a negative view of what two men can have together. With MS, I feel like a homophobic casual viewer, who won't get that Chat and Khem saved each other through something that might be more than just friendship, could easily have their negative view reaffirmed.

All in all, I enjoyed MS. I loved seeing Mile and Apo acting together again, I missed that, and their chemistry is just as superb as ever. I'm not sure the movie, getting as distracted from the main relationship as it did, would have worked without their unique addition of beautiful acting and chemistry. So, I would recommend it to friends, but I guess I would also really love to see a better paced, edited and re-focused version of it. Shine, Mileapo's show that will follow in the footsteps of MS, might deliver that. I can't wait to see! ^u^

(if you're curious about any of my other Mileapo/Kinnporsche posts, you can find them here)

[accio-victuuri]

cpn time: yibo’s new songs 🎧

here we are, two songs and a bunch of short video clips later, but this post will be more about the lyrics. if you haven’t listened to the tracks then please enjoy bystander and everything is lovely first before anything else. i’m so thankful that wyb has kept his promise to fans of bringing us a new song every year and also performing it during nye. he may not be the most obvious when it comes to appreciating his fans but this is the best example of his commitment to sharing himself to fans and treating us.

i will start with some minor clues before we get into the lyrics and all that clowning interpretation. 🙇‍♀️

1. The first 3 photos that yibo-official released as soon as it turned 12:00, one of them was color pink, or you can say, very light shade of red. His photos released before had a more solid red like that from a traffic light but this one leans more towards pink.

A very nice choice of color knowing how he relates pink to being the color of love and and all the other symbolism we attached to it.

& when yibo posted it, he placed the pink one in the middle vs yibo-official’s who placed it on the right.

2. Same choice of words between their studios, especially with reference to the gap of time. We are definitely looking closer than a normal fan would when it comes to their studio’s captions, edits, posting time etc and to a normal fan this would just fly over their head. but the amount of coincidence between the two is too much!

3. QQ released parts of the lyrics and this one, the chorus of everything is lovely ( up to the part talking about love of coming home ), the word love was mentioned 23 times. Love Zhan. I mean, we all know this boys loves 2 and 3 😂😂😂

4. The timing of release for their projects this day. Another example of how they don’t overlap with the day or time. XZ’s marie claire was between 10-12 and then WYB stuff of course started coming out at 12:00. this follows their pattern 👀

5. I really like what this bxg discovered, the way everything is lovely was written, if you turn in upside down it may read wyb loves xz. 🤯🤯🤯

for those of us who have been subjected to xz’s artwork and the little things he hides, this should be believable to you. he is known to do these things, even without the cpn intention.

==================

BYSTANDER

I gotta say, i’m leaning more towards this song, i didn’t expect it! I just love how it sounds and i’m with those who felt nostalgic while listening to it. it seems familiar and brand new at the same time. The melody of the first few lines got me thinking of words ( bee gees ) and the guitar/drums played are excellent too! I hope he sings this with a live band please! 🙏🏼

I often watch, listen and feel like reaching out to touch.

Holding a handful of seawater to see it’s dreamlike color.

this is more of a song ( atleast to me ) that speaks of who WYB is as a person. a bystander/spectator/onlooker. he is someone who observes people and keeps quiet first before engaging. but that doesn’t mean he is indifferent, in this song, he talks about admiring the things around him.

i’m also thinking of a wish to be a bystander. XZ/WYB repeatedly said that the super power they wish to have in invisibility so they just roam around without people noticing them. in a way, it’s wyb’s ( and by extension xz ) wish to be able to do this.

Embrace all the joys and sorrows of life. Listen to the plucked feathers speak, wings aiming for the vast sky.

Watch a fallen leaf repeating until the four seasons bring it back to the branch. I cannot see another galaxy but believe in me in a more distant place.

i see this as basically yibo and zz’s view in life, they are willing to go through the good and bad. their lives may seem ideal because they are celebrities but it’s far from that so they just have to focus on the good.

Don’t ask me what i’m looking for, let life pass through.

it’s him just wanting to be left alone, to allow him to go through his life without people watching his every move. or maybe there isn’t anything he is looking for or aiming for, he is just enjoying and going through his life. This line speaks to me so much! There’s really no need to be constantly trying to achieve things and be exhausted by the end of it. Sometimes, it’s okay to sit back and enjoy the simple things.

EVERYTHING IS LOVELY

I have discussed this song before, especially the chorus that covers a lot of the CPNs. I feel the same way about my interpretation of those lines even after learning the lyrics of the whole song.

My hands, accustomed to patting my head, opening up the memory of the river and pond. There are always a few good friends by the side.

Listening to the cicadas, watching the fishing boats.

WYB who likes to pat his head as an example 😂 so this is really from his POV and a more personal touch to start this song.

Listening to the cicadas and watching the fishing boat? This paints a picture of them during CQL shoot and hanging out.

I’m cackling tho at bxg interpretation of the lines that talk about river & ponds and then him having friends on the side. So who are the friends by that pod? Turtles? LOL. 😂😂😂😂

How to distinguish between people, whether post-00s are young or very mature.

This is so WYB. Reminding us of when he always made a point to say that GG looks so young or that they have no age gap 🥹🥹🥹

Under the mud, lotus roots finally grown. Please, lotus flowers do not look back.

Lotus roots/ Lotus flowers. What a peculiar choice to include in the song. Maybe there is some deeper explanation here that has something to do with culture or what but as a clown, our minds went to CQL.

It’s a part of the story and who can forget that behind the scenes of WYB pulling out those lotus seeds for XZ? 🙃

I tightly hold on to the people i once lost.

I like the way some people have interpreted this line. If what we think is true, that they lost each other at some point after the cql shoot then this line makes sense. They had some time apart after that shoot and XZ went to Japan to clear his head. The people around them also encouraged to take this time away from each other and get out of character. But they still found their way back as XZ/WYB. 🤍

The main thing in this song tho is— everything is lovely because you (xz) are in everything. 😭😭😭😭

-END.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 9

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

I feel so weird sitting here in the morning reading this, this has been my night-time routine for 8 chapters!

In all honesty the fic I was reading this morning just wasn't it/my brain kept coming back to my boy Shen Qingqiu, so here I am 8am on a Sunday heading into the Borderlands.

My teas are for evening- so this morning, hazelnut coffee!

ah, okay, intro to this chapter. I have been wondering how the afterlife works in this series. I hope we find out more than "the border of human and demons realms" p167

JK lol this is a physical place and not an afterlife p168

oh gosh, this is quite a mess! (Re: the political upheaval within the Cang Qiong Mountain sect as well as vs others) I kind of want to know what the side quest Shang Qinghua went on in the demon realm. p169

Oh baby Luo Binghe keeping Shen Qingqiu's corpse :( p169

okay but he also took Mo Qingfang with him so maybe they were trying to figure out a way to bring Shen Qngqiu back? p170

I would have loved to be privy to the Tea that Lu Liu was about to spill about his theories of Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu ahaha but instead we got a knock on the door interrupting p171

who is this newcomer??? Wait who's the second one?? The anticipation!! pp172-173

wait. "what year is it?" New character or??? p174

I fucking cant. Yes it is Shen Qinqgiu. but also the dramatic flair is too much RE: "faking your death is overdone, I must therefore actually die :)" p174

omg SQQ had a backup body made from the mushrooms! This is so wild. This was definitely Shang Qinghua's side quest for sure. p175

omg I can't stop laughing. What is with MXTX killing the leads and then twinkifying their new bodies. p176

it's been FIVE YEARS?!?!?!?!? p177. Oh damn, bless that he has an abundance of spiritual energy now!

He really told them his name was peerless cucumber- oh my. p178. Can we talk about how they then immediately stated he was a bottom with the Peerless "chrysanthemum, crown, flower.."p178

The hypocrite lol "It is wrong for you to profit from their misfortune" after he literally stole all the clothes on his back and a fancy fan for fun (and cultivating, but let's be real mostly fun). p180

why does everything just come back to SQQ just fantasizing about Luo Binghe's dick? We went from SQQ ranting about demon naming conventions to what he would call Luo Binghe's actual dick LOL p181

HEAVENLY PILLAR-JUN - pls end me XD stooop. p182

Meanwhile we have these demons sweating because they think this man is incredibly powerful and very unstable as SQQ laughs maniacally then slaps himself. p182 I really don't think they are wrong TBH.

oh no! I need to now what Liu Mingyan has been doing in the badlands! p184

but also SQQ assuming that Liu Mingyan is Luo BInghe's wife.

OOOOOO Sha Hualing is back! p185 I like love her as a villain, but hate her as a character. She's in a weird place for me, but I appreciate her LOL

Who the heck is this youth? p186

Jesus christ. the fact that in this moment SQQ hates Sha Hualing's nails- not because there is a kid about to get slice and diced, but because in the novel she uses them to tear up Luo BInghe's back when they fuck. I cannot with this man *face palm* p187

okay we have a name for this young master- Yang Yixuan, and this little baby is Liu Qingge's disciple! p188

learning about how Luo Binghe's cultivation works with his need to basically dual cultivate to level himself out has me officially believing that the system basically allowed SQQ to build the ideal body for Luo Binghe. he definitely has the excess spiritual power LOL p190

This interaction with Sha Hualing and Liu Mingyan tho...I really love Liu Mingyan! Wait- oh no! Not her clawing her face!!! p194

okay she did not get her face clawed

Well, my theory about SQQ building the perfect bod has more merit with the nuns now out of the picture. p197

Holy shit. he actually is strong enough to break through immortal binding cables!! p199

NOW he notices the script change LOL p201 "Shen Qingqiu had certainly never planned to fill in the gap they left behind himself. He had that old feeling of having accidentally picked up the wrong script- it made him vaguely suspicious that the scam of a System was still around"

Dang! he broke the net too! p201

and we have a small appearance by Luo Binghe!!!

Yay! I am so excited i've missed the system, glad it's back. even though it seems kind of broken lol p203

Well "peerless xiangsheng" and "senior peerless" are certainly better than peerless cucumber LOL p205

oh my. Well I mean, he's not entirely wrong is he? Re: Lu Liu's epic tale of the tragic one-sided love between Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu. (and this is the Tea I wanted at the beginning of the chapter, I am so happy about it). pp206-207

oh my sweet summer child "Those details aren't the slightest bit reliable, okay? 'The Truth' your sister! Even if I had no girl to fondle for twenty years, no matter how wretched I became, I wouldn't get so desperate that I'd get gay with a guy! Let alone get gay with the male lead!" p212

This Chapter LOL

This was definitely a needed pick up after we had that wretched death. But now I am so curious! I need to know how this turns into their weird but epic love story. When do these two collide??? What happens next???? (do not answer any of these questions LOL no spoilers, but I am very excited to read on).

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group F, Round 3, Poll 4:

Propaganda under the cut

Tsurumi Tokushirou

in two words: "it's love". I was already insane about this guy but this line. just wow. the context is a flashback in which Tsurumi has been away fighting in the Sino-Japanese war and is now telling his dojo master that even trained soldiers are typically reluctant to kill another person and many will only pretend to fire their weapons. he spent a long time considering how you convince them to overcome that before figuring it out. "the motivating force that can bring out the aggressiveness in your soldiers... it isn't hatred of the enemy troops, nor is it fear... it isn't even a difference in political ideals. [what is it then?] it's love". this man is *surrounded* by soldiers who will do anything for him and you slowly see through multiple flashbacks just how much he has been pulling strings for *years* to make them love him. this particular flashback involves two fourteen year olds fighting over his attention until one of them kills the other and tsurumi helps cover up the murder and tells the murderer how *of course you have always been my favourite*. that kid goes on to work under him and when tsurumi draws on his face as a punishment he gets the drawings tattooed on so they stay forever. in another case he orchestrates the kidnapping of a different 14yo son of a navy commander by "Russians" (his loyal subordinates) and then pulls off a dashing rescue, earning the livelong military support of the dad and a major crush from the son. this kid chooses to go to army route rather than follow his dad into the navy, specifically because of tsurumi who he also ends up working for. he can't speak comprehensibly to tsurumi and edits himself into photos of him. case 3: while a soldier is away at war he crush appears to commit suicide by drowning in the sea. upon finding out that his dad told her he wasn't coming back, he beats him to death and ends up on death row. I forget exactly what info is revealed when but a) the woman is alive and tsurumi helped her move to Tokyo and get married, b) tsurumi planted fake bones under tsukishima's father's house to frame him for her murder, c) this then allowed tsukishima to be freed from jail, as long as he agreed to work for tsurumi as a Russian translator (he doesn't speak Russian at the time), d) tsukishima doesn't know all of this initially but tsurumi sets things up so he overhears a convo that reveals some of it so that he can know exactly what lengths tsurumi went to and feel even more in his debt, e) tsukishima later realises that conversation was set up and its purpose but *even with that knowledge* and being probably the character most aware of Tsurumi's manipulations, the pull is too strong and he will follow him to the ends of the earth. literally his only goal in life now is to have front row seats to the Tsurumi Theatre, which btw involves chasing convicts around to obtain their skins, wiping out entire prison populations and invading parts of Russia. he sometimes blames his erratic actions on the brain damage caused by a mortar shell to the forehead but he was doing all the same things before that, just more quietly. he knows *exactly* what he's doing and has everything planned out in detail

that post by @temp-propaganda because no way I can fit that all in propaganda section

Goncharov

He spends the entire film lying to and manipulating as many people as possible to achieve his ultimate goal (Katya is an obvious example; her having enough of that is a driving force behind their breaking relationship), and also including himself (insisting that he doesn't like Andrey when they're basically about to kiss anytime they're on screen). Also Gaslight Gatekeep Goncharov amiright

[lanshappycorner]

Some type of analysis

I reread the landot vs epidem chapter and I came to a really mortifying realization (that was probably really obvious but) .....Lance/Dot and Orter/Alex parallels..........

Lance = Orter

Dot = Alex

To start with the obvious, personality-wise they're similar. Orter and Lance are both pretty cool and detached, they work in their own self interest (or Orter does Pre-Alex Incident). Dot and Alex are hotheaded, but kindhearted people who do their best

Appearance-wise, Alex and Dot are similar (spiky hair, similar lines on their faces). Lance and Orter have similar hairstyles too and a default resting bitch face I'm afraid </3 Orter and Lance are both older siblings, while Alex and Dot are younger siblings

The difference is where the interesting stuff comes in

Orter and Wirth do not have a good relationship, whereas Lance and Anna have a great relationship. Alex's brother died, while Dot's older sister is....alive as far as I know 💀 so the circumstances are different

I guess this somewhat builds a foundation for their relationship going forward and I know this is gonna sound crazy but please bear with me Aleorter is like Landot if they were doomed yaoi. Trust me

The foundation of their relationships already kind of builds the vibe for their stories, and aleorter are basically set to be doomed

Orter works in his own interest, doing whatever he wants. He meets Alex, who he becomes fond of despite their contrasting ideals (and how Orter doesn't show affection lmao).

Eventually, Alex gets fatally injured and Orter comes too late to save him, only able to watch him die. Alex tells Orter that despite everything, Orter still came, asserting that Orter still cares. He also says that to prevent deaths like his brother's, he's willing to give up his life.

Now with Dot and Lance, Lance initially starts off working in his own interest too, not caring about others and doing what he wants to achieve his goal.

Unlike Orter, however, he was able to make friends and had a support system (with his friends and also with his sister growing up, unlike Orter who did not seem to rely on anyone, even his own brother. Very important to know that lance+anna and orter+wirth have similar age gaps in between them, being 4-5 years).

It's similar to the scene where Alex implies that Orter still cares. But unlike Alex, Dot is much more upfront about the fact that they're friends, and that he cares for Lance. Lance then changes his attitude to work together with Dot to defeat Epidem.

Anyway Lance was able to divert himself from whatever path Orter was on with the power of love and friendship I guess (<very deep analysis)

During the battle with Epidem, however, he temporarily switches to his old mindset, causing Dot to punch his lights out and remind him that they're friends and that of course he would help Lance, and that Lance doesn't have to carry these burdens by himself

Orter...did change his attitude after Alex's speech, but Alex was no longer with him, and his words became twisted. Not that Alex said anything bad, but Orter's interpretation of it sucked😭😭 so theres that

So where Alex and Orter's story ends, Lance and Dot's story continue. In the heat of the moment, when it seems like Dot is about to be killed, Lance throws himself in front of the attack, and "dies"

(We know he doesn't die, but in the moment, Dot doesn't. He genuinely thinks Lance died). This is a direct parallel to Alex's death scene imo, and we can hypothesize that in a world where Orter was able to come in time, he would've done the same thing and sacrificed himself for Alex.

When Lance is "dying" in Dot's arms, Dot tells Lance that his sister still needs him and he still has a lot left to do for her :( whereas Alex has no sibling left to live for. He admits he's willing to die to prevent anyone else from dying like his brother, and in that moment, there was nothing Orter could say or do in response to that

In the scene where Lance "dies" protecting Dot, Epidem says that saving Dot wasn't very logical. Lance asserts that maybe he is foolish, but he found himself acting despite everything

This can eventually be tied back to the scene where Orter eventually sacrifices himself for landot, Mash and co, he's told that he's being irrational. This time, although Orter does call himself irrational for placing his trust in others, he asserts that this is the most logical decision he could make....to sacrifice himself :(((

IN ADDITION

When Alex died, the scene took place in the rain. We can assume Orter was crying but due to the rain, we can't really...tell. In this case, where Lance sacrificed himself to save Dot, we see how pained Dot is, but his expression is hidden for a moment.

In the next scene, we see a frame of just Lance's face, "dead" in Dot's arms, and Lance has Dot's tears on his face, implying that Dot was, very obviously, crying (hence, his tears landed on Lance's cheek).

Those are some of the parallels I could find, but the fact that Dot is a parallel to Alex makes sense, considering out of Orter's 2 students, Dot is clearly the one who is more attached to Orter too

In one official art, Dot is drawn next to Orter, while Lance is stood somewhere else. In a lot of panels where Orter is looking at landot, Dot seems to be the bigger focus, and Dot also seems to be more visibly frustrated/devastated at seeing Orter in danger

This doesn't necessarily mean Lance and Orter aren't close, or Lance cares about Orter any less, but the fact that Orter and Dot's closeness is more emphasized does seem to be pretty deliberate and even more so if Dot is supposed to be Alex's parallel

Lance, on the other hand, is Orter's parallel. This would give his win against Wirth and acknowledgement of Wirth's efforts a deeper meaning, considering Wirth has always seeked the approval of his family.

Orter does eventually praise landot, but he never praises Wirth (or at least on screen), so it's rly interesting to me that Orter's parallel in specific is the one to defeat Wirth and praise him for his efforts.

I have no clue how to conclude this but basically landot aleorter parallels real