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lena-in-a-red-dress · 4 months ago

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Musician Age Gap AU Pt 20 of 20

The first year, Kara knows she made the right decision. But that doesn't make it any easier. She retreats for a good week and a half before she forces herself out of her apartment to walk the streets of National City. Day after day she wanders, until one afternoon a spot of color catches her eye.

A butterfly alights on a park bench-- perhaps, Kara thinks, the same one she and Lena had sat upon-- and sits, lightly winking its wings open and closed. It seems out of place, even in the park, at odds with the industrial buildings and zooming cars. Kara sits and stares, thinking unable to help the next thought that runs through her mind.

I wish I could show Lena.

There's nothing that says she can't... the split was amicable, and maybe-- maybe they could still manage to be friends. But as soon as Kara snaps the picture on the phone, she knows she can't. They were never really just friends, were they?

She almost deletes the picture. But at the last minute, she simply slips it into a new folder in her photos app. There it lives, soon to be joined by other images she captures on her walks.

Kara sends a few to Esme, just to satisfy her trigger finger that wants to fire the thing off to Lena. On Kara's birthday a few weeks later, Esme gifts her a slip of paper with an instagram username and password. When she logs in she finds a carefully curated feed of her National City photos, with simple descriptions and minimal hashtags.

It takes her breath away, to see the images reframed not as the product of her heartache, but as hidden glimpses into the city. It makes them less her guilty pleasures, and more... a gift.

It sparks something in Kara, inspires her to continue, and expand her horizons beyond city limits. She starts hiking, first with Esme, then on her own. She buys a real camera and enrolls in classes to learn how to use it.

By the start of year two without Lena, she's hopping planes to other countries, other continents, in search of secret vistas to capture. Her instagram turns into a sister channel for a travel blog, which gains her followers and a small amount of popularity online. She's careful, though, not to put her face on it. She operates faceless, under the penname of KD, and that's enough for her.

She can't say if she hides her identity to ensure any traction she gains is for her work rather than her brief stint as a celebrity's date, or whether it's to keep her work more honest (its more rewarding to find areas on her own, to travel on her own terms than it is be sponsored or reviewing upon request). Or maybe it's simply to avoid the restrictions that notoreity had put on Lena. Not that Kara thought her site could elevate her to such a status, but... she's content with who she is, and how she is.

Every so often, the magazines and tabloids explode with news of Lena, and each time Kara's heart breaks a little-- even as it beats a little harder.

First, there's a bit of a hubbub about ownership rights of Lena's first three album masters. But then, six months later, Morgan Edge is indicted on charges of sexual assault, sexual harrassment, sexual abuse of minors, and emotional abuse. Lena isn't listed among the identified plaintiffs, but Kara knows. Kara knows, and her hear breaks.

The world is shocked when Lena testifies to her own abuse at Morgan's hands, the world is shocked, but Kara isn't.

Kara *is* surprised when news breaks of Lena obtaining new management shortly after the trial. Though the press frames it as Lillian retiring, Kara knows nothing short of a cataclysmic schism could cause a split between Lena and her mother.

And when Lena does release new music, three years after she leaves Kara in Alex's driveway, it sounds... different. Not a bad different. A good different. Kara has known since Paris that Lena's personal life fuels her songwriting, and it's clear that's still the case-- just as its clear that this album had been written in the midst of the legal battles and personal journey of confronting her abuser and coming out the other side.

When Kara listens, she hears acceptance, empowerment, and forgiveness. She hears Lena's value in herself, and a strength in herself that Lena has fully embraced. One song in particular resonates, not just with Kara but seemingly the entire planet. When Kara watches the VMAs with Esme that year, Lena performs *that* song with a full chorus of women behind her, making it a veritable anthem for victims' strength.

If Kara cries, she knows she's not the only one. It may no longer be her place to be proud of Lena, but she is. She is so, so proud.

After that, Lena becomes more visible. She takes more interviews, more guest appearances on talk shows to both advertise her new album and to advocate for victims and the charities that proceeds from the album will support. Kara doesn't go looking for these interviews, but when she sees one playing in the airport lounge she can't help but stop and watch, and marvel at the peace she can see in Lena's features.

Right around her birthday, five years into her travel-photography life, Kara readily accepts Esme's invitation to help her tour Metropolis University. They make a weekend of it, including sight seeing around the city, and even getting last minute seats to the taping of a talk show.

To their shock and surprise, the guest who walks out is Lena herself.

Kara clutches Esme's wrist, who blanches under Kara's accusatory glare. "I swear I had no idea!" Esme hisses. Her eyes are wide and frantic. "Do you want to leave?"

Part of Kara does want to leave, but she knows that bustling out now would only call more attention to themselves. So she simply shakes her head and settles in.

The interview starts just like all of the others Kara has watched over the years. Good natured banter, then a segue into the purpose of Lena's visit. She discusses her philanthropy, her album, all the usuals, and Kara sits enraptured.

Her heart flutters at the smooth cadence of Lena's voice, richer and more velvet than Kara remembers. And the Lena she remembers had always contained such coiled energy that Kara wondered how she ever sat still. But now, she's relaxed and at ease-- upbeat and engage, but with a calm she didn't have five years ago.

Towards the end of the segment, Lena asks to share something new.

"Well, some of you may have heard it, but it doesn't officially come out until next week, so it's *mostly* new. I wrote it a while ago, when a relationship was still new, so-- here's to all the people hoping for more."

A production assistant carries out an acoustic guitar, and when Lena starts to strum, Kara's heart leaps in her throat. The lyrics Lena sees are bright and hopeful... starry-eyed if a song could be such. It's a song of a crush hoping to be something more, a promise of love if only it were accepted.

Kara can feel Esme swaying to the tune, bopping just a little bit to the chipper beat, but she only has eyes for Lena. For most of the song, Lena looks either at the strings or the middle distance. But then, as the bridge leads into the final chorus, she scans the audience.

Holding her breath, Kara expects Lena's gaze to slide right past her. But with wide eyes of her own Kara sees the moment Lena catches sight of her. Green eyes widen momentarily, sparking with surprise, then pure delight. Lena's features spread into a kilowatt smile before she slides her gaze away. Kara swears the strumming gets a little more enthusiastic, Lena's voice a little brighter.

When it finishes, the applause from the audience should be deafening, but Kara can barely hear it, even when the crowd stands in ovation. She watches as Lena and the host exchange thanks and pleasantries, and then Lena exits, still waving and beaming.

Kara leaves with the rest of the audience, numb and quiet as Esme stands anxiously beside her. Had that song-- could it have been about--

"Wait!"

A vaguely familiar call makes Kara pause. She and Esme turn to see a young woman with dark hair trotting towards them.

"Excuse me!" Jess calls as she nears. "Would you come with me please?"

Esme's hand closes defensively on Kara's, but Kara responds before her brain can talk her out of it.

"Sure."

Jess leads them back past the soundstage, through a maze of turns that terminates in a cinderblock hallway lined with doors. Kara doesn't have to guess who's behind the one Jess drops them in front of.

Jess meets Kara's gaze with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Miss Danvers."

Kara can barely offer a smile back before Jess reaches out to turn the knob. The door opens.

Lena stands on the other side, a respectful distance from the door but plainly anticipating their arrival. She straightens as the door swings wide, and Kara can barely bring herself to step inside for the way their proximity has turned her legs to jelly.

Lena smiles. "Hey there," she exhales.

"I--" Kara's voice cracks, forcing her to try again. "Hey."

"Hi, Lena," Esme offers nervously. Kara could kiss her. The distraction pulls Lena's gaze from Kara, giving her the chance to catch her breath.

Lena's eyes widen slightly. "Esme?! Wow, look at you! Does this mean you're too old for a hug now?"

Esme giggles. "No!"

The two hug warmly, and Kara's amazed to see that Esme is almost taller than Lena, now.

"I loved the new song," Esme tells Lena, grinning.

"Thanks," Lena returns. Her gaze slides back to Kara. "I've been profiting off my pain and heartbreak for years. Figured it's time for some of the good stuff to see the light of day."

Kara swallows thickly. "Was that about..."

Lena nods, shifting self-consciously on her feet. "Yeah." She looks at Kara, her gaze open and vulnerable. "Did you like it?"

"Did I--? Lena, I think everyone in the world is gonna like it."

"No offense to the rest of the world," Lena says in a low voice, "but I don't care what they think."

Kara can feel Esme's eyes bouncing between them.

"Honey, could you give us a minute?"

"Yep," Esme says swiftly. "Right. I'll just go wait... It was Jess, right?"

The door closes, leaving Kara and Lena in a room charged with electricity just waiting to spark.

"Do you still feel that way?" Kara can barely bring herself to ask the question, but knows if she doesn't she'd regret it forever.

Lena shifts again, wiping her palms on the front of her jeans. "Would it make any difference if I do?"

It's a fair question. Has anything really changed? Lena is still a critically acclaimed and internationally beloved artist, and Kara... Kara pauses.

Lena's circumstances may not have changed, but Kara's have. She isn't a forty year old a hairsbreadth away from a mid-life crisis anymore. She isn't miserable in her day to day. She lives comfortably doing something she loves, something she knows she'll never give up. And though she may not have had any serious relationships since she last saw Lena, she's closer to her family than she's ever been. She isn't *alone*.

That knowledge allows her to offer the truth.

"Yes," she breathes. "It would."

Lena's eyebrows lift hopefully, an astonished smile sprouting on her lips. Then it softens to a mirthful grin. "Slower this time. Lest I whisk you away on tour again."

"Hey, now," Kara chides softly. "We had some good times on that tour. All five weeks of it."

Lena laughs, the sound bright and happy and golden. "Yeah," she agrees, before falling quiet. She gazes at Kara with soft eyes. "I've missed you, Kara. You have no idea how much."

"I might have some idea," she allows, thinking of her own life the past five years. "A lot has happened I've wanted to tell you about."

Pressing her lips together, Lena guiltily shoves her hands in her pockets. "I... I think I might have already seen some of it."

Kara blinks. "What?"

"Okay, maybe all of it? KD Photog on insta?"

"Wha... how!?!?"

"I saw a picture on insta of a park that seemed familiar, and when I looked a little closer, I found out the photographer lived in National City. I swear I didn't know it was you, I just admired the photos. It wasn't until I followed to the website that I suspected."

Kara stares at her, breathless. "Wow," she exhales.

Lena's expression falters. "I didn't mean... I'm sorry, I guess I should have-- I should have stopped reading once I suspected."

"No, Lena, it's fine," Kara reassures her, regathering her wits. "I don't mind. It's just..." She hesitates for a moment. "Esme is the one who actually first set up the instagram account. I'd sent the photos to her... so I wouldn't send them to you."

Green eyes blink at her, shocked. "Oh."

"I never thought you'd ever see them," Kara continues. "But I'm glad you did. Because I did want to show them to you. Every single one."

Lena's eyes crinkle at the corners. She tilts her head to one side. "Then it sounds like we have a lot to catch up on."

Kara nods. "We do."

"I'm actually in town for a while," Lena tells her. "Maybe... maybe if you'll also be here, we could maybe... do dinner."

Kara considers the offer. "Are you free now?"

Lena blinks, the breaks into a brilliant smile. "Yeah."

"Then how about dessert first?" Kara turns her chin over her shoulder. "Esme?" she asks totally conversationally.

There's a squeak at the door, confirming that Esme's curiosity had her pressing her ear to the door. Then, "um... yeah?"

"Would you like to get ice cream with me and Lena?"

The door flings itself open. "Oh my god, YES!"

Lena's laughter fills the room, filling Kara with a warmth she hadn't totally realized she'd been missing.

As they gather up their things to leave, Lena clasps Kara's hand gently. "Dinner...?"

"Just us," Kara promises. "If that's okay."

Lena nods, her fingers tightening on Kara's.

"I can't wait."

Stepping out into the open air of the city, Kara feels something new bloom in her chest. Seeing Lena this time feels less a whirlwind than more a simple fork in the path on one of her hikes. The paths look largely the same, except that one includes Lena holding her hand.

One thing Kelly said, in perhaps the first year after Lena, that had really resonated with Kara was that lasting romances really only required three things: the person, place, and timing.

Right now, even in these early minutes, Kara feels hopeful that maybe--just maybe-- they might finally have all three.

#supercorp #musician age gap au #it is finished!!!#feedback is loved and adored #i hope you like it!!

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evertomorrowart · 1 year ago

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Best of YouTube 2023

Yes, I did spend the first week and change of January on this. I wish I could have had it done for New Years, but too many people came out with incredible work in December, so waiting turned out for the best.

What these creators do are a huge influence on my life, I would honestly have difficulty doing what I do without them. That isn't to say that my favorites of the year are *only* on this image--It was almost impossible to narrow down my favorites. Many creators I wanted to include couldn't fit on a single page, and too many of them made more than one video I wished I could draw too!

But, to all of you, thank you for what you do. You're an inspiration.

For those who don't know, further is an explanation.

At the bottom center is an artistic masterpiece by Defunctland: "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History." Over the last several years, Defunctland has risen from delightfully-entertaining commentary on decommissioned theme park attractions to occasionally dropping profound statements on the creation of art itself. "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History" is worth treating like the cinematic experience it is: No second screen, you sit your ass down in front of a TV, set down the phone, and then you *watch it.* Any Disney, theme park, or independent film fan needs to pay attention to this one.

Bottom left is Caelan Conrad with their piece "Drop the T - The Deadly Consequences of Gay Respectability Politics." While I do think they've done more visually or artistically-daring pieces before, "Drop the T" is one of the most important videos released on YouTube in today's current climate of hate. We as queer folk (and our allies) need to understand how integral every identity of the queer experience has been since the start of the Civil Rights movement (and before!). While we are not identical, we *are* inseparable, and we deserve having our real history easily accessible.

TERFs and other conservative mouthpieces need not reply. Your opinions are trash. 😘

I cannot stop watching and rewatching this video by @patricia-taxxon, "On the Ethics of Boinking Animal People." It's not just a defense of furry fandom and its eccentricities, it's a thoughtful and passionate analysis of what the artform achieves that purely human representation can't. Patricia goes outside of her usual essay format to directly speak to the viewer about the elements that define furry media (the most succinct definition I've ever heard) and just how *human* an act loving animal cartoons really is.

As an artist who can draw furry characters, but never really got into erotic furry art, this video is a treasure. Why did I choose to have her drawn as a Ghibli character, hanging out with one of the tanukis from "Pom Poko?" Guess you'll have to watch, bruh.

Philosophy Tube continuously puts out videos that I would put on this list--I'm not even sure that "A Man Plagiarised my Work: Women, Money, and the Nation" is the best work she released in 2023. However, this video got many conversations going between myself and my partner, and the twist on the tail end of the video shocked us both to such a degree that I had no choice.

At the very tail end of the year, Big Joel released "Fear of Death." On his Little Joel channel, he described it as the singularly best video he's ever done, and I'm inclined to agree. However, for this illustration, I ended up repeatedly going back to a mini-series he did earlier in the year: "Three Stories at the End of the World." All three videos are deeply moving and haunting, and I was brought to tears by "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot." While it may be relatively-common knowledge that the original Gojira (Godzilla) film is horror grappling with the devastation America's rush to atomic dominance inflicted on Japan, Big Joel still manages to bring new words to the discussion. Please watch all three of the videos, but if, for some reason, you must have only one, let it be "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot."

Y'all. Let me confess something. I hate football. I hate watching it, I associate seeing it from the stadiums with some of my worst childhood experiences, I despise collegiate and professional football (as institutions that destroy bodies and offer up children at the feet of its alter as a pillar of American culture)--

I. L o a t h e. Football.

But.

F.D. Signifier could get me to watch an entire hour-plus essay on why I should at least give a passing care. AND HE DID IT. I might think "F*ck the Police," the two-parter on Black conservatism, or his essay on Black men's connection to anime might be "better" videos, but this writer did the impossible and held my limited attention span towards football long enough to make a sincere case for NFL players--and reminds us that millionaires can *in fact* be workers. That alone is testament to his skill.

Sit down and watch "The REAL Reason NFL Running Backs Aren't Getting Paid." Any good anti-capitalist owes it to themselves.

CJ the X continuously puts out stunning, emotional videos, and can do it with the most seemingly-inconsequential starting points. A 30 second song? An incestuous commercial? Five minutes of Tangled? Sure, why not. Go destroy yourself emotionally by watching them. I'm serious. Do it.

Their video Stranger Things and the Meaning of Life manages to to remind us all why the way we react to media does, in fact, matter. Yes, even nostalgia-driven, mass-media schlock. Yes, how we interact with media matters, what it says about us matters, and we all deserve to seek out the whys.

Folding Ideas has spent the last few years articulating exactly why so much of our modern world feels broken, and because of that his voice continuously lives rent-free in my brain. While the tricks that scam artists and grifters use to try to swindle us are never new, the advancement of technology changes the aesthetics of their performances. Portions of Folding Ideas' explanations might seem dry when going into detail of how stocks work in This is Financial Advice, but every bit of it is necessary to peel back the layers of techno-babble and jargon and make sense of the results of "Meme Stocks."

Jessie Gender puts out nothing but bangers, her absolute unit of a video about Star Wars might be my new favorite thing ever, but none of her work hit so profoundly in 2023 than the two-parter "The Myth of 'Male Socialization'" and "The Trauma of Masculinity." There's so much about modern life that isolates and traumatizes us, and so much of it is just shrugged off as "normal." We owe it to ourselves to see the world in more vivid a color palette than we're initially given.

Panels drawn after Kate Beaton and "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands."

"This is Not a Video Essay" is one of the most intense and beautiful pieces of art I've ever put into my eyeballs. Why do we create? What drives us to connect?

I don't even know what else to say about the Leftist Cooks' work, it repeatedly transcends the medium and platform. Watch every single one of their videos, but especially this one.

The likelihood you are terminally online and yet haven't heard of Hbomberguy's yearly forrays into destroying the careers of awful people is pretty slim. Just because it has millions of views doesn't mean that Hbomberguy's "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" isn't worth the hype. Too long? Shut up, it has chapters and YouTube holds your place, anyway. You think a deep dive into a handful of creators is only meaningless drama? Well, you're wrong, you wrong-opinion-haver. Plagiarism is an *everyone* problem because of the actual harm it creates--the history it erases, the labor it devalues, the art it marginalizes--which you would know if you watched "Plagiarism and You(Tube)".

Watch. The damn. Video.

In fact, watch all of them!

Thanks for reading this if you did.

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eamour · 1 year ago

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emotions do not matter.

! this post was highly inspired by former loa blogger aphrodite apprentice !

emotions and feelings, the way neville coins these words, are of different nature. when speaking of emotions, we are speaking of unconscious emotional experiences. feelings, however, are a conscious act and usually a reaction to our emotions — which, according to neville, are the secret to help us manifest.

emotions vs feelings.

an emotion is an immediate reaction to your emotional state of mind, whereas a feeling remains a lot longer and is felt for a longer period of time. emotions could be joy, fear, anger, lust or sadness. the counterparts in feelings would then be happiness, anxiety, bitterness, love or depression. if something unpleasant happens in your life, you will react to it emotionally first. only later, you will be able to form a feeling. as you can see, an emotion is a lot more intense and often manifests in a physical reaction (ex. facial expressions), not based on any reasoning while in contrast your feeling is based on logical reasoning. you could say a feeling is a way of explaining an emotion with thoughts which you have felt due to external experiences. this also means that not every feeling will always be accurate enough to explain an emotion and how you actually feel emotionally.

emotions cannot manifest ...

once again, a feeling isn’t the emotion itself. your feeling has nothing to do with our emotional state of mind but rather your mental state of mind. that means that your feelings, longterm, are more concerned with what you feel to be true or false, right or wrong and real or unreal.

mental · relates to the mind; thinking process.

emotional · relates to emotions; feeling process.

... only feelings can.

especially because a feeling does not necessarily have to correlate to an emotion, it is entirely up to you to define your feeling. you could replace feeling with what you accept, know or believe to be true. it's a thought. and an emotion isn't. you may not help the way you emotionally feel — and you shouldn’t! you should never suppress an emotion and feel sad, angry, etc. — but you can make the conscious decision to define your feeling. and since a feeling is a state, after all, you can manifest anything you'd like while feeling like you are at your lowest (or highest). your emotions will not manifest!

emotions arise.

as i was saying, an emotion is a pretty much sudden response. you may lose something and feel bad about it, maybe you had a fight with your friend or perhaps you were told some unsettling news. whatever it is, you will always feel some intense type of way from time to time.

emotions fade away.

the thing is, emotions come and go. you may feel super joyful one minute and then feel super sad the next. that’s totally normal, and we are definitely not trying to fix our wonderful human nature in any way.

emotional responses.

emotions are a response. when manifesting, when changing your feeling, you might also experience emotions of some sort. you may feel euphoric of manifesting something that has always felt very prestigious or hardly available to you.

but the same way, you could not feel anything at all. some manifestations aren’t going to move you the way some manifestations do, but that’s not an issue! the premise is, you don’t HAVE to feel excited. you don’t have to jump out of happiness whenever you think about how you manifested to find your keys you had lost the other day. remember, emotions come naturally. you don’t have to force them.

accepting and persisting.

the only thing you really have to do is to accept your desire as yours and persist in that assumption. feel it to be true, to be real, to be factual. that’s what feeling the wish fulfilled means. the feeling of your assumption to be realty.

with love, ella.

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david-talks-sw · 7 months ago

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The OTHER type of Star Wars fan

We've already covered (through this longer post and this addendum) that research shows George wasn't that involved or interested in the derivative material of the Star Wars franchise, also known as the Expanded Universe (EU). Aside from approving a few points, he let Howard Roffman and Lucasfilm Licensing handle it.

He is the first to say that he ain't as knowledgeable about Star Wars lore as we fans are.

Thing is... he's also not as passionate as we are.

Recently, I was watching some Q&A videos of George R.R. Martin, the author of Game of Thrones... and it occurred to me:

Martin is what most Star Wars fans wish Lucas was.

Think about it.

He's a talented writer who likes to focus on morally "gray" characters and complex political plotlines,

who created a series of novels for a mature audience in which his narrative merely asks questions and lets the reader draw their own conclusions,

knows and engages in the lore behind his creation and will often respond to those lore-heavy questions, and has gone on record stating that canon is the glue that holds a story together and keeps it coherent.

Contrast that with George "continuity is for wimps" Lucas, who:

Wrote a movie franchise which is also, partially, political... but he makes it for kids, and he's explicit about how this is thematically a clear-cut story about how the conflict of "good vs evil" is really about "compassion vs greed",

with flat dialogue, boring cinematography,

and whose approach to lore and canon can be summed up in his answer to how Anakin got his scar:

"I don't know. Ask Howard [Roffman]. That’s one of those things that happens in the novels between the movies. I just put it there. He has to explain how it got there. I think Anakin got it slipping in the bathtub, but of course, he's not going to tell anybody that." - Pablo Hidalgo’s set diary, August 2003

And as a Star Wars fan, I will admit that some of his casual retcons felt disrespectful, growing up.

"Boba Fett is NOT Mandalorian?!"

I had the same reaction when I saw an interview of Kathleen Kennedy stating she was a fan of Star Wars... from a filmmaking perspective. That seemed like such a finagling cop-out for me, at the time.

"Just say you're not a real fan, God!"

And it's easy to divide it in two camps, like that. You have 1) the real fans, who will delve into deep lore, and 2) the average moviegoer, also known as the "filthy casuals."

But looking back on it... holy shit, that is actually a completely valid way of being a Star Wars fan.

Yes, Star Wars is a transmedia franchise, it's books, it's video-games, it's deep lore, it's lightsabers and Jedi and Sith and bounty hunters and Ewoks and Jabba and High Republics and Tython and Revan etc.

But before it was that, Star Wars was a filmmaking revolution. A juggernaut of innovation for the silver screen that inspired most of today's filmmakers.

So, sure, George Lucas isn't an avid lore-loving Star Wars fan like you and me. But he is a movie fan.

"I'm not that passionate about this story. I like it, it's fun and I enjoy doing it. But it's definitely not my life. I'm a bigger movie fan than I am Star Wars fan. I like making movies. At the end of nine years of making Star Wars, I was not ready to continue it. I was completely burned out on it. I was more passionate about raising my kids than making movies and especially making Star Wars. So I made other kinds of movies and TV shows and advanced the technology I needed. It's not a matter of passion. My passion is for filmmaking. I'll go and do filmmaking that is easier to do, where you can realise your ideas better. And nine years is a big part of your life, and to commit to another nine years, I didn't wanna do that right away." - EMPIRE, 1999

And you can tell this, when you watch the Star Wars films.

There are honestly so many homages and interesting filmmaking techniques, peppered throughout the six films, which only a nerd for cinema history like George would know how to implement.

C3-PO being based on the droid from Metropolis (1927) is a perfect example of this.

And that's interesting.

Because there's essentially this entire other dimension to the films, where it's not just the story unfolding, but to filmmakers it's also a series of techniques that make them go "I wonder how they did that!" or homages that make them go "OH! I know where that's from!" like we do when an comics characters appears in live-action.

Here's other examples:

CINEMA HOMAGES

All of Star Wars is absolutely littered with homages to cinema history.

I mean, you may already know this, but Flash Gordon is what George originally wanted to shoot, but the copyright holders said they only wanted Fellini to direct it (ironically, George wasn't artsy-fart enough for them). So he decided to write Star Wars instead.

As such, the inspiration from Flash Gordon is also present visually and spiritually throughout the two trilogies.

"It was like a Republic serial, a 1930s-style matinee adventure. The idea was that you came in, saw Episode IV, had missed the first three episodes, and wouldn't get to see the rest of it." - Starlog Magazine #300, 2002

The dialogue that a lot of people refer to as "campy" and "flat" is actually a mix of George being an experimental filmmaker who doesn't give much of a fuck about dialogue (and is by his own admission, not the best at it)...

"I'd be the first person to say I can't write dialogue. My dialogue is very utilitarian and is designed to move things forward. I'm not Shakespeare. It's not designed to be poetic. It's not designed to have a clever turn of phrase. [...] I just wanted to get from point A to point B. This film doesn't lend itself to that sort of thing because it's not about snappy one-liners. I think that Lethal Weapon-style dialogue is overused, it's a necessary aspect of high action films where you have to have the smart retort. You have to say "I'll be back baby" and stuff. It's not my style. It takes away from the integrity of the movie. [...] I'm aware that dialogue isn't my strength. I use it as a device. I don't particularly like dialogue which is part of the problem." - EMPIRE, 1999

... which is convenient, because it helped him simulate the dialogue of 1930s matinee serials, such as Flash Gordon.

"Let’s face it, their dialogue in that scene is pretty corny. It is presented very honestly, it isn’t tongue in cheek at all, and it’s played to the hilt. But it is consistent, not only with the rest of the movie, but with the overall Star Wars style. Most people don’t understand the style of Star Wars. They don’t get that there is an underlying motif that is very much like a 1930s Western or Saturday matinee serial. It’s in the more romantic period of making movies and adventure films. And this film is even more of a melodrama than the others." - Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones, 2002

But beyond that, literally it's everywhere.

The scene where Palpatine ascends to being Emperor as Anakin slaughters his political rivals parallels the final scene in The Godfather, where Michael becomes the Don while his goons do the same thing.

This video compiles all the tributes beautifully. Check it out.

youtube

Even The Clone Wars has whole episodes that are direct homages to cult classics. The Zillo Beast episode is a clear reference to Godzilla, the episode The Wrong Jedi is inspired by The Wrong Man, etc.

"CINEMA VÉRITÉ" CINEMATOGRAPHY

I've already written a whole post (one of my favourites) showing how his fascination with cinéma vérité documentaries is reflected in the cinematography of all six Star Wars films, and it's part of what makes the entire franchise feel so immersive.

You can check it out here:

KUROSAWA

We've gone over how he's a big fan of Akira Kurosawa, and how big an influence Hidden Fortress was on both the Star Wars trilogies...

... but so is the mise-en-scène and the way George approaches production design. The reason Star Wars feels so "lived in" is also a lesson George learned from Kurosawa, which is that by making everything just a bit off-kilter, a bit dirtied-up and imperfect...

... and yet keeping it all consistent, in a way, you manage to make the film feel grounded and immersive, no matter how alien it is.

"[It] may sound odd in a movie like this, but credibility and realism, even in the most unrealistic situation… to sorta create that sense of realism is very important to making the story work and making you feel like you’re actually in the environment that transports you and gives you the suspension of disbelief that you need in order to enjoy a movie. [...] Kurosawa used to call it “immaculate realism” which is to make it slightly off-kilter, slightly eccentric, like things are in real life. Even if it’s a very predictable situation, give it that little funny edge that takes it away from that and makes it realistic. And I had to struggle very hard, in the Star Wars films, to make them appear to be realistic, even though they’re totally fantasy." - The Phantom Menace, Commentary Track #2, 1999

POST-PRODUCTION & VFX

Another one of the more impressive aspects of the first Star Wars was the dogfights and the trench raid of the Death Star. The camera pans with the spaceship, the dynamism of the cuts. The space battles is what made George creat ILM in the first place.

He was determined to do the opposite of what 2001: A Space Odyssey had done with that opening scene where the space ship moves into frame slooooowly...

... so he gave the team a collection of WWII dogfight footage to give them ideas.

(note: this was the same approach he would take years later with Dave Filoni, when teaching the latter how to edit and craft dogfights in The Clone Wars)

The attempt to film the trench run eventually led to the creation of the first motion control camera dolly.

Best analogy I can think of, when describing George's approach to Star Wars, is the following:

An avant-garde esoteric contemporary artist - y'know, the type who puts a blue dot on a white canvas and calls it art - creates a comic.

Why? Because he wants to make this one art installment for a gallery exhibition. After that, he intends to move on to other things.

But the comic is really good! And like, its audience quickly expands beyond just gallery visitors, no, everyone likes it.

Suddenly, the comic develops a cult following, and the entirety of comic book geek culture has zeroed-in on the artist and they're all asking him to make more art! And he makes more! And more!

Then he stops for two decades, moves on to other art projects, raises his kids. Years later, he discovers new ways of drawing, and he's like "I'm making a Prequel to the comic, y'all wanna see it?"

Everyone cries out gleefully: "Oh God, yes! Finally! Show us!"

But this motherfucker makes a manga.

Why? Because he feels like it.

And of course he does, he's just creating art, right? He discovered the graphic tablet, so he's having fun with it, because he's always innovating and pushing the envelope with his art.

And the books are fine, by manga standards. But by comic book standards, they obviously suck! The comic book audience is mad. They wanted another comic book, not a manga. Why is it in black and white? Why is read right-to-left? This comic is crap!

(And arguably, they have a point... as a savvy businessman, he's made a whole lot of money off this comic, he built a media empire out of it, and instead of giving them what they want, he made something else)

But again... this guy isn't a comic book illustrator, and has been very explicit about saying this.

He's an artist who - for a very specific project - drew a comic.

Many things can be true at once:

the fact that these creative decisions didn't always hit their mark for the average moviegoer, or fans of "Star Wars, the space fantasy movies and expanded universe" (usually the lore-loving geeks like myself)...

... and the fact that they were meticulously and carefully crafted in a way that fans of "Star Wars, the revolutionary film" (aka fans of cinema and filmmaking) can appreciate.

There's a spectrum of the fandom, and there is a spectrum in the way we can appreciate Star Wars. Which kinda reminds me of that scene in Chef (2014) where Carl goes on a rant explaining the intricacies of making his chocolate lava cake to a food critic.

It's not just undercooked chocolate. It's molten.

Conversely:

It's not just flat, campy dialogue. It's an homage to the 1930s matinee serials à la Flash Gordon.

It's not just boring cinematography. It's a reproduction of cinéma vérité documentary-style camera work which effectively grounds the film.

Having considered all this, when I hear that Tony Gilroy or Kathleen Kennedy were more fans of Star Wars from a "cinema studies" side rather than the typical pop culture one, I think it's fair enough.

First of all, because like it or not, so was George. He clearly didn't give a single crap about the offshoot comics and books and their lore, besides signing off on minor plot points. He's not a "sci-fi movie director", he's an experimental filmmaker who set some of his movies in space.

But secondly, because - aside from children - it's clear the audience he was targeting was not the fans or the critics... but these very same cinema-savvy people, who get his references and homages, and who were inspired by the new filmmaking techniques he introduced.

#george lucas #star wars #long post #meta #cinema #kurosawa

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vesora · 2 years ago

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there is no past

ive been avoiding making posts because all the info u need is already posted but i saw making this post in a 'dream' so might as well

so what exactly is the past? it is an event or experience that precedes the present time.

however if you have been in the loa community for long you may have realised that the only time that exists is now. i had mentioned this briefly in a previous post but i will expand.

the past and the future are concepts made up of thought and false identification. there is essentially no proof of your past existing except from in your mind. therefore how can we be extremely sure that the past actually exists and it's not something we made up?

there is no difference between an 'imagined' past and a past you think you experienced. they both exist in the mind. it is your false identification with an illusory past that makes you believe that what you see in the '3D' is real, when in fact if you choose your 'past' to be different, the '3D' will 'change' accordingly. this is why neville introduced the topic of revision. everything in this world is malleable. the only reason you see the world as solid is because you assume it's solid. if you believed it was liquid, then it would be liquid. there are no objective facts in this world, only what YOU as the creator deems to be true.

isn't this incredibly liberating? nothing from your past holds you back, because it doesn't exist except in your mind! and guess what? YOU are in control of your mind so you can have your desired past where you experience the things you want to and which reflect on the present day.

every moment is a moment you can start afresh. every new moment is a moment you are liberated from your subconscious habits. destroy what you do not want to experience and let it be destroyed. do not come back to it, it does not exist. maybe your ego wants you to revisit it and you become trapped in the clutches of your own mind and your reality becomes a prison, but how silly is that for a God? when you wish to paint, you gather acrylics or watercolours and buy some brushes but without the action of you painting, the canvas remains empty. it remains as it was before because you did not decide to paint. you just stared at the canvas just wishing, hoping, it would change. there is no such thing as 'inspired' action or any of that law of attraction BS. what i am talking about is the act of DECIDING and ACCEPTING that YOU are the painter and the world is your canvas.

don't fall into the trap of just reading posts and understanding it intellectually, apply it. there is literally nothing holding you back, NOTHING. the human body cannot manifest but YOU can. the habits, memories, and thoughts of the mind are illusory. YOU have the power to choose what you want to experience by consciously identifying yourself as the person you wish to be and identify yourself as the life you wish to live. there is no duality, you ARE it now.

although we have said it countless times, leave the world alone. it only listens to your command. it does not exist without you being aware of it, so why not choose to be aware of something you desire? why not choose to be aware of a different past?

there is nothing to do except realise that the human body-mind is illusory. it cannot hold you back. it cannot MAKE you experience something you, as the creator, do not want to.

be free! you are in control. there is nothing outside of you. all is happening within you. you have an abundance of joy and resources within you, access it. live a life you deserve. take life easy. have fun with the human experience. be your own anchor and be grounded in your own power as god.

#law of assumption #loa #manifestation #neville goddard #manifesting #loassumption #self concept #lester levenson

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rayroseu · 1 year ago

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"Don't be scared even if we wake up from this dream..."

Happy Birthday, Malleus! 🧁🐉✨

I love to think that those years where Malleus was refusing to hatch, he spent those years with Meleanor in the stars...🥹🥹

A Draconias death means they're returning to the stars... which makes me think that Draconias are from the stars before they're born in TWST... Them not being from TWST exactly explains why they're so "unrealistic" in the first place

They can control the weather, they can engulf the sky in complete darkness, they can cast random mountains, they can return a past state of time, they can trespass on a person's dream, they can switch between several people's consciousness, they can stop time, they can cover an entire island and more in thorns and magic, they can make two realms collide, etc

All these traits are incredibly unreal for average TWST cast,,,, which made me think, why is this family the only ones who's so... overpowered?lol But if you think that they are like this, because they're not from this world(TWST) then it would explain why their abilities are "out of this world's realistic standards" in the first place.

Additionally, Malleus' eggshells resembles the galaxy which further proof they can be from the stars✨✨✨ Malleus is also referred to by Meleanor as "a blessed star for faes but a terrifying star for humans".... So she referred to Malleus as a star yk

There's also the fairy from Pinocchio who came from a star, so faes (like Draconias in this theory) can come from stars

So it's like Meleanor who died and returned to the stars but Malleus who's not born and still in the stars, they spent time together there,,,, that's why Malleus took a long time to hatch, because he already has the parental love he craves for as a baby in this star, so why should he live or be born in TWST?🥹

I remember Malleus fears the unknown, and being born in a world is exactly that. But he, as an egg, lights up whenever Lilia talks to him about his life in TWST, so it gives Malleus an idea that this world isn't that terrifying and that he wouldn't be born alone.

(From Meleanor's Lullaby)"Stay with the eyes that still gaze upon you, don't be scared, even if you wake up from this dream" its like during his centuries of incubation, Meleanor was comforting malleus not to be scared and to wake up in the real world now.... even if once he hatches/wakes up, she won't be there for him anymore and he'll forget everything about her (except for the tiny lullaby she often sings to him)🥹😔😔

(tl by cymr on yt)

I guess the reason why Malleus finally hatched is because Meleanor was telling him to go now and experience the world who's not riddled with war and the world where Lilia fully realized his love for Malleus now-- Because he won't be alone. For Lilia will be with him.

That's why when he was an egg he constantly cries for Lilia bcs thats how Meleanor conveyed it to Malleus that Lilia is always there for him, that he can love Malleus if she can't be by Malleus' side...😭😭

There's also this lyric from Meleanor's lullaby... "May you walk to the light that guides you in your dreams" It pains me because Meleanor overblotted during her death, right? And overblotting can mean succumbing to "darkness", so she maybe wishing for Malleus not to be engulfed in darkness (overblot) by walking towards the "light" but uh.... Book 7 😭😭😭💔💔💔

In conclusion, another Malleyuu parallel 😳✨☝🏻 Malleus and Yuu are both not from this world, that's why they're so out of place... Hm...🥹🥹🥹

This is inspired by Mafumafu-san's Nighty Night and bcs of this song I got hit by this theory for Meleanor and Malleus during his centuries of incubation 😭✨🥹

I'm still wishing for more Meleanor and Malleus content, ‼️‼️‼️I will die on this hill istgg😭😭😭

Once again, Happiest Birthday, Hornton 🥰🥰☺️🥳🥳🧁🧁✨✨💚💚🐉🐉

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heyftinally · 8 months ago

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Y'all are going to like this one.

SWIFTIES DON'T TOUCH THIS POST WITH A TEN FOOT POLE, I SWEAR TO FUCKING HELL-

So my friend sent me this article, and I'm going to tell you why I think it's complete bullshit.

1) wishing us a happy Pride month is the BARE MINIMUM. As someone with her presence in the media and social influence, she could - and should - be doing SO much more than just wishing us a happy pride four days in.

2) "the singer has been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community" not a good one. She seems to only remember us when it's convenient or benefits her in some way. Case in point:

2018 - "When it comes to feelings and when it comes to love and searching for someone to spend your whole life with. It's all just really really delicate. You know?" Taylor then performed her song "Delicate."

2023 - It’s painful for everyone, every ally, every loved one, every person in these communities.

In the first example, the intentional song reference comes off as extremely tacky. This is people's LIVES you're talking about. People are MURDERED for who they are and who they love (or don't love). This isn't an appropriate time to pull out the "oh-so-quirky" act and be cutesy.

In the second, the fact that she can't even center queer people in their own experience is so, SO telling. I promise, however painful it is for allies, it's 1000x worse for us to LIVE it. Allies don't have to wonder "am I going to get hate crimed wearing this?" before they leave the house - we frequently do. To not acknowledge that shows me that everything she says is performative at best.

3) I wouldn't call what she does "advocacy". She mentions us every now and then when it's convenient for her, profits off of us when we fit her marketing plan, and I've yet to find where she actually apologized for the homophobia in the original version of Picture to Burn. Also, she's real good friends with Travis Kelce's dad, who is a raging transphobe (and I bet his kids are, too). You don't get to call yourself an ally if you willingly allow the people around you to be violent bigots.

4) "always" is a strong word for someone who seems to show her support situationally at best. The full quote was "The way for that to happen is for us to continue to keep pushing governments to put protections in place for members of the LGBTQ community. And I promise to always advocate for that." Yet she doesn't do that.

5) what she speaks out, I've noticed that it's nearly always in the states that primarily agree with her. We don't see a whole lot of her "inspiring ally" speeches in places like Texas or Florida. But I've seen plenty of them come out of already notoriously queer-friendly places. If you aren't willing to face the heat of the difficult places along with the comfort of the easy ones, you don't get to call yourself an ally. Allyship is not easy. Anyone remember when Lady Gaga advocated for us in Russia, under threat of arrest, and her response was "arrest me, Russia! I don't give a fuck!"? Yeah, I've never seen even half that level of true commitment from Taylor.

6) STOP. MAKING. STRAIGHT GIRL SONGS. "GAY ANTHEMS"!!!! FFS it's such a slap in the fucking face of REAL, ACTUALLY QUEER ARTISTS that y'all keep calling these piss pathetic straight girl over produced crap songs "anthems". Fucking stop it. If they aren't queer, they don't qualify to be a queer anthem or icon. Start supporting ACTUAL queer artists with ⅛ this energy, for the love of FUCK. This bullshit pisses me off. Do you need a list of queer artists? I'll make you one by hand if you promise to stop trying to label Raylor Swift's straight girl shit songs as "gay anthems".

7) rainbows and gender subversion are not exclusively nor inherently queer. If that's our bar for "gay anthems", the bar is so low Lucifer himself needs a damn Webb Telescope to just barely see it from hell.

#anti taylor swift #taylor swift critical #anti swifties #swifties dni #SWIFTIES I SWEAR DO NOT TOUCH MY DAMN POST

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mybabysittersnotavampire · 8 months ago

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My *made up* season 3 episode list and what each episode would be about and a quote from each episode

1 • Dusker Back From the Dead

(The title is a mix of both the season 1 and season 2 first episodes) Ethan and Benny use the Cubile Animus to bring Sarah back from the dead using Vice principal Stern as their sacrifice.

“Can you two stop referencing stupid movies and figure out how to get me out of here!” -Sarah

2 • The Date to (re)Start all Dates

Ethan struggles to plan out the perfect date for him and Sarah, afraid to mess it up he tries to make contact with Jesse to give him advice, but things take a turn for the worse when he finds himself stuck in the limbo dimension.

“Doesn’t feel so great to be trapped in limbo now does it.” -Jesse

3 • Della’s Vengeance

(idea partially by @comicbookddr)

When Della finds Benny’s missing spellbook she decides to use it against him as revenge. Making Benny discover she is also a spellmaster.

“Looks like you’re not the only spellmaster at our school” -Ethan

“…well this is just great..” -Benny

4 • Out of this World (inspired by alien candy)

When a new club forms at Whitechapel High, Rory and Benny find the members suspicious and begin to investigate them, nobody believes them until Ethan has an encounter with the club’s leader and finds out that the club is made up of aliens planning on invading their school.

“Rory stop worrying, they are not going to probe you.” -Ethan

5 • Sleepover Seance

When Jane is hosting a sleepover, the girls venture into the basement after watching a scary movie, wanting to have fun of their own they bring out 'Spirit Speaker'. But it isn't a ghost this time, a sleep demon comes out to play.

"How are they all asleep already?" -Rory

6 • Down the Wishing Well

Sarah discovers the local legend that there is an enchanted wishing well in Whitechapel that grants any wish, but at a cost. When she wishes to be human again, the evil spirits of the well possess her.

“I call on the spirits of this wishing well, I wish to be human again.” -Sarah

7 • Jedi’s Anonymous

When Erica finds herself going back to her old geek self, she joins an online chat room anonymously and starts flirting with another user, she decides to meet up with him in real life and discovers she had been talking to Benny the entire time.

“I’ve been talking to you idiot the entire time?!” -Erica

8 • Living Dead Girl

Rory falls six feet deep for the new girl in town. Although the boys quickly realize something isn’t as it seems when she appears in a yearbook over decades old.

“Well if she’s looking for brains, she definitely chose the wrong one..” -Ethan

9 • The Return of Betty & Veronica

Stephanie creates a golem to go to Whitechapel for junior year seeking vengeance. Betty and Veronica are back on the scene, Rory finds out the truth about Betty.

“These underwear are riding up my butt again” -Ethan

10 • Knights of Ninjitsu

Ethan is having trouble writing a fanfiction to send into his favorite game company as part of a contest. When he runs out of ideas he asks Benny to use a spell that gives him more ideas, Benny accidentally uses the wrong spell, trapping Ethan inside of a video game/his computer.

"Benny, do NOT open zombie stomper." -Ethan

11 • Jane’s Vision

When Jane snoops through her brother’s closet she discovers Ethan’s stash of items from their past enemies. The supernatural power radiating from it all makes Jane develop visions early.

12 • The Princess Leia to my Han Solo

Erica realizes that she has feelings for Benny but on her way to tell him she realizes he’s on a date with another girl. He soon finds out his new date isn’t what she seems.. (he finds out she’s a gorgon)

“That should be my geek out there!” -Erica

13 • The Fog is Coming

Grandma Weir senses another dark force coming and warns the boys, while doing so Ethan’s parents overhear, discovering all of him and his friend’s supernatural secrets, trying to keep Ethan from getting hurt they ground him from leaving the house. Will they stop the evil force coming to Whitechapel?

****************************************************

Anyways thanks for reading I know a lot of the titles probably sucked but they were so hard to come up with ok so go cry to your mother if you don’t like them

#mbav #my babysitter's a vampire #benny weir #my babysitters a vampire #ethan morgan #rory keaner #erica jones #sarah fox #mbav stuff

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cypher-writer · 7 months ago

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Yandere Emperor ✷

Male!Emperor x GN!Emperor!reader

Reader/Y/N refered to as They/Them but also as Emperor

Warnings: not very detailed gore, swearing, blackmail, manipulation, depictions of self harm (hair tugging from reader), yandere themes

Y/N is "insane/crazy"/mentally ill (Y/N is not in the right headspace throughout this entire story. They have multiple violent thoughts and outbursts and similar symptoms that could warrant in mental illnesses such as IED, BPD, PTSD or ASPD ((I am not a mental health professional)). If you have thoughts such as these depicted in the story try to reach out and talk to someone about your experiences and search for help! This story is not a diagnosis or confirmation that you have these mental illnesses either as these symptoms can be common in 'normal' life as well. Consult a professional for genuine concerns.)

Word count: 3.3k

There are books written of the unbelievable and inspiring rise of the L/N empire.

The way it was starting to diminish after it fell in the hands of your fathers rule and how every other land was already eyeing up the land you've harbored after many centuries of growing.

You remember sitting on a chair in the ballroom as your father swindled other women right in front of your eyes, partying as if everything's alright while you watched and could only count the days till some foreign kingdom wagered war and took over everything you held dear. The days were nigh, you knew it. But back then all you could do is sip tea and keep face.

Your poor mother had it the worst, gosh, you love her so. She was the best mother you could ask for and more. She spent her entire life caring and doting on you, raising you to be your very best self. You learnt from her and looked up to her. Something you wouldn't ever even think of doing to your father.

It was even worse knowing that that excuse of a blood relative would woo other women even if your mother was in the vicinity. You hated him. You hated him so much there isn't a word that could describe how much you truly loathed him, how much you wanted to strangle him every night for putting anyone in such pain.

In his eyes, it was fine, he was emperor after all, no?

That title he took for granted so easily was ripped away from him just the same. The same way his heart was ripped out and left beside his empty beer jug in a bloody mess that one night after he got too drunk to stumble back into his bedroom, landing in the gardens and perishing somewhere in the dusk. Truly devastating how the murderer was never caught.

The title would have then fallen momentarily onto your mother, but she took a bit of a mental hit from her husbands death (even if he was cruel) and just couldn't rule while grieving at the same time. There was an uproar of doubts from the townsfolk as they panicked of who would take care of their land next? You wondered the same, till everyone's eyes landed on you.

You, back then a teenager who did not plan to take over so early, but didn't mind in the end anyways.

You took the reigns as fast as possible and finally fixed what your father was too 'busy' to care about mending, upgrading the army, listening to the people's pleas and of course, continuing to progress in the growth of your empire, spreading further and further.

In no time you were known as a crazy tyrant, taking risks that have never been even thought of that before. Although, that wasn't the crazy part of 'crazy tyrant', no, the crazy part was that it all actually worked. Every chance was in your favor, somehow. You didn't know why either, but to be fair you did not care. If good luck was on your side you did not wish to bother it with endless questions.

The tyrant part was mostly a fancy noun to add onto the crazy. You weren't a cruel leader to your people, you cared for each one and took real responsibility in everything you had to he involved in, but you sure as hell were cruel in war. You didn't hold back, you didn't second guess. You took your sword and used the mastery of your hand to gain back the land that should have been yours already.

Emperor L/N, that was you. It was your title. It was your Empire, the biggest in the Fucking world.

And it might have gotten into your head a bit. Not as much as your father, but enough to make you crave the taste of another battle, the sound of swords clashing and the smell of blood. It made you giggle with only an itsy bitsy bit of insanity, nothing too dire, nothing your mother couldn't scold you back into a clear mind for.

Truly, it didn't matter how crazy you were on the battle field or what edgy names the people outside gave you, what mattered was that you were successful and could handle your temper just enough. And you could.

...

Till that bastard came into picture. Little Emperor Kingsley. The Nepo baby of the millennia. He was the golden child in everyone's eyes, the angel of our poor, unpure world. He had everyone around his finger, it was fucking ridiculous, really.

He grew up being perfect, so much so that his people thought he was some sort of Christ. He was worshiped. He was loved. And when he reached of minimum age, he was crowned emperor. Why? Because the people— and not just the townsfolk or anyone like that, multiple, whole empires— believed he would grace everyone with his touch and make the entirety of this shity world virtuous and moral again.

But when that letter came to your throne, that elegant writing stating:

"Dear L/N,

It is with the upmost kindness and hope that we ask you to join the newly forming union of 'aureum annum' —the golden year— to aid us in-"

You didn't read the rest as you ripped the letter up and told one of your servants to throw the shredded pieces into any furnace or campfire. You had your experiences with people who think too highly of themselves. And you don't want to meddle yourself in those affairs again. So, with your own better judgement you decided to just never respond. They should get the hint.

And it seemed for a little that they did... Till Kingsley informed that he wishes to visit and talk to you about Aureum annum. You scoffed, rolled your eyes, groaned and sighed as you held back to tearing this note up as well. Your mother strongly advised you to at least talk to them, what's the worst that could happen?

So much.

With annoyance and another eye roll, you replied with a sugarcoated reply:

'Dear Emperor Kingsley,

Why yes! Come in! Why don't you come here and let me tell you in person how much I want to shove that shit eating good for nothing perfection of yours up your a-'

yeah, in conclusion you were not happy and your mother wrote the letter instead.

You counted the days until the foreboding meeting, exhaling in irritation when you realize that, unfortunately, time will not freeze and delay the eventual rendezvous. The only thing you could do is slump slightly as you kept your mind distracted by training with your trusted and iconic sword.

You really don't have a good feeling about this. You really don't.

"Today's the day." Your mother's soft words broke the silence, her hands trailing over any creased surface of your fine clothing, smoothing them out and making sure they're up to making the best impression they could. You couldn't help but chuckle at your mother's worry, trying to hide it under her facade of cleanliness.

"Mother, something tells me you're more worried about this meeting than I am." You looked down at her, trying to comfort her with a gentle smile. She retracted her hands and clasped them before her chest, sighing as her gaze lifted to yours. "I only wish this meeting goes well and doesn't end in violence, Y/N."

Your mother has strict opinions on warfare and things alike that not even god could change: unnecessary and disposable. You respected them, but couldn't help the thrill victory gave you.

You placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to ease her thoughts. "I promise to be on my best behavior, I don't want this to end in anything bad either." You did your best to reassure her that you'd play nice, pretend to be kind and not what everyone assumes you are. Are you?

She reciprocated with the same feather-light smile as her hand traveled to the side of your face, eyes proud yet almost sad. They were like that since your fathers death, you can't blame her. You never can, you never would. You just wanted to make her happy and to take her out of the constant mild pain she's in; never too big to care, but not too small to ever ignore.

"You best go now, dear." She spoke, turning away. "It's best to be there early to greet the guest."

You watched her leave and huffed. You truly don't know how this will go. You don't know much about Kingsley even if there's countless praise on him in multiple books and stories. Because that's all it is, praise. Praise isn't the truth, even if it holds some real significance. When people describe you, they'd say you were a victorious monarch with a skilled swing, but you're also crazy and cruel in battle. Your flaws spilled like ink over every page. Kingsley, there was not a single bad word you could find in the thousands of words he was talked about in. He's not human if there's nothing bad about it. Do they really want you to believe he's never had a single bad thought in his life? Not a single flaw? Inhuman, that's what he is.

Walking down the halls of your huge castle gave you time to think over how you'll act. Should you shake his hand? Should you bow? Should you just glare? A frustrated humm left your throat as you made a turn to head towards the grand entrance of the palace. Should you put up an act or just be casual? He's definitely heard of you so it'd be much more suspicious if you were suddenly this sinless soul. Might as well just blend you personality with whatever his was. A balance of good and… yourself.

You suddenly realised you were at the main gates, standing next to the guards and servants that have come early as well, making sure to impress Emperor Kingsley with their service and punctuality.

"Are you ready, my Majesty?" Your personal servant stepped to your side, one arm bent behind his back as the other was fixed in front, a white napkin draped over it. You scorned and nodded. "As ready as I can be for mr. Perfect, I guess." Your butler only replied with a smile before resuming looking forwards, his back straightened. You mimicked his posture after realising that you were slumped over.

"They're arriving!" You heard a distant shout, presumably one of the guards that inspect the people entering your empire. You inhaled deeply, keeping the breath in as you saw the grand carriage move towards you and the group of people surrounding you. An unexplainable anger surged through you for no reason before disappearing as the barouche halted. The driver who once reigned the horses stepped off, chin high as he maneuvered to open the little door facing you. You stared as it was opened and a cloaked figure step close. You were quick to come close and offer a hand of help which the person accepted with a smile, making an exit out of the carriage with your assist.

"Emperor Kingsley." You greeted, bowing slightly, guessing that it's the most appropriate action in the moment, also making sure that your tone was sweet.

"Emperor L/N." Kingsley returned, bowing the same way. You noted his elegant clothing; gold and white tones complementing each other with its intricate embroidery, details that one would appreciate. You bet each stitch was sewn in with precision you could not care for, it was futile if it was gonna get ripped out in battle. But Kingsley did not engage in battle. You did wonder why he was cloaked, you could barely make out his face, only the lower part of it. Makeup was delicately painted on his face from what you could see, his lips having a slight golden shimmer to them and his cheeks having some sort of design on them. From the sides, blonde hair poked out, silky and smooth. You can see why people called him an angel, but was he really one or was it just an act?

Moments later, you found yourself leading Kingsley towards a room specifically prepared for you to talk about whatever he was here for. Pulling a cushioned and royal looking chair for him to sit on before going to the other side of the rectangular, short table to sit yourself.

"Well then,-" You spoke first, wanting to seem engaged even though you wanted him to leave as quickly as possible. What if he was here with mal intent? What if he wanted to murder you, or worse your mother? "-I suspect you have matters which you wish to discuss with me."

Kingsley nodded, finally taking off the hood. Grey eyes peered into yours, almost looking right through you. "Yes, Indeed I do."

His voice was soft like butter, smooth and calm. "I wish to talk about aureum annum. Specifically the event of your rejection to join."

Ah, you guessed this was about that. You couldn't avoid it any longer. But in all fairness, you thought they didn't have the courage to come up to you, especially not when you have the all too known title of 'Crazy Tyrant'.

"Oh, yes. Well, I am sure you have great and ingenious plans for the union but I prefer to rule over my empire without the need to talk to others and see how it affects them." You explained with the most docile voice you could snatch out of yourself, you shouldn't need to explain why you don't want to join. You just don't want to, end of story. "And I have already so much to worry and pay attention to that I fear having more responsibility might break me." You joked, earning a small chuckle from the man opposite of you.

"That is understandable." He hummed, nodding. "I should have guessed that a ruler like you would already have a lot on your shoulders. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, hm?"

You smiled, confirming this kind-heartedly.

"Though it'd be a shame if somebody found out about the true cause of your fathers death.."

What did he just say? are you mishearing?

"…What?"

He smiled. It wasn't kind or angelic, it was sinister, knowing, threatening.

"I know what really went down that day of your fathers unfortunate death, perhaps I should jog the memory, hm?"

You felt your heart drop to your stomach, dread overtaking you. But along the dread, anger started boiling inside your chest, burning at your heart. He couldn't know. How could he?

"You hated him didn't you? You absolutely loathed him. You couldn't handle the way he was neglecting his kingdom and going of drinking with other ladies." You couldn't hold back the scowl that etched onto your face as you listened to every honeyed word he would say, gripping the dagger you've attached under the table for emergencies.

"So, that one day, you decided that it was over with him. You lured his intoxicated self to the gardens and carved his heart out, ruining the inside of his body with that sharp sword you can't seem to let go these days, leaving him gargling and pleading for mercy. Of course, you were too far gone to hear them, weren't you."

You stood suddenly, fists slamming on the table, violence flooding your mind that you somehow held back by not strangling the last breath out of him and hanging his head above your fireplace. "Shut up! Shut-"

"You were scared afterwards. At least you convinced yourself to be, you didn't feel guilt or sadness, pain or remorse. No, you forced yourself to feel the ghost of them because your mother took the blow of the emotional damage." He continued to speak. His once butter smooth voice turned to that alike of a fork scratching a plate, or a grater trying to shred metal. Your hands went to your hair, tugging at the ends harshly, you grunted at the pain that failed to ground you.

"Y-you bastard! You sick fuck!" You shouted, closing your eyes for just a moment, only opening them when another pair of hands enveloped yours and forced them out of your locks. You looked up to see Kingsley, glaring down at you. "Stop that." He said sternly.

You grunted angrily as you shoved him away from you, breath uncontrollable and out of rhythm, eyes glazed over and threatening to fall. "Get away from me! What makes you think that just because you're some worshipped little cunt you can walk in here and say that stuff to me!" You shouted at him, pointing a finger at him. "I'll have you fucking murdered! I'll let your parents watch as I behead-"

"You think that'll work out for you in the end?" His voice returned to that irritatingly calm sound. "The kingdoms that have joined my union will cause an uproar and potentially wager war on you… Think about your mother, how would she react?"

She'd be devastated. She would cry and beg for you to resolve this like adult humans and not animals, she can't go through such an even again, knowing you might not come back that one time after riding off on your horse into battle. One day that sword will have your blood on it. And she would snap, break and then in the end whittle away into a shell of what she once was. That's how she would react.

"What do you want from me." You demand, hands falling to your sides and your shoulders tensing up as you made direct eye contact with Kingsley. He smiled, hands joining behind his back.

"All I want is for you to join the aureum annum…" He replied, an innocent grin on his face. "And I want to take your hand in marriage, Y/N."

Was he being serious? You could understand the aureum annum thing but marriage? Why does he want to marry you? To control you, to diminish whatever power you have and use it all for himself? No way, not again.

"You're joking." You scoffed, truly not believing his words.

"I'm not." His voice dropped and the genuinity of it frightened you, making your hands tremble in anger. "well then, dream on. You're more insane than me if you think I'd ever agree to your idiotic terms."

"Then I guess you also don't care if the news of how your father was murdered spread, right? I mean, I'm sure that you don't actually care what others think but what about dear mother?"

There he is using the 'think about your mother' card again. You hated how it worked. You hated how you know she wouldn't look at you the same. Would she loathe you the same way you loathed your father? would she refuse to acknowledge that you're her child?

Kingsley was no angel, he was no god. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing; a demon with clip-on angel wings that he so kindly decided to take off in front of you. He was your demon.

You glared at him, thinking of a loophole or a way to wriggle out of this situation but none came to mind, especially not when it was clouded with fear and rage. You were huffing and puffing, breath too heavy to ease.

"OH fine! But utter a word about this to anyone and I swear I'll call god herself to help me slay you!" You took hold of his collar, pulling you towards him. He was as nonchalant and as calm as ever. You wanted to murder him so bad right now, but the terrified face of your mother kept invading your mind.

"As you wish, my dear.."

This might get a part 2 if anyone asks for one, but for now this is just this :) If I made any mistakes in the story pls tell me because I am not a native english speaker! I also accept asks and requests so don't be afraid to ask anything :P have a great morning/day/afternoon/night <3

-Writer/Cypher

#yandere male #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere x yn #yandere imagine #yandere imagines #yandere emperor #emperor reader #emperor Kingsley #yandere writing #yandere x darling #yandere #soft yandere

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lgbtlunaverse · 3 months ago

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For all the discourse and sordid history of feminine clothes in period fiction or period-inspired fantasy and action stories– from endless misconceptions about corsets to the backlash where people will now complain if a female character has anything negative to say about skirts– I'm still starved for a character that crossdresses because she actually likes the way men's clothes look.

Like. In basically all the cases I've seen over the years, the reasons given for the characters' distate for feminine fashion are purely practical. "Corsets are restrictive, you can't move freely in skirts, feminine fashion is all form no function!"

And while writers often get it wrong and exaggerate how uncomfortable these clothes really were to a sometimes comical degree– you know what? Sometimes it's true! Cycling in a skirt is hard and inconvenient which is why victorian women started wearing split skirts or cycling breeches. (Which was hugely controversial to the men of the time) But like... that was, in fact, feminine fashion. Female cyclists weren't dressing like men they were just wearing a new kind of women's fashion.

Indeed, none of these characters seem to actually like masculine clothes, they give the impression that what they really want to wear is... modern women's fashion. (Which is why this kind of writing often feels anachronistic)

More than that, there is the underlying assumption that while historical women's fashion is governed by aesthetic, men's fashion is governed by use. Caring about how you look is a silly girl thing, unlike rational men who only care whether something works! Which is just... complete horse shit. Men care a lot about how they look, always have, and most masculine fashion trends cannot be explained by practicality any more than women's fashion can. It's a complete lie, based in misogynistic gender roles, that I wish wasn't repeated by media trying to be feminist. (Especially since these heroines always just happen to still be conventionally attractive– and, surprise, feminine– because everyone wants a woman who doesn't care if she's beautiful, but no one wants a woman who... actually isn't beautiful.)

If you talk to any real life butch, they love the way masculinity looks. They think they look hot! They think other butches look hot! There is a real love for masculine style there, that's just completely fucking... absent in most fiction. Because caring about your appearance a feminine trait, duh 🙄

There's an article I love in dressing dykes about Anne Lister, a real life historcial butch. And the way she incorporated masculine fashion didn't involve pants at all. It was in things like leather straps on her umbrella (customary only for gentlemen at the time) wearing men's braces, and dressing entirely in black as was fashionable for menswear but not womenswear. All of these are stylistic decisions. She did it because she liked masculinity.

If all your medieval-inspired fantasy heroine wants is practicality she'd probably start by mimicking the style of working class women. Because you know. Women worked. Women have always worked. And so they had to wear clothes suited for manual labour. There's a lot of interesting things you can do with class there, and she probably will be accused of being 'unladylike' by her environment anyway! But if she's gonna wear men's clothes, please consider letting her like them.

I'm just want an actual goddamn butch main character (or even a genuinely masc straight girl) and I'm tired of repeating the myth that men's clothes are these neutral canvasses of practical use with zero elements of style. (I have eyes! I can see that that's untrue!) Or that it's preposterous that a woman might... genuinely like these stylistic elements. That she might want to look like a man.

#fiction #historical fiction #fantasy #fashion #fashion history #gender #masculinity #femininity #gender roles #misogyny

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poetry-protest-pornography · 3 months ago

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Joke, The Fool: The Fool represents taking risks based on your instincts and intuition, improvisation, and trusting the universe and believing in the future.

Joke is quick on his feet, great at getting out of tight spots and changing gears on the fly, and the future he wants is Jack's future. He wants Jack to be free more than anything.

But also, in the closet, he got a little flicker of hope for his own wished-for future, and he held onto that and trusted his friends, and also the unexpected assist from Nada, and it got him home to Jack, where it all paid off.

Tattoo, The World: Upright, The World is assured success, recompense, and major change.

Tattoo spent a lot of time thinking about his place in the world, the value of his work, and his relationships with others this episode. He called Jack their collective big brother, he was feeding and helping Toi Tin, he has let Arun into his life and inner thoughts (and personal space).

And he stays the course instead of rushing off to rescue Joke -- trusting his friends -- and helped to see the plan through successfully.

Arun, The Moon: The Moon is all about being cautious and trusting your instincts, and, also about things not necessarily being what they seem -- such as a truth you can't admit to yourself.

We saw Arun spiral a little, devaluing his work and his ideas (even while he crocheted that adorable hat for Jack's birthday), questioning his place in the world (with The World/Tattoo, maybe?) how he could matter to his dad again, and at the heist, remembering the layout of Rosé's house incorrectly and panicking, worrying he's messed everything up, but letting his friends talk him back down.

And then he's the one that keeps Tattoo from running off.

Then, there's The Moment In The Car. Where Arun lets himself lean into Tattoo and celebrate and enjoy being wrapped around him, and then pulls away when he realizes what he's doing. So here's the thing Arun isn't ready to about to himself, and isn't ready to trust is real and not just an illusion.

Hoy, The Star: The Star brings inspiration and hope, and optimism for the future.

Hoy had always been the most optimistic of the bunch. He loves his friends, and even though he was complaining and threatening to leave this whole time, he stays, encouraging his friends and choosing the right switch and driving them all away safely.

But most importantly, he brought them all together with these cards, and he saw how they were all connected, and he knew the right symbol to use to unlock the security on the ring.

Hoy connected the dots, and Hoy was the one that Joke was ready to trust if everything went pear-shaped.

I love them.

#jack and joker

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diminuel · 7 months ago

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Hi, love your comics. The way you draw faces is really cool. I had two questions for the stinky child au but feel free to ignore if u like. First is: how different are Luffy and Ace from the cannon, like they have less issues all in all or just a different flavor of issues from being raised by Cocodrile. Second would be how fast had to run Shanks from Cocodrile after the whole leave-devil-fruit-and-a child-unsupervised-and-now-your-son-is-gum incident?

Thank you!

I think the gist of their characters and their driving forces stay the same.

(Disclaimer: this is just initial speculation, maybe if I ever write a fic clearer traits are going to manifest. Also, they're not just raised by Crocodile alone, Dragon parents as well. I'm sure he's could give his kids some issues too if he tries.)

Luffy has a much more solid network, but still struggles with the fear of being abandoned and alone. Even in canon Luffy is quite perceptive, mature and intelligent if the situation calls for it. This Luffy has that too, more pronounced maybe because while he's impulsive and goofy, he understands more about the world in this AU. And one of the main issues he is taking with him on his journey is a keen awareness of the price of freedom and the need to keep your mouth shut about certain things. He isn't allowed to tell the world who he is apart from "Monkey D. Luffy, I'm going to pirate king". On top of that, he very early on also has to face the harsh reality of just what he is up against: after all, the first real obstacle is Crocodile. He's got to defeat and overcome his own parent in order to pursue freedom. Because if he can't he might as well just turn around now.

That boy is going to have issues, just different ones.

Ace on the other hand in canon is driven by the feeling that the world doesn't want him. That is slightly different, but not entirely in this AU. He might not remember a lot of his pre adoption life, but the idea of being wanted, of belonging is going to still be a driving force for him. I'm not sure if Garp just lets it slip that he's Roger's son or how he comes to know of it, but he will encounter people talking negatively about Roger and about the atrocities they wished upon his bloodline. And even if Ace has parents around to tell him that blood doesn't matter and that to a pirate, Roger is an inspiration (and Crocodile is a pirate, he would have wanted Roger's legacy. Now he's parenting it *lol*), he's going to struggle. He'll want to prove himself worthy of the love that his family has given him. (And that's how he ends up with Whitebeard anyway. Maybe he wants to get revenge for Whitebeard defeating Crocodile, if Ace knows about that.)

And luckily for the guy, Shanks doesn't have to run X'D Crocodile won't really be pleased but it's also not the end of the world. I don't think Luffy's parents had any illusions that they'd be able to keep that kid from leaving the island and a devil fruit is good to have on the Grand Line. (Besides, this makes Luffy less accident prone considering his body is rubber now *lol*). That said, it's not Shanks' fault that Luffy was unsupervised. And he DID save his life. He'll probably get a visit from Crocodile with some expensive sake. (And he'll tell him that he's Luffy's parent. A lapse of judgement maybe, maybe an acknowledgment of the debt he has to Shanks.)

#Anon #Diminuel replies #Crocodad #One Piece #Stinky Child AU

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hina-has-no-life · 1 year ago

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Mori Ogai and Regret

Mori in the BSD Manga and Light Novels prides himself in always finding the optimal solution, in pushing his own feelings aside to accomplish the optimal goal for any given situation.

He is a man of logic and carefully wielded cruelty.

We see countless examples of the way he handles things and in the end achieves the best possible solution to his problems.

Killing the old Boss and having Dazai as his witness

Dazai pointing out that he himself is a possible danger to the initial plan

Chuuya remaining a loyal part of the Port Mafia

Driving Dazai away

Getting the Skilled Buisness Permit

The Great War and Yosano

There were all instances where we saw Mori put aside his own emotions and morality to achieve a greater goal. He wielded cruelty, facts and logic as weapons to achieve the in his mind most logical and optimal solution.

But Mori is human. And Humans can not completely disregard and turn off their emotions, no matter how hard they try.

Mori himself says that he has no regrets during the Guild Arc.

But does this like the face of a man void of regrets?

Or this?

In this instance Dazai is choosing the words that will invoke the feeling of Regret in Mori to push him towards choosing a truce with the ADA.

Dazai is aware that Mori has regrets.

But so is Hirotsu.

His inclusion in any conversations Dazai and Mori have regarding the old Boss tells us, as the reader, that Hirotsu knows the full picture.

He isn't just aware that Mori killed the old Boss like other people, but also of Mori's goal from that act.

Hirotsu even goes as far as to tell Mori that Dazai understands why Mori did what he did, implies that Dazai would also understand other actions Mori takes to reach the optimal solution.

But this also shows us something different.

Mori needs reminders.

After Mori killed the old PM Boss Dazai became a constant reminder of why he did what he did. It was inevitable that Dazai would forever remind Mori of the act itself and the initial reasoning behind it, since Dazai was present and Dazai helped him plan it.

Once Dazai left the Mafia Hirotsu transformed into a reminder of it all. In some way Kouyou is also a reminder of what he did and why he did it.

But why these two?

They were there during the reign of the old Boss.

But how does Mori remember the regrets of another part of his past? How does he remind himself of a time where he miscalculated, where he should have taken the emotions of the people he regarded as tools into account?

How is Mori reminded of the mistakes and regrets of the Great War, of Yosano?

Elise.

Elise is Mori's ability, Vita Sexualis. A humanoid puppet to control as he wishes.

But also to shape as he wishes.

During the Great War Elise is nothing more than a robotic being wearing a human skin, void of emotions, thoughts and autonomy.

Mori has always made Elise take the form of a younger girl.

While it is speculated in the fandom that this could be linked to his Lolicon, I believe otherwise.

Elise is for one inspired by the Novel The Dancing Girl from the real life author. But since she is Mori's ability in BSD she will be influenced by his subconcious.

Elise shows us that Mori, even in his twenties, wanted an apprentice. He wanted to impart his knowledge on someone else but until he found Yosano he did not have someone to do this with.

(Im Beast Elise takes the form of a women. Mori already has children to take care of and bestow his knowledge upton, he doesn't need her to fill thie role. But he does need another caretaker, so that is what Elise becomes)

Yosano herself says in the Manga that she respected Mori as a doctor.

Choosing a young and mallable girl as his apprentice did make her easier to manipulate, to create an army that can not die. But young people are also sponges for knowledge.

And here we come to his regret.

Mori does regret how he handled the situation with Yosano.

He liked that strong willed and opinionated young girl he drafted, and he broke her.

We do not see much of Elise until Dark Era, so we can not tell how long it took for Elise to display Yosanos personality after Yosano was redcued by Fukuzawa and Ranpo.

In this official Art we see Yosanos shadow in Elise, a clear indication of teh fact that Mori's impression of Yosano was bleeding into Elise. But we also see her still wearing pigtails.

Her hair and general clothing tells us that this is between loosing Yosano and Dark Era. With time, Elise will resemble Yosano more.

(The bow resembles the butterfly hairpin of Yosano.)

In this scene Mori tries to convince Elise to try on a new dress.

She refuses and clearly displays Yosano's personality in thsi interaction. From the way Mori handles it this isn't knew.

Their dynamic had already shifted into something more like Yosano and Mori instead of the Ability and Mori.

But her hair is different from the last picture.

Elise now has open and wavy hair. Does this remind you of someone?

(For a boy Dazai has always worn his hair longer than traditional seen as boyish, which in turn let's his ends curl and wave more noticable)

But why would Elise take on appearance markers of Dazai?

Simple.

Because there is something Mori regrets.

He only openly mentiones it in Beast but since Beast is a mirror of Canon, that shows us how different choices will change the same people, we can assume this are also the feelings of Canon!Mori.

Mori regrets not being able to really help Dazai.

And his regret will only get deeper as he makes another choice for an optimal solution.

Driving Dazai away and getting Oda killed fulfilled many positives for Mori, what he reached was the optimal solution. He just had to lose his right hand man.

(Light Novel Dark Era)

This is not the behavior of a man not regretting driving away the boy he cared about for 4 years to this point.

To this day Mori leaves Dazai's spot as executive open. He invited Dazai back into the Mafia.

And when we see Elise after Dark Era she has changed once again.

But this time it is not her appearance that changed, it is her attitude.

Elise displays a very much Dazai-like attitude when talking to Mori.

Where Yosano - and until the end of Dark Era Elise - were strong in their oppinion but polite and steadfast in their refusal, Dazai was bargaining. Dazai more often than not wanted something in exchange for doing something he deemed unpleasant/bothersome/boring.

During the recent timeline Elise also does this.

She doesn't just refuse things, she makes deals.

And she doesn't lie during negotiations, just like Dazai.

In the end Elise changes to be more like the people Mori feels a form of regret over. Elise is a constant reminder of his Regrets and Mistakes.

To support this, here are Asagiris words about Mori from the BSD Exhibition:

“He who fell out of the optimal solution”

Mori Ougai’s belief as the boss is described in the novel “Dark Era” and “Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen”. That is “The boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” For the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.” That is the duty of the boss.

There is an unspoken additional point to it. “Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.” We can catch a glimpse of that in this scene. [the ADA-PM alliance meeting]

Mori’s expressions after “Burnt it.” and “Like what you did to your predecessor”, gave us a glimpse of his true feelings that were made sacrifices for the sake of the “logical optimal solution”.

[Translation by @popopretty here on Tumblr]

A true optimal solution would leave Mori with no regrets. But whenever Elise changes and reminds him of regrets he feels, it is also a reminder of the time he did not truly reach an optimal solution.

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd analysis #bsd mori ogai #bsd mori #mori analysis #bsd elise #bsd yosano #bsd dazai #dazai osamu #yosano akiko #elise

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