#this post is aimed toward a very specific audience

[atrovel]

sometimes i think

sometimes i imagine an alternate universe where The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a popular queer indie cartoon where Arthur and Ford have so much romantic tension but never actually get together and the fandom would all be in love with Ford and make edits of him to Odetari songs and also mischaracterize him and Arthur horribly

[beannoss]

Something I think about a lot and wonder if maybe gets overlooked in Twilight’s story and as vitally indicative of his character is actually in the very first chapter:

Anya isn’t needed for Strix. Twilight decides to adopt her anyway.

[Spoiler warning: Mostly this post deals with early chapters already in the anime but there is reference to chapter 62, which has not yet been animated and will be in season 3]

Twilight decides it — “I’m going to rework the mission so it doesn’t involve a child because that’s too dangerous” and he’s 100% right! Donovan Desmond is canonically a far right warmonger with fascistic authoritarian aims. His government made liberal use of the SSS — a group to mirror the Stasi — who continue to operate in morally dubious ways (much more likely they’re actively morally reprehensible, though we’ve mostly only had rumours of that so far). From what we can tell, Desmond is at best an absent father and likely actually worse than that: if that's how he treats his own children, imagine how he might treat others. And the timeline seems to indicate that the experimentation performed on Anya was done under Desmond's government — even if Twilight isn't aware of experimentation on children, he is aware of both human and animal experimentation under Desmond's government. Taking all that and also the complexity of Strix's aims, undoubtedly there were other things that could be done, more straightforward if not necessarily easier.

So. Why? Why entertain the change at all? And then, having entertained it, why go back when the reasoning is indisputable?

On the Doylist level, I think Endo wanted to ensure that Anya had some agency within the set up — Endo also does this with Yor. It would be much harder to be on Twilight’s side fully, or to trust him on an ethical level/take him as any sort of moral authority, if he were just straightforwardly using these two people. To have them be active and consenting participants (arguably to actually be affirming the arrangement: Twilight sets it up, but Anya and Yor actually make it happen) even if the audience only knows the depth of their knowledge/motivations/etc currently, shifts the power dynamic in important ways.

But it also the set up tells us important things about Twilight. He is largely impatient, cold, detached in chapter one. His overarching feelings towards Anya are, I think, real annoyance, real confusion, and real impatience. He just doesn’t understand this damn kid and it turns out she’s a person which is frankly unacceptable — he’d needed and anticipated an automaton, ideally of himself in miniature form. (Though I think one could ponder whether Twilight was, in many ways, an automaton himself at this point, but that's maybe for another meta 🙃)

He’s not entirely unmoved of course — we're given to understand he’s affected when Franky tells him how many times Anya’s been adopted and returned, and isn't amused by Franky's joke about names. Franky's comment — "Just don't get attached" — reinforces this. The prospect of “the future” perturbs Twilight when he’s reading the parenting books. His initial reaction to Anya’s kidnap is horror. All these are true too.

Then there’s also this, from earlier in the chapter:

It’s exposition, yeah, and it’s also exposing. "Hopes" and "joys" are very specific words to describe those events. It could simply have been "A marriage? An ordinary life?" but describing them as such — hope for marriage; joy in ordinary life — expose something of what Twilight feels about those two experiences and, on the flipside, they expose what he deems he's lacking. No hopes of intimacy; no joy in (an ordinary) life. There's an argument as well, of course, that he's being ironic but I don't think that actually invalidates the above analysis. Drawing attention to 'hope' and 'joy' at all are revealing, regardless of Twilight's tone in thinking of them. I think it's also interesting this panel, taken in conjunction with a pair of panels in chapter 62, Twilight's backstory. The above is almost a pulled out version of this below panel of Twilight's recollection of his childhood, and of course the returning image of not just a rubbish bin but a rubbish bin on fire when it comes to disposing of his identity:

Back to Strix. Both his final interaction with Karen and the whole everything of the framing of Strix is making Twilight think (and feel, ahem) things that he hasn't for some time. Twilight decides, I’m reworking this. It can’t proceed this way. Not because Anya is a pain in his ass, not because she’s not as (apparently) intellectually advanced as he’d originally thought, not even because he thinks he can find another child who would better be exactly what mission parameters called for. No:

And what changes his mind is Anya asking to come home.

One of the important parts of this to me is this:

He seeks consent.

This moment is a keystone, I think, to understanding Twilight. It’s also more telling than he maybe realises. Twilight is decisive — we all laugh because he spirals at the drop of a hat when his daughter or wife look even mildly upset but outside those (also very telling) scenarios, he makes decisions and he pursues them. Often he makes decisions quickly. He’s a dab hand at it; it’s a large part of why he’s as good a spy as he is.

He’d decided to change Strix.

Anya asks him, in essence, not to.

So, he doesn't.

But it's wild that he entertains keeping her request at all — why? Why even entertain it? It’s dangerous; it’s impractical; there are too many moving parts outside his direct control; Anya isn’t the sort of child he’d wanted for the mission if he’d spent any time thinking about what a child might actually be like; Strix is in many ways an extremely long shot anyway, Desmond could just stop attending for reasons unknown and unrelated; etc.

So, yeah, why? Maybe because of this —

In conjunction, I often think of this moment in the cruise arc:

Twilight first naming the feeling as lonesome, and secondly tacitly conceding that he perceives Yor as a companion and that that relationship is important to him, something to be missed. What makes this for me though is that Anya calls this out "Papa's you're so sappy" and Twilight's reaction is that of someone caught-out. He doesn’t say “nuh-uh!” but he may as well have. Essentially, something landed a bit close to home, hm? Maybe some of that hope for marriage? A soupçon of joy of an ordinary life?

Twilight’s loneliness underpins many of his decisions with his family — probably without him being fully conscious of it. I think he is at least somewhat conscious of it, but also if he looks too closely... Well, best not to. I could fill this post, I think, with images that demonstrate his loneliness throughout the series; that sorrowful/pensive close-up of his eye(s) is one of the abiding motifs for Twilight throughout. I'd probably start with this one from Twilight's backstory arc:

Anya's request plays directly off his loneliness. Still though, he doesn’t immediately capitulate — he emphasises Anya’s choice. Is she sure? The last day has been scary for a child (and for him, but he's ignoring that part) and Twilight, in his increasing recognition that Anya is a person, is probably aware in the back of his mind that he hasn’t exactly been warm or welcoming or at all patient with her. Things that people respond to — he's otherwise excellent at manipulating people, so of course he understands this. So. Given she'd just had this scary experience, given he hasn't exactly been great with her: Is she sure? She wants to come home — with him?

I think the moment may get a little lost because Anya says something riffing off his own earlier thoughts and self-revelation (featuring that shadowed, lonely eye motif again!)

Were this a post about Anya, I’d talk about how it’s an important character moment for her as well by way both of demonstrating her agency/choice and also that she isn’t nearly as dumb as Twilight thinks (and the audience, maybe, also thinks).

But in my view, she didn’t actually need to say anything about it making her cry. I think she could simply have said yes in that moment and Twilight would have agreed.

Twilight’s an unreliable narrator; he’s disconnected from his heart and that shrouds his own motivations from himself — something he actually also concedes in this chapter!

And it shrouds from us just how much he actually understands himself. He’s also a master of deflection. Easy to assume or say that bringing Anya home is just to align with Strix. Nothing more to see here; nothing else going on. But also that ripping off of the mask in the panel above — and the literal 'riiip' sound effects — also indicate to us that this is an unveiling to himself.

In my view, Twilight agreeing to Anya's request, deciding to go back to original mission parameters, actually shifts his motivations, subtly. Now he’s committed not only to the original mission goals, but also to Anya. He needs Anya to succeed at Strix, not only for Strix's sake, but also because otherwise the mission will end and she’ll have to go back to the orphanage, and he’s just agreed with her not to do that (not right away, in any case). I don’t think at this point he’s thinking it’s forever — his thoughts throughout the manga indicate he still expects the Forgers to be temporary. I don't think the shift in motivation is necessarily even conscious, but given the set up, I think something inside Twilight recognises that agreeing to bring Anya home is a compact, jointly engaged. Mostly all this has become subsumed into Strix: he makes decisions. He pursues them. He deflects, even from himself. Of course it's just for the mission; this saved him the trouble of reworking it, of figuring out something else. Nothing more to see; no need to think any more on it. And to be fair to him, Strix is very high stakes, resting pretty solely on his shoulders, so of course that is, objectively, motivation enough. Why even consider beyond that?

But I personally think that to the extent he's aware of it at all, there is something else going on, that he wants to have Anya for as long as it takes him to work something else out for her. If that's the case, then of course, we have Occam’s razor: the simplest solution may be the best one.

Maybe Twilight should just keep Anya himself, eh?

[Image description: gif from Spy x Family season 1, episode 1. Twilight and Anya have just found out Anya passed her entrance exam and are overjoyed. Celebratory, Twilight picks Anya up and swoops her into the air as they smile at one another. End image description]

[yuurivoice]

with the new reveal in the the L+F episode, there have been some small timeline issues within the fandom’s understanding, which makes me curious

would you ever consider making some sort of online timeline (such as within carrd or another website making site) in order to avoid confusion?

I've been considering my options there. Having some sort of evergreen post SOMEWHERE at the minimum would be great.

My real goal is to have all of that sort of info on the channel proper, and have it logical and easy to find. I have some thoughts on how to accomplish that.

Situations like this one in particular are special cases because typically I circumvent the confusion by writing it into the script and adding clarity that way. But, cliffhanger. So even though within the next minute or two of the next episode you'd have all of that information..........we're looking at like...weeks or a month away from that actually happening for the audience.

I think where I fucked up this time was that I didn't really consider how we've had issues in Auron's content as well where it's been so long since the establishing of the context, they forget that like...certain events have happened in a specific timespan, and what events then happened after the fact. Currently, Lost & Found is the furthest ahead chronologically, in the Spring-ish of the new year that follows the events of BS3 + Auron's Escape series. It's not unreasonable for folks to have forgotten specifics like that because it has taken literally years for me to get here, so if I had really thought about it, I would have given a little more to work off of and re-establish some of that information.

But, fun fact......I decided to do this particular reveal on a whim. It felt right. I wasn't sure WHAT to do with the audio itself, I knew we'd see Casper's car for the first time, and I thought that Charlie couldn't actually be that dumb. Certainly not if he had enough time to start thinking too much about things. Then I was like......ya know? What if I just...did a little more than I thought I'd be doing with this audio.

There are quite a few bandaids that need to be pulled in terms of reveals and connections leading into Shattered. Felt like the right time for this one, and raise the stakes for everyone by marrying these two particular threads.

I've struggled particularly with how to convey that Auron hasn't been peachy between Christmas and Spring-ish times. I thought about diving right in but realized that people could be thrown off. I thought about adding some context on the front end of Shattered, but we're not quite there yet.

And while the hardcores have caught onto the brief, viney threads that connect Charlie to Auron at this time, being more deliberate about it right now at this time feels good.

I am very amused at the general reaction. So amused, that I wrote the bulk of the next episode last night right after the premiere, because this is too good not to capitalize on. lol

Edit: Forgot to add that I'm aiming to have my timeline solution in place for the Echoes of Evalas drop because we're going to run into the same exact issue with Evalas things. EoE takes place around Shattered in the timeline, but various Evalas spinoffs are years prior. So it's paramount that there is some sort of resource to point people towards. I've been thinking about creating a "Guide to YuuriVoice" playlist that would have a fresh channel trailer, series synopsis, broader timeline clarification, and whatever else might be needed that I can think of. I just need something to be finished for me to go ahead and get that rolling.

[supersoakerfullofblood]

A Note on Style and Truisms

I see a lot of posts here discussing the merits of genres, tropes, and general writing advice: "advice for high fantasy magic system worldbuilding," "how to write enemies to lovers," "words to use instead of 'said,'" "how to write foreshadowing," "how to show and not tell," "why telling is okay, actually," "how to write a killer plot twist," etc.

Most of this advice is bullshit, which isn't to say it's wrong, just that it doesn't matter. (Any advice about avoiding "said" though is wrong. The word is fine, and you can use it pretty laissez-faire.) If you want to write genre fiction, which most of these posts are aimed towards, that's totally fine, but if you follow the advice found in these posts religiously, your prose and your story will suffer. Why is that?

A distinction should be drawn between prescriptivist and descriptivist uses of genre. The latter is genre applied to a writer's work. The writer likely isn't actively thinking too strictly about the genre they're writing in as they're drafting, and when they're done writing, it's up to the audience to define it with a genre. These stories are fluid, real, and are a genuine creative expression of the author's lived experience. We love descriptivist genre use.

But a lot of writing advice on here, and a lot of writing in general nowadays, uses genre as a prescription. Before you even start drafting, you read a thousand posts about low fantasy magic systems, worldbuilding tips on which color paint your fantasy race prefers to eat, how many drones should be in your science fiction epic, how long is too long for slow burn romance, etc. Don't get me wrong, these are fun questions to ask and think about, but their merit doesn't go much farther than that. This isn't writing advice as much as a conversation starter, and if taken as genuine advice, your prose and story will turn into fairly generic slop in the genre you read about.

You aren't the only one writing a high fantasy strict magic system epic. You aren't the only one writing your specific combination of fanfic keywords. You aren't the only writer who thought to combine fantasy and sci-fi. Every other writer is reading the same posts you're reading, and since we've all been raised on pretty much the same media canon, our stories are going to sound pretty much the same. It's all going to come out as relative genre fic slop. But why? When you take all this shibboleth as gospel, you aren't writing from your own experience with your own style--you're cobbling together a novel from a list of tropes. It's like forming a human with a list of character traits. It sounds good in theory, but practically, you miss something vital in what it means to be human, what it means to tell a story.

But how do you write a story without this advice? Well, you start writing. Very quickly, you figure out what works for you and what doesn't, how much "worldbuilding" you like, which tropes you naturally gravitate towards. You read a lot and incorporate the things you admire from your reading into your own work. This becomes your style. If you read too much hokey writing advice, your style will never develop. It will become the homogenous style of the genre fic slop factory. Don't let that happen! Write your own story, your genuine story, and then apply whatever genre labels may be applied to it.

Again, this isn't me trashing genre fic. Genre fic is great! I've published a novel of fairly genre-y realistic fiction, and I happily write grimdark McDonaldland fanfiction. I'm only saying the best genre fic didn't start with the writer asking himself, "How am I going to write the next big fantasy novel?" They didn't start with the author looking at blog posts about the most effective tropes to include in their narrative. The best stories are expressions of personal experience, of an individual's life. That should be what you write towards--not some platonic ideal of what a genre should be.

The same goes for writing advice. A lot of it is sound, but much of it is worthless, and some of it is actively toxic to the writing life (and figuring out which advice is in which category is another struggle that should be solved). For every "avoid adverbs when you can help it" (sound advice), there's another "stop using 'said' so much" (awful advice). And most advice falls somewhere in the middle (the semicolon debate is a huge chunk of the middle-ground advice). If you follow too much of this advice before your style has started to develop, it can stunt its growth. Maybe you love semicolons. I sure do! That may never reveal itself if you read too much about how semicolons are the devil.

TLDR popular writing advice very quickly becomes an echo chamber, and most of the advice is worthless or detrimental in developing your writing. A good general rule is to never take any advice about what to write too seriously.

[captainnait]

Go ahead, infodump about Bob from Headrush. No one is stopping you

3:11 pm, 5/20/2024

You will not believe how big of a smile I got when I first saw this ask 😭😭 Like I'm genuinely so happy to talk about him, thank you,,,

Anyway, you don't need to ask me twice 💥

(Yeah, a lot of rambling under the cut, hehe)

— One of my favorite canon facts about Bob is that he REALLY hates emoticons. He mentions it two times: one time in a question, where he refuses to read out loud the category name, that is just an emoticon, and instead just calls it "that. . . thing" or smth, and the other time is in the "Don't be afraid to express your emoticons" Headrush category, where he just straight up tells players to be cautious of people who use emoticons 😭

Either he had a terrible experience with someone who used emoticons. . . Or his old man brain just doesn't understand them. Or both idk.

— I don't know if it's just an Andy Poland thing or not (it's probably is, but still—), but I just really like the way he can change up his voices so quickly. My man can literally go from "uwu im so silly" type of voice to LITERALLY the most brutal and manliest voice imaginable in just a span of a few seconds, and I think that's INCREDIBLE.

If we talk about Bob specifically though, I really like how silly his voice sounds at the end of the round, when he says "bye-bye" or other similar to that lines. It just makes me giggle, okay,,

— I don't remember the full context behind this image and the question it is from, but. Yeah. Huh.

[For some reason Tumblr just doesn't let me put this image in, but it just a screenshot of the game with red words written on the screen, saying "Bob has a "thing" for Barney"]

It's also pretty funny, since a few rounds later I got another Barney question ("Even Purple Dinosaurs Have to Die... Someday"), and Bob didn't sound really amused by it lol

— There are a lot of lines in the game, where Bob jokes/admits that he feels pretty lonely and/or isolated, which is very interesting, considering that he doesn't seem as a very introverted person or someone who doesn't go outside much.

I don't have any specific speculations on why he is like that, but I think (headcanon, I guess) that it's something that he grow up feeling like and, perhaps, still haven't grown out of it.

— In "None of the Smoke & All of the Cancer", Bob says that he finds smoking to be "sexy". It isn't very clear whether if he meant it as a joke or not, so. Eh.

— A lot of people said it way before me, but. . . This man has major dog vibes. Like, I can't pin down specific things that make me think like that. It's— It's just the overall vibe I get from him lol

— I'm pretty sure I've seen someone already make a post about it (I'm not sure though), buuuut it's pretty fascinating to me how little sexual interest Bob shows in women (compare to other hosts in the series, at least) and how little he cares for "mushy" stuff in general, valuing friendship/platonic bonds a lot more.

This probably could stem from what type of game Headrush is, since it's aimed for a younger audience - teens, who probably don't really care about love in that young age. But yeah, just an interesting thing to thinking about while in a shower.

— His relationship with Old Man is pretty weird, because he both shows extreme violence and, yet, somehow, some type of respect towards him? Like, there are moments were he shouts, yells and doesn't mind kicking Old Man for his annoying shenanigans, maybe even having a way easier time with it than other hosts. But then there are a few rare moments, where he actually doesn't mind Old Man at all and would even listen to his stories with a genuine interest.

Of course it's not something completely new to the series, but it is also makes me fairly curious, since I feel like this is the game where we get to see a lot of Old Man's personality and how he influences those around him (in the case of this game (99% of it) - Bob lol)

. . . That's it, ig. For now, i feel satisfied)

I also would really like ranting about Milan and his weirdly homoerotic relationship with Bob, buuut I need to get all the TTwM clips first, so. Yeah. That'll have to wait 💥

[ofstormsandfire]

Baldur's Gate 3 characters as fanfic authors

(Disclaimer: I have not played Baldur's Gate 3. However, I have been on the receiving end of a lot of infodumping and have seen some of my qpp Cas's durge playthrough. Also, I'm doing this for shits and giggles.)

Astarion: He has a profile filled with the most epic of stories, all of which are marked 1/?. His writing is great! However, he has yet to finish a single fic and quite possibly never will. One of those authors where you can tell they've got Issues irl, but he's private enough in his notes that you can't really guess at what those issues actually are.

Gale: Credits his cat as his editor. Strangely, his stories seem to be very well-edited in spite of this. Jumps from fandom to fandom semi-frequently, but he almost always finishes what he starts before jumping into something new, and you can Tell that he's researched the hell out of every new fic he writes. (There is one fic that remains unfinished; while writing it, he vanished off the face of the internet for months and his readers genuinely thought he died. He has not acknowledged what happened with that fic since returning and is unlikely to do so.)

Halsin: His fics are as well-researched and thought out as Gale's, but specifically where nature is concerned. In the past, he's gotten into very big arguments involving ABO fanfic and how it's not even based on how actual wolf pack dynamics work, though he's been around long enough at this point to just block and move on. Also, characters who are shitty towards the environment tend to either mend their ways or not live to the end of the fic.

Jaheira: One of those writers who has been around basically forever. She posts once in a blue moon but whenever she does, everyone goes !!! about it; probably has a lot of user subscriptions on AO3. Probably volunteers with the OTW in her downtime. Has a certain fondness for fics where, just this once, everybody lives. Extremely private where her personal life is concerned, but she used to talk about a husband. (Longtime readers may note that she has never once been online during a certain month of the year, not even to respond to comments.)

Karlach: She keeps writing oneshots about this one specific comfort character of hers going on adventures and getting nice things. Unfortunately, being literally on fire makes her prone to making typos, but we love her anyway, typos and all. Her fics tend to be best described as... shall we say, heartwarming?

Lae'zel: Gets into literally all the fandom drama. She has written multiple fics specifically to piss other authors off and she'll do it again. Several of these were aimed at Shadowheart in particular during a short span of time, like we're talking slamming out a fic a day for like a week. Doesn't get commenting etiquette.

Minthara: Bad endings abound here. Unlike with Shadowheart (see below) she just kind of wants to watch the world burn and write the most fucked-up AUs she can think of. Goes into concerning levels of detail where things like torture are concerned.

Shadowheart: Writes all these hurt/no comfort angstfest fics. Has been straight up asked in the comments of her fics on multiple occasions if she's okay. (She eventually starts to write more hurt/comfort fics, and her audience breathes a collective sigh of relief.)

Wyll: Very cheerful, very responsive to comments, has a lot of variety in his works. Every single one of his fics is co-authored by this other account who he thanks for her(?) assistance in every story, despite the fact that she has never once said anything in the comments section and doesn't appear to have other social media. It is unclear what this other person's contribution is; Wyll has confirmed that she is neither an editor, a beta reader, or a writer herself.

[dawnfelagund]

I normally actively avoid posting about anything where money is attached. I'm making an exception here for a project that addresses what I see as a significant (and growing) need in the fandom.

I (along with a team of incredible comods) run an independent archive, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild. We are one of the only independent archives left, at least in the Tolkien fandom.

We wage a lot of uphill battles to keep our archive open and active, but one of the biggest is the tech side. I'm not an IT pro; I'm a middle-school humanities teacher. I began learning the tech skills to run an archive in 2006 and have been learning ever since. By now, I've devoted hundreds if not thousands of hours to learning how to build and run websites. And it's hard, mostly because it is hard to find information that is written at a level comprehensible by an exhausted middle-school teacher who has a half-hour at the end of her day to puzzle something out. Documentation generally sucks; tutorials often seem to be written at a level just above where I am. My knowledge has a lot of holes as a result, and I sometimes have to give up on something because I can't find what I need to teach me to do it.

The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development is a Kickstarter project that aims to remedy that by producing materials aimed at teaching web development concepts specifically to a fannish audience and with the goal of supporting an independent fannish web, where fans have the know-how to build their own sites, archives, and other web projects. They are very close to their goal. I made my donation today; I'm hoping we might push them over the finish line.

Currently, fans are primarily tethered to a few large sites used for fandom purposes. Some of these are benevolent and trustworthy (AO3, for example); others are not and have taken damaging steps toward fandom over the years (not mentioning any names here ...) All of them have their limitations. The primary complaints I hear about AO3, for example, have nothing to do with AO3 doing anything wrong and everything to do with people wanting AO3 to be something other than AO3. At the same time, I get it: We are at the point where AO3 is often the only choice for many creators to archive their work and the only choice for people who want to enjoy fanworks. Those people are understandably upset when AO3 can't meet their needs because they don't see themselves as having another choice.

But it didn't used to be this way. It used to be (at least in Tolkien fandom) that if you wanted something that didn't exist, you built it yourself. This is how the SWG came to be: some of us wanted an archive just for Silmfic, there wasn't one, so we built one. We weren't alone in this, and we felt empowered because so many other fans were doing the same thing: learning together and teaching and supporting each other as we went. This was when "building a website" meant learning enough HTML and CSS to hand-markup a page or adjust an eFiction theme.

But, as time passed and the internet evolved, our enthusiastically acquired knowledge of HTML wasn't enough to keep afloat sites that were breaking at a much deeper level, and those sites began to disappear. My comods and I did endeavor to gain the knowledge to save our decaying archive and, as noted above, it was not easy, and I do not blame anyone for not doing the same. It was a part-time job for me for over a year, and I'm lucky that I was able to make room for it in my life. It's unreasonable to expect that everyone will be able to do that.

The increasing consolidation and corporatization of fandom is a problem too. We've seen time and again that for-profit companies don't have our interests in mind. All of the fannish stuff we love on Tumblr and Discord and FanFiction.net could be gone tomorrow and for no better reason than someone will make a little more profit if our embarrassing fandom garbage is not there. It's happened before, many times. Even without corporate malevolence, digital data is fragile and having everything in just one place is perilous. While I'm sure AO3, for example, is diligent in preserving our work as best as possible, data losses and breaches do happen all the time.

It used to be that Tolkien fanfic writers would archive their work in three, four, more different places. If one had a data loss, that sucked, but mostly because you lost comments, not because entire swaths of fanworks were gone forever. That level of crossposting is no longer an option.

It used to be that Tolkien fanfic writers would archive their work in three, four, more different places. If one had a data loss, that sucked, but mostly because you lost comments, not because entire swaths of fanworks were gone forever. That level of crossposting is no longer an option.

[yourheart-inmyhands]

Title Post :D

Hi and Welcome to my page! I hope you enjoy your stay here! I apologize for any inconsistent uploads, I try to keep enough posts queued to ensure this doesn’t happen. Queued posts will post every 6 hours at 6am, 12pm, and 6pm EST. I upload one day a week, typically on Sundays. I do have work and other things to balance in my life outside of Tumblr so I don't often have a lot of time to write things to post, but I do hope that you enjoy everything I have posted so far though! If you're looking for my Masterlist you can find it at the link.

If you have any requests or anything specific you'd like to see, my askbox is almost always open with anon turned on! I'll be focusing mostly on genshin for now but if there's a character you desperately want to see and I know them then perhaps I'll be able to write something for them! :D [Request Box Currently: Open] [Requestable Character List]

Please be considerate when putting through requests, because i only post a few times a week my inbox gets backlogged very quickly so if you want to request multiple things remember that you're taking away time from other people who are also waiting on requests. I try to get to all the requests in a timely manner but i'm not always as fast at clearing my inbox as you guys are at flooding it, but i LOVE that you guys enjoy my writing, it warms my heart more than i can put into words. <3

Please also keep in mind that since my posts are all queued to be automatically posted, that it may take a little but for yours to get out depending on how many get sent into my ask box prior to yours. I answer all my asks in order and they go into the queue the same way. The only time things in my queue get moved forward is when a request gets put before something that wasn't requested and that i wrote. But rest assured, all requests i receive will be answered as i get to them. Often times when i'm writing content, which is often late at night, i will choose simpler ones over the ones more complicated or requesting a lot of characters. this isn't because i value them any less but they take more time to write and i don't always have time to write huge ones back to back. i will get to every request eventually though, and i thank you all for your patience :D

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[blazeofnight]

PotO Italy (Trieste) review - Act 2

We did enter the intermission with high spirits: All I Ask of You did get us interested and on board, and despite some disappointing or confusing choices the first act was overall enjoyable. The solid vocal and acting performances surely didn't hurt, either.

No pictures this time since I'm at work and can't access Instagram, I'll add them later if I remember. You can find the review for Act 1 here.

The same disclaimer applies: I have not seen other replica productions in full, only pictures, but I have seen the West End production in March. I do consider using Broadway/West End/replica productions as the one and true standard to judge non-replicas unfair in general, but I think it's fair to use them as a comparison to try and understand how these changes affect character dynamics and stuff like that, and to help in trying to understand the reasoning behind the choices made.

My visual memory is VERY poor, so if you've seen the show too and notice I remember something wrong please tell me so I can correct it! Also this is a long post, so please consider how much you want to scroll before clicking the read more.

MASQUERADE/WHY SO SILENT

There are a couple of videos of Masquerade floating around, so I believe everyone interested in this specific scene already has seen them. I have to say that the videos and pictures do not capture just how a light, peaceful and joyous moment it is.

After ending Act 1 with ominous red lighting and a lot of sharp shadows, Act 2 opens with a soft diffused light, slightly yellow as to mimic sunlight. In the beginning they turned on the little constellation lights in the ceilings, and it was absolutely beautiful! Then as the song progressed the lighting got a bit stronger and they also used some of the seating are alights, to create this impression of the stage being bigger and almost overflowing towards the audience. For a split second, it did feel as if we too were part of what was going on on stage.

The scene opens as always with Firmin and André covered by cloaks and recognizing each other. André is wearing a regular fancy suit, and Firmin reveals a super poofy and VERY pink dress. I knew about this going in and tried to keep my opinion neutral, I'm happy to report it's not played for laughs beyond the initial reveal (you REALLY do not expect that after seeing André is dressed in a fancy but uncreative way), it really feels as if Firmin thought "Hmmm a fancy dress party, I don't see why I should not wear a nice, pink, huge dress!" and that's it.

The ensemble is dressed in what look like Venetian masks inspired costumes and they get on stage dancing with similarly attired mannequins. The effect is very nice and just the right amount of creepy, the mannequins move very smoothly so at times you really can't tell which figures are actors and which ones are mannequins.

At one point the sea of masks parts and the named characters appear. Madame Giry is dressed in her usual black dress, Meg is dressed like the music box's monkey, and Piangi, Carlotta, Raoul and Christine are dressed in "regular" elegant clothes. I can confirm Christine's dress is white, it looks pale yellow at times due to the lighting being warm for most of the scene. Christine's dress is actually pretty nice from what I could see, especially the lovely, decorated train. I have not checked but it could also be pretty historically accurate in general! Also, it moves beautifully when Christine is picked up by Raoul, I'm not sold on it being white but

There is a moment where Raoul and Christine are alone on the stage, golden confetti start pouring down from the ceiling and it looks extremely pretty, then you see that the ensemble didn't just leave the stage but spilt over into the galleries and near the orchestra pit! Between this and the lighting effects, it does look like the aim of this scene was easing the audience back into the "theatre world" after intermission, if so it does work quite well.

My one complaint is that the second half of Masquerade sounds very slow and I can't figure out why? For the title song getting sped up I do at least have other elements that help guess why, but here I'm completely stumped and it's driving me crazy!

The atmosphere in the scene is extremely relaxed and airy, so the sudden mood change at the Red Death's arrival is very jarring in a good way. I won't lie, I do miss the "traditional" costume, but considering how complex and time-consuming it must be to create and maintain, I do understand why they opted for a simpler solution.

So, the Red Death is just a red, formless cloak holding the huge Don Juan Triumphant manuscript. I actually liked it, it did remind me of the way Death or Destiny/Fate are often represented in illustrations, and it looks like the cloak is made in a velvet-like fabric that made the red even more intense and blood-like. The slow, ominous advance is still very effective and creepy, and when the ensemble falls over the figure only to reveal the cloak is empty it's a nice moment of old-fashioned stage magic.

But wait, Christine is not on stage, so what about the final verse? It turns out Christine was still in the audience, nearby the orchestra pit, made invisible by darkness and our attention being elsewhere. Then she gets suddenly illuminated and we see that the Phantom is actually standing beside her, he says the "your chains are still mine/You will sing for me!" lines, all very effective. I like this staging because it does make you feel that Christine's safety was all just an illusion, the Phantom can get near her whenever he likes and his illusions and tricks make him hard to stop. It makes it more believable that Christine is later willing to put herself at risk to make it all stop despite the huge emotional toll it takes on her, because we are shown just how Raoul could not help her here even if he wanted, despite his promise and willingness to protect her.

The second complaint I have about this scene is that at the very end you can clearly see and hear the Phantom just... running away from Christine and into the wings, which ruins the overall effect a bit. If they find a way to make him disappear more gracefully, then it'd be a perfect way to end the scene.

There's the interlude between Madame Giry and Raoul, and oh boy is Raoul PISSED. Other people have already commented that he doesn't play a super sweet, naive Raoul, but rather a more serious and mature one, and it's nice to see how Bradley portrays him as capable of great tenderness but also of having a spine. He's not politely requesting or pleading with Madame Giry, he's commanding it. This lady is withholding information that could be used to make Christine's life less scary and he won't allow it!

It's not my favourite portrayal of all time, but it fits well with the overall mood and themes and makes for a more tridimensional Raoul which is good in my opinion.

NOTES II/TWISTED EVERY WAY

This scene is set in the same way as Notes I, but since the mood is quite different I found that it being kinda showed in half of the stage wasn't as much of a problem. The stage set is once again angled to create a wall of the managers' office, but this time it gets used as Christine, more and more overwhelmed, leans against it in a dramatic fashion.

A couple of things I noticed: André does a long-ish pause after the first "But why not?" as if he needs a second or two to realize that something's wrong with Christine's refusal, it's a nice touch. Christine starts having her breakdown when everyone is asking her questions, Raoul gets all protective, and when he sings "They can't make you" he's GLARING at the others and physically putting himself between them and Christine (you can hear the quiet menace in his voice perfectly in the audio I took, it's amazing how much emotions Bradley puts in that line). Carlotta has a dark orange dress, which I like less than her green one in Notes I but it would be pretty with a bit more texture, chile Christine is wearing a cute green dress (the colour is a bit of a mix between sage and mint green, similar to the cloak she wears in Wishing).

After the Phantom's letter has been read (Madame GIry keeps silently mouthing the words throughout), Christine says "I can't. I won't do it" in a frankly panicked but determined tone (I don't remember if it's something in the current West End version, but I don't have it on my Original London Cast CD). It's pretty clear during the scene that what happened to the end of Masquerade shook her to the core, and now everything that reminds her of the Phantom or, worse, having to face him directly is a big trigger for her. Amelia has some truly great anguished and conflicted expressions in this scene.

The next part has some nice details: one of the managers (I don't remember who, sorry) bangs his hand on the table during the "We make certain our men are there!" verse, Raoul flips through the Don Juan Triumphant manuscript trying to find something to be used against the Phantom, and there is another perfectly timed longer pause before Raoul, André and Firmin ask Madame Giry to help them during which the three men exchange a meaningful look. Just before Madame Giry's cry of "Madness" turns the attention on her, Carlotta can be seen approaching a very strained Christine and opening her mouth as if to speak to her in a more regular, non-diva way, but then she gets interrupted and nothing comes of it.

Thanks to the way AIAOY has been changed, Raoul's bits in Twisted Every Way sound very sincere and not manipulative as sometimes they risk doing. His change of heart clearly comes 100% from realizing that this is a dangerous plan but Christine clearly can't be happy or even just serene knowing the person she rightfully fears can get to her whenever he wants. Christine's "I know I can't refuse" is truly heartbreaking, there's a sharp, painful intonation that really makes you feel her desperation and how trapped she must feel in this moment.

SITZPROBE

This one plays pretty close to what you can expect, there's not much that can be changed. BUT! Do you remember that Reyer is never seen? In this scene the piano is turned so you don't see him, apart from an admonishing hand when Piangi keeps missing his note. So when the creepy music starts and the piano turns revealing there's no longer anyone behind it, and it's playing on its own... let me tell you, it felt pretty chilling even knowing that the moment was coming!

WISHING YOU WERE SOMEHOW HERE AGAIN

Ok, this and Wandering Child are the scenes in Act 2 that need some work to be more than a vehicle for some nice singing.

Christine is wearing a mint green cloak with sleeves, I don't hate it BUT the sleeves make it bulky and a bit goofy at times. I think a sleeveless cloak works better for this scene since it allows for some more dramatic swishing and looks more elegant, but the one used is serviceable. Oh, no red scarf, but Christine has a red rose she puts...where?

The big issue here is that this scene is painfully empty, there's a projection of silhouettes of tombstones in the background but otherwise, there is NOTHING. Now, listen, I'm not a fan of the giant sarcophagus used in the West End, but having some tasteful fake tombstones, some weeping angels, etc., would go a long way to add visual interest to the scene and make it clearer that Christine is paying homage to her dead father, instead of just leaving a rose on the ground seemingly at random. Have her father's tomb be decorated with, say, an angel playing a musical instrument, maybe a violin, and you're set! and this would also be useful in the next song, so it's a 2x1 deal! Also, it would be nice to see this specific production lean into this scene's gothic aesthetic.

Vocally, as I said elsewhere, Amelia Milo's voice could use a bit more strength but she's not bad at all, and she does put a lot of emotion into the song. She starts mournful, but quickly ramps up the energy and you can really feel that this Christine is so ready to stop clinging to the past and face the future, a new life, that will be different from the one she knew but can make her just as happy if not more.

WANDERING CHILD/BRAVO, MONSIEUR

Ok, we have to talk about the angel wings. I tried to avoid this as long as possible, but the moment has arrived.

Why why why WHY does the Phantom hover while sporting a pair of black angel wings.

I suspect this... thing happens because there are no pyrotechnics in the scene. The use of flames, sparks and the likes in performances is STRICTLY regulated in Italy, especially in indoor venues, so I think these were added to have the Phantom do something "cool" in the scene instead of using the skull cane spray sparks everywhere.

The issue is, they are so random and don't fit the aesthetic of the rest of the musical at all! I would LOVE if there was a suggestion of wings: the Phantom appearing in front of an angel statue, or the wings being a shadow, so you're left wondering if this is Christine's suggestion showing itself to us. As it is now, it is something that throws you out of the show's immersion and that's the second worst crime a musical can commit in my eyes (the first one is being boring).

And another thing is, it is a nice effect, and it works well, I can see it fitting in nicely if they went in a different direction when it comes to themes and overall aesthetic. It's not bad per se, it's just misplaced.

The start of the scene, before the wings appear, isn't bad. Apart from still being empty, the fact that Christine is in a confused emotional state due to the stuff that happened between the end of Masquerade and now and so she falls again under the Phantom's influence is made quite clear, she even falls on her knees similarly to how she did in The Mirror. But then the wings come out, the Phantom starts to hover, Raoul arrives and everything gets confused. I admit I really don't know if something happened and I missed it, or if I was just confused by the scene in general. you could even tell the audience's applause sounded a bit uncertain.

So yeah, that's two other scenes that will need a bit of work to be made good. Luckily Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again just needs a proper background, and that in turn can help a bit with Wandering Child.

DON JUAN TRIUMPHANT/THE POINT OF NO RETURN

There are some interesting changes in this one, so first let's get the small stuff out of the way.

There is only one "Secure!" being shouted, and while there is the usual Phantom's projected voice effect you can tell that it's achieved differently since there are no speakers scattered across the theatre. The second one is a technical limitation so it's understandable and it's still cool, just a bit less impressive, but having 2-3 "Secure!" coming from the main doors is a very cool effect that I absolutely loved in London, it helps so much with the immersion and I wish they'd kept it. Also, the sharpshooter is not in the orchestra pit, but rather in one of the other boxes of the prop stage, which makes sense given the staging.

Sooo, let's get to the Don Juan Triumphant bit and the infamous cloak. First of all, I want to make clear that I've never been 100% on board with the classic disguise. It always looked to me out of place in the play-within-a-play, it is definitely something that the Phantom would use in the "real" world, but clashes with the clothing of the other characters we see in DJT and doesn't really make sense if you assume that Aminta is expecting yes a secret meeting, but not to be deceived. One could argue that the Phantom insisted the costume be this way, but then this would be suspicious and I'd find it strange that no one suspected it would be needed for something. So, in short, I don't dislike the classic costume but I don't really love it either because it's clear it's a costume made for us, the real audience, instead of the fictional audience/play.

I don't love the hat+cloak combo, either, but it makes sense in the way the scene is set. The atmosphere is quite convivial, the ensemble is not only setting the table but some folks (Passarino included) are sitting at it, it looks like they all just finished conspiring and laying the plot. The costumes aren't super elaborate, but I think they worked well in conveying that in the scene there are folks of different social extraction and ways of life.

Passarino's hat and cloak work well to signify that he's a dashing young man, yes, but he's also a working servant: these are believable attire for someone who has to travel or spend time outside, they do tell you something about this character that we see for a handful of seconds, but if we were watching the actual play it would be important to get a nuanced portray of the character!

So yeah, while I don't love this costume? It does look like something made for the play-within-the-play, not something made for PotO, if this makes sense. I do have some issues with the colour, it does work well with Aminta's red and white and it's an ochre yellow that does photograph horribly but isn't too bad in person. And yes, it's very wide and in a stiffer fabric than the classic cloak so it looks clumsier when the Phantom is standing still, but it looks fine when he's moving. Maybe making it in black and a lighter fabric could work, I'd personally love for it to be a dark red similar to Red Death's cloak but then it would be too similar in tone to Aminta's dress (where the red or pink paired with the white is Symbolyc and thus important).

So, yeah, it's not the best, it is a bit weird at first if you're used to the classic black cloak, but it makes so much sense if you consider this is a costume diegetic to the DJT play! Aminta's dress is also simple, a bit of a "generic young country girl", but it has a silhouette that's quite flattering on Amelia and it does its job of representing the young, innocent girl ready to embrace passion etc.

Ok, I think that's enough words spent talking about something that's not the actual music and singing of this piece! The Point of no Return starts sung by Paingi up until "You've decided, decided", then the Phantom takes over and Ramin does his "singing imitating Piangi's accent" thing for a while, before dropping it. I saw people complaining about this, it looks like during the first night the switch was a bit later, but as it is now it works. I think it could be improved by making the change a bit more gradual as it is for the various notes. I did see a lady that was clearly at her first viewing of the show making an "Oh!" surprised face when the voice change happened, so I think it works especially well for first-timers that don't know what will happen, but only that something is bound to happen.

Please don't ask me to tell you stuff about the blocking because I was distracted by everything going on to really take note of it beyond lots of touching, very sensual vibes overall, and a nice bit of leg from Christine at one point. A notable difference is that Christine does realize what's going on only at the end of the song. I do like the timing because it matches with the last "We passed the point of no return" and the music's shift. The song doesn't end abruptly because the Phantom has been unmasked, but quietly and sadly because now Christine knows and the Phantom has to choose what to do. And the Phantom chooses to reveal himself to her (not the unmasking, just taking off the hat).

Raoul jumps onstage, along with the police officer, and Christine moves in order to protect the Phantom. She's clearly terrified but still doesn't want to see him shot dead. What follows is, simply put, one of the saddest All I Ask of You reprises I've ever heard or watched.

I always kinda wondered, what exactly is the Phantom's aim here? Does he just want to share the stage with her? Does he plan to kidnap her again? Does he believe that if only Christine sees the (creepy) opera he's written for her and sings the (creepy) longing song he's written she'll just fall for him as if nothing ever happened? Does he have a plan at all?

I am happy to report that in this staging there is one, simple reply: this Phantom is utterly, completely broken. His music is no longer enough, he needs/wants his music AND Christine to perform him. He wants her to see him, to acknowledge him, yes she does recognize him first in the scene, but he still has the chance to just get out of there. Instead, he reveals himself because he so desperately hopes, against all odds, that singing again together with Cristine the music he composed for her will have changed her mind, made her see how much he cares, made her feel how he feels for her etc. It was honestly a heartbreaking moment to witness, but yeah reading "the Phantom reveals himself at the end of PonR" and seeing it in context is VERY different. 

The impression I got is that the Phantom spent six months spiralling into depression and THIS is the best he could come up with to try and make Christine speak to him again. He's desperate, and he knows it. You can feel it in his voice, you can see it in the way he's calm, almost resigned until the unmasking. For him, it all boils down to Christine's reply, to her accepting him or not. I don't think he's even stopped to consider what to do after she replies because that will be such a defining, world-changing moment. and I think that just for a moment the Phantom allows himself hope, the tiniest bit of it. Christine is clearly scared to death, but she's not running away. She's even protecting him, in a way. And then she unmasks him.

DOWN ONCE MORE/TRACK DOWN THIS MURDERER

The gondola does not disappear in the wings, so there's no quick change and Christine is in her AMinta dress. The Phantom does give her the veil, putting it on her head when he sees she's not doing it herself, and gives her what looks like a wedding dress but Christine is understandably thinking about her current predicament and when the Phantom sees she does not intend to wear it he just tosses it away and gives her the bouquet instead. I do like that there's no implication of Christine being forced to change, and it does keep intact the fact that the Phantom did have a wedding dress, veil and bouquet prepared for her.

When singing "A mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing" Ramin raised a hand to touch the disfigured side in a way that is just heartbreaking. I know I'm using this word a lot, but I feel it's true for this portrayal: a very physical Phantom with a lot of self-loathing, a lot of repressed emotions that get directed inwards with no way or no one to help express them, accompanied by the occasional outburst when they get simply too much to be repressed any longer. Isolated and emotionally stunted is the name of the game here, but in a way that makes you see just how deprived of regular socialization and company he was during his life.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that when Christine sang "It's in your soul that the true distortion lies", in the split second before noticing Raoul's arrival the Phantom raised a hand and was starting to reply to Christine, and I'd really, really like to know how he'd try to get himself out of that one! It was a blink-and-you-'ll-miss-it moment, but I found it interesting that this Phantom's reaction to Christine's accusation was not dismay or anger, but rather trying to talk it out.

Then our boy Raoul appears in all his damp, well-toned and bare-chested glory! Bradley Jaden is quite ripped, I think by now we've all seen the pictures, and let me tell you they do not do him justice. He's also barefoot, and he stumbles on the scene while very convincingly gasping after the swim in the underground lake.

The suspenders are still on because they are clearly used when he gets hanged by the Phantom, since in this scene he is literally hanging, his feet a good 50 cm or so from the ground. My guess is that the "Y" part of the suspenders on the back latches onto some kind of support built into the Phantom's bedframe to take pressure off the neck or something like that. It still looks extremely uncomfortable, and Bradley was clearly tensing a lot of muscles to maintain the position. So yeah, apart from the eye candy, it looks like a challenging thing to do while you're also singing and acting. I still have no explanation for why they did this instead of dampening his shirt, I guess they took a good look at Bradley Jaden's pecs and thought "Oh people will love that!" and asked him if he minded spending the last 10 minutes onstage half naked? I really don't know.

Raoul was convincingly rational (as much as possible) in this scene, he did get angry but it was also clear he was trying to keep his cool and reason if possible because his #1 priority was: to help Christine get out of there. And I think this creates a beautiful dynamic in this scene, where Christine starts angry and scared but then sees that Raoul is trying to keep his promise and jumped into a freezing lake to reach her and be at her side despite the danger. And this in turn gives her the strength to face her fear, which is now not just hypothetical but becoming very real, and find the will she needs to save Raoul in turn. They can save each other because they have built a reciprocal trust and do actively support each other during most of the second act.

Unfortunately, there is the choking. For those who don't know what I'm referring to, when Raoul comes in Christine tries to run to him and the Phantom stops her, and ends up choking her a bit before realizing what he's doing and letting her go. I really didn't like it in this instance. I think there are some actors that can make it work if they play a very aggressive, wounded Phantom that lashes out at the world, but I am having trouble fitting it in this portrayal where his negative emotions are clearly almost all directed inwards and where the Phantom tends to be quite gentle with Christine. Also, not only is he a murderer (twice), kidnapper, damaged property, and maybe kinda drugged Christine, but he's also physically abusive. Cool cool cool. I'd rather like it if they removed it.

When the Phantom realizes what he's doing he immediately lets Christine go (at least) and Christine tries to run to Raoul's side but he gets hanged by the Phantom. Christine gets PISSED in this version, while the Phantom is a bit more on the cooler, controlled side, and Raoul seems to sincerely regret his actions since they only made the situation worse. I have to say that even despite the distracting shirtlessness of Raoul, having him actually hanging instead of just… being mildly inconvenienced by a noose clearly big enough for his head to pass through does make it all a bit more believable. I do buy that this guy is really in a situation where he can't free himself.

I also really liked the "Angel of music, you deceived me /I gave my mind blindly" delivery: it's not angry but rather deeply mournful and regretful, since now it's Christine's turn to realize that her trust in the Angel of Music because of her clinging desperately to any scrap of her father's presence/memory is what led to all of this. In a way, this version underscores Christine's growth as she tries to become her own person without the influences of her father or of the Phantom guiding but also limiting her, it's one of the main themes and I liked how her realization is delivered here connects it clearly to All I Ask of You and Wandering Child conceptually.

So the big moment, the choice, arrives. In the preceding moments Raoul struggled even more frantically and now is losing consciousness, so when the Phantom delivers his ultimatum (a very weary, exhausted ultimatum) Christine just looks at Raoul one last time (she thinks) and this gives her the strength to decide and act.

After the kiss, the way the Phantom stands still for a while before sloooowly walking to Raoul and cutting the lasso is… I don't really know how to explain it. You take all the defeat, resignation and brokenness of when he revealed himself to Christine at the end of PonR and double or triple them, then add in all the self-loathing he displayed during the rest of the musical. He does now realize with crystal clear certainty that he'll never, ever have what he wants in the way he wants it, and this time he can't blame the world but only himself and his actions. He's beyond broke, beyond everything really. Weary and with nothing left to look forward to.

Raoul collapses to the ground, and Christine runs to him and physically helps him up and to the boat. No elegant, composed sitting: here Raoul and Christine are physically and psychologically exhausted, so there's no time for all of that as they almost stumble into the boat and it's the Phantom that shoves it away, sending them towards their freedom and out of the stage.

The Phantom sounds so distressed in the bit just before this, and the fact that the last "go now and leave me" is sung when he's alone on stage, having physically pushed away the one person that, despite everything and despite making the choice under extreme duress, was capable of staying beside him… ooof. You really feel that he has nothing left now, and maybe for the first time ever he truly wants to be alone, to disappear completely. Which of course makes the brief Masquerade reprise even more devastating than usual.

Now, the other big controversial change: the ring return. The Phantom is facing the other way when Christine comes in. It looks like she's debating whether to approach him or not, and then when he sings "Christine, I love you" she just leaves the ring and silently leaves. The Phantom hears something, turns, sees the ring and picks it up, and in that moment from off stage the All I Ask of You final reprise is heard, accompanied by a soft, golden light coming from above showing that Raoul and Christine are making their way to the surface and to the (metaphorical) light.

Why no interaction during the ring return? In this production, they are leaning a lot on the Phantom as being a toxic influence/relationship for Christine, not without its allure and charms, but also very dangerous and controlling. And when Christine sees him kill because he didn't get his way… well, she gets it quite quickly and actively tries to avoid him, but realizes that she's still pretty vulnerable to him and his influence. And I think not interacting with him at the very end represents her cutting off a toxic person, at this point any interaction would be dangerous to her, and an unkindness to him.

She knows she's still vulnerable to him, that despite everything he did she can still care about him because she's just that kind of person. At the same time, the Phantom did the morally right thing by pushing her away from him and it's clear it took him every ounce of willpower he had and he might not be able to do so again. So, when Christine hears him declaring his love to an empty room, she doesn't risk wasting all the effort they BOTH put in (plus Raoul, who literally risked his life for her) to say one last goodbye.

It's a big change, it does change the ending and their dynamic a lot, so I get it if you don't like it. But it makes sense, it has its place in the narrative of this specific production, and since it makes such a difference I think if you're used to the "regular" ring return you need to experience it after getting through all the previous emotional beats in order to be in the right mind space to accept it.

When the Phantom realizes that Christine is truly gone, he slowly makes his way to the bed and covers himself with the sheets as the ensemble (led by Madame Giry) bursts in. Meg approaches the covers and pulls them away, revealing an empty bed save from the Phantom's mask, which she brings to her mother who looks at it somberly, and they both raise it for the classic final "shot".

I am ambivalent about this choice. On one hand, I think it looks a bit silly and could probably be implemented better, on the other hand I think it's meant to be a reference to the Phantom letting himself die in the book, and I did like it as a metaphor for his death, and having the ensemble kinda witnessing it and him not being so alone in his final moments.

I've decided to make a different post for my opinion about the singing performances and my overall opinion about what works, what doesn't, and so on, which can also be a TL;DR of sorts since I realize not everyone is interested in a song-by-song comparison.

For now, I'll just say that if you go in expecting West End or Broadway levels of opulence you will be disappointed by the stage sets, costumes, etc., which are rarely memorable, at times flops, more often are ok and serviceable (meaning they are not distracting and don't get in the way of the performance, even if they're not anything special).

If you want to see the story and characterization you already know, then you can watch one of the tens of bootlegs available and enjoy the subtle changes each actor brings to the characters (I know I do!), but if you'd like a different take on the main characters and key scenes then this will get your brain going.

If you go in with a preset idea of what you want to get out of the experience, chances are there'll be areas where it underdelivers and interesting stuff you might not notice while if you go in without trying to force your expectations on the show, then you'll probably come away with some stuff you liked, some stuff that you're not so sure about but is interesting or might work with a change or two, and yes, some stuff you didn't like at all, or left you confused, or is just plain weird.

Overall it was a fun and interesting experience, the vocal performances were great, the acting choices captivating and I went home with some new interpretations of the main characters while thinking about if I can make a trip to Milan in October to see it again. Despite some major flaws, it is doing something interesting and engaging in its own way and I'd love to see it again knowing what to expect.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

I’m not even a weeb (I like One anime) but like the way anime and manga are treated even now is so fucking weird and uncomfortable. Like, the medium as a whole being disregarded because of either shows specifically targeted towards a weird niche or like. shit that western media is just as guilty as. Like. Media made for teenagers sexualising teenage characters to a degree it’s uncomfortable isn’t like unique to shonen manga (which is, again, aimed for pre-teen and teenage boys primarily) like last i checked shit like euphoria absolutely exists.

hell downright sexualisation of young children happened in the western film industry not even too long ago- shirley temple starred in baby burlesque movies when she was a toddler, and literal child sexual abuse material was legal in many western countries in the fucking seventies. loli shit is not unique to japan, paedophilia of young children is something that’s been sexualised in western countries too until very recently and it’s still done today. japan has its own awful issues with csa and sexualisation of minors, but so do we. it’s not an unique issue to japan and japanese media at all.

like this isn’t a “x thing is okay actually” post but like. weird creepy shit in anime? happens in western media too. the anime we get is specifically to appeal to a niche audience, we don’t get most anime and manga translated into english and we see the type that’s popular with a specific subculture most of all, and that subculture is like, otaku. nerdy boys are misogynistic and objectify women and girls, that’s not unique to japan or japanese media and just dismissing those ideas as an “anime thing” or worse a “japanese thing” is not only devaluing the art form of an entire culture if not the entire culture itself but it’s a very good way to overlook the issues in western media when it comes to, say, constant sexualisation of minors.

sorry it bugs me so fucking much when people disparage all anime as “pedo trash” and say all japanese men are paedophiles (i have literally seen that said multiple times) when talking about the exact same issues you see in so many mediums over here. it feels like a way of deflecting from the issues western media has a lot of the time.

[dreddedwheat]

Desert Island Dredds: Pre-emptive Revenge

So off the back of my last post on the Dredd epic Judgement Day, I feel it's time I started covering some of the lesser known Judge Dredd media. Mainly the Big Finish audio productions, and specifically their pseudo-sequel to Judgement Day, Pre-Emptive Revenge!

The name 'Big Finish' is going to be familiar most likely to Doctor Who fans, as the studio has been producing numerous audio dramas based around the long-running British sci-fi series. But before even that took off, BF had a line of 2000AD audio dramas, mainly Dredd with two set in the universe of Strontium Dog (with Johnny Alpha voiced by Simon Pegg!)

Pre-Emptive Revenge is set directly after the Apocalypse War, with Dredd and Alpha making their way across the Radlands of Ji towards Hondo-City. On the way there's plenty of bickering before they come upon a remote Sino-Cit outpost. It turns out that, prior to their destruction the forces of Sino-City had set up dead-man's switch attack silos aimed directly at Hondo-City. And in the aftermath of Judgement Day this particular silo is just a hair-trigger from going off.

So, Dredd and Alpha have to work together to find a way for Alpha to return to his own time, while preventing another nuclear Armageddon from taking place.

Review

Cornetto Trilogy fans will easily recognise self-confessed Strontium Dog fan Simon Pegg as Johnny Alpha. Meanwhile, long-time Dredd VA - who also appeared in the Dredd vs Death video game - Toby Longsworth is on top form here. He somehow manages to have the 'only speaks out of one side of his mouth' quality as Stallone without being silly.

Unlike in Judgement Day where Ennis' fanboyish appreciation for each character oozes off the page, Pre-Emptive Revenge brings back the much more antagonistic attitudes between the two that is a lot more akin to their first crossover, 'Top Dogs'. Their banter's pretty fun to listen to, and it's one of the rare moments in the Big Finish series where Longsworth gets to emote more as Dredd.

We get some solid moments of action including Alpha's return to his own timeline, which I won't spoil but which involves a mid-air teleport and some very precise coordinates.

Unfortunately, there are a few caveats to what is at its core a pretty great audio drama. Ian Hallard as Sino-Cit soldier Lam doesn't quite drift into the questionable accent territory, but neither is he completely comfortable to listen to for a more modern audience.

Inspector Goto meanwhile is going to give some pretty wince-worthy flashbacks to 'Our Man in Hondo' for long-time readers of Dredd, but fortunately he's only a one-off before he gets blown to bits by a mine. ...which isn't much better I suppose.

Still, if you're like me and want something to listen to, and something that expands on the plot-points in Judgement Day, within the Dreddverse this remains a pretty high-quality piece!

2000AD's Big Finish audio dramas are currently not available for purchase, but can still be found on the internet archive.

[hannahjae27]

Module 1 - Original Content Post #1

What is Writing?

Writing is a form of communication that allows us to express ourselves (share our thoughts or ideas) about any given subject. Nonfiction writing relies on facts, objective information or research; and can be used to inform, educate, spread awareness, and so much more. Writing can also be a place where our imagination takes us on new adventures. As fiction writing does not necessarily rely on any specific writing elements, because it often just aims to entertain and inspire others. It involves creative writing techniques, follows a form of narrative, and can be very imaginative. There can even be a mix of nonfiction and fiction writing, which I think can be very intriguing!

Whether you use paper or a laptop, you can write literally anything you want. Practice makes perfect, as many always say. You can experiment with any form of writing style or genre that you want. Or learn to use various writing techniques or write towards different audiences if you wish. I believe writing can be very simple and short-lived or it can be very complex and continue in endless directions. I think writing should be shared by those who love it, to continue building communities of writers, readers, and listeners for so many future generations.

[reputematter]

How To Build A Proactive Reputation Management Strategy

At The Repute matters Agency, we are firm believers in taking action before something happens because it would create a different view from our target market concerning trust and reliance on one brand. This blog takes you through important processes that you need to undertake if you want to maintain an active reputation management plan for your company which guarantees the credibility of your business and makes it more visible online.

Understanding Reputation Management

What people say isn’t the only thing about your company’s reputation but also what they find on a Google search page when they look for your business name. Managing reputation means following up any mention in public concerning one’s own company in order to influence people’s perception into what is desired. In this case, anticipation helps avoid magnifying issues besides using good reviews as means of boosting the business’s profile.

Carrying out a Brand Audit

Before beginning to devise an effective strategy for managing your reputation, it’s important to do a thorough brand audit that involves the following:

Reviewing your online presence, checking social media platforms, reviewing websites such as Yelp! and Google Reviews as well as search engine pages for mentions of your products or company name.

Understanding what other similar brands are doing in relation to their online reputation or how customers feel about them on sites like Trustpilot.

Creating Brand Guidelines and Values

In order to start a good reputation management plan, we identify what your business should represent, the aim, and the desired perception by the audience. These standards will be used in all kinds of online interactions and communications.

Monitoring Online Conversations

Early detection of potential reputation issues includes proactively monitoring online conversations. To keep abreast of the latest information about your brand, industry trends, or customer feedback, our reputation management agency in India uses services such as Google Alerts, social media monitoring tools, and review tracking tools.

Acting Fast with a High Level of Professionalism

The way one responds when problems arise really matters when it comes to the kind of view that people are going to have about your business. The strategies that can be employed are:

Response Protocols: Setting forth specific parameters for addressing varied forms of feedback and specifying ways to respond to the same.

Timely Responses: Dealing with issues immediately displays receptiveness and dedication toward meeting clients’ needs.

Turning Negatives into Positives: By handling negative feedback with grace and providing solutions, you can easily convert dissatisfied customers into loyal advocates.

Fostering Good Evaluations and Testimonials

Good evaluations and testimonials can make a huge difference in creating and upholding a strong reputation. Businesses can ask happy clients to provide feedback on different places such as Yelp, Google My Business, or other specialized platforms for reviewing or with our review management service help. These comments are very essential as they are the ones that create credibility among prospective buyers when posted through websites or various social networking accounts.

Proactive Content Strategy

Being proactive is important in narrative shaping as far as your brand online narrative is concerned. The beneficial insights, industry news, and successful stories showcasing your mastery and commitment to the satisfaction of customers can be shared by reputation management service largely relying on constant uploading of valuable content online which enhances online presence and reduces potential reputation risks.

How to track and tune Your Plan

Providing ORM services for any brand is a continuous process. We keep up on a regular basis with client data and responses. After understanding things more, you can see more positive about how others see the organization over the web.

Conclusion

Establishing a reputation management strategy that is proactive necessitates dedication, strategic planning, and commitment to upholding your brand’s value on the Internet. We, at Repute matters Agency, are experts in guiding corporations through the intricacies involved in managing their online reputations. When you abide by these directions and remain observant, you will be able to govern your reputation in such a manner that it remains good among other things enabling trust to last long between you and the people who consume whatever you offer. For more, you can visit our website.

[drea-m-a-c]

Post 12 Promotion. 

If we take a look at what MAC Cosmetics is doing for social media, we notice that they have stepped up their presence significantly. MAC is now heavily focused on promotion through Instagram and TikTok. Recently, they started a trend called “Bring Back,” which has generated free marketing as consumers engage with the brand. This trend encourages MAC’s older beauty lovers to share their favorite products, sparking interest from the younger generation in the brand.

On Facebook, MAC’s ads are more targeted toward Boomers and Millennials, as these demographics predominantly use the platform. On Instagram and TikTok, however, we see more video-based content aimed at Millennials and Gen Z. MAC no longer relies on traditional print advertisements and focuses primarily on online promotions and visuals within their stores.

Employees also play a significant role in their promotional efforts. MAC provides gratis products from new launches to employees, allowing them to help promote upcoming collections.

This is a perfect example of personal selling. MAC offers a very one-on-one customer service experience. Many clients visit MAC stores for assistance with specific needs, such as finding the perfect wedding lipstick or helping a mom introduce her child to makeup for high school. By building strong relationships with their clientele, MAC has created loyal customers who return because of the personalized experience and connection they feel with the brand.

The presence of MAC Cosmetics in the social media. Prof Dr Ana Adi - Vives Erasmus Courses. (2016, January 23). https://kathonewmedia.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/the-presence-of-mac-cosmetics-in-the-social-media/#:~:text=MAC%20uses%20social%20media%20marketing,using%20social%20media%20for%20marketing.

MattyB. (2024a, November 18). The fine art of knowing your audience with MAC Cosmetics. The Fine Art of Knowing Your Audience With MAC Cosmetics. https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/mac-cosmetics-dei-innovation-andre-branch/

[dcpl73]

Dubbing or Subtitling: Which Reigns Supreme in International Media?

In the world of entertainment, be it national or international, one of the most crucial decisions content creators and distributors face is whether to subtitle or dub their media when targeting global audiences. While both options aim to make audiovisual content accessible to viewers who speak different languages, they offer distinct experiences and present new challenges. The choice between subbed (subtitled) and dubbed (voice-over) content is often influenced by cultural preferences, the type of content, and the specific market in question.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the differences between subbed and dubbed content, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how to choose the right audiovisual translation service for your global audience. Sounds interesting? Let’s get started!

WHAT DOES SUBBED AND DUBBED MEAN?

Before getting into the debate, let’s clarify the terms:

Subbed: Subtitles are textual translations of the spoken dialogue in a film or TV show, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. Viewers still hear the original audio (in the source language) while reading the translation (in the target language).

Dubbed:This involves replacing the original voice with new ones speaking in the target language. The original audio is either muted or replaced, and the new dialogue is synchronised to match the lip movements of the characters.

Now that we’ve defined the two, let’s examine the factors that influence the decision to subtitle or dub your audiovisual content.

1.CULTURAL PREFERENCES: THE BATTLE OF SUBTITLES VS. DUBBING

One of the main factors driving the decision between subbed or dubbed content is cultural preference. Different countries have different attitudes towards subtitles and dubbing, and understanding these preferences is key to ensuring the success of your content.

Subbed: The Preference in Many European and Asian Countries

In many parts of Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Germany, subtitled content is widely preferred. Audiences in these regions are accustomed to watching foreign films and TV shows with subtitles and often find them more authentic. Subtitles allow viewers to hear the original voice acting, which is considered integral to experiencing the content as it was intended.

In Asia, countries such as Japan and South Korea also favour subtitles, particularly when it comes to animated films and TV series (anime and K-dramas). Subbed content offers an unaltered experience, allowing audiences to appreciate the original nuances and emotions conveyed by the voice actors.

Dubbed: Common in Many Parts of the World

In contrast, dubbing is the preferred method of content localisation in many Latin American and European countries, such as Spain and Italy, where audiences tend to be less familiar with reading subtitles. Dubbing is also very popular for children’s television, where young viewers may struggle to read subtitles quickly enough.

For countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Eastern Europe, the decision between dubbed and subbed often depends on the genre and the target demographic.

2.THE IMPACT ON VIEWER EXPERIENCE

The choice between subbed and dubbed content can significantly affect the viewer’s experience. Let’s explore how each option impacts the way audiences engage with the media.

Subbed: Preserving the Original Experience

One of the key advantages of subtitled content is that it preserves the integrity of the original performance. The viewer hears the actors’ voices, which often convey subtle emotions, inflections, and cultural nuances that might not be fully captured in a dubbed version. For many, hearing the original voice acting is an integral part of the authentic experience.

However, subtitles can be a distraction for some viewers. Reading subtitles while watching action sequences or fast-moving dialogue may lead to missing out on visual elements.

Dubbed: Improved Accessibility and Comfort

On the other hand, dubbing simply offers a more seamless viewing experience, especially for those who are not accustomed to reading subtitles. This is particularly beneficial for those who want to focus entirely on the visuals and avoid reading text while watching the content. Dubbing is also an excellent option for younger audiences or individuals with reading disabilities, as it makes the content more accessible.

However, dubbing does come with its own set of challenges. One major issue is that dubbing can lose the emotional depth and authenticity of the original performance. The voice actors in the dubbed version may not match the tone or delivery of the original, which can lead to a disconnection for viewers familiar with the source material. Lip-syncing can be a complex task, and sometimes the dubbed lines don’t quite match the movements of the characters’ mouths, which can be distracting.

3.SPEED AND COST OF PRODUCTION

The production process for both subbed and dubbed content varies in terms of time, effort, and costs.

Subbed: Quick and Cost-Effective

Subtitles are typically quicker and more cost-effective to produce than dubbing. Translators work directly from the script and can produce subtitles faster than dubbing a whole track with professional voice actors. The process of syncing subtitles to the video is relatively straightforward compared to the technical complexities of dubbing.

For businesses and content creators working on a tight budget or deadline, subtitling is often the more practical solution. It allows for a quicker turnaround time, especially when targeting multiple languages.

Dubbed: A Lengthy and Expensive Process

While often preferred for certain regions and demographics, dubbing is more time-consuming and expensive. It involves casting voice actors, recording and synchronising dialogue, and ensuring that the new track matches the original video’s lip movements. Moreover, dubbing requires additional post-production work to make sure the final product sounds natural in the target language.

For content creators looking to invest in the best possible experience for their audience, dubbing might be the right choice. However, for those with budget constraints or tight schedules, subtitling is often the go-to solution.

4.THE BEST OPTION FOR YOUR GLOBAL AUDIENCE

Choosing the right audiovisual translation service is essential, but it’s equally important to ensure it aligns with your audience’s needs and preferences. When deciding between subbed and dubbed content for a global audience, consider the following factors:

Target Audience

What is the demographic of your audience? Are they accustomed to reading subtitles, or would they prefer the convenience of dubbed content? This is especially important for children’s programming and fast-paced genres such as action films.

Cultural Preference

Some languages and cultures may have specific expectations when it comes to the viewing experience. Research your target market thoroughly to ensure that the chosen method aligns with their preferences.

BUDGET AND TIME CONSTRAINTS

If you’re on a tight budget or timeline, subtitling may be a more cost-effective and efficient choice. Dubbing is ideal when there is more flexibility in the production process.

CONTENT TYPE

The genre and nature of the content also play a role. For animated films, children’s TV, or comedy content, dubbing might be preferred. However, for drama, art films, and content where the actor’s original voice is key, subtitling is preferably the better option.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Whether you choose to subtitle or dub your audiovisual content, the most important thing is that your decision aligns with the preferences and expectations of your target audience. Both options have their benefits and drawbacks, and in some cases, the best solution may be to offer both—subtitles for those who prefer an authentic experience and dubbing for those who want convenience.

At Language Services Bureau, we specialise in professional audiovisual translation services, helping you bring your content to audiences worldwide with precision and cultural sensitivity. Whether you need high-quality subtitles or expert dubbing, our team is here to support your global outreach.

Let us help you tackle the complexities of language and culture so you can connect with audiences around the world.

Learn how our audiovisual translation services can boost your global content strategy by contacting us today!

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For any queries related to language translation services. Inquire at our email address below or give us a call today! info@languageservicesbureau.com

Telephone: +91-20-24470509, +91-82370 60559

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[rockyschexneider]

Shelf Strategy Secrets: Position Your Product Like a Cereal Brand Mastermind

Shelf Strategy Secrets: Position Your Product Like a Cereal Brand Mastermind

As surprising as it may seem, the cereal aisle holds a profound lesson in marketing—a lesson that could transform how digital creators connect with their audiences in the ever-evolving world of affiliate marketing. Imagine standing amidst the vibrant boxes calling out to shoppers, each with a unique voice and identity. Here, in this sea of breakfast delights, lies an underappreciated secret about branding and positioning that can be applied to any venture trying to capture attention online.

Consider this: Cheerios with its iconic heart image assures health-conscious buyers of dependability and wholesome nutrition. Meanwhile, Cinnamon Toast Crunch with its playful patterns and bright colors beckons to the fun-loving, adventurous spirits looking for a sweet escape. Each brand has meticulously honed its message to speak directly to its intended audience, an artful translation of understanding not just who buys their product, but why.

This nuanced understanding of audience is just as crucial in affiliate marketing. Today’s digital consumers are bombarded with noise—countless brands vying for attention through an overwhelming barrage of emails, ads, and posts. To cut through the clutter, marketers need to do more than shout the loudest. Success hinges on resonating with consumers on a personal level, much like cereal boxes speaking to specific customers.

When crafting marketing communications, such as promotional emails or social media posts, aim to create a message that feels like a personal connection rather than a hard sell. The objective isn’t merely to pitch a product; it's to convey understanding and relevance. Consider incorporating the intricate elements that the cereal aisle masters: identity, strategy, and placement.

Identity: Establishing a clear, distinct brand identity is crucial. Just as cereals employ everything from mascots to mission statements, digital brands must use their tone, visuals, and message to carve a meaningful niche. Understand what makes the brand unique and ensure this shines consistently through every facet of marketing.

Strategy: Positioning plays an instrumental role. Each cereal isn’t randomly placed—it’s deliberate. Healthier cereals are often at eye level for adults, while sugary treats tantalize the young ones from lower shelves. This strategic positioning ensures the product is where its audience is naturally inclined to look. In the digital space, this translates to knowing where your audience spends their time and delivering content accordingly, whether it’s through specific social media platforms, podcasts, or blogs.

Placement: In marketing, placement is equally about timing and platform. Dedicate time to researching when your audience is most active online and what media they consume. There’s considerable power in having your message reach them in the right moments—in their scroll through Instagram or as they skim through their morning emails, just as their minds are open.

Ultimately, mastering the art of offering more than just products, but trusted solutions or joyful experiences, fosters long-term relationships with the audience. In essence, people gravitate towards products and brands that seem to “get them.” This principle is the linchpin of cereal strategies and should be at the forefront of any marketing technique aiming for durable success.

The next time a trip to the supermarket lands you in front of an array of cereals, take a moment to observe the subtleties of their shelf strategies. This colorful lesson can be translated into replicable strategies that effectively place products and people in the path of connection—a deep well of ideas that promises not just immediate attention, but enduring trust from the very people they hope to serve. Embrace this learning, and like the cereals, elevate marketing efforts to new heights.

VISIT MY BLOG: For free resources.